Ye Zhao smiled slightly and said, "In our Chinese words, buying and selling is not friendship, right?" Mr. Wells. ”

Wells laughed, "Yes, yes, I'd love to be friends with the envoy." Although it is impossible to sell arms to Ye Zhao at a low price, Wells is extremely interested in this young official.

Ye Zhao said again: "Even if your country's most advanced M1853 rifle will be eliminated within twenty years, the rear-loading rifle with a magazine is the future trend." ”

Wells didn't know why, but he could only smile politely and nodded, but the white young man next to him had a bright eye, his lips moved, and he couldn't help asking: "Your Excellency, you, are there any sketches of this kind of rear-loading gun you said?" Mr. Wells glared at him, and he couldn't care less. He had been an apprentice in a small arsenal and had long thought of inserting a rear-loading gun into a magazine, but several experiments ended in failure, causing a fire in the factory and being driven out.

Ye Zhao's gaze swept over the white young man's face, and he smiled slightly: "The forerunner must always be indomitable, this is just my personal opinion, and I hope you can confirm it!" As he spoke, he gently patted the white young man on the shoulder.

At this time, the white young man's arrogance had already flown to Java, and Ye Zhao pinched his shoulder, but he inexplicably felt a momentum in his body, and said a little shyly: "Sir, thank you for your encouragement." ”

Walking side by side with Ye Zhao to the side of the ship, Wells thought about it for a long time, and finally smiled: "It turns out that the envoy has a deep study of the rifles of the country, and if you don't hide it from the envoy, my other ship will soon arrive in Shanghai, and there are two hundred M1853 rifles on board, but you can sell them to adults for twenty taels of silver, and twenty boxes of copper hats, twenty taels of silver each." My Majesty, I sincerely want to be your friend, and the price couldn't be lower. ”

Wells's other merchant ship did carry a freshly baked Enfield 1853 rifle in China, but when he really came into contact with the Qing Dynasty [***] fire market, Wells found that this new type of weapon was not very profitable, far inferior to those defective products that were eliminated, and it could not be sold for a few taels of silver compared to the inferior products.

m1853？ This old fox seems to have finally made a bloody investment. Ye Zhao's face was impassive, and he smiled: "Let's talk about it when the ship arrives." ”

Wells smiled and said, "The ship is in Hong Kong, and it will come to Shanghai when the gunpowder for construction is unloaded." ”

Ye Zhao knew that Hong Kong Island at this time was reclaiming the sea and building a wharf in the eastern part of Sai Ying Pun. Construction gunpowder? Ye Zhao's heart suddenly moved.

At present, there is no real industrial safety gunpowder**, the chemical industry I learned in my previous life, I thought it would be useless in this life, but now I look at it, the safety explosives that will be born in ten years, I can use the current conditions to make them, and it's not the first time, didn't I make ** explosives 20 years ago?

Ye Zhao slowly stopped and said with a smile: "Mr. Wells, I have a little research on industrial explosives for mining and mining, and I don't know if Mr. Wells can help me apply for patents in your country, Citigroup Country and Western countries." ”

Wells was stunned, he really didn't know what else this young official didn't understand, but he didn't care at all, nodded and smiled: "Of course, it's an honor to help the envoy." ”

……

When meeting with the political envoy of Jiangsu, Ye Zhao was still thinking about Wells, and he had already written to him the formula and detailed steps of the **safety** detonated with a thundermercury medicine cap, in fact, the raw materials were only mercury, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, glycerin, soda, charcoal powder, etc., plus some small skills, the production was extremely simple. Even if these raw materials are not available in Shanghai, they can be found in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong shipyards, churches, engineering committees, and other institutions still have more than enough to prepare these raw materials.

If you don't have contact with Western civilization, even if you want to make industrial explosives, where can you find materials?

Ye Zhao racked his brains to figure out what else he could invent, and after thinking about it for a long time, he didn't have a reason, and finally had to give up, saying in his heart that it was really not enough to swallow elephants, and he was greedy for heaven, so he didn't have to be too greedy.

Now the question is whether Wells will honestly help him apply for a patent, Ye Zhao is ninety percent sure, first of all, if it is a far-sighted businessman, most of them will consider long-term cooperation with him, not to mention that he doesn't know his roots, how can an official of the Great Qing Dynasty know so much? Who knows if this Qing official had any powerful friends in England? If you rashly covet patent rights, will you be ruined?

It's just that some people can't stand the Nobel Prize, and they stole his old man's invention ten years earlier, but they can't care about it.

Ye Zhao is here to handle customs affairs, and has little to do with Gilhang'a, but Ye Zhao is a yellow belt, the only son of Prince Zheng, and this lord of the Yellow Banner Manchuria is bound to come to visit and greet him.

At the moment of talking to the Gilhang Ahua Hall, the porter came to report that the British consul Ali Guo had arrived.

Ji Erhang said goodbye immediately, Ye Zhao sent him out of the flower hall with a gift, and said with a smile: "Wait for the good news of the thief." ”

Gilhang Alian said that he didn't dare, he was different from Wu Jianzhang's platform, although he came out of the three flags, but Prince Zheng's vein has always been the owner of the blue flag, but since the Kangxi Dynasty, to the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, he gradually seized the power of the flag owners, and appointed the capital to actually manage the eight banners, and the flag owners have gradually become nominal decorations, and many flags have long been gone.

Nevertheless, how dare Gilhanga claim to be a colleague to the nominal next master of the blue flag?

After sending off Gilhang, Ye Zhao personally welcomed Ali Guo into the flower hall, and asked someone to present Biluochun brought from the capital, which was very affectionate.

After a few idle words, Ali Guo straightened his face and said: "Your Excellency, on behalf of Britain, France, and the United States, I formally propose to your country the establishment of a tariff management committee. ”

Ye Zhao smiled in his heart, it seemed that they were not idle, they had already discussed it behind their backs, and put pressure on themselves in unison.

When Ye Zhao looked through the letter he handed over, Ali Guo said: "As long as your country agrees to our request, the tax system of Shanghai Jiang Customs will immediately return to normal, and we will pay the tax money paid on a monthly basis." ”

Ali Guo smiled and said, "Of course, adults also need to think about it, and we will give adults plenty of time." ”

There is something in Ali's words, which naturally means that if you decide one day later, the tax money of the white flower will be lost day by day, and the loss will be your Qing Kingdom.

In the letter sent by the Aleko, as in later generations, the three countries requested the establishment of a customs commission, with each of the three countries sending a representative to be the tax collector and jointly manage customs affairs.

Ye Zhao put down the letter and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, regarding customs affairs, I think that neither your country nor any country has the right to make such an rude request, Mr. Consul, please go back, and we will talk about it when the consuls are sincere." ”

Ali Guo stood up with a serious face and said toughly: "Your Excellency, if your country does not agree to our request, then the basis for negotiation will not exist. ”

Ye Zhao smiled slightly, "Even if I lose a year's tax money, I won't agree to Your Excellency's conditions, do you really think that the resistance of the Little Knife Society can be sustained?" When the county seat of Shanghai is breached, our country will impose punitive measures on all merchants who have evaded taxes, and I would like to ask the consul to inform the merchants of your country that on that day, all the responsibilities will be borne by the consul. ”

Ali Guo snorted and strode away.

Ye Zhao knew that the negotiation had just begun, and both of them had put on a tough shelf, setting the tone for the negotiations that followed, and he couldn't show half impatience.

Now that the Gregorian calendar is in October, it would be nice to have a mutually acceptable agreement at the beginning of the next year.

……

In the middle of the night, on the third watch, the line of Lord Qincha was hung with red lanterns.

Ye Zhao didn't expect that Wells would eagerly come to the door at eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, this is not a shrewd businessman's style, and he also brought a lawyer named William Hall. In addition, Wells also brought a bunch of documents, including an agreement asking Ye Zhao to authorize Wells to apply for a patent, and a partnership contract.

According to the partnership contract provided by Wells, if the patent application for the new explosives is successful, this contract will take effect immediately, Wells will spend 100,000 pounds to build factories in Britain, France, the United States, and Germany, and Ye Zhao will buy shares at a discount of patent rights, Wells will invest 100,000 pounds to account for 80% of the shares, and Ye Zhao's shares will account for 20%.

At dusk, Ye Zhao faintly heard what seemed to be a huge explosion on the beach, but he didn't expect that it was Wells who was experimenting with a new type of industry according to the formula.

Obviously, Wells realized the huge business opportunity contained in it, and he prepared all kinds of documents with great talent, and he couldn't wait to visit late at night.

Indeed, although two hired workers were injured during the test, one of whom was injured quite seriously and was estimated to pay a large amount of medical expenses, Wells did not care at all, he is now only worried that this invention will be preempted, you must know that although ** has appeared a few years ago, how to safely detonate as an explosive has always been a problem, and few people regard it as the emergence of a new type of explosive. And this new invention brought by the officials of the Qing Dynasty is simply a priceless gold mine, and now in Europe, in the North American continent, the length of the railway is increasing exponentially, and the construction of the railway is indispensable to open mountains and stones, let alone the application of this explosive in other fields.

Not to mention anything else, now that Australia is emerging a gold mining boom, it is an astronomical amount that can be earned just by supplying the industry ** in Australia.

Ye Zhao looked at the partnership contract, and Wells looked at him blankly, without hiding his expectation.

"I am very grateful for your generosity, Mr. Wells, but I would rather you invest £10,000 in my shares than be a minority shareholder."

Wells was relieved when he heard that Ye Zhao only raised objections to the shares, and after a little consideration, he said: "Time is money, even if I don't say it, the envoy should know that only by building branches in many countries can we achieve the greatest benefits." Your Excellency, I am willing to give your Excellency 40% of the shares on the premise that the original investment amount of 100,000 pounds will not change, I don't know if Your Excellency will accept it! ”

Wells played a little trick here, if you want to talk about equity, even if you give Ye Zhao Liucheng, he can accept it, don't look at Ye Zhaoping's assets of tens of thousands of pounds for no reason, Wells values how much he can earn from this investment, not whether the partner benefits more than himself.

The 20 per cent stake that was initially proposed was nothing more than a trick, and now the sudden increase from 20 per cent to 40 per cent would make one feel like a big advantage, which is a psychological hint that Wells has used it perfectly as a successful businessman.

If Ye Zhao is not fooled, then Wells doesn't mind really sharing equity with him.

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Mr. Wells, I don't know if you will agree to ask me for eighty percent of your shares?" ”

Wells was stunned, but he didn't want this young man to open his mouth, and he didn't know how to answer, Ye Zhao smiled and said: "Four achievements and four percent, happy cooperation." He held out a hand and smiled at Wells.

Wells was overjoyed, hurriedly stretched out his hand and shook Ye Zhao tightly, and smiled happily: "Happy cooperation, happy cooperation." Then he turned to Lawyer Hall and said, "Prepare a new contract." "I have enough pen, ink and paper, and I am obviously prepared.

After a while, Wells suddenly woke up, daring to be hinted at by this young man, and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, this new partner, it's not simple!

In fact, Ye Zhao didn't want to make much money, he just needed a smooth channel to be able to contact the West, and if he could cooperate with a very powerful British businessman, he would undoubtedly be more handy in the future.

Perhaps, Wells is God's agent in Europe.

Ye Zhaodu felt that his luck was really good.

Wells, the upstart millionaire in England, who didn't know that his position in the minds of his new partners was due to his role as an agent, was eager to stand by Attorney Hall's side, instructing him on how to write the new deed, but he was very busy.

When he saw the name signed by Ye Zhao, Wells was slightly stunned.

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Mr. Wells can call me Ye Zhao in the future." ”

Wells was relieved to hear that the status of merchants in this country was very low, as if many groups were not allowed to do business, and he thought that this young man was among them, let alone an official.

Wells smiled as if he understood and gave Ye Zhao a hug: "Dear Ye, I wish us a happy cooperation." He snapped his fingers again, and the Hall lawyer magically took out a bottle of red wine, three goblets, placed them on the sandalwood table, and poured three glasses of wine.

When Wells clinked glasses with Ye Zhao, he said: "Ye, in order to show my sincerity, I brought all the firearms from the East this time and sold them to you at a low price, 1,000 old rifles, 200 new rifles, 200 boxes of copper caps, a total of 15,000 taels of silver, and I only charged a little cheap freight." ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "Fifteen thousand taels? I can't take this, can I owe it? ”

Wells laughed: "Of course, no problem. But seeing that Ye Zhao's expression didn't look like a joke, he gradually became surprised, he was originally going to sell arms to Ye Zhao at a low price, and this new partner wanted to make a lot of money in the process of reselling the central political axe, but it seemed that the new partner had other ideas.

However, he naturally ignored these, and Ye Zhaoken handed over the patented technology to him without reservation, and he was also extremely generous in equity distribution, so he naturally needed to repay the favor.

Smiling slightly, Wells said: "Dear Ye, this batch of arms should be regarded as a mortgage for you by me, if the patent application fails, it will be sent to you as compensation, and if the patent application is successful, this arrears will be deducted from your income." After a pause, he said: "I will leave Shanghai in a few days, if there is anything to do, you can rest assured that William, he is our own person, and he can speak simple Chinese." ”

Attorney Hall smiled and raised his glass.

Ye Zhao raised his glass and gently clinked glasses with Wells, and said sincerely: "Thank you, it seems that our cooperation has really begun." ”

……

With the slip written by Wells, he told Wells that the firearms and ammunition would be temporarily stored in the warehouse of Shenghe Xing, and as long as he had the slip written by Wells, he could collect the arms from the warehouse through Lawyer Hall.

Stepping on the thick Persian carpet, walking in the corridor on the second floor, he couldn't help but stop in front of a room, this is Su Hongniang's room.

As a nominal couple, Su Hongniang was arranged on the second floor, while the other retinues and the congregation of heaven and earth lived on the first floor or in a bungalow in the courtyard for workers and servants. Even if Su Hongniang is reluctant, she can't help it, after all, in the eyes of Rui Si'er and others, her identity is the little master's concubine from Yanchun Courtyard, and because she is Han, she has to keep it a secret.

Ye Zhao stood at the door, and when he was thinking about whether to knock on the door, the delicate Western wooden door suddenly creaked and was pulled open from the inside, and Ye Zhao, who was in a trance, was startled, and couldn't help but take two steps back.

Immediately, I saw a beautiful woman with a beautiful color and fragrance next to the door, wearing a soft red gauze like fire, the skin is like condensation, the cherry lips are delicate and beautiful, a fairy concubine style who is unattainable, but she is born with charming bones, soft as a boneless and glamorous three, and the flirtatious person can't be herself, just want to hug her fiercely and love her.

Seeing Ye Zhao's demeanor, the beauty couldn't help but purse her lips and smile, but she was even more charming, and her posture was already soft and crisp.

Ye Zhao is helpless, it seems that every time he is with her, he looks childish, and his ability and reason in front of all kinds of foreigners and officials are completely gone, but I am afraid that she will keep calling herself a little ghost in her heart.

"Is there something wrong?" It's still so soft and beautiful.

Ye Zhao handed over the slip in his arms and said, "Give you a new gift." ”

Su Hongniang took it inexplicably and said, "What? "It's in foreign language, but I can't read it.

Ye Zhao said with a smile: "1,200 foreign guns, two million copper caps, you can collect them at any time." ”

Su Hongniang's surprised cherry lips couldn't close again, looked at Ye Zhao, and was speechless for a while.

Ye Zhao knew that Su Hongniang was going to leave him sooner or later, no matter from which point of view, Ye Zhao didn't want Su Hongniang's armed forces in western Guangdong to be wiped out soon, but he had no choice but to do his best to help.

And it's not that I don't need this batch of arms, but I don't need it now.

Before leaving Beijing, Ye Zhao had gradually had a rough plan for his own path, and now he was going to do a good job of this trip, and after doing a good job, Emperor Xianfeng would definitely be "Longyan Dayue", and then the prince would mediate from it, and the Northeast might really open a ban, even if it was not banned, his hope of going to the Northeast would be greatly increased.

As long as you can go to the northeast, you will be able to build your own armed forces in the conflict with the Russians, whether in the name of military training or organizing township regiments behind the scenes, you will always exercise your first force in the world.

And judging from all kinds of signs, Emperor Xianfeng's body is even weaker than in the previous life, if it is not good to warp his braids in advance, and the Lan nobles are not pregnant with his dragon species, then the season will be lively, there are no heirs to inherit the imperial lineage, and all the princes are afraid that they will be eager to try, right? But it is more convenient for you to fish in troubled waters.

Of course, all kinds of ideas can only be said to be ideas, but in fact, they can't help themselves at all, so they say that they have done their errands, and Emperor Xianfeng is happy, and rewards himself for an errand such as a minister of the guard or a servant of the six departments, and everything in the plan has to be in vain, and now, he can only take one step at a time.

Ye Zhao pondered wildly in his head, and said again: "Leave the eldest brother in Shanghai, I need him Zhang Luo for many things, and it will be convenient for you to buy foreign guns and pellets in the future." ”

Naturally, you have to keep an agent in Shanghai, but it's not appropriate to think about the people you are suffering from, although Rui Si is loyal and deep-rooted in the idea of serviles, even if he rebels and becomes the emperor, he has nothing to say, but after all, he is a man, and some things are still hidden from him for the time being.

As for the old master Du Wenquan, he is not missing by his side. After thinking about it, Ye Zhao thought of Boss Su, who was a man who valued righteousness and took his life lightly, he had the grace to save his life, and he had been trained in Shanghai, even if he began to be wary of himself, but after thinking about it for a long time, he knew who he was.

"You, what the hell do you want to do?" Su Hongniang looked at Ye Zhao in surprise, if it could be said that what Ye Zhao did was just greedy for beauty before, then now his actions are too out of line, and he can't justify himself.

Ye Zhao smiled slightly and said, "Can't I also oppose the Qing?" I am not only against the Qing Dynasty, but also against the Taiping Army, and against your Heaven and Earth Society, because none of you represent the advanced productive forces. ”

Su Hongniang looked at him in a daze, although she didn't understand much, but she vaguely guessed that this guy seemed to have grand ambitions in his heart.

Ye Zhao smiled again and took out five thousand taels of silver tickets and handed them to Su Hongniang, and said, "But there is no way, you are my wife, who will help you if I don't help you?" You say, don't you? "The remaining five thousand taels Ye Zhao is going to hand them over to Lawyer Hall, asking him to select some bright teenagers from the church school and send them to study abroad.

Speaking of which, Wu Jianzhang's 10,000 taels of silver also deserve it.

"Wife, how am I?" The fragrance struck, Ye Zhao was a little excited, and after saying with a hippie smile, he saw Su Hongniang's willow eyebrows stand up again.

Ye Zhao was so frightened that he hurriedly stuffed the silver ticket and smeared oil on the soles of his feet, although the beauty's ten fingers stained with Kodan were so attractive, Ye Zhao's mouth was flowery, but he would never take the opportunity to rub the oil, and he never touched it.

He slipped away so fast that he couldn't see the smile in Su Hongniang's starry eyes.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

There was something in the afternoon, and we changed it together, or that sentence, the ticket ......