Zhou Qingfeng and Guo Jiao stayed on the roof of St. Paul's Church for a night, and nothing happened. Guo Jiao allowed hugs at most. If she wanted to go further, she would resist desperately and even bite people.
The next day at dawn, the Macau port was busy again. Zhou Qingfeng took the girl around the Western-style city, ready to learn how strong the Portuguese were in the Far East. Guo Jiao followed behind. After last night's close confrontation, she recovered her previous innocent and relaxed attitude. She no longer cowered in front of Zhou Qingfeng, and even dared to bare her teeth at him.
Macau was not actually a city, but a large commercial market. The Portuguese business was not limited to silk and porcelain. The shops in the market also sold pepper, cloves, camphor, and sumu from Southeast Asia. Among them, the pepper business was very good, and China merchants had a high demand. In addition, homespun cloth from India was also very popular and became a popular commodity of the Portuguese.
Zhou Qingfeng walked into several shops opened by Cantonese people and also contacted some Portuguese merchants. Although he didn't understand Cantonese and Portuguese, the interpreter in the market still conveyed enough information to him.
Macau was the largest trading point of the Portuguese in the Far East, and it could be called the only pillar. There were dozens of large sailboats coming from India every year, and the cargo volume was far less than Zhou Qingfeng had imagined. The biggest headache for Portuguese merchants was the supply of goods. The entire Guangdong and the southeast coast could not meet their appetite for shipping.
Zhou Qingfeng asked a Portuguese merchant who knew Chinese, why not go to the north to trade? The answer was: The Ming court did not welcome them, and they were not familiar with the Northeast Asian region. Moreover, the Portuguese's ability was limited. In addition to stabilizing Macau, they were unable to expand.
"What if there are merchants from the north who can ship goods to you?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
"We can swallow countless silk and porcelain, which can make a lot of money even if they are shipped to India." The Portuguese merchant reminded Zhou Qingfeng that India currently had a large number of super-rich local kings. These local kings accumulated huge wealth by squeezing the untouchables, and they had amazing purchasing power. India's cotton and grains could also be exported in large quantities.
England and the Netherlands had set up East India Companies, and the European powers had sent their forces to India. There was a reason for all these actions. India was weak but rich, and everyone wanted to pounce on this fat piece of meat.
"Reading ten thousand books is like walking ten thousand miles." Zhou Qingfeng felt that it was right for him to come out and explore. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have known that India was actually a huge market. However, there was also something frustrating in all kinds of news. That was, there was no slave trade in Macau, and no one sold horses. Because horses were very delicate, the mortality rate of long-distance transportation was too high, so no one transported them to the Far East.
As for the naval forces in the Far East, the Spanish were naturally the strongest, followed by the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the British. But even the weakest British could mobilize a fleet of five or six gunships to sweep across the Southeast Asian countries at any time, and there was no one who could match them.
Zhou Qingfeng frowned because of this. The fleet of the Revolutionary Army was being launched at the speed of one standard steamship per month. By next year, with more and more skilled workers, the speed would double. But there were more and more ships, and the naval forces of the Transmigrators were still very weak.
"Combine the Martial Arts Chessboard and the Blessed Enclave training, and tilt a little in the direction of the army." Considering that the powers in Southeast Asia were all navies, Zhou Qingfeng felt that he had to strengthen the navy accordingly. Otherwise, if this group of people attacked, it would be a big problem.
There were several large armed merchant ships docked at the wharf of the Macau port. They all had a large number of sails, and countless sail ropes were densely hung on the hull. The largest sailboat had a displacement of at least a thousand tons. The hull was more than 50 meters, and the mast was 20 to 30 meters high. It was very huge.
When Zhou Qingfeng got closer, he could feel that this large ship had a power similar to that of a church. It seemed to be blessed by some kind of magic and had considerable combat power. Each ship was like a castle on the sea.
In May and June every year, the Portuguese set sail from Goa, carrying Indian goods to Macau. They sold goods in Macau in exchange for raw silk and other goods. In the early summer of the next year, they went to Nagasaki, Japan, exchanged for Japanese silver, and returned to Macau in the autumn of the same year. They would use silver to buy silk and porcelain to return to Goa in the autumn of the third year.
Although such a voyage took three years to make a round trip. But as long as they made one trip, the money earned was enough for the people on the ship to live a carefree life. They could squander money like it was dirt. However, the efficiency of the transportation was too slow. If it was a steamship, it would be a disgrace to the reputation of the travelers if they did not make two or three round trips a year.
This was a route that flowed with gold!
Zhou Qingfeng inquired about the situation in the direction of Goa and learned that there were indeed slave traders and Arabian horses for sale there. The kings of India were extremely extravagant. They liked to buy beautiful female slaves and strong male slaves. They were also very fond of good horses and were willing to spend a lot of money for them.
"You want to go to Goa to buy female slaves and Arabian horses? Hahaha … No Ming people have ever wanted to go to Goa. But if you really want to go, you can find my brother. He is a priest and has his own monastery in Goa. He knows a lot of big shots in the upper class. "
The Portuguese who reported the news to Zhou Qingfeng proudly introduced him to the contact person and briefly explained the situation in Goa. Listening to his words, it was obvious that he was very proud of his brother. However, Zhou Qingfeng smiled and patted the other's shoulder. "From now on, you also know a big shot."
After saying that, Zhou Qingfeng took out a gold coin from his pocket and flicked it into the Portuguese's hand. His youth made it easy for people to think that he was a playboy who ran around with a beautiful maid. But in fact …
The Portuguese stared blankly at Zhou Qingfeng as he left and then looked at the gold coin in his hand. It was very strange. Until he carefully examined the gold coin that he had never seen before. The stamped gold coin was very exquisite. The details of the pattern were very rich and fine, far exceeding the types that could be seen on the market. The portrait on the surface of the coin …
"This person actually printed his portrait on the gold coin?" The Portuguese merchant expressed his surprise. There were only a handful of people who had this ability these days.
The four flower coins of the Revolutionary Army, Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum, had been widely accepted by the market. The inconvenience of carrying metal coins had also become prominent. More convenient currencies were needed in large transactions, so the Revolutionary Gold Coin naturally appeared. This time, the face of the coin was stamped with the portrait of Zhou Qingfeng himself, and a sentence was printed on the back …
"The power of revolution will whip the whole world!"
"A big shot, this is definitely a big shot." The Portuguese holding the gold coin was very excited. He hurriedly chased after the back of Zhou Qingfeng as he left, annoyed that he could not hold onto this thigh tightly. This thigh was made of gold!
When the Portuguese businessman chased out of the city of Macau, he saw a biplane rising into the sky and going straight into the sky. He screamed in surprise and kept drawing the cross on his chest, shouting the name of God. Only then did he know that this big shot was definitely bigger than he had imagined.
Zhou Qingfeng left Macau and flew 2,000 kilometers westward to the vicinity of Yangon near the Indian Ocean. He rested for a night in the still primitive Yangon, then flew 2,300 kilometers across the Bay of Bengal and across the Indian Subcontinent to Goa. It took others a year to complete the voyage, but he only flew four or five days.
When Zhou Qingfeng stepped into the city that was colonized by the Portuguese, the bell of the Santa Catarina Cathedral in the city was ringing. The big bell called the Golden Bell made a melodious sound that spread throughout the city. But …
"This place is a large slum." Zhou Qingfeng and Guo Jiao both changed into robes that covered their heads and faces. When they walked into the capital of Portuguese India, they saw low-rise houses and streets full of sewage. The streets were full of poor people scurrying, begging, and chasing passers-by to steal.
Zhou Qingfeng disliked this dirty and messy environment the most. He complained, "Sooner or later, there will be a big plague in this place, and then the whole city will be destroyed."
'Flat Hair' flew from Zhou Qingfeng's shoulder from time to time, driving away the untouchables who were watching from behind. These dark and thin guys couldn't even be called 'people.' They had no dignity and status. They lived like annoying bugs, living on the leftovers thrown away by the rich.
Zhou Qingfeng was new to the city, and he didn't speak the language. He was a little lost after entering the city. According to the geographical location he determined when he flew in the air, he passed through streets and alleys in the city to find the priest brother who could speak Chinese.
It was said that the priest had a monastery in Goa. However, Zhou Qingfeng was naturally at odds with this kind of religious institution. The cross on the roof of the monastery strongly resisted his approach. But …
"This monastery is not strong." There were no road signs and no tour guides these days. Zhou Qingfeng, who wore a scarf to cover his face, spent two or three hours relying on 'Flat Hair' to locate and find the way in the air before finally finding the slightly dilapidated monastery.
There was no one in the monastery. Zhou Qingfeng directly crossed the door and walked in. The dilapidated scene inside almost made him think that he was in the wrong place. But a middle-aged man with a bald head and a big nose came out of the front yard of the monastery. When he saw Zhou Qingfeng, he greeted him enthusiastically and spoke a lot in Portuguese.
"I'm from China. I don't understand Portuguese." Zhou Qingfeng said, "Does anyone here understand Chinese?"
Hearing Zhou Qingfeng's words, the bald middle-aged man was stunned for a few seconds. It wasn't until Zhou Qingfeng slowly untied the scarf that covered his face that he spoke a few words in Cantonese with a few words that sounded like Japanese.
Ancient Cantonese was also difficult to understand. Zhou Qingfeng felt that he was talking like a chicken talking to a duck. Just when he felt that his trip was going to be ruined, a boy of about 11 or 12 years old came out from behind him and greeted him in Chinese, which was not very standard but could still be understood. "Master, what can I do for you?"
The boy's face looked like he was mixed-race. His face was dark and thin, and it was obvious that he was malnourished. He had a big head and a thin body that didn't match. His hair was yellow and messy, but it contrasted with his big and bright eyes. After he came out, he humbly bowed like a servant.
"Are you Han?"
"No, I'm a Manchurian. I've been to many places with my father since I was young, so I know more than a dozen local languages. I'm sure you need an interpreter. Hire me, I'm very cheap. Just give me something to eat. If you can give me some money, it'll be even better. "
"What's your name?"
"The locals call me Santos. Or master can give me a name. "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
