After getting the agreement sent by Xu Xinsu and Zheng Cai together and signed with Manila's representative Severcos, Zhu Youzhen read it a little, then put down the text of the agreement and said to Xu Xinsu: "Since we have reached an agreement with the Spaniards, then we can decide how to intervene in the situation in Southeast Asia next." ”

Xu Xinsu replied quite movingly: "The minister is very willing to obey His Majesty's orders and establish friendly relations with Manila..."

However, Zhu Youzhen quickly interrupted him and said, "No, you just need to run this smuggling company well." There will be someone else in charge of the affairs with Manila.

The reason why I have entrusted you with the operation of this smuggling company is that there are known routes from Asia to the Americas, one from Manila and one from Japan.

We don't know the specific itinerary of the Manila route, but for the Japan route, we should be able to determine it when Zheng Zhihu returns.

Since I have divided the sea under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty into three parts, and Japan, the Ryukyus, and the north of Taiwan are your defense areas, so I have handed over this smuggling company to you to operate, so as not to have any further disputes between you and Zheng Zhilong..."

Listening to Chongzhen's words, Xu Xinsu couldn't help but sneer, and Zheng Cai on the side finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Youzhen then said to Zheng Cai: "Since the agreement has been signed, you are now going to negotiate with that Sevikos with this agreement and ask him to assist us in establishing a bank branch in Manila."

Tell him that the establishment of a branch in Manila will make it easier for us to transfer the company's profits to their accounts. If possible, try to persuade the Manila authorities to accept the use of Daming-issued banknotes in the Philippines..."

After explaining to Xu Xinsu and Zheng Cai about the follow-up matters concerning the signing of the agreement with Spain, Zhu Youzhen looked through the minutes of the meeting of the merchants' congress and the overseas merchants' trade association sent by Lu Qi.

After reading these minutes, Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then said to Wang Chengen: "The merchant congress, it doesn't matter if those merchant representatives continue to argue and argue. However, on the side of the Maritime Association, I plan to attend their meeting in the West Garden Jiale Hall tomorrow, and you can arrange it for me. ”

With five days to go before the New Year, the 54 maritime representatives finally waited for Chongzhen's decision to prepare for the meeting and meet with them separately, which made them all feel relieved.

In the nearly 10 days of the meeting, because of the lack of a strong person to preside over the meeting, basically everyone did not talk about anything.

Although after a year of actual operation, the sea area near Daming is basically divided into four parts.

From Dengzhou to North Korea, including the entire Bohai Bay, it belonged to the territory of the Ming official army. From northern Taiwan to Japan via the Ryukyus, it is close to Xu Xinsu's sphere of influence.

However, because of the previous blow by the "Eighteen Zhi" maritime business group, Xu Xinsu's power was greatly affected, so this sea area was not really in his hands, Zheng Zhilong and the maritime merchants of Zhejiang and Fujian only superficially admitted that Xu Xin had the power to manage this sea area.

The sea area between southern Fujian and Taiwan, and the ocean surface from Taiwan to Manila, Palawan, and Borneo Island, are under the jurisdiction of Zheng Zhilong.

Compared with the weak Xu Xinsu, Zheng Zhilong's power in this sea area is obviously stronger, he basically controls the navigation power of the Taiwan Strait, but the further south, the less influence he has.

As for Liu Xiang, he was in charge of the sea between the sea off Canton and Annam, but after the leader of the Cantonese pirates occupied Saigon, he was obviously a little too happy to even attend the meetings of the Maritime Association.

This time, it was still his younger brother, Liu Peng, who guarded Hong Kong. Compared with Liu Xiang, who didn't take the imperial court very seriously, Liu Peng, who built Hong Kong from scratch bit by bit, had an extremely deferential attitude because he relied on too many needs from the imperial court.

After meeting with more than 10 representatives of maritime businessmen in succession, Zhu Youzhen also had a basic understanding of the current situation in Southeast Asia.

Especially for the best-selling Indian cotton cloth in Southeast Asia, he was really surprised. He has always thought that Southeast Asia is close to China, and since the silk, linen and other textiles in the Southeast Asian market are all Chinese goods, cotton cloth should naturally be imported from China.

However, after careful questioning, he realized that this was nothing more than his delusion. In Asia, only Indians can be compared with China's textile technology.

The Parsi who fled from Persia to India are good at silk weaving and shipbuilding, and it is said that there are more than 90 kinds of silk fabrics in India, and the craftsmanship is not weaker than that of silk produced in China. The Persians are most outstanding in mixing gold and silver silk with raw silk, and the silk woven is simply beautiful.

The only thing lacking is that Indian silk is not as good as Chinese silk, so some of the highest grades of silk weaving must import the finest raw silk from China.

However, in terms of cotton textiles, India's Gujarat and Multan regions are cotton planting areas with a long history, and the history of cotton cultivation is even older than that of China.

The climate on the west coast of India is obviously more suitable for growing cotton than China, and the quality of the cotton grown is better than that of China. Before American cotton was introduced to Asia, India's upland cotton was arguably the best cotton in Asia.

With high-quality raw materials and the excellent skills of Indian textile craftsmen, the quality of Indian cotton cloth is not only on par with the best Songjiang cloth in China, but also basically the same in price.

However, in terms of dyeing, Chinese cotton cloth is a cut behind Indian cotton cloth, and the cotton cloth produced in India is more colorful and clear, and can be maintained for a long time.

In addition, the businessmen from India* believe in the same religion as the indigenous people of Southeast Asia, so the degree of acceptance of Indian cotton cloth in the Southeast Asian market is higher than that of Chinese cotton cloth.

In exchange for spices from Southeast Asia, the colonizers from Europe preferred Indian cotton cloth, which was easy to obtain.

A piece of Matsue cloth is about 347 square meters, while Indian cotton cloth is about 36-38 square meters, and Indian cotton cloth is slightly larger.

In terms of price, a piece of Nantong blue calico is about 09-1 taels, while a piece of Indian calico is between 08-09 taels. With its low price and high quality, Indian calico occupies a dominant position in the Southeast Asian market.

According to the estimates of these maritime merchants, Indian cotton cloth is sold in the Southeast Asian market for about 10,000 horses a year, about 40-50 tons of silver, while Chinese cotton cloth is only about one-tenth of the sales volume of Indian cotton cloth.

As European colonizers became interested in the Indian cotton trade, the number of Indian cotton cloth sales in Southeast Asia continued to rise.

Due to the problems of India's cotton cloth trade, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but take an interest in India. When he heard that among these maritime representatives, Yang Tiansheng had just been to the Indian Ocean once, so he summoned him separately to hear his impressions of this trip to India in detail.

For Chongzhen's summons, Yang Tiansheng had obviously been prepared for a long time, but he didn't want to report the emperor's trip to India. He wanted to report to Chongzhen about the problems between Johor, Malacca, Aceh, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Pattani.

Seeing Yang Tiansheng's eagerness, Zhu Youzhen had to put aside his interest in India and let him talk about the affairs of the Strait of Malacca first.

When Yang Tiansheng and Chen Xinji established themselves in the Ambuna Islands, they immediately realized that if they could not move freely in the Strait of Malacca, then the commercial value of the Ambuna Islands would be very small.

The current navigation rights in the Strait of Malacca, although controlled jointly by Aceh and the Portuguese. However, the location of Malacca City is one of the best transit ports for monsoon trade. Although the Acehnese also controlled most of the passage of the Straits of Malacca, the profits from the Straits trade were not at all comparable to those of the city of Malacca.

The Kingdom of Aceh on the island of Sumatra, now Sultan Iskanda Muda, was an arrogant and warlike man. He has nearly 40,000 conscripted sergeants at his disposal, as well as an extremely large arsenal.

After conquering the islands of Sumatra and the Kingdom of Johor, Iskandarmuda set his sights on the Portuguese-controlled city of Malacca.

In Iskandarmuda's view, the Portuguese-occupied city of Malacca not only stole the commercial interests that should belong to Aceh, but also became the biggest obstacle to his conquest of the Malay Peninsula.

However, despite the strong military force of the Kingdom of Aceh, the city of Malacca has become impregnable after more than 100 years of operation by the Portuguese.

In particular, the castle of Santiago, built at the southeast foot of the West Mountain of the Malacca estuary, is claimed to be the largest and most fortified castle in Southeast Asia, much more majestic than the Batavia built by the Dutch.

It was with this castle that the Portuguese were able to repel the attacks of the Kingdom of Johor several times and keep the city of Malacca. It was thanks to this castle that the Portuguese were able to extort from the nearby natives and passing merchant ships.

It can be said that the behavior of Iskanda Muda, the Kingdom of Aceh, only disgusted the surrounding indigenous kingdoms, but the actions of the Portuguese over the years have made everyone feel hated.

For example, the customs duty of Malacca City levied 9% ad valorem tax on imported goods, 6% to the king, and 3% to the localities. For export goods, an ad valorem duty of 45 per cent is levied, 3 per cent goes to the king and 15 per cent goes to the localities. Only grain is exempt from duty, and ships to Goa and Cochin are exempt from tax.

Anyone who plants fruit trees on the land of Malacca City must pay 10% of the harvest. Housing tax, one kruza more per year. Liquor tax, one kruza more per month.

The crew of each ship is subject to a poll tax of 15 riyals per person. Berthing fees are paid per boat, 3 kruzado. For British vessels, the levy fluctuates between 9-20%.

And these are public charges, not counting the extortion of Portuguese officials in private. For example, during his three-year tenure, the Governor of Malacca was able to collect the equivalent of 20 years' annual salary by selling a permit, and his annual salary was about 2,500 Kruzardos.

The annual salary of the Malacca ** official is 8,335 kruzado, but the benefits he reaps from fines and lawsuits exceed 20,000 kruzados every year.

The exploitation of merchants by the Portuguese is truly the same regardless of nationality, religion, or skin color. Even if Yang Tiansheng passed by Malacca City under the banner of Daming, the Portuguese did not take a copper plate less.