Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

I meant I feel the embarrassment personally that I normally feel for someone showing extreme ignorance. I accidentally conveyed the exact opposite of what I meant.

So it's profitable to land trek bulk goods hundreds of miles? I thought the double markup was around 100 miles.
Either way, I admit my mistake, and won't derail the thread further.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

That's the rule-of-thumb distance for transporting grain and similarly priced bulk goods, not for overland transport in general. The cost of transporting the fuel you need (in this case, grain to feed the draft animals) equals the cost of any load of fuel you could carry after that distance, so there's a limit to how far you can profitably transport the fuel itself.

However, the cost per pound per mile is the same if you're transporting other goods; it makes no difference to the camel. If you can sell something at the end of your trip for far more than the cost of an equivalent load of bulk grain, you turn a profit. So while nobody's going to load a camel up with grain and try to take it from Chang'An to Paris ('cause the camel will eat up the value of that load of grain many times over in other grain along the way), you could do that with something which you can sell for an immense price, like silk or cinnamon. The markup is huge, but so is demand for your exotic goods.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

Sorry for derailing the thread into what must seem like horribly basic history.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

Very few people travelled the entire Silk Road. But aside from danger, tariffs would become forbidding as each prince along the way got a piece of the action. The gargantuan distance around Africa cut out the overhead. A ship the size of those commissioned for it can carry provisions for it without stopping in cities to buy and can carry enough arms for self-defense quite easily. The transport capability was far more efficient lot for lot then overland. Moreover it needs comparatively few mouths. Planks and nails don't have to eat and while rigging has to be repaired and replaced it is a small price compared to all the people and animals that would have to be fed.

The actual distance is meaningless once you have the technology. Think in terms of effort expanded and results obtained. If a given Merchant House sent the equiv amount of goods through the Silk Road it would count itself lucky to get halfway as close to India or China in the same time period for the same expense. In fact it would probably be impossible.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

It is not basic history. Most people don't know much about the subject at all.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

Don't feel bad, we've all be there at some point.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

You didn't upset me... in this thread at least. ;)

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

Sure, but depending on the culture, it might not be okay to enslave the people nearby, who are pretty similar (culturally, racially, or whatever) to yours. But slaves from some far-off (and no doubt, barbaric) land might be acceptable.

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

Assuming some resemblance to Real Life Ancient China, the Chinese sell their own children into slavery. And consider them far superior to any foreign barbarian.

Luxury slaves (this is a euphemism) might be valued for exotic looks, but otherwise, no interest.


Hans

Re: Alt.history - What trade could Europe and China have in the middle ages?
 

I remember on Emperor of the Sea a scene where one Korean merchant chieftainess is personally acting as a creepily Affably Evil sort of schoolmarm to children being groomed to be concubines for Chinese nobles. To be fair that is not quite the same as selling children to a street brothel if one wishes to make distinctions and it might even be a more comfortable life then a peasant girl would have.