Let Wang Fuqian go to the Northern Expedition, the other party has a serious heart knot, and Zhou Lang will also have it.

Wang Fuqian had obviously taken the initiative to hand over his men, and he had been diligent and thrifty and conscientious during this time, and he didn't dare to contact the old department, even if those officers of the old department who complained came to him, he didn't see him.

was worried that Zhou Lang would be suspicious, but now Zhou Lang wanted to separate him, and he felt a strong suspicion.

Zhou Lang knew that for this kind of smart person, the more you explained to him, the more he didn't believe it, and Zhou Lang didn't explain at all.

Explained to him directly: "This Northern Expedition has a long way to go." Remember, it doesn't matter if the soldiers live or die, you must come back alive, and whether you succeed or fail, you will return before the summer. ”

In fact, Zhou Lang didn't suspect Wang Fuqian for a long time, if he was really suspicious, there was a lot of chance to kill him directly. This is a talent, he doesn't even want Wang Fuqian to go, but if Wang Fuqian doesn't go, no one is suitable to go, only he understands English, if he doesn't go, he has to go to Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang's explanation made Wang Fuqian quite relieved, and felt that he might have misunderstood.

Donggang is becoming more and more prosperous, and it is one of the four major ports in Taiwan, but now foreigners are beginning to come. Zhou Lang's advertising in Macao had an effect, but unfortunately the foreigners could not find a suitable source of goods here, they were not interested in food, they were interested in the old three, that is, silk, tea and porcelain, which were not available in Donggang, but the duty-free policy, they still welcomed, so the foreigners simply started entrepot trade, and also bought some grain to sell in Macao and Guangzhou, and brought some fabrics, ironware and other handmade products on the return trip.

It's just that there are still very few foreign ships, because the wind season is not right, now most of the foreign ships are not in Guangdong, and it will take two or three months for the real large-scale foreign ships to arrive, and then there will be many foreign ships taking advantage of the summer monsoon to sail into Guangzhou, and then prepare goods, and wait for the monsoon, they have a lot of time to go back and forth to Taiwan to do part-time work.

There are many Chinese merchants, and Zhou Lang does not collect taxes now, but he has already begun to prepare, and specially called Wei Lianli over and asked him to be responsible for recording the information of each ship. After sorting out, it was found that Guangdong and Fujian had the most merchant ships, and the goods purchased were mainly grain and leather goods, and daily necessities were sold.

Taxes will definitely be collected in the future, but judging from the type of trade and the scale of trade, Zhou Lang does not report hope for taxes, because I am afraid that I will not be able to collect much tax, how much money can you earn by selling grain? It also has to be high value-added goods such as tea and silk.

The value of the base in Donggang, Zhou Lang was a little disappointed, and he was not very satisfied with Taiwan, his purpose has always been very firm, that is, he must find a base along the coast of Fujian, and then purchase tea directly from the production area of Fujian, so that the trade of the thirteen lines of Guangzhou can be cut off in one fell swoop, and how rich the merchants of the thirteen lines are, how rich Zhou Lang will be in the future.

But it is easy to seize a port in Fujian, can it be defended? Even if you can hold it, will you be able to open it? What's the use of occupying an island and not being able to open a trade route? Unless you can fight all the way from the coast of Fujian to Wuyi Mountain, how many troops will you need and how much time will it take?

Or tell Wang Fuqian what he said, there is a long way to go!

Fortunately, there is no need to worry about taxation for the time being, and after returning from Guangzhou, Zhou Lang's financial situation is very good.

The large-scale construction of the fort and the port was not affected, and according to the current investment, two million silver dollars would be spent, but this money was recorded in the accounts, and Zhou Lang lent it to the company for the time being, and it would have to be confirmed by the general meeting of shareholders in the future.

Therefore, it is now that Zhou Lang is rich, not Zhou Lang's company is rich, and the China (East India) Company he established is still in a state of serious loss, all supported by the prospects of the capital market. As for dividends, the Dutch East India Company did not pay dividends in the first few decades of its establishment, and the shareholders still treated the shares as treasures, and no one was willing to sell them.

However, if the company wants to continue to persist in this long-term loss state, it must continue to inject confidence into the capital market, that is, to continue to create hot spots, which is called storytelling in the industry.

For the time being, the base in Taiwan can fool those shareholders who don't know about China, but in less than a year and a half, their hearts will be cold, their hearts will be cold, and the company will be about to dry.

At present, this company still has a lot of value to Zhou Lang, such as Henry Pitt and others among the company's shareholders, who have a strong influence in the UK, and through them, they can get some technical strength. Even the East India Company was a shareholder in the company, and it was a hugely influential institution with direct access to the British Parliament, and if it could win the strong support of the East India Company, many problems would no longer be a problem.

So he can't easily let the company dry.

Capturing a base in Fujian may still be far from profitable, but it will stimulate the nerves of shareholders and will be hot for a long time.

The location of the new base, Zhou Lang also has several goals in mind, first of all, the base must be easy to defend, the second base must be close to the tea producing area, and the third base must be directly connected to the inland river that can go together, so that it can radiate to the depths of the hinterland.

There are not many Fujian coastal areas with such characteristics, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Fuzhou can be selected, from Xiamen can go directly into Wuyi Mountain through the Jiulong River to obtain the source of tea, Quanzhou is the same, through Jinjiang can go deep into the hinterland, not to mention Fuzhou, Minjiang does not explain.

These three places have also been important ports throughout the ages, this is the problem, because the Qing government also knew, and set up heavy military protection, it is impossible to directly attack the three seaports, so it can only start from the nearby islands, easy to attack, easier to defend.

The location of Pingtan Island outside Fuzhou is good, but the Qing army set up Haitan Town here, which has a higher status than Penghu, and is responsible for defending a general soldier; Not to mention, Xiamen itself is an important coastal defense town, and there are sailors in nearby Kinmen and Zhenhai.

In short, in order to seize the base, it is necessary to engage the Qing army, and then fight repeatedly, and after stability, it is necessary to open up trade routes, which is difficult to reach the sky, which is why Westerners have never been able to gain a firm foothold in China's coastal areas, which is no longer a military problem, but a complex political and economic problem.

The Portuguese stayed in Macao for 300 years and did not develop and grow, not only because of the problem of Portuguese national strength, but also because of the problem that the Qing court pressed on their heads.

Seize the base, which base to capture, how to open up a trade route, whether it is a forcible seizure or a clever matter Zhou Lang has not thought clearly, an allied army came to the door and found a direction for Zhou Lang.

The other party came to Donggang from northern Taiwan along the Penghu waterway, hoping to jointly attack an important place with Zhou Lang.

Attack Penghu!