Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 285 Liu Zheng's Miscellaneous Notes of Thirteen Lines ([-])

At the end of November, Pereira, who was in charge of designing the new port construction plan, submitted the first draft to Zhao Xin.

After more than two months of on-the-spot investigations and a careful understanding of the construction level of Beihai Town, Pereira from Macau selected the location of the new port in the narrow bay fifteen miles southwest of Beihai Town.

Because whales are often seen there, the people of Beihai Town call it Whale Bay.

The narrowest width of Whale Bay is 500 meters, and the largest width is 900 meters. It does not freeze at all in winter, and the water depth is more than ten meters. It is an excellent natural port.

In the draft, Pereira divided the future Whale Bay Wharf into four, lined up from the northeast side of the bay to the southwest, and can accommodate up to [-] thousand-ton ships.

After watching for about 10 minutes, Zhao Xin raised his head and said to Pereira: "Very good, Mr. Pereira. In addition, I need to build another one in the southeast of Beihai Town, which is the bay south of the workshop. port."

Zhao Xin is very satisfied with Pereira's work.However, in his plan, the future military and civilian docks must be strictly separated, and it is best to keep them far away for the purpose of keeping them secret.The two small frigates he purchased from Andrew will complete all outfitting operations next summer and are ready for delivery.

If you don't ask, you don't know. If you ask, you will be shocked.Zhao Xin took the time to contact Andrew these days to find out that the outfitting of a warship is a very long and cumbersome process, and the engineering volume generally accounts for about 60.00% of the total engineering volume of ship construction.

Even though 80.00% of the hull construction progress of the two ships purchased by Zhao Xin has been completed, the subsequent outfitting will still take a year.

The main construction period of outfitting is between launching and the first sea trial, and after the sea trial and before the official delivery, a lot of finishing work of outfitting will continue to be completed.Fortunately, Zhao Xin does not need electronic warfare systems, air defense systems, and missiles, otherwise the lead time will be longer.

Of course, then again, if Zhao Xin wanted the missiles, it was a matter of whether he would sell them or not, and he would definitely be targeted by those who wanted to.

"Forgive me, honorable lord, I think the port in Whale Bay is sufficient, and there are as many as [-] berths in the design plan." Pereira scratched the frostbite on his face a few times, and fucked Speaking in broken Mandarin, he spoke cautiously.

These Australian Portuguese have been in Beihai Town for several months, and they are extremely uncomfortable with the climate here.Running from the warm and humid subtropical zone to the cold and dry Beihai Town, many people suffered from chilblains; every time they returned to the house from the outside, their hands and faces were itchy and painful.

In addition to chilblain, Pereira and other Portuguese-Macao workers also suffer from frequent colds and have become frequent visitors to the hospital.If it weren't for Beihai Town's medical technology far beyond this era, these Australian Portuguese would not be able to survive this winter.

Zhao Xin thought about it and said: "It's hard for you, Mr. Pereira. I know it's cold now. Well, you'd better take advantage of the winter time to learn the language, and it will be easier to communicate in the future. The southeast port can go to We will do survey and design next spring."

"Thank you very much for your understanding, Your Excellency." Pereira said and bowed to exit.

Not long after Pereira left, Sheng Haizhou knocked on the door and came in, saying to Zhao Xin, "My lord, Seldan and the others have news!"

"read."

"Yes! It has been found out that the Qing court recruited tens of thousands of civilians from the Shangyangbao and Fengtian areas, and is building a city in the Hunchun area. The original Hunchun city has now been converted into an earthen city wall, twelve feet high, seven miles in circumference, and four sides. They all have city gates. In addition, three miles east of Hunchun City, there is a mountain city surrounded by stone walls for fourteen miles. This place is surrounded by water on three sides. It was originally an abandoned city, but it has been restored now."

Zhao Xin gave a "hmm" and asked, "What's happening on the other side of the Mongolian River?"

"There is no movement there, but a barracks has been built at the western foot of Tongken Mountain and on the east bank of the Hunchun River. There are currently 100 armored soldiers stationed there."

"What about Hunchun's troops?"

"Hunchun is now guarded by a deputy named Guanbao. He has 3000 men, half of whom are musketeers. Seldan also heard that Ningguta will send troops over next year."

"Official security? What is the origin of this person?"

Sheng Haizhou said: "I heard that they came from the capital with Qing Gui, but I don't know the rest. How about letting them grab their tongues and ask?"

Zhao Xin thought about it for a while and thought it was unnecessary.He believes that it is true to put up fences and start construction at the moment; as for how the Manchus are struggling, it is just a goldfish in a glass tank-it cannot make a big wave.Of course, if Qianlong really sent [-] troops to engage in crowd tactics, that would be another matter.

So he said to Sheng Haizhou: "No need, let Seldan and the others withdraw."

After talking about this matter, Sheng Haizhou said again: "Guangzhou called. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Sun Shiyi, is sending someone to contact the British. It is said that he wants to buy a warship."

"To what extent?"

"It didn't say in the telegram. But Guangzhou said that the British are going to Macau for the winter now, and they won't be able to return until May."

When Zhao Xin heard this, he immediately asked casually: "By the way, why are Liu Zheng and the others still in Guangzhou? Shouldn't they go to Macau now?"

"Ah?" Sheng Haizhou was taken aback, and quickly reminded: "My lord, have you forgotten what happened at the mouth of the Pearl River? The last time Master Liu called, he said so."

"Oh!" Zhao Xin slapped his head, thinking that he was so busy recently that he even forgot about it.

Because of the bombardment of the Macau Fort at the Pearl River Estuary, the Macau and Portuguese authorities refused Liu Zheng and his party to enter Macau for the winter, and even asked Liu Zheng to ask for Pereira and others through Wanhehang.

And Liu Zheng simply pretended to be stupid, saying that he didn't know anything about it.He bluntly stated that he was a business representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom and had nothing to do with the group of Serisians.

However, the Portuguese-Macao people are not fools, and they will understand everything when they send someone to inquire.

So this winter Liu Zheng could only stay in the shop of Shisanhang and scratch the wall.

It is said that the merchants of Thirteen Lines from various countries in Guangzhou are about 100 meters away from the Pearl River, more than 100 miles away from Humen Fort, and more than 30 miles away from Huangpu Anchorage.The entire foreign business district is more than 600 meters wide from east to west.Every country that came to trade used a large house as a place of residence and trade, thus forming a commercial hall.The fronts of each shop are exactly the same, all facing south.

The buildings of the commercial building are all three floors, and the interior is built in Western style. If two large glass windows are counted as one room, the number of rooms in the "Great Ainu Kingdom" commercial building is the least at present, only two; There are as many as eight Dutch Pavilions in the east.

Because the flag of the Great Ainu Kingdom is the white bear flag with a red background, since the flag was hung, the surrounding population has passed on, and this place is called "White Bear Walk".When Liu Zheng knew about it, he wanted to change it, but it was too late.

On the right side of the White Bear Row is the Gao Gong Row, which is the French Pavilion, and on the left is the Twin Eagle Row, which is the Imperial Pavilion (Holy Roman Empire); and then to the left are the Danish Pavilion, the British Pavilion and the Dutch Pavilion.

There is a wide promenade in front of the British Pavilion and the Dutch Pavilion, stretching all the way to the Pearl River. The roof of the promenade is supported by two columns of pillars, and the emblems of the two countries and mottoes written in Latin are carved on the gables.Liu Zheng later learned from the French that the words on the wall of the British Pavilion were "for the benefit of the king and the British government", and the words "I support" were written on the walls of the Dutch Mansion.

There is a street called Tongwen Street between Baixionghang and French Pavilion. At the northern end of Tongwen Street stands a huge Chinese-style courtyard. This is the "Gongsuo", also known as the "Foreign Bank Guild Hall".The public office is the public property of the thirteen merchants, and it is usually maintained by the merchants' appropriation.Any matter related to foreign trade needs to go through the office. For example, when new regulations are made, old regulations are reiterated, and tax rules are revised, the heads of the commercial offices of various countries must be invited to come here to discuss with the merchants.

There are many sets of small courtyards for receiving guests and talking about affairs in the house, as well as open-air courtyards.The office is managed by the general merchant of Thirteen Banks, and the current general merchant is the Cai family of Wanhe Bank.

Liu Zheng often visits the office when he has nothing to do.Different from businessmen from other countries, he would ask for a pot of tea and sit in the open-air courtyard for an hour; in the name of understanding the local situation, in fact he was just looking for news.

The only thing Liu Zheng felt extremely regretful about coming to Guangzhou City was that he couldn't see any women.Not to mention the commercial area, there is not even a maid in the office.But this is nothing to him, anyway, the fifth girl has been with him for many years.

Baixionghang is the private property of the Cai family of Wanhehang, and it is considered to be leased to Beihai Town for use.According to the law, merchants are not allowed to bring firearms, gunpowder and weapons into the house, but this prohibition is useless to Beihai Town.After checking the luggage of Liu Zheng and others, the Cai family did not recognize the dismantled pistol as a weapon; as for the bullets, Liu Zheng and others put them in several small tin cans, and the Cai family was in charge of checking the luggage. People also don't think it can hold weapons there.

What Liu Zheng didn't know was that in another time and space, the commercial houses of Shisanxing countries were all razed to the ground by British artillery fire during the second Opium War. Since then, the consulates have replaced Shisanhang.

Because of the arrival of new faces, enthusiastic French people soon came to visit. Afterwards, people from Austria-Hungary neighbors, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries came to visit one after another. Everyone showed great curiosity about Liu Zheng's arrival.

She has an oriental face, no strange braids, and her attire is not in the style of orientals at all.When Liu Zheng said that he was actually from Seres, the expressions of the Austrian neighbor and the French neighbor were completely different.

"Seresian?" Christopher Zweig looked confused, he remembered which book he seemed to have seen.

Facing the suspicious-looking Austrian businessman, the Frenchman's face was full of contempt, and he said in his heart that he was really a bumpkin from the Habsburg family, and he didn't even know the silk-rich Cyris people.

The Dutchman looked at Liu Zheng playfully, and said to himself, don’t think I don’t know, there was a letter from Nagasaki last year. Guangzhou pretends to be a wolf with a big tail.

These days, the gifts given by merchants from various countries are also commodities sold by themselves. Except for clocks, woolen fabrics, jewelry, and spices, there is nothing new.If he could bring weapons in, it is estimated that Liu Zheng could still receive short firearms and knives.

After accepting the gifts from the neighbors, Liu Zheng gave each of them a calculator, artificial pearls, and two bolts of silk.

Anyway, he was using the kind of gift that the other party couldn't create, and couldn't copy in this life.

However, when another business neighbor came to visit, the originally lively scene suddenly became deserted.

You guessed it right, the British are coming!

The British came to protest, and Morris, the boss of the shop, expressed great indignation at the Sires bombardment of Hengqin Island, and he mentioned that he wanted Liu Zheng to pay an apology.

Liu Zheng sneered and said, "What does this have to do with me? I am the trade representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom, and the Thunder God just sent us here by the way. By the way, Mr. Morris, you are in that warehouse on Hengqin Island , there seem to be a lot of things that shouldn't be there, like opium."

As soon as this remark came out, the hearts of the executives at the commercial firm all thumped, and Morris' face changed instantly.

The French and the Dutch looked at Morris and thought, "Damn the British! It turns out that you secretly smuggled opium in Hengqin Island. Why don't you share such a good thing?"

Morris sneered and said: "Mr. Liu, you are sophistry. Macau has already investigated the relationship between you and that ship. I warn you, the British Empire will seek justice for its people. The world No one in the world can challenge the navy of the British Empire!"

Liu Zheng lowered his face and said: "Mr. Morris, although I am only a representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom, on behalf of the Sairis people, I would like to welcome your navy from the British Empire. Don't blame me for not reminding you in advance, as long as you dare to come, keep it safe." There is no back and forth!"

Maurice's face turned green, and he got up and left without saying goodbye.He thought to himself that if I were the governor of Bangladesh, I would have sent warships north to settle accounts with you.

Liu Zheng's first meeting with his new neighbors ended in such an awkward atmosphere.

In the days that followed, Liu Zheng got up every morning and had breakfast, and then went out to stroll around the square surrounded by railings outside the door to digest food.Sometimes I can also meet French neighbors and Austrian neighbors, and chat with each other about today's weather in English hahahaha With Liu Zheng's limited English ability, that's all.

Although the square at the entrance of Thirteen Banks is dedicated to each family, the Chinese people know everything about their temperament, and if they can take shortcuts, they will definitely not make detours, regardless of ancient and modern times.

When Liu Zheng moved into the commercial building, he noticed that the fence on the square had been damaged, and some ordinary people often passed directly through it.There are often hawkers in the square doing business here, such as those who sell salted olives, peanut cakes, tea and porridge, and even a few opera performers came one day.

In addition to these small people in the market, there are often people who come to see the ghosts.Sometimes when these people saw Liu Zheng, they would exclaim in surprise, "Who is this guy? Why doesn't he have braids?"

Those who knew the inside story of the cottage before the shelling of Beihai Town naturally knew who Liu Zheng was.After these people whispered to each other, those who were surprised by the incident looked at Liu Zheng with astonishment, and cursed viciously: "Damn the traitor!"

(End of this chapter)