However, after the capture of Dinghai this time, the British army did not return it to China, and sent troops to be stationed under the command of a major officer.

In addition, Guo Shili, a well-known missionary in early modern China, served as the supreme administrator of Dinghai for a period of time, and was nicknamed "Dinghai Zhixian", but in 1844 he should have already gone to Hong Kong to work as a secretary for Debe.

At this time, Dinghai was in the hands of the British, a trading base in the same vein as the treaty port of Ningbo, and also a means to force the Chinese to make concessions and a guarantee to supervise China's implementation of unequal treaties.

In 1846, after China paid the 14 million taels of indemnity stipulated in the Treaty of Nanjing, the British government had no reason to continue to occupy Dinghai, and finally had to withdraw its troops and return Dinghai to China.

However, the British government was unwilling to force the Qing government to accept a clause, that is, in order to prevent British interests from being infringed upon by France, the Qing government could not transfer Dinghai to France.

The Qing government was confused at the time, and didn't know what this matter had to do with France, but at that time, Qiying and others thought that there was nothing wrong with this clause, and they could even use Dinghai to provoke France and Britain in the future.

This was later considered to be the first model clause in modern Chinese history regarding the spheres of influence of a great power.

Oh, it seems to be far away again.

At this time, the population of Dinghai was about 30,000, and the waterways on the island were criss-crossed, and it was known as the Venice of the East, and there was a fairly developed shipbuilding, salt industry and fishery.

Zhao Dagui didn't want to stay in Dinghai for long, so he stayed in Dinghai for one night and left, but after arriving on the island, he changed his mind.

It turned out that Zhao Dagui thought about it for a while, and the current location of Dinghai is unique, which can be called a treasure land of feng shui, which is very suitable for the branch base of Dagui Commercial Bank.

At this time, Dinghai did not belong to the Qing government, so it did some things here that seemed to the court officials to be very rebellious, such as opening a Western-style shipyard or a military factory, the Qing court could not control it, and the British government would not take care of it;

Even if the Qing government wanted to take back this place two years later, there would be about two years of free development before that, and with the dick nature of the British government, it was inevitable that the Qing government would guarantee the investment of foreign businessmen in Dinghai during these two years.

The best thing is that if the British want to go from here in the future, then this place will almost become a three-way zone, which will have immeasurable benefits for some careerists such as themselves.

Thinking of this, Zhao Dagui's heart was hot, and he told the captain of the British merchant ship to stay for a few more days, and then prepare a gift to visit the highest commander of the British army here.

The rank of the highest commander of the garrison in Britain is now major, which does not seem to be high, and the rank before Bafur became consul was only major.

Zhao Dagui visited the major and stated that he wanted to open a route from the magic capital to Hong Kong, hoping to get some land here and build a dock and supply depot, and the major happily expressed his support.

"It is a very good thing to establish such a route and strengthen the communication between the northern port and Hong Kong, and I will definitely support it.

I don't know how much land comprador Zhao wants to buy?" This major has more or less heard the news that a rich comprador in Shanghai wants to open such a route, and, like Bafur, is very concerned and supportive of this matter.

"In the early stage, it is enough to obtain five or six hundred acres of land near the port and build a wharf and supply station.

If I could, I would also like to buy a local shipyard so that even if there is a problem with the ship, it can be repaired in time. Zhao Dagui said as much as he could.

"There is no problem with the land, if it is only fifty or sixty acres of land, I will give it to you directly for free, but if the amount is large, there should be more transfer tax, otherwise it will not look good on the books.

What do you think of the tax and fee for an acre of land, a dime?" asked the major calmly.

Zhao Dagui thought that the other party was joking, waiting for him to laugh, but he didn't expect to see the major laughing after a while, but looking at himself seriously, only to know that the other party was not joking at all, but serious.

"An acre of land is a dime... How did you get this land?" Zhao Dagui couldn't help but ask curiously.

At this moment, the major was a little embarrassed: "After we occupied Dinghai, we respected the land and real estate of ordinary Chinese, and did not infringe on their personal property rights.

However, the entire property of your Government in the country is confiscated, including all public land except nominal official land and land for which private ownership has been established.

There are a lot of such lands near the port, and I can requisition them for you.

I know that Mr. Zhao has some misgivings, and he is worried that after a few years, we will evacuate from Dinghai, and you will have to renegotiate with the returning government about the ownership of these lands.

Therefore, I am personally willing to provide these lands to any businessman who wants to invest here for free, but that must be the land policy of the British government, so I need to charge a little land transfer fee, I hope Mr. Zhao will not mind too much. ”

"So that's the case, even if that's the case, there's no need to just take five or six hundred acres, how many such lands do you have here, I'll take them all, how about it?

However, you will also need to give me a formal title deed. Zhao Dagui understood a little, and a fire rose in his heart, but he immediately suppressed it, and said politely.

"That's fine, but you should also pay attention to it when the time comes, and coordinate the relationship with your government. The Major said indifferently.

The Qing government has never paid attention to public construction, except for a small part of the land near the port that has been built into a wharf, the rest is wasteland that cannot be farmed, even when Dinghai was not occupied, it was not valued by officials, and it is useless official land, or public land.

The British knew the importance of these lands, but they didn't bother to get them, and they didn't want to collect too much money because they had to return them to the Qing government in a few years.

Zhao Dagui spent 300 yuan in silver dollars and directly encircled more than 3,000 acres of land, including salt fields and farmland that originally belonged to the Qing government, taking a great advantage, but he was holding back a breath of anger in his heart.

What does it mean to sell Ye Tian without distress, this is ah, it is originally a plain thing, and it is not distressing to sell it, from this point of view, the attitude of the British government and the Qing government is surprisingly consistent.

As for whether the 3,000 acres of land will be taken back when Dinghai is returned to the Qing government, Zhao Dagui is not very worried, with the cowardly characteristics of the Qing Dynasty officials, if they dare to reach out and ask for the land transferred by the British to make land ownership certificates, they will not be scolded like that bear in later generations.

Under the guidance of the major, Zhao Dagui also contacted the owners of several local shipyards, and when he inquired, many people were willing to transfer the shipyards.

After the arrival of the British, affected by the war, the local business was seriously affected, and many people did not know whether the Dinghai would belong to the Qing Dynasty or the British in the future, so they were unwilling to do business here, and there were fewer people who wanted to build ships or repair ships, so many bosses wanted to sell their business as soon as possible and go to the land to find other livelihoods.