Chapter 645 New Triangle Trade

Friedrich's fleet left with a lot of harvest. In addition to the shogun, daimyos from all over the country also paid tribute to the Austrian Empire crazily.

After all, according to the content of the Edo Treaty, the Austrian Empire had to return the gift.

However, during this period, Friedrich also rejected a very tempting proposal. Because he admired the lord of Choshu Domain (or had a lot of fun), he returned to Choshu Domain again before leaving Japan according to the previous agreement.

But this time, Friedrich encountered an unexpected situation. When he walked into the castle tower, he found that Mori Takashi was already wearing a kimono and a haori and was sitting there. His attitude was extremely formal, as if he was going to commit seppuku to show you at any minute.

"Mr. Mori, what's wrong with you?"

Friedrich asked with some doubts, because he found that the Japanese could always find some strange reasons for seppuku through contact during this period.

Here we have to mention the language talent passed down from generation to generation in the Habsburg family. In less than two months, Friedrich was able to communicate in basic Japanese.

"Friedrich-san, please sell me your flagship! Please!"

Mori Takashika still knelt down and refused to bow.

However, Friedrich would not agree to such a thing. After all, the "Prince Eugen" was his treasure and the symbol of the Austrian Imperial Navy (in his mind).

"That's impossible!"

Friedrich answered very straightforwardly and turned to leave. He didn't want to waste time with the guy who coveted his fleet.

Mori Takashika hurriedly knelt over and grabbed Friedrich's trouser legs.

"My Choshu domain is willing to pay 500,000 taels of gold! Please think about it again! Please!"

Mori Takashika's retainers hurriedly began to carry boxes with 1,000 taels of gold written on them into the house, and soon they piled up into a small mountain.

To be honest, 500,000 taels of gold did shock Friedrich, because the feudal lords and even the shoguns often cried poor before.

Mori Takashika was able to take out so much gold in one go, mainly because Choshu was the richest feudal state in Japan at that time, and he was also shocked by Austria's new warships.

These 500,000 taels of gold were the foundation of the Mori family, but Mori Takashika and Yoshida Shoin both felt that it was worth a gamble.

However, Austria did not come to Japan to help the poor. For now, supporting the rule of the shogunate is the best solution for Austria.

"Mr. Mori, I am just the commander of the fleet. These ships belong to the country, and I can't help."

Friedrich really wanted to agree in his heart. After all, with this money, he could build at least two ships when he returned.

But before coming, Franz repeatedly reminded him not to underestimate these East Asians, let alone sell any military technology to them.

In addition, the officers around Friedrich also knew about this, so they kept hinting that he refused the deal.

Seeing this, Mori Takashika still refused to give up, and didn't care about the face of the samurai, and continued to hug Friedrich's thigh and shouted.

"Any ship will do, even the smallest one!"

With no other options, Friedrich could only agree to go back to Japan to ask Mori Takashika.

In fact, if Mori Takashika really won the bet, then Choshu Domain would be unruly in Japan, and could even sail directly to Edo Bay to reverse the founding of the country.

Then Franz's design would be completely messed up. If the Japanese and the Dutch or the British reversely researched Austrian technology, it would really be the moment of reversal.

In addition, Choshu Domain controlled Shimonoseki and Tsushima Straits. Almost all Japanese ships trading with Korea and Qing had to pass through it, so it was so arrogant. The neighboring Satsuma Domain had to sell things to raise 20,000 taels.

Soon the first batch of grain was delivered to Edo Bay, and the shogunate began to suppress grain prices that year. After all, according to Kagura, Austrian grain would be delivered continuously.

The shogunate and local daimyo were frantically suppressing grain prices, which made Japanese merchants think that these adults were crazy, because the price of tribute rice would directly determine the income of daimyo and samurai.

This is a complete fight to the death. Although the merchants have money in their hands, they will not choose to fight to the end with the shogunate and the daimyo who are about to be eliminated by society.

So the merchants began to sell grain, which was rare. This year, the shogunate rarely increased the salaries of the samurai. Although the losses were not as great as those of the lower-level samurai, their lives were better than in previous years due to the decline in grain prices.

The riots that the merchants expected did not happen. After the shogunate and the daimyo took back the initiative in grain prices, the grain sent from Hawaii and California allowed the feudal forces to regain control of the market.

After controlling the market, they could decide the grain prices themselves.

Although Japan was an agricultural country at this time, the domestic grain prices were also falling, but they were still higher than those in other surrounding areas.

And whether it was California or Hawaii, the grain output was far higher than its own demand.

So countries with a large population and little land, and sufficient reserves of gold and silver are the best places to dump goods.

Austrian caravans usually had two routes. One route was to directly send agricultural products from California to Japan, and then bring back people, daily necessities and local specialties from Japan to sell in Hawaii.

Then they would bring back pearls and coffee from Hawaii and send them to California.

Another route is to start from California and sell its industrial products to Hawaii, and then sell grain and sugar from Hawaii to Japan, and finally obtain labor, precious metals, and local specialties to return to California.

Both the shogunate and the local Ming Dynasty in Japan like this trade model very much, because the untouchables are their least valuable things.

In fact, in addition to the untouchables, there are also those low-level samurai who are undisciplined, annoying monks, and occasionally captured vagrants and criminals.

They wish the Austrians could take more away, but unfortunately the Austrian ships have limited carrying capacity and are unwilling to stuff more people into the cabin, so the number of labor exports is still very limited.

As for the privileges of the Austrians in Japan, they are many and terrible, but how many Austrians will go around half the world to make trouble in Japan?

Austrian merchants, let alone entering the inland, they wish they could leave immediately after loading the ship, because the Japanese service industry at that time was far less developed than in later generations. On the contrary, there were often samurai and rioters who took risks to attack Austrian merchants.

The respect that the Japanese locals showed to the Austrian merchants was often regarded as abuse. For example, sitting in a sedan chair, cramming a strong man into a space of less than one square meter was not a punishment, but a punishment.

Controlling food prices alone could not eliminate the influence of the Japanese merchant group. Soon, cotton cloth, sugar, and cheap industrial products from the Austrian Empire flooded into the Japanese market.