Final answer:
Marco Polo felt trade ties should be established between Europe and China due to economic opportunities and the access to luxury goods. European interest in Chinese luxury goods and the Chinese interest in silver and new crops were key factors. Polo's accounts contributed to the enthusiastic pursuit of direct trade by European merchants.
Step-by-step explanation:
Based on Marco Polo's account, the reasons Polo felt that trade ties between Europe and China should be established were largely influenced by the economic opportunities and the desire for luxury goods. It is not specifically stated that Polo mentioned Chinese cities being chaotic (A) or Chinese merchants having no use for spices (B) as reasons for establishing trade ties. However, Polo did report on the large marketplaces in Chinese cities (C), although there is no mention of him noting detailed records by Chinese merchants as evidence of consumption patterns (D). Instead, Polo was fascinated by the wealth of the Chinese economy, its control over luxury goods like silk, and the potential for trade of European goods which eventually included silver from the Americas.
Historically, European merchants were eager for direct trading contacts because the domestic Chinese economy was robust, and the Europeans were searching for access to luxury goods as well as routes that avoided Middle Eastern intermediaries. The Chinese, on the other hand, were interested in silver to bolster their monetary base after moving to a silver economy in the late 1500s, prompting European merchants to bring silver to pay for Chinese goods. Both Europeans and Chinese were also interested in foods brought from Mesoamerica by the Europeans that could support the expanding Chinese population.
The ultimate driving factor for establishing trade ties was the mutual economic benefit, the access to luxury goods for Europeans, and the access to silver and new agricultural products for the Chinese