Ma Dichen looked at Yang Fang, but he had a strange feeling in his heart, before he went to see Zhao Dagui, this Yang comprador was still anxious, and when he came back after going, he was still worried on the surface, but in fact he was much more relaxed.

These Chinese compradors are all unreliable, they all only think about their own interests, Ma Dichen feels that Yang Fang must have gained something from Zhao Dagui's side, and it is definitely not that he has gained nothing as he said, but he can't think about it, so he has to wave his hand and let Yang Fang retreat on his own.

During this period, there were also several ocean-going merchant ships that came to Shanghai to do business, some brought foreign cloth, and some brought copper, iron, glass and other foreign goods.

It's just that the foreign firms in Shanghai are all too busy to take care of themselves at this time, and there are few who take these jobs seriously, so that the Dagui commercial houses have picked up a lot of cheapness.

The Dagui firm did not dare to touch foreign cloth, but other businesses could still be done, so they sold shoes, silk, tea, etc., and the financial strength in their hands was more solid.

By the middle of December, things had finally reached a point where they were out of control, and the original invincible Yisheng Xing could not survive, and there were many cases of failure to pay for the goods, causing great panic.

Then, the merchants who were owed money were both frightened and angry, and pulled a large group of people to Yisheng Bank to smash and rob them.

Gong Mujiu and Bafur both felt that this matter was not easy to mess with, knowing that these people's behavior was a bit excessive, and none of them came forward to speak fairly.

At this time, it is okay to stand up and stop everyone from smashing and looting, but in that case, you will be responsible for making Yisheng Bank repay the money, this kind of trouble, but any reasonable politician will not participate in it.

In addition to the merchants who sold silk tea and foreign cloth to them, there were also several money banks and loan sharks, all of whom had a solid background and a certain amount of manpower.

After this kind of smashing and robbery happened three times, Yisheng Bank was still unable to settle the arrears, and finally made these creditors lose patience, and finally gathered hundreds of people, rushed to Yishengxing's store and Lin Aqin's house, and detained Lin Aqin himself and the shopkeepers all under house arrest.

The warehouses that were originally used to store foreign cloth were also controlled by the creditors, so that the people of the Yisheng Bank would not be allowed to approach, lest they secretly transfer the goods away.

All the businessmen in Shanghai watched the development of the situation with apprehension.

People continue to visit Zhao Dagui, some come to borrow money, some are willing to sell inventory at a low price, and some are willing to sell their shops in the local area and Huzhou and other places at a low price, in short, they want Zhao Dagui to help him with real money.

Zhao Dagui was so annoyed that he took his family to move to the mansion built south of the Wusong River, which was the so-called Zhao Mansion in later generations, and then only wandered around the academy and shipyard, and never accepted guests.

At this time of turmoil, one of Zhao Dagui's acquaintances, Stark, a major officer under the governor of Debe, took a cruise ship north from Hong Kong to visit Zhao Dagui.

"It's great that Brother Si can come over. Last time I was treated by Brother Si in Hong Kong, I have been thinking about reciprocating, you come here this time, and I will take care of the food and drink. Zhao Dagui said happily.

"Hehe, Brother Zhao is naughty again, my surname is Stark, not Si, you know this. Stark said with a smile.

"I have some leisure during this time, so I specially made some wine by myself, and I also invited Brother Si to taste it. Zhao Dagui ignored Stark and continued to entertain him warmly.

"Well, I want to thank you for your home-grown wines. Stark said hesitantly.

Zhao Dagui is just a businessman who has just made a fortune for a few years, and he is not a European, so he knows the mystery of making wine, but when he is a guest at someone's house, there is no reason to find fault with other people's wine.

Zhao Dagui set up a dinner party to entertain Stark, and sure enough, he brought a bottle of wine.

Stark looked at the color of the wine carefully, poured it into the quilt and shook it, sniffed it, then drank it a little more carefully, then nodded and complimented.

"Sure enough, it's good wine. "Stark is a man of great origin, and he is very proficient in things like dogs and horses, and wine tasting is his specialty, and he can't stop complimenting that this wine is not made much.

"However, I always thought that Brother Zhao was born in a family of Chinese scholars, but I didn't expect that he was born in the French royal family, or Louis, thirteen. Stark commented.

Zhao Dagui couldn't help laughing and patted Stark's shoulder happily.

It turned out that Zhao Dagui had a close relationship with Stark in Hong Kong, and later was taken by Stark to drink the famous wine of the convent in Macau, and tasted the wine of the Louis XIII era that had been collected in the convent for a long time.

Stark came over this time, and Zhao Dagui intended to entertain him well, so he specially brought a bottle of Louis XIII wine for Stark to taste, which could be regarded as repaying the other party's original hospitality.

Louis XIII's wines could be sold at a high price in later generations, but at this time, it was not far off, that is, high-end luxury, and it was not difficult to obtain.

Stark laughed with Zhao Dagui, frowning secretly but imperceptibly.

When I invited Zhao Dagui to drink Louis XIII's wine, Zhao Dagui also reciprocated Louis XIII's favor, which means obviously, that is, what you give me, I will reciprocate, neither more nor less.

Thinking that he came to see Zhao Dagui this time, he really had an important task on his shoulders, and he had to bargain with the other party, Stark couldn't help but feel a big head.

"It's my first time in Shanghai, can Brother Zhao take me around Shanghai?" Stark thought about it and made a request.

"That's as it should be, and it's as it should be. Zhao Dagui nodded.

On November 29, 1845, Shanghai Daotai Gong Mujiu and the British Consul in Shanghai Bafur jointly issued the "Shanghai Land Charter", allowing the British to rent land in the area between Wusongjiang and Pidgin for residential and business purposes, which was the origin of the Shanghai Concession.

The earliest concession area was only about 830 acres, and Zhao Dagui's Dagui Commercial Bank owned more than 500 acres of land in the concession area.

According to this agreement, the British did not obtain, but had the right to negotiate with the owners of the land, and then sign a lease contract for 25 or 30 years, and obtain the right to use the land for the duration of the contract.

At the beginning of 1844, foreigners could still obtain land use rights at a rent of one tael of silver per mu of land per year, but the land price rose all the way after that, and after some speculation by the Dagui Commercial Bank, the price of land use rights for a period of 30 years rose to more than 300 yuan per mu.

After the promulgation of Shanghai's land charter, there were still some peasants who kept their land and real estate in the concessions, and were unwilling to sell them, and just wanted to take advantage of the current opportunity to sell their land at an outrageously high price.

Zhao Dagui had no intention of using force, but wanted to use them to further push up land prices, so he was very tolerant.

From a legal point of view, the status of the "Shanghai Land Charter" is quite complicated, and many people think that this is the beginning of China's loss of territorial sovereignty, but in fact this contract only gave the British the right to lease land, not directly ceding it, and even the law enforcement power in the concession area still belonged to the Qing government.