In fact, Edward* had already contacted some local gangs in Southampton, and was ready to buy a large amount of steel from Southampton and ship it back to the Chinese Empire, whether it was sold to the Railway Division, or sold to the four major shipyards to make ironclad ships, or simply sold directly to the four major machine manufacturing bureaus to make machines or weapons, etc., which could make a lot of money, which was a huge profit. After all, there is a shortage of steel in the Chinese Empire, and the whole country is building and setting up industries, and all walks of life are in urgent need of steel, and this steel is in great demand.

This is the reason why Hu Xueyan and his team deliberately want to stop at Southampton, and it is also the reason why they spent a thousand pounds a month to hire Edward* Bumpy Land.

Speaking of the whole Edward * Buandi, in fact, it is very famous, he is the main target of Lin Zexu Humen's cigarette sales, the third son of John Budi, the owner of Baoshun Foreign Company (also known as Baoshun Foreign Company), because Baoshun Foreign Company went bankrupt, Edward * Budidi was hired by Xu Rongcun to serve as a commercial deacon of Xu Hu Kee Commercial Bank.

Looking at the dock that was getting closer and closer, Rao was well-informed Hu Xueyan, and he couldn't help but get excited.

"Brother, that Edward won't deceive us, will he?" Hu Xueyan asked Xu Rongcun: "In this thatched toilet port, can ordinary Ningzhou black tea really sell for 60 Shengyuan per quintal?" Still in short supply? ”

Xu Rongcun said with a smile: "Don't worry, brother, Edward and I have a good relationship." And this Xu Huji's business, I Xu also have a share. In addition to Edward, I also carefully inquired with several former British merchants, this thatched port is an important starting point for Britain and even Europe to North America, and there are many merchants who have long gathered here to do business in North America, as long as our price is right, they will be profitable, they will come like flies, how much tea is not enough for them to divide. ”

"If you don't worry, I'll reveal it to you more carefully, and settle the account for you." Xu Rongcun habitually took out a delicate abacus from his waist, mixed with gold, but it was made of gold, and calculated it cracklingly: "According to the price revealed by several foreigners, the price of ordinary black tea in this Puli Mao Toilet Port is worth 2 shillings and 7 pence per pound, by the way, this British foreigner likes to use pounds as a unit, which is equivalent to 0.907 catties, which is converted into 100 catties is 14.24 pounds, which is 62.66 saint yuan per quintal." Erase the odds and give them as a discount, and 60 S. Yuan per load should be very sought-after. They are shipped to Canada and the United States in North America, and even to Central and South America, and may sell them at a higher price, and some of them make a profit.

If you change the Qimen black tea, it will cost 240 saints yuan for a load. It's a pity that the Keemun black tea we shipped this time is less than a thousand quintals. Next time, I have to buy more of this kind of profitable Keemun black tea. ”

Hu Xueyan was pleasantly surprised: "It's really profitable." I can't imagine that ocean trade is so lucrative. This trip is really insightful. ”

Xu Rongcun said with a smile: "Brother Xueyan, there are more profitable ones, I'm afraid you have guessed it." ”

"Brother, could it be that the holy oil?" Hu Xueyan guessed.

"Not bad!" Xu Rongcun touched the beard on his chin, looked like a master, and said mysteriously: "In England and even in the entire Western Ocean, the original lighting oil is sperm whale oil, which is very expensive, and it costs 0.48-0.56 saint yuan per liter, while using gas as lighting is cheaper, but it needs to build pipelines, which is only suitable for a few big cities, and it is very inconvenient, and there is still a great danger." And our holy oil, used as a lighting oil, is very good, our Chinese empire and other areas of the promotion and use of good, has begun to spread out a large area of sales. However, many foreigners smelled the opportunity to make a fortune, secretly purchased a batch, and shipped it back to the West, but they did not expect it to cause a lot of sensation among Westerners, and the nobles of various courts rushed to use the holy oil from our Chinese Empire. And these nobles have also driven the people of the entire Western countries to make this holy oil fully popular.

It's a good thing that the Chinese Imperial Oil Corporation itself did not organize an ocean-going fleet, otherwise there would still be a chance for us there? According to the experience of those foreigners, they priced the holy oil at about 0.42 holy yuan per liter, which still provoked many traders to rush to buy it. And we go in large quantities, we can set the price lower, so that they can have some profits, so that they will ship faster, so that they can organize another batch of goods as soon as possible. ”

"Oh my God! I can't imagine that the profits are so huge! It's just, it's so ...... Happy! Hu Xueyan, who has always been steady, also began to dance a little, and his speech began to fluctuate, and he had already begun to calculate: "Brother Deqiong, the batch of holy oil we purchased from Guangzhou seems to be only 5 saint yuan per 25 kilograms, that is, 0.16 saint yuan per liter. It turned out that the Imperial Holy Oil Corporation also sold a batch of holy oil to the Western side through the Toyo Company and the Nanyang Company, but the quantity was not large, and the price was uniformly priced at 0.4 Shengyuan per liter. Then we will make a profit of 10% if we have a large volume this time, and the price is 0.36 saint dollars per liter, which is also more than double the profit. 900 tons of holy oil, with a discount of 405,000 holy dollars. On this trip, the holy oil alone can net 225,000 holy yuan. ”

Xu Rongcun couldn't help but be overjoyed.

The steamer blew its whistle and the fleet prepared to dock.

At this moment, two warships came out of the harbor, two armed steam gunboats, one on the left and one on the right. Immediately afterward, a slightly larger frigate appeared behind them, flying the British flag, and also headed towards Hu Xueyan and their fleet.

"Something seems wrong?" Hu Xueyan exclaimed: "Brother Deqiong, does this British country treat foreign merchant ships like this? Greet the incoming port with a warship? ”

"Haven't you heard of this rule? Some time ago, I heard that there was a riot on the British mainland, and their colonies India and Ireland also had a large-scale rebellion. Xu Rongcun couldn't figure it out, but said: "We will respond to all changes with the same." This British country has always boasted of free trade, known as the center of world trade, and although it does not have a good relationship with our Chinese Empire, it is still normal, and now that our Chinese Empire has frequent trade with them, it should not make any adverse moves against us. ”

"I hope so!"

After the two finished speaking, the three British warships had approached Xu Huji's merchant fleet, flanking on three sides and putting on an attack alert posture, aiming the flank guns at the flanked flanks, and then the British frigate led by them began to raise the flag.

Hu Xueyan didn't know much about these Western flags, but he also seemed to see that the other party was not very friendly.

And Xu Rongcun's face changed greatly. He had people on guard, and at the same time had Edward* and the first mate on deck.

By this time, the warship had completely surrounded the flotilla, and a British officer on the frigate at the head began to shout loudly.

Edward and the first mate both changed their faces, explaining that the British officers, claiming to be major admirals of the Southern Wing of the Royal Navy's Atlantic Fleet in Plymouth Harbour, claimed that the Xu Hu Kee fleet was flying the flag of the Chinese Empire in the East, that it was a potentially hostile fleet, that they had entered the country without a note to the British government, and that they had violated the Act recently passed by Parliament specifically targeting the Chinese Empire by allowing the fleet to dock at the dock for inspection under their vigilance.

Xu Rongcun said to Edward: "You ask more clearly, what does it mean to enter the country without a note to the British government?" What other bills were specifically addressed to the Chinese Empire? ”

Edward couldn't figure it out, so he had to continue to communicate with the major in a loud voice, and after a few minutes of chattering, Edward said a little casually: "Boss, something is wrong, we have come to Europe to trade this time, but we have really encountered trouble!" According to the officer, just the other day, the British Parliament decided to impose partial sanctions on the Chinese Empire for interfering in their internal affairs, inciting and financing workers' revolts in their own territory, and the Irish rebels. The specifics are not very clear, anyway, although the Chinese Empire has not been declared an enemy country, it is almost the same. Please also ask the proprietor to make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Hu Xueyan and Xu Rongcun were taken aback. They never expected that such a situation would be encountered, although they had not yet fully figured out the cause of the matter, but they already had a very bad premonition, and from Edward's statement, it seemed that Britain was preparing to take some kind of hostile action against the Chinese Empire, and they happened to collide with it.

Edward directly suggested: "Proprietor, do you want to forcibly break away from the encirclement of the British warships?" They are only two armed steam gunboats and a frigate, and they are not as fast as our clippers, and they still have a great chance of rushing out despite the loss of the hull. ”

Hu Xueyan waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, the situation is still unclear now, don't act rashly." In particular, our ship is loaded with holy oil, and in case the fire is hit and the fire is triggered, then it will be over. Moreover, if we escape, it will be difficult to do Western business again in the future! ”

Xu Rongcun also nodded: "The British shouldn't go too far, if they want to blackmail a little, they will satisfy them." The other ships were ordered to obey the other party's arrangement for the time being and continue to enter the port. But remain vigilant, and in the event of any hostile action on the part of the other side, immediately turn around and retreat to France. ”