Stark didn't particularly want Zhao Dagui to meet with any special envoy of the US president, but Zhao Dagui naturally didn't want the opinion of a British major.

Zhao Dagui himself is a famous comprador whose reputation has spread to Hong Kong and Macao, and his behavior of buying a shipyard in Macao has long been reported to Gu Sheng's ears, and he was introduced by Shelton in the middle, and he soon met with Gu Sheng for talks.

The meeting between Zhao Dagui and Gu Sheng can be called pleasant, Gu Sheng looks dignified and talks well, the key is that people are really knowledgeable, Zhao Dagui talked to people very happily, and he actually felt that he was not enough.

It seems that anyone who can be a diplomat must first be able to speak.

Gu Sheng is also quite curious about Zhao Dagui, he has seen how the officials in Guangdong are incompetent and ignorant, originally had a lot of contempt for the Chinese, met Shelton before, this time I saw Zhao Dagui, only to understand that the master is in the world, ordinary folk scholars have many knowledgeable people who know a lot about the West.

"I heard from Mr. Special Envoy that Harvard University is such a good place, and I would like to visit it if I can in the future. Zhao Dagui said with emotion.

Harvard, university, if you can study Harvard before the crossing, you won't run to Mount Tai to climb the mountain during the New Year, so you won't die and be sent to this ghost place, and you will be in tears if you talk too much.

"Harvard is the best school in the whole of America, and it's worth visiting. One day you go to the United States, you go to Harvard, and I will be your tour guide. Gu Sheng's kind words leaned down as if he didn't want money.

"Thank you, Mr. Special Envoy, then.

By the way, I heard Mr. Sheldon mention that when you came to China, you also brought with you a lot of scientific books, model ships, model guns, etc., right?

You also know that there is no news here in China, and you rarely see Western science and technology books, can you be lucky enough to borrow them and have a look?" Zhao Dagui said quietly.

"I brought books to Chinese scholars, but unfortunately, these books were better given away and not in my hands. Gu Sheng made a regretful expression, "Some time ago, I signed a treaty with the officials of your country, and I took these books as a national gift and handed them to the officials of your country along with the national letters of Mr. President." ”

"And such things, do you still know how those officials handle the books?" Zhao Dagui was stunned for a moment and asked.

"Oh, as far as I know, it was taken to your government offices in Wangxia County, and all of them were sealed, and they should be sent to Beijing to show His Majesty the Emperor and his ministers. Gu Sheng said uncertainly.

"Looks like I'm a step late. By the way, what do you think about the raw silk trade between China and your country?" Zhao Dagui thought for a moment and then turned the topic to trade.

"At present, my country's market is mostly filled with French silk fabrics, but the quality of your country's raw silk is actually better, I think..."Gu Sheng gushed endlessly.

The two talked very happily, Zhao Dagui talked for a long time before leaving, Gu Sheng kept sending him out of the door, and after returning to his seat, he suddenly pondered, what did this businessman and scholar named Dagui Zhao come to do here, is it just to talk nonsense.

On the other hand, Zhao Dagui came out of Gu Sheng's side, returned to his residence, his face sank like water, and he found an experienced shopkeeper of his Dagui firm and said: "That American envoy Gu Sheng is said to have sent a lot of books, ship models, and weapon models to the officials of Wangxia.

You go get some money and find out where these things are now. ”

Zhao Dagui himself is not good at dealing with officials, nor is he good at inquiring about news, but his shopkeepers are not too experienced in this area, and they quickly find out the news and report it to him.

It turned out that Gu Sheng also overestimated the discipline of the officials of the Qing Dynasty, thinking that the national gifts sent by the envoys of the dignified American president must have been collected by the local officials, and then sent to the emperor in Beijing with the national letters, so as to improve the "friendly relations" between the two countries.

However, I knew with my knees that the officials of Wangxia would never take anything from a foreigner to the emperor, and even Qiying did not inform him, so he found a warehouse and piled them up, because the amount of books and things was large, and it took up a lot of space, and the officials of the official treasury complained about it.

"These bastards, as they are. Shopkeeper Zhang, these things are very important to me, I must take these things, do you have any way?" Zhao Dagui asked the shopkeeper.

"Well, it shouldn't be difficult. These things can't be sold for much money, and the people in the government don't pay attention to them at all, and because they are things sent by foreigners, they are in a hurry to get rid of them, and they are only because they are worried that the governor's palace will suddenly remember to ask one day, so they will keep them and not throw them away as garbage.

Send some money to the treasurer and other people in charge, and you should be able to take it out secretly. Shopkeeper Zhang said, feeling that the owner was a little inexplicable.

Of course, since leaving Shanghai, the owner has been doing things inexplicably, although it is a good thing to take a lot of land, but what kind of ships and shipyards to buy is a waste.

"I'll give you a thousand dollars, can you get something out?"

"Don't do that much, you give me five hundred dollars, and I'll take everything out in its entirety. ”

"Then it's all up to you. Zhao Dagui patted the shopkeeper's shoulder excitedly.

The things that Gu Sheng gave were neither the grain taxes paid by the peasants, nor the things ordered by the officials to be kept, to put it bluntly, they were things that no one cared about and threw away, and those officials who were in charge of the treasury didn't know what these books printed with foreign languages could be used for.

If it is a book in Chinese, you can still find someone to get rid of it, and no one can understand this foreigner's book, which is really useless.

Zhao Dagui paid for himself to talk to those officials for a while, give some money, and he should be able to get these books, but doing this kind of thing is not his specialty, so let the professional do it.

The shopkeeper Zhang and others of the Dagui Commercial Bank usually have to deal with the officials, these things are really familiar, I don't know how many times stronger than Zhao Dagui himself, it only took three days to get all the things out of the unknown warehouse in Wangxia County, a total of 12,000 books, plus hundreds of ship models and weapon models, piled up on a hill in the courtyard.

"With these things, nearly half of the Qing Dynasty is in hand. Zhao Dagui looked around at these, and his heart was extremely excited.

Ever since Shelton mentioned Gu Sheng's matter and said that Gu Sheng had brought a large number of science and technology books, Zhao Dagui remembered a very distant memory.

It turned out that there was a discussion on the Internet in modern times, saying that when Gu Sheng came to China from the United States, he actually bought a large number of scientific and technological books and ship models, etc., and after arriving in China, there were two boatloads of 20,000 books, which were of immeasurable value.

Therefore, Zhao Dagui is very concerned about this matter, and he must take it, and now he has finally got it all.

It was only at this time that Zhao Dagui breathed a sigh of relief, it was inevitable that he would get this batch of books, if the books were still in Gu Sheng's hands, then he would have sent them to the Qing government, and he would definitely be willing to send them out;

It's just that because this matter is too important, and it involves the question of whether his development speed can be accelerated for several years, it will make him nervous for no reason.

Zhao Dagui counted them, and there were not as many as tens of thousands of books, but there were 12,000 books, covering almost everything from physics, chemistry, mathematics, history, geography to military affairs, meteorology, etc.

At this time, the price of books is expensive, not to mention the technical value of these books, that is, Zhao Dagui has to spend money to buy these books, and it will cost thirty or forty thousand yuan, not to mention the time cost and selection cost in the middle, and some military books cannot be bought even if he wants to.

The science and technology books selected by a Harvard scholar to give China the power to stand up to Britain are truly extraordinary.