On May 10, 1650, Zheng Yong had just had supper in the pearl of the Baltic Sea, the pearl of Riga, and the 90th anniversary of the Baltic Sea.≤Although this is the "wild edge" in the eyes of Western Europeans, a standard remote area. Although the Swedes are levied here for intensive taxes, as a senior foreign envoy to the East Coast Republic, Zheng Yong's living standards are actually not low.

He lived in a European-style villa he bought (next to the East Coast Trading Station). He was guarded by the spies from the State Intelligence Administration, Ming Dynasty chefs sent from his local area, and several Polish maids - all of which were hired by his wife from his hometown in Poland. The dinner was a combination of Chinese and Western dishes, including his favorite Chinese stir-fry, as well as the locally popular pickled herring and grilled steak, which was quite rich. As for the drinks, of course, it was his favorite Daqu in the South African River, which was aged for ten years.

His Polish wife Veronica had just returned from Danze on a merchant ship a few days ago, and brought Zheng Yong's two sons back from Poland. She was preparing to go to Arhangel in a few days, accompanying her husband to inspect the development of local commercial stations, and also travel. The local Russians have been waiting for the East Coast people for a long time. On the edge of the wilderness, they are extremely eager for everything from the Western civilized world, including their desire for goods, technology, and even the so-called fashionable lifestyle.

This sentiment originated from their repeated failures in the Western world over the years, such as the war with Poland and Sweden. These shameful failures have led to reflection by the Russian nobles who felt that their country might really need some change, and this should first be carried out from a military perspective.

After losing to Poland in the Smolensk War, the Russians have been lying on firewood and tasting gall for the past few years, intending to wash away shame. For this reason, they purchased Western weapons and hired Western instructors to train their troops. While building an arsenal in Tula, they tried to develop their own military industry. Unfortunately, they did not have their own iron ore (iron ore needs to be imported from Sweden, but Sweden is also an enemy...), so the progress has been very limited, and weapons and equipment are still mainly purchased from outside.

In the early 1940s, the main sources of weapons imported by the Russians were Britain and the Netherlands. After all, only these two Western countries opened irregular routes with them. Even a small number of East Coast Army weapons exported to the Principal of Moscow were transferred by the Dutch. However, in recent years, with the increasing popularity of the East Coast Danze and Riga Trading Stations, and the Russians successfully sailed from Arkhangel to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the East Coast people began to conduct direct trade with them, and the transaction costs of both sides were greatly reduced, which naturally led to a significant increase in the proportion of East Coast weapons used by the elite Moscow shooting army.

The reason why the East Coast weapons are so eyed by Russians is naturally not without reason. The most important thing is its super high cost-effectiveness - the price is only about 15% more expensive than those produced in Britain and the Netherlands, but the lifespan (mainly the lifespan of the gun barrel) is 30% higher, and a bayonet is also provided for free, which is also more exquisite in appearance. This competitiveness is naturally not comparable to others. East Coast weapons are not only loved by Russians, but also by Ottomans, Tatars and even Ukrainian Cossacks. This is the reputation accumulated by its excellent quality.

Even though the Poles have now cut off all trade ties with the East Coast, some local aristocrats are still secretly conducting underground trade with the East Coast. These trades are mainly concentrated on high-quality metal agricultural tools, high-end textiles, medicines and other civil consumer goods. The scale is not large at this stage, but the trade volume is rising month by month. It makes people sigh that the central government of Poland, a loose country, really cannot control the local aristocrats, sooner or later they will die in this system.

However, the life and death of the Poles do not care about the people on the East Coast. Even if his wife is a Polish, Zheng Yong's impression of this country is now terrible, because the Polish government ordered the closing of the Danze Shang Station, which was originally the most profitable under Zheng Yong's management, cast a shadow on his future. He is only 35 or 36 years old this year and still wants to make progress, but the Polish's actions undoubtedly greatly overwhelmed his "political achievements", which made him very annoyed.

"Dear, one of my good sisters married in the Principality of Courland. She asked someone to ask me what price we could give if I purchased weapons in our business site?" After settling down to bed with both children, Veronica sat next to Zheng Yong and suddenly asked softly.

"Oh? Is his husband who wants to do business, right?" Zheng Yong, who was drinking himself, was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then said indifferently: "Since it is your sister, I will give him the price of a large wholesaler, well, just like their eldest grandpa Jacob. If the price of weapons is sold to Poland, the profit margin is still quite large. It just so happens that the merchant station is sufficient supplies, and the most goods transported by local ships are weapons. You can buy them at will, as long as he can afford the money."

Veronica nodded happily when she heard her husband say this.

Speaking of the Principality of Kurland, which is close to Riga, is now becoming increasingly important in the business territory of the East Coast people. Since the Kingdom of Poland cut off all trade ties with the East Coast people, many Polish and Dutch merchants began to import goods from the East Coast - mainly high-quality army weapons - through channels such as the Principality of Prussia and the Principality of Kurland - and then resell them back to Poland.

Now the Kingdom of Poland is preparing to brutally suppress the Ukrainians who are rebelling, so there is a huge demand for ordnance (because the Polish army was almost completely destroyed in previous battles and is currently being rebuilt). In addition, the government of the Kingdom of Poland is not very rich in finance (the price of grain, one of the most important export commodities, is slowly falling in Western Europe), so it is also a love-hate relationship for the cheap and affordable ordnance from the East Coast Republic, and dare not say lightly that it does not have such a good thing with the highest cost performance. Therefore, after thinking about it from many parties, the government of the Kingdom of Poland finally turned a blind eye to this army weapon imported from the "Dude of Prussia and the Principal of Kurland".

This obviously led to the sales of East Coast Army equipment in the Nordic region stagnated for a period of time and suddenly entered a new stage. East Coast people, Kurians, Prussians, and some Polish and Dutch merchants (Dutch wholesalers who have been operating Polish business all year round) made a lot of money. The husband of the good sister mentioned by Zheng Yong's wife is obviously the kind of guy who wants to join after seeing others get rich.

However, in Zheng Yong's opinion, the husband of her wife's best friend is not as good as their monarch, Jacob, the Grand Duke of Kurland. Because, among the largest merchants who resell East Coast goods in the Duchy of Kurland, the Duke of Kurland, the Duke of Kurland, the Duke of Kurland, the total profit of more than 80,000 yuan to Poland is over 80,000 yuan.

Zheng Yong recently heard that this duke and his family, who made a fortune, were originally good at doing business. They first relied on the export of wood, rigging, flax, livestock and grain to the Netherlands to accumulate original capital, and then vigorously intervened in commercial re-export trade, exporting cheap industrial products from Western Europe to Poland, Prussia and other places, making a fortune. Recently, with Jacob succeeding the Grand Duke of Courland, the country began to participate in the sales of East Coast goods in the Baltic region, and gradually became a relatively important wholesaler under the Riga Trading Station on the East Coast, which made Zheng Yong attach great importance to it.

Moreover, with the increase in economic strength and the great development of the shipbuilding and shipping industry - there are currently more than ten merchant ships that can carry out ocean sailing under the name of Grand Duke of Courland, and the Principality of Courland is also quite interested in going to the distant New World for trade and even colonization. Zheng Yong vaguely heard that this country had tried to colonize Tobago Island in the Caribbean, but it ended in failure. But they obviously have not given up completely, because Jacob is currently recruiting crew members familiar with ocean sailing in various places and building new ships, ready to colonize outside the world at any time.

To be honest, Zheng Yong was quite interested in this Grand Duke Jacob who only ruled a country with a population of more than 200,000, and expressed great understanding of his unswerving overseas colonization. For this reason, he also wrote a letter to Grand Duke Jacob of Courland, suggesting that he should not go to the Americas to colonize, or turn his attention to the distant Black Africa. It is also rich and can also grow high-value-added economic crops such as sugarcane and tobacco.

Even if you have enough ability, you can conquer some black indigenous tribes through trade, war and other means, and sell the strong men to planters in the New World. This is a good way to make money. No matter how bad the infrastructure construction sites in the East Coast are lacking a large number of strong slave workers. As long as the price is right, they don’t mind buying some black people to use. Anyway, they are all consumables? At least they are much "durable" than the Indians, and after use, they can be thrown to the Black Eight Banners tribes in South Africa to supplement their dick. It is really the best of both worlds. However, this Duke Jacob has not yet replied, which makes Zheng Yong quite sad, and he doesn’t know whether this weird man has received the letter.

On May 18, 1650, after handling all the affairs of the Riga Trading Station, Zheng Yong took the old ship he bought, took his family and entourage to the Arkhangel Port of the Moscow Principality, and was preparing to inspect the development progress of the Trading Station there. You must know that this Trading Station is now a place of hope for Zheng Yong to get rid of the predicament, but it is not careless. (To be continued, please search for astronomy, novels are better and faster!
Chapter completed!