There was no need to report the extermination of bandits and bandits, but war with Spain definitely required the Ming Dynasty's orders.
After all, he still had close to twenty thousand men under his command who were paid by the Daming, and he only had fifteen thousand soldiers to support out of his own pocket.
The French and Genoese were led by Chen Longzheng to Xiao Ruxun's secret meeting room. Here, he met with the Genoese and French.
The Genoese and French were very welcoming towards the arrival of the Chinese merchant group, especially the Genoese. Not only did they treat Chen Longzheng as a distinguished guest, they often invited him to banquets.
From Chen Longzheng's narration, Xiao Ruxun knew that Chen Longzheng had become a symbol of Chinese culture. Chen Longzheng represented China. He was China, and all his skills were seen as the inherent skills of the Chinese.
For example, calligraphy, scholarly paintings, and so on. There was also the Chinese chef's Chinese stir-fried food. It was said that it was also very popular among the upper class of Europe. Before Chen Longzheng left Europe, he left two chefs in the kitchen of the governor's mansion in Genoa. They became the head chefs and cooked for the governor and his distinguished guests. They were allowed to use all the ingredients and seasonings, and all the manpower was at their disposal.
The chefs on the ship could also enjoy the treatment of the head chefs. These two chefs also had their own temperament. For example, they would ask others to leave before cooking, leaving only the two of them in the kitchen, and so on. This caused the Europeans to think that the Chinese's cooking was some kind of strange ritual that outsiders could not participate in.
Actually, these two chefs knew that they could not let the foreigners learn their unique skills, or else they would lose their super high treatment.
This time, when the Genoese and French came, they all hoped that Xiao Ruxun could send more Chinese chefs to Europe, especially France and Genoa, to specially make Chinese food for their royalty and nobles.
Because Chinese food was very delicious, they loved it very much. However, there were only two China chefs, and they only listened to the governor of Genoa. The governor was also very pretentious and arrogant, and it was very difficult to get a meal of Chinese food.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun had the idea of opening Chinese restaurants in France and Genoa. He would send a batch of chefs to open Chinese restaurants in Europe to specifically cater to the European upper class. Nobles and royalty weren't the only rich people in Europe. If he only cooked for them, how could he make money? He might as well open a Chinese restaurant and provide the best Chinese food service to the upper class of Europe, raising the prestige of Chinese food in Europe.
As soon as this idea appeared, Xiao Ruxun discussed with them, saying that he was willing to send chefs to Europe, but only to open Chinese restaurants in Europe. They could open a Chinese restaurant in Paris and Genoa respectively, to cook the most authentic Chinese food.
The nobles, royalty, and big businessmen could all go there to eat, anytime and anywhere. As for sending chefs to serve the nobles and royalty, that was a little too difficult. This was because there were very few good chefs in China, and it was difficult to provide private service.
The representatives of the two countries expressed their understanding and expressed their support for Xiao Ruxun's idea of opening a Chinese restaurant. They also expressed their hope that Xiao Ruxun would arrange this matter as soon as possible.
Then came the business negotiations. This was a serious matter. The two countries were allowed to share the profits from the opening of the Chinese restaurant, but as for the distribution rights of Chinese goods in Europe, that had to be discussed. Everyone knew that this was a huge sum of money. The Chinese didn't have enough channels in Europe, and they were unfamiliar with the place and people, so they had to find suitable business partners to help them.
The French and Genoa both hoped to get the exclusive distribution rights. The Genoa's bargaining chip was the safe shipping routes. They said that the Mediterranean Sea was very safe, and the Chinese fleet could reach Genoa's port safely. They could even send a fleet to escort them. However, France's port was not safe at all, and the Spanish fleet kept attacking them. The Spanish would not care about France's interests. They would attack the French!
However, the Spanish did not dare to attack the Genoa fleet because the Genoa bankers held the purse of money. The Spanish could not afford to offend the Genoa if they wanted to continue fighting, so the Genoa had nothing to fear.
The French, on the other hand, were much weaker in this aspect. Their navy could not go against the Spanish, and the civil war in their country had not ended yet. How could they guarantee the safety of their esteemed guests from China?
The French representative was infuriated by the Genoa's words. He glared at the Genoa, but he also knew that the environment in France was terrible. The ports in their country were not safe, and the shipping routes passed through Spanish territory could be attacked by the Spanish fleet at any time. If China's merchant ships were attacked, and the French could not save them, how were they going to answer to the Chinese?
So the French decided to go for a price war. Henry IV said that they were not afraid of the high price. If the price was high, they could buy from further north and sell for a higher price. China's goods had always been the representative of luxury goods. As long as they had the supply, they would not have to worry about not being able to sell. China's goods were very popular, so the French raised the price by a fifth of the Genoa's.
When the Genoese saw that Xiao Ruxun was tempted, he hurriedly announced that he would also raise the price by a fifth. The French raised the price by another fifth. The Genoese got angry and also raised the price by a fifth. The French gritted his teeth and raised the price by another fifth. This time, the Genoese were speechless and glared at the French as though they wanted to swallow him alive. The French also glared at the Genoese in annoyance. The scene was very heated.
Xiao Ruxun went on stage as the peacemaker. Xiao Ruxun said —
The quantity of goods we are shipping to Europe is very large, especially the consumable tea leaves. We are also planning to ship a batch of iron pots to Europe for sale. You can rest assured that the quantity is sufficient.
It is precisely because the quantity is sufficient that it is not a good thing for any of your countries to win the sales rights of China's goods. Because you will be envied by the other countries and they will use all sorts of reasons to cause trouble for you.
The French and Genoa looked at each other in shock — they had not thought of this before and wanted to bid for it. Now that they thought about it, it was true. If the French won the sales rights, the Genoa would definitely not be satisfied. They would go back and ally with the Vatican to teach the French a lesson. If the Genoa won the sales rights, the French would not be satisfied either. They would go back and ally with the anti-Catholic Alliance to teach the Genoa a lesson.
If two countries fought for it, it would be everyone's loss. So why can't you all work together and do this business together?
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