On a certain street in the thirteen lines of Guangzhou, Yang Lin and Master Liu walked among them, strolling along the street, looking at the merchants coming and going, listening to the conversations of different people, Yang Lin asked with some curiosity: "Hey, Master Liu, looking at the appearance of these scattered merchants, it seems that most of them are not locals, right?" ”

"Yes, my lord, most of them are businessmen from Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they have come here to do business with those foreigners. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

It seemed that he felt that it was very boring to have nothing to say all the way, or to show an instinctive move that he knew a lot, after answering Yang Lin's question, Master Liu said: "Since Lord Qianlong closed the other three treaty ports, almost all the merchants of the world have gathered here, and through those merchants of our thirteen lines, they do business with foreigners. Moreover, most of our merchants here are born in these places, or have some origins. ”

"Since it is almost late autumn, those foreign merchants are almost gone, so there are many fewer merchants from all over the country. If it coincides with the end of spring and the beginning of autumn, when the two business seasons and peak seasons, when the foreign merchant ships come the most, the area of the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou will be very lively, so that the purses of the people of Guangzhou will bulge. ”

"At that time of year, the wrestlers who carry goods, the small business that sells daily necessities, and so on, as foreign merchant ships approach the Pearl River wharf, they will be very busy. After all, those foreigners who have traveled across the ocean have already consumed almost all of their food and drink, and they urgently need to purchase. ”

Yang Lin nodded, with a clear look, walking and walking, there was a strange feeling in his heart, that is, he felt that something was wrong there, and seemed to have figured it out, and suddenly asked: "Master Liu, I asked you to take me to the mansion of the chief businessman Pan Youwei, where are you taking me?" It's not like going to a mansion where rich people live, it's more like a market, and the more you go, the more people come. ”

"My lord, do you know that the thirteen lines in Guangzhou under our jurisdiction are divided into the neighborhood of our dynasty and the foreign merchant hall area, and all the locations of the merchants are in the commercial halls near our business number, and each merchant has set up an office in it."

"Normally, a businessman like Mr. Pan would be there in normal times, especially when the business was about to enter the off-season. Moreover, if you go directly to the merchant hall to do what you ask him to do, you can save a lot of trouble, because you can directly contact those foreigners there. ”

Yang Lin suddenly realized, understood, stopped talking, and followed Master Liu forward. Soon after, before the two came to a Chinese-style building, without any hesitation, they immediately stepped in, and as soon as they walked in, Yang Lin looked at everything in front of him in surprise, a little stunned, muttered slowly, and looked around.

I saw not only the bustling people, but also the counters, and the shrewd little guys who were quickly knocking on the beads. According to a rough visual inspection, just a hall, the area is very large, at least a few thousand square meters, the height is up to ten meters, the whole hall seems to be very bright, very exquisite, the crowd walking in it, feel like standing at the feet of giants.

"My lord, this is the merchant house, a place where you usually do business with foreigners."

As soon as he finished saying this, he didn't get a response, and Master Liu, who was leading the way in front of him, noticed that something was abnormal, Yang Lin didn't follow, and couldn't help but turn his head to look and look for Yang Lin's figure in the crowd.

Fortunately, the two did not get together far, and through the gap between the passers-by, Master Liu saw Yang Lin who was a little distracted at a glance, and then returned and stood in front of Yang Lin: "My lord, what's wrong?" Why don't you leave? ”

Turning around, Yang Lin was no longer surprised by the luxury and grandeur of the merchant hall, as if he was fine, and said in a non-asked question: "Oh, it's okay, let's go, take me to Pan Youwei." ”

Along the way, every time I met some merchants, those people would nod to Yang Lin, smile, be very respectful, and the stammering feelings were overflowing, which made other ordinary businessmen very surprised, and asked: "Hey, Brother Li, who is that person?" It looks like a young man, why are you so polite, looking at his dress, he doesn't look like a big official? ”

"You don't care who it is, it's really not a big official. However, there is no way, although the official is small, he is the top boss of our businessman, and there will be more places to ask for people in the future, can you not please him? ”

Knock knock!

A crisp knock on the door sounded, echoing in a house, Pan Youwei stopped talking with foreigners and shouted: "Please come in~"

Then, Pan Youwei didn't look at the direction of the door, still maintaining his inherent posture, only paused for a moment before talking to the foreigner again.

"Mr. Smith, it's almost mid-September, and your country's merchant ships have already left, and there is not much left, should you also prepare?" Canton is about to enter the off-season of trade, and according to the laws and regulations of our dynasty, you must also leave here and go to live in Macao. ”

Unlike Pan Youwei, the foreigner looked at the door, and saw that the two men who suddenly appeared were very interested, and did not intervene, interrupting the conversation between the two, but just walked to the side, stood and sat in the distance, and took over the topic and responded to Pan Youwei's reminder.

"Mr. Pan Qiguan, as the British Taipan in your country, the person in charge of our country's merchants here, of course, will follow your laws, as long as the time comes, all our businessmen return and leave, I will take all the staff of the merchant hall to Macao, temporarily live, and obey your arrangements."

"Well, that's good, I'll rest assured, if there is anything wrong or something wrong, as your guarantor, you will be very troublesome in the middle of doing business in our dynasty, which is not conducive to the cooperation and business between the two of us in the coming year."

The words have been almost discussed, Pan Youwei was about to reach out to the side of the teacup, the foreigner Smith is well versed in the truth of China's tea delivery, seems to think of something, and suddenly asked: "Mr. Pan, at the beginning of the summer next year, trade will be the most lively, can you raise your hand and let more ships from our country enter the Pearl River, if it can be faster, it will be better." ”

"That way, you and I can earn more, so why not?"

Pan Youwei picked up the teacup, just opened the tea lid, heard this, the action of tasting the tea was sluggish, his expression was full of helplessness, and when he was ready to refuse as before, he looked at the foreigner Smith's gaze froze, and he was frozen in a certain direction, but it lasted for a moment, and he immediately stood up, walked a few steps quickly, and said polite and unexpected words at the same time.

"Lord Yang, why are you here? If there is anything, you only need to send a servant over, and I will handle it properly for you, why bother you to run it yourself, it really frustrates Pan! ”

The two people who just came in were Yang Lin and Master Liu, seeing Pan Youwei so polite and respectful, Yang Lin said with a smile: "As the president of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou, no matter what, I should also go to your place to do business and take a look, and it is also the responsibility of the officials." ”

At this time, Yang Lin did not have the slightest intention of being angry, and he did not have the feeling of being angry because he was ignored. The more amiable and calm Yang Lin became, the more bottomless and apprehensive Pan Youwei's heart became, even though the head of the line in front of him was only a hairy boy in his early sixteenth.

Looking at Pan Youwei, who was very respectful, Yang Lin showed a faint smile and said loudly: "Mr. Pan, since I am here, I will no longer beat around the bush, and I want to ask you for help with one thing." It's purely personal, and if it doesn't work, forget it. ”

"My lord, please say, as long as I can do it, I will do my best, and I will never postpone it."

"That's right, Mr. Pan, I have a friend who is going to go to the West to have a look, and by the way, get two ships of goods to sell there. No, my friend has never been to the West to do business, and there are very few people who do business in the past, so at this time, how can I still find a guide? ”

"So, I'm coming to you to see if there are any trustworthy foreign merchants who can take care of them at sea and help them when doing business with foreigners?" (To be continued.) )