Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 121 Pirates and Eunuchs Collude (Part 10)

Rubber was almost everywhere in later generations, but it was hard to find at this time.

This was because the European colonial powers had no idea what this thing was for.

They didn't even know what raw rubber was for, let alone vulcanized rubber.

Therefore, Zhu Jue sent people to ask several times, but they still couldn't figure out what this so-called rubber was.

Fortunately, he had also visited a rubber plantation and witnessed the process of raw rubber production.

He started from the source, from the simplest possible application of raw rubber, and the Spanish envoy Valdes finally understood what it was.

The European colonial bandits didn't even know what this thing was for, so naturally they wouldn't explain its true purpose to anyone.

He simply nodded slightly and said, "Yes, this must be the rubber. I need at least ten million catties of copper and ten million catties of rubber every year. If you can send them to me, I will do business with you."

Ah!
Tens of millions of kilograms a year?
That's over ten million pounds a year!

Copper is no problem; they can just send more natives to mine it. The problem is that they haven't even bothered to collect rubber.

Tens of millions of kilograms—that would require harvesting so many rubber trees! Are there that many rubber trees in the Americas?
Valdes thought for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, we can guarantee the supply of copper, but as for rubber, we don't even know how many rubber trees there are in the Americas, so we can't guarantee that."

Don't worry, there are an astonishing number of rubber trees over there. Producing ten million catties a year is nothing. In later generations, rubber production was calculated in tens of thousands of tons. Ten thousand tons is twenty million catties. Those countries that produce a lot of rubber can produce several million tons a year!
Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, you can try your best to collect them. Anyway, I only need these two things. If you can deliver them to me, I will do business with you."

Oh, it still needs to be delivered.

Our current large cargo ships have a deadweight tonnage of about 500,000 pounds each, so ten ships would only weigh 5 million pounds. Even if we use the Pacific Circumcurrent route, we can only make two trips a year. In other words, we need to deploy more than 20 large cargo ships.

Would His Majesty the King agree to send so many large cargo ships to do this business?

Valdes thought for a moment, then asked, "Your Majesty, how much per pound would you be willing to pay for this copper and rubber?"

Zhu Jue pretended to ponder and said, "In our Great Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver can be exchanged for one thousand copper coins, and one thousand copper coins weighs about four catties. Let's say one tael of silver is five pounds of copper."

Rubber is much easier to collect than copper, and much easier to process. Just soak it in acid, then press it into thin sheets. I'll give you one tael of silver for ten pounds—that's the price. Do it if you can.”

This is a huge business worth over three million taels a year; copper and rubber are still very profitable.

Moreover, we can also purchase goods from the Ming Empire, and the profits from shipping goods from the Ming Empire to Europe are incredibly tempting.

Valdes thought for a moment, then asked, "Your Majesty, how much can you sell us? For example, silk, cloth, tea, porcelain, sugar, and so on. Roughly how much can you supply us each year?"

You'll be terrified if I tell you.

Zhu Jue said calmly, "We have plenty of goods; it just depends on how much money you have to buy them."

For example, silk, ten million bolts, do you have that much money to buy?
For example, cotton cloth, thirty million bolts, do you have that much money to buy?
For example, tea—fifty million catties—do you have that much money to buy it?

Ah!
You're always spending tens of millions of dollars?

If we can absorb so much cargo, we'll make all the money in every country in Europe.

No, we have to pay for it, we can't steal it, and we can't out-steal it anyway.

This is really quite annoying.

However, this little trouble is nothing. In the past, we couldn't get enough goods, but now we have so much that we can't handle it all!
Valdes was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but say with delight, "If His Majesty the Emperor can provide us with so many goods, we think our Governor and His Majesty the King will do their best to make this deal happen."

That'll do.

I won't waste my breath arguing with you anymore.

There's no point in wasting time talking to you now.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, hurry back and ask your governor whether or not to do this business."

Uh, am I just going back like this?
Valdes asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, could you please return our ships? I can't go back without them."

I don't care about your few dilapidated sailboats; I want steamships.

Zhu Jue said nonchalantly, "Well, you can sail the boat back. We have plenty of boats in the Ming Dynasty. We're not used to sailing those kinds of sailing ships."

Did the Ming Dynasty have enough ships?
I haven't seen many of them.

Never mind, that's not the most important thing right now.

Valdes quickly patted his chest, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Immediately afterwards, he bowed to Zheng Zhilong and said, "Your Highness, we really want to do business with your Great Ming Empire. We hope you can put in a good word for us with your Emperor. If the business is successful, we will certainly reward you handsomely."

Why are you telling me all this? Do you think I need your few bucks?
Luckily, nobody here understands you. You'd better get lost.

Zheng Zhilong waved his hand repeatedly and said, "You should go back and discuss it with your governor. His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for your news."

Upon hearing this, Valdes quickly withdrew.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue asked with great interest, "What did he just say to you?"

I cannot deceive the emperor.

Zheng Zhilong said awkwardly, "He said they really wanted to do business with us, and he even wanted me to put in a good word for them. He also said that if the deal went through, I would definitely get some benefits. I am not a greedy person, and I will not accept their money."

Yes, you are definitely not a greedy person.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "You speak Spanish quite well, you answer fluently. What other languages ​​do you speak?"

Zheng Zhilong quickly replied modestly, "Your Majesty, I simply enjoy learning the dialects of various countries. I know a little bit of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Japanese."

well.

Zhu Jue said with some relief, "We need people who understand the dialects of various countries to do overseas trade. How about you take a break and become the Vice Minister of Commerce in the Inner Court, specifically in charge of negotiating business with various countries?"

What's there to feel wronged about? I just love interacting with people.

Zheng Zhilong quickly cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."

Well, not bad.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then carefully instructed, "When you do business with people, you must be clear about our bottom line, and you should also try to understand their bottom line as much as possible."

For example, in this business negotiation with the Spanish, we are determined to get the copper and rubber. And in today's world, only their colonies have a lot of copper and rubber. You must keep this in mind.

I may appear indifferent, but that's just a negotiation tactic. We should pretend not to care about what we want, so we don't get ripped off by others offering exorbitant prices.

You should keep this in mind when you do business in the future. For example, if we had adopted a do-or-die attitude this time, the prices of copper and rubber would have at least doubled or even multiplied several times. With a business of tens of millions of catties a year, doubling the price would be worth several million taels, and multiplying the price several times would be worth tens of millions of taels.

Therefore, these business negotiation skills are very important, do you understand?

I had no idea there were so many intricacies involved in doing business.

Zheng Zhilong nodded with admiration and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then carefully instructed, "When you talk to them, you don't need to push the price up. Our main target is their copper and rubber. As for our goods, the price can be lowered a bit. You need to make them feel that they can make a lot of money, and then the deal will be done."

Uh, that means you want to negotiate a lower price!
Can I talk like this?

Zheng Zhilong asked, somewhat puzzled, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, if the price goes down, our profits will decrease."

You still don't understand.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then patiently explained, "Zhilong, as I have already said, our main target is their copper and rubber. If we lower the price a little, they won't think about raising the price of copper and rubber, and the business will be easier to negotiate."

As for profits, they won't be small, because they only have so much money in total. All the countries in Europe can only afford to spend that much money in a year. Whether our prices are higher or lower, we still make the same amount of money. The only difference is whether we give them more or less goods.

Lowering the prices of silk, cloth, tea, and porcelain isn't a big deal. We can sell them other goods with higher profit margins, such as glass, mirrors, medicinal herbs, and steel ingots. These are all much more profitable than silk, cloth, tea, and porcelain.

what?
We'll sell all the steel ingots!

Zheng Zhilong cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, steel ingots are strategic materials, aren't they? Can we sell them these?"

Do you think this is aiding the enemy?

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "As you said, the European countries are envious of the interests of the Spanish colonies, so they have united to besiege Spain, and Spain is already struggling to hold on."

We sell them steel ingots so they can forge more good weapons. That way, they might be able to hold out longer against the siege by Britain, France, and the Netherlands. The longer they hold out, the more advantageous it is for us, you understand?

Oh, so they're going to sit back and watch the tigers fight?

Zheng Zhilong nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty, if they talk to me, they will most likely ask why we bought so much copper and rubber. How should I explain this to them?"

This is obviously just to fool them.

Zhu Jue explained in detail: "Tell me that the copper is mainly for making copper coins, and the rest will be used to make bronze statues. Tell me that the rubber is for making bowstrings, boots, and umbrellas. Do you understand?"

Oh, so you're trying to fool them like that? I know what rubber is for, and copper definitely isn't bought to make coins or statues.

Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)