In early September, Methwold arrived again in Tianjin from Banten, where he had moved the British East India Company's Asian headquarters for most of the past six months. Although the geographical location of Tianjin Port is not as good as that of Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, and Guangzhou in southern China, he still set up his headquarters in Tianjin, despite the opposition of the staff of Banten Merchant House, and only set up two branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

As the East India Company's general manager in Asia, Methwold certainly valued the enormous economic benefits of the southern Chinese ports. But as an English aristocrat, he was more interested in a smooth communication channel between the company and the Chinese emperor.

Although in the history of the great discoveries, the English merchants lagged behind the Portuguese, the Spaniards, and now the Dutch. But under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth, the English finally turned their eyes from Scotland, Ireland, and the European continent to the vast ocean and the end of the world, and with the bravery of the British pirates, the British finally defeated the Spanish armada, opening the British sea road to the world.

But when the English merchants began to look to the New World, they suddenly discovered that the best and most fertile land in the New World was already occupied by the Portuguese and Spaniards. The inferior land was again preempted by the Dutch. The shipping industry, which transported gold and silver from all over the world and returned goods to Europe, was also firmly controlled by the Dutch.

In addition to cultivating tobacco plantations in the wastelands of North America, risking their lives to plunder merchant ships in the Atlantic, and smuggling to overseas colonies occupied by the Portuguese and Spaniards, the starving British merchants could only do some transshipment trade in the Indian Ocean that the Dutch were unwilling to do.

For the Dutch, who mastered the main maritime trade routes of this era, the transshipment trade carried out by the British on the feeder routes was like those small traders standing in the open-air market to sell groceries, which not only did not threaten the maritime trade of the Dutch, but also made up for the lack of capacity of the Dutch and prospered the port cities under the rule of the Dutch. Therefore, the Dutch did not interfere much with these Britain, except for a few mockery.

But as soon as the English merchants showed their interest in the Dutch trade routes, the Dutch showed their real fangs. For example, when British merchants wanted to intervene in the spice trade, the Dutch caused the Ambon Massacre and drove the British out of the spice islands completely.

The British, who were latecomers in their seafaring careers, were naturally less powerful in Asia than the Dutch. In Europe, in order to deal with the Catholic alliance formed by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, the British court had to hold the Dutch tightly and keep them on the side of the Protestant alliance. Under the present political situation on the European continent, it is clear that the petty interests of British businessmen abroad are not enough to turn Britain against the Netherlands.

As the general manager of the British East India Company's headquarters in Asia, Methwald was more desperate than anyone else to find a strong ally in Asia to counter the power of the Dutch East India Company in the region.

Before establishing ties with China, he and other European merchants chose the Kingdom of Banten, hoping that this princely state of Southeast Asia would be able to contain the growing influence of the Dutch in their local area. However, the Kingdom of Banten has not been doing as well as it should, and the Dutch East India Company has almost swallowed up the entire Spice Islands.

The British East India Company had fewer and fewer business opportunities in the region, but was under increasing pressure from the Dutch East India Company. British merchants, including Methwold, actually had the intention of retreating. Several British merchants who traveled to and from the Indian continent advocated moving their headquarters to the Indian mainland, believing that the Dutch had much less influence on the Indian continent than in Southeast Asia, and that it was more suitable for the development of British merchants.

When Meswold and other senior employees of the company hesitated, the olive branch handed over by the Chinese emperor finally solved a problem for them. Is there any country in East Asia that is more powerful than China? If the British East India Company could get such a powerful ally, then they would not only have the opportunity to take revenge on the Dutch, but also try to wrest exclusive power in the spice trade from the Dutch.

Moreover, Methwold was more hopeful that he would be able to obtain the personal friendship of His Majesty the Emperor, so that the British East India Company would receive special preferential treatment for trading in China. English merchants had gained a wealth of experience in dealing with indigenous chieftains and kings of Asia from their Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch predecessors.

Gaining the friendship of a chieftain and a king would give them more benefits than trading with them. For example, a fixed amount of tax, a piece of land for the company to build a commercial house, a monopoly on the trade power of a certain commodity, and so on. After all, in these indigenous tribes and kingdoms, chiefs and kings had almost unlimited power, and they could not tell the difference between personal property and national wealth.

Of course, the Chinese emperor was more cautious and wiser than those kings, but this did not affect Methwold's greed for this rich land.

After boarding the Tianjin Zizhulin Wharf, Meswold glanced at the environment around the wharf, and couldn't help but sigh to the company staff who came to greet him: "It's just that I haven't been here for three or four months, and I can't imagine that there are some new changes here, as if His Majesty the Emperor wants to build this place into a London city when he is alive." ”

While leading the way for Methwold, Haine, a senior staff member of the company, said playfully: "What Your Excellency said is still too conservative, I think that if it continues to be built at this rate, it should be possible to build two London cities here before His Majesty the Emperor closes his eyes." ”

Methwold chuckled a few times, then changed the subject and asked, "Is there any news here these days when I'm away?" The days of staying in Banten were too closed. ”

Hain opened the door of the carriage parked on the side of the road, and while inviting Methwold to get into the car, he said with a smile: "The news happens every day in this country, and I don't know where to start." However, the biggest news in Tianjin is the Wanshang Expo held outside the East Gate, where various specialties from all over China are on display, which is worth seeing. ”

Methwold immediately stopped, he stepped on the ladder with one foot, stood on the ground with the other, looked back at Hain in surprise and asked, "What are the exhibitions of specialties from all over China?" Is there a place like this that we can go in and visit? ”

Hain hurriedly nodded and said, "Of course, Your Excellency, the exhibition is open to everyone, if you want to visit, go back to the merchant hall and wash up, I can accompany you in the afternoon..."

Methwold gladly accepted Hayne's suggestion. The Wanshang Expo mentioned by Hayne is actually a large greenhouse area enclosed in the open space outside the east gate of the Tianjin Acropolis. At the bottom of the greenhouse is a booth for placing goods, and between the greenhouse and the greenhouse is a passage for visitors to pass.

Apparently the local Chinese had never seen such unusual activity, so when Methwald arrived, he saw a rolling stream of people flowing between the greenhouses. The number of people was so large that even the booths on both sides were obscured.

Methwald sighed in surprise: "I have never seen so many people at one time, is it possible that the entire Chinese in Tianjin have come here?" ”

The sharp-eyed Hain looked at the flow of people in front of him, and suddenly frowned and said: "I don't know if all the Chinese are here, but those damn Spaniards are here." ”

Methwold followed Hain's gaze, and after a long silence, said, "Ignore them, one day, we will expel these Spaniards from China, as long as we can gain the friendship of His Majesty." ”

Methwold then led Hain and the others into the fair through another passage, and under the impetus of the crowd, they hardly stayed in front of each booth, but it was just this kind of casual browsing, and they had already seen new and strange objects that they had never seen in their lives.

If it weren't for the constant sound of bargaining, Methwald would have almost thought that he had come to God's kingdom of heaven, otherwise how could he have seen such a rich variety of goods, whether he could think of them or those he had never thought of.

Methwold and the others, who were admiring the richness of the country, suddenly felt empty in front of them, and it turned out that they had been squeezed to the end of the flow of people. A clearing appeared in front of them, and a group of guards stood guard, and the men who had been ahead of them avoided the clearing and began to turn back to the passage on the right.

Methwold saw that behind the clearing was a dividing wall made of bamboo and wood, and it seemed that there was an exhibition area behind this wall. He was thinking about what was behind the wall, when he heard Hain beside him say to him, "Your Excellency, those Spaniards have also arrived, they have gone behind the wall, let's go up and have a look?" ”

Methwold hesitated, then nodded in agreement with Hain's suggestion, and the four Englishmen broke away from the crowd and walked towards the clearing. Hain negotiated with the guards guarding the gate for a long time, and they finally agreed that they could enter behind the wall.

After Meswold and the others walked into the wall, they realized that this was indeed another exhibition area, but those who could enter it were all gorgeously dressed people, and there was a clear difference between the crowded flow of people outside. In addition to the Spaniards who came in front of them, there were more than a dozen Europeans here, and everyone was listening attentively to the introduction of the Chinese in front of them.

Methwald ignored the Spaniards and went around to the other side, wanting to hear what new things the Chinese had on display here.

Luo Yihai introduced the carriage parked behind him to the hundreds of tourists in front of him, and he introduced hoarsely: "... The three carriages behind me are the latest products of the Wensi Academy... In addition to the features just introduced, these carriages are all fitted with rubber tires, so you will be comfortable on even the bumpy roads. Interested gentlemen, you can come up and take a test ride..."

Methwold couldn't hold back his curiosity, and couldn't help but try it, and sure enough, the comfort of the carriage surpassed his experience, and it was better than using the softest velvet as a cushion, and there were no bumps.

He subconsciously thought that if he took such a carriage for a long journey, he could probably avoid the fear of many people for long journeys. When he got out of the carriage, he immediately asked the commentator with great interest, "How much does such a carriage cost?" ”

Luo Yihai looked at him and said with a smile on his face: "The most luxurious one is priced at 3,000 Ming Yuan, the ordinary one is 1,500 Ming Yuan, and the most humble one only costs 750 Ming Yuan." If you *10 or more, I can also give you a discount..."