[Okay, the spoof is too much, don't take Xinhai or something too seriously......]

Nian Qianyao and Zuo Weisheng were entangled and confused, fortunately, this is not a matter that needs to be decided immediately, there is still time to bargain with the south, and it is a good thing after all, although Pyongyang in March is cold, the hearts of the two are hot.

In April, in a certain harbor thousands of miles away in the south, although the wind and sun were beautiful and warm enough to wear a single coat, the heart of a certain fat man was extremely cold.

"What the hell did I get dazed, I actually ran so far away, squatting in a tavern like a toilet, wrapped in the smelly sea breeze, drinking bad wine no different from urine, and being surrounded by foreigners!?"

The things in the cup are like tears that are about to fall, and at this moment, Zhong Shangwei feels that he has fallen to the lowest point in his life again.

This is the port of Dili in Java, there are no quiet and elegant teahouses, there are no fragrant restaurants, the taverns are mostly sailors with bare chests and arms, black hair, brown hair, blonde hair, red hair, yellow skin, white skin, black skin, brown skin, all kinds of demons and monsters, and they are noisy and noisy.

Dili was originally a spice distribution base run by the Portuguese, but it was later occupied by the Dutch, and after the rise of the Anglo-Chinese, it became a stronghold of Chinese merchants in the east of Java. With the rise of British colonization in South China, it became a transit point for the southward movement through Java.

It was a three-way zone, and neither the Portuguese, nor the Dutch, nor the British, nor the French, who had also begun to haunt the area, dared not rashly assert the ownership of Dili, lest they provoke the interference of the British and Chinese. And relying on the wealth and the proximity of the country's navy, the Nanyang Company has become the uncrowned lord of this place.

Dili is not Anglo-Chinese territory, nor is it even a second-class corporate trusteeship. At this time, Yinghua had no intention of receiving Dili, which was full of foreigners, and the Nanyang Company also invoked the example of the colonial charter of the Western Company, hoping to turn it into an overseas colony and reap its own benefits. Maintain the current atmosphere and attract more people to come and go. Nature is the established course of development, so Dili is a land outside the law.

But this extra-legal means that the law is external to the laws of various countries, not that there are no rules. When the Portuguese and Dutch came here, the first thing they said was to exhort: "Do not offend the Seris, especially the lords who wear rich silk robes." This kind of person is fat, but you also have to enjoy it. ”

As for the British and French flutes, everyone was happy to watch the excitement with their arms crossed, and every day someone was tied to the dock and whipped up. Even disappeared directly, and after a few years, Dili even had the nickname of "Devil's Gate", which was translated by the local Chinese as "Ghost Gate".

Zhong Shangtai Master Zhong is the kind of person that foreigners can't provoke. Therefore, he was sad in the tavern, but no foreign devils came to trouble him.

But Master Zhong didn't feel the slightest sense of this treatment, even if he knew, he didn't feel that it was a big face. In the past, he was still the proprietor of thousands of people, spilling a lot of silver, although he was pretending, he could also exchange for thousands of people kneeling and bowing, long live the mountain call Zhong Lord.

That's the problem, he's Mr. Zhong. Ignoring the coal mines in Jiaozhi and the coal business in Jiangnan, why did they come to Dili, which is thousands of miles away?

"Dumb court! Damn the East Courtyard! The west courtyard where the dog looks at the people is low! ”

Looking back on the past, Zhong Shangwei is angry.

"Dog-day cochines!"

In the end, the anger was sprinkled on the Jiaozhi people, and the coal mine on the top of Zhong was gone, because the attachment of Jiaozhi has become a fact, even if it has not yet been completely settled, it is the general trend.

Late January. The imperial court announced that the heart attached to Jiaozhi was sincere, and its soil was originally the old land of China, so it could not be denied. In order to avoid turmoil in the hearts of the people, the imperial court will not accept it immediately, but first regulate the internal affairs of Jiaozhi, and then reform the system according to the situation. ..., as soon as the news came out, the stock of Jiaozhi Coal Industry declined. The relevant measures of the imperial court, including a strict review of the employment status of the coal industry and the cleaning up of the "closed door and cutting of partners" labor methods, made the Jiaozhi coal owners even more worried.

Why is this happening? Because the Jiaozhi coal industry is a monopoly industry created by Yinghua private capital in collusion with the Jiaozhi bureaucracy, a large part of the huge profits made by the coal owners in Jiaozhi come from the outrageously low wages of Jiaozhi. There is no Xijia line. Without the constraints of the Anglo-Chinese law and the endorsement of Confucian scholars, the cochin coal workers were almost slaves, being skinned and squeezed by the Yinghua coal owners.

The wages are low, the dead and injured are not compensated, and the conditions for eating, drinking, and living are poor, which is nothing, at least it is still "opening the door and cutting the gang", that is, coming and going freely, and the coal workers can not do it if they can't do it. However, the Jiaozhi coal industry has developed the method of "closing the door and cutting the gang", that is, treating the coal workers as slaves, tricking and even forcing the coal workers to sign long-term contracts for several years, and then they no longer have personal freedom.

Not only drove the Jiaozhi people, but the coal owner also bought a large number of natives from Luzon and other places, and exchanged the lives of the natives for coal, so that the Confucian and Mo people who had seen the situation of the cochin coal workers in the country angrily issued a voice of condemnation of "one cart of coal, one life".

Now that Jiaozhi is going to be attached, it is natural that this kind of thing can no longer be tolerated, at least it can no longer be so blatant and without a bottom line. Therefore, in the foreseeable future, the labor of the coal industry will definitely rise, profits will inevitably fall, and there are rumors in the country that the imperial court will deal with a number of evil coal owners seriously, so as to appease the Jiaozhi people who are about to be attached, which is the reason why the stocks of the Jiaozhi coal industry have plummeted.

As a vested interest group, Jiaozhi Coal Industry has gathered huge millions of capital, and it is definitely not willing to be killed.

Compared with the righteousness of Yinghua Zhongzhong, their strength is too small, and there is a praying mantis behind them, that is, the emerging mining giants led by Shilu Mining. The Yinghua United Mining Company formed by them has tasted the sweetness of large-scale capital operation through the large-scale operation of iron ore and copper mines, and also has rich experience in deep ore mining and mature rail transportation technology. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the shrinking income of the coal owners, the scattered coal owners will be eaten and the Jiaozhi coal industry will be monopolized, which is an excellent interpretation of the big fish eating the small fish. Who let these coal owners be all sliced and contracted, only satisfied with digging coal by manpower, unwilling and unable to invest in new technologies?

Zhong Shangwei and the coal owners of the Jiaozhi Coal Industry Federation were so ruthlessly run over by the giant capital, they were the pioneers of the Jiaozhi coal industry, but they became the victims of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge. Even more to scold those Jiaozhi pariahs who have ascended to the sky in one step, how can they become Anglo-Chinese nationals!?

Of course, Zhong Shang's coal mine was not taken away by force. Instead, he was acquired by a share swap, and now he is a shareholder of the reorganized Jiaozhi Coal Company. There is still a place on the board of directors. However, neither the income nor the status can be compared with the previous time when a coal mine was owned alone.

Because of the lack of an independent source of raw materials, Zhong Shangwei's honeycomb coal company in Jiangnan also lost its competitive advantage, and was heartbroken in the coal industry, so Zhong Shangwei simply sold the channel network he had pulled up to other companies. returned to Guangzhou lightly, intending to be a duke again.

Coal digging business for many years, Mr. Zhong has accumulated a lot of family property. In addition to shares, houses, and fields, there are two or three hundred thousand taels of silver deposited in various banks and hidden in the family homes and towns to protect one's life, which is enough to provide for the elderly comfortably in Guangzhou.

But how could Master Zhong be willing to be lonely? This is how he sails. The reason why he came to Dili and was in the midst of barbarianism, and now he regrets it very much.

Just thinking of the sad place, several people entered the tavern, all of them were black-haired and yellow-skinned, and the leader was wearing a wingless black veil, wearing a bright red shirt, carrying a long knife at his waist, and his face was calm. Not angry, the noise in the tavern was suddenly suppressed by three points. The foreigners present could see that this person was an officer of the Seris Army, and there was no star in the position of the collar badge, so he should be retired. Compared with the fat man in gorgeous clothes who sat in the middle of the tavern and no one dared to disturb him, this kind of person was even more unprovoked. ..., the two men who came in after them lowered the tavern's voice again. A few foreigners, who may have ghosts in their hearts, shrank and touched the back door of the tavern, and the tavern owner also greeted the two of them carelessly, looking at the direction of his gaze, he was respecting the black-faced thin man.

The black-faced thin man waved away the boss impatiently, and then resumed a sincere smile, and said to the scholar beside him: "Mr. Liang also sees so far...... Yes, not to mention General Director Liang, it is the three General Directors Wang. With this identity, Ken Wanli expands his business, and he is really a hero among people! I don't have to say, I Xiong Mazi can use as much strength as possible, this place in Dili is for all masters! ”

The thin man who called himself Xiong Mazi turned to Zhong Shang. A black face smiled even worse: "Ouch, Master Zhong, why is the boss also blind, and he doesn't call someone to serve you?" The ghost girl here has a unique flavor......"

On the other hand, the tavern owner hurriedly defended: "It's what the master doesn't want, it's not about the villain!" ”

This boss should be a Portuguese who has taken root in Java, and he actually speaks a Hokkien accent in Cantonese, which is very weird. Of course, he had to be careful to serve this Xiong Mazi, and the Nanyang Company used the gangster model to divide Dili into several pieces and support several local snakes to manage one section each. Xiong Mazi is the boss of this section, which is equivalent to the food and clothing parents of these small businessmen.

Xiong Mazi and Zhong Shangwei ignored him, Zhong Shangwei didn't even pay much attention to Xiong Mazi, looked at the red-clothed and scholar, and said sadly: "Is it done?" Ship early, die early, and be born early. ”

The two of them seemed to have long been accustomed to the resentful appearance of Zhong Shangwei, and when he didn't exist, they talked directly about business with the Xiong Mazi seat.

"It takes eight days from here to Jinghai Port in Dongmingzhou, and then six days from Jinghai Port to Coral Prefecture, that is, half a month. There are indeed copper mines in Coral State, and it is said that there are gold mines, but it is difficult to say whether it is true that everyone has said that there are gold mines in their company territory these days. ”

"Xianzhou Company...... It was a group of naval servants who made up the Yeluzi Exploration Company, and boasted that there was a large island of 10,000 miles southeast of Nanzhou, but they didn't bring back the detailed map, so they were probably blown to Lower Dongzhou by the wind. ”

"Yes, yes, it is true to say that there are rivers and fields in Coral State, but I have heard them say that it takes a hundred miles deeper into the land to have a big river, and you have to bypass a big mountain, and there may be natives on the mountain. However, it is estimated that there are dozens of them in a litter, and it can be easily solved. ”

Xiong Mazi took out a booklet as he spoke, on the cover was "The Geographical Chronicles of Nanzhou", and the red-clothed and scholars also took out a copy each, Xiong Mazi took a closer look and sighed: "I have a thirteen-year edition, and the old men are all fifteen-year editions, and I am ugly." ”

The two shook their heads and didn't care, turned to the page marked "Coral State", and asked about many details. Seeing that Zhong Shangwei was still dying, the red clothes slapped him: "Master Zhong, look ahead!" I have left behind the spice company, and I still have three wives and five children waiting at home, what are you still worried about? ”

The scholar smiled: "Master Zhong is worried about the next sea route, he is afraid that he will vomit out his intestines and bladder." ”

This person laughed at himself for being homesick like a woman, and one laughed at himself for not having experience, Zhong Shangwei finally cheered up a little, sucked a handful of snot, raised a glass and drank it all, and then wiped the corners of his mouth, there were no tears in his eyes, only the shining pupils remained, and he gritted his teeth and said: "I'm worried about this day!" Get to Coral State one day earlier, squeeze out the silver one day earlier! ”

Mr. Zhong understands his sadness, too far, from Guangzhou to Dili is 10,000 miles, and then from Dili to their destination, Coral Prefecture to the east of Nanzhou is nearly 10,000 miles, when he was digging coal in Jiaozhi, he felt homesick, and now from Guangzhou to Coral Prefecture, it takes 40 days to take a fast boat, how can people not be flustered. ..., but for the sake of silver, no, for the sake of the cause, no matter how far it is, it is nothing. Speaking of far, who can run farther than that Dongzhou Bofan Sihai? They are 30,000 miles across the ocean......

Besides, if it's not far away, you can't just look at the distance, but also look at the time. Forty days is an ordinary fast boat, if you change to the kind of wind-chasing boat in the Hong Kong shipyard, you can travel 20,000 miles in less than 30 days. And 30 days, if you take the land route in the mainland, it is not enough to travel from Guangzhou to Jinling.

After some psychological construction, Master Zhong had the courage to join the discussion.

The red clothes are Li Shun of Funan, and the scholar is Wang Zhiyan of Jiangnan. The three of them, on behalf of the "Coral State Company", were about to go to Coral State in the South Continent to open a mine.

The three of them got together in this career is also a chance, Wang Zhiyan was the chief shopkeeper of the salt company in Jiangnan, after Jiangnan settled down, he was also a little tired of the salt industry that was just one hand in and one hand out, and he was hesitating whether to join the officialdom or become independent. His great proprietor, Liang Boyu, told him that this life is no longer the past, and there are more fame and fortunes, so a good man should look at the world and do a great career.

Liang Boyan has a close relationship with the Western Courtyard, and he has already felt the rumors of the imperial meeting during the Lantern Festival, so he said this. Wang Zhiyan was moved, and with Liang Boyu joining the gang, he had a backer to do everything, so he took action.

The first is to find a partner to do things, Liang Boyan only acts as the proprietor, and he doesn't care about the bank, in order to show his sincerity, he doesn't stuff people, Wang Zhiyan thought of his friend Li Shun and Zhong Shang. When the three of them went to Jiangnan from Guangzhou, they were grasshoppers on the same boat.

Coincidentally, Li Shun had just retired from the 17th Praetorian Guard Division at this time, and returned to Funan to continue to run his spice company. Li Shun picked up his own people in Shaanxi, and his three daughters-in-law also gave birth to children, and he felt that he had nothing to ask for in this life, and he was at a loss. Zhong Shangwei was so stuffy in Guangzhou that he rubbed his skin and scratched his itch, and the three hit it off and registered the Coral State Colonial Company in partnership.

Coral State is located in the east of Nanzhou, and its location is already extremely remote, which is not their original intention.

The Nanyang Islands had long been carved up, and to the east of Java, the Wanli Island, which was named Mingzhou[1], was divided into Ximing Prefecture and Dongming Prefecture by the colonial companies formed by the Zheng family of Taiwan and the Shi family of Fujian. Although there are countless islands in the south of Luzon and north of Java, they are all smoky forests, and there are countless natives, and the cost of development is too high, and it is not a satisfactory choice.

After years of exploration, the outline of Nanzhou has been basically clear, and the "Geographical Chronicles of Nanzhou" regularly updated by the General Affairs Hall shows that various colonial companies have spread all over Nanzhou. The Chen family in Guangnan built Lizhou in the northwest corner, and the neighbor to the east is Lizhou of the Lan family in Fujian, and then to the east is Langzhou of the Lin family in Fujian. The peninsula in the northeast corner is Chongzhou of the Shen family in Guangdong.

Between these strongholds are a large number of exploration companies confirmed to be productive and suitable for reclamation, but Wang Zhiyan is very angry, feeling that these places are sandwiched between other people, and to the south are all deserts, and there is little potential for development. So he found the Coral State to the east, which is said to be fascinated by thousands of miles of coral reefs off the coast, hence the name Coral State[2].

This place has long been explored by the Xianzhou Exploration Company, saying that there are copper and iron minerals, and the place is also suitable for reclamation and cultivation.