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Western!

What does the West look like?

For the Chinese in the 50s of the 19th century, they had too many ideas about the West, and in the eyes of a certain person, the so-called West Ocean was just a "foreign state", and the people there were barbarians who used to live in the "Ru Mao drinking blood", of course, the scholars who said these words obviously did not take into account one point - the so-called Ninety-Five Venerable sitting in the Jinluan Hall is not the so-called barbarian!

However, for the forty-three young men of different ages on the "St. André", they were full of longing for the West, and for them who grew up in a seminary, they never felt that the West was a "barbarian land", and even because of the priest's words, they were full of longing for the West.

Now, after a four-and-a-half-month voyage, what was once a dream has finally become a reality – the Saint-André clipper has finally arrived in London.

When those teenagers looked at London with longing eyes, Huang Deqin, the former comprador and current manager of Huaxing Foreign Company, who was standing on the boat, even felt his legs trembling slightly, and the reason why he was trembling was because he knew that he was about to set foot on this strange land.

"Respectfully, Huang, you will be the first Chinese merchant to arrive in England!"

The captain's compliment made Huang Deqin in a trance, he was the first businessman to arrive in England? Well, China, no, is a merchant of the Great Qing Kingdom.

"If I were the first, would the Saint-André be ......"

Before he finished speaking, he realized that although the clipper belonged to Huasheng Foreign Company, its registered place was Hong Kong.

What's next?

Thinking of the work he would face after arriving in London, Huang Deqin's brow suddenly wrinkled into a small ball, and the "St. Andrew" was loaded with more than 1,300 tons of goods -- thousands of tons of tea and raw silk. Now, he needs to find the right buyer for this shipment.

"What now?"

Just when he was confused about how to sell the goods, Huang Deqin saw a stocky customs officer get on board.

"What, tea!"

The customs officer looked at the Chinese in amazement, although it was not the first time he had seen a Chinese, but it was the first time he had seen so many Chinese—on the deck, there were more than forty teenagers, both boys and girls. If it was a normal time, he might have asked about it, but now, he was attracted by the word tea.

"Hey, is it this year's new tea? What kind of tea are they? Is it Wuyi cuisine, or green tea? Is there Xichun tea? Pineapple will do too! ”

The customs officer's inquiry made Huang Deqin surprised for a while, and he understood why the other party asked like this - the tea road was cut off!

To be precise, it was the turmoil that led to the almost severance of the tea roads in Anhui and Jiangxi, although foreign merchants in Shanghai, Xiamen and other places could still buy black tea from Fujian, and a small amount of tea produced in Jiangxi could also be exported through Ningbo or Fujian in small quantities. However, pineapple tea and Xichun tea from Anhui could not be shipped out because the Taiping army occupied Jiangning. So much so that in Shanghai, this Anhui tea is simply priceless.

As for how to buy and ship this tea, Huang Deqin does not care, he cares about the market, and now he is more concerned about how to sell this batch of tea in the UK.

"Of course, this gentleman, if you don't dislike ......"

Just when Huang Deqin accurately sent some "filial piety" to the customs officer in accordance with the rules in China, he suddenly remembered the captain's order, never to bribe the customs officer, even if it was just a bag of tea, otherwise it was very likely to cause the other party to lose his job, but there would be other troubles.

At first, he didn't believe it, but after passing through several ports along the way, he could be regarded as seeing the incorruptibility of the Western customs, but until now, he is still adapting.

"Songluo, Gongxi ......"

When the customs officer checked the customs declaration, the slightly fat customs officer looked at the Chinese in front of him in surprise and congratulated him with a smile.

"Now you're going to get rich, and now all of London, no, all of Europe, can't buy these green teas! Trust me, in a moment your ship will be surrounded by tea merchants all over London......"

While congratulating the merchant in front of him, the customs officer looked at the young man and woman again and asked.

"Sir, may I ask why they came to England? What is the relationship with you? ”

"They're here to study in the UK!"

On that day, almost all the tea merchants in London were crazy about the arrival of the "St. Andrew", perhaps now black tea occupies the British tea market, but green tea still has a large market, although the high-quality green tea produced in Fujian makes up for the lack of the market, but as a high-end product of pineapple, the lack of Gongxi, but the rich people in London can no longer enjoy these high-end symbolic green tea as in the past.

Now the arrival of the "St. Andrew" has alleviated the shortage of tea, as the high-grade green tea of pineapple, Gongxi's best-selling, also made the ship with thousands of tons of high-quality ordinary green tea, was sold out, just when the major newspapers in London reported the arrival of the "St. Andrew" with enthusiastic words, in the corner of the "Times" August 7, 1853 with a short text:

"The forty-three Chinese students who arrived yesterday with the tea ship "St. Andrew" were all very young. They were all fine and wise ladies and gentlemen, and were more neat in appearance than those of their former compatriots who had visited England. Four guardians of the Chinese bureaucracy accompanied them. Local governments in central China set aside £10 for their education. The Chinese government plans to send 50 to 100 students each year to study in the UK and other European countries......"

This short news barely attracted the attention of the outside world, it seems that for Britain they have become accustomed to foreigners learning from them, and indeed, in this day and age, almost the whole world will learn from Britain, after all, British machines and technology lead the development of the world.

The train carriage swayed on the railway, and Liu Yuxin, who was sitting in the carriage, looked at the carriage and everything outside the carriage with curious eyes, at this time, everything in London was new to her and her brothers and sisters around her, especially this train.

Once, the train only existed on a flip chart, although they already knew that the thing called the 'fire-car' and 'fire' traveled on two thin railroad tracks. But when they got on the train, each of them still watched it all in amazement.

But at this time, Liu Yuxin did not think about this problem, she was thinking about another problem, soon, she was going to be separated from them, unlike them, she would go to France with a dozen other people, which was another country across the sea.

"Xiaoshanzi, what are you thinking?"

Turning his head, looking at Xiao Shanzi in front of him, who leaned half of his body out of the carriage, Liu Yuxin, who had withdrawn his mind, asked.

"I really don't understand what kind of car can walk on it, and it is said to be propelled by fire......

"Steam!"

"It's propelled by a steam engine! Like a steamship, it's all driven by a steam engine......"

When Liu Yuxin corrected Xiaoshanzi's statement, Xu Jishe, who was already over half a hundred years old, also looked at the British countryside outside the window with great interest, although he came to Britain for only a few days, he was completely stunned by the civilization displayed by Britain, although he was no longer like other scholars and doctors, with the so-called "Heavenly Empire" in his heart, and he was full of interest in the West recorded in the foreigner's book, and could even be described as fascinated for a long time, but now, After witnessing British technology, he was not only amazed by British technology, but even the British countryside in front of him made him linger.

"The smoke flies and the wheel moves, far better than flying, in the clouds and mist, it is the sound of apes on both sides of the strait that can't be stopped, the train has passed the ten thousand mountains, although the strange wooden ox and the horse, the speed of chasing the wind and the red rabbit, it can not be said in the same year......"

When he made this analogy with a smile, Xu Jishe, who was sitting on the train, felt the train that traveled thousands of miles a day, but it was difficult to calm down for a while, the experience of being an official made him realize the importance of the train in a country, if the Qing Dynasty had this train, when the Daoguang years were at war with the British, how could there be a worry about the whole country not being able to transfer troops, this train not only has the advantage of transferring troops, but also has the convenience of transporting goods, if it is like Shanxi hinterland to build a railway, is it not equivalent to a canal?

This railway is really a weapon for the benefit of the country and the people!

"It seems that this railway will have to be built in the future......"

At this moment, he seemed to understand why the "Metropolitan Governor" who had never met sent these teenagers to the West and England in order to learn Western science and technology...... No, yes, how could the Metropolitan build a railroad? Build a ship? Even Western firearms!

Thinking of this, Xu Jishe's mind couldn't help sinking, thinking of Wuchang Han's emphasis on Western arts, he immediately thought of the "Yinghuan Zhiluo" compiled by himself and the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" compiled by Wei Liangtu and other books of the sea received a cold reception, this Qing Dynasty has tasted the benefits of British firearms more than ten years ago, but has no intention of enterprising, in contrast, the metropolitan governor has already sent students like here to learn the science that the West is good at.

In the long run, how can the Great Qing Kingdom stop the Han rebellion? If he rebelled against the Han Dynasty and built a railway to the capital, what would happen to the imperial court?

These days, the land of England has also brought him too many touches, and even his heart began to shake unconsciously...... (To be continued.) )