A year ago, the crossing team designated Dinghai Port as a free port and set up a Dinghai Special Zone on Zhoushan Island, and Dinghai developed rapidly.

Because of the continuous war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Western merchant ships such as Britain, France, and the United States, as well as merchant ships from North Korea, Japan, and the northern coast of China all gathered here.

A large area of land between Dinghai South Gate and Dinghai Port was developed into a new urban area, the 010101010101-Shutou District, with large streets, squares, exchanges, warehouses and docks, as well as a natural Taoist temple, two churches, and two hospitals.

On this morning, the Dinghai Port Wharf was busy.

Sailors, merchants, brokers, and porters of different nationalities all flocked to the docks to wave goodbye to the fleet heading for the American continent.

Five three-masted sailing ships, including the Endeavour, the Oriental Goddess, and the San Vicente, raised their full sails and set sail from Dinghai Port.

Finally, another batch of indentured laborers was sent away!

Andy breathed a sigh of relief and took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his forehead.

There are more than 2,500 indentured laborers, and he can get a commission of one silver dollar for each laborer, which is an objective figure. Although it is a little harder, it is also quite beneficial.

Just like this superb silk handkerchief, he used to be in Mi Yijian, and he could only watch those big people use it. Unexpectedly, after three years of gold panning in China, he actually got mixed up with the visa errand of the consulate, and the remuneration given by Huafu Foreign Company according to the head was even more generous, and he, a child from a poor family, also lived a life like a big man.

"Mr. Andy, let's go have a drink!"

Andy took out his pocket watch, and it was only ten o'clock in the morning. He declined the invitation to the gathering of several senior classes of Huafu Foreign Company, and left the dock in a car.

Renmin Road is the main arterial road in the district of Jitou, and the two sides of the stone-paved road are crowded with people, and the cries of selling come and go, a lively scene.

Hearing the shouts of newspaper sellers, Andy stopped the carriage and bought two copies of Donghua Daily, one in Chinese and one in English.

Donghua Daily is a newspaper published by the Donghua Press, the propaganda department of the Yangtze River Bureau.

Andy has been in China for more than three years, in order to facilitate his livelihood, he has learned Chinese quite hard, and there is generally no problem in communicating in Chinese official dialect, and his reading and writing are still poor. Buying two newspapers, Andy also wanted to learn Chinese against them.

When he got the newspaper, Andy first turned to the front page.

This edition is full of important news. It contains the dynamics of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Taiping Army, etc., as well as important news from the West.

The headline on the front page is a line of big black letters, "Taiwan's Turbidity River Railway Bridge Successfully Completed"

Andy whispered in Chinese Mandarin, "After days of hard fighting by bridge builders, the last bridge on the longitudinal line of Taiwan's railway, the Zhuoshuixi Railway Bridge, was successfully completed on January 21. The Keelung-Kaohsiung railway, which the people of Taiwan are looking forward to day and night, is about to usher in the day when the whole line will be completed. ”

That's fast! The railway from Keelung to Hsinchu City was officially opened to traffic in October last year, and it has only been a few months before it will be repaired to Kaohsiung.

Andy couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it is still the enlightened government of the Ming Dynasty, just like a European and American country, and the corrupt Manchu people are completely different from one day and one place.

After reading the front page headlines, Andy directly flipped the newspaper to the last page.

This is the advertising section, and there are many advertisements for tea, ceramics, silk, and goods from Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Persia, India, Japan, Korea, and other places.

Andy's attention was directly aimed at a painted house advertisement.

This is a rendering of a beautiful garden house, with a beautiful line of artistic font "Rose Garden - Visible Quality of Life"

The rose-clad façade, the metal wind chimes hanging from the window eaves, the large glass windows let in the golden yellow soft sunlight, the white oak wooden floor is particularly comfortable to step on, the tiles of various beautiful patterns are shining, and the luxurious crystal glass chandelier scatters soft light.

Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, jacarandas, palm trees, and ginkgo biloba are neatly arranged among the wide lawns, and small elements such as pools, water features, fountains, leisure chairs, and sun umbrellas are dotted in every corner of the community.

Wow! It's really a high-end luxury lifestyle.

Andy suddenly had an impulse that I could buy such a garden house!

The U.S. Commercial Representative Office is located in the area of Huancheng South Road, Xutou District.

It was originally a piece of farmland, but it was later developed by the Ming army to build a small western-style building, which was sold to Western powers such as Britain, France, and the United States, and used to set up commercial consular offices.

After the Ming Dynasty firmly controlled the whole of Taiwan, Britain, France, the United States and other powers recognized the Ming Dynasty as the legitimate government despite the opposition of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and at the same time issued a statement to strictly define the territorial scope of the Ming Dynasty on Taiwan, Zhoushan and other islands.

After the establishment of the free port in Zhoushan, it immediately replaced Ningbo's maritime trade status. The Western consulate in Ningbo became increasingly idle, so all of them moved to Zhoushan and set up a consular representative office in Dinghai.

Bradley, the U.S. consul in Dinghai, bought eight small western-style buildings next to each other, put up the walls, and repaired them slightly, and the U.S. Consulate in Dinghai officially opened.

Andy returned to the consulate and immediately came to Bradley's office, "Mr. Bradley, last night I was transporting laborers in the salt warehouse, and I heard a few Ming army officials gossiping, saying that the Taiping Army had dispatched the main force from the battlefields of western Anhui and Jiangxi regions one by one, and gathered heavy troops and the periphery of Nanjing, intending to break the siege of Nanjing by the Jiangnan camp and the Jiangbei camp in one fell swoop. ”

"Is this accurate?"

"It should be fine." Andy is very sure, "Some time ago, Shanghai Huafu also said that the Taiping Army quietly sent people to purchase a large number of weapons and ammunition, which should be preparing for the big war. ”

The Taiping Army and the Manchu Lord are going to fight again!

Bradley's head flashed back to the fierce battle between the Taiping Army and the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Jiangxi and Hubei last year, and the Taiping Army was unfavorable at first.

In November, Shi Dakai of the Taiping Army led the Western Expeditionary Army from Anqing to aid Hubei, using a large number of advanced weapons, once again defeated Zeng Guofan, and the troops went straight to the city of Changcheng.

Why did the war in the west not be completely victorious, so he let Zeng Guofan go and turned around to prepare to open up the eastern battlefield.

But that's right, Nanjing City has always been surrounded by the Qing army in the Jiangnan camp, which is not always a problem.

Bradley vaguely felt that in addition to the great victory of the Taiping army, it was a serious mistake to let go of the Hunan army of Zeng Guo, which was in a state of defeat, and it might raise tigers.

However, he did not have a good impression of the Taiping Army and the Manchu people.

Bradley was a businessman who had spent many years in China and had a love-hate relationship with the ancient country. On the one hand, he is very fond of China's long history of civilization, but he also hates the arrogant and ignorant Manchurians.

The sudden rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had made his eyes light up, and Bradley thought that it was the first Christian country to rise in the pagan East, and that the Taiping Army would be the Mandate Force for Asia to convert to Christianity.

Soon he received news from the missionaries that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not believe in or understand Christianity, and that the self-esteem of the leaders of the Heavenly Kingdom seemed to be no different from that of the Manchurians.

Andy then told Bradley that the workers had been sent away safely. This afternoon, three or four thousand reserve laborers will enter the quarantine center, and it is said that they were brought from the Jiangning Taiping Army.

"Jiangning Taiping Army!" Bradley nodded, "Counting up, the young men that Huafu obtained from the Taiping Army are the majority of indentured laborers, and the total number has exceeded 100,000. ”

He sneered to himself, Huafu provided a large number of weapons and ammunition, and the Taiping army sold the Qing prisoners in their hands.

Reselling~ Arms and mercenary, Huafu is really greedy, shameless, and ruthless enough to earn this kind of bloody money, but this is completely in line with the national interests of the United States.

Remembering the letter from China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked diplomats in China to do their utmost to investigate the relationship between Daming and Huafu and understand the relationship between Daming and the San Diego gang.

Bradley felt a little dizzy, what a match!

Daming has developed and grown step by step from Dinghai.

Although there are not many people in the Ming Dynasty who believe in Christianity, a considerable number of them believe in nature, and some are even atheists.

But Bradley has always had a good impression of them, and he feels that these people advocate science, pay attention to democracy and freedom, and have a vigorous and progressive force.

In particular, the Ming gang advocated free trade, and the trade between the two countries has continued to grow over the past year or so, bringing huge benefits to the United States, and he himself has gained a lot.

Bradley's expression was quite calm, "Andy, you have a lot of dealings with the officials of Daming, what do you think of them?" ”

"I like them!" Andy blurted out, "They are very upright, very professional, and very comfortable dealing with them, just like dealing with officials in our civilized countries." ”

"Is it possible that they were educated in the civilized countries of Europe and the United States?"

"It's unlikely!"

Andy also once thought about this, "The Ming officials are all speaking northern official dialect, and their scientific literacy and education level are basically the same, which shows that they basically live in a cluster and receive the same education." ”

He said with great certainty, "Such an excellent group, more than a thousand people, can never be silently hidden in the European and American civilizations." ”

"You're right, the Ming Dynasty's strong ships and cannons must have come from the sea." Bradley nodded in agreement, "Neither the West Coast nor the European coast can hide their gang. ”

Andy laughs, "As they say, maybe they're from an island in the Pacific Ocean." ”

From an island in the Pacific Ocean?

It's quite possible!

Bradley thought about it, Huafu and the Taiping army were eye-catching, and there was also money and goods trading with the Manchu Qing Dynasty. These vampires, who sell weapons and ammunition when they have money, have no position at all.

Daming's gang and Huafu's vampires are two different people, so they shouldn't have anything to do with each other.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, even if they have a relationship of their own, so what's wrong!

The San Diego gang is also an American citizen, and Huafu Group has always done business in the United States, can this Ming country still encroach on Mi Yajian's interests~!

Bradley felt that he should make it clear in his report to the US government and to the US Legation in China that such unfounded rumors could not be verified at all, and were absolutely a joke of nothing.