"Young master, there is nothing in this world that cannot be sold, if there is, it can only be negotiated at a price."

The bolt pillar woke up the dreamer with a word.

yes, there's nothing in this world that can't be talked about.

It's a big deal, add money.

With the money in place, Victoria can sleep too.

According to the secret report of the sticky rod, the power of trade between Guangdong and Western countries was actually controlled by the Dutch East India Company, and the merchants of Western countries, such as the British, French, Spanish, and Grape people, were actually third-way dealers, and the bulk of the profits were taken by the second-way dealers, the Dutch.

This made merchants from all over the world very dissatisfied with the Dutch East India Company and the Cantonese Customs.

Among them, the English gentlemen reacted most positively.

In the 22nd year of Qianlong, in addition to the Guangdong Customs, the Qing court actually had Zhejiang Customs, Fujian Customs, and Jiang Customs (Jiangsu), that is, four ports of commerce.

However, Qianlong suddenly issued an edict that year: "The port is set in Guangdong, and foreign ships are allowed to dock in Guangdong for trade." ”

That is, the three customs of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian were directly closed, and the Guangdong customs were retained, which became a port of commerce.

The reason why four mouthfuls become one mouthful is related to British merchants.

At the macro level, the great voyages and geographical discoveries of Western countries have created the Western trade system that is now spread all over the world.

In order to pursue profits, Western countries have established countless colonies and trading points around the world, and China, a large eastern country with vast land and resources, has naturally become a long-coveted trade object of Western countries.

Because the goods of the East are the most popular presence in the countries of the West.

However, neither the smuggling of the Ming Dynasty nor the four customs offices of the Qing Dynasty were far from satisfying the needs of Western merchants in pursuit of profits.

They try to gain more trade power, as well as more trade points.

At the same time, Western merchants brought with them ideas, cultures, and religions that were alien to China, which must have disgusted the Tatar rulers who occupied China.

In addition, it was the armed merchant ships of Western countries that aroused the vigilance of the Qing court.

Yang Yingju, the former governor of Liangguang, once reported: "Foreign ships are as tall as houses, coming and going impermanently, especially when the ships are loaded with guns and weapons, and they gather in the Celestial Empire to go to the port. ”

These armed gunboats, which the Qing army had never seen before, were undoubtedly a huge threat to the Qing army, which did not attach importance to naval divisions.

"Tranquility in coastal defense is above all else" was the basic attitude of the three dynasties of Kang Yongqian toward coastal defense.

In order to deal with Taiwan, which was held by Ming Zheng, Kangxi even ordered the coastal residents to move inward, causing millions of Han people to die in the southeast coast.

On the contrary, no effort was spared for northern Xinjiang, and it took three generations of ancestors and grandchildren for a hundred years to solve the problem of Dzungaria.

This point is completely different from the later Qing court's emphasis on coastal defense and light on blockade defense.

It was at this critical juncture that an Englishman from the British East India Company, known as Hong Renhui in Chinese, arrived at Dagu Haikou in Tianjin on a three-tailed small foreign ship "Chenggong".

That is the area where Jia Liu is now.

It was also probably the first British ship to reach the northern coast of China.

The purpose of Hong Renhui's northward trip to Beijing was to go to the Qing court on the orders of the British East India Company to sue the Guangdong Customs for corruption and extortion and the monopoly of trade by the Guangdong Foreign Company.

That is, he came to sue the royal court.

Since Hong Renhui declared himself to be a four-rank official in England, and the purpose was to redress his grievances to Beijing, in the face of such a British official who seemed to have a diplomatic mission, the Qing generals in Dagukou could only report it layer by layer.

The Qing court accepted the case of a foreigner's lawsuit against the royal court, and Hong Renhui submitted a complaint listing seven charges against the Guangdong Customs.

At the same time, on behalf of the British East India Company, he proposed that the Qing Dynasty open the sea ban and realize the free trade between the two countries.

As a result of the trial, Li Yongbiao, who was the superintendent of Guangdong Customs at the time, was removed from his post and investigated, and Hong Renhui was also sent to Macao for three years of detention for the crime of "violating the law by passing through Haikou".

That is, each of them plays fifty boards.

Qianlong not only did not accept the request of the British East India Company to expand trade, but directly ordered the closure of the three customs offices of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and only the Guangdong customs were retained.

Perhaps in Qianlong's eyes, it was more important to prevent foreign Yi than to make profits from trade, and the Qing Dynasty could not take Yangyi's money if it wanted to live for thousands of years.

The specific story of this incident was reported to Governor Jia Jia by Zhu Dawen, the prefect who came to the industrial park from Tianjin.

At the same time, he told the governor an inside story, that is, when Hong Renhui came to Tianjin, Lingyu, the then Tianjin prefect, was very sympathetic to Hong Renhui, who was blonde and blue-eyed, but spoke fluent Chinese.

He expressed his willingness to help him go to Beijing to sue the emperor, but he said that the matter was risky, so Hong Renhui had to give him 5,000 taels of silver as a reward.

After bargaining, the two sides agreed to sell for 2,500 Spanish silver dollars, giving 2,000 first, and then 500 after the deed.

Then, Lingyu reported to the imperial court that the four officials of the English Kingdom had come to Beijing to redress their grievances.

In fact, Hong was just a translator for the East India Company.

"You see, our banner people still have talents."

After hearing this, Jia Liu said proudly to the left and right, and asked where that Lingyu was working now, but he was told that he died of illness two years ago, and he couldn't help but regret it.

What Zhu Dawen said made Jia Liu basically understand the needs of the current British gentlemen, and combined with the secret report at the sticky rod, he had a rough idea.

That is, he may be able to get one or even more steam engines from the English gentlemen without paying a penny, thus laying the foundation for the industrialization of the Qing Dynasty.

Thinking of this, he looked at Zhu Dawen: "I intend to send someone to negotiate with the Yingji East India Company, can Zhu Zhifu be willing to go as a mission envoy?" If the negotiations are successful, the governor will report to the imperial court that Zhu Zhifu has made great contributions and entrust him with the post of Taoist of Tianjin Customs. ”

The prefect is a fourth-grade official, and the Taoist is a fourth-grade official.

Although Tianjin is a big house, the income from oil and water is nothing compared with the customs road.

The post of Guangdong Customs Superintendent (also Daotai) is comparable to the fat shortage of Lianghuai Salt Administration and Jiangnan Weaving, and even surpasses it.

As Zhu Dawen, who has been working hard in the officialdom for nearly 30 years and still stops at the fourth grade, there is no doubt that a pie has fallen from the sky, and he is excited to express his willingness to lead a delegation.

"Well, this matter will be prepared tomorrow, and the relevant travelers will be transferred to you as soon as possible after you arrive at the English East India Company, not only the plenipotentiary of the Governor, but also the plenipotentiary of my Qing Dynasty, and you must not lose your national dignity."

After some instructions, Jia Liu's words changed and asked Zhu Dawen to tell the British East India Company that Zhili would fully open the sea ban and set up a Beiyang Trade Office in Tianjin, so that the East India Company could directly bypass the supervision of the Guangdong Customs and send their merchant ships directly to Tianjin to engage in trade. Not only may he do business, but he may also choose a place in Tientsin to be rented in imitation of Macao for his English businessmen to live and live in, and if necessary, the Governor may provide him with other assistance to the British."

The condition was that the East India Company should provide the Qing with a steam engine and not less than five technicians, as well as protection and all conveniences for the Qing expedition.

Listening to what the Governor said, Zhu Dawen couldn't help but be surprised, if it was said that allowing trade was already extremely rare, it seemed that it was too much to provide a place to live

Jia Liu saw the other party's thoughts and said bluntly: "Do you want to say that this governor's move is suspected of betraying the country?" ”

"This"

Zhu Dawen didn't dare to say it directly.

"If you sell the country, you will sell the country, it's okay, you can't bear the wolf, for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, it's okay to make some necessary concessions, infamy, the governor will bear it, you just need to do what the governor tells you to do."

Jia Liu may be thinking in his heart that he can finally bring in the great powers.

(End of chapter)