Chapter 175 Wang Yushi's Letter
Within a month, news of a "bonded zone" in the Malacca Sultanate spread throughout the entire island of Sumatra. As several daring adventurers made a fortune, chieftains, princes, and leaders flocked to the area, showing the Great Xia pioneers what it meant to be a country bumpkin and what it meant to be a nouveau riche.
Sumatra is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word, meaning "Golden State" in Chinese. The island is mountainous and rich in placer gold. Meanwhile, over fifty volcanoes, erupting over millions of years, have accumulated numerous gemstone deposits.
The bizarre and ugly gemstone rough stones were continuously brought to the bonded area by the native chieftain, and then both sides, while thinking to themselves "What a fucking idiot," happily completed the transaction.
"Your Highness, the Development Bureau needs to increase its transport capacity. This new type of three-masted galleon must be supplied to us first. Your Highness... could you please write a note for us?"
Lin Yongqian, who was already a business tycoon in Tainan, was initially transferred to Singapore to serve as the director of the Development Bureau. He thought it would be a thankless job of "developing" the country, but it quickly became a highly sought-after position, and the fleet allocated to the Development Bureau soon became insufficient.
According to reports, the chieftain of Yachi has already sailed west to the Zhu merchants. If the Zhu merchants also arrive in Malacca, then the situation of having high prices but no market can be foreseen.
"I am now only in charge of the allocation of warships. I can send the latest warships to Lion City, but you will still have to ask your father for civilian ships." Qin Mo's note would definitely work, but he dared not make that request, otherwise he would be bothered to death in the future, and there would be plenty of shameless people coming to his door.
"My dad was too embarrassed to argue with those old buddies. Those shameless old men just hung around at my dad's place getting meals, but actually they were waiting for a new ship. Everyone on Luzon Island went crazy; every family opened a weaving workshop or a sugar factory. Without a ship, you can't even compete."
“Whole shiploads of Japanese and Koreans were hauled away, and whole shiploads of linen, hardwood, sugar, and rum were brought back to Great Xia to sell. It’s only because Your Highness sealed off the mines and prohibited private operation that they probably started copper mines by now.”
Lin Yongqian gets a headache whenever he mentions Lin Bo and Lin Huaiyuan. The shipyard has some autonomy over the type of galleon, but the sale of the new large galleon must be approved by the chief steward of the Prince's Mansion. Otherwise, if it conflicts with Qin Mo's plan, wouldn't Lin Bo be the chief steward for nothing?
But now several veteran retainers of the Prince of Heng have taken over Lin Huaiyuan's house. As long as there is an extra ship, no one can take it away. They are all old cronies.
"Things are valued for their scarcity. Let's bear with this for now and ensure the supply of weapons to the garrison. We can postpone the rest. Once the four-masted galleon is successfully launched, the transport capacity won't be so tight."
After thinking it over, Qin Mo decided not to take up Luzon Island's share, because Luzon Island was currently mainly focused on developing industry, while Malacca was temporarily focused on trade. In the long run, developing industry was more conducive to colonization. Predatory trade could only lead to sudden wealth, but could not substantially increase a country's competitiveness.
"When will the four-masted galleon be able to launch?"
Lin Yongqian is not ignorant about ships. Four masts and three masts are not as simple as just adding a mast. It involves the strength and length of the hull, as well as the disturbance between the sails and the maneuverability. If the effect is not good, it is not as good as three masts.
"When I came to Lion City, it was already in the trial production stage. I'll go back and solve the key difficulties as soon as possible..." Shipbuilding involves too many categories, and even Qin Mo, a sailing enthusiast, dared not make any promises. He could only use a huge amount of money to experiment and eventually find a suitable solution.
"Your Highness is leaving... Then please give me your instructions regarding the management of the South Seas. If the Majapahit attack, how should I handle the situation?"
“The Manjapayi will not attack; they will soon be too busy to handle their own affairs. Also, I will leave Uncle Xu here for a while; if anything unexpected happens... we can just kill him.”
Lin Yongqian's heart skipped a beat, and he bowed his head to accept the order. Qin Mo was always very amiable, especially towards his subordinates, so people often forgot that he was actually a ruthless man with blood on his hands.
Qin Mo discussed with Kaihime whether the Kai could be left in Lion City to strengthen its naval power, promising her a state-of-the-art warship as soon as she returned to Taiyuan. Kaihime, unusually, remained silent and unresponsive, a silent resistance that left Qin Mo helpless.
He was indeed bad at flirting in his past life, but that didn't stop him from having a deep understanding of girls' minds. He had just encountered something she loved. This ship held too many of her emotions, so Qin Mo quickly stopped and set sail north the next day.
“Your Highness, Kai is mistaken. Lion City truly needs this ship, but Kai…”
Just as Qin Mo was thinking about how to tease Kaihime and make her smile, Kaihime came to apologize to him. Qin Mo felt a warmth in his heart, hugged her, and the two silently faced the bright moon over the sea, their silence speaking volumes.
In the warm spring of March, the city of Tamsui in Da Yuan was as hot as June. The protected area outside the city was filled with mausoleum buildings at an incredible speed. Many middle-class families and nobles had people here to do business in Da Yuan.
The power of role models is boundless. Ever since the first wealthy official spent a fortune to win over the most famous courtesan in Hangzhou, all the wealthy officials have had a new goal: to make all the courtesans who are considered unsophisticated become their maids or concubines.
The nouveau riche began building larger workshops, hiring more laborers, and making even more money. Nowadays, wherever these powerful and wealthy officials went to a brothel, they were the envy of those romantic scholars. They would throw money around, taking all the new and old courtesans. If anyone dared to cause trouble, they would be shown what it meant to be "descendants of a military family."
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