New Shun 1730

The entire cargo ship was like a mole that could not see the light, carefully avoiding the Dutch inspections.

In Bangga, they loaded tin blocks that were transported to Jiangsu and Zhejiang and turned into tinfoil. With the help of local snakes, they escaped before the arrival of the Dutch patrol warship.

After passing through Fujian, we transferred to Ningbo, unloaded the tin ingots and left the lac to go to Songjiang. It was also blessed by Xu Zhenjun and Mazu, so it was in time for the Qingming Festival.

Songjiang seems a little deserted at this time of year.

The cargo ships bound for Japan have not returned yet, and it will take two months for Western cargo ships to arrive in large numbers. The grain ships transporting rice from Jiangsu and Suzhou will have to wait another two months before they can go north, and the ships transporting soybeans from Liaodong will have to wait even longer. Wait until September to head south.

Even so, Songjiang still has a solid foundation. When Lian Huaiguan came ashore, he felt that this place was far richer than Batavia. The rows of shops and the hurried pedestrians on the road all had a vitality that was far better than Batavia.

He was a figure in Batavia, but when he got here, he wasn't even qualified to say that a strong dragon could not overwhelm a local coward. Although it is not the lowest level, it is still just a little earthworm.

"Is this the Celestial Empire?"

Lian Huaiguan was similar to those French missionaries, except that they saw the most prosperous Jiangnan area of ​​Dashun, while Dashun was divided into the north, Jiangnan, and Fujian and Guangdong. The common people's society in the north, the gentry landlords and scholarly societies in the south of the Yangtze River, the clans and Catholic groups in Fujian and Guangdong, and perhaps now also the immigrants of the government soldier type from the Songhua River and Jinghai Sea, all have completely different styles.

He thought that Songjiang Mansion was the entire Celestial Dynasty, and he also thought about why the Celestial Dynasty always said that he had everything.

If the entire Dashun and even Ili in the Western Region were like Songjiang Prefecture, it would be worthy of saying that it looked down upon the earth.

A series of foreign rental houses near the pier, coupled with the Yangzhou refreshment shops nearby, look somewhat similar to Batavia, but they are not the same after all.

The Dutch in Batavia are the masters, while the Dutch in Songjiang Prefecture can only rent local houses honestly. They could not leave the foreign area at will before, and it is even more impossible now - although Dashun only banned Catholicism, but The Jiangsu Jiedushi didn't bother to distinguish or couldn't tell the difference between the Protestant Calvinist Reformed Church and the Catholic Church, so he simply ignored them both.

This can be called lazy government. More things are worse than less things. The biggest move the imperial court took in Jiangnan in the past few years was the ban on Christianity. There were also Catholic rebels in Fujian. Officials here in Jiangnan did not want to make such clear distinctions and allocate their energy. It’s better to save the trouble by cutting it all out than to worry about these bullshit.

In addition, after the French mission left, military envoys from various places received orders to strictly prevent Westerners from stealing porcelain, silk and other technologies, and the investigation was even more stringent.

Lian Huaiguan didn't know what was going on here. He could only see the domineering Dutch people in Batavia, and they were all honest here, and he sighed in his heart.

He doesn't speak Mandarin, nor does he know Jiangsu, Zhejiang or Wu dialect. Fortunately, there are many Fujianese in the restaurant.

Hearing a few familiar local accents, even Huai Guan did not dare to be as careless as Batavia. He cautiously sang "Nai" and asked where the trading company he was going to was.

The merchants who spoke Fujian looked at Lian Huaiguan for a few times. Seeing that his skin was darker, they smiled and asked: "Are you a seafarer? Or are you a sugar planter in Xiaoliuqiu? If you are here to buy stocks, but It’s too late. How can anyone be willing to sell the good ones? Don’t even think about transporting rice.”

Even Huai Guan couldn't understand what was going on here. Seeing that the other person was talkative, he had to say: "I'm from Batavia. I'm going to meet a friend. Why, is there a place to buy and sell stocks near the trading company?"

"Yes. The imperial court built some government offices nearby. If you go, there will be mules, horses and carriages when you go out. You are from Bacheng? This is rare. Could it be that Bacheng also knows about the stock offering? ? It’s a pity that it’s too late.”

Even Huai Guan Xin said that Bacheng didn't know anything about this place, but he didn't tell them. After asking about the location of the trading company, he resigned from these people according to Mantou's instructions.

After going out, on the corner of the street, there were indeed some mules, horses and carriages.

As early as the Ming Dynasty, there were many mules and horses on the street corners in Jiangnan. Now, the ones in Songjiang are some four-wheeled carriages brought from Weihai.

Wealthy people all ride in these four-wheeled carriages with shock-absorbing structures. The windows are transparent, and the horses pulling the carriages are also cleaned, as if they want to dwarf the gray mules around them.

Horse carriages with bogies and shock-absorbing structures were already available in the Elizabethan era in England. Although Songjiang was a little late, it caught up with the current era of technological advancement and lower prices. In addition, the roads here are better, so this thing became popular very quickly.

There are also many such cars in Batavia. Kapitan Lian Fuguang's house also has a large Western-style garden called "Amanus Gracht", which is also very famous in Amsterdam.

It's just that he didn't know that Lian Fuguang's "Amanus Gracht" was really not worth mentioning in Jiangnan. Gardens in the south of the Yangtze River are restrained. Many wealthy people's gardens in Songjiang are just villas to facilitate business. The real gardens at home are fully enough to receive the emperor. Because the shape must be careful not to overstep, it is more exquisite.

What he saw in his eyes was only superficial glitz. The real prosperity is hidden among the garden mansions in surrounding cities.

But just this superficial glitz is enough to make Lian Huai Guan feel like a Javanese has entered Batavia from a village community.

"The Celestial Empire is indeed rich, no wonder it regards Batavia as a barren land. I thought before that it was just that the wealthy merchants of the Celestial Empire had never been to Batavia; now it seems that I have only seen Batavia, but never been to the Celestial Empire."

With such a feeling, I couldn't help but lower my attitude a little.

After getting off the carriage, I saw a building complex under construction, and next to it was the trade company's guild hall with a wide front.

There were several patrolling soldiers at the door, but they did not stop people from entering and leaving the trade company's guild hall.

Carefully handed over Mantou's handwritten letter and a token, and soon someone from the trade company came out to greet him.

When Lin Yunwen went to Nagasaki, he had dealt with the Fuzhou Gang and the Zhangzhou Gang, and he could speak some dialects from all over Fujian.

Seeing Mantou's token, I knew that this person was very important. Even if he was already an executive member of the trade company, he had to come out in person to greet him when he met such a relationship.

Enter the hall, serve tea, and then ask Lian Huaiguan.

Lian Huaiguan said that he came from Batavia, and mentioned the detention and inspection of the Free Trade Ship in Batavia. Lin Yunwen couldn't help but curse: "This Dutchman is really ignorant of life and death. He dared to detain the official ship of the Celestial Empire?"

He cursed loudly, which surprised Lian Huaiguan.

Lin Yunwen rarely went to Southeast Asia before. Before he went bankrupt and became a "Japanese language teacher" for Liu Yu, he went to Nagasaki more often. In Nagasaki, the Dutch, like Chinese merchants, had to look at the face of the Japanese side. They all depended on people's faces to make a living, so no one should look down on anyone.

In recent years, he has risen, and the status of the people he has contacted has become higher and higher, so he has no fear of the Dutch.

It's not that he doesn't know Liu Yu's temper. He is a person who will never suffer a loss. Isn't it a death wish for the Dutch to do this?

He thought Mantou asked Lian Huaiguan to pass on a message to tell Liu Yu that the ship was detained and inspected in Batavia, so he was more polite to Lian Huaiguan.

"You have come from Batavia, you have worked hard all the way. Since you have the token from Lord Mi, I will arrange a ship to the north for you as soon as possible. But I don't know if the Free Trade has left Batavia?"

There is a saying that living in a different place will change your temperament and body. The people Lin Yunwen has come into contact with in the past few years, and he has become an executive member of the trading company, are no longer comparable to Lian Huaiguan who lives in Batavia in terms of some so-called temperament.

Lian Huaiguan subconsciously bowed and said respectfully: "The Free Trade has already left Batavia. The Dutch did not stop it, but stayed in Batavia for a few days and then left. Together with the two Swedish ships, they left Batavia and went to Europe."

Lin Yunwen originally thought that something happened in Batavia, but now that he heard that the ship had left Batavia, he was greatly relieved.

The Free Trade cost a lot of money. The cost of a cross-continental ocean-going ship is not as high as that of a Fuzhou ship, especially because many of the wood used is oak and cypress.

The cost is high, the route is dangerous, and it is a route that has never been taken. The captain is Mantou, and although he has an official position, the ownership of the ship actually belongs to the trading company.

Although Liu Yu made suggestions, it was the members of the executive committee who made the decision. Lin Yunwen should make his own decisions in his position, and the company's decision-making should be responsible to all parties involved.

If there is a problem with this first trade with Europe, not to mention that the shareholders will be dissatisfied with the current members of the executive committee, the company's subsequent development will also have big problems, and those who have the most shares are even more interested.

The company is now in a bottleneck period.

Japan has conveyed a ban on the private trade of rice this year. It is difficult to intervene in the Nanyang trade for the time being, and it can only hope to open up the trade with Europe.

Lian Huaiguan said that Batavia did not detain the Free Trade for too long, and Lin Yunwen's worries were somewhat relieved.

According to Liu Yu, the Swedes always return to Europe earlier than the Dutch and the British, so that they can sell at a high price before more goods arrive.

Just for the Free Trade's sailing to Europe, the company's executive committee members have a clear position in their minds.

Without the support of the court, the company has no possibility of development.

The British and Dutch East India Company has money and guns, and can set up a government, levy taxes, and conscript soldiers. The Dashun trading company cannot have such power.

The trade with Japan depends on Liu Yu.

And the trade with Europe also depends on the court. Without the court's Jinghai Palace official school, and without Liu Yu's order to train a large number of people with ocean-going sailing capabilities, trade with Europe would not be possible, because there would be no captains who can run to Europe.

Not to mention anything else, just this time in Batavia, if Mantou had not had an official identity, Batavia would not let it go so easily.

Now listening to Lian Huaiguan's talk about the seizure of the ship in Batavia, Lin Yunwen's mind is even clearer than ever. The future of the trading company can only be tied to the court's foreign war, just like the chambers of commerce in Xijing and Shanxi against Mongolia.

The imperial court relied on the army to open up the situation and remove obstacles, so that merchants like them could benefit from it. But the British and Dutch East India Company, which had its own guns, could collect taxes, recruit soldiers, and even organize a government, could not expect it.

The imperial court would never allow it.

The mere fact that Batavia seized the ship for inspection made Lin Yunwen full of hostility towards the Netherlands. If the imperial court went to war with the Netherlands in the future, he felt that the major shareholders in the trading company would definitely support it.

After asking more about Batavia, Lian Huaiguan did not tell the real purpose of his visit. He was evasive and only said that he would tell the truth after meeting the person that Lord Mi wanted him to meet.

When Lin Yunwen learned that Batavia did not seize the ship, he knew that Lian Huaiguan's visit was not as simple as he thought, and it was unlikely to be just a simple trade issue.

He accepted the letter from Lian Huaiguan, arranged for Lian Huaiguan to rest first, and asked someone to find a ship to Tianjin overnight, and took the letter to Liu Yu first to ensure that Liu Yu could know the purpose of Lian Huaiguan's trip in advance and make corresponding decisions to avoid being caught off guard.

This letter was written by Mantou in Batavia, and it went from Batavia to Banga, Fujian, Songjiang, and finally arrived in Weihai. It had been several months since it was written.

Liu Yu checked the seal to make sure that no one had opened it.

After reading it carefully, Mantou did not make any arbitrary judgment on Lian Huaiguan in the letter. He just talked about what happened in Batavia in detail. Liu Yu still hoped that he could judge for himself whether he was trustworthy.

After reading the letter, he handed it to his confidant Kang Budai.

Kang Budai scanned it and asked, "Sir, do you think this person is trustworthy?"

"Trustworthy, quite trustworthy. If the Dutch had such vigilance, they should have taken action against us long ago. How could they know that they would definitely intercept the Free Trade? Since they didn't know, how could they prepare such a spy in advance to test it? In fact, Mantou's letter was very clear, and he trusted Lian Huaiguan. But he was not sure what Lian Huaiguan meant."

Liu Yu could judge that Lian Huaiguan was dissatisfied with the Netherlands for coming this time.

However, opposing the Netherlands did not necessarily mean being loyal to Dashun. This must be made clear.

Since Lian Huaiguan could run from Batavia to Songjiang and go north to Weihai, he must have ambitions.

After telling Kang Budai about his judgment, Kang Budai nodded and said, "This man is ambitious. But do you think this man is good or bad for your plan to govern Southeast Asia?"

Good?

Damage?

After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "It's hard to say."

"Batavia should be the four towns of Anxi, not the small city-states of Anxi. How capable this man is, we will know when he comes."

The matter of Batavia is very complicated. Just ask him a few questions to get a glimpse of how capable Lian Huaiguan is.

If he is the lord of Batavia, what will be the land policy? Will the rule still rely on Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan to pay taxes? How can the employees in the sugarcane plantation ensure their survival when the sugar price drops? How to maintain the rule over the Javanese?

Liu Yu estimated that Lian Huaiguan's level must not have thought about these things.

He didn't expect Lian Huaiguan to answer, but he hoped that Lian Huaiguan would be more sober. Without the support of his motherland, he couldn't stand on his own feet overseas.

Forget about being a vassal chieftain.