Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 236 If Collaborative Development Fails, Then Fight (Part 2)
The reason Zhu Jue arranged for the fleet to conduct drills and showed the Spanish envoys the shipyard and factory was to demonstrate just how powerful the Ming Dynasty was.

This is also a negotiation technique.

Sometimes, negotiation isn't about how eloquent you are; letting the other person see for themselves is far more effective than rambling on for ages.

He wanted people to see for themselves how many warships the Ming Dynasty had, how strong its shipbuilding capabilities were, and how many factories had been built in the capital that year, so he wouldn't have to waste his breath.

Valdes was still a little dazed when he was led into the shoe factory south of the Palace of Longevity.

When he looked at the scale of the shoe factory again, his eyes widened in surprise.

This shoe factory has actually expanded; it's more than twice the size of what it used to be.

The Ming Dynasty's construction capabilities were truly astonishing.

He originally thought that only a few factories had been newly built in the outer city.

Who would have thought that so many new shoe factories would be built in the imperial city of the Ming Dynasty?

Everywhere he looked, there were newly built factories. This was something that would be impossible to see in Europe. The Ming Dynasty's construction capabilities had already exceeded his imagination.

While he was still in a daze, the naval soldiers led him into a huge factory building.

This factory was different from the ones he had seen before, because there were no palace maids making shoes here; instead, rows of palace maids were sitting there looking at shoes.

All the palace maids carefully inspected the shoes before placing them in an exquisite box, and then secured them with a delicate little brass lock.

The factory was already incredibly large, and the interior decoration was extremely luxurious. The palace maids working there were all exceptionally beautiful.

The young emperor of the Ming Dynasty stood there with his hands behind his back, his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly quite dissatisfied.

Upon seeing this, Valdes quickly stepped forward, prostrated himself on the ground, and respectfully said, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Empire."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said expressionlessly, "Valdes, how do you think the shoes are made?"

Wang Chengen quickly picked up a shoebox and a small key with a copper ring and handed it over.

Valdes did not rush to open the shoebox after receiving it.

He actually picked up the shoebox and examined it closely.

This must be a precious type of wood, as you can tell from its grain and texture. The surface of the wood is not coated with any colored paint, just a layer of transparent varnish.

The Ming Dynasty didn't do much decoration; it just had copper sheets inlaid on the four corners and the middle of the lid.

The shoebox had raised patterns on the copper corners and the palm-sized copper piece in the middle, and the three large characters "Tianbaotang" in clerical script on the middle copper piece made it look much more exquisite than the jewelry boxes popular in Europe.

The craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty was truly remarkable; even the boxes used to pack the shoes looked incredibly valuable.

He then used the small copper key to open the delicate little lock, and a rich, mellow fragrance immediately wafted out.

It turns out to be sandalwood. The shoebox was covered with varnish, so the fragrance didn't waft out, but the fragrance inside was very strong.

He glanced again at the exceptionally beautiful women's shoes inside and couldn't help but show a hint of admiration.

The embroidery on these shoes was even more exquisite than the ones he had seen before; they looked like works of art.

It is no exaggeration to say that giving such a pair of shoes to those vain and materialistic ladies would at least guarantee them a romantic encounter.

As he was lost in thought, Zhu Jue suddenly asked, "Aren't the shoes made in our Great Ming Dynasty quite nice?"

That's more than just good.

Valdes nodded repeatedly, saying, "These shoes are very well made."

Zhu Jue then asked, "How much do you think these shoes would sell for in Europe?"

I can't say the price is too high, because the higher I say it, the less profit we'll make.

Valdes estimated, "Such a pair of exquisite shoes could probably sell for at least a hundred taels a pair."

You want to make more money, right? Fine, our costs are less than an ounce anyway.

The cost of these shoes isn't even as high as the sandalwood box.

Fortunately, the shoebox was very small, and it didn't need to be made of thick wood; it could be made from small pieces and scraps.

These small pieces and scraps are very inexpensive; one hundred taels of silver worth of wood could easily make a thousand pieces.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then suddenly put on a stern face and said, "Originally, I wanted to do this business with you. If you can provide enough rubber, we can make 100,000 pairs a day without any problem."

The problem is that your rubber harvesting efficiency is too low. If we produce 100,000 pairs a day, we will have to stop production in less than two months. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of pairs of shoes cannot even meet the needs of the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, let alone sell them to you.

This shoe business is already very easy to run. If we had enough rubber, we could easily sell hundreds of thousands of pairs a day. Do you know how much money we could make from hundreds of thousands of pairs a day?

Do you know how much money you've made me lose?
As for copper ore, since you can't refine it, I'll have you smelt the ore a little bit and we'll refine it ourselves.

"How long has it been? You haven't even finished building the furnace! Your efficiency is so low, you're dragging the Ming Dynasty down everywhere. How can I cooperate with you?"

what?
What does this mean?
You don't mean you don't want to cooperate with us anymore, do you?
If you don't cooperate with us on such a big deal, then I'll definitely be beheaded by His Majesty the King!
My head is worth at most tens of thousands of taels of silver, but yours is a business worth tens of millions of taels of silver. If I lose this business, even if I cut my head off a thousand times, it still wouldn't be enough!
Upon hearing this, Valdes panicked and said, "Your Majesty, the efficiency in the Americas is really too low. I will write to His Majesty the King as soon as I get back, and ask His Majesty the King to teach the governor there a lesson and make them improve their efficiency as soon as possible."

What kind of letter are you writing?
I don't want you to increase your efficiency.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Don't even mention your efficiency. The craftsmen who taught you how to collect rubber said that it would take you more than a month just to set up a few simple sheds."

That was only because they kept urging you. If they hadn't been keeping an eye on you, it would probably have taken you several months or even a year or two to build just a few sheds.

And then there's the equipment for harvesting raw rubber—such simple things, and after all this time, you haven't even managed to build a single one. How much more efficient can you possibly be?"

what?
What does this mean?
You don't really not want to cooperate with us anymore, do you?
Upon hearing this, Valdes said anxiously, "Your Majesty, please feel free to suggest whatever you think we should do. We will do whatever we can for you."

You're already in such a hurry, that's about enough.

Zhu Jue feigned doubt and asked, "Can you really do anything?"

How do you say this?

We can't achieve the production volume you want.

The question is, can I say I can't do it at this point?

Valdes was taken aback for a moment, then quickly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I mean it. We will do whatever we can for you."

Zhu Jue still had some doubts and asked, "Does this mean you can make all the decisions?"

I'm not a king, how can I make all the decisions?

However, if I lose this business, I'm definitely going to die.

Even if I can't make the decision, I still have to do it.

Our King is paying more and more attention to business with the Ming Empire, and is granting me more and more negotiating power. As long as this business is not lost, everything is negotiable.

Even if I can't make the decision, I can still agree, since it doesn't go against His Majesty's wishes.

Valdes thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty, our King has authorized me to make decisions on all matters related to negotiations with your Great Ming Empire."

You really don't know how to negotiate.

This time, their secret was exposed again.

Then I won't stand on ceremony.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said in a serious tone, "I want to cooperate with you to develop the resources of the Americas. Can you make the decision?"

Uh, what does collaborative development mean?
Valdes was stunned when he heard Zheng Zhilong's translation.

(End of this chapter)