As the saying goes, "When the world comes, the world is in the same way, and heroes are not free from luck." Now Chen Mu feels this way on the issue of iron in the New World.

When there is a shortage of iron, there is a shortage of everywhere, but once there is no shortage, iron ore is flocking to it like a lack of money.

Iron ore was discovered on the coast of Changsheng County thousands of miles north of Changsheng County, so Pingxiang Iron Plant was established. The iron ore veins were extremely huge. At least until Chen Mu returned, there were news that iron ore was discovered within a radius of more than ten miles. However, it was not perfect. The iron ore of Pingxiang Iron Plant was very barren.

The iron ore content in the Ming Dynasty was usually relatively low. Except for the iron-rich ore found in Qiongzhou Prefecture, the iron ore content was generally not high, and a large part of it was sulfur-containing pyrite.

The iron ore of Pingxiang Iron Plant has a lower content than that of the local iron ore in the Ming Dynasty. The only advantage is that it seems to have huge reserves, and excavation can meet the needs of some iron agricultural tools.

But when luck comes, it will flock to you.

Less than two months after the establishment of the Pingxiang Iron Factory, the Peruvian Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese came to Changsheng to express their desire to trade with the Eastern Military Palace.

The first person to arrive at Changsheng was a merchant from Brazil named Simon, who looked as polite as a European. He brought a lot of goods and asked his black servants to put a floor in the open space outside the military government office, and asked Chen Mu to go out and watch.

The goods were just a small portion, filled in the same wooden basket, neatly arranged, mainly including mahogany, spices, cotton, sugar and tobacco, as well as some wild animal fur.

Brazil means mahogany in Portuguese. In fact, the vast land of Brazil is a barren land for the Portuguese who are obsessed with finding gold and silver. Most of the reason why they stayed there to explore the land was because of mahogany.

This kind of cash crop is ground into powder and contains a lot of water-soluble red, which can be used as a dye for precious clothing. Simon also focused on introducing this dye to Chen Mu, and humans like red.

In the impression of the Portuguese, the Ming Dynasty preferred red because the clothes worn by the most noble officials were all red.

However, Chen Mu was helpless when he looked at Simon's goods. He picked his eyes bored and took Simon back to the government office and asked, "What do you want to buy from me?"

"Gold, silver, muskets, cannons, mainly these goods. Redwood and spices are the best goods we can produce. In the past, this was something that the royal family specialized in, but you must have known about the king's misfortune."

Simon explained: "So now the Governor allows some to be taken out as trade goods in exchange for some weapons that will allow us to protect ourselves."

"The Ming Dynasty can buy some of the things you want to sell, but first of all, the Ming Dynasty is not short of dyes or spices. If the price you offer is outrageous, I don't need to buy these things. In addition, cotton, tobacco, animal skins and sugar are the same. These things are available in the New World. We also grow tobacco, sugarcane and cotton on our land."

Chen Mu had no idea of ​​stolen Portuguese merchants. He was just saying the fact that the homogeneity of cash crops on this land is extremely serious, and everyone planted these things, and there was no advantage at all. He asked: "Can you tell me how many people are in Portugal in Brazil? It is convenient for me to calculate the output of your various goods."

"You should know that people like me will not talk to you about some small deals. If I want, I can buy the whole of Brazil."

Simon opened his mouth and didn't say anything, because after a simple evaluation, the man in front of him seemed to be able to buy the barren land of Brazil - if their king was still alive, it might only take twenty tons, or ten tons of silver would tempt the king.

"We should have 20,000 or 30,000 people, but because of the pirates in the Han Dynasty, we now have only 15,000 people."

Chen Mu blinked: "Because of Han? So you counted black people too? What if they weren't?"

"It cannot be counted. We cannot work with Tupi people. Black people are the main producers. We only have two thousand people, but these two thousand people are not producers."

The Tupi people were a branch of the Indians in Brazil, who made a living by hunting, gathering and fishing. In 1561, they joined forces with many indigenous tribes to resist the enslavement of the Portuguese and besieged the Portuguese in the city of Sao Paulo. In the end, they had to ask for peace from them. Later, the Portuguese began to buy slaves from Africa.

"Do you have iron ore?"

Simon looked at Chen Mu with care: "Your Excellency, if we have iron ore, do we still need to buy muskets and cannons from you?"

Chen Mu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Even if you have one, you will want to buy it from me, because the muskets we make are cheaper and more useful, and we have a lower cost. I prefer cotton. How much cotton can you produce a year?"

"I'm just a businessman, I'm afraid I need to go back and ask the Governor to answer you."

"Okay, then go back and tell your Governor that I will not sell gold and silver unless you have iron ore. As for muskets and cannons, if you are in the Changsheng trade, you will exchange 300 kilograms of cotton for one musket, and 3000 kilograms of cotton for one gun; if you trade in Brazil, you will exchange 500 kilograms of cotton for one musket, and 50,000 kilograms of cannons."

Chen Mu said as he shook his head and said, "The musket is a messile gun, which is similar to yours, but the cannon is not a Franc, but a general of the second jin Zhenshuo of the Ming Dynasty. It is very useful. I will take you to see later."

In fact, Chen Mu was a little disappointed after hearing Simon say that there was no iron ore in Brazil and was too lazy to continue talking. Among the many goods, cotton was still useful to him, but the use was not that great, it was just better than nothing.

If they are willing to sell, Chen Mu can make some money, but if they are unwilling to sell, there are many places where cotton is produced in the counties in Asia.

Just as Brazil is a barren land for Portugal, Portugal, which has a small country and a small population, is not profitable for such a huge size as the Eastern Military Palace.

But when he thought about it, another idea came to his mind. He said to Simon: "I have an idea. You can go back and discuss with your governor. What Portugal is most worried about now is how to protect Brazil without the protection of the king. My army can help him achieve this goal, and my people can also help develop Portugal."

"You don't have manpower, we have it. Although the Ming and Portugal have fought several battles in the past, the Ming Dynasty is pretty good to Portugal. At least your people are still staying in Haojing now. We have a foundation of mutual trust."

"Why don't we let Brazil be like a mirror? If your governor wants, I will send some people to Brazil to take a look, and then choose these lands and rent them from you for a while; or use them free of charge but the output is shared by the Ming and Portugal countries; at the same time, both sides have the responsibility to protect this land, and these things can be discussed in the future. Go back and ask your governor."
Chapter completed!