The wood is already in the boat, no matter how much Wu Chaoyue regrets that the comprador grandfather did not rush to kill them all, it is useless, and Wu Chaoyue has no time to regret it anymore, because the case of the parishioners has just been concluded, and it has not been three days before the priests and uncles have joined forces to kill the door, and with a smile on their faces, they just invite Wu Chaoyue to go to the dock again, and then help them organize the dock workers to study the Bible.

Eating people with a soft mouth, taking people with short hands, just owed the priests a great favor, Wu Chaoyue could no longer find the slightest reason to refuse, so he could only agree with a smile immediately, and accompany the priests to the dock again. The result is not bad, Wu Jianzhang, who has already tasted the sweetness, said this time that he will not stop his grandson from making friends with foreigners, and Liu Lichuan did not hesitate to let the Shuangdao Society come forward to force and lure those dock workers who have also tasted the sweetness to study the Bible.

There is also the most powerful Hundred Dragons Society in Shanghai, I saw the lessons of the Bird Party and Little Fujian with my own eyes, and I promised Wu Chaoyue in advance, the Hundred Dragons Society led by Wang Guochu said that this time I would not dare to obstruct the foreign priest from preaching at the dock, not only did not obstruct it, but Wang Guochu also took the initiative to run to Wu Chaoyue, asking Wu Chaoyue to fulfill his promise and let the dock workers controlled by the Hundred Dragons Society also study the Bible, in exchange for an additional salary increase and the opportunity to work on the foreign merchant ship.

The Cantonese Twin Blades Society, which was dominated by Cantonese people, had no ambition or strength to monopolize the Shanghai wharf, and of course they would not oppose the Hundred Dragons Society's sharing of the interests of foreign ships. After seeing that the Hundred Dragons Society also allowed workers to learn the Bible from foreigners, several other small gangs in Shanghai of course also made a smart choice, scrambling to just run to Wu Chaoyue and nod their heads, saying all the good things and begging to join the ranks of studying the Bible.

Thousands of dock workers and coachmen and grooms lined up neatly, led by a group of foreign priests, while painting crosses, while reciting Bible words in unison, God bless and Amen's prayers came and went, and the wise words of loving one's neighbor as oneself continued, attracting countless Shanghai people to watch curiously and marvel.

Seeing this scene, the foreign priests were of course so excited that they couldn't help themselves, and many priests who had been in China for many years shed tears of excitement, constantly thanking the Lord for His mercy and allowing their hard work to be richly rewarded. After really tasting the sweetness of religious belief, and also having initial contact with Western culture, and knowing that foreign religion is not as evil as the legend, there are indeed many dock workers and gang thugs who have a strong interest in Catholicism, and take the initiative to ask foreign priests how to join the church.

When another French merchant ship from Hong Kong sailed into the wharf, because several French priests were busy preaching, Wu Chaoyue, who had been idle, took the initiative to accompany Father Martin to help negotiate and asked the French ship to cooperate with the priests in preaching.

Although the difference between French and English is not very big, it is really difficult for Wu Chaoyue to explain the situation in English, but fortunately, Father Martin's French is barely okay, and he got on the boat to explain the reason to the French captain, while Wu Chaoyue stayed by the gangplank and waited. However, at this time, Wang Guochu, the helper of the Hundred Dragons Society, came to Wu Chaoyue with a few people, and greeted Wu Chaoyue with a smile on his face. Rest assured, the owner has agreed, and you can call your people directly to come and unload the cargo. ”

"No, eldest nephew, you misunderstood." Wang Guochu shook his head with a smile, and said: "I see that you are free, and I want to talk to you about the last time, didn't you say last time, when you are free, you want to teach me a few tricks to make a fortune by relying on the Shanghai wharf?" ”

"Oh, I almost forgot." Wu Chaoyue smiled, knowing that Wang Guochu had already tasted the sweetness and began to pay attention to his own opinions. Out of repayment for Wang Guochu's promise to reconcile, and out of his good intentions to do something good, Wu Chaoyue didn't hide his secrets, and immediately said: "Uncle Wang, I said last time, if you only stare at this little bit of protection money on the dock, you are holding a golden rice bowl and asking for food, it is really not for you, if you want to make a fortune, Shanghai is full of opportunities, but I am afraid that you will not be able to open your horizons." ”

"Let go, you must let go." Wang Guochu, who had already tasted the sweetness, replied very happily, and couldn't wait to ask: "Big nephew, then tell me, how can I make a fortune from the Shanghai wharf?" ”

"There are too many for me to finish in a while." Wu Chaoyue didn't think about it and said: "The simplest one, open a factory, build a textile factory, spend some money to buy machines from foreigners, buy cotton, hire workers to produce cloth, keep your wealth abundant, count the money until your hands cramp!" ”

The textile industry is the most basic and easiest industry in an industrial country, and in the early days of modern China's reform and opening up, it was also to catch up with the last train of the textile industry to achieve good results, which modern people know. Unfortunately, although Wu Chao's suggestion was extremely correct, it was tantamount to a whimsical thing for Wang Guochu, a Chinese in 1852, so after listening to Wu Chao's words, Wang Guochu not only did not rejoice, but on the contrary, his eyes widened and exclaimed: "Open a factory? Weaving sells for money? This can make a fortune?! ”

"Make sure you get rich!" Wu Chaoyue nodded vigorously, and said: "Uncle Wang, you also know that the textile industry in the entire Qing Dynasty is the most prosperous in Jiangsu, but if a farmer wants to weave a piece of homespun cloth, it will take at least three or four days, and a foreign machine can weave hundreds of pieces of cloth in a day!" What a big gap this is? If you buy 10 foreign machines, don't you hire 3 or 400 farmers to weave cloth for you? Even if you only find a hundred yuan for a piece of cloth, don't you earn three or four hundred hundred yuan a day? How long will it take for you to collect protection money on the docks in Shanghai, and how long will it take to receive these three or four hundred hundred wen? ”

Wang Guochu's face showed a look, but Wu Chaoyue continued to gush, and said with a gesture: "As for the market, you don't have to worry at all, the five foreign ports of the Qing Dynasty, the location of Shanghai is in the northernmost part, and there are the Yangtze River waterways and canals, the transportation is extremely convenient, and the textile factory you have built is equivalent to owning the market ...... the entire northern and inland of the Qing Dynasty." ”

Compared with the gestures, Wu Chaoyue was very patient to Wang Guochu pointed out the various benefits and great prospects of building a factory and weaving in Shanghai, and urged Wang Guochu to contribute money and efforts to build a factory, and volunteered to help Wang Guochu contact foreigners to purchase machinery and recruit skilled technicians, but it is a pity that Wu Chaoyue's flattery is done to the blind man, Wang Guochu does not understand and does not believe these words, has no interest, casually perfunctory a few words and found an excuse to leave, and scolded Wu Chaoyue in his heart is not something to mess with bad ideas.

Wu Chaoyue also saw Wang Guochu's disdain for his kind advice, and while shaking his head and regretting, he could only sigh lowly, "I finally understand how difficult it is for Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong to be these old compradors, no matter how good things are, what is the use of ordinary people not understanding?" ”

"Dear Chinese friends, can you take up a little of your precious time?"

When Wu Chaoyue was regretful, there was a strange voice behind his ears, and when Wu Chaoyue looked back, he saw a white man in his forties smiling at himself, wearing a top hat, a suit and leather shoes, and a cane, followed by several foreigners who looked like followers, who seemed to have a good identity. Seeing Wu Chaoyue turn around, the white man smiled again and said, "Dear Chinese friend, I have taken the liberty to hear all the opinions you just made, and I think it is very interesting and reasonable. I've heard some people say about you, I'm very interested in you, and I want to talk to you, but I don't know if you allow it? ”

"Absolutely." Wu Chaoyue hurriedly stretched out his hand and said warmly in English: "Welcome to ancient China, dear Western friends, my name is Transcendence Wu. ”

Hearing Wu Chaoyue's proficient English, and seeing Wu Chaoyue take the initiative to reach out and ask for a handshake, the white man's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately stretched out his hand to shake hands with Wu Chaoyue, but before the white man could speak, the dog-legged Wu Dadao rushed over, grabbed Wu Chaoyue and said: "Young Master Sun, go quickly, the master sent someone to call you back, tell you to go back immediately, there are 100,000 urgent matters." ”

Wu Chaoyue was puzzled and asked what was so urgent, but Wu Dadao shook his head and said that he didn't know, and urged Wu Chaoyue to go home immediately, and said that things were in a hurry. Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to say to the white man: "Dear Western friends, I'm very sorry, there is an emergency at home, and my grandfather urged me to go back immediately, so it's a great pity, I have to say goodbye." If there's a chance, let's talk about it in detail next time, shall we? ”

"It's okay, you go and handle your urgent business first." The white man smiled and nodded, and said, "We will definitely have a chance to meet again, and we will talk about it in detail next time." ”

Wu Chaoyue thanked him politely, shook hands with the white man, and then said goodbye to Wu Dacheng and left, and Wu Chaoyue had just left on his front foot, but the French missionaries who had been preaching at the dock rushed to the white man, saluting him, and saying in an incredulous tone: "God! Dear Mr. Bourblon! We, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the French State in China! Why did you come to Shanghai? ”

"I'm here to handle some foreign affairs." The white man replied casually, and then nodded in the direction of Wu Yueyue's departure, and said with a smile: "But I really didn't expect that I would meet such an interesting Chinese as Wu in Shanghai." I already know about the missionaries and Wu from various countries, so you don't need to introduce them for the time being, but I just want to ask you one thing, is Wu really as the legend says, and knows us very well in the West? Also welcoming to us in the West? ”

"Dear Mr. Minister, we can assure you that Wu knows and is more familiar with the West than any Chinese. We can also assure that Wu is very friendly and welcoming to Western civilization. ”

Several missionaries replied without hesitation, and then one of the missionaries whispered: "Mr. Minister, as far as we know, the British Consul, Mr. Aleeko, the Prussian Consul, Mr. Ahuawei, the American Consul Jin Nengheng, the Portuguese Billy, and the Spanish Consul Laurio, have all paid attention to him and are secretly observing him. There is also unconfirmed information that Ali has reported information about him to the British Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Bao Ling. ”

"Damn John Bull, the sense of smell is sensitive." The white man snorted and said, "Keep an eye on him for me, and send me a copy of the information about him." ”

…………

Let's go back and take a look at the situation on Wu Chaoyue's side, after being hurriedly called home by Wu Da, Wu Jianzhang, who is diligent in official business, has rarely returned home, and shouted to Wu Chaoyue as soon as they met: "Go back to the room to change clothes, clean up carefully, wash a little, and accompany me to meet the guests in a while." ”

"Grandpa, what guest is so important and so troublesome?" Wu Chaoyue asked suspiciously.

Wu Jianzhang's obscene old face suddenly showed a smile, smiled very happily and mysteriously, and said: "Of course it's a good thing, your Uncle Ayuan is a matchmaker and tells you a family matter, and grandpa will take you to see the girl in a while, if you are satisfied, grandpa, I will set your good deeds today." ”

"Blind date?!" Wu Chaoyue screamed like a pig, waved his hand again and again and said, "Grandpa, I'm only seventeen years old, do I need to be in such a hurry?" I want to play for a few more years, no! No! ”

"The girl is beautiful! Much prettier than the maids in your room! ”

Wu Jianzhang, who is familiar with the character of his baby grandson, only used one sentence, and immediately quieted Wu Chaoyue, and glanced at his baby grandson again, Wu Jianzhang smiled even more happily, and said: "That girl, grandpa, I have seen it before, and the appearance is used to match you, even grandpa, I have to admit that it was a flower inserted in cow dung." At that time, grandpa, I wanted to talk about her for you, but unfortunately your Uncle Ayuan was afraid that you would sleep all day long, and people didn't agree, so they didn't dare to nod, and now that you have changed your ways, and you are a little bit angry, your Uncle Ayuan will bring up this matter again, and he also came forward to invite the girl, ready to let you meet. ”

"Who is she from Uncle Ayuan?" Wu Chaoyue asked curiously.

"He worships his brother's daughter." Wu Jianzhang replied casually: "Your Uncle Ayuan's brother is a local security officer in Qingpu, although the family is not high, and the family is not rich, but our Wu family is not a scholarly family, and the girl's appearance is indeed Zhouzheng, grandpa is pleasing to the eye, I guess you must like it, so it doesn't matter so much, as long as you nod, grandpa can agree." ”

Wu Chaoyue, who didn't want to have an oil bottle at such a young age, was still a little hesitant, and somewhat doubted Wu Jianzhang's aesthetic ability, but Wu Jianzhang urged: "What are you still doing?" Grandpa only thought about it for you when he saw that girl was beautiful, go and clean it up, if you really don't like it for a while, I won't force you. ”

Wu Jianzhang has said it to this point, and he is somewhat curious about how beautiful the comprador grandfather is to his daughter-in-law, Wu Chaoyue finally returned to his room to dress up, and changed himself into a luxurious dress dressed up in a fancy way, Yushu - sorry, Wu Chaoyue, who unfortunately inherited Wu Jianzhang's appearance, is still not able to face the wind in the back. But anyway, after carefully cleaning up, Wu Chaoyue, who has been afraid of looking in the mirror these days, can more or less face himself in the mirror, and he no longer has the idea of buying a piece of tofu and crashing to death.

After packing up and waiting for a while, Wu Jianzhang sent someone to ask Wu Chaoyue to go to the West Flower Hall to meet the guests, Wu Chaoyue was a little up and down in his heart, and when he got the West Flower Hall, it was Liu Lichuan who greeted him first, and said in a low voice with a smile: "Stinky boy, it's cheap for you, my niece is a famous beauty in Qingpu, and she is pure spoiled by you!" If it weren't for my face, her father would never have agreed! After the good thing is done, you kid must thank me as a big matchmaker! ”

With a wry smile, he agreed repeatedly, and entered the flower hall with some trepidation, Wu Chaoyue first saw a middle-aged man in his forties talking to his comprador grandfather, and a beautifully dressed girl was sitting next to the middle-aged man, but she couldn't see clearly when she lowered her head. And Liu Lichuan pushed Wu Chaoyue, and said loudly with a smile: "Brother Lichun, let me introduce you, this is the eldest nephew Wu Chaoyue I told you, how about it?" A talent, right? ”

The middle-aged man turned his head and glanced at Wu Chaoyue, although there was some disappointment in his eyes, he still greeted Wu Chaoyue very politely, and Liu Lichuan said to the girl again: "Xiuying's eldest niece, uncle will also introduce you, he is my transcendent nephew, you two have a relationship with me, you can also be regarded as a world friend, quickly, get up and give you a salute to your brother." ”

The girl snorted lightly, and then slowly raised her head, revealing a pretty face that could definitely be regarded as a shy flower, but after Wu Chaoyue carefully saw her appearance, the beautiful girl also shy After seeing Wu Chaoyue's appearance clearly, the two were stunned at the same time, and exclaimed in unison......

"It's you?!"

"What? Do you know? Liu Lichuan, Wu Jianzhang and others were all taken aback.

"Dad, I'm not married!" The beautiful girl answered the question, and she categorically refused without thinking about it, "My daughter would rather never marry for the rest of her life than marry such a scoundrel!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Wu Jianzhang, Liu Lichuan and the middle-aged man were of course all dumbfounded, and Wu Chaoyue was also extremely embarrassed, and kept his mouth shut - after all, this matter is wrong. However, the beautiful girl had to inch in, so she simply got up and pulled the middle-aged man, and said angrily: "Dad, let's go!" ”

Out of politeness, the middle-aged man didn't listen to his daughter, so he hurriedly persuaded him, and asked in a low voice where his daughter and Wu Chaoyue didn't agree, and the beautiful girl had a little red face, and she was embarrassed to answer and just shouted, "Don't care!" In short, I will marry a chicken and a dog, and I will not marry him! What kind of eyes are you and Uncle Yuan, how can you pick such a shameless lewd thief for me? ”

Hearing this, Wu Chaoyue was also a little unbearable, and said loudly-for-tat: "If you want to go, please hurry!" Grandpa, Uncle Ah Yuan, what do you look at? How did you pick such a Hedong lion tigress for me? Let me marry such a tigress, I still want to have a good life in the future?! ”

"Who do you say is a tigress?" The girl was furious, and subconsciously went to find the right weapon.

"Whoever promises will be!" Wu Chaoyue has no fear - although Wu Chaoyue is a hundred satisfied with the girl's appearance, but men love to save face, and being scolded like this by the girl, Wu Chaoyue really can't bear it.