The South Atlantic Ocean was particularly cold in early September.

A small boat rowed toward the coast in the darkness, and the sailors exhaled white air from their mouths, which was particularly eye-catching in the cold moonlight. When approaching the coast, several sailors jumped into the cold sea water and pushed the boat forward.

The boat finally leaned onto the beach under the push and pull of the sailors. Several people holding torches were waiting on the shore, and they seemed to have been waiting for a long time. The leader was a middle-aged man holding a flintlock pistol in his hand and a 32-year-old command knife hanging around his waist.

"Alvaro, you're half an hour late tonight," said the middle-aged man. "The new 'peninsula'? Still staring at our every move in Buenos Aires, you're all taking big risks."

"Ahh, the Chief Inspector is still in the city?" Alvaro jumped off the boat and laughed exaggeratedly: "Poor municipal councillors, their purses are going to be deflated again. Of course, I have no intention of laughing at your father."

The middle-aged man's face twitched, ignored Alvaro's ridicule, but turned around and said behind him: "Miguel, Anthony, go check the goods."

Two capable young men walked forward as they spoke, opened the cargo packages on the boat and checked: metal spurs, horseshoes, skinning knife, bone-cleaning knife, scissors, shovels, pickaxes, axes...

It took them a long time to nod at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man paced over, looked at the torch, and asked, "Why are there no Tatan saber? You know that this thing is very popular in the La Plata area now, and many people with horse-wrangling horses like to buy one."

Alvaro shrugged and said, "The Tatan sabers are popular products. The Russians are the biggest customers of the Tatan sabers. They have a big appetite and even want to acquire all the sabers produced by the Tatans. Not only that, the Poles and Swedes have also expressed great interest in the Tatan sabers. Three shopping malls have been built outside the Tatan harbor this week. Our quota for this month is only 50, and we have sold them all to you. Content, my friend! Now pay the money quickly. I don't want to stay in this damn place for even a minute, and my young men are almost frozen."

The middle-aged man paid the money very readily, and it was obvious that it was not the first time they had traded. Alvaro looked at the Spanish cross silver coins minted by Potosi in the quasi-shaped wallet, and found another exquisite "one yuan" silver coins minted by the Tatans. The middle-aged man laughed and said, "Even silver coins are better than the ones you minted, and they are of sufficient quality..."

Speaking of silver coins, we have to mention the various versions of coins minted by Time Travelers. Due to their sufficient quality and good appearance, they have become popular among major smugglers in La Plata. The various silver coins minted by the Spanish in the Americas are not only ugly in appearance, irregular in shape, but also not very uniform in weight. Take the cross silver coins with a face value of 8 riyals as an example. The lightest one weighs about 24 grams, while the heavy one reaches 27.5 grams.

And the quality is also very suspicious. A Venetian merchant had tested some Potosi cross silver coins before and claimed that these silver coins were mixed with a large amount of base metals.

Since the launch of self-minted coins by Time Travelers, due to its unified shape and sufficient quality, it has become very popular in the market. Many merchants who come to trade trade their Spanish silver coins to Time Travelers and then collect the silver dollars they have obtained. Currently, the official exchange rate of the "yuan" in the port of Tatan and the "riyal" in Spain is 1:9.6, but in the few private transactions between smugglers, this exchange rate has been speculated to above 1:12 or even higher.

Finance Committee Member Tangyuan was also very happy about this situation. One dollar silver coin contains 27 grams of silver, 3 grams of copper, and 10 riyals generally weighs about 31-32 grams. Even if some base metals are mixed in it, the remaining silver content is quite considerable, definitely more than 27 grams.

"I have said that minting coins is a very profitable thing!" Tang Yuan thought quietly.

After the transaction between the two parties was completed, Alvaro and his sailors drank a few sips of the spirits, pushed the boat into the cold water again, and rowed towards the large ship moored on the sea.

...

"That is to say, because the policies of the West Indian Academy and the Trade Agency prohibit the transactions between Asuncion and Buenos Aires from the local area except Lima, resulting in the rampant local smuggling trade and the king's interests were damaged." Alfonso Bianca de Santis Romero said in the room of the local governor's palace with a glass of red wine.

"Yes, Your Excellency General Attorney." The speaker was a young army captain who stood respectfully beside Alfonso Romero.

"Don't be nervous, Torres." Alfonso smiled at the young man, "Your father mentioned you to me, saying that you have served in La Plata for more than three years and are very clear about everything here."

"Yes, sir." Torres calmed down a little and said, "Because the locally produced large quantities of leather, tallow, cheese, horns, wool and other materials are not urgently needed by the Kingdom, the Trade Agency is extremely indifferent to the interests of the La Plata region. Due to trade restrictions, Asuncion and Buenos Aires can only purchase high-priced goods from Lima, and the supply of goods is not very sufficient. On the other hand, local goods will also be exploited by Lima merchants, which has caused local livestock farmers to

The owners were extremely dissatisfied. Therefore, smuggling trade flourished under such circumstances, with a large number of cheap smuggling goods from Brazil flowing into the market every month. Even... many municipal council members also participated. They traded with the Portuguese at various secret ports in the estuary of the La Plata River or the east bank. The number of goods traded was amazing, and the interests of the kingdom were lost in large quantities. It is estimated that the total amount of illegal smuggling trade has reached as much as five times the total amount of legal trade."

Attorney General Alfonso listened carefully, and when the young man finished speaking, he drank the red wine in his glass, stood up and walked, suddenly looking at Torres and asked: "I saw that many gentlemen in Buenos Aires are keen to carry a saber that is said to be from Tatan. Is this also a smuggled product from the Portuguese? As far as I know, the kingdom does not have this standard saber sold to Lima."

"Yes, yourselves." Torres took off the saber from his waist and handed it to Alfonso, saying, "This knife is the saber of Tatan, each worth 3 pesos."

Alfonso pulled out his saber, and the straight blade was slightly curved, and the blade was shiny, reflecting a burst of cold light under the candlelight.

"It's very sharp and practical saber, no wonder it becomes popular. What does the inscription on the blade mean?" Alfonso smiled and asked at the Chinese inscription "32-year-old non-commissioned officer sword" on the blade.

"Sadly, no one in Buenos Aires knows what it means," Torres explained, "but some people say this is a text used by the Ming people in the Eastern Kingdoms."

"Oh? Did the Portuguese carry sabers from the East thousands of miles away to the New World to sell them?" The General Inspector asked in surprise, "And only sold 3 pesos?"

"No, Your Excellency!" Torres replied seriously: "This was not trafficked by the Portuguese from the East. In fact, they bought sabers from the port of Tatan in the East Coast and smuggled to the La Plata area for sale with their goods, which is not a secret in Buenos Aires and Asuncion."

"Port Tatan?" Alfonsho said, "I think I heard a new geographical term. Are there not only Indians and Jesuit missionaries in the East Coast?"

"It may have been, but it is not now," said Torres. "It seems that two years ago, a group of Tatans, perhaps Orientals, landed in the East Coast and established a colonial settlement in the Port of Tatan. Now their city is already very large. According to sailors who have been there, Tatans face the sea and is surrounded by walls on three sides. There are at least two thousand people living in the city."

"And they have a certain industrial foundation and the handicraft market is prosperous," Alfonso said. "They are also very ambitious. Perhaps they will continue to expand into the inland areas and threaten the kingdom's sovereignty over the East Coast."

Torres didn't speak, but his clenched fists revealed his heart.

"Torres, you go back first." Alfonso suddenly waved his hand and said.

"Your Excellency..." Torres cried out in dismay: "The Portuguese and the Tatans are not only eroding the commercial interests of the kingdom, but also infringing on the sovereignty of the kingdom..."

"I have learned all this!" Attorney General Alfonso raised his voice: "But the area that His Majesty the King gave me is not the only area of ​​La Plata. Next, I will go to Santiago, Lima, Chilkas and Acapulco to inspect and maintain the authority of the royal family. Don't worry, I will deal with this matter."

"I understand." Torres said.

? "Peninians" and "new guests" are both despicable names of white natives in the La Plata area to the special envoys of the Sect Master.
Chapter completed!