Buried alive in the Qing Dynasty

"Probably not," Zhu Hechi said with a smile, "so I'm going to... cheat!"

Chapter 110 Deception based on strength!

Charlie Gough and Ji Dabao were also very busy during this period, mainly busy with two things, one was busy moving, moving the British East India Company's business office from Anping Town, Taiwan to Dahao Town, Chaozhou.In the future, the business focus of the British East India Company in China will be moved to Chaozhou.

The second is to be busy with shipments and purchases—a batch of Mingchun wine was sent out, and at the same time, some orders for gutta-percha, gum arabic and fierce oil were sent out.

The American natural rubber that Zhu Heqi wanted would not be available anytime soon.But gutta-percha, gum arabic, and kerosene are still available.

Gutta gum comes from Nanyang. After burning, it can be coated on linen to make rainproof cloth. It is actually a kind of natural rubber and can also be used to make vulcanized rubber.However, the vulcanized rubber made from gutta-percha is very hard and does not have much elasticity, so it cannot be used as a rubber band.

Gum Arabic is also a type of gum that comes from India and the Arabian Peninsula.It has a wide range of applications and is mainly added to various beverages and candies to thicken, bind and stabilize aroma.It can be used as a binder for sweet gunpowder, to stabilize the aroma of perfume and to thicken fire oil. This is really a good thing for both military and civilian use!

And Menghuo oil is actually light oil, which is produced in Borneo and Sumatra, and it is not difficult to get it.

By the end of February, a batch of gum arabic and fire oil stored in the Macao warehouse of the British East India Company had been shipped to Dahao, and a batch of Daming Spring wine had been sent to Macao.

In addition, Charlie Gough also received instructions from the British East India Company General Commercial Office in Macau, asking him to try to find out the secret of the "fierce gunpowder", and at the same time negotiate with the newly established Jieyang court of the Ming Dynasty on the issue of "monopoly free trade" .

This makes both Charlie Gough and Ji Dabao a bit embarrassed... The people in power at the Jieyang court are a group of former Confucian scholars and officials who seem unreasonable, and they also have Dongchang Perfume that can exchange Charlie Gough for a title !

He is not willing to delay his future for the benefit of the company, but the instructions of his superiors always have to be perfunctory.

After all, his taipan is a land taipan, not a ship taipan. If he wants to bring perfume back to Europe to "present treasures", the company has to send a boat!

So when Zhu Heqi, Dao Barong and Eunuch Pang arrived in Haolai for "inspection", they were still in a dilemma!

Hearing that the powerful eldest son has come to Dahao, how dare Charlie Goff and Ji Dabao neglect?Immediately, he took the manifest and samples, boarded a carriage, and went to the Qiu family courtyard where Zhu Heqi stayed.

Zhu Heqi, Dao Barong and Pang Eunuch greeted each other politely at the second gate of the other courtyard, and invited a half-foreign friend into the fragrant second hall of the other courtyard.

Charlie Gough's eyes lit up when he smelled the fragrance!Before he had time to sit down, he asked, "Oh, this must be Dongchangxiang, right?"

"That's right, this is the Dongchang Incense made by the Nanmen Dongchang." Of course, the eunuch Pang, the governor of the Dongchang, answered the question!

"Dongchang incense", of course it is secretly made by Dongchang!

After the two parties were seated, Charlie Gough couldn't wait to ask again: "Mr. Du, how many catties of Dongchang incense did you bring?"

"Fifty catties!" Eunuch Pang stretched out a slap, "This is enough for everyone in the East Factory to use for a whole year."

"Fifty catties is..." Charlie Goff's mathematics is obviously not very good, and he couldn't figure it out at once, so he glanced at Ji Dabao.

Ji Dabao went to the BMW and it was fine, "Fifty catties is 800 taels. According to the previously agreed price of one tael and two taels of water, it is worth 400 taels of silver!"

Charlie Goff was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately said to Zhu Heqi: "Your Excellency, I have already obtained some fire oil and gum arabic for you...the value is more than 400 taels of silver, reaching 200 taels. You still need to give My Daming Spring Wine worth 800 taels, can we exchange it immediately?"

I'm in a hurry!

There is a play!

Zhu Heqi smiled and said to Charlie Gough: "It's easy to talk about it... Is the Mingchun wine still selling well?"

"It's not bad." Charlie Goff smiled, "It's just a little more expensive... It would be better if there are some low-grade Mingchun wine."

"Low-grade Mingchun?" Zhu Heqian looked at Dao Baorong with a fake look-theoretically, this wine was purchased from the countryside of Chaozhou.

"It's easy," Dao Scarong said with a smile, "just mix some new wine with more water, and it can be done with a few hundred wen."

"That's great!" Charlie Gough was very satisfied, and asked again with a smile, "Your Majesty, Your Excellency, the East India Company hopes to obtain the exclusive agency right of Dongchangxiang in markets outside of China... If you can If you agree, we can guarantee to sell a thousand catties of Dongchang incense every year!"

A thousand catties of perfume is a big deal!A catty is worth eight taels of silver, and a thousand catties is 8000 taels!

Moreover, the net profit of perfume is high, the sale of 8000 taels has at least 500 taels of profit!

In addition, the aromatic essential oils for making perfumes are not easy to extract, and they cannot be obtained without certain chemical skills and craftsmanship.So Zhu Hechi can easily form a technological monopoly... None of those Westerners have been groping for 200 years, and they can't reach Zhu Hechi's level at all.

Therefore, Zhu Heqi can completely engage in monopoly with his eyes closed, and he is not afraid of European copycats at all, let alone their anti-monopoly.

So this perfume is a trump card in the hands of Zhu Heqi!

"Exclusive agency?" Zhu Heqi laughed, "Mr. Goff, I know you Westerners have a strong body odor and don't like to take a bath...What kind of emperor, pope, king, queen, grand duke, It smells bad, this Dongchang incense is very suitable for them! A thousand catties may not be enough for them, right? This thing is rare and expensive! You spend 8000 taels of silver to buy a thousand catties here. Why does Europe have to sell it for tens of thousands of gold? Is it appropriate to give you a monopoly with such a large profit?"

Charlie Gough thought to himself: "You, the king of the East, know a lot about Europe. You even know that the big men in Europe don't like to take baths and they smell bad... This business is not easy to do!"

When he was thinking about it, Ji Dabao had already answered the question for him: "It's suitable, it's very suitable...Mr. Gao Fu is a friend of the Shi Ziye, and also a friend of Daming. !"

Zhu Hechi smiled and asked Charlie Gough: "Really? Mr. Gough, do you really support me in fighting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty?"

"Really, really!" Charlie Goff nodded again and again, his mind was turning very quickly, of course he already knew why Zhu and Qi said these things to him.

This is asking for him, wanting to use the exclusive agency rights of perfume in exchange!

Zhu Heqi said: "Since that's the case, it's alright for my son to ask you a little favor?"

"Please say, please say." Charlie Goff did not rush to agree, but asked Zhu and Qi to make a condition.

Zhu Heqian smiled and said to Charlie Gough: "Mr. Gough, you should know that Shang Kexi, the Pingnan King of the Qing Dynasty, has personally led an army to Mianhu Village? Now the Guangzhou mansion is empty, so we plan to take a surprise attack on Guangzhou by water." But I heard that Old Thief Shang has a very good relationship with the Portuguese in Macau. Once our fleet approaches Humenkou, the Portuguese warships will attack from Macau. Their warships are still very powerful, and I am afraid they will break down. This son's big plan.

Therefore, I would like to ask the armed merchant ships of the British East India Company to take care of them. I know that the relationship between England and Portugal is very strong. The Portuguese in Macau will never dare to attack the ships kept by the British East India Company. right? "

That's right!

The friendship between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of England has a long history and has passed the test of blood and fire.

Historically, during the decades when the Kingdom of Portugal was annexed by the Kingdom of Spain, only England supported the restoration of Portugal throughout Europe.

Therefore, after the restoration of Portugal, England gained the right to freely enter and exit Portugal's overseas territories. The Kingdom of Portugal also gave the colonies of Mumbai and Ceylon to King Charles II of England as Princess Catherine's dowry.

Charlie Gough thought for a while and said, "My lord, I can satisfy your request. However, our British East India Company ships will not participate in any offensive actions against the Qing army's fortress and fleet at Humenkou!"

"Okay, it's a deal!" Zhu Hechi laughed, "When your escort ship arrives in Dahao, we will sign the contract on board!"

Chapter 111 I lied, I robbed, I colonized!

In the 26th year of the Yongli calendar, on the morning of February [-], a large western-style armed sailboat flying the Union Jack flag was slowly sailing into the narrow Haojiang Estuary, heading for the west pier of Dahao Commercial Port.

This armed merchant ship belonging to the British East India Company has a very oriental name-the Great Eastern.It is an old-fashioned armed merchant ship launched in 1652, and it is completely unable to adapt to naval battles in Europe.However, in the east of the world, with its deadweight tonnage of more than 500 British tons and the number of artillery pieces as many as 36, this "giant ship" is still a sea king!

Only the flagship of the Dutch East India Company can wrestle with this "giant ship"!

After the British East India Company got the big ship, it put it on the "Macao-Mumbai" route, continuously transporting porcelain, silk, and sugar from China to India, and then transporting some silver and fire nitrate produced in India. , and some miscellaneous things to Macau.

It is almost a full load to leave Macau, and then return with a light load.Although this unbalanced trade has made the British East India Company, which operates the Great Eastern, quite profitable, who would want too much money?Wouldn't it be possible to gain more benefits if the Great Eastern was allowed to go back and forth with a full load?

Therefore, the two captains of the Great Eastern, Smith and Daban Jones, receive the same instructions every year-let them look for Indian or European products that can open up the Chinese market.

But where would they find such a good thing?

China has a vast land and rich resources, and there is no shortage of products!If it weren't for the fact that there were small groups of anti-Tatar forces in southern China who needed Indian gunpowder and British munitions, the Great Eastern would almost come to Macau empty-loaded!

But this time, when the Great Eastern docked in Macau, Smith and Jones got a good news and a bad news.

The good news is that the East India Company's trading house in Dahao has discovered two more products that can make a lot of money for the company-a kind of Chinese rum with a very good taste and a kind of white sugar that is said to be particularly white!

The bad news is that the East India Company's Chinese partners have mastered the art of collecting nitrate and making granulated black powder!

Moreover, their craftsmanship is unexpectedly high, and the fire nitrate and black powder they produce can even be compared with British products.

Therefore, there is no need to transport Indian fire nitrate and gunpowder to Macao in the future... Even if the fire nitrate and gunpowder are not shipped, what else can be transported in the future?Just a little spice and gum arabic?That's not enough to fill even half the warehouse!Could it be that the British East India Company can only exchange silver for Chinese goods in the future?

Just when Smith and Jones didn't know how to report to the company's headquarters in London, Charlie Goff, the head of the company's Taiwan business office, rushed to Macau suddenly and brought a shocking surprise to Smith and Jones. News - Zhu San Taisun, the leader of the former Ming rebel army entrenched along the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, has gathered thousands of troops, and is planning to take advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong to attack Guangzhou by sea.He also wanted to ask the armed merchant ships of the East India Company to escort them to avoid being attacked by the Macau-Portuguese fleet that supported the Qing Dynasty.

There is no doubt that this is a huge opportunity!

It is an opportunity for the British East India Company to obtain a colonial stronghold in mainland China!

Although according to the treaty concluded between the United Kingdom and Portugal, British merchant ships and warships can freely enter and leave the port of Macau, but Macau belongs to Portugal after all!

British ships can only enter and exit freely, and there is no way to turn Macau into a cash cow for their own family.

It would be ideal if the British East India Company could also get its own "Macau" along the coast of China!

But now, a godsend opportunity is in front of the eyes of the British East India Company - what the East India Company can provide to Third Prince Zhu is not just a simple escort mission.

The East India Company can also recruit a powerful Western mercenary army for Zhu San Taisun, provide Zhu San Tai Sun with cannons, artillery and engineers that can break through the strong city wall of Guangzhou, and even come forward to lobby the Portuguese army headed by Zhu San Tai Sun's army Offer support!

So Smith and Jones who got the news immediately led the Great Eastern to leave Macau, and flew to Chaozhou.

On the way to Chaozhou, the two of them and Charlie Gough did a good study around the map - we had to see where is more suitable for colonization!

It is of course the best to build a piece of land at the mouth of the Yangtze River, but the army of Zhu San Taisun will not be able to conquer it for a while, and they can at most conquer Guangzhou.

So the three of them thought that they could set up an island outside the mouth of Lingdingyang where a port could be built as the stronghold of the British East India Company in China... The three imperialist bandits picked for a long time, and finally picked a small island called Hong Kong Island.

This island used to be a distribution center for exporting incense from Dongguan during the Ming Dynasty, hence the name Hong Kong.However, after the Qing Dynasty implemented the sea ban on relocating borders, it was completely deserted and became a deserted island with no human habitation.

I believe that the third prince and grandson of Zhu third don't care too much about such an uninhabited island, right?

In addition to the colonies, these three foreigners also want to obtain "monopoly free trade rights"-that is, the ships of the British East India Company can go to free trade wherever they want. Be open to the British East India Company!

In addition, extraterritoriality is also a must!

The criminal law of the Chinese is too strict and does not conform to the teachings of Christianity. The subjects of the King of England broke the law on the land ruled by the third prince Zhu. They cannot be tried by the Chinese court, but must be tried by the consul of the British Company.

Finally, there is the issue of the British East India Company renting land to open commercial offices on the land ruled by the third prince Zhu.And this business house should also have extraterritorial rights. Chinese officials cannot enter casually, and must obtain the consent of the consul to enter.

The above requirements have been compiled into a draft treaty by Smith, Jones, and Goff, and they are waiting for the signature of the third prince Zhu.

As long as the third prince Zhu agrees, the British East India Company will assist him in capturing the city of Guangzhou as much as possible.

If he doesn't agree... then I'm sorry, the British East India Trading Company is only a commercial company engaged in peaceful trade, how can it do the escort business?

Moreover, the Governor of Macau was appointed by the King of Portugal, representing the Kingdom of Portugal. How could a commercial company conflict with the Governor and the army of the Kingdom of Portugal?

Standing on the stern deck of the Great Eastern, watching a group of figures in "Confucius costumes" gathered on the Dahao West Wharf.The three foreigners were full of confidence and felt that these Chinese people must need the help of the British East India Company.

Without the help of the British East India Company, it would have been impossible for their ships with weak firepower to break into the heavily guarded Tiger Gate of the Qing army.

However, these three "enthusiastic" international friends would never have imagined that at this moment on the Dahao West Wharf, the grandson of Zhu San, who theoretically stretched his neck and looked forward to the help of the British East India Company, was counting the Great Eastern The sailors on the deck of No. [-] were estimating the dosage of datura flower essential oil... that thing is the main ingredient of Mongolian perspiration medicine. It is used to make wine and drink, and the hypnotic effect is just right!

Chapter 112 When Colonialism Meets Anti-Imperialists

"Crackling... bang bang bang..."

When the springboard was lowered from the Great Eastern to Dalhao West Wharf, there were bursts of firecrackers and the sound of drums and gongs.

It can be said that Zhu Heqi had put a lot of thought into the visiting colonists of the British East India Company. In addition to preparing Datura flower essential oil extracted by distillation and artificially aged rum for them, they also prepared for them. They had a rather respectable welcome ceremony.

On the pier, not only firecrackers were blasting, gongs and drums were blaring, but also bearded men in commoner clothes and scarves were standing, all of them holding their sword hilts in a majestic manner.

Moreover, several warehouses by the pier were emptied early in the morning, and now the warehouses are filled with large tables, on which Chaozhou Daleng and bottles of high-quality Mingchun wine have been placed!

A mat shed was set up in the open space outside the warehouse, and cold dishes were being brought up continuously by the young soldiers who temporarily served as waiters.

In order to prevent the destruction of the Dutch spies who hated the English, Zhu Heqi also arranged thousands of Jinyi pro-army hammer-throwing soldiers around the West Pier. Three, hammer throwers, cavalry and artillery.

Among them, the hammer-throwing soldiers are the main force. In addition to the standard grenade hammer, the hammer-throwing soldiers will also be equipped with three weapons: spears, knives and turtledove foot muskets.

In addition, they will form a group of 60 people, each of which includes [-] "hammer soldiers" with spears, [-] "hammer soldiers" with sword cards, and [-] hammer soldiers with turtledove muskets .In order to facilitate training and management, these three "hammer soldiers" will each form a deputy leader instead of a mixed formation.

The cavalry of Jinyi's army also has sixty cavalry, and everyone is equipped with grenade hammers, so they are called hammer-throwing cavalry, right?In addition to being equipped with hammers, the cavalry of Jinyi's army is also equipped with carbine, saber and shield, and some "masters" who can draw bows and shoot arrows on horseback are also equipped with bows and arrows.

In addition, most of the pro-army cavalry in Jinyi can only ride on Yunnan pony horses.So their main tactic besides the "swimming hammer throwing" is to launch a short assault - a special assault on the enemy who has been knocked dizzy by the grenade hammer!

The artillery of Jinyi's army is not equipped with Hongyi cannons and general cannons, but Zhuge cannons and a small mortar called a hammer-throwing cannon.Both weapons are designed to fire sweet powder explosives!

In addition, all the sweet gunpowder in Jinyi's army is also prepared by artillery.

After the victory in the Xiushuixi battle, the safety of Jieyang Island was temporarily guaranteed, and Zhu San and his son transferred part of their troops to Dahao.

The Jinyi pro-army gathered in Dahao now consists of sixteen "hammer soldiers", two "artillery soldiers" and two "cavalry soldiers", a total of twenty collars, about 200 people.

These 200 people are now transferred to Lin Ahu's Jinyi Qinjun Nanzhen, and almost all of them are dispatched today.

The cavalry was in charge of wearing Confucius costumes and grandly welcomed the British guests on the pier.The artillerymen are all young soldiers with quick minds, who are in charge of serving as guest waiters, and everyone also brings datura essential oil...just wait for Zhu Heqi's order to add it to the Chaozhou rum that the visitors drink!

And the Hammer Soldiers cameo as "Sword and Ax Hands", waiting for Zhu and Qi to throw a cup as a sign, and then rush to capture the imperialist colonists!

At the same time, they are also responsible for capturing the Great Eastern armed merchant ship... Of course, the sailors of the British East India Company who stayed on the Great Eastern will also get a piece of top-quality rum with a small amount of Datura essential oil!

Well, this time, the little anti-imperialists Zhu Heqi gave a grand banquet to the veteran colonialists like Charlie Gough, Smith, and Jones!

As for the purpose... It was mainly to vent their anger on the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America enslaved by the British colonists, and by the way, robbed the armed merchant ship Great Eastern to attack the Portuguese Macau.

His people have to go to the docks in Macau to attack the castle in Macau!

Otherwise, they landed directly from the sea, and Qiu Hui's small wooden boats might not be able to withstand the Portuguese's [-]-pound cannon bombardment!

"Wilkamen, Willkamen..."

Seeing Charlie Goff and two gorgeously dressed Westerners coming down from the diving board, Zhu and Qi greeted them very warmly, and talked about the "old English" they had just learned from Ji Dabao—of course he would I speak English, but there is a big difference in pronunciation and grammar between the old English of the seventeenth century and the English of later generations.Old English is relatively primitive, with fewer vocabulary and simple grammar.But the new English is more complicated, and the vocabulary is astonishingly large.