"That's as it should be. Consul Bafur replied solemnly.

In fact, according to Bafur's true intentions, he was unwilling to let Zhao Dagui get involved in such a big business so quickly, and he was involved in a business worth more than 100,000 yuan from the beginning.

If you can, test it more, and then start with a small business and slowly grow bigger, which is more reasonable, and if there is any mistake, it can be remedied in time.

Although all the staff of the consulate and all the foreigners who borrowed it during this period praised Zhao Dagui, saying that he was a rare honest person who did not smoke or drink, had clear accounts, and did not take advantage of it, and even Mai Huatuo replied that he had not found that Zhao Dagui had contact with any suspicious person (Bafur: hell, this young man really went to spy on people), but it is better to be cautious about a person who does not know the details and is almost upside down.

However, when it comes to the first business since the opening of the port, Bafur's subordinates really have no one to use, so they can only push Zhao Dagui out.

Zhao Dagui went out, so he could buy some goods and come back, and the other Britons went out, and they didn't even know where the bulk goods should be traded (this is different from buying a pound or two of tea in the market), and they didn't know all the restrictions and traps in the trading link (to be honest, Zhao Dagui didn't know either), so they couldn't be counted on.

"I'll register a firm for you, I don't know what name you want to give the firm?"

"Let's call it Dagui Firm. ”

So, Consul Bafur picked up a quill pen, wrote on a few pieces of paper, and then handed Dagui a piece of paper with written words, which was regarded as issuing a business license.

Captain Kellett watched this set of procedures on the side, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching, feeling that his head was full of black lines: this so-called trading house has only begun to be established at this time, which is too child's play.

In fact, when Zhao Dagui told Bafur that he wanted to register a firm in the consulate, it was a problem for the consul.

According to the responsibilities of the consulate, there was already a business of registering British commercial houses doing business locally, and even helping with customs declaration and tax payment with the local government, but the problem was that Zhao Dagui was not British, but an authentic Chinese.

Although Britain has had a large number of commercial dealings with China since the days of the East India Company, Zhao Dagui is the first Chinese who want to register a trading house with the British consul.

Bafur wanted to help Zhao Dagui handle the firm, but there were no precedents and regulations at all, and it was a business that appeared out of thin air.

Fortunately, Bafur was not a pedantic person, thinking that whether it was a British merchant or a Chinese businessman, he would have to pay taxes and everything to be handled by the Qing Dynasty government, and he did not have much money to do with the British consulate, so he creatively recorded the name of "Dagui Commercial Firm" according to the example of British commercial firm registration, and then distributed simple documents written in English to Zhao Dagui, confirming the existence of the fact of "registration".

In this way, the legal rationality of the registration of the "Dagui Commercial Bank" is actually very suspicious, and it is neither a Qing or British commercial firm, but only a commercial organization that indicates to the British Consulate that it operates locally.

The consul was clear about this, and Zhao Dagui was well aware of this, but they all invariably avoided discussing the actual nature and status of the Dagui firm.

Out of the rigor of the British, Bafur later mentioned this incident in a memorandum of consular work, and also applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to say that in view of the novelty of Chinese businessmen who were interested in the British Empire wishing to register at the consulate, he hoped that the Ministry would formulate detailed rules and regulations and regulations, etc., but unfortunately these were quickly buried in the pile of old papers, and it took a long time for people to find them.

In any case, the famous Dagui Commercial Bank was established, and from the very beginning, it was neither under the management of the Qing government nor under the jurisdiction of the British government.

(Note: According to the custom of this era, the consulate did not collect taxes from British merchants who did business in China, only the local British tax department collected taxes after the merchant ships arrived in the UK; the same was true in later generations--- it seems to be nonsense)

The way in which customs duties were collected in China at this time was very interesting, because Qing officials had never been willing to get too involved in Yiwu, so when foreign merchant ships came to China to do business, they had to go to the consular office of their country to declare the type and value of the imported and exported goods, and pay taxes to the Qing government accordingly.

Anyone can understand how much of a side effect this kind of gentleman-like approach is, and the British have figured it out in a few years, so that only British merchants are paying customs duties, and merchants in the United States and other Western countries, without formal consular offices, do not have to pay much customs duties.

On August 14, 1851, the British Consul in the Devil's Capital, Ali Guo, sent a note to Wu Jianzhang, the newly appointed Taoist of the Devil's Capital, saying: "I have recently received an order from the British Government ... Excellency... Do not seek any information on illegal or smuggling from the Consulate.

... It will be understood that the British Government does not claim any special rights for British merchants, but only for British businessmen to receive the same treatment as other foreign businessmen... Chinese officials cannot tolerate or acquiesce in tax evasion by other foreign businessmen while acting differently towards British citizens. ”

Through this note, British merchants, like merchants in other countries, were granted the right not to provide information on imports and exports to any organization, so that they could smuggle goods in the open.

If one thinks that China's tariff power was lost after the Taiping Rebellion and because Wu Jianchang signed various traitorous agreements, they will understand that this power and interest were completely lost as early as when the Qing government was still in power normally, and this in itself has little to do with Wu Jianzhang.

Next, Zhao Dagui signed a cargo agency agreement with Captain Kellett in the name of Dagui Commercial Bank, which can be regarded as officially obtaining the agency right.

However, this agency agreement is more inclined to a gentleman's agreement, which does not stipulate a specific price, nor is there any liability and punishment for breach of contract, etc., and it is at most a memorandum.

In fact, at this point in time, neither Zhao Dagui nor Captain Kellett could sign any formal agreement, first, Zhao Dagui's business firm was a little child's play, and there was no credit at all, and second, Captain did not know what he should expect from this English-speaking Chinese.

There is good news that according to the custom, the captain paid Zhao Dagui two hundred silver dollars, which is regarded as the initial activity fund, which will be deducted after the business is completed in the future, but for Zhao Dagui at this time, it is still a very useful fund.

Therefore, although Zhao Dagui felt a little surprised, he still smiled happily.

Then, Zhao Dagui took his leave and went out to discuss business with the so-called local tea merchants, leaving Bafur and the captain in the house, looking at each other.

"Mr. Consul, is this comprador Zhao unreliable, why is it that even the firm was registered today?" asked the captain uneasily.

To be honest, the captain felt that he was a little misled, and at first he found out that Zhao Dagui's title was comprador, and he thought that he was a professional comprador with a long history and huge strength in Guangzhou, but now it seems that it is not at all.

As for Consul Bafur, he naturally smiled wryly, thinking that if you ask me, I don't know who to ask.