After a heavy rain, London finally cleared, and for two weeks there were raindrops, so that people almost got moldy on their bodies, so that on this sunny afternoon, many people enjoyed the sunshine along the streets, but no one went to the sewage-ridden city, and in fact, every summer, London's upper class would stay away from the city. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As the largest city in the world of this era, London's population has already exceeded 2 million. However, in contrast, London's sewage is still stuck in the Middle Ages, and the whole city is heavily polluted, littered with garbage, and the city is full of the smell of feces. In the summer, the entire Thames is fermenting, flowing with a brown liquid.

The upper classes would stay away from London, and even the wealthy areas of London were rarely inhabited in summer and autumn, and only returned to the city in winter and spring. The rich can stay away from London, but for the envoys of various countries, they can't stay away from London, away from the "miasma" in the air.

But for ambassadors to the UK, there are other options – for example, in the emerging Belgrave Square, which is located in the heart of London, but is at least somewhat far away from the "miasma" in the air because of the direction of the wind, because this new district, which opened just 30 years ago, has always been the first place for London's wealthy and foreign envoys.

Half a year ago, in Belgrave Square, a wealthy man sold his four-storey baroque marble building with a private garden to China for £30,000 as the Chinese Legation in London.

China sets up a legation in London!

This is undoubtedly news for London, and even now, a few months later, after the Legation has been renovated and opened, it can still make headlines in London's major newspapers. Although Downing Street has repeatedly stated that Britain has not established diplomatic relations with Wuchang, it is difficult for the British to distinguish the difference between Wuchang and Jingshi, let alone what is Han and what is Qing.

In their eyes, there was no Qing Empire, no "rebel government", only "China", and this legation in Britain representing the interests of "China" in Britain.

This night, compared to the darkness of other areas, the Legation in Britain seems to be brightly lit, although London is still debating whether to introduce electric lights, but as the country of invention of electric light, the Legation in Britain has first installed electric lights, and even installed electric lights outside the building, so as to facilitate the comparison of gas lamps on the street, the bright electric lights have just been put into use not only attracted the attention of London, but even directly led to the collapse of the shares of the London Gas Company.

But electric lighting also attracted the attention of many British businessmen, and today for some of them it is undoubtedly an opportunity – an opportunity to obtain a series of patents for generators, electric lights, switches, and so on. That's why today's banquet attracts so many of London's elites.

As the carriage drove into the main entrance of the legation, you could see from afar the palace-like building that looked like pearls at night in the bright light. When the carriage drove to the door, the music could be faintly heard.

This is a legation reception ball, and it is also a banquet for the British high society, in addition to the ball in the homes of the nobles and rich in London, the embassy reception banquet is also a regular gathering of the upper class, and more officials and nobles will gather here!

In the banquet hall on the first floor, more than a dozen musicians in tuxedos are playing cheerful music. Flowers bloomed on the wall, and every guest who entered the door was surprised by the upper-class people gathered in the banquet hall today, although there were no cabinet officials among them, but many of them were members of the upper legislature, and they all maintained good relations with the cabinet officials, and some of them were the prime minister's "solicitors".

"My God, they must all be here for the electric light!"

As soon as you enter the door, Ek? Baron King's loud voice alarmed many guests at once, and when they looked here, people laughed when they saw his surprised look.

Yes, today many people are for the electric light, and for these nobles they have lost a lot, especially in wealth, which cannot be compared with those of the new capitalists. But compared to the nouveau riche capital, their title is their greatest capital, and the fact that the electric light patent is now owned by China has made this group of nobles with titles and resources like flies smelling fat, and almost everyone sees the wealth stored in it.

Of course, it is not that no one has considered using means such as patents to "take advantage of the law", but they have to be wary of the French emperor on the other side of the channel - the French emperor is the most powerful supporter of Chinese electric light in Europe, and the British courts protect not only British businessmen, but also the "basic rules", and any tendentious judgment is undoubtedly a disaster for the British judiciary - the British patent law is likely to be completely wasted paper. Before the legal experts of the judicial profession go crazy, the upstarts and scientists with billions of pounds worth of patents will storm the House of Lords and tear them to shreds.

Because of this, it is clear to everyone that the best option now is to obtain a patent license.

"Ek, what, you're also for the light?"

Edward, the direct heir to the Duke of Norfolk, pulled Ek? Baron King's arm, grinning, said:

"I heard that in order to avoid contradictions, there is a proposal to set up the British Electric Light Company to be responsible for the sale, installation and generation of electric lights throughout Britain and the colonies, what do you think about this?"

Although Edward seemed to have a smile on his face, Ike, who knew his character, still cautiously coped with it and laughed twice, in his opinion, this was not "someone proposed" at all, I am afraid that the person who proposed it was probably Edward.

As he walked through the hall, he was greeted by a number of guests, both men and women, and as the "most promising bachelor" of London's upper class, Eck has always been the prey of many women.

"Ek, Baron King."

Suddenly Eck heard someone shouting about himself, following the prestige, it was a Chinese in a suit, looking quite familiar, but in his opinion, China seemed to look the same, and he couldn't remember who it was for a while.

"Your Excellency, I am Wang Minyun, and with your help I entered the University of Oxford......"

Wang Minyun's words were full of gratitude, because he did not take the exams, so Oxford University rejected him, and finally with the help of Ek, he was able to enter the university.

"Oh, you're Mr. Wang, I almost didn't recognize you."

Eke smiled awkwardly, walked up to Wang Minyun and said with a smile:

"How are you now? If there's anything you need help with, just say it. ”

"It's all good,"

Wang Minyun said softly.

"Is that so, Director Guo wants to be able to meet you in private?"

"Director Guo? He returned from Prussia? ”

Eck, of course, knew who the other party was talking about, the head of the Chinese diplomatic corps and the Chinese "foreign minister", in fact, the two of them had known each other when they first arrived in London, and they knew each other very well. Over the past few months, he has been on expeditions to various countries on the European continent.

"Yes, I just returned from Holland today, Lord Baron, please come here with me."

The second floor of the legation was equally richly decorated, and the oil fields of the painters bought at the Exposition Universelle de France hung on either side of the corridor, through which the two men stopped outside the two heavy wooden doors. Wang Minyun knocked lightly on the door panel a few times.

"Chief, Baron Del has arrived."

Guo Songtao's voice came from inside:

"Please come in."

Pushing open the door, Eck found that the room inside was very spacious, different from the Western style outside the door, this room was more like China, against the wall placed a long row of bookshelves, full of all kinds of books, although he had never been to China, but in this oriental style room, he could still feel the oriental atmosphere.

There were two people in this room, in addition to Guo Songtao, there was also a young man in a suit, looking at Guo Songtao, who was wearing an oriental robe, stood up, and Eke bowed slightly.

"Hello, Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency!"

Seeing Eke come in, Guo Songtao nodded slightly and took the initiative to get up to greet him. At this time, Wang Minyun went out first, and he knew that the next thing was not suitable for him to participate in.

"Coffee or tea?"

Guo Songtao asked Eke with a smile.

"No, I think we're going to be leaving this room soon."

Eke knew that Guo Songtao would soon be downstairs, and this was just a temporary meeting.

"Of course, let me introduce you to you, this is Huang Ziyun, two weeks ago, just came from China, he will be the manager of the Far East Trading Company in London!"

The so-called Far Eastern Trading Company is actually the name of the Far Eastern Trading Company in Europe, and it is the only channel for the Governor's foreign trade, and the reason why Eck was invited to come over this time is because Eck is a trading partner of the Governor's office - he is the first British merchant to take the initiative to purchase raw silk from the Governor's house to sell in London, and because of this, the government has bypassed the Western company to export raw silk directly to Europe, and obtained far more profits than the mainland.

Although he knew that Ek, a ostensible nobleman and a businessman, was actually a businessman, he bought raw silk for profit - China's raw silk imports had been monopolized by British companies for many years, and it was the boycott of those companies that made small merchants afraid to buy raw silk, and Ek's original "charcoal in the snow" was just an opportunity to intervene in this business - now he has mastered 30% of the British raw silk business, which he had not even done a few months ago.

"Hello, Mr. Huang!"

Nodding politely, Eke looked at the young man and thought to himself, could it be that he wanted to talk to him about business? What kind of business will it be?

Could it be...... Lamp? (To be continued.) )