Guangzhou Port Area. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As one of China's most famous and famous foreign trade cities in the past 1200 years, Guangzhou is still thriving today. The Thirteen Lines have disappeared, but the merchants of Guangzhou, who have a greater degree of freedom, have not collapsed, but have radiated more vigorous vitality.

To this day, it still retains the name of China's largest port.

Although the trade volume of Shanghai Port is rising sharply, it will take time to accumulate if it wants to surpass Guangzhou, which has a deep heritage.

Guangzhou's port area has a perennial active population of more than 100,000 people, and there are 20,000 or 30,000 residents, a large part of which are the Portuguese in Macao, those who turned to the West at the threshold of choice, some people left China, but most of them still stayed in China, and quickly spread from the Pearl River Delta to Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai and other places.

Because these Portuguese in Macao can speak some Chinese, or the official dialect of Guangdong, and many of them can also speak Portuguese, even Latin, etc., working as a translator in various ports is the most suitable profession for them.

The largest gathering of these Portuguese is still the port area of Guangzhou.

Some Chinese say that they have left their homeland, so why don't Westerners have this concept? Their 'home' for hundreds of years, Macau is gone. Originally, although Macao was under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government, there were rules and regulations for this and that, but in fact, as long as there was money to open the way, life was still very comfortable. So I don't know how many Portuguese people in Macau regard it as their home.

But now it's all over. Their home is gone, but the Portuguese, who are more likely to stay in China than to Shanghai and Ningbo, hundreds or thousands of miles away, are still willing to settle their home in nearby Guangzhou. They can work hundreds of miles or thousands of miles away, but their families are still located in Guangzhou.

Therefore, the residential area of Guangzhou Port is also one of the best selling among the many port areas built during the same period.

With the passage of time, more and more Western merchant ships came to China, and more and more countries participated. For example, in Northeast Europe, which is driven by Sweden, Denmark has already been launched. Another obvious example is that the ratio of the number of British merchant ships has always maintained a relatively stable value among the overall merchant ships coming to China.

And you must know that the British, who are backed by India, have continued to increase the number of Chinese merchant ships in the past two years.

And that night in Yangzhou, Robert also made a suggestion to Chen Ming to open the port of Singapore. He said that with its unique and superior geographical location, once it is opened, it will become an important hub for trade connecting the east and west sea routes. This was the only one among all the Chinese and foreign people present at the meeting that day to give Chen Ming's opinion.

As soon as this sentence came out of Robert's mouth, it immediately attracted the attention of many people. Chen Han's seizure of Sulu and Singapore, and even infiltration into the small half of Borneo, has been silent, and has not set off major changes in the Nanyang 'order'. The Spaniards and Dutch lost face purely for their own trouble.

As for China's approach, Western countries generally believe that China's civil war has not yet subsided, and its national strength has yet to be restored. When the civil war is over and it recuperates for a few years, it will inevitably be against a large chunk of the South Seas. The British suddenly jumped out and targeted Singapore, what kind of heart did they press? But as soon as Robert's words came out, it really made many people's eyes shine.

Chen Ming did not comment. He will never forget the 19th century, when the British were strong in his previous life, although there was a challenge from the French at the beginning, a challenge from the Russians in the middle, and a challenge from the Germans at the end, but it cannot be denied that those 100 years were a hundred years belonging to John Bull! And the starting point of the British entry into the East was in Singapore.

"Do they want to muddy the waters of the South Seas, draw more attention to the South Seas, and let more forces get involved?" Perhaps others will only see the business opportunity and praise Robert's outstanding vision. Chen Ming always felt that it was the ambition of the British.

Singapore's geographical location was indeed superior, but for a short time Chen Ming preferred to use it as a military port until he devoured the entire South Seas. Then it's time to light up Singapore.

However, regardless of the changes in Nanyang in the past two years, it is an indisputable fact that more and more Western sailors have gathered in China's major trading ports since Chen Han fully opened up trade with the West. The quarantine area in the port area has not been able to fill one person at the beginning, and later three or four people in a house, and the area of the quarantine area is not expanding.

In the summer, it is crowded with people.

Any foreign merchant sailors, Taipan, etc., who come to China, need to be isolated here for 15 days before they can move freely again. During this period, they naturally could not see outsiders, and even many times they could only move around in their rooms, and they had to bathe in that strange-smelling water every day, so all internal and external communication could only be done by letters, and there were large bags of letters going back and forth every day.

Some people say that the post office in the quarantine area is the busiest post office in the whole of China, and this is not true at all.

"One-on-two." Johnson, whose beard had been shaved and not a single one left, knew that no one could afford it, because there was already a king who had already punched out, and he remembered clearly that there were no four fried-ups, and two of the pairs were the largest.

"Three fives with a seven, a pair of queens. I won this game again, haha......"

A chagrined voice rang out in the room, "Omir, you big fool, why don't you go alone?" Cecil threw down his cards in frustration, and then threw a silver horn at Johnson on the other side.

These sailors, who were 'restrained' and isolated, had no freedom to go out, and the only thing they could do was gamble in their rooms.

In addition to sieves, poker is also a traditional gambling device in the West. This thing has been circulating in the Western world for hundreds of years, and it is said to have been produced by the Yezi brand in the Southern Song Dynasty. It's just that it has developed into two completely different models now, such as Whist in the UK. And the number of cards is not the same, even if it is the largest number of French cards, compared with China's current poker, there is one less pair of kings.

Chen Ming didn't know how to play Chinese solitaire in this era, that is, leaf play, at all. The poker he made was nothing more than pure from his previous life. And for sailors who are generally not well educated, if you let them play whist or bridge, it will be too nerve-wracking. It's the simple and easy-to-understand way to play in China, and the card is not a gambling device in China?

It's time for lunch. Only one of the four people in the room went out, and soon this person returned to the room with a large lunch box and a newspaper.

Mashed potatoes, slices of bread, thick broth, salted fish, and pineapples for each person.

The sailors had to pay a silver dollar for food, and each of them received three meals a day. If you want to eat anything else, buy it with silver. This segregation system has been cursed by countless Westerners since the day it was imposed, and many people even think that it is an insult to their personality, but it should be implemented in any way.

There was enough food in the big lunch box for four people, and Grenwell glanced at the three roommates who were still struggling, and took out one of his own and ate it while spreading out the newspaper. This newspaper is the only foreign-language newspaper in the port area, and now there is only one Western newspaper in China, funded by three companies: British, French and Portuguese.

It's a hodgepodge of newspapers in Latin, English, French, and Portuguese. Grenwell, who couldn't read Latin, French, or Portuguese, skipped the first edition, and then Grenwell's body froze, "God, the company's stock is going up again." Grenwell jumped up excitedly, the Chinese opened the inland ports of the Yangtze River, and if this news reached the West, the shares of the East India Company all over Europe would skyrocket, and more fortunately he also held a small number of shares in his hands.

In the past two years, with the continuous surge of China's trade boom, the shares of the East India Company have performed well in the London market, and now the good news has arrived, which will inevitably stimulate the greater expectations of countless people for the company, and by the time they return to London, the price of the stock will inevitably be higher.

Grenwell's screams finally woke up the addicted trio of Johnson, Sissel, and Omir.

Looking at Grenwell, who was happily bouncing around the room, the three of them looked at each other, but their curiosity had been instantly raised. When they read the news in the newspaper, Sissel, who had made as much money as Grenwell, couldn't control his excitement and shouted excitedly. But Johnson and Omir, who did not have stocks in their hands, especially Omir, who had just sold those stocks before going to sea, had a look of envy on their faces.

Today's Guangzhou port area is destined to be lively.

There was a wolf crying and howling in the quarantine area, but it was nothing compared to the appearance of the Western merchants outside.

Especially the western residential areas and Western-style restaurants in the port area, the lights are colorful, making many Chinese dizzy, is this going to be a festival?

The flowers bloomed two and each showed a branch, and the foreigners over there sang and danced without saying anything, and not long after Chen Ming returned to Nanjing, a personnel change quietly began. First of all, the tax department has vacated some positions, such as the Construction Bureau, the Department of Industry and Commerce, the Food Bureau, etc., many positions have to be moved, and the top leaders of Nanjing City have to be moved. This personnel change did not involve the top position, but it is also a department with full weight, especially Yin of Nanjing Shuntian Mansion, which is the top priority, Chen Ming has two candidates, one is Yue Wenhai in Shanghai, and the other is Xiao Lou, the prefect of Jiujiang.

"If there is something to do, it will be played early, and there will be nothing to retreat."

With the familiar shouts of Chen Han's important ministers, a new court meeting began again.

Chen Ming was no longer standing underneath, and another seat was set up next to Chen Hui's throne, and Chen Hui was no longer in court. This was Chen Ming's first court meeting after returning to Nanjing, and it was also the first court meeting he personally presided over.

"The minister has a play." Cai Xin, the current leader of the ministry, stood up. This is an old man who is nearly seventy years old, and he ascended to the rank of Jinshi in the first year of Qianlong, and was elected as a Hanlin Shujishi. After the museum was disbanded, it was edited by the Hanlin Academy. Then the official road was smooth, and the road was smooth, and by the time Cai Xin begged for support from his mother in the 22nd year of Qianlong, he was already a servant of the Ministry and in charge of the affairs of the country.

Cai Xin's return home was ten years, until the thirty-second year of Qianlong, the world changed greatly, and he was appointed by Qianlong as the secretary of the military department and the minister of Fujian regimental training, so Chen Jie is still his protégé. But Cai Xin's behavior in office was quite a bit like standing in the pit and not, and he shrank in Fuzhou on the grounds of recuperation, and as a result, he wore the hat of the minister of regimental training for less than a year before moving to his home. After the Fu Han army entered Fuzhou, Chen Jie was forced to go south, but Cai Xin, who 'raised' his body in the Shaolin Temple in Putian, became a member of the Fu Han army. In the following years, he rose step by step, and now he has achieved the position of the secretary of the ministry.

Chen Han's position as the secretary of the ministry is a bit fake, because most of the personnel power above the government is in the hands of the Chen family's father and son, and what they can manage in the ministry is the petty officials below the county level, and more often than not, they can only come up with a candidate list. Now Cai Xin wants to play the shortlist of Nanjing Shuntianfu Yin.

Chen Ming already knew who those two names were, because they were both hand-picked by him. Yue Wenhai and Xiao Lou!

"Yesterday, Shuntian Mansion Yin Wu Xizeng handed in his resignation yesterday, although I was reluctant in my heart, but I pity his old age and frailty. However, Shuntianfu is the first good place of the country, and there can be no one who is in charge, I don't know who the secretaries think are good for this? ”

Wu Xizeng is one of Chen Hui's old team, and Ren Meng, Zhang Chi, Zheng Hongyu, and Wei Xiuzhi are all along the way. But this Wu Xizeng made the same mistake as Chen Hui, he was greedy for women, and he lost a lot of money. He is two years younger than Chen Hui, and his body bones are much worse than Chen Hui.

Chen Ming didn't go back to Nanjing before, Chen Hui sat on it, and Wu Xizeng didn't dare to publicly criticize even if he was a vegetarian corpse. But now that the old and the new are taking over, and the power is handed over, Wu Xizeng is very conscious of leaving, and he doesn't have to hurt any face.

After listening to Chen Ming's words, there was a brief silence below, and many ministers suddenly realized that this was an opportunity. Shuntian Mansion Yin, this is not the Shuntian Mansion Yin of Beijing in the Manchu Dynasty, the position in the Nanjing Mansion is very powerful. Moreover, Chen Han's official position is different from that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and Zhu Ming, and the position of Yin of Shuntian Mansion can be equal to that of the governor of a province.

Originally, the ministers and nobles below still thought that Chen Ming would be arbitrary.

The two candidates, Xiao Lou and Yue Wenhai, many people even think that Yue Wenhai's hope will be greater because he has a good son-in-law. But now, it doesn't seem to be the case. Many important ministers in the hall realized that this matter may not be so simple, but for these people, none of this matter, what matters is who takes over.

The leaders of each group all set their eyes on their respective leaders, and their friends secretly exchanged glances with each other. Chen Ming, who was sitting at the top, looked down at the ministers, thinking about it mentally no one knew.

Chen Cong quietly glanced at his nephew, and he couldn't figure out what he meant. After the list of officials was freshly released, he didn't say a good word to Yue Wenhai in front of Chen Ming, but felt that Yue Wenhai almost didn't have any problems sitting up in this position. This is not to say that Yue Wenhai and Xiao Lou have better abilities and qualifications, in all fairness, these two people have their own merits, it is difficult to say who is higher and who is lower, but to say who has a deep background in the case of equal strength, and the position must be Yue Wenhai's. But now things don't seem to be like this, and he consciously told him that his eldest nephew was playing a small abacus that he said he didn't know. He glanced at the ministers who were attached to him who were qualified to go to the court, and he should not be impatient and do not act without permission.

Compared with the apprehension of Chen Cong's faction, some people who have dirty or incompatible with Chen Cong are secretly excited. The prince did not arbitrarily give the position to Yue Wenhai, but took it to the surface to discuss it, what does this mean? Does this mean that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has some opinions on Chen Cong, the second uncle? Or did Yue Wenhai offend the prince fiercely in Lushan in the early days?

But either way, it was a bonus. The adults were excited. Their eyes fell on Chen Gang at this time, Chen Gang had a big rift with Chen Cong since he couldn't seek to return to the sect that time, and when Chen Cong came out to stand with the new Confucianism several times, it turned from a rift to a conflict.

"The minister has a play." Chen Gang lived up to expectations and stood up, and then denied Yue Wenhai. "Although Shanghai is more than the prefect, Yue Wenhai has worked hard for many years and has merit, but the land is narrow and the people are few......," all that popped out of his mouth were empty words, and he smoothly pressed Shanghai's gradually prosperous commerce and trade on the copper smell. (To be continued.) )