Chapter 752: Chapter 660: Monopolizing diterranean Trade Chapter 752: Chapter 660: Monopolizing diterranean Trade “I understand your good intentions,” kka Mohamd adjusted his large white turban and stood straight, “However, His Majesty the Sultan has already decided that our country’s trade will now lean entirely towards England.”
Talleyrand shook his head, “The girl you’re enchanted with might still be smiling sweetly at you, but you may not know that she turns around and ets with your enemy.
“Ah, I an the one who took the Northern Border Peninsula from your ho.”
The only peninsula in the northernmost part of the Ottoman Empire is Crea, so he clearly referred to Russia.
kka Mohamd squinted his eyes, “Russian-British trade relations have always been close, but this does not affect the increasing number of British rchant ships coming to Constantinople.
“Moreover, the massive comrcial influence of England on Russia can sotis be used to help us balance Russia.”
“Ha ha,” Talleyrand laughed heartily, “You actually have expectations for a fickle woman?
“Oh, you just ntioned rchant ships.
“I almost forgot, the main reason I ca to see you was to talk about rchant ships.”
A flicker of displeasure crossed the face of the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, “Although your country has obtained control of the ports of Tunis and Tripoli through so improper ans, British rchant ships can completely bypass these places, take rowers from Mitidja, and then go directly to Constantinople.”
“I must remind you that our country was rely clearing out pirates. These pirates were all from Anatolia. The Duke of Tunis was grateful for our country’s act of justice, and thus decided to pledge loyalty to His Majesty the King,” Talleyrand first rebutted righteously, then changed to a business-like tone,
“Let’s get back to rchant ships. You should be well aware that the rowers who embark from Mitidja will exhaust their strength by the ti they reach Egypt. Afterward, they either have to stay several days in Alexandria or take on new rowers there.
“Either way, it will significantly increase the transportation cost.”
kka Mohamd seed to lose patience a bit, “This small cost is acceptable, Mr. Talleyrand. If you plan to use this as a bargaining chip, I’m afraid…”
Talleyrand deeply inhaled the aroma of his coffee, showing an intoxicated expression, “This coffee cannot be found even in the Palace of Versailles. Oh, if this cup of coffee could be delivered to France within 6 days, I believe it could sell for more than 1 franc.”
“6 days?” The Grand Vizier shook his head, “If it’s an ergency shipnt, the cost of this cup of coffee would exceed 8 francs.”
People ntion coffee, and most will think of Europe’s coffee culture, subconsciously regarding it as the center of the coffee trade.
In fact, the Ottoman Empire is the coffee powerhouse at this ti. From Yen to Ethiopia, they produced more than a third of the coffee Europe required, making it an important export commodity of the Ottoman Empire.
Less than a hundred years ago, this figure was 90%! It was only when Indonesia and Arica began cultivating coffee extensively that the Ottoman monopoly was broken, but Yeni coffee continues to dominate in both quality and price.
The “ergency transport” ntioned by kka Mohamd refers to ignoring the life and death of rowers, allowing ships to pass through the diterranean at the fastest speed, usually only used for delivering urgent ssages.
But if used in the comrcial field, the cost would be prohibitively high.
Just like the 8 francs coffee he just ntioned. In the Ottoman Levant Port, its price would not exceed 2 sous; everything else is the cost of the rowers.
Talleyrand pleasantly swirled his coffee cup, smiling as he said, “What if my rchant ships can maintain a speed over 8 knots without using rowers?”
“How could that be possible?” kka Mohamd said. “Simply relying on sails would not achieve such speed.”
“By using coal. The steamships from Brittany have already started production and can reach here from France in just six days,” Talleyrand replied, his tone sowhat proud.
“The cost is only slightly higher than that of regular sailing ships. Oh, and if British ships resupply in Algiers, then the cost would even exceed that of the steamships.”
Yes, steam paddle ships mainly operate on inland waterways, but they could be used perfectly well on the calm seas of the diterranean.
Of course, currently, only around Tunisia in the coastal diterranean are there scant amounts of coal, so acquiring coal along the route is very difficult. rchant ships could only carry large amounts of coal when they set sail, which reduced cargo capacity.
However, that did not stop Talleyrand from using the bright prospects to impress the Ottoman People.
kka Mohamd’s eyes widened in astonishnt. “Are you serious?”
“Look, I am the most straightforward person,” Talleyrand gestured westward, “A steam transport ship will arrive at the port in three days; you can see for yourself.
“Oh, that ship set off from Nantes when I left Marseille. It traversed a great part of France and arrived only three days after .”
Indeed, after Talleyrand had returned to Marseille and signed the trade promotion agreent with Mohamd, he heard the news from Brest Shipyard about the production of steam paddle ships and imdiately realized their potential for renegotiating trade with the Ottoman People.
However, his main reason for rushing back to Constantinople was that the Crown Prince had given him a diplomatic task regarding the situation in Poland.
Upon hearing this, kka Mohamd felt a storm surge in his heart.
If there really were such ships that did not need rowers and could maintain high speeds, one could foresee that the diterranean shipping would soon be monopolized by them!
You see, the major limiting factor for the sailing ships was not the cost, but the rowers.
At every port, be it Alexandria or Levant, one could see a multitude of rchant ships lining up to hire rowers every day. Of course, wealthy shipowners could buy slaves to row, but that cost was astronomically high, and slaves also needed regular rest to recuperate.
Any rchant wishing to send goods to Italy or France would undoubtedly opt for the unrestricted travel of a steamship. This ensured that their goods arrived on ti.
Moreover, the steamships were much faster by nature—it usually took 12 days or even half a month for ordinary sailing ships to travel from Constantinople to Marseille.
No wonder the la man before him confidently stated that France would beco the Ottoman Empire’s biggest trading partner.
They indeed could not eat an entire sheep at once, but perhaps in the future, the at from his own shop would need to be shipped out on their vessels.
With such a significant gap in costs and efficiency, no bans would be effective. His rchant ships would take goods out of the port and imdiately transfer them to the steamships waiting off-shore. Anyone not doing this would be unable to compete.
The Grand Vizier suddenly thought of a problem and put his hand on Talleyrand’s coffee cup: “The British would not sit idly by as you monopolize diterranean shipping. Their fleet would control the entire Aegean Sea up to the Gulf of Sidra.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)