Four elder brothers take the script of salted fish

The negotiations between Viscount Oliver and the Qing Dynasty have more or less spread, and the establishment of a chamber of commerce?To be honest, foreign businessmen who are still staying in Fuzhou City have no expectations at all. They just hope that their current business can be stabilized, and they dare not think about anything else.

Merchant James.

He was rightly elected as a representative to see His Majesty the Emperor. To be honest, when James was asked to meet the Emperor again, his legs were trembling. How proud and glorious he was before, how scared and fearful James is now.

James frantically thought about the last experience.

The last time I met His Majesty the Emperor, didn't I do anything I shouldn't do?With a feeling of uneasiness, James begged to see Kangxi again.

He was fully prepared to be rejected.

Surprisingly, the steward who reported came back quickly, followed by an eunuch: "Mr. James, please go this way."

James breathed a sigh of relief.

He is much more humble than the attitude he showed last time.James wished he could kiss the emperor's toes, he prostrated himself on the ground and carefully explained his reason for coming.

James emphatically stated that all this was the wild imagination of his colleagues, not his original intention.Then he turned to secretly expressing the worries and fears of himself and his colleagues, and finally added: "Your Majesty the generous and benevolent emperor, you are the light in our hearts, please give us a guideline. Let's go!"

The timid look almost amused Kangxi.

In fact, if the words of Marquis Vincent hadn't angered Kangxi, Viscount Hart, Earl Jonathan, and Earl Matthew would not have lost their lives—well, at least they wouldn't die so early, they should be waiting for the information in their minds Only those who are picked out will be sent to the execution ground.

It's cool to let out a bad breath.

If you want to understand the countries of Europa, you have to start from other aspects, such as the James in front of you, or another James-James Fitzjamester, the illegitimate son of the King of England, or Viscount Oliver and others.

But compared to the staid and violent Marquis Vincent, it is even more difficult to get detailed information from these two people.Instead of asking them, Kangxi felt that the businessman James in front of him might be a good choice.

Both timid and greedy, but there is still a trace of bottom line.

Based on the above thoughts, Kangxi treated businessman James with a gentle attitude, with a little comfort in it: "I have always maintained a supportive attitude towards maritime trade, and we will protect businessmen who conduct transactions honestly and in accordance with the laws of the Qing Dynasty. , will not deliberately trouble them. Similarly, James, you have to tell your companions that the moment you set foot on the land of the Qing Dynasty, you must do things according to the rules of the Qing Dynasty!"

James obediently said yes.

Kangxi changed the topic: "As for the three lords... peeping at military sites is a felony in any country, right? What's more, they want to buy weapons. It is kind and merciful for me to kill the three chief offenders without affecting others. And those armies—they invaded the land of the Qing Dynasty without authorization, and it is only natural that they suffered a backlash."

Spy on military sites, buy weapons?

These words sounded in James' mind like a bolt from the blue. He seemed to feel the dilation and rapid shrinkage of his pupils in an instant, and his heart speed suddenly accelerated. James almost used all his strength to stop the growing fear in his heart.

He recalled that Earl Matthew once invited him to do a big business... James felt that the risk was too great and declined Earl Matthew's invitation, a drop of sweat emerged from the tip of his nose.

James shivered.

Kangxi's cold eyes lingered on him for a long time—the killing of the three lords was certainly due to Marquis Vincent's anger for three points, and the remaining seven points were for the purpose of killing chickens and monkeys.If the businessman James in front of him had agreed to Earl Matthew's proposal, maybe there would be as many chickens as he killed.

James didn't dare to think about it.

He replied respectfully and cautiously: "Your Majesty the Emperor, keep your words firmly in your heart, and you will definitely pass them on to everyone."

When leaving, James almost ran away.

The sweat falling from his body was covered with bricks. After James left, Yinti couldn't help but said, "Khan Ama, don't you care about this person?"

"Where is anything black and white in this world?"

Kangxi patted Yinti on the shoulder: "I think he is a good candidate—at least he has the courage to represent foreign businessmen to come to see me, doesn't he?"

The Maritime Chamber of Commerce not only needs the participation of Qing personnel, but also a certain number of foreign businessmen to participate in it - James in front of him is one of the candidates that Kangxi is quite optimistic about.

It just needs to be researched.

How to arrange the chamber of commerce and how to let the imperial court control are all big problems before Kangxi——Kangxi fell into deep thought for the time being, thinking about the posts sent by many courtiers.

On the other side, James, who hastily resigned, is full of worries.

How to explain to colleagues and partners is a big problem, and secondly, what attitude should we use to deal with the emperor's request?James walked out while thinking, and happened to have a face-to-face contact with Yinzhen.

Yinzhen stopped.

He had a good impression of the businessman James: "What novelty did Mr. James bring this time?"

James: .........Ah this.

He had no choice but to answer with a sneer: "His Royal Highness, the fourth prince, the ship needs several months of sailing back and forth, and I haven't got anything new now."

Yinzhen was a little disappointed.

But this is also a reasonable thing, he complained casually: "Then Mr. James has to work harder, you must know that Khan Ama is considering the establishment of a chamber of commerce, and the participating merchants must have certain strength—" Yan The implication is that if James' strength is not good enough, and the job falls into the hands of others, there is no way to do it.

James' expression changed instantly.

represent! ?represent! ?He jumped up, and couldn't help breathing three minutes: "Is what His Royal Highness the fourth prince said true?"

Yinzhen squinted at him: "Ben elder brother never cheats."

James smiled sarcastically, and his mind turned instantly - what an honor it is to be a representative of the chamber of commerce, and how much gold and silver does it mean?More importantly, the relationship between himself and the emperor is much closer than other businessmen, and now he is risking his life to help his companions.

If it's still not his turn...or if he is snatched away, where will he put James' face?If you just wanted to get rid of the fourth prince just now, James immediately started to think about it, and quickly said with a smile: "Although I didn't bring anything new, but I have heard some news, four Does His Royal Highness want to hear it?"

"……Oh?"

"A ship that can dive 3-5 meters underwater." James said enthusiastically, "Perhaps His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince thought it was just a joke, but that ship actually sailed underwater in the Thames several times."

After a pause, James also explained: "The Thames River is our mother river in England, and it is about as important as the Yellow River and Yangtze River in the Qing Dynasty."

"Underwater...? How many people are there?"

"There are more than [-] people loaded in the ship. Although there is only a little time each time, otherwise you will be out of breath, but it is also a very magical method?" James tried to recall, but in the end he could only give an approximate figure. .

Has the prototype of the original submarine appeared?

Yinzhen was secretly surprised, and at the same time continued to ask enthusiastically: "Is there any more?"

"And... a lighter?"

James whirled frantically in his mind: "It's easy, convenient and fast to ignite the fire with just a click. There's also coffee... um... and right!"

James showed a hint of excitement and apprehension.

His hesitant look made Yinzhen curious, he raised his eyebrows: "What else?"

James hesitated for a moment.

He whispered a lot into Yinzhen's ear, and finally said: "This thing was improved by a slave on a small boat. I haven't seen anyone else use such a thing in London. I don't know." Has His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince seen it before?"

Yin Zhen showed disdain.

He snorted softly: "How could there be no Qing Dynasty? There are relatively few people doing this kind of business near Fujian. You have to go to Jiangning and Hangzhou."

James suddenly realized.

He nodded furiously: "So that's how it is, that's how it is, it's all foolishness, it's all foolishness."

Yinzhen stopped his movements.

He seemed to add casually: "It's good to have a chance to see, my elder brother also wants to see if there is any difference between our Qing Dynasty and yours, so that we can learn from each other's strengths!"

"That's exactly the reason." James nodded again and again.

He didn't think about whether there was such a thing in the Qing Dynasty - after all, as His Royal Highness said, the surrounding area of ​​Fujian is not a place where high-quality silk and cloth are produced, not to mention that James himself is not in the cloth business , I didn't go to the Weaving Bureau to see it either.

Hearing that Yinzhen mentioned that he wanted to see the difference, he also replied very straightforwardly: "The small one will be delivered tomorrow."

Yinzhen smiled slightly.

He pretended to be calm and waved his hands: "There is no need to be in such a hurry, just take your time."

The fourth prince can be polite.

James still dare not neglect it!Early the next morning, a big guy covered in a gray tarpaulin was slowly sent into the Admiral's Mansion.Even with the order of the fourth elder brother, it still attracted the attention of many people.

This thing is too big!

Being noticed by everyone also means that the news quickly spread to the emperor, and even the courtiers immediately impeached the behavior of the fourth prince the next day—what is this?This is blatantly accepting bribes!

Kangxi didn't take it seriously.

He didn't think Yinzhen was such a short-sighted person, and he really felt that a bunch of officials were making a lot of noise.At this time, Kangxi couldn't help sighing: now it seems that his practice of leaving a large group of hard-working officials in the capital to assist the prince is really adding difficulty to himself.

Look at a chamber of commerce draft that has been arguing for three days without an answer, and still has the mind to take care of the prince's affairs.Kangxi pressed his temple: "Liang Jiugong, go and call Yinzhen over."

When Yinzhen came over, he was a little reluctant.

When Kangxi asked a question, he couldn't laugh or cry: "Khan Ama——this is a good thing!"

After a pause, Yinzhen added: "My son promises that if Khan Ama finds out, James will send it over immediately."

Kangxi was slightly taken aback.

When he saw the huge machine that took up half of the room, he frowned slightly: "This is... a spinning machine?"

It looks almost identical to the spinning machines used in various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

Kangxi looked left and right, but he didn't see any reason why Yinzhen was so excited. Maybe it was a series of things discovered in foreign countries that made Yinzhen think that everything was developed in a foreign country?Kangxi thought for a while, then stretched out his hand to caress Yinzhen's head: "On the way back to Beijing, I will take you to Jiangning Weaving Mansion to have a look, and now Ziqing is in charge of it."

Ziqing is Cao Yin.

He has been sent to Jiangning since the 23rd year of Kangxi to assist in Jiangning's weaving affairs. It is estimated that he will officially take over in one or two years, right?

Kangxi really had no interest in spinning machines.

The Qing Dynasty's silk cloth manufacturing industry will never lose to other countries.You can imagine how popular silk is among overseas merchants.

Kangxi is very confident about this.

Not only him, but also the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and even the people all over the world are full of confidence.