Observing the military strength of the Fu Han army was one of Robert's tasks in this future. The pen & fun & www.biquge.info asked David to keep an eye on the guards outside, carefully observe them, and pay attention to their armament, and the answer he came up with made Robert full of disappointment. Judging from the armament and training of the guards outside, the Fu Han army was much stronger than the Qing army in Guangzhou.

"How? How's it going today? "David Osmant was not involved in today's talks.

Robert stretched out his hand and handed over the minutes of the meeting, "The rebel junta has a lot of sincerity, and they have decided to open up Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other coastal cities as trade ports. Also allowed our people to have only activities in the trading port city, not subject to anything. ”

"There are no restrictions on trade, and commerce is dominated by the merchants themselves. Just don't forget to pay taxes to their government. ”

"On the specific trade list, there are even several tariff-free goods."

"Compared to the Tatar government in Beijing, the rebel junta's sincerity and openness are far beyond the limit."

David Osmant simply put together the minutes of the meeting, and it was not until Robert finished speaking that he said, "But I don't think you look very happy." Did the Chinese raise tariffs? ”

"Of course. Especially tea and raw silk. Robert rubbed his forehead, "Then they formally protested to us, and they also handed over a protest letter about opioids. ”

"That Han, unceremoniously asked me to go back to Guangzhou and tell the opium dealers if their heads were harder than steel knives. It's a threat! Robert angrily lined up the table. It's a threat! ”

David raised an eyebrow, and as a man who was very opioid-averse, David was not as angry as Robert. But he also understood Robert's anger, the company owed a small 1 million taels of silver to the treasury in Guangdong, and it was Robert's responsibility to wipe out these deficits as much as possible. This is a remarkable achievement. If Robert manages to eliminate those deficits in the rest of his term, he will become the hero of the company, and it would be good for him to make the leap to the company's committee. Opium is Robert's most reliable weapon, like a sharp spear piercing the black clouds that loom over his office in Guangzhou.

The Fu Han army now wants Robert to throw away his sharpest spear before walking to the gladiatorial arena!

"They also refused to accept silver ingots, gold ingots, and any foreign currency to circulate in their own markets, and after the opening of the port of Shanghai, they would set up a bank in the port, the Bank of Commerce. In order to use gold and silver ingots and eagle oceans, you must first go to their commercial bank to exchange gold and silver coins or gold and silver coupons in China, and the fee is 2% of the exchange amount. ”

"This is a robbery, a robbery of Chiguoguo!"

If Robert still has a sense of guilt about the opium trade, he knows exactly what the opioid addicts in Britain look like. Then the subsequent bank exchange fee made him really thunderous.

At this time, David Osmant also frowned fiercely. The handling fee of 2% does not seem like much, but it is a net profit. No one wants to spit out the fat that has already been eaten in their mouths. Payments - This additional tax has disappeared for more than a decade, and the British have long been accustomed to the days when there are no payments.

In this era of East-West trade, in terms of the pricing power of goods, the thirteen lines also control a relatively large right to speak. Before the rise of the opium trade, China was in a strong position in bilateral trade between the East and the West.

After 1760, almost 50% of China's total tea exports were shipped by British ships. Every year, more than 30 British merchant ships arrive in Guangzhou, accounting for 50% of the number of merchant ships traded between China and Europe, and the number continues to increase, and the British East India Company enjoys a pivotal position in the export trade of Chinese tea.

But this is not a reason for the British to threaten China. Today, the UK government also levies a tax of up to 119% on tea. More than 15% of the annual revenue of the entire government is the tea tax levied by the state. Throughout the eighteenth century, tea smuggling was the most high-profile affair in Britain, and the prevalence of first-class counterfeit tea was widespread to the British government, the East India Company, and ordinary consumers.

France, the Netherlands, ......, and the entire European continent were smuggling tea into Britain. This phenomenon continued until the British took the initiative to reduce tea taxes and tariffs, France, the Netherlands and other countries made a big loss of profits, and people in their own countries did not drink tea, so the French and Dutch who imported tea decreased year by year, and the annual tea imports by the British gradually increased to 8 or 90 percent of the weight of tea exported by China every year.

But at this time, the British government is still imposing a high tariff of 119% on tea. The days when the East India Company monopolized the Chinese tea trade would have to wait a dozen more years. Britain's own high tea tax also became a proof of Han Teng's interest when he argued with them about tea tariffs.

Last year, the British Isles consumed more than 9 million pounds of tea and the entire UK sold £1.3 million, both of which are growing. Therefore, the more than 50% of the cargo volume is not only not their weight to blackmail Chen Han, but their own life. Robert was subject to man, the East India Company was subject to man, and even Britain was under man's control, and he was full of anger in the face of Chen Han's predatory regulations. But at the same time, he deeply understood that if the Fu Han Army really insisted on this demand, he would be powerless to resist at all.

can only let the Fu Han army slaughter their flesh and blood! "It's a terrible feeling!" Robert couldn't calm down.

David was silent, bowed his head and thought, the Fu Han army put it bluntly in two points for their request, the first is to build a Western-style sailing ship; The second school is run and teachers are recruited.

It was impossible for the East India Company and the British to exert the slightest influence or threat to the Han army. After a seven-year war, the British government owed £26.4 million in debt over seven years, and the huge financial pressure made it impossible for the British government, the general director of the East India Company, to abandon the vital tea tax. And the British in this era were simply not capable of intervening in the Chinese war in the Far East and aiding the Manchus in arms and money. The heaven and earth of Fujian will be very repulsive to them because of the British intervention in the Battle of Fuzhou. Wuyi tea, the most popular tea in Britain, accounted for only 7 percent of the weight of tea shipped back to China by the East India Company last year. You must know that in the London market, the price of Wuyi tea is higher than that of pearl tea in Zhejiang, and it is the first tea in China.

The last two years of war alone have already cost the East India Company dearly. If they dare to turn against Chen Han, who will soon completely rule South China, it will not be the Chinese who will suffer.

What are the businessmen's greatest fears?

It is that the opponent holds his own key point in his hands, but he does not have the slightest opponent's handle in his own hands.

It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. Robert is in a very, very bad mood right now.

Although the Fu Han army was willing to completely open up the market, it did not matter about the 'trade share', which at first glance seemed to be very beneficial to their East India Company. But this 'profit' is aimed at all foreign traders who come to China, and it is not exclusive to the British?

Robert and David don't think about the 'handling fee' for all foreign businessmen who come to China.

Of all the European countries that traded with China, the British had the highest trade volume, and naturally they suffered the most. Both of them were distressed.

Perrier, who was in the same manor, had already sent someone to look at the guards in the manor. The military attachés accompanying him were also very highly rated, and of course, like David Osmant, were very disdainful of the Chinese musketeers' practice of wearing armor to this day.

It is believed that the quality of the muskets of the Qing Dynasty, the opponent of the Fu Han army, is too poor, revealing the protective power of iron armor, which makes the Fu Han army develop the habit of wearing iron armor. If their opponent was the French Army, a single shot from 200 yards away could penetrate the iron armor, and the musket would still be able to kill people even if it was not accurate at all, and the Fu Han Army would have thrown the heavy iron armor as far as it could.

Robert didn't know that Perrier had already sent a letter to Han Peng, saying that France could provide enough craftsmen to help Chen Han build Western-style sailboats. That's why they're still behind Lustig. On the day Lustig checked into the manor, he sent a letter to Han Teng.

Sweden's shipbuilding level is not as good as that of Britain and France, but it is not bad. The shipbuilding standards of any European country that have crossed the ocean to trade with China are on average, and not only that, but they are willing to accept a group of Chinese sailors to experience on their cargo ships. Just like Chen Jigong heard about those things, Western-style galleons are completely different from Chinese-style sailboats, just a sail roper, not a year is not enough to be useful, to train a qualified sail rope length It takes a long time to sharpen.

There are also Navigators, Non-Commissioned Officers,, then Boatswain, Gunners, Comptrollers......

These people have a lower status than the captain, first mate, and second officer, but they are the guarantee of the smooth sailing of a Western-style galleon.

When Robert didn't know it, Han Teng had already negotiated a deal with the Swedes, the shipbuilding was too slow, and the shipyard could be built slowly, but the sailor couldn't wait, he wanted to buy a ship, buy a training ship, and he could only say that people waited for the ship, not the ship waited for someone.

If Perrier hadn't been so hot, it would have all gone into the hands of the Swedes. Han Teng negotiated a deal for three sailing ships for him, two with a displacement of 500 metric tons and one with a displacement of 1,000 metric tons, and Perrier also got a piece of the pie, and his enthusiasm brought orders for two sailing ships for the French East India Company. One is 500 tons, and the other is 300 tons. The last order for a 500-ton sailing ship was given to Robert.

The Swedes didn't even know that it was the Gallic rooster that had messed with his business, and that all six sailing ships, Han Teng, were to be handed over to Lustig.

That's why 'not knowing is happiness'. Lustig only saw the profits of three sailboats, and when he faced Han Teng, his face was full of joy. Immerse yourself in the joy of the existing harvest!

Don't look at these foreigners, it has only been three or two days, but the news is reported to Hangzhou every day. Lustig's 'knowledge' made Chen Ming's good impression of Sweden even more tenth. As for whether to send people to Sweden as interns on sailing ships, Chen Ming did not hesitate at all, and immediately issued an order to the sailors, asking them to focus on selecting 100 middle and low-level officers and non-commissioned officers. These guys got to the Swedish ship to dry up from the sailors who mopping the floor!

Chen Ming will match these people with doctors and interpreters.

These selected personnel must be the top ones in the navy, and they are all the elites of the existing naval divisions of the Fu Han army.

At the same time, no one knew that Chen Ming was also going to give a big gift to the Europeans, and he was going to 'surrender' scurvy.

Chen Ming still knows the rate of casualties among sailors in the Age of Discovery, and with the current technical conditions, it is common for a person to be killed or injured in a round trip between the East and West worlds by 20 or 30 percent.

The Europeans have been on a voyage for 300 years, and scurvy has always been the number one killer on board, and they have not yet surrendered to it.

But Zheng He's fleet, which preceded them, had never encountered such a thing. Because Chinese eat bean sprouts, the warehouse carries a large number of mung beans (there are many varieties of bean sprouts: toon sprouts, buckwheat sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, pepper sprouts, green black bean sprouts, acacia sprouts, sunflower sprouts, radish sprouts, dragon's beard bean sprouts, peanut sprouts, broad bean sprouts), usually when there are no vegetables, just take water, after a few days the green bean sprouts are full of pots, and then eat and eat without lack of vitamins. The foreign devils did not discover this technology. [Of course, Zheng He's surroundings in the Western Ocean cannot be completely equated with the Europeans playing the Great Voyage. Zheng He's fleet was basically a nearshore voyage, and there were many residents along the way, and there were ports that could be supplied with all kinds of food, including vegetables, at any time.

The European fleet, which played long voyages in the age of sailing, crossed the Atlantic, circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope or something, and could not see the mainland for ten days and half a month. 】

But since the history of Chinese voyages have not found Shenma scurvy is absolutely for a reason, the main reason is that Chinese have the habit of eating bean sprouts, and the Western world has no bean sprouts at all - it is said that Li Hongzhang was introduced to the West when he was in Europe, and the long-distance voyage without vegetables to eat will get scurvy This VC deficiency, bean sprouts are actually fresh vegetables, containing a lot of vitamin C, and the cultivation of bean sprouts does not need soil, it is the easiest vegetable to get on board.

In addition, Zheng He's fleet not only had bean sprouts to eat, but also carried a large number of pickles, pickles, Chinese also drink green tea, green tea also contains vitamins, these unique eating habits of the Oriental people to avoid the problem of scurvy in the Chinese fleet represented by the 'Zheng He fleet', and the Europeans have always been plagued by the demon of 'scurvy' since the Columbus fleet.

This problem was solved by the Europeans at this time - Captain Cook, James Cook.

The devil of scurvy was subdued by the Europeans in 1768 when Cook, who was hired by the Royal Society as the commander of the expedition, to lead a team to explore the Pacific Ocean. During his travels, he tried different ways to prevent scurvy from the crew, and he discovered that the key to preventing scurvy was to always provide the crew with plenty of fresh food, especially fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C such as limes, and this demon that had hung over the heads of the Western world for 300 years was defeated. Cook's first expedition saw no one die from scurvy, a feat that time in absolute rarity. He wrote a detailed report on his research and submitted it to the Royal Society, which awarded him the Copley Medal in 1776.

Now that the mystery has been uncovered by the British, Chen Ming feels that it is better to throw it out first, and immediately refresh the West's perception of this ancient continent.

Is it good to brush, how easy it is to brush. When Cook and scurvy of the year, Chen Ming remembered it very clearly.

When the instructions were sent to Han Teng, Robert had already received the order for the last 500-ton sailing ship, and the British East India Company had no reason to refuse, it was Chen Han who was sending them silver. Not only that, Chen Han also entrusted them to recruit a group of retired naval officers and men from the West who were physically fit and technically competent, and each recruited person was given different remuneration depending on their status. Like the shipbuilders and craftsmen, it's a no-brainer. But the overall benefits are so small that they cannot be compared with the sailing trade.

Robert was very jealous of the Swedish and Gallic roosters.

As for Lustig's promise to be a trainee on a Swedish merchant ship, Perrier and Robert also agreed.

"Although China no longer developed trade on a large scale after Zhu Ming, the Chinese have not always been bound to this land. Zhu Ming Yongle did not mention the glory of Zheng He's fleet, in the Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago, our fleet had sailed to Persia. You may not believe in bean sprouts, pickles, kimchi and green tea, but why not give it a try? ”

Step by step to June, the European trading ships in Guangzhou are about to set sail.

For the Fu Han Army to take the initiative to equip the 'interns' with doctors, all Europeans raised their hands to welcome, and doctors at this time were definitely a rare and food-eating profession in Europe. At the same time, the foreign devils at this time did not regard Chinese medicine that played with 'grass root bark' as ignorant witchcraft.

That rhubarb is still a popular commodity imported by Europeans from China in the past 200 years [since the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty]. It's just that now with the war, the rhubarb, which is mainly produced in the northwest, cannot enter Guangzhou, but the Russians take advantage of this opportunity to dump rhubarb to Europe in large quantities. [Note: Before the 47th year of Qianlong, the rhubarb trade had been directly controlled by the Russian tsar, and private traders could not get their hands on it at all. 】

This drug, which is mainly used as a dye in China, was thoroughly extracted from the pigment and concocted into a medicinal material, which has been exported to Europe in large quantities for 200 years. [Raw rhubarb has a strong cathartic effect, which is what traditional Western medicine values. Traditional Chinese medicine is different, mainly using rhubarb; After the rhubarb is processed, the medicinal properties are changed, and the excretion function is weakened. There is no raw rhubarb in Guangzhou】

There are also herbs in the West, especially in the UK. You don't care about Chen Ming's previous life, how Westerners in the 21st century discriminated against Chinese medicine and regarded it as witchcraft, but is the real reason really in medicine? That is a kind of total victory and suppression of Western civilization over Eastern civilization!

In Kyakhta's border trade, rhubarb exported from China was worth 20 roubles per pood [about 37 catties], and when the Russians shipped it to Western Europe, it was sold for an average of 200 roubles.

"You can give it a try. We are also concerned about the safety of the personnel we are dispatching. If you still can't subdue the demon of sepsis, then you can only pray to the gods. Han Teng said with a smile on his face, while muttering in his heart, I don't know if it will be useful to pray to Mazu and the Sea Dragon King after going out of the South Seas?

Chen Ming also took a special photo of lemons, but it was very sad that at this time, there were no lemons in China at all [native lemons were only discovered in Beijing in the early 20th century], so they could only prepare a large amount of orange juice for interns.

"A hundred people went out, and I hope a hundred people will come back!" They don't even have time to learn the language. It is also a foreigner's merchant ship, and there are some people who understand official language.

Chen Ming read the intern of the sailor in his mouth, and sighed, these people are pioneers, and since they are pioneers, sacrifice is inevitable. Just like the battle report that he held in his hand to fight Fujian, Zhao Mingde died, this is the patriarch of the Heaven and Earth Society when it revolted. Chen Jie won for a while, killed Zhao Mingde directly on the battlefield, and by the way, he also knocked Ling Liang of Yanping Mansion hard!

The latter was born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, but the cadres of the Heaven and Earth Society not only fought very bravely with the Qing soldiers and people, winning more and losing less, but still lost in the hands of Chen Jie. (To be continued.) )