My British Empire

  Chapter 518 Calcutta

  Faced with muskets and raw silk, the shopkeeper immediately chose muskets.

  Although the price and profit of raw silk are very high, compared with Japanese pirates, these are nothing.

   Although famous anti-Japanese generals such as Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou hit the Japanese pirates hard, they were only the main force. Bankrupt Japanese warriors and pirates still attacked the coast sporadically, causing a lot of losses.

   Moreover, if you smuggle out to sea without equipment, how can you sail safely?

  More importantly, with the elimination of the main force of the Japanese pirates, the government's control over muskets has become more stringent, and it has become more difficult for the people to own guns.

  So, the excellent muskets of the Macau red-haired ghosts were sought after, and Robin brought the muskets, and they were welcomed.

  Subsequently, Robin sold fifty matchsticks in exchange for fifty taels of raw silk, and paid three thousand taels of silver.

   "Sir, there will still be goods in the future, please continue to come to our Li family. Our Li family is also quite famous in Fujian!"

  When the shopkeeper saw the shining three thousand taels of silver deposit, his eyes lit up and he said very politely.

  Then, under the recommendation of the guide, and under the witness of the Macao Merchant Autonomous Organization, the order was signed.

  Robin felt that his business was worthwhile, but he didn't know that he was ridiculed by the grape people.

   "My God, there are people who buy goods in Macau, which is more than three levels expensive!" Portuguese businessmen laughed.

   "The English are just stupid. Do they know what business is? It will take at least another hundred years!"

   "If it wasn't for the royal government's order, I don't want to bring this group of Englishmen to the East?"

   "What the hell? Let's just keep doing our own business and let them suffer!"

  No Portuguese businessman buys goods in Macau. Macau is only a sporadic purchase, and large quantities are not suitable.

  They directly contacted the gentry in Fujian, Nanzhili and the coast of Zhejiang Province, fixed the way, and then stopped on the coast to buy in large quantities.

   These have long been established, and they are much more cost-effective than Macau.

  And if they knew that there was raw silk, their faces would be very exciting.

   Of course, unbeknownst to our Robin, he is now smug about his cargo.

  One month later, Robin started to return with the cargo and the fleet.

   During the voyage of more than a month, from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal, Robin and his party searched for a while on the east coast of India, but instead of continuing to move forward, they stopped.

   "Gentlemen, please look, here is a fertile land, a river delta, as our trading post, it is the most suitable!"

  Standing on the land in front of you, feeling the sound of the river rushing, and looking around, it is rich in rice and jute, the rivers criss-cross, and the plains stretch as far as the eye can see.

   Facing such a scene, Robin couldn't help but softly sighed to the rest of the captains who followed.

   "Looking at Macau, think about the bustling scene. For future interests, there must be a trading post here, so as to make the kingdom's interests even greater!"

  The flat and fertile land reminded Robin of the prosperity of Macau, and he deeply realized that the kingdom has a trading post at this time, which is an urgent need.

   "Mr. Hunt, we don't have much money to build a trading post at this time, the money has been exchanged for goods!"

  The merchants on the side welcome the construction of the trading station, but they are too short-pocketed and have no extra funds for construction.

   "Everyone, before the trip, His Majesty told me that my kingdom must establish and find a suitable trading point. Making money is not our top priority!"

  Robin Hunt turned around, stared, and said bluntly to the businessmen around him.

"We took most of the goods to Goa and sold them to the Portuguese, while the rest stayed here, bribed the officials of the Mughal Dynasty, and bought the land in front of us. This is our future transit station and Trading post!"

  Robin's voice was very loud, and the rest of the people could only agree.

  Most of the team that traveled this time were private merchant fleets owned by the royal family, and Robin, as the person in charge appointed by His Majesty the King, still had a high prestige, and everyone had to listen to him, even the merchants of the Duke's family.

   Afterwards, after leaving a few thousand pounds and more than a hundred sailors, Robin took most of the goods to Goa, preparing to sell most of them to provide funds for the construction of more trading stations.

  As one of the remaining members and the temporary captain, Will had no choice but to face the task Robin gave him.

   First of all, after investigation, Will found that the fertile land with a prominent geographical location in front of him belonged to several villages.

  In this way, Will did not choose to buy directly from the villagers, but directly found the officials of the Mughal Dynasty, and planned to buy directly from him.

   "Sir, may I ask where do you want to buy the land!" The translator, who was found temporarily, faithfully translated the words of the potbellied official in front of him.

   Gazing at the fair and fat official in front of him, Will didn't dare to be rampant, but said in a very low-key and modest way:

   "We are businessmen from England and want to buy some land here, which is where the surrounding big river (Ganges) enters the sea and make it a trading post!"

   "Yes, but you have to buy the land with 1,000 rubles, and you need to pay a tax of 3,000 rubles every year!"

  The official was very talkative and didn't care about the loss of land at all, so he directly put forward the conditions.

   Moreover, compared with the Indians he has seen, their skin is fairer, their facial features are more three-dimensional, and they are more beautiful.

   "Yes, but I'm curious, why is the price of land cheaper than taxes?" Will was very surprised.

   "That village called Calcutta is the residence of untouchables!" The official had a disdainful and disgusting expression on his face, as if mentioning the word untouchables was an insult to him.

  Although he didn't understand what untouchables were, Will didn't feel pity for them being forced to drive away. Instead, he was a little happy in his heart.

  Building a business station requires a lot of labor, and the villagers who lost their homes are the best cheap labor?

   So Will signs a contract with the officials and begins building a defensive trading post.

   Sure enough, as he expected, the villagers who were driven out of the village by officials had no choice but to seek work from Will and others in exchange for food.

  More than 200 villagers, big and small, built a trading post with earthen walls within half a month, which was very quick.

  Standing on the roof, watching the cottages rising up in front of him, Will was full of emotions at this moment:

   "Here, it used to be called Calcutta, so let's continue to Calcutta in the future! These villagers have also made a lot of contributions!"

  (end of this chapter)