Chapter 241 For the sake of profit, Cheers!
William Henry Sutherland, thirty-five years old.
He was born in London, England, into a prominent merchant family, the Sutherland family, which had extensive business networks and deep political influence in London.
His family was mainly engaged in East-West trade in silk, tea, porcelain, etc., and had long-term trade relations with the Ming Dynasty.
William, on the other hand, had been very interested in this mysterious Eastern country since he was a child, especially when he heard that the Ming Dynasty possessed the legendary "magic arts" and that anyone who practiced the "magic arts" could become a "servant of God", gain immortality and great power.
So, at the age of 25, in the 60th year of Jiajing, he resolutely followed his family's caravan and came to the Ming Dynasty.
The Kingdom of England can be said to be one of the earliest countries to trade with the Ming Dynasty.
In August of the 48th year of the Jiajing reign, the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture cleared out the Chaoyong Society and Haiyun Gang in Yin County, and the business was then taken over by the imperial court.
(Note: See Chapter 166 for details.)
As for the Sutherland family, they had trade relations with the Chaoyong Society and the Haiyun Gang. Although the two major chambers of commerce were dealt with, the Sutherland family's business was not affected.
Not only that, their family turned a disaster into a blessing and was able to establish connections with Ming Dynasty officials.
It was also from that time that rumors about immortals in the Ming Dynasty began to spread, and the rumors became more and more intense among the people.
Over the course of twelve years, the news became increasingly widespread until it reached him in the UK.
He stayed in the Ming Dynasty for a full ten years. During these ten years, he could be said to have witnessed the legends of immortals in the Ming Dynasty, from the initial rumors to the real immortals flying into the sky and escaping into the earth.
From then on, he began to represent the family and be responsible for making friends with Ming officials, dignitaries, and those immortal cultivation chambers of commerce.
Unfortunately, a lot of money has been spent over the years, and countless rare treasures have been given away, including many beauties unique to their country, but the amount received in return is pitifully small.
Of course, it cannot be said that there is no reward at all. For example, the Chamber of Commerce he belongs to is very famous in Xiaoshan area.
But having seen the "divine arts" and the ability of the "servants of God" to fly and hide in the ground, he no longer cared about worldly wealth, and these were not the rewards he wanted.
However, he has never given up over the years. He believes that as long as he works hard enough, there will always be a chance.
Once he gets a chance, he will grab it without hesitation and never let go.
As the people of the Ming Dynasty said, "No matter how hard you try, you still can't find it." But hard work pays off, and now the opportunity has finally come.
Although he did not come into contact with the real immortal methods during these ten years, he successfully came into contact with the circle of "Da Ming Immortal Cultivation World" by constantly donating money to various parties.
In fact, he had come into contact with "divine arts" during the past ten years, but practicing "divine arts" required a key thing, which was something called spiritual resources.
Only by possessing spiritual resources can one practice "divine arts".
This is equivalent to saying that he has the treasure but not the key.
He still remembers what the Ming man who practiced "divine arts" said to him that day.
"Even if you were given the 'Immortal Technique', without spiritual resources, you would never be able to achieve anything. You might not even be able to reach the middle stage of Qi training before your lifespan runs out."
"In this vast world of immortal cultivation, there are only a few powerful people who can be counted on one hand. Spiritual resources are considered more important than life by every cultivator. Why do you think you can snatch food from a tiger's mouth? Not to mention, you can't even say you are familiar with the language?"
These words made him face up to the reality and realize how difficult it would be for him to practice "divine arts", that is, to become an immortal.
Over the years, he kept running into obstacles everywhere, and he had even been targeted by the Ming Dynasty's "Two Factories and One Guard".
The other party even warned him that if he dared to covet immortal arts and spiritual resources again, he would be thrown into the sea to feed the fish.
Not only him, but also the Ming Dynasty, which has cultivators, can go to Britain at any time and massacre his family if they want.
Not only for his own life, but also for the future of his entire family, he finally gave up and accepted the reality helplessly.
Perhaps it was the glimmer of hope that had not yet been extinguished in his heart that made him still unwilling to leave Ming Dynasty, this mysterious country.
Finally, on this day, the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei, one of the "two factories and one guard" that had warned him, came looking for him!
What surprised him even more was that the other party was willing to trade "magic" and all related businesses with him.
Not only that, they are also willing to provide something called "Spirit Stone" to be used as a cultivation material.
From the other party, we learned that other spiritual resources were strictly controlled by the court, but they were willing to provide another kind of spiritual resource with disadvantages. This kind of thing was banned in the Ming Dynasty, but compared with ordinary spiritual resources, it was better.
An ordinary "spiritual stone" of low purity is equivalent to the effect of taking spiritual rice for a month for cultivation. The only drawback is that "spiritual stones" are dependent and addictive!
As long as the monks use it, they must take it for a long time.
Once they stop, the cultivator's soul may be corroded by the toxins in the "spiritual stone", causing him to do many incredible things. The fate of such a cultivator is no choice but death.
Of course, if one could become an immortal through cultivation with spiritual stones, well, that is what he understood, from a "servant of God" to a "god", then the spiritual energy in the body would be converted into immortal energy, which might be able to wash away toxins and filth.
Well, what William didn't know was that this statement was just a beautiful dream woven for him by the Ming court.
Because it is clearly recorded in the "Star Domain General Records" that the spirit stone has long been confirmed. Even if the spiritual power in the body is converted into immortal energy, it cannot wash away the toxins.
Not only that, the poisonous spiritual energy in the body will also transform and become a more toxic and deeper immortal poison.
Don't think that just because you have become an immortal, the immortal poison is the immortal poison. After all, you are an immortal. It can only be said that the pain of the immortal poison biting your body is something that even an immortal cannot bear. You are neither human, immortal, nor ghost.
If there are not enough resources to back you up, a slight thunder strike can be enough to take your life.
A broken soul is sometimes not even as strong as a cultivator in the foundation-building stage. If the spiritual consciousness clashes, it will be blown into pieces if you are not careful.
Well, as for becoming a real immortal and ascending to the higher realms, whether there is a way to solve it is unknown.
After all, immortals are also part of the mortal world and can still leave behind a few words of record.
Let alone the Ming Dynasty, even in such a large and vast world of cultivating immortals, there are only a few who can ascend to become immortals, and there is a difference between immortals and mortals. No one knows whether there is a solution after ascension.
At least according to the records in the "General Records of the Star Domain", there has been no example of a cultivator who was contaminated by spiritual stones ascending to the upper realms.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty would not tell anyone about these hopeless drawbacks. Leaving hope for other countries was only for the sake of better control.
When the Ming Dynasty uses the "experimental country" to continuously strengthen itself and reaches a point where it can sail into the galaxy and universe, then all of it will belong to the Ming Dynasty and its people, and the use of spirit stones will naturally be banned.
William was aware of the disadvantages of spirit stones, but he didn't care. For him, as long as he could become a "servant of God", or what the people of the Ming Dynasty called an immortal cultivator, it would all be worth it.
"Please forgive my gaffe," William apologized quickly after realizing that his emotions were fluctuating greatly. Then, fearing that the other party would regret it, he asked, "What do I need to pay?"
In this world, nothing is obtained for free. The most important thing is that spiritual stones are also banned in the Ming Dynasty.
In his opinion, since the Jinyiwei dared to use this thing for export trade, they were obviously hiding it from the court.
The other party is willing to take such a big risk and trade with spirit stones, which means that I must have something worthy of his attention.
"Mr. William, you are much smarter than I thought." The black-clad captain cast an admiring look at the Englishman in front of him, and then continued without beating around the bush:
"What you need to do is very simple," the black-clothed captain paused, looked at William, and said faintly: "The Spiritual Industrial Age... I believe that Mr. William, who is quite famous in the southeast area, must have known about it, right?"
Spiritual Industrial Age? Upon hearing this, William was stunned for a moment, and then he said with admiration: "Spiritual Industrial Age, this is your country's national policy, and my family is also its beneficiary."
"Especially the Immortal Tracks, and the various 'Earth Treasure Wheels' and 'Spiritual Energy Refueling Stations' for different purposes..." William's face was filled with amazement when the Spiritual Energy Industrial Era was mentioned.
"Sorry, I lost my composure." After talking for a while, William realized that he had forgotten his temper just now, so he immediately apologized. He did not forget what the important matter was at the moment.
"In the future, the Ming Dynasty will fully enter the era of spiritual energy industry," the black-clothed captain picked up the already brewed teapot, poured a cup for himself and William, and then said, "The higher-ups are planning to expand a number of spiritual energy workshops overseas. Mr. William, do you understand what I mean?"
Reiki Workshop!
Hearing the words of the captain in black, William's breathing suddenly stagnated, his eyes widened, and his heart started beating "bang bang" at this moment because he was too excited.
If the Reiki Workshop and the Reiki Industrial Age could appear in the UK, then their Sutherland family would undoubtedly become the most powerful family in the local area. Not only would it bring massive wealth to their family, but it would also allow his family to possess unparalleled power!
Even as described in the history books of the Ming Dynasty, a change of dynasty is not completely impossible.
"Huh." After a while, William suppressed his excitement and forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath and said, "Master Qianhu, please forgive me for being so presumptuous."
As he spoke, he habitually pressed his hands in the air. He was very nervous and very careful about his words.
"As far as I know, the foundation of the spiritual energy industrial era is the spiritual veins buried deep under the earth," he said, looking at the black-clothed Qianhu carefully and with sincere eyes, and said:
"Everything created in the age of spiritual energy industry requires spiritual energy. If I build a spiritual energy workshop in London, will you also lay spiritual veins for my family?"
This foreign devil has a beautiful idea! The black-clothed captain snorted in his heart, and his originally calm expression suddenly turned cold.
"Hmph, Mr. William, did you ignore everything I said just now?" The black-clothed captain suddenly shouted, "By agreeing to do business with you in the field of spiritual resources, I have already taken the risk of losing my head."
"You still want me to lay a spiritual vein for you? What do you think a spiritual vein is?" Seeing the black-clothed captain getting angry, William panicked and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "My lord, don't be angry..."
"I, I just..." Before he could finish, the black-clad captain said coldly: "I'm telling you, if you don't want to cooperate, I can find someone else. The merchants from France and Spain are all in Ming Dynasty. You are not the only choice!"
Seeing this, William panicked. He was so excited that he knelt on the ground. He knelt repeatedly until he reached the feet of the black-clad captain, "Sir, I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance!"
Looking at William crawling at his feet, the black-clad captain's eyes showed a hint of satisfaction.
This is what he wants!
Of course, there is a reason why he did this, and it is not entirely for the enjoyment of seeing others prostrating themselves at his feet and begging for mercy.
Ever since the higher-ups announced they would open up the spiritual stone trade to other countries, they have been warned of one thing.
Non-my family, its heart must be different!
Opening up the spiritual stone trade means that all countries have the possibility to transform from mortal countries to immortal cultivation countries.
Although the spirit stone is poisonous, the effect it exerts after cultivation remains unchanged. For example, if a cultivator uses the spirit stone to cultivate to the foundation-building stage, the lifespan of the cultivator can still increase dramatically to three hundred years.
Of course, whether you can survive is not certain.
Don’t underestimate things like the Earth Treasure Wheel. If you want to use them in the Ming Dynasty today, you must refuel them at a spiritual energy refueling station.
But when the Earth Treasure Wheel was first created, it did not need to be inflated. It just had the conditions for inflating.
That is to say, if spiritual stones are input into the Earth Treasure Wheel, it can still move.
As the trade of spiritual stones begins, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably set up spiritual energy workshops in various countries. At that time, various countries will also own the products of the spiritual energy industrial age, and they can even create them on their own.
In this way, it is entirely possible for them to enhance their national strength and become a country that deserves some attention from the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, all of this needs to start from scratch.
After all, the construction of the spiritual energy workshop also requires cultivators to provide the sound field.
Therefore, in order to allow other countries to have the spiritual energy workshops that Ming Dynasty needs in the future, they must first be allowed to embark on the path of cultivating immortals.
When the number of immortal cultivators in various countries reaches a certain level, they can start to build spiritual energy workshops. Then, they can produce a large amount of spiritual energy industrial products and feed back to Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty will trade with them for unnecessary things such as spiritual stones, so that Ming Dynasty can continue to grow!
During this process, the strength of various countries will gradually become stronger and they will complete transformation step by step. Although from the moment the spirit stone trade was opened, it was destined that no matter how they developed, they would always be ants in front of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty would not take it lightly.
After all, a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit!
This is also one of the reasons why the Black-Clothed Thousand Households suddenly became furious when they heard that William had ideas about the spiritual vein.
The superiors have said that we should always remember that those who are not of our race must have different hearts. But to put it bluntly, they are told to always be vigilant against these alien races after the trade of spirit stone food is opened. However, how to stay vigilant specifically depends on the persons in charge below to use their own methods.
The method used by the Black-clad Thousand Households is a combination of kindness and force.
From the very beginning, he was shocked and made to understand that he was his only lifeline to the immortal path. But he was not the only person to cooperate with him.
Always create psychological pressure on the other party, making him worry about gains and losses, so that you can control him firmly.
The essence is to let them each control a chess piece.
When these chess pieces return to their own countries, they will play an important role and bear fruit in the lands of various countries.
"Okay, stand up." Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, the black-clothed captain saw that his tricks were almost done, and then he spoke slowly, "I am not an unkind person."
"Thank you, thank you, sir!"
After hearing the black-clad captain's calm tone, William was overjoyed. He kowtowed repeatedly and kept saying thank you.
"Besides," the black-robed captain said, and raised his hand to pour William a cup of spiritual tea, saying, "Over the years, the things you have given us as filial piety are much more than others."
"I took all of this into consideration, which is why I came to you and reached a cooperation agreement with you at the first opportunity."
"Thank you, thank you, sir." William took the teacup carefully. At this moment, he no longer had the calmness and gentlemanly demeanor that he tried so hard to maintain at the beginning, and he was cautious everywhere.
"Have you heard that our dynasty is now facing the problem of overproduction of grain?" The black-clad captain said in a calm tone.
"Yes, I heard about it." The Sutherland family has been operating in the southeastern coastal area for decades, from the 48th year of Jiajing to the 76th year now. Naturally, any disturbance in the business world cannot be hidden from their eyes and ears.
Since the 70th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, grain production has begun to increase sharply, which has led to the fact that the demand for grain by the people of the Ming Dynasty is far lower than the grain production.
As a result, there will be a surplus of grain production and grain prices will naturally drop. Not only that, it also means that the income of a large number of farmers will decrease. In recent years, his Sutherland family has also thought about purchasing grain from the Ming Dynasty at a low price and importing it into the UK.
If they can purchase a large amount of grain, the Sutherland family's political status in Britain will continue to rise.
It may even get support from a large number of people!
Of course, other British merchant families in the Ming Dynasty also saw these business opportunities and wanted to buy grain at a low price. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty did not open up grain trade.
Because there is a food shortage in Britain right now!
With the opening of new shipping routes, the wool textile industry in Britain developed rapidly, and the demand for wool increased dramatically. The price of wool rose wildly, making the sheep farming industry extremely profitable.
Starting from 1591, that is, the 70th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, Britain's "Enclosure Movement" has been expanding. In addition, the abolition of the "Anti-Enclosure Act" by Parliament in 1593 provided absolute support for the enclosure movement.
(Note: The 1597th year of the Jiajing reign was 1597. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by Britain in 1582, but it was proposed in and had already begun to be used among the European people.)
This dealt a heavy blow to British agriculture, resulting in a significant reduction in the people's arable land and a year-on-year decline in the amount of grain harvested in the country.
The people in their country's demand for food has far exceeded food production, which has led to a crazy rise in food prices!
From 1594 to 1595, a quarter of wheat cost fifty-three or even fifty-six shillings.
（注：夸特，容量单位。1夸特≈。先令：英国的旧辅币单位。1英镑=20先令，1先令=12便士。1英镑≈。）
By 1596, it had reached a staggering eighty or even more than one hundred and twenty shillings.
This has led to people in many areas starving!
It can be said that today's Britain and Ming Dynasty are two completely extremes, one is extremely short of food, and the other has a food surplus.
As for this, the head of his family, the Sutherland family in the Ming Dynasty, had discussed with the government whether the two countries could start grain trade, and they were willing to purchase grain.
Unfortunately, the government never gave a clear answer.
Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty and Britain could be a perfect complement. He didn't understand what the commander of the Jinyiwei suddenly meant by mentioning food and food prices.
However, he had secretly made up his mind that no matter what the other party asked for, he would satisfy them all.
"Well," the black-robed captain hesitated for a moment, and then said, "From today on, you can buy food from the Ming Dynasty and ship it to your country. I heard that your country is also short of food now?"
Buying food? Hearing the words of the black-robed captain, William, as a shrewd businessman, was stunned at first, and then he suddenly understood.
The Ming Dynasty's current grain production is already in excess, resulting in a decrease in people's income. If this continues, the people will rebel.
Of course, this was just his wishful thinking. In today's Ming Dynasty, the common people at the bottom had no qualifications to rebel.
In addition, due to the overproduction of grain, the most that the people of the Ming Dynasty suffered for the time being was a slight reduction in income.
The people of the Ming Dynasty, who have always suffered, will naturally not rebel because of such a small matter.
After all, they had survived the times when they almost starved to death and suffered from hunger and cold. How could they rashly rebel against the court ruled by an immortal just because of a sudden drop in income?
"Okay, I promise you." William agreed readily.
For William, this was a win-win situation. As one of the largest merchant families in the country, they were also the driving force behind the enclosure of land to build farms and the export of textiles to make huge profits.
In this way, not only did it help our own country, but it also helped the Ming Dynasty and solved the food crisis. This was simply great.
He was worried that he couldn't find a way to show his courtesy to the Ming Dynasty!
"You've done a good job," the black-clad captain smiled, and then said, "Mr. William, I think from now on, you in Britain don't need to worry about food problems at all."
"Well, it just so happens that I heard that all the nobles and merchants over there want to build farms, because agriculture does not bring any profit to you, so..." The black-robed captain said, with a slight smile on his face, and then looked at William and said in a deep voice:
"How about you completely give up your own agriculture and buy all your food from Ming in the future? What do you think?"
Completely abandoning domestic agriculture and purchasing food from Ming Dynasty in the future? Upon hearing the words of the black-robed captain, William's face suddenly changed.
As a shrewd businessman, his family also holds a certain status in British politics, which means that he is not only a businessman but also a politician.
It was not difficult for him to see that once Britain gave up its own agriculture and purchased all its food from the Ming Dynasty, it would mean that the Ming Dynasty had grasped the lifeline of the entire English Empire.
For a moment, he hesitated. He didn't dare to agree to this easily.
His action is tantamount to selling out the country!
Although he had already made up his mind secretly in his heart that as long as he could satisfy the Jinyiwei in front of him and get spirit stones and magic, he would satisfy the other party's any request.
But what he didn't expect was that he was asked to sell out his country for personal gain.
Once the food that countless people depend on for survival is controlled by the other side, doesn’t it mean that if the Ming Dynasty becomes dissatisfied with Britain one day, they can cut off the food supply at any time!
In this way, they can only wait for death.
This is equivalent to finding a master for themselves.
Once the owner is unhappy with the cat, he will tighten the rope or even kill it at will!
As for purchasing food from other countries, it is just changing the owner of its own country!
"Haha," the black-clad captain continued, "Mr. William, there is one more thing I hope you can understand."
"We dare not sell spiritual stones on a large scale. We can only select one or two representative families in each country."
"Moreover, the spirit stones we have are limited..." As the black-clothed captain's voice sounded, William's eyes suddenly widened, and when he raised his head, his face was full of tension.
"There are only so many spirit stones in the first batch. If you perform better and help the officials above you improve their political achievements, we will also benefit. Naturally, all the spirit stones will be yours."
"Unless you want to ask other families to help share some of the spirit stones, then I naturally have nothing to say."
"Mr. William, I have something to tell you." The black-clad captain slowly stood up and looked down at the stunned William. He said slowly, "You can give up your own interests because of your loyalty to the country, but can you guarantee that others will do the same?"
"You have to know that some benefits are so great that they are beyond your imagination. If you don't do it, there are people who will do it."
"We have known each other for decades. I came to you for this opportunity as soon as possible. Don't force me to ignore our friendship..."
As he spoke, a gentle smile appeared on the elegant and handsome face of the black-clad captain, and then he gently patted William on the shoulder.
"Crack, boom!" Another flash of thunder passed over the river. The rain became heavier and heavier. The wind and heavy rain were howling. The small black-sailed boat was shaking after the black-clad commander left.
"Captain!" Seeing the captain in black coming out of the black-covered boat, the Jinyiwei guarding nearby immediately stepped forward and held an umbrella.
At this moment, if you observe carefully, you will find that there is not a single bit of moisture on the bodies of these Jinyiwei.
Even though they had been standing in the storm for nearly an hour, they were still clean as ever.
Of course, the reason why they were not wet by the rain was entirely because, whenever the rain fell, the internal skills in their bodies would start to work, and the spiritual energy would attach to the surface of the body and bounce off the water droplets.
The black-clad captain looked at his subordinate who was holding an umbrella for him, and allowed another subordinate to put a black cloak on him. He asked at the same time, "Any news about the other groups?"
"Reporting to the commander," the subordinate clasped his fists respectfully and replied, "Just now I have received a report that the envoys from France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries have already finished their talks with the commanders of other groups. Although I do not know the specific content of the talks, I believe they were very successful."
"Humph," Hearing this, the black-robed captain snorted and said, "In the end, the one who has made the greatest contribution must be us!"
"Yes!" Several subordinates around him immediately agreed.
"... Let's go to the government office." After saying that, the black-clad captain threw away his black robe and strode away. His subordinates holding umbrellas behind him immediately followed.
As a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he is also a cultivator, but he was transferred from the capital and is accustomed to the style of the capital's officials. On rainy days, he will not release his spiritual energy, but enjoy his ordinariness.
Heavy rain covered the entire Xiaoshan, and as night fell, the rain continued to fall.
However, at this time, when William returned to the courtyard where he lived, he was immediately pulled into the study by his uncle, Edward Alexander Sutherland, and asked about the conversation today.
When William told the Black Thousand Household's request, Edward slammed the table and said:
"Confused, you should have agreed to it on the spot!"
"That captain is right. If you don't do something, others will do it."
"You only have one chance. If you don't seize it, then wait for others to enjoy the fruits of victory and look down on you from a high position." Edward waved his hand and said sternly:
"Tell that captain tomorrow to agree to it!"
"We are willing to help them and take control of the empire's agriculture!"
Seeing his nephew's lost mood, Edward patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Kid, this is how the world is!"
"Don't feel lost. One day you will find that everything you do today is worth it." He raised his glass of red wine and said, "Everything is for the benefit. Come on, Cheers!"
"..."
(End of this chapter)
