Chapter 587 The East King’s kindness is not over yet
June 10, 1857.
When the whistle of the Albatross sounded in the Busan Harbor, Moore's pocket watch was pointing at 8:3. He held the wooden boat and looked at the Busan Port. What he saw was clearly an emerging industrial and commercial city with mixed problems between the East and the West.
On the dock, three brand new steam cranes were unloading goods, and the steel booms were glowing green in the rising sun. They were tied with hair on their heads and wearing strong and wear-resistant linen clothes. The short and sturdy Korean dock workers were shuttled and transporting small pieces of goods.
Near the port terminal, there are piles of cargo everywhere, and ships from all over the sea are moored everywhere. There are all kinds of steam sailing ships, flying scissors sailing ships that are very suitable for trans-ocean cargo, and there are wide, bliss, bliss, and bird ships from the coast of China. The busyness is far higher than that of Nagasaki Port in Japan next door.
The shipyard for repairing ships stands in a corner of the port area, with black smoke everywhere on the tall chimney. In the newly built dock, a iron-ribbed wooden hull that is dozens of meters long has taken shape - this is a "Jianghai-class" armed merchant ship imitated by the North Korean Heavenly Kingdom shipyard.
Near the shipyard, there are three chimneys that are spitting black smoke - that is the newly built Busan Shining Mill. This is a new factory that has introduced British spinning machines and steam engines and hired British engineers and technical workers!
"God, this is simply a growing Eastern Liverpool!" Moore nodded, "The industrial revolution has indeed appeared in East Asia!"
Sir Sutton's silver pipe hit the wooden ship's side: "It's all thanks to King Yang Dong, who allocated land to more than 10 million poor Korean peasants, improved their economic situation and expanded the domestic market. Last year, the North Korean Heaven abolished all extraterritorial powers, and even the British Empire's commodities had to pay high tariffs of 30 to 60% to 60%. Now there is a market in North Korea, and foreign cheap goods cannot be entered, which is why North Korea's industry has been created."
Friedrich's pen rustled on his notebook: "So, King Yang Dong sent a revolution to North Korea to cleanse the domestic feudal forces and eliminate foreign powers, but he himself seemed to be an outsider!"
"In fact, he is not! North Korea has been a Chinese vassal since ancient times. Yang Xiuqing was in North Korea like Ali Pasha in Egypt." Bai Siwen explained while taking out a beautifully crafted wooden comb and holding it in his hand to play with it - this is the token given to him by the Japanese girl Aju who was seduced by him in Nagasaki.
While the few were talking, the Albatross had already reached the dock. After a while, a tax collector wearing a soap-colored round neck robe boarded the deck. He held a token of the "Busanguan Inspection Department" in his hand, and two soldiers from the Korean Heavenly Kingdom wearing goose feathered swords behind him.
"Where is your captain? Can anyone among you speak Chinese? "The North Korean tax collector said stiff Chinese, and his eyes swept to Bai Siwen's face with a Chinese face.
"Dare you ask the Lord for his surname?" Bai Siwen suddenly stepped forward and fisted.
"I'm a surname Li." The tax collector raised his hand to hold Wusha and gave a greeting, "Your surname?"
"Mr. Li, my surname is Bai." Bai Swen smiled and said, "Mr. Li said he has a North Korean accent? He became an official after the Korean high school competition last year?"
Lord Li of North Korea heard Bai Siwen ask about his imperial examination and immediately became energetic and smiled: "Thank you for the blessing of the King of the East, there are no more than two mountains above the North Koreans. The people are all assigned to the land, and everyone can participate in the imperial examination. No matter whether they are from the background, they only look at their studies."
He said as he took out a copper waist card, and the regular characters "The fifth year of Tianli" on it were touched shiny.
"I heard that Yang Xiuqing led his troops into Seoul?" Friedrich suddenly asked, and the British consul present and the Dutch consuls were breathing.
Mr. Li straightened his waist, and the patch on the hem of the official robe flew with the sea breeze: "North Korea has been in great great tomorrow since ancient times! When the Qing army occupied the Central Plains, our three Korean soldiers and civilians were waiting for the royal army day and night. On the day when the army in the East Palace crossed the Yalu River, the Korean people ate a pot of slurry."
Bai Siwen translated his words into English, while Friedrich quickly recorded it in his notebook, and finally did not forget to add his comments: "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom washed the feudal forces of the old dynasty in East Asia more thoroughly than Napoleon's washed the old European forces. If they could complete the purge of the old Japanese forces like feudal fortresses, East Asia would likely usher in a new era!"
"It's time to calculate taxes now!" Lord Li suddenly returned to his official expression and took out the calculations for settlement. A holy soldier from the North Korean Heavenly Kingdom behind him took out the wooden ruler used to measure the hull.
"Mr. Li," Bai Siwen smiled, "there is no cargo on the ship. This is a special ship for diplomatic envoys."
"Diplomatic envoy?" Lord Li was stunned, "Which country's envoy?"
Bai Siwen pointed to Wenxian: "British Envoy Wenxian," and then he pointed to the consuls of Britain and the Netherlands, "Sir Sutton, the British Consul in Nagasaki, and Mr. Styren, the Dutch Consul in Nagasaki."
The noon sun roasted the dock slabs hot. Wen Xian and his group followed the porter to the pier and were suddenly attracted by the laughter. Under the shade of the sycamore trees, dozens of short-striking men sat in circles and feasted in coarse porcelain bowls. The aroma of the stew was mixed with the smell of spicy sauce, and some people were holding sea bowls and red scarves soldiers.
"They actually have meat soup?" Bai Siwen looked at the worker's bowl of bibimbap and a piece of fat braised pork. In Nagasaki, the Pier Coolie even mixed with braised rice.
The Lord Li followed Bai Siwen carefully. When he heard his words, he replied with a smile: "The dock workers in Busan earn a lot, and now there are no two masters who have exploited them. Of course they can afford meat."
But what Moore cares about is not the meat in the dock workers' bowls, but the fact that they are mixed with the Taiping soldiers - in Japan, the samurai can cut off the coolie's arms at will! In North Korea, the Taiping army and the dock workers seem to be equal.
"The rice they eat is all produced in North Korea?" Friedrich pointed to a "big rice bucket" beside the workers and asked in Chinese.
"It's all Korean rice!" Lord Li's pride was beyond words, "My family also had ten acres of paddy fields, everyone was assigned to land, they were all full. Last year, the weather was good, everyone could eat enough, this is the great kindness of the East King!"
On the sea, the whistle sounded again, and a cruiser with more than 1,000 tons of flag flying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom "The Great Wall Never Fall" was slowly entering the port. The sailors on the deck were wiping several 32-pound rifled cannons! The thick gun barrel seemed to be demonstrating to a Dutch consul.
Consul Van Limburg Stiren's breathing was a little rapid, and his voice was trembling: "This is a Kokang-class steam sail cruiser belonging to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" He looked back at Wen Xian, "Did you sell it to the Chinese?"
Wen Xian looked at the 1,200-ton water displacement and equipped with more than 20 cruisers with 32-pound front guns. He was a little stunned for a moment - he hadn't heard of this deal when he left Europe! He thought about it and murmured: "It should be a second-hand ship purchased after the signing of the Sino-British Friendship Treaty, right?" He then smiled and said: "But don't worry, the Netherlands is also a friend of the United Kingdom. You can buy newer and better warships from the British Empire! Not only can the Netherlands buy British warships, but North Korea and Japan can buy them!"
Moore took out his notebook and wrote this passage on it: "The industrialization of 500 million people has just begun, and the 'friends' from the West have begun to build cages for them - by selling arms to the three countries of China, North Korea and Japan."
Tianjing City, Wu Wang Mansion.
When the Western self-tone bell imitated by the Shanghai Watch Factory rang eleven times, Luo Yaoguo was looking at the Java map with an ivory handle magnifying glass also produced in Shanghai.
The newest ⊥小⊥小⊥ said⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥⊥!
Maria, wearing a white long dress with lace, sat aside with an enamel coffee cup.
"Wei Jun wants to build the Javan Kingdom." Luo Yaoguo suddenly threw the magnifying glass on the desk, "Is his century-old navy of Dutch made of paper?"
Liu Lichuan, who had just rushed back from Java, was on a magistrate chair, and he seemed quite optimistic: "King of Wu, now Batavia, Sisawa, and Semarang have been taken down, and the Dutch East India fleet has also been defeated by the armed merchant ships of the Nanyang Company."
"Your Highness, the Netherlands is not ready either." Maria stirred the sugar cube with a teaspoon. "This country's military preparations have been relaxed for a day or two. The Dutch Navy has fewer steamships than us, and they do not have chorionic shells. In addition, the British will definitely mediate - Berlin is still talking to the Russians, and the Indians are in a big uprising. The British themselves are in a state of great trouble. They should try their best to retreat when we go to war with the Dutch so we still have time to prepare for war!"
The Minister of the Admiralty Wang Yan walked quickly outside the door. He laid a drawing of the ironclad ship that had just been taken from the ship research room of the Admiralty on the case: "This is the drawing of the glorious class ironclad ship that Rinko brought from Napoleon III." His eyes shone and looked at Luo Yaoguo, "The Director Xu of the Jiangnan Bureau and several foreign engineers have studied it. As long as they are given two years, they may create a glorious class!"
This is a more than 5,000 tons of iron-clad ship!
Luo Yaoguo couldn't believe that the lion of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau spoke out loud. According to his idea, if he could complete a glorious level within five years, it would be a great success for the industrialization of the Heavenly Kingdom.
"Where is the Kokang-level drawing?" Luo Yaoguo looked at his eldest disciple, and the latter had to take out another drawing of the British Kokang-level cruiser.
Although this is just a 1,200-ton ship, it is a real warship, and the so-called "Three Far" ship is actually the foundation of large-scale armed merchant ships.
"First understand the Kokang level thoroughly. Within seven years of Tianli, Luo Yaoguo knocked on the drawings, "I want three new Kokang levels, and I want six more in the eighth year of Tianli!" He said this, and suddenly asked Maria again, "Maria, has the Wenxian delegation arrived in North Korea?"
Maria nodded: "I arrived in Busan two days ago, now I should be heading towards Seoul."
Luo Yaoguo thought about it: "Maria, go to Seoul for me!" He pointed to the Kokang drawings, "bring a Kokang copy of the Kokang drawings!"
Chapter completed!