Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are Liverpool, Mr. Tate works in an arsenal in Liverpool, and has just saved enough money to marry Miss Smith, which is now Mrs. Taylor, not long after getting married, but fell into a debt crisis, no way, Liverpool's prices are getting higher and higher, although Taylor is a skilled worker in the arsenal, the annual salary is only fifty pounds, and he wants his new wife to quit his job as a maid with an annual salary of ten pounds in someone else's house, and his father is seriously ill, which makes the already stretched life of Taylor and his wife even more difficult, Hundreds of pounds in debt.

Fortunately, Tate found a new job at this time, and came to the East to set up a gunpowder factory in a place called Hong Kong, because of his experience in the arsenal, Tate became the foreman of a new gunpowder factory after a short period of training, and the annual salary was 100 pounds, which was twice the salary he could earn in Liverpool.

As long as they can keep this job for a few years, not only can they pay off their debts, but the couple can even live a decent life, and maybe buy a house on Frey Street in Liverpool.

Two days ago, Mr. Green, who had come to Hong Kong with them, informed Taylor that Mr. Ye of the Great Qing Kingdom wanted to see him and his wife, Taylor was a little dazed at that time, and Mr. Green mysteriously told him that Mr. Ye was the big boss of the gunpowder factory, and he was on an equal footing with Mr. Wells.

In a word, Taylor was terrified, Mr. Wells was a mysterious millionaire, and these workers had only heard of Mr. Wells's name, and there were even mysterious and legendary anecdotes of Mr. Wells among the workers, and in their eyes, Mr. Wells was naturally out of reach.

Mr. Daqingguo, who is on an equal footing with Mr. Wells, Taylor is very unnatural, he didn't know much about this oriental nation before, but during the journey to Hong Kong, he heard a lot of people, and heard that it is an ignorant and backward country, and this country has a kind of punishment called Ling Chi, which cuts people alive with a knife, and it takes dozens or even hundreds of knives to make them die in pain, what a terrible punishment is this? How terrible is this people?

Taylor already had an instinctive fear of the Great Qing Kingdom, and when he heard that this Mr. Great Qing Kingdom and Mr. Wells were on an equal footing, he was even more afraid, if he accidentally made this gentleman angry, would he tie me up to the execution ground and punish me with this terrible punishment?

Mr. Greene seemed to see his fear, and told him with a smile that Mr. Ye of the Great Qing Kingdom was a noble gentleman, and that he had met him, and that Mr. Ye was more personable, more elegant and amiable than any other English gentleman. Green also said that Mr. Ye would appoint a Qing Dynasty man as the manager of the gunpowder factory in the future, and Green would only manage the factory temporarily, and when the official manager was appointed, Green would be the manager's deputy. These were all commanded by Mr. Wells.

Green even more mysteriously asked Taylor to keep his words and his meeting with Mr. Ye a secret, and even asked Taylor to sign a confidentiality agreement, if Taylor and his wife leaked the circumstances of this meeting, they would pay an astronomical amount of compensation.

Mr. Green also told Taylor that this is a rare opportunity, and that meeting the big men of the East may be able to change your fate, and if you don't want to go, then it's up to you, but you ask your own heart, will you regret it later?

Taylor thought about it for a few minutes, then solemnly signed the non-disclosure deed.

Immediately early this morning, Taylor and his wife boarded the steamer to Guangzhou, and the steamer hoisted its huge sails, and arrived at Huangpu Harbor at dusk. I got into a carriage with oriental charm again, and after more than an hour of bumping, the carriage stopped.

Led by a strangely thin man, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor entered an oriental courtyard, where they looked at everything new, especially the vivid paintings of the cloister in front of the house, which looked like mythological figures and fairies dancing in the sky; There are also mythical birds that seem to be peacocks, but they are more luxurious than peacocks.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor did not have time to seriously appreciate the charm of oriental architecture, and were quickly led into an antique living room.

Under the gesture of the thin man, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor sat next to each other on the rosewood chair on the left, and soon, a pretty girl wearing a blue gauze skirt carried a splendid tray and sent oriental tea refreshments, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor glanced at each other, did not dare to touch, the teacup was green and green, verdant, Oriental tea was already famous, and the utensils used for goodbye were so precious, but I don't know if this tea would be the legendary Oriental nobles who could only drink, and it would cost a few hundred pounds to buy a gram of the best tea tip.

At present, in addition to the trade merchants who often deal with the East, as well as the middle class and wealthy classes who subscribe to newspapers in big cities such as London to learn about the world, some ordinary citizens are still in awe of the legendary and mysterious country of the Qing Dynasty, and the luxurious legends of this mysterious country are quite popular even among the upper class.

Just when Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were restless, there was a sound of footsteps, and the pretty girl who had just served tea lifted the bead curtain, and a beautiful young man walked in from outside, dressed in brocade and horse coats, and his spirit was flying.

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor involuntarily stood up, a little restrained not knowing what to call the young nobleman.

"Mr. Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, please take a seat, sit down!" Ye Zhao sat down on the main seat with a smile, took the master's folding fan as expected, and carefully retreated to the side.

Hearing that the aristocratic gentleman spoke fluent English, even a little authentic London, the Taylors were even more surprised and fearless.

Ye Zhao didn't expect Wells to be resolute, but no, last year's farewell to Shanghai, this is not just a year's time, according to the time, Wells must have started to set up a factory immediately after returning to England, and recruited workers to send them to Hong Kong as soon as possible. In the letter to Ye Zhao, he wrote that now that Hong Kong Island and the Shanghai concession are building a lot of construction, and Australia needs a huge amount of industrial gunpowder to pan for gold, and there are also vast markets in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, this branch factory in Hong Kong must be very profitable. Wells also said that Ye Zhao has full authority to manage the factory in Hong Kong, and he can appoint the person in charge by himself. I think it is also, far away from the ocean, Wells can't get it even if it is remotely controlled, so it is better to go with the water and hand it over to his partner to manage.

It seems that Wells did not put aside his intentions for the time being, and Ye Zhao also sent a letter that had been prepared a long time ago to Shanghai Hall Lawyer, and he forwarded it to Wells. Ye Zhao is ready to cooperate with Wells to plan a "Xiguan Inventors Club", mainly to fund those down-and-out inventors, of course, which inventions are worth funding but Ye Zhao personally reviewed, and Mr. Wells can promote on behalf of London, and initially review some invention ideas that are worth investing in, and provide inventors with Sichuan capital to the East, and finally Ye Zhao selects the inventions that can be invested.

Ye Zhao has been thinking about this plan for a long time, but he didn't know if Wells would return to England and kicked himself away, and it was this letter that should have been sent long ago that he pressed it to today.

After meeting with Green, Ye Zhao heard that one of the foremen had come to Hong Kong with his wife, and his heart was moved, and he brought his wife, so he had plans to stay in Hong Kong for a long time, and he was also a foreman who taught new workers skills, so Ye Zhao decided to see him and his wife.

"Mr. Taylor, Ma'am, tea, please." Ye Zhao smiled and made a gesture for the two to taste tea, and said: "I dare to boast, you can't drink authentic Wuyi tea in Liverpool." ”

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor glanced at each other, and carefully picked up the small green teacup, the cup did not look like a good grip, neither dared to hold it hard for fear of breaking it, but also feared that it would fall to the ground if it was too hard, and the tea was drunk awkwardly.

Seeing that he and his wife were so restrained Ye Zhao laughed, this is a real British citizen, and there is no "imperialist temperament" at all, Ye Zhao smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, if it is broken, I don't want you to pay for it, let alone make you late." ”

A casual joke, but it touched Mr. Taylor's fear, his hand shook, and the small green cup slipped out, Taylor was horrified, and reached out to grab it, but unfortunately he was not Su Hongniang, how could he catch it?

With a "snap", the cup fell on the floor tiles, rolled a few times, and saw that it was not broken, Taylor just breathed a sigh of relief, but saw that the emerald green ring at the bottom of the small cup "clicked" and cracked.

In fact, this click sound was probably heard by Taylor in his heart, and he turned pale with fright and stood up suddenly.

Ruyi hurriedly went to clean up the ground, Taylor looked at Ye Zhao with a pale face: "Sir, how much is your cup?" I, I pay. "It's really scary, will this Oriental nobleman suddenly change to a vicious face and hurt himself and Amy?

Ye Zhao smiled: "Sit down, I don't want you to pay if I break it, what's the matter, don't you think I talk doesn't count?" Taylor, do you know Ling Chi too? ”

Taylor nodded apprehensively.

Ye Zhao said: "It seems that you must think that our Great Qing Kingdom is a barbarian country?" "Think about it, this is the mainstream view of Western countries today, and the Chinese are out-and-out barbarians in the eyes of Europeans.

Taylor shook his head hurriedly.

Ye Zhao smiled: "I like honest people, don't worry, I won't be angry because you think my Great Qing Kingdom is barbaric, being angry about this is just a sign of unconfidence." Eastern and Western civilizations have different paths of development, and the most brilliant period of our civilization has been repeatedly interrupted by barbarian invasions. But even so, your Western civilization has its flaws, and our Eastern tradition is more desirable. I admit that some punishments are extremely cruel, but it does not mean that we are barbaric, I can only say, take your time, I believe that these cruel punishments will soon be abandoned. ”

Looking at the young nobleman's smiling and friendly appearance, Taylor could feel that he had a deep affection for his homeland, and was extremely confident, neither arrogant nor blindly worshipful to Western countries, whether it was Eastern or Western civilizations, he seemed to be extremely detached, as if he was talking about this topic from a higher perspective.

Ye Zhao smiled again and said: "When I see you, I only hope that you will be patient when teaching Chinese workers technology, Chinese people are hard-working and hard-working, but our gunpowder factory is very novel to the workers, and it takes a certain amount of time to accept it." ”

Taylor nodded hurriedly: "Sir, don't worry, I know how to do it." ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "I hope that Mr. and Mrs. Taylor can like the East and settle in Hong Kong or simply in Guangzhou, and I will be very happy to pay for the new house of the two of them." ”

Taylor and Mrs. looked at each other, and they both smiled and said, "Thank you." "But when it comes to settling in the East, they haven't even thought about it now.

Ye Zhao chatted with them with great interest, the sky was getting dark, and he didn't even notice that Ruyi lit the oil lamp.

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