In Tianshuijing Hutong, not far from Wangfu Street, there is a sign hanging outside the door of the British East India Company's Beijing Commercial Building, which is the Asian headquarters of the British East India Company's relocation to Beijing.

The mansion was not small, covering more than 4 acres, and was originally the private property of a certain nobleman, but the nobleman was fascinated by the newly opened stock exchange and sold the mansion to the British East India Company for 1,000 pounds. 1,000 pounds is worth 5,000 yuan, which is already 30% higher than the price of a similarly sized mansion in the inner city.

Other senior employees of the company were concerned about the deal, after all, China's courtyard houses, which may seem to cover a large area, do not suit the British aesthetic.

At this time, in London, England, the buildings loved by the aristocracy were still Tudor buildings with complex shapes, prominent in the middle of the composition, symmetrical on both sides, and towering buildings. Low courtyard houses like this always make them feel like they are living in the English countryside.

In London, a high-class building is only a few hundred pounds, and now they want to buy such a mansion for more than twice the price, which naturally makes these Englishmen hesitate a little.

However, Methwold saw the proximity of the mansion to the palace, so at his insistence, he bought the mansion and used it for the East India Company's liaison address in Beijing.

After nearly a year of using it, employees who have lived in Beijing have begun to love the mansion, which they think is much better than the beautiful-looking homes in London.

Because Chinese houses pay more attention to the hygienic layout and the effective use of public areas, and the habit of regularly cleaning the latrines has always maintained a clean atmosphere inside and outside the house.

They can live in a house and wash themselves with clean water every day for a pittance of money. Fresh meat and vegetables can be bought at specialized markets without worrying about eating spoiled food.

In their home country in England, unless they were in a country estate, even the great nobles living in London did not have access to clean water and fresh food every day.

Because the River Thames, where Londoners draw water, is now the largest natural sewer in the city. Both the nobles and the poor could only drink the water from this river, except that the nobles could let their servants go further upstream to get water.

After entering the capital, Methwold finally put aside the quarrel with the Dutch for a while, and returned to his residence in Beijing first, and rested for a good night.

The next morning, after getting up and washing, Methwold was sitting in the main hall and eating his breakfast in the converted dining room when he suddenly heard a quarrel from the courtyard.

Methwold didn't want to pay attention to it, but when he waited for a while, and when he found that the quarrel had not subsided, but was getting louder, he finally couldn't help but put down his knife and fork and walked out of the restaurant.

Heywood, a company clerk, was standing in the front half of the courtyard, arguing loudly with a Chinese postman carrying a parcel.

Methwold couldn't help but walk towards the two of them, and shouted loudly, "Mr. Heywood, what happened?" What does this Chinese postman want to do? ”

Heywood turned to Methwold and took off his hat, and then said to him, "The postman has sent a letter, but I think it is a prank, and he refuses to accept it, but he refuses to take it back." ”

Although the Chinese postman could not understand the English spoken by Heywood, he saw that Methwold was the person in charge of the place, so he cleverly said to him: "Oh, this gentleman, you may not accept the letter, but you should pay the postage, for you must know that the letter is from Japan." If you refuse to pay for the postage, we will refuse to accept any mailing from you in the future..."

Methwald only smiled at the Chinese postman's threat, and he replied in Chinese, which he was not very proficient in: "This gentleman, please don't worry, let me understand what happened first." You say this letter from Japan? So can you show who sent this letter? ”

The postman thought for a moment, then handed over the envelope he was holding in his hand, and said, "You can only look at the cover, and you are not allowed to open it until you have paid the postage." ”

Methwold glanced at the name on the envelope, looked up at Heywood in some surprise and asked, "The sender is Captain Drake?" Have you seen the envelope? ”

Heywood shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yes, Mr. Methwald, so I think it's a prank." Maybe some bastard wanted to play a trick on us, so he borrowed the name of the Lord, and I wish that bastard would meet Your Excellency Lord tonight. ”

Methwold didn't take Heywood's curse to heart, he thoughtfully flipped through the envelope in his hand for a long time before asking, "How much is this prank worth?" ”

Heywood immediately replied, "Half a pound, sir, about twenty-five dollars." ”

Methwold tucked the envelope under his arm, then took out a stack of bills from his waistcoat, counted three and said to the postman, "Well, sir, I have accepted this letter, thank you for your service, and the extra is your reward." ”

After sending the postman out of the house, Heywood finally couldn't help but say, "Sir, you are so generous, aren't you worried that there is only a stack of waste paper in it?" ”

Methwold smiled and said, "Mr. Heywood, even if there is only a stack of scrap paper in it, if it really comes from Japan, then half a pound is quite a good price."

If we send a boat to Japan to deliver an urgent message, how much do you think it will cost? I am more concerned about the way the Chinese deliver the letters than with this letter, and if we could build the same postal network, London and Beijing would not be so far apart. ”

As he spoke, Methwold tore open the large envelope in his hand, and found that it was a very well folded drawing, and nothing else, not even a note.

Methwold turned and walked towards the restaurant, spread out the picture in the envelope and said, "It seems like a prank, someone actually sent us a map from Japan, well, better than waste paper..."

Methwold suddenly stood there as if someone had choked him, and lost his voice.

Heywood was suddenly curious, and he crept forward to look, wondering what had frightened Mr. Methwold.

"Treasure Island?" Heywood was immediately captivated by the most conspicuous mark on the drawing, and he involuntarily read it aloud.

Methwold seemed to be awakened at this time, he hurriedly rolled up the drawings in his hand, and then commanded Heywood beside him: "Go and close the gate, no, no, find someone to guard the gate, no matter who comes to the door today, he will refuse for me, except for the emperor's messenger."

Call the director and the chief of affairs to my office, and you will have full authority to handle the affairs of the front yard for the time being, so that no one disturbs us..."

Wilson, the director of the Beijing Commercial Pavilion, and Robert, the director of the Beijing Commercial Center, both fell into a state of aphasia after looking at the map that Methwald received.

After a long while, Robert broke the silence and said, "If this map is true, we have received an amazing letter." I really can't think of anyone in Japan who would send us such a map, and I'm more inclined to say it's a bad joke. ”

Methwold turned his gaze to the other assistant and asked him, "What do you think, Mr. Wilson?" ”

Wilson stared at the annotations on the map for a long time before replying, "What if this map is real?" ”

Neither Methwold nor Robert said anything, and Wilson looked away from the map, looked at the two colleagues, and said, "If this map is true, whoever the person who signed Captain Drake is, has sent us a treasure."

According to the map, the Treasure Island alone produces nearly 880 pounds of gold and 88,000 pounds of silver each year. And the entire annual output of gold in Japan will not be less than 3,000 pounds, isn't that a staggering number?

If we can get to the whole of Japan... No, even if it only controls the Treasure Island, the company's situation in Asia will be very different as a result. ”

Wilson's words stopped at this point, Methwald fell into deep thought, and Robert unconsciously said, "But how can we prove that this map is real?" Except for this Captain Drake, who I don't know who it is, hasn't the shogunate already refused to allow our ships to land in Japan? How can we confirm that the gold mountain on the map is real? ”

Meswold spread his hands and said, "Isn't it easy?" As long as we confirm the existence of Treasure Island, then it is possible that the gold mountain markings on this map are true.

This Sado Island is not on the Japanese archipelago, so we can find a boat to confirm it. Wilson, you draw a map, and then ask Robert to take it to the Tianjin dock and bring it to the captain of the Bucks, and ask him to confirm whether Shimosado Island really exists, and whether there are really gold and silver mines on the island..."

Compared to Methwold, who only spent three yuan to get this map, the Spaniards and Dutch paid a relatively large price.

A Portuguese merchant who had been wrecked because of his ship approached the Spaniard, offered 1,000 pesos, and finally sold him a map of the Golden Isle of the East for 750 pesos.

Zheng Cai directly approached Peternats and sold him the map of Jinshan obtained by the Maritime Association from Japan at a price of 3,000 guilders. In this way, all three maps were sent where they were supposed to go.