Zhang Guangsheng helped the north of the city to rent a very Jiangnan-style house, with three entrances inside and outside, and at a glance, you can know that it has been built for no more than five years. A few miles to the south is Zhoujingbang, and to the east is a small river with no name.

In the summer, there is a lot of rain, and the river has risen to less than half a person's height from the windows of the east rooms, and you can see the reflection of the pink walls and tiles of the house in the water, and then look at the willows in front of you whose branches are hanging down to the water, Ren Yuer can't help but sigh: "The people near the water, the ink Jiangnan, is really like living in an ink painting!" ”

"The water in this river is even higher than ours, and if it rains for a few days, will it flood?" Yu Sangu asked worriedly.

"Probably not, it's impossible for people to build such a big house."

Just when the two of them finished admiring the scenery outside the window and curiously studied the foreign goods that Zhang Guangsheng helped purchase, Han Xiufeng was standing at the gate and asked puzzledly: "Guangsheng, why doesn't the master live in such a good house?" ”

"It's not that I'm being messed with by foreigners."

"Foreigners?"

Zhang Guangsheng raised his arm and pointed to the east bank, explaining: "The main family is a native of Ningbo surnamed Xu, who came to Shanghai with his father to trade beans when he was a child. But every inch of land in the city is expensive, how can there be such a big place to build a house for him, and later he bought this land with the locals.

When he bought these dozens of acres of land, the land leased by the English was not large, and I heard from my fellow villagers that the area outside the north gate of the county town facing the Huangpu River was only more than 60 acres; In the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang, the English consul felt that the previously leased place was not enough, so he asked the then Daotai Gong Mujiu to negotiate, and leased a lot of land, from Pidgin in the south, Lijiazhuang in the north, Huangpu River in the east, and Jielu in the west, from the original more than 60 acres to more than 830 acres at once. ”

"And then?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

"Not long after, it seems that in the twenty-eighth year of Daoguang, Yingli changed a consul, and as soon as he arrived, he went to negotiate with the then Daotai Lingui, and expanded the northern boundary to the bank of the Wusong River estuary (Suzhou Creek), and the western boundary from the original boundary road to the river behind you. The southwest has been expanded to Zhoujing, and the south is still bounded by pidgin, from more than 830 acres to more than 2,800 acres at once! ”

"From more than 60 acres to more than 2,000 acres, foreigners have to make inches!"

"Who says it's not, foreigners can give as much land as they want, Gong Mujiu and Lin Gui lose their power and humiliate the country!"

Han Xiufeng thought so, thought about it and asked: "So this side of the river is the Chinese boundary, and the other side of the river is the concession of foreigners?" ”

Zhang Guangsheng said with a wry smile: "On the other side is the foreigner's horse race hall and the big road built by the foreigner, the foreigner is not only running horses on the other side, not only playing the ball on the other side, but also the foreign monk also runs here every once in a while to preach." Although the main family is a businessman who does business, it is not a comprador or a general who does not even want the ancestors of the foreign company, so he is unbearable, and he is not willing to live in this house after he has built it. ”

"I see." Han Xiufeng nodded, and subconsciously turned around to look at the east bank.

Zhang Guangsheng thought for a while, and then said helplessly: "I heard from the master's family that the English seem to think that the current concession is not big enough, so his compradors have approached him several times, wanting to buy this house and the more than 20 acres of land in front of the house. Almost all of the people around him were sold, but he didn't, and he said that even if the house and the more than 20 acres were abandoned, they would not be sold to foreigners. ”

"Backbone!"

"It's useless just that he has backbone, the current Daotai and the county master have no backbone, and he has helped foreigners find him more than once, and he doesn't know how long he can hold on."

"yes, it's useless for him to have backbone alone." Han Xiufeng didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, so he sighed lightly and walked into the courtyard.

I thought that Datou and Su Jueming were cleaning up their things inside, but they didn't expect that the two of them were not only in the flower hall, but also held a piece of paper wrapped in something that looked like a dim sum when they saw him, and greeted him and said happily: "Fourth brother, you smell it, this thing is fragrant!" ”

"What's this?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"I don't know, I was about to ask you, can you eat it?"

Without waiting for Han Xiufeng to speak, Zhang Guangsheng couldn't help but say, "This is foreign soap, used for bathing, and you can't eat it." ”

"Isn't bathing just bathing?"

"Yes, yes, it's for bathing." Zhang Guangsheng took the soap, unwrapped the paper wrapped outside, and explained while wiping it on his body: "When you take a bath, wipe it on your body, rub it, and rub it, and you will have a lot of bubbles, and then wash it off with water, which can not only wash your body cleanly, but also make people feel refreshed, and there is a fragrance on your body after washing." ”

"That's for women!"

"Men can use it too." Zhang Guangsheng knew that they hadn't seen this, so he put down the soap and picked up a tin box, opened it carefully, and held it up in front of Han Xiufeng: "Fourth master, this is tooth powder, which is used to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth." By the way, don't you have a few small brushes over there, you can use a small brush to dip in tooth powder when you wash again, just like me, brush a few more times, and your teeth will be clean. ”

"It's kind of interesting," Han Xiufeng took it and sniffed it, then looked at the pile of foreign goods on the round table and asked, "What are those for?" ”

"This is a foreign fire," Zhang Guangsheng opened a paper bag, took out a square carton, opened it and pulled out a match, and scratched the edge of the box, only to hear a snort and gas a blue flame: "Fourth master, it's as simple as that, it's much more convenient to use this ignition than a fire sickle." ”

Han Xiufeng couldn't help but put down the tooth powder, took the match, and tried to draw one, but he didn't expect it to catch with one stroke, and couldn't help laughing: "It's more convenient than a fire sickle, it smells that there should be nitrate in it, this foreign fire is not cheap." ”

"It's naturally not cheap for ordinary people, and it's really nothing to your foreign fire." Zhang Guangsheng smiled, unwrapped a few beautifully packaged cartons, and introduced them like a few treasures: "Fourth master, you have been the director of the guild hall in the capital, you must have seen the chiming clock, this is a foreign watch, it is a small foreign clock." ”

"I've seen foreigners' pocket watches, but this foreign watch is not cheap."

"This is a fellow villager gave it to my cousin, a total of two pieces, my cousin took one piece, and before leaving, he specially explained that he would give this piece to you."

"Didn't you buy it for money?"

"Fourth master, do I dare to lie to you?"

"Well, since I didn't buy it with money, then I'm disrespectful."

"This wind-resistant foreign lamp, but in Shanghai it is called a horse lantern, this is foreign oil, I will help you add it. Look, unscrew this cap, pour the oil into it, and screw the lid on. This crystal cover can be opened, Jueming, please bring the fire......

Zhang Guangsheng taught everyone how to light the lantern, and pointed to the foreign fires on the table and said: "These are all used by women, including foreigners' rouge pollen, and foreigners' mechanism foreign needles." Fourth master, you see, how thin the needle rod is, how smooth and hard it is, and how sharp the needle is, sewing clothes is better than our earthen needles. ”

Zhang Guangcheng not only helped buy a bunch of foreigners' daily necessities, but also sent a lot of foreigners' fabrics such as gray leather, tweed, serge, velvet, velvet, etc.

Han Xiufeng was dazzled, and couldn't help laughing: "I remember that there is a book that says, 'Within the five states, there are 100 beards per day, and those who are self-sufficient without seeking from other countries have only one China'." Someone also wrote an article entitled "Discussion on the Ban on Foreign Goods", saying that "all foreign goods are as far as those in China are so-called KitKat and useless." If I use these things, will people say that I, Han Xiufeng, 'take the foreign as the best', or even worship the foreign? ”

"Fourth master, the rotten Confucianism who said these words has never seen foreign fire, and he has never even seen foreign guns and cannons, so he doesn't know how powerful foreigners are!"

Han Xiufeng sat on the Taishi chair, took the freshly brewed tea from Su Jueming's hand, and sighed: "Not only do I know how sharp foreign guns are, but I have also seen foreigners' gunboats today. Thinking about it, in the battle between Daoguang and foreigners in the 22nd year, we lost not at all. Think about it again, you just said that foreigners have to make inches, this concession is expanding again and again, I think compared with the Cantonese bandits, foreigners are a big problem! ”

"Fourth master, if only all those princes and ministers in the capital had your knowledge." Zhang Guangsheng lost no time in complimenting.

"I am a donor from the vice president of Wupinyun to have some knowledge, but I was fortunate to read Wei Yuan's "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", and I had the opportunity to come to Shanghai to run an errand and opened my eyes by the way. Let's not talk about that, let's get down to business, have you helped me ask who can buy foreign guns these days? ”

Speaking of exactly, Zhang Guangsheng hurriedly said: "Fourth master, there are not 1,000 compradors and generalists in Shanghai, but also 800, most of them are from Fujian and Guangdong, and many of their ancestors have worked in the 13 lines of Guangzhou, anyway, most of them can speak the words of foreigners and understand foreign languages. If you just buy ten rods and eight strokes, you can help you buy any one, but what you want to buy is not ten rods and eight strokes, they can't eat such a big deal, and it is not cost-effective to buy them from them. ”

"You're saying it's not cheap to buy from them?"

"Fourth master, I have inquired, it is not expensive to buy the kind of foreign gun that is used for fire rope fire, and you can buy one rod for twenty or thirty silver dollars."

"What about the tap fire?" Han Xiufeng asked eagerly.

"Firebird guns are expensive, and they don't always have to be bought." Zhang Guangsheng said helplessly.

"Why can't I buy it?"

"Foreigners use that kind of shotgun by themselves, and ordinary people will not sell it when they buy it, and even if they do, they will not sell too much, and the price will naturally not be cheap, it is said that it costs sixty or seventy silver dollars a shot."

Without waiting for Han Xiufeng to speak, Su Jueming asked in surprise: "Guangsheng, have you really inquired, the firebird gun really only costs sixty or seventy silver dollars a shot?" ”

"I've really inquired, do I dare to take the things that the fourth master confessed as a child's play?" Zhang Guangsheng thought about it and smiled bitterly: "But that was the price more than 20 days ago, and it is estimated that it will not be this price anymore." ”

There are many foreigners in Shanghai, so it is natural for foreigners to use silver dollars to buy foreign guns. Most of the foreigners' silver dollars are seven dollars and two cents each, which means that to buy a foreigner's firebird gun, no matter how you convert the fire consumption, it will only cost forty or fifty taels. It was cheaper than expected, and it was much cheaper, and you can imagine how much money the people who helped Yizhen's Wu family come to Shanghai to buy guns earned.

Han Xiufeng felt that even if the price of this gun increased, it would not go anywhere, and asked with a smile: "Guangsheng, why can't you buy it at that price now, could it be that there are big buyers besides us?" ”

"Fourth master, I heard what people said, and I don't know if it's true or not."

"Tell me, who's buying?"

"The bandits are buying," Zhang Guangsheng put down the teacup and said with a wry smile: "The court has no silver, and the bandits have silver. The foreign firms in the concession, even the foreign merchants who did not open foreign firms, are now all doing business as bandits. Anyway, even if they are seized by the imperial court, the imperial court has nothing to do with them, at most confiscating their goods. ”

"Fourth master, the Cantonese bandits believe in foreign religions, they are originally a gang!" Sue felt blurted out and made his debut.

Han Xiufeng glanced back at Su Jueming and muttered: "No wonder the price has risen, it turns out that there are really big buyers!" However, whether they all believe in foreign religion or not, I think it doesn't matter very much, after all, foreigners are mercenary, and they will not fail to make money if they have money, and they will not do our business because the thieves believe in foreign religions. ”

Zhang Guangsheng suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said: "Fourth master, I heard that foreigners are not monolithic, and foreign religions are also divided into several factions, although the English, French and Citi people believe in the same foreign Bodhisattva, but the teachings they believe in are still different, anyway, the Citi Yang monk and the English foreign monk are not the same way." And then there are people among the foreigners, they find their own consuls when something happens, and they do their own things when they have nothing to do, and they don't listen to the consul's greetings very much, so they are lawless. ”

"Okay, let's go to a few concessions early tomorrow morning and talk to the foreigners directly with the largest foreign firm."

"Fourth master, we don't speak foreign languages."

"We don't speak foreign languages, and it is impossible for foreign companies to do without interpreters who understand our words. In short, shop around, not only with the Citi people, but also with the English people, and the French side to talk about the same. This is a transaction, the silver is in our hands, and I will buy it from whoever has good goods and who has a cheap price. ”

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