Chapter 1564: Flying Hunanese
Ma Yishan nodded in shock and said, "The Finance Department also estimated this number!"
"Wow, Xiaojing, you are so amazing. How did you calculate that?" Lin Feng looked at Zhang Xiaojing with admiration.
"It's very simple, it's just that you never worry about the buying and selling of goods." Zhang Xiaojing is capable and speaks nicely, no wonder even Lin Feng has become her little fan girl.
"6 million silver pesos are equivalent to 4.5 million taels of silver. 500,000 gold pesos are equivalent to 3 million taels of silver. There is also a ton of gold utensils, which can be converted into 256,000 taels of silver. The total amount of gold and silver is almost 8 million taels." Xiao Zhuzi, the chief police commissioner, is not just there to do the work. She is in charge of all the trade along the way for the fleet.
"Oh..." Lin Feng said with a silver light shining on his lips.
"Then those gems, according to domestic prices, are almost another one million taels of silver. Spices can be sold for 16 ducats per quintal in Europe, but that includes a 4 ducats freight. One hundred tons is 10,000 quintals, which is equivalent to 145,000 taels of silver. The price of sugar is 15 times that of the Ming Dynasty, and 300 tons is worth 600,000 taels..." Zhang Xiaojing listed the European prices of all the goods, and finally said:
"It adds up to 12 million taels. But that's the price we sold it to the Europeans. If we ship it back to Ming, it won't be worth that much."
"Why are their prices so high?" Although Lin Feng didn't understand, she was deeply shocked.
"This is called a price revolution. Spain was shipping gold and silver to Europe in shiploads, but the market didn't see an increase in goods. Instead, they were sold out. Of course, prices skyrocketed." Zhang Xiaojing explained:
"According to the observations of your master, my husband, the prices in Europe have generally increased two to three times in the past hundred years, and in Spain they have increased four times. It is commonly said that the only thing left for the poor is money."
"Yeah, I see." Lin Feng's head was buzzing, so he pretended to have suddenly understood and ended the topic.
But she still understood the principle of selling the stolen goods on the spot. For example, silk and porcelain were all made in the Ming Dynasty, and only a fool would transport them thousands of miles back.
There are also sugar cane, spices, tobacco, and grass mud horse hair. The shipping fee is not enough to ship them back to Ming Dynasty. Only in Europe, where people are stupid and rich, can they be sold at such a high price...
"It seems necessary to sell this batch of goods before going back." Ma Yishan also said, touching his bald chin.
"If you want to sell it, I suggest you sell all the gold and exchange it for silver." Zhang Xiaojing said: "In the Ming Dynasty, one ounce of gold can be exchanged for eight ounces of silver, but in Europe, one ounce of gold can be exchanged for twelve ounces of silver. That's why gold is expensive here."
"That is to say, if I change the gold into silver, I can make a fortune?" Lin Feng felt like his head was about to explode.
"You will get an additional 1.628 million taels of silver." Zhang Xiaojing said.
"Wow, I'm rich, I'm rich!" Lin Feng jumped three feet high.
In privateering operations, the risks that crew members bear are greater than those in normal military operations. Moreover, once they fail and are captured, the group and the garrison will not acknowledge that they are related to them, nor will they directly organize a rescue.
Therefore, according to the principle of risk-return parity, when the privateering spoils are distributed, the crew members' share is higher than the normal "211" principle, and they can take half of the profits.
That is, half of the "distributable profit" after deducting the costs of going to sea, personnel pensions, ship losses and other expenses will be distributed to them.
Therefore, just this time, these one thousand crew members can get at least 6 million taels of silver!
Enough to make everyone rich overnight!
"I really just came here with a noble heart to complete this round-the-world voyage. How come I accidentally made a fortune?!" Lin Feng laughed so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. He whipped Ma Yishan with a small whip and said happily:
"We can't stay here for long, let's get on the boat and go!"
"There are so many goods, how can we move them all?" Ma Yishan felt a burning sensation on his body, and said happily: "All the prisoners are being transported, and our people can also be transported. It will take another ten days to complete the transportation."
"Ten days is too long!" Lin Feng shook his head decisively and said, "How about this, leave the ship in the best condition and leave it alone. We will just leave! The remaining three ships must be moved within six days!"
After a pause, she said in a deep voice: "Tell the prisoners that if they have finished moving by this time in six days, I will give them freedom! But if they haven't finished moving by this time in six days, I'm sorry, you all have to get down!"
"Understood!" Ma Yishan hurried out to pass on the order.
~~
In the next few days, the crew was motivated by the huge wealth.
The captives wanted to survive and be free, so they were even more motivated. Even the nobles used all their strength to move the things!
Finally, on the morning of the sixth day, all three large sailing ships, each carrying hundreds of tons of cargo, were completely unloaded.
By the time the last box of goods was moved, everyone collapsed on the ground exhausted.
The crew members who were watching the prisoners with guns drove them off the ship as soon as possible.
"Go downstairs and have a rest!" Because he learned Spanish, Liu Yishou has been appointed as the translator on the Liu Daxia, the eternal sinner.
"Sir, can I ask you a question?!" Colonel Tiago suddenly turned around and asked.
"Ask." Liu Yishou has been in a good mood recently. Because of his performance in combat, he finally won the respect of the crew. Although they just stopped making fun of his ancestors, he was already very satisfied.
"What is the name of this miraculous ship?" Tiago asked.
Liu Yishou's face immediately turned red, and he wanted to eat this guy. Why did you ask me this question when you couldn't ask anyone else?
Fortunately, no one else understood, otherwise they would have laughed so hard that their stomachs would have hurt.
"What does it have to do with you?" Liu Yishou glared at him fiercely, hoping that he would be sensible.
"As a general of the defeated side, I think I am qualified to know." Unexpectedly, the Spaniard was very stubborn and acted as if he would not leave unless you answer him.
After hesitating for a long time, Liu Yishou sighed and whispered in Chinese:
"The eternal sinner...Liu...Da...Xia..."
Although he couldn't understand the first four words, Thiago could at least remember the pronunciation, but he couldn't hear the last three words clearly.
"What do the last three syllables mean?" Tiago asked when he didn't understand.
"Alas, that's a person's name. He was the top scholar in Huguang in the third year of Tianshun, the pride of our Hunan." Liu Yishou then switched to Chinese.
Although Hunan and Hubei are now both part of Huguang, it was called Hunan in the Tang Dynasty. Just like Zhejiang is divided into eastern and western Zhejiang and Nanzhi is divided into southern and northern Zhejiang, Hunan has always been widely known as a geographical concept.
Liu Yishou sighed, and said in a low voice as if talking to himself: "But now, he is just an ancient man who was cursed for doing bad things with good intentions..."
Tiago didn't understand what he was saying at all. When he wanted to ask more questions, he was chased out by the crew with the butt of a gun.
After getting off the boat and squatting back on the beach, the tax officer came over and asked Tiago if he had found out.
"I found out, but I didn't quite understand it." Tiago said distressedly, "I just heard a word that seemed to be 'Hulan's'."
"Holländer?" The tax collector's eyes lit up. The Habsburg dynasty came from the Holy Roman Empire and they all spoke German.
"Yes, that's the pronunciation." Tiago gave a thumbs up. What a smart boy! No wonder he could become a tax officer.
"What else?" the tax officer asked interestedly.
"There's another word..." Tiago frowned and thought for a while, then asked uncertainly, "Swearing?"
"Fliegend?" the tax collector asked after a moment's thought.
"Yes, that's the word!" Tiago slapped his thigh, looking at the huge ship that was comparable to the Eagle of Lübeck, and suddenly realized: "Fliegend Holländer! That's the name of this ghost ship!"
"So it's called the 'Flying Dutchman'..." The tax collector was also very satisfied and said, "What a good name!"
~~
An hour later, Liu Yishou, escorted by a team of sailors, appeared in front of the captives calmly.
He doesn't know yet that his ancestors have changed from "Hunan" to "Dutch", otherwise he probably wouldn't be in the mood to pretend to be so high and mighty anymore.
This allowed him to announce Commander Lin's orders in a cheerful mood.
Lin Feng did what he said and all the prisoners were released immediately.
But if they were released without distinction, the organized Spanish officers and soldiers would probably arrest the slave rowers immediately.
This was obviously contrary to Commander Lin's orders.
"Commander Lin said that everyone must be released, and everyone must be freed!" Liu Yishou shouted in halting Spanish: "So our commander has decided to let you go separately! All slaves and prisoners will set off on three large sailing ships. The rest will leave on galleys!"
"Protest!" The Spaniards buzzed in dissatisfaction.
The officers and soldiers from Mexico were dissatisfied that all the slave rowers had left, so who would row the boats for them?
The crew of the treasure ship was even more angry. Their ship was worth three or four hundred thousand pesos. How could they let lowly slaves take it away? !
"Protests are invalid." Liu Yishou snorted coldly, "Anyone who talks nonsense will be executed immediately!"
The Spaniards fell silent immediately, as no one wanted to lose their life at the last moment.
"I can't figure out their identities, bah!" Liu Yishou spat, turned around and went to report to the 'Flying Lakelander... oh no, the Dutchman' as the Spaniards called him.
So the crew followed the order and first released the slaves and prisoners, and then used small boats to transport them to three Spanish galleons anchored in the bay.
Most likely, those prisoners were pirates and smugglers. Since there weren't many sailors needed to operate a large sailing ship, it was no problem to drive away the three treasure ships.
They were so happy now. If they had such a good boat back then, how could they have been caught by the anti-smuggling team?
With these three ships, won’t you be able to rule the Caribbean in the future?
As for the slave rowers, they were also tricked into becoming their subordinates. They all wore shackles together, ate, slept and rowed together every day, and indeed developed some team awareness and class feelings. So they decided to form a pirate fleet to do some good things in the Caribbean and take revenge on the Spaniards! Go home after getting rich!
They planned to go to Panama first, because the gold and silver mined by the Spanish from Peru would be transported there and concentrated for shipment in the fall...
The prisoners here set off in the boat happily, but the Spaniards on the shore just stared blankly.
Their galleys were originally leaking water with holes. However, the Ming people took away all their artillery, ammunition, weapons, and armors under the pretext of collecting military supplies. They also dismantled their boats until only the keel was left...
How the hell do we go out to sea?
Lin Feng didn't care about all that. It was good enough that he could keep them alive.
Shortly after the three large sailing ships left, she also led a fully loaded fleet out of Guantanamo... Oh no, Mayishen Bay.
p.s. I will post the next chapter after I finish checking it.
(End of this chapter)