For Chongzhen's inquiry, Andre suddenly felt a little speechless. The largest industry in Britain is now the wool textile industry, which produces about 110,000 woolen wool horses a year. The value of these woolen exports accounts for about three-quarters of the value of Britain's annual foreign trade goods.

Taxes from wool and mutton industries to woolen exports account for more than half of the British government's annual revenue. It can be said that the pillar of the British economy in this era was the wool textile industry.

In order to protect the British wool industry, the British crown not only vigorously developed sheep husbandry, but also banned British wool exports. Britain also opened its doors to Flemish craftsmen who had fled the war and Huguenots who had been religiously persecuted by the French king. These skilled craftsmen brought their new techniques with them, and propelled the British wool textile industry to the heart of Europe.

André's hometown is the centre of woolen manufacturing in the west of England. As a result, he has always been proud of British woollen wool, and on his first voyage he took with him the most important goods for which his hometown is famous, a fine wool woven from the finest British short wool.

But the British woollen wool, which is famous in Europe, gave him a harsh lesson after arriving in Asia. Indians don't like British wool because it's too thick and hot.

The Chinese are also not very interested in British wool, and the rich Chinese merchants who buy the wool feel that this wool is not beautiful enough, and it is too bulky to wear, and it is not as light and gorgeous as the brocade woven from raw silk. Chinese who like the thick and durable wool feel that this fabric is too expensive and not as cheap as cotton.

Without the woollen woollen goods, the more famous of the remaining goods in Britain were coal and iron. The coal produced in Britain is of high quality, and most of the coal mines are located on the northeast coast, which is very convenient for transportation. As an island nation, the British had to smelt pig iron from charcoal and secure wood for shipbuilding, so it was only natural that coal would be used on a large scale.

Britain produces nearly 3 million tonnes of coal a year, accounting for four-fifths of Europe's coal production, but coal, a low-value cargo, is clearly not suitable for sale in China.

All that remains is the iron products produced in England, and the British blacksmiths are really good at working iron, whether in Europe or the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and the Indian continent, they can get a very good evaluation.

Although the quality of iron produced in Britain is slightly worse, it also produces 17,000 to 8,000 tons a year, and imports more than 10,000 tons of pig iron from Sweden every year for processing iron.

But these British irons, which Andre was so proud of, were not competitive in the Chinese market. The quality of these British irons is similar to that of Chinese iron, but the price is 3-5 times different.

And the glass beads and clocks that Britain can barely produce are now able to be made by the Chinese, and the prices are also much lower than in Europe. Andrei really can't think of any goods that Britain can sell to China, no, it should be said that there are goods in Europe that China does not have and needs.

But everything that the Chinese produce, whether in continental Europe or in the UK, will be rushed. For Europeans, Chinese goods are either elegant and mysterious, or they are cheap and good.

For Andrei, the purchase of Chinese goods was not a matter of what kind of goods to choose, but of how much space he had in his ships and how much gold and silver he had in his pocket.

Zhu Youzhen, who was sitting at the top, looked at Andre and couldn't answer for a long time, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Is this question difficult to answer?" Is there so many British specialties that you can't decide for a while? It's okay, why don't you tell me about the goods you brought, and I can give you ideas. ”

Hearing Chongzhen's question, Andrei's face suddenly turned a little red, and he had to explain to Chongzhen out loud: "Not so, although there are many British specialties, most of them seem to be not suitable for the taste of Chinese, such as our British woollen wool, although it has a good reputation in Europe, but when it comes to China, no one cares."

As for general cargo, with all due respect, there is everything in His Majesty's kingdom, and I do not need to travel all the way from all over the world to China. As for the goods I brought this time..."

Since His Majesty the Emperor of China asked, Andrei simply described the goods he had brought with him on board one by one. As he spoke, he thought in his mind, since he couldn't think of anything that the Chinese needed, then simply let the Chinese emperor give him a detailed explanation, I heard that the Chinese emperor has a good face, and he should not let him leave at such a loss.

Zhu Youjian did not notice the careful thinking of the British envoy, and to his ears, this Englishman really should not be a businessman, and most of the goods he brought were things that the Chinese did not value, until he heard about black water and oil.

He immediately reacted, it should be oil, but why is there water? Zhu Youzhen was puzzled, and couldn't help but ask Andre in detail.

Andrei happily described the appearance of this black water oil and its appearance after burning, adding: "This oil comes from an island opposite Malacca City, and I heard that it was fished from a lake on the island. The natives of the island often put the clumps of wax in torches made of bamboo and wood chips for lighting at night, and this oil burns with little smoke and smell, which is very useful..."

Zhu Youzhen nodded at Andrei's explanation, and he finally determined that this black water oil is oil, isn't it Sumatra Island opposite Malacca, Sumatra Island and Borneo have big oil fields. However, these so-called black water oils should have seeped out of the ground, indicating that there is a shallow buried oil field near the lake.

He glanced at Andre again, and found that the other party was looking at him blankly, and he also understood that this so-called black water oil might allow him to open the door to the Chinese market.

Zhu Youzhen thought for a moment, and then said to him: "To be honest, this black water oil is of little use to Daming, because it contains water, and it is definitely not as convenient to burn as whale oil or vegetable oil."

However, if you can dig around the lake where the black water oil was found and find pure black oil that is not mixed with water, I would be happy to do this long-term business with you. ”

Andrei's eyes lit up for a moment, but they darkened significantly, and he said to Chongzhen honestly: "This island of Sumatra is full of princely states, and we British merchants have always rejected us, and they are friendly with the Dutch East India Company, so I am afraid they will not agree to let us look for black oil on the island." ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled at him and said, "If that's the case, then I can let the merchants of the Ming Dynasty cooperate with you to set up an oil extraction company, and we will negotiate with the local king, and you or you will be responsible for the transportation of the extracted oil, what do you think?" ”

Andrei was shaken by the spirits, he liked his majesty's proposal, but he soon found himself in a dilemma, whether he would cooperate with the imperial merchant appointed by the Chinese emperor in his private capacity or in the capacity of the Pattani Merchant House.

Choosing the former, he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand the pressure of the other party in the future. Choosing the latter, he felt that he had suffered again. Although he was a mid-level clerk of the British East India Company, he was not one of the 125 founding shareholders of the company. Cooperating with the emperor of China to start a company is obviously a difficult business to lose money, and if he gives up the shares of this company to the company, he will at most drink a little scraps, which makes him a little unwilling.

Seeing Andre silent for a long time, Zhu Youzhen felt a little strange, he thought that the discount he gave was already good, and the other party was still hesitant, did he still want to monopolize the oil business.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen asked quite unhappily: "What, are you unwilling to cooperate with me?" ”

Under the reminder of the Chinese captain beside him, Andre, who came to his senses, subconsciously said: "No, I am happy to serve your honorable majesty." However, can I ask your Majesty to divide the shares of this company into three parts, and leave me one share personally, as long as three percent... 2 into 1, 1 into fine..."

Zhu Youzhen looked at Andre, who was a little incoherent, and finally put his mind at ease and said: "In this way, divide the company into three parts, the businessmen of the Ming Dynasty are 5 percent, you are one and a half, and you are still 3 and a half?" ”

Andrei hurriedly added: "The British East India Company or the East India Company Pattani Merchant House, when I go back and discuss it with these colleagues, I can decide." ”

When he said this, the servants of the Siyi Pavilion came up with steaming tea sets, and Zhu Youzhen glanced at it and said: "That's all for the matter of starting a company, and now I invite you to taste Daming's unique drink-tea." ”

Andre got up and thanked Chongzhen before returning to his seat, ready to taste the tea that the emperor had given him. He is no stranger to Chinese tea. In Europe, tea is a medicine used to treat ailments, but it is very expensive because it is scarce in quantity. Only in the capitals of the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal can you see the traces of tea.

When he came to Asia, he once tasted the taste of tea from those earth kings and Chinese merchants, and it was bitter in the mouth and sweet in the aftertaste, and it was indeed a good medicinal soup. But he didn't think his own people would like it.

However, when he saw the tea set brought in front of him, he was suddenly a little surprised, when he drank tea before, there were not so many things in front of him.

Under the explanation of the servant, Andrei finally figured out that the tea set in front of him was a teacup for drinking tea, a teapot for brewing tea, a hot milk jug, and a sugar jug full of sugar.

Andre carefully grabbed the handle of the teacup and took a sip of the milk tea that the servant had prepared for him. A fragrant smell rushed from the tip of his tongue to his heart.

"It turns out that Chinese tea is drunk like this, and I was misled by those natives before." Andrei was immediately annoyed.