Through Ye Fu and Ye Zuqi's intermediary and private negotiations, Hu Chuyuan still reached a silent agreement with Lin Taizeng and Liu Buyun, and the two entered the port in Guangzhou, while Ye Zuqi led the other three gunboats to Mawei.

Hu then officially left Singapore, crossed the Strait of Malacca, headed for the Indian Ocean, and headed for Europe.

The whole voyage lasted for twenty days, but it was actually more than a month, because Hu Chuyuan had very high requirements for life and diet, and even on the ship, it was impossible for him to eat green and moldy potatoes.

Even if it is fresh potatoes, he will be dissatisfied after eating three meals in a row.

There is a special cabin on the Taichang for chickens, ducks, geese, quail, fish, sheep...... Kill one every day, stew and stir-fry, and have to change tricks every time.

Abalone, bird's nest, peanuts, almonds, red beans, soybeans...... It's all dry goods, and these are easy to do.

The most troublesome are fruits and seasonal vegetables.

Therefore, as long as there is a port to berth, the Taichang has to dock every two or three days to let Hu Rong go ashore to buy vegetables and fruits.

Purchased by others, Hu Rong is not at ease, if Hu Chuyuan is allowed to eat bad stomach, it will be a big thing, and he can't afford it.

Truth be told, others are enjoying the same blessings.

The speed was a little slower, but everyone was happy.

On September 15, 1879, the Taichang arrived at Chittagong in the Bay of Bengal.

To everyone's surprise, Hu Chuyuan decided to stay here for a week, and soon after the boat stopped at the pier, he asked Zheng Xitai to go to the local area to find a few guides and prepare to go deep into Assam.

His behavior made many people feel strange, but no one objected.

There were many people who followed Hu Chuyuan to Europe together, Hua Yufang, Rawls, Wu Dezhang and others were technical consultants and supervisors, Yan Shizhang, Miao Quansun, Niu Yugeng, and Gu Jiaxiang were his personal staff, and Ye Fu, Deng Shichang, and Lu Han were the study abroad pipes sent by Fujian sailors.

Hu Chuyuan asked everyone to pack a few simple luggage, Hua Yufang, Wu Dezhang, Yan Shizhang, Miao Quansun, Niu Yugeng, Gu Jiaxiang, and Ye Fu all accompanied him to Assam, and Wu Shuzhen naturally also went, only Deng Shichang, Lu Han and others stayed on the Taichang to watch the ship.

Accompanied by a local guide, they will take the train together to Algatara, the tea plantation area of the Assam Tea Company, where they own 7,710 acres of tea plantations.

Although Hu Chuyuan seemed very serious, everyone didn't pay much attention to it, just as a trip to see the legendary Tianzhu Kingdom.

Many people are still in contact with trains for the first time, including people like Wu Dezhang, not to mention Yan Shizhang and others.

On the train, Indians are very curious about the Chinese they rarely see, and often people take the initiative to come over to ask, or ask the guides hired by Hu Chuyuan.

Hearing that they were going to see the tea plantations, an Assamese merchant soon came to inquire curiously.

The Assamese people are not Indians in the traditional sense, but the Shan people, that is, the Dai and Tai people, and the origin of "Assam" is asom, which is the transliteration of "Shan" in English.

Before the British invaded India and Burma, the Shan had occupied Assam for nearly 400 years, and until many years later, they remained the dominant population of Assam.

The businessman who took the initiative to talk to Zheng Xitai was a Shan person, and he also ran a tea business, so he was very interested in it.

He said that the tea industry in Assam is getting better and better, and many people are planting tea plantations, but the main investors are the British, who are opening new tea plantations on a large scale, each of which is more than thousands of acres.

Typically, these tea companies ship the tea directly to the UK and auction it at the London Tea Market.

In Hu Chuyuan's line, there are only two real businessmen, Hu Chuyuan and Zheng Xitai.

Zheng Xitai is fluent in English, and has worked in Shanghai Liru Bank for many years, so he knows some about Indians, and he has always been in charge of his itinerary in India.

Listening to the businessman's words, as well as the conversations of several other Assamese people who could speak English, Zheng Xitai gradually understood the purpose of Hu Chuyuan's trip.

Zheng Xitai is very clear, he knows that the two industries that Hu Chuyuan wants to become bigger and stronger are raw silk and tea, and in recent years, the sales of Chinese tea have declined sharply, and there is no doubt that Indian tea is to blame.

However, can this matter be reversed?

Zheng Xitai, who has worked in British banks for many years, is well aware of the strength of the British, and he is not optimistic in his heart.

Listening to the Indians and Assamese people on the opposite side enthusiastically and happily talking about the new development and the getting better and better situation in the tea industry, Zheng Xitai, who was sitting opposite them, and Hu Chuyuan, who was not far away, were not happy in their hearts.

After more than ten hours of bumpy travel, Hu Chuyuan and his party finally arrived at Agartala and stayed at a local hotel.

India is a caste class society, and the best local hotels are only open to Caucasian and high castes...... In fact, there is only one in the whole town, which is still opened by people from high castes in India, even if it is Hu Chuyuan, he can only find a small hotel with everyone to live in.

The next day, under the introduction of several Indian guides, Zheng Xitai spent a lot of money to hire an Englishman who worked as a local tea master as a guide, and contacted several tea companies through this person, saying that they were Chinese tea merchants who wanted to come to India to buy cheaper black tea.

Zheng Xitai is such a smart person, since he was sent out to contact things and arrange the itinerary, why should Hu Chuyuan worry.

In the afternoon, Hu Chuyuan went out with Wu Shuzhen and bought more than a dozen brands of Indian tea at the local tea market.

Local tea consumption in Assam is also a big deal, and the tea market is bustling with not only local teas from Agathala, but also Tibetan teas and Indian teas from other regions.

After buying these teas, the two returned to the rented hotel, called Yan Shizhang, Miao Quansun, Ye Fu and others over, made more than a dozen cups each, and held a tea party.

Bowls of ruddy tea soup were displayed in front of them, and everyone was quite interested and tasted them one after another.

All of a sudden, the room was filled with the thick aroma of tea.

Indian black tea is characterized by a thick tea broth, dark color, ruddy and bright, and the tea leaves are larger, but do not look old.

These people are all old tea customers, especially literati like Yan Shizhang and Miao Quansun, and they have a deep skill in tasting tea.

After a while, Miao Quansun first said to Hu Chuyuan: "My lord, it's a pity, the soup is very good, but the taste is a little sour and bitter, and the aroma is too heavy. ”

After listening to him, Yan Shizhang, Ye Fu and others also nodded slightly, and they seemed to have a unified opinion.

Hu Chuyuan himself is not a master of tea tasting, the tea he usually drinks is the top green tea, black tea, and oolong in China, and his favorite is oolong tea and Longjing.

He also drank a little from each of them, rinsing his mouth with water between each cup to avoid the wrong taste.

Compared with domestic teas, the taste of these teas is indeed a bit peculiar, with a sour and bitter taste...... He doesn't think so, it's just that the taste is heavier.

In general, the characteristics of these dozen or so Indian black teas are about the same, with a strong red soup taste.

He himself did not express an opinion, because he knew very well that his taste was cultivated and he could not actually taste the benefits of Indian tea.

He looked at Wu Shuzhen and was full of special expectations for her tasting and evaluation.

Seeing him look so peculiar, Wu Shuzhen smiled and said, "I think it's not bad, at least it looks good, it's a little uncomfortable when I drink it at first, as if it hasn't been boiled thoroughly, and there is still the raw and astringent taste of fresh tea." Drink a little more and feel much better. I don't know how much it sells for in foreign countries, but if we buy it at the tea market, we can buy two pounds for three foreign yuan, which is really cheap! ”

Hu Chuyuan was about to continue speaking, but Hua Yufang suddenly said: "This is caused by large-scale frying by machines, because the wok they use is very large, like a round ball, heated externally, and the propeller-like frying shovel is turned inside, which is inevitably not as fine as our hand frying method, and the inside of the tea is not fried thoroughly, so there will be a trace of ajerky left." Although the taste of such a process is slightly worse, it is undoubtedly low in cost. ”

Hu Chuyuan couldn't help but be a little surprised, and Hua Yufang asked, "So you know this?" ”

Hua Yufang smiled and said: "A few years ago, there was a British-funded firm that wanted to sell these machines to Boss Xu, and Boss Xu invited me to inspect them, and I have also seen the British use that set of machinery on the spot, so I have a little understanding. ”

The Boss Xu he said was naturally Xu Run.

After Xu Run joined the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, the original tea business, tea houses and tea shops were merged into the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, which made the firm expand rapidly in the tea business and had a large share in the tea market in the five provinces of Jiangnan.

Hu Chuyuan thought for a while, and asked Hua Yufang, "Is there a way to get rid of this raw and jerky taste?" ”

Hua Yufang shook his head and said, "If there is a way to remove it, Xu Run will definitely buy a few sets of machinery to open a Western-style tea house, this is not a problem in mechanical design and manufacturing, but a problem that will inevitably arise from the use of a large wok." ”

"Oh!"

Hu Chuyuan was disappointed, but also happy, which meant that Indian tea would be difficult to promote, at least domestically, unless the British continued to improve their technical standards and machinery.

He sighed and said, "What I want to do today seems to everyone to be my business business, but in fact, this is a real state affair, and it is the biggest and most important thing in our country." Let's think about it, tea used to be the first export resource in China, how much silver did we get back? But over the years, I have estimated that in the past ten years, China's total annual tea exports have not declined significantly, but the price of tea has been falling, on the other hand, the total international tea exports have maintained an annual growth rate of 7%. This means that Indian tea is increasing at a high rate every year, with production and sales doubling in 10 years and quadrupling in 30 years. At that time, our tea was afraid that it would no longer be able to be exported! ”

Yan Shizhang and Miao Quansun didn't dare to speak, as staff, their ability in business and operation was not as good as that of a business buddy.

The Gu family is relatively young, and immediately smiled: "Adults are too worried, Indians are not good at growing tea, and my country is a big tea-producing country for thousands of years, the national fortune is far-reaching, and the tea art is exquisite, which cannot be passed on by outsiders." ”

Wu Shuzhen chuckled faintly and discussed with Hu Chuyuan: "Britain should be the world's largest tea importer, right?" ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded and said: "They account for 7% of the global tea import market, followed by France, Russia and Spain, followed by the United States, Germany and Turkey. ”

Wu Shuzhen has always been a very elegant woman, and smiled Yingying's suggestion: "I think the market space in the United States is very large, the current United States has a population of nearly 50 million, of which 25% are concentrated in cities, and the United States has always followed Raymond's high salaryism, and the consumption power is very strong, the key is how to promote and develop." The United States is based on manufacturing, and life is fast-paced, unlike the British, who have plenty of time to enjoy life. ”

Her words reminded Hu Chuyuan.

The four major tea importers of Britain, France, Russia and Spain are all countries with a slower pace of life, while the United States and Germany, which have strong manufacturing industries, are not the main consumers of tea, although they have a strong overall economy and a prosperous economy.

However, how to develop the tea market in the United States and Germany, and how to maintain competitiveness in the four traditional tea markets of Britain, France, Russia and Spain...... Hu Chuyuan did not have an answer to these questions.

Because of Hu Xueyan's relationship, Hu Chuyuan had sufficient consideration for the raw silk industry from the beginning, and coupled with the foundation of the family, he was able to quickly respond and adjust to the Chinese silk industry.

What about tea?

Hu Chuyuan had pinned his hopes on Xu Run, but Xu Run was not him after all, Xu Run wanted to make money, and Xu Run at this time hoped to concentrate his energy and financial resources on Shanghai's real estate industry.

Regarding the big problem that Hu Chuyuan was considering, others couldn't help it, and they couldn't help it, and they couldn't help it.

Everyone was silent for a while, and Ye Fu suddenly asked Hu Chuyuan, "My lord, can you tell us how much impact this matter will have?" ”

Hu Chuyuan thought for a while, stood up and walked around the room a few times, and then explained to everyone: "The British are our largest buyers of tea, accounting for seventy percent of China's tea exports, but they have set up tea plantations in India, and they will only buy tea in India in the future, so what about our tea?" You may still think that this is just a business, but it is not only about China's reputation and dignity, but also about the livelihood of tens of millions of tea farmers and their families. ”

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

Miao Quansun was still a little puzzled, and asked Hu Chuyuan: "My lord, we haven't exported tea with foreigners before, aren't the people doing well?" Since the British don't buy our tea, we will buy it ourselves? ”

"yes!" Gu Jiaxiang and Hua Yufang both nodded slightly.

Without Hu Chuyuan answering, Wu Shuzhen smiled and said: "The reason of the two gentlemen seems to be simple and direct, but it is not right. The development of a country is also the same as learning, if you don't advance, you will retreat, because others are always developing. Without tea exports, we will not be able to absorb large quantities of silver from abroad, and it will be difficult for the country's economy to grow, and it will further lag behind the world. The country is weak and backward, and there will inevitably be an incident in the Old Summer Palace, and Russia will dare to invade Ili. ”

"So?" Miao Quansun seemed to understand a little.

Hu Chuyuan couldn't help but smile a little bitterly, there is no foreign trade export, there is no drawbacks of capital inflow, in China many years later, even high school students can understand it, but today, even Jinshi scholars like Miao Quansun and Yan Shizhang don't understand such a simple truth, and they have to be explained by him.

(To be continued)