Updated: 2014-04-20

Before Shaobei announced the news of the free port, Hu Xueyan was brought into the flower hall by Zha Yudang.

The long dining table is placed in the corner of the flower hall, and in addition to glasses of red wine, there are many refreshing and beautiful salads, jellies and other hors d'oeuvres, as well as seafood, pork, mutton, beef, bread and other staple foods.

Although the dishes were fragrant, Hu Xueyan had no appetite at all, he took a plate and made some food casually, sat in an unobtrusive corner, and watched everything at the reception. Zhejiang's contact with the Ming army was a private matter, and Hu Xueyan wanted to hear more information, but also wanted to keep a low profile, so as not to involve He Guiqing and Wang Youling and cause trouble.

In addition to the consuls of Britain, France and the United States, there are also representatives of foreign businessmen such as the British Hutchison & Co. Daban James, the French Xiangyi & Co. Taipan Lippi, and the American Huafu & Co. Bai Sven. Hu Xueyan searched around, but didn't find any familiar faces, and his heart relaxed a lot.

Ming army officials, Anglo-American-French consuls, and representatives of various foreign firms gathered in several small circles, one by one, holding wine glasses and talking about the business opportunities after the opening of the port in Shanghai. Although Hu Xueyan did not understand bird language, there were several interpreters at the reception, and there were many foreign businessmen who spoke Chinese.

The drinking party looked full of copper smell, but in the eyes of a businessman like Hu Xueyan who rose from a young man, it couldn't be more cordial. Seeing that the foreigners were gearing up to make a fortune in Huwei, Hu Xueyan in the corner was quite moved, but the mission had not been completed yet, and he didn't dare to think about it.

Several foreign businessmen surrounded Shi Wenbo, the commercial representative of the Ming army, and vigorously sold guns, lead, and gunpowder, and when they saw Shi Wenbo refusing, a foreign businessman directly asked Shi Wenbo, what items did the Ming army need to procure?

"We need three-masted steamships, telegraph lines, railroad tracks, and a lot of iron ingots and iron ore." Shi Wenbo said with a smile that there are many business opportunities in Taiwan, and all foreign businessmen are welcome to visit Huwei on the spot. Hearing that the military was going to open a telegram in Taiwan and build a railway, several foreign businessmen had their eyes blazing with Venus.

"Ming is so open-minded, we American businessmen must not miss this business opportunity." U.S. Consul Bradley held his glass and smiled. The United States had always been close to supporting the Manchu regime in order to gain more trade opportunities. In Bradley's eyes, there were now more business opportunities for the Ming army to rebel against the Tatar regime.

"Your Excellency Honorable Deputy Minister, you have come to earth like a beautiful angel." The French consul Linden approached Xu Nanying, who praised her beauty in beautiful French words.

After a round of compliments, Consul Lyndon again asked Xu Nanying, "Beautiful lady, with all due respect. Zhoushan is very far away from Taiwan, and the Ming army focused on developing Taiwan, and Zhoushan was easily disturbed by the Qing army. If you can let the French take over, or make Dinghai a neutral port, let the French and your Ming army jointly maintain the security, prosperity and stability of Dinghai. We are willing to recognize you as a sovereign state, and we are willing to help you deal with the Manchu-Tatar army. ”

The British received Hong Kong from the Manchus, and the French were very greedy. France also wanted to get a forward base in the Far East, and after searching for several laps of the Chinese coastline, France chose Zhoushan.

Xu Nanying had already prepared, "Dear Mr. Consul, I'm very sorry. Territorial sovereignty is at stake, and it requires the approval of a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has always believed that all countries are equal, regardless of their size, rich or poor, strong or weak. The Ming Parliament will only agree to establish friendly relations between them on the basis of the five principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. ”

"What a pity!" Lyndon was very disappointed, and frowned and asked another question, "Dear Madam Minister, we in France want to know, within the area under your control, in the Huwei Free Port, the freedom of mission?" Is it permissible to build churches? ”

The French Emperor Napoleon III came to power through a coup d'état, and he made the Catholic Church a spiritual pillar of his rule, and the whole of France was enveloped by the religious fanaticism that Napoleon III deliberately unleashed. Therefore, Bourblon and others have always believed that if they could draw a vote of Catholics in the Far East and let the light of God shine in the Far East, it would be the supreme glory of the Emperor!

"Daming respects freedom of religious belief."

The anxious French consul Linden blurted out, "In this way, we French missionaries can preach freely in Taiwan." ”

Da Ming believes that the people have the freedom to believe in religion and the freedom not to believe in religion. Therefore, in order to protect the non-believers from religious harassment, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that all religions could only be proselytized in religious places. If you want to open a religious place, you must apply to the Religious Affairs Bureau of the Daming Local Government. ”

Hu Xueyan pricked up his ears and carefully observed the movement at the cocktail party, when he suddenly noticed a foreign merchant representative with a big nose and green eyes walking towards him. Hu Xueyan heard someone introduce at the reception that this was Bai Siwen, the head of the American Huafu Foreign Company.

Bai Siwen was a Jew, and he heard that China was full of gold and silver, and he was so rich that Bai Siwen mortgaged all his property, bought goods, and came to Shanghai to make a fortune. I didn't want the steam engine and other machinery and equipment he brought over, almost no one cared about it in China, Bai Siwen spent all his savings, almost fell to the streets, and finally Gu Wusheng ate all the machinery and equipment in his hands, and recruited him to Huafu Foreign Bank and made a big class.

"Boss Hu is here alone, very leisurely?" Bai Siwen raised his glass to Hu Xueyan. Hu Xueyan wanted to play low-key at the cocktail party, and the crossing team naturally wouldn't let him get his wish.

Hu Xueyan hurriedly got up and raised his glass, "Fortunately, fortunately!" ”

Hearing that Hu Xueyan is the big boss of Hangcheng Qianzhuang, and also operates raw silk, tea and other businesses, several foreign businessmen immediately surrounded him, and they have started a family routine with Hu Xueyan.

After a few words of laughter, Bai Siwen stared at the green eyeballs, "Mr. Hu, are you also interested in developing Huwei?" ”

Hu Xueyan snorted, "What's the matter, my business in Hangzhou City is very small, and it is not as strong as the financial resources of the major foreign companies, and the business is prosperous." ”

Hearing Hu Xueyan's humility, the foreign businessmen who came around suddenly lost interest in him and turned their faces away.

Bai Siwen sneered twice, "Mr. Hu is the confidant of Wang Youling, the prefect of Hangzhou, and he can also talk to Governor He, the largest Manchu in Zhejiang, how can the deal be very small." ”

Hu Xueyan suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, how could this foreign devil be so familiar with me.

In the afternoon, the British, French and American trade group was sent off, and Shi Wenbo and Hu Xueyan began a formal meeting.

Hu Xueyan agreed, saying that as long as the Ming army abandoned Zhenhai as soon as possible and returned to Dinghai, he would be responsible for handling all the materials going to sea for the customs clearance license, and Zhejiang would also compensate for a ransom fee.

"Clearance license? Now the Manchus still have coastal defense in Zhejiang! Shi Wenbo smiled faintly, "As for the ransom fee, Mr. Hu thinks that the Ming army is a bandit or a rabble like Hong Xiuquan." ”

Hu Xueyan said with a smile, "Master Shi misunderstood, Zhejiang definitely did not misunderstand the intention of belittling your army, we just wanted to express a little heart." ”

"Brother Hu, you are a sincere person, I will not see you anymore!" Shi Wenbo grew up in the old Beijing hutongs, and his mouth is particularly neat, "You are one year older than me." I used to be a money banker, and when I saw you, I felt very kind, so I called you Brother Xueyan. ”

Hu Xueyan looked flattered, "Adults are in love!" ”

"Brother Xueyan, isn't it outside!" Shi Wenbo behaved quite sincerely, "You also know that our Ming army has strong ships and artillery, and the sea is at its disposal, and the attack will be conquered, and the battle will be won." On the sea surface of Zhejiang, the Manchu Qingshui Division has disappeared. As for the sea surface of Fujian, our Ming army will soon attack Fuzhou and wipe out the Fujian naval division. Brother Xueyan, these are military secrets, and I hit you off at first sight, so I was honest with you. ”

"Adults are honest with each other, and Hu is grateful." Hu Xueyan spoke very simply, "But Wang Youling and I are friends of life and death, and this time I came to Zhenhai to go to the soup for He Zhongcheng and Wang Futai!" ”

Hu Xueyan said in his heart, the Ming army is going to destroy the Fujian Navy, then in addition to the foreigners' ships on this ocean, it is the ship of the Ming army, no wonder this appeasement deputy envoy Shi Wenbo is very polite on his face, but he is actually very arrogant.

"Good!" Shi Wenbo said in a Beijing accent, "Brother Xueyan is a straightforward person, and I won't tell you that Daming is ready to concentrate on developing Taiwan and building a strong industry." The eastern part of Zhejiang will be changed from offensive to defensive. However, the development of Taiwan requires a lot of manpower and material resources. ”

Shi Wenbo glanced at Hu Xueyan, Hu Xueyan was speechless, and listened to him quietly.

"Taiwan's population is too small, we need to go to the area controlled by the Taiping Army, and transfer a large number of displaced people to Taiwan, so Zhoushan will be the most important transit port for my Ming Dynasty, and we need a large number of scholars. If we cede eastern Zhejiang, what kind of victory will the Manchu Qing make in eastern Zhejiang and Zhenhai, and the people really think that we have lost the battle, and there are still people willing to surrender? !

I can trust you, Brother Xueyan, but it is difficult for Zhejiang to reassure us. He Guiqing and Wang Youling are protecting the Manchu Tartars, and I vow to 'overthrow the Manchu Tartars and restore the Han family', He Guiqing and Wang Youling are enemies and enemies with us. ”

Hu Xueyan accompanied the smiling face, "Master Shi, we in Zhejiang have considerable sincerity in reaching a tacit understanding. ”

Shi Wenbo laughed, "Brother Xueyan, you are wrong! When the two forces get along, they pay attention to strength and interests, not sincerity. We Daming never simply trust anyone, we only speak by strength. Brother Xueyan, I won't tell you anything, the Ming army's attack on Fujian and Zhejiang, the attack on Gyeonggi, and the blocking of Cao Yun are just small dishes, and the burning of the Forbidden City is only a matter of minutes. ”

Burning the Forbidden City? Hu Xueyan remembered the fire in the Yamen of the Zhejiang Governor, Shi Wenbo was a serious threat, and the smile on his face was a little stiff, "Hu wants to ask Master Shi, what does the Ming army need Zhejiang to do?" ”

Shi Wenbo put away his smile, "It's very simple, we don't force He Guiqing and Wang Youling to defect to Daming, but He and Wang must have the mind to be in Cao Ying's heart and in Han!" ”

He told Hu Xueyan that the central bank under the Ming household department was a state bank. The Central Bank of Daming issued a 10-year Taiwan construction bond with an annual interest rate of 4%. The Ming army has already started sales in eastern Zhejiang, preparing to sell one million taels in Ningbo and one million taels in Shaoxing.

Shi Wenbo exclaimed: "The gentry of eastern Zhejiang are very enthusiastic about opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, and the subscription is very active. He Guiqing is in charge of the province and helps us sell four million taels of bonds, it should be no problem, right?! ”