Wednesday, January 8, 1642.

More than ten years ago, the Qingcheng Peninsula was still a plain and swampy land covered with primeval forests, and the terrain of three hills in the distance and the narrow estuary peninsula became the unique urban landform of Qingcheng.

But now, the three hills have been lowered by a large amount of sand and gravel excavation, and the long-term land reclamation project on the Qingcheng Peninsula is still underway. The outline of the peninsula has changed considerably, and the size of the city is still expanding, with a large number of multi-storey buildings and a bustling harbour that make it look a little Manchester.

As of December 31, 1641, the urban registered population of Qingcheng exceeded 31,000, but the proportion of Chinese Americans was the lowest among the country's major cities, at only 60%.

As the largest city and capital of Haizhou and the third largest city in China, Qingcheng City has developed into Haizhou's industrial, commercial and shipping center 16 years after its completion. All industries are basically complete, and agricultural planting, animal husbandry, and fishery have all made great progress. Building materials, glass products, wood processing, papermaking, food processing, shipbuilding, machinery and hardware, textiles, tanning and other industries are also small-scale. The share of foreign trade imports and exports has exceeded 15% of the country's total, and it has a higher education park with a good reputation in China, and Fudan University, which merged with Haizhou University, has more teachers, and its reputation is no worse than that of Manchester City's Capital National University and Ivy League universities.

The development process of Qingcheng City rarely depends on the central government, but contributes a lot of financial revenue to the country, so the "miracle of Guan Ruzhong" has been verified again and has become another business card of Qingcheng. Arguably. Qingcheng City is one of the most reassuring local core cities in the past Congresses and cabinets of the United States, and it is also the city with the strongest pride and conceit among its citizens, and only the more established West Point Town can surpass it in this regard.

At this time, the city-builder Guan Ruzhong. In 1640, he ceased to be the mayor of Qingcheng and returned to the governor's position to concentrate on the affairs of Haizhou as a whole. Guan Ruzhong is a low-key and down-to-earth person, and his achievements in the country's economic development are unparalleled, and he has an excellent reputation, and has become the most popular candidate for the next prime minister as a conservative.

The year before last, he took over the post of mayor of Qingcheng City, and it was Guan Ruzhong's old subordinate Danielson, who had been with him since the beginning of West Point Town, and this local high-ranking official who was over 40 years old had been the mayor of Dongfu Town, Haizhou for 12 years. Danielson has been deeply influenced by Kwan over the years. The local management methods are extremely imitative of each other, and they are also conscientious and have made remarkable achievements.

In order to express their reverence for the old mayor, the older generation of citizens of Qingcheng still affectionately call the central square of the city's commercial street "Guan Ruzhong Square". This "overly affectionate" attitude. It once aroused strong dissatisfaction in West Point Town, Songzhou, because in the eyes of the old citizens of West Point Town, Guan Ruzhong is the real father of West Point, and the place where the hillbilly nouveau riche lives in Qingcheng City can only be regarded as Guan Ruzhong's "illegitimate child" at most.

……

Today is the Lunar Laba Festival. The fresh or intense aromas of various ingredients can be clearly smelled in every corner of the city. Glutinous rice imported from the Caribbean overseas states is almost out of stock today.

When night falls, fireworks are lit on the central square of the commercial street, and the lively Laba Festival night market attracts tens of thousands of citizens to wander around the commercial street. The port area is also lit up with a series of colorful lights, and merchant sailors from European countries crowd in the port bars, with half-understood and curious expressions to participate in this oriental festival with the theme of eating and drinking.

The Qingcheng Education Park is located in the west of the main urban area of Qingcheng City, near which is a forest park with lush vegetation, where the canal that flows from the Qingcheng River into the city expands into a vast artificial lake, and on the north bank of the lake is the old campus of Fudan University. On the south bank is a new campus after the merger of Haizhou University a few years ago.

On the campus of Fudan University, the Laba Festival organized by the university is still ongoing. Nearly 2,000 teachers and students gathered around the school playground with great interest, taking turns to enjoy the impromptu performances of talented children and women from various departments.

In a three-story student dormitory one or two hundred meters from the playground, more than a dozen male and female students huddled at the window or balcony, dressed in school uniforms quite different from the modern style of Fudan University, were now watching the bonfire in the distance with a strange attitude of spectators and a half-envious and half-disdainful expression.

"It's vulgar, when there is no waltz, boys and girls should not dance this kind of dance!" Angelia held a plate of small cakes, leaning on the balcony, showing disdain for the open-air dance party of Fudan University in front of her.

"It wasn't ballroom dancing in the first place, it was supposed to be choreographed by themselves. But the clothes are so beautiful......" Chang Zilian blushed and whispered to the side.

"They probably made their own music, I've never heard this kind of dance music before!" An Shu pointed her ears and nodded in agreement for a long time, "The senior of the art department of Fudan University is really powerful. ”

"Anyway, it's a bunch of hillbillies who don't know etiquette!" Angelia still muttered unconvinced, "I mean, they should change into more appropriate school dresses, and then choose the elegant dance music, and the gentlemen and ladies will enter the arena in turn." ”

"Hey, hey, it's so sour to speak! This is Fudan University, is it okay for people to have their own campus culture? How could the old pedants in our school organize such an event. Probably in our school, there is a daily check of dress etiquette. Su Fangqi drank tea slowly and methodically, and sighed again and again at the topic of a group of Ivy League college students who had never seen the world.

Just as the Ivy League girls were chattering and expressing their opinions, a string of guitar plucking suddenly sounded downstairs, and then a few candles appeared in the green belt of the dormitory surrounded by greenery, which immediately attracted the attention of all the girls, including Angelia.

Amid the laughter of the boys, seven or eight boys from Fudan University stood in the green belt not far from Su Fangqi and others. In the dim candlelight, I saw that several of the boys were still holding guitars, violins, tambourines and other musical instruments.

"Hurry up, Shuming, you're the guitarist and vocalist! Fang Wei, don't beat the wrong rhythm with your tambourine. ”

A boy with a guitar is pushed in front of him by someone else. is dodging left and right with a red face, looking very shy.

"Isn't that rude?" Yan Shuming, who grew up in Manchester City since he was a child, was picked up by his classmates and ran downstairs to the Ivy League exchange students to "sing". It doesn't seem to be very confident.

"Yes, my sister is also there......" Su Fangwei hid behind Yan Shuming, and at the same time cowered as he probed his brain.

"Oh, they're all acquaintances, what are you afraid of! This is a great opportunity to train your new students! A senior boy patted Yan Shuming's shoulder vigorously, and the boys around him were responding.

"What are they doing?" On the balcony, An Shu was a little baffled.

"I guess. These hillbillies are supposed to have some affection for us? Angelia deliberately said cool words, but there was a smug look in her eyes.

"Why did they come here...... Su Fangqi recognized the little kid Yan Shuming and his younger brother Su Fangwei who often ran to their own house at a glance.

Guitars, violins, and tambourines sounded, and a Jenny version of "Love Network" was performed at night on the campus of Fudan University. A beautiful and rhythmic melody lingers downstairs among the girls.

"Please light another candle for me, for I have long since lost my way. I couldn't hide my panic, and I couldn't wait to look around, for fear that this road would be a good dream. ”

"And you are a boundless net. I was trapped in the middle of the net. The deeper I sanit, the more confused I became. The road is getting farther and longer, how can I lock your eyes. ”

"I would like to stay by your side like this, and I would like to never forget it for the rest of my life. I opened the window of love, but I saw the long night and the day was desolate, and asked if you would let me be sad......"

The senior student who played the violin accompaniment was Wang Xiaohai, the second son of Admiral Wang Tiezhu, who was showing off his piano skills at this time, and actually jumped onto the flower platform in the green belt while playing back, and pretended to be intoxicated by the music at a girl on the balcony.

"It's Wang Xiaohai. He's playing the violin for you, little lotus! An Shu squeezed the restrained little girl next to her with a wicked smile. The latter took several steps back with a red face, hanging his head and pinching the hem of his skirt at a loss.

"Oh, I saw it, it's Yan Shuming, Su Fangwei and Wang Xiaohai! Well, only they can be considered real gentlemen here, romantic and emotional! Angelia shook her head slightly in revel with the rhythm and melody, listening to the nightly performance of a group of unscrupulous boys.

"Kiki, I think your brother is very cute." An Shu smiled and looked at the guitarist in the distance, and the small fan covered her mouth.

"A bunch of idiots...... Xiaowei is so bold. Su Fangqi rolled her eyes, pulled An Shu and Angelia beside her, and turned around and walked towards the room.

Seeing several girls on the balcony leaving in turn, Yan Shuming and others, who were letting go of the courage to sing, stopped singing and the musical instruments in their hands abruptly, and the boys who were agitating around were also embarrassed.

"Look...... Look over there, there's a fire......"

After being embarrassed for a few seconds, Chang Zilian, who was still on the balcony, suddenly pointed in a direction.

When the women turned around, they saw a huge flame steaming up in the direction of Qingcheng Bay in the northeast, and the raging fire almost illuminated half of the port area.

European merchants and sailors in the port area rushed out of the bar and looked in amazement at the distant port, only to see that in the far water of the dock, a medium-sized schooner of the Sino-American distant-water fishing company was anchored and surrounded by raging flames.

"Oh my God, someone got drunk and spilled the oil of fire?"

"I didn't see anyone shouting for help and jumping into the sea, there should be no one up there."

Groups of sailors rushed to the dock to look, pointing and discussing. Not only were the people near the port frightened, but even the citizens of the city were shocked. Alarm whistles sounded, and a coast guard patrol boat at the dock of the military port was slowly moving off the shore towards the accident vessel.

Although the distance was only 100 meters, the medium-sized fishing boat that caught fire could not get close to it with the help of the sea breeze, and the coast guard patrol boat could only roam nearby, anxious and unable to do anything.

"It was an unsafe night. Fortunately, it dropped anchor in the harbor, otherwise it would have ignited more ships on the shore. "In the crowd watching the excitement by the dock, a French businessman in a ceremonial dress gestured a cross on his chest.

"And when are we going back to Quebec?" A clerk-like man whispered to a French businessman.

"Well, let's leave tomorrow, and hopefully they won't block the port because a fishing boat caught fire." The French merchant muttered softly.

……

By daybreak, the fishing boat that had caught fire had basically burned to the ground, and the rest had sunk into the harbor, and the debris that had fallen into the water had long since flowed out of the sea along the bay.

"Too bad, it's bad for the city! Mr. Chan, as the sheriff of the port district, you should give me a reasonable explanation! In the mayor's residence, Mayor Danielson was walking around the office with an ugly face, and the young Chinese coast guard captain standing on the side had a red and white face.

"We investigated the captain and crew of the 'Yuanyu 07' on the shore, and there was only one watchman on the boat at the time, maybe he was drunk and caused a fire...... "The captain of the coast guard gripped and touched a copy of the investigation document, not daring to look at the angry mayor in front of him, "The water part is basically burned out, and the rest sank to the bottom of the harbor, maybe even the body cannot be found." ”

"If there is an impact on the safety of the shipping lane, the wreckage must be recovered. Now, I have to think about how to explain it to Governor Kwan. Fortunately, he was inspecting Haimen City in the north, otherwise he would have asked people to come to me in the middle of the night! Danielson sat back in his seat in a huff, spread out the letter and grabbed the pen, "The cause of the fire will continue to be investigated." Also, be sure to find the bones of the crew members who died in the dead and we will give an explanation to the families. ”

"It's going to take days to salvage the wreckage, so do we need to keep the port blocked?" The captain of the coast guard hesitated, "After the fire, we suspended the departure procedures of the merchant ships, and there are French merchant ships from Quebec who want to leave the port." ”

"It's just an ordinary accident and it can't interfere with our trade with Quebec and Europe." Without saying a word, Danielson gave instructions to lift the port guard.

A few hours later, a French merchant ship belonging to the French royal family left the port of Qingcheng and headed for Quebec. (To be continued......)