The New Year is approaching, the Wufeng Islands show a joyful color, the shops have launched various promotional means, busy in the last few days to make a lot of money, the streets have been hung colorful lanterns, those lively nature like to be lively naughty boys, holding snacks in one hand, holding a windmill in the other, with snot on the side of their mouths, they have already run full of sweat, crowded in the crowd to find more fun and interesting places.

As for climbing the line of light smoke from Gu Liang, Lu Ming and the others decided to decide whether to return to Datang after spending the New Year in the Wufeng Islands.

Steward He made contact with the four major scholars in the southeast again, but did not bring any reply from Zhen Qian, but only discussed the business of the remaining goods of the fleet of the four major scholars in the southeast this time.

The Japanese civil strife, the Silla State sent troops to attack the Japanese State, so that the four major warrior clans in the southeast suffered heavy losses in this trade, and the Wufeng Islands intended to buy all the goods squeezed in the hands of the fleet, but the price was only fifty percent of the quotation of Lu Ming and others.

Lu Ming and the others naturally would not accept this price, but Steward He also proposed a way to compensate, and would trade soap, perfume and crystal chips, if the four major scholars in the southeast agreed, the Wufeng Islands would once again let go of some goods to sell to them, including soju, glass, iron products, copper products, and even weapons could also be considered.

This is equivalent to forcing the four major scholars in the southeast to bow their heads and sell the goods of the fleet to the Wufeng Islands at a fifty discount, which is equivalent to losing half of the profits at once.

The question is, can Lu Ming and the others agree?

But what if you don't say yes? Unlike in the past, this time the four major scholars in the southeast were at a disadvantage in trade, and they did not agree to the unreasonable demands of the Wufeng Islands, and the goods were transported back to Datang, and the loss was almost fifty percent, that is to say, the price given by the Wufeng Islands was exactly Lu Ming's bottom line.

Now it is entangled, and it is naturally unwilling to sell it to the Wufeng Islands, but if it is sold to the Japanese country, the price will be 20% more, but the Wufeng Islands will immediately increase the price of goods by 20%, or even higher, and it will offend the Wufeng Islands.

In fact, what Lu Ming and others wanted from the Wufeng Islands was not the goods of soap and perfume, nor the glass and shochu, but weapons and some key manufacturing technologies, such as the process of crystal greenhouses, the processing technology of bamboo paper, etc., especially the flyships of the Wufeng Islands, which were what Lu Ming and the others really wanted.

It's just that Lu Ming and the others also know very well in their hearts that the Wufeng Islands will not easily sell these to themselves.

The negotiations were not destined to go smoothly from the beginning, but Lu Ming and the others had other plans in their hearts, and they stayed in the Wufeng Islands for the time being to observe the changes in the situation, and maybe they could benefit from the fish.

The two sides began to argue on meaningless issues, and Lu Ming and others said that the Jiangnan Shi clan had a lot of wealth and connections, and could help the Wufeng Islands in many places, and were willing to establish long-term cooperative relations with the Wufeng Islands.

This kind of talk is the same as a prostitute/prostitute saying that she will come next time, who believes who is stupid.

It's a pity that he didn't understand the implied meaning of the insistence on how to do things, and adhered to the principle of three noes, "don't loosen your mouth, don't compromise, don't reduce prices!" ”

That night, Zhu Yan was invited by Zhao Rui, the big manager of Zhao's Paper, to a small wharf, which was specially built for Zhao's Paper, and invited Zhu Ji to the boat to enjoy the moon and drink.

Drinking is fake, and admiring the moon is even more impossible, and both of them are like mirrors in their hearts.

Wujun Zhu is the largest bookseller in Jiangnan, while Lu is Zhu's largest paper supplier, and the relationship between the two seemingly cooperative is actually a competitive rival.

This time, Zhu Yan saw a better and cheaper bamboo paper than the one produced by Lu in the Wufeng Islands, and his heart was immediately ready to move, so he found Zhao's Paper to discuss long-term cooperation.

There was a huge sea ship docked on Zhao's wharf, Zhu Yan recognized it at a glance, this was a flyship, but it was a little different from ordinary flyships, there was no mast to hang sails, and it looked very strange, so he asked curiously: "Shopkeeper Zhao, why does this ship have no sails?" ”

Zhao Rui smiled, didn't rush to answer, and took Zhu Yan on the big ship.

Zhu Yan then looked around at the glass lamp hanging on the side of the ship, and immediately found that there were more differences in this ship, in addition to the lack of a mast, the middle part of the ship was divided into two huge hollow cabins, which could be seen deeply, the bow was a resting cabin, and the stern was raised high, and an attic-shaped building was erected, which looked a little twisted, but it was impossible to say that there was anything wrong.

"This ship is one of the few treasures of our Zhao family, it was just produced from the shipyard two months ago, and a lot of new technologies and new processes have been adopted, a certain dare to pat his chest and say, this ship Zhu Lang has never dreamed of before!"

Zhao Rui looked proud, and took Zhu Yan to the boat, the two were about the same age, but Zhao Rui's dark face looked rough and honest, compared with Zhu Yan's little white face, but it looked like Zhu Yan's follower servant, and he was taking his own Lang Jun to check something?

Despised by others, Zhu Yan endured his anger, if he was in Jiangnan, he could make Zhao Rui kneel down and present the family property with both hands, and then according to a crime of conspiracy, the Zhao family would be assigned to slavery, this kind of thing has long been familiar to these families, but in the Wufeng Islands, Zhu Yan knows his status very well, so he can only endure it temporarily.

"Can Shopkeeper Zhao tell me about this ship?"

Zhao Rui didn't seem to care about Zhu Yan calling himself "Zhao Shopkeeper", the ancients were extremely concerned about the title, especially the higher the status, the more they cared about the title, if the title was wrong, the light one was unhappy and threw his sleeves away, and the heavy one cut his robe and cut off the righteousness.

However, Zhao Rui is a businessman, if someone calls him Zhao Lang, he will naturally be very happy, and he will be a little closer, and it is okay to call himself Zhao Shopkeeper.

"This ship is called a bulk carrier, it is specially designed to transport bulk cargo, the whole ship is divided into three parts, you see the two warehouses ......", Zhao Rui pointed to the two large spaces in the ship and said: "Don't look at this ship, although it is only the size of an ordinary thousand stone ship, the internal space is much larger than that of an ordinary thousand stone ship, and because it saves the space for sailors' activities, it can make this ship more than half of the volume, which is more suitable for short-distance transportation of goods!" ”

In fact, there is no need for Zhao Rui to introduce it in detail, Zhu Yan can also see the difference in this ship, the only power source of this ship is manpower, and manpower drives the flywheel to travel, which can only be suitable for short-distance transportation.

This is the first time I have seen such a design, after all, the purpose of the ship is to transport goods, but because of the need for manpower, it is necessary to squeeze out some space to build various cabins, so that the already small hull space is even more cramped.

It's really whimsical, "Then why not install the mast, but what is the saying?" ”

(End of chapter)