Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 183 Internal Cultivation and External Power (Part 2)

The Spanish envoy, Valdes, was completely bewildered.

This Emperor of the Ming Dynasty seems to be incredibly domineering; he doesn't dare to object to what others say.

He originally thought that he should agree to their suggestion first, and then go back and discuss it properly to see how to deal with the matter.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty immediately ordered people to write it down in a flurry!

Could this be some kind of treaty or agreement?

They are quite familiar with agreements and treaties.

European countries have a penchant for forcing others to sign agreements and treaties, not just their colonies, but any European country they can bring down will be forced to sign.

These agreements and treaties are not good for the party forced to sign them; signing them will only lead to losses!
After Zheng Zhilong finished writing it, he handed over the agreement immediately.

Valdes took a look, and his expression changed slightly.

This agreement was intended for the Spanish viceroyalties in the Americas.

The main content of the agreement was that if ships of the Ming Empire went to the Americas to pick up goods, all governorates in the Americas would provide assistance, without shirking their responsibilities or engaging in any hostile acts.

There seems to be another preferential condition: the Ming Empire can also deliver the goods they need to their American colonies.

It seems they're not at a disadvantage here.

The problem is that this seems to be no different from the agreement to open treaty ports.

They were essentially opening all the ports of their American colonies to the Ming Empire.

Can he sign this agreement?

Seeing that the guy had been looking at the agreement for a long time without saying a word, Zhu Jue immediately straightened his face and said coldly, "What, is there a problem? Do you want to do this business or not?"

We'd like to do this business.

Our King has said that we must ensure this business goes smoothly without any problems.

Valdes thought for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, you won't send merchants to our American colonies to do business, will you?"

I don't have time to consider that right now.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Our Great Ming Empire has a population of hundreds of millions, and we can't even finish our own business. Who would be interested in doing business in your American colonies? We're just here to pick up goods and deliver them to you on the side."

That's good.

We must ensure that this business goes smoothly without any problems; I must sign this agreement.

Upon hearing this, Valdes gritted his teeth, pulled out a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and quickly signed: Spanish Negotiator: Valdes.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but smirk slightly.

He had tested Valdes' bottom line.

Valdes' bottom line is that they must be guaranteed to continue doing business with them.

That's why he directly forced them to sign the agreement that he had already planned.

If Valdes' bottom line wasn't so low, he would have to continue threatening him.

Fortunately, these guys didn't have any negotiation skills, and he quickly figured out their bottom line.

Now they can take whatever they want from the Spanish American colonies without any problem.

Rubber tree seeds were also a commodity; they could even have the Spanish colonists prepare them for them, which was called "no excuses." At worst, they would just slip some money, and that would be considered buying them from them.

Seeing that Valdes had signed the agreement, Zhu Jue pretended to have Zheng Zhilong sign it on behalf of the Ming Empire, thus making it a binding agreement.

As for how strong the restraining force is, that depends on how big their fists are.

He also had to ensure that the Ming Dynasty's fist was bigger than Spain's.

Right now, their power in the open ocean doesn't seem to be as great as Spain's, mainly because they haven't built their gunboats yet. It looks like they need to get Wang Zheng to build a batch of gunboats as soon as possible.

He thought about it carefully, and then asked, "How much copper can your American colonies produce in a year?"

I'm not really sure about that.

Valdes said cautiously, "According to the calculation method of your Great Ming Empire, it must be more than ten million catties a year."

Aren't you talking nonsense?

Ten million catties a year, that's only five hundred tons.

The countries that produced the most copper in later generations had an annual output of more than five million tons. Ten million times ten thousand equals one trillion jin!
Your refining efficiency is far too low, less than one ten-thousandth of that of later generations.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue frowned and said, "What I want is not ten million catties a year, but over a hundred million catties a year!"

Uh, that's unlikely!
There's no shortage of natives over there who can be brought to mine, but the problem is, copper smelting isn't that easy. How could they possibly increase production tenfold all at once?
How to do?
Would I lie?
You might be able to fool others, but you wouldn't dare to fool His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Empire.

Valdes thought for a moment, then cautiously said, “Your Majesty, we can try to increase the copper production in the American colonies, but it will probably take many years to reach a production of hundreds of millions of kilograms a year. Copper ore is different from gold ore; it is not so easy to refine.”

So you guys are really good at just throwing ore into the fire to burn, right?

Fortunately, I have read "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).

The copper smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty was quite advanced, but our copper ore was of too low grade and had too low copper content. Most of the time, a thousand catties of ore could not be smelted into five catties of copper, which is less than 0.5%.

Later generations devised a solution: importing refined copper ore. Refined copper ore typically contains over ten percent copper, with high-grade ore reaching twenty to thirty percent.

In other words, if refined copper ore is used to smelt copper, one thousand catties of refined copper ore can produce at least one hundred catties of copper, and it is possible to produce two or three hundred catties of copper.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Then you should quickly send a message to your American colonies and tell them to bring more people to mine copper ore. After the copper ore is mined, just smelt it at high temperature to burn off most of the impurities. We can bring the smelted copper ore back and refine it ourselves."

This is something we're best at—direct smelting.

That couldn't be simpler!

The natives all live there.

Valdes nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, bringing more people to mine is no problem, and direct high-temperature smelting is also no problem."

The problem is the price; I need to get a discount.

Zhu Jue said quite frankly, "This kind of copper ore cannot be priced according to the price of copper. At most, we can give you a price of 10%, which is one tael of silver for one hundred catties of smelted copper ore."

This shouldn't be a problem; smelting is too simple and costs almost nothing.

The copper ore was mined by forcing the natives to work, and they could also force the natives to smelt the copper ore. What cost could there be in that?
Upon hearing this, Valdes nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, the price is no problem."

If everything is fine, then we should consider when to go for a diaper change.

Zhu Jue estimated, "There probably isn't much rubber left right now. We can't get much if we send a ship over now. How about we send a ship over in November to pick it up?"

Go quickly and inform the American colonies to send more people to produce more raw rubber, smelt more copper ore, and prepare gold and silver as well. We'll also transport the goods you requested in November.

Isn't this too urgent?
It's summer now, so it's not a good time for me to go back.

The southeast monsoon is blowing right now, so sailboats can't sail south.

I don't know when I'll be able to get back to Luzon. I'm afraid the news won't even reach them by November.

Valdes looked troubled upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, I don't know how long it will take me to get back. I estimate that the news won't reach the American colonies until November."

Your shabby sailboat.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Zhilong, send the navy's centipede ships to send him back to Luzon. Arrange for two teams to take turns rowing, and get him to Luzon within half a month."

His sailboat will first sail downstream to the dock on the other side of the Haihe River, and then his men will sail it back once the north wind picks up. Tell him not to worry, we will provide his men with fresh water and food.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong immediately cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."

(End of this chapter)