The whole cargo ship was like a mole that could not see the light, carefully evading the Dutch patrol.

In Banga, the tin blocks that had been transported to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to be turned into tin foil were loaded, and with the help of local land snakes, they slipped away before the Dutch patrol warship arrived.

After passing through Fujian, he went to Ningbo to unload the tin ingots and keep the lac and go to Songjiang, which was also blessed by Xu Zhenjun and Mazu Niangniang, which was regarded as just in time before the Qingming Festival.

At this time, Songjiang seems a little deserted.

The cargo ships bound for Japan have not yet returned, and it will take two months for the Western cargo ships to arrive on a large scale, and the grain ships carrying rice from Jiangsu, Jiangsu, will have to wait another two months before they can go north, and the ships carrying soybeans from Liaodong will not be able to go south until September.

Rao is like this, Songjiang's foundation is still thick. When he came ashore, he felt that this place was far richer than Batavia, and the rows of shops and the hurried pedestrians on the road had a vitality far better than that of Batavia.

He is a figure in Batavia, and when he arrives here, he is not even qualified to say that the strong dragon does not suppress the head snake. It's not the lowest kind, but it's just a small earthworm.

"Is this the Celestial Empire?"

Lian Huaiguan was similar to those French missions, except that he saw the most prosperous Jiangnan in Dashun, and Dashun was divided into the north, Jiangnan and Fujian and Guangdong. The common people in the north, the gentry and landlords and Confucian societies in the south of the Yangtze River, the clans and Catholic groups in Fujian and Guangdong, and possibly the immigrants of the Songhua River and the Whale Sea all have completely different manners and styles.

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

If the entire Dashun and even the Ili of the Western Regions are like Songjiang Mansion, it is worth saying that they look down on the earth.

A series of foreigners' rental houses near the pier, coupled with the surrounding Yangzhou refreshment shops, look a little similar to Batavia, but they are not the same after all.

The Dutch in Batavia are the masters, and the Dutch in Songjiang can only honestly rent local houses, and they can't leave the foreigner area casually, and now it's even more impossible - although Dashun only banned Catholicism, but the Jiangsu Jiedu envoy was too lazy to score or not to distinguish between the Protestant Calvinist Reformed and the Catholic, so he simply died together.

This can be called lazy government, more things are better than less things, the biggest action of the imperial court in Jiangnan a few years ago is to ban religion, and there are Catholic rebels in Fujian, and the officials here in Jiangnan don't want to be so clear, and they should devote their energy to these, it is better to save effort across the board.

In addition, after the departure of the French mission, the envoys of various places received an edict to strictly prevent Westerners from stealing porcelain and silk and other technologies, and the investigation was even stricter.

Lian Huaiguan didn't know what was going on, he could only see the Dutch who were powerful in Batavia, honest and honest here, and sighed in his heart.

He can't speak official language, nor can he speak Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Wu languages, but fortunately, there are still many Fujianese in the restaurant.

Hearing a few familiar words, even Huaiguan didn't dare to grin as loudly as Batavia, and sang cautiously, asking where the trading company he was going to was.

The few businessmen who spoke Min looked at Lian Huaiguan a few times, and when they saw that his complexion was darker, they asked with a smile: "Are you running to the sea?" Or is it in Xiaoliuqiu to grow sugar? If you come to buy stocks, it's too late. How many things, where is anyone willing to sell them? Don't even think about transporting rice. ”

Even Huaiguan couldn't understand what was going on, and when he saw that the other side was more talkative, he had to say, "I'm from Batavia." Go meet a friend. Why, is it still a place to buy and sell stocks near a trading company? ”

"Yes. The imperial court built some yamen in the vicinity. If you go, there will be mules, horses, and wagons when you go out. You're from Ba Cheng? This is rare. Could it be that Ba Cheng also knows about the IPO? It's a pity that it's late. ”

Even Huaiguan Daoba City knew about the matter here, but he didn't say anything, asked the location of the trading company, and resigned these people according to the instructions of the steamed buns.

Out of the door, on the street corner, sure enough, there were some mules, horses and carriages.

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

The rich and noble families all rode in this four-wheeled carriage with a shock-absorbing structure, the windows were transparent, and the horses pulling the carriage were also cleaned, as if they wanted to be dwarfed by the gray mules around them.

In the Elizabethan era of England, there were carriages with bogies and suspension structures, and although Matsue was a little late, it caught up with the era of technology improvement and lower prices, and the roads here were better, and this thing became popular quickly.

There are also many such cars in Batavia, and there is a large Western-style garden called "Amanus Gracht" in the house of Kapitan Lian Fumitsu, which is also very famous in Amsterdam.

It's just that he doesn't know that Lian Fuguang's "Amanus Gracht", if it is in Jiangnan, it is really not worth mentioning. The gardens in the south of the Yangtze River pay attention to introverted, many rich people in Songjiang are just to facilitate business transactions, the real garden at home is enough to receive the Son of Heaven, because the shape should be careful of transgression, but more exquisite.

What he sees in his eyes is only superficial glitz. The real bustle is hidden in the garden mansions of the surrounding cities.

But just this superficial glitz is enough to make Lian Huaiguan feel like a Javanese person has walked from the village community to Batavia.

"The Celestial Empire is indeed rich, no wonder Batavia is regarded as a wild land. I thought about it before, but the rich merchants of the Celestial Empire had never been to Bacheng; Now it seems that he has only seen Bacheng, but he has never been to the Celestial Empire. ”

With such feelings, I can't help but lower my posture a little more.

When I got out of the carriage, I saw a complex of buildings under construction, next to which was the hall of a trading company with an open façade.

There were a few soldiers patrolling the door, but they did not stop anyone entering and leaving the trading company's hall.

Carefully handed over the handwritten letter and a token of the steamed bun, and soon, someone from the trading company came out to greet him.

Lin Yunwen ran to Nagasaki back then, dealt with the Fuzhou Gang and the Zhangzhou Gang, and could also speak some dialects from all over Fujian.

Seeing the token of the steamed bun, I know that this person is very important, even if he is already an executive member of the trading company, he has to come out to greet him in person when he encounters such a relationship.

After entering the hall and serving tea, he asked Lian Huaiguan.

Even Huaiguan said that he came from Batavia and said that Batavia was seized and inspected the Free Trade Number, Lin Yunwen couldn't help but scold: "This Dutchman really doesn't know whether to live or die, and the official ships of the Celestial Empire dare to detain them?" ”

scolded loudly, and even Huaiguan was surprised inexplicably.

Lin Yunwen also ran less in Nanyang before, and before he went bankrupt to Liu Yu as a "Japanese Xixixi", he also ran more to Nagasaki. In Nagasaki, the Dutch, like the Chinese maritime merchants, had to look at the faces of the Japanese side, and they all ate according to the faces of the people, and no one said that they looked down on anyone.

In the past few years, he has risen up, and the status of the people he comes into contact with has become higher and higher, and he has no fear of the Dutch.

It's not that he doesn't know Liu Yu's temper, that's a person who will never suffer, isn't it death for the Dutch to do this?

He thought that the steamed bun was for Lian Huaiguan to pass on a message, telling Liu Yu about being detained and inspected in Batavia, and he was more polite to Lian Huaiguan.

"The strong man came from Ba Cheng and worked hard all the way. Since it is a token of Lord Mi, I will arrange a boat for you to go to the north as soon as possible. But I don't know that the Free Trade has already left Bacheng? ”

There is a saying that the people Lin Yunwen has been in contact with in the past few years, plus he has become the executive committee member of the trading company, and in some of the so-called temperament, he is no longer comparable to Lian Huaiguan in Batavia.

Lian Huaiguan subconsciously bowed down and said respectfully: "The Free Trade has already left Batavia. The Dutch did not stop them, but they stayed in Ba for a few days and then left. Together with the two Swedish ships, they left the city of Ba and headed for Europa. ”

Lin Yunwen thought that something had happened to Bacheng, but now when he heard that the ship had left Bacheng, he was also greatly relieved.

The cost of the Free Trade is very expensive, and the cost of a transcontinental ocean ship is not the same as that of a fortune ship and a sand ship, especially since many of the timbers are made of oak and cypress.

It's expensive, it's dangerous along the way, and it's a route you've never traveled. The captain is a steamed bun, although he has an official status, but in fact, the ownership of the ship is still a trading company.

Although Liu Yu made a suggestion, it was the members of the executive committee who made the decision. Lin Yunwen has to seek his own government in his position, and the company's decision-making is responsible to all parties involved.

If there is a problem in this first trade with Europe, not to mention that the shareholders who participate in the shares will be dissatisfied with the current members of the executive committee, the company's subsequent development will also have big problems, and they have the most shares at stake.

The company is now in a bottleneck.

The Japanese side has already announced that it will ban the trade in smuggled rice this year, and it will be difficult for the Nanyang trade to intervene for the time being, and it can only hope to open up the situation to European trade.

Even Huaiguan said that Batavia had not detained the Free Trade for too long, and the worry in Lin Yunwen's heart dissipated a little.

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

Only this time the free trade ship sailed to Europe, the company's executive committee members also have a very clear position in their hearts.

Without the support of the imperial court, the company had no possibility of development.

The Anglo-Dutch East India Company, which had money and guns, could also open the government, collect taxes, and levy soldiers, and the trading company of Dashun could not have such power.

Trade with Japan relied on Liu Yu.

And for European trade, it also relied on the imperial court. Without the official school of Jinghai Palace of the imperial court, and without Liu Yu's order to train a large number of people with the ability to sail in the ocean, it would be impossible to carry out trade with Europe, because there was no captain who could run to Europe.

Don't say anything else, just this time in Batavia was detained, if it weren't for the official identity of the steamed bun, Batavia would not have let it go so easily.

Now that he heard Lian Huaiguan talk about the seizure of the ship in Batavia, Lin Yunwen couldn't be clearer in his heart, the future of the trading company can only be tied to the foreign war of the imperial court, 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 drive away the obstacles, so that they, the merchants, could follow and profit: and the Anglo-Dutch East India Company, for example, had its own guns, could collect taxes, could levy troops, and even organize the government, so do not count on such things.

The imperial court could not have allowed it.

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

He asked a little more about Batavia, and even Huaiguan didn't say the true purpose of his coming, he hid it, and only said that he was going to meet the person who Master Mi asked him to see.

When Lin Yunwen learned that Batavia did not arrest the ship, he knew that Lian Huaiguan came to see that it was by no means as simple as he thought, and it was unlikely that it was just a simple trade issue.

accepted the letter in Lian Huaiguan's hand, arranged for Lian Huaiguan to rest first, found someone to find a boat to Tianjin overnight, and brought the letter to Liu Yu by the way, so as to ensure that Liu Yu could know the purpose of Lian Huaiguan's trip in advance and make corresponding decisions, so as not to be too late.

It has been several months since the letter was written in Batavia, from Batavia to Banga, to Fujian, to Songjiang, and finally to Weihai.

Liu Yu checked the imprint and made sure that no one had removed it.

looked at it carefully, on the letter, Mantou did not judge Lian Huaiguan arbitrarily, but only carefully talked about what happened in Batavia, whether it is trustworthy or hope that Liu Yu will judge for himself.

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

Kang Buxian swept over the ten lines at a glance and asked, "Childe thinks this person is credible?" ”

"Credible, quite credible. If the Dutch had been so vigilant, they would have acted against us a long time ago. How did they know that they would definitely intercept the free trade number? Since you don't know, how can you prepare such a detailed work in advance to come to the test? On the letter of the steamed bun, the meaning is actually very clear, and he trusts this Lian Huaiguan. I'm just not sure what this Lian Huaiguan means. ”

Regarding Lian Huaiguan's visit this time, Liu Yu could judge that Lian Huaiguan was dissatisfied with the Netherlands.

However, opposing the Netherlands does not necessarily mean being loyal to Dashun, and this must be made clear.

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

Comparing his judgment with Kang Buxian, Kang Buxian also nodded and said, "This person is ambitious. It's just that Childe thinks that this person's plan for Childe to pass through the South Seas is a benefit? Is it a disadvantage? ”

Is it pro?

Is it a disadvantage?

After pondering for a while, he smiled: "It's hard to say." ”

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

Things in Batavia are complicated. How big is this Lian Huaiguan's ability, you only need to ask him a few questions to get a glimpse or two.

If he was the lord of Ba City, what would be the land policy? Does the rule still rely on the Kapitan and Rezhenlan to collect taxes? How can the hired workers of the sugar cane plantations keep them afloat in the face of lower sugar prices? How to maintain the rule of the Javanese?

These things, Liu Yu estimated that even Huai's level of observation must have never been thought of.

He didn't expect Lian Huaiguan to answer, he just hoped that Lian Huaiguan would be sober, and that it would be untenable to do so without the support of his mother country overseas.

Don't think about it when you make a toast.