When he woke up in the morning, Dong Shuheng only felt aching in his waist and back. The craziness last night was indeed unprecedented since he time traveled.
The beauty on the bed was no longer there, and a large piece of the sheet had been cut off, leaving a big hole.
Dong Shuheng got up and twisted his waist. He wanted to drink water, but his hand touched the teapot and retracted. This woman not only drugged him, but also drugged herself. When two men and women who had taken aphrodisiacs were together, it was not just firewood, but a big fire.
A prairie fire.
Opening the door, Su Ting hurried over, with a meaningful smirk on his face. Dong Shuheng was so angry that he kicked him to the ground.
"How did you become the captain of the security company and actually put a living person in my room? What if it was an assassin?"
Only then did Su Ting realize that he had made a big mistake.
"I'm sorry, President, I've neglected my humble duty, please punish me." Su Ting lowered his head and said.
"You and all the guards on duty took off their shirts and ran around Xuzhou City!" Dong Shuheng shouted loudly.
Su Ting knew that he had stirred up a hornet's nest today and did not dare to defend himself.
As a result, a beautiful scenery appeared in Xuzhou City this morning, and pedestrians who got up early had something to talk about after dinner...
In an inconspicuous courtyard in Xuzhou City.
Lu Feiyan was sitting in the bathtub, her white shoulders looming in the mist.
"Captain, you just trust that Dong Shuheng so much. I think he is just a scoundrel. If he dares to treat you badly in the future, I will definitely not let him go." Juan'er, who was filling the water beside the tub, said angrily.
Speaking of.
"Okay, Juan'er, he will be our helmsman from now on. We must fulfill our oath. I believe he will lead us to overthrow the Qing court, drive out the Tartars, and revive China."
"You must respect the helmsman from now on and stop being so willful. I am going to send you to the helmsman to take care of his daily life and protect his safety."
"No, Sister Feiyan, I want to follow you. Who will take care of you if I leave?"
"Juan'er, be obedient, or I will protect him and you will handle the affairs within the meeting."
"Forget it, let me go. I can't handle the matters in the meeting." Juan'er said aggrievedly.
"Juan'er, you sent people to summon the heads of all the halls, so that everyone can meet our new helmsman. After hiding for so many years, my Jiangsu Branch Helmsman is finally joining the world."
"Yes, Sister Feiyan."
In Shanghai, the British Concession, the British Consul Wenhan personally received a young Chinese man. This man was dressed in a suit and wore a pair of round-rimmed glasses. His behavior was civilized and reasonable. His English was very fluent. This man was in the Shanghai Concession in the past six months.
Liu Qingbei, the famous Huaihai Group negotiator in the concession.
This sudden company has placed nearly 10 million taels of silver orders in the Shanghai Concession in the past six months. This time, it has spent 2 million taels to prepare to purchase a fleet of ships at once.
"Dear Liu, hello, the order you mentioned can be completed by our British Empire ourselves. You must know that we have the largest shipbuilding industry in the world." Wenhan said.
"Dear Mr. Consul, we are planning to buy second-hand ships this time because my boss is impatient. And we only need clippers and ships. My boss hopes that his fleet can have the fastest speed." Liu Qingbei
said.
"Mr. Liu, our British Empire has hundreds of merchant ships in the Far East. I will contact you for any number you want. You can choose whatever type of ship you need."
"Your Excellency, Consul, the Americans and the French are also very interested in this order. You know that we all have business interests, so I cannot offend our friends. However, Mr. Consul, as compensation, I will connect you with a relevant person.
Orders for warships.”
"Oh, thank you so much, Liu. Don't worry, the merchant ship will give you the best price. After all, I am still a bit thin in the Far East. Can you tell me about the warship? As far as I know
The Qing government has no intention of purchasing warships." Wen Han asked.
"Yes, this time the Jiangbei Admiral's Office of the Governor-General of Liangjiang wants to order a batch of warships. But they are not old-fashioned wooden battleships. They want to order an all-steel armored ship powered by full steam power." Liu Qingbei said.
"Oh, Liu, I have to say that I am shocked by you. Our British Empire is only in the experimental stage of this kind of warship. If you want to buy it, you need to negotiate with the shipyard, and the price will not be cheap. I want to ask,
Why not just buy ready-made battleships? As long as you are willing to pay, we are willing to sell thousands of tons of battleships."
"I think it may be because our sailors are unable to control the complicated sail system on the battleship!" Liu Qingbei said awkwardly.
"Hahaha... Mr. Liu is really humorous, but the navy is indeed a technical job." Wen Han smiled proudly. Now the great powers do not block China in terms of weapons. They believe that with the backwardness of the Chinese people, they do not have advanced weapons.
It will definitely come in handy.
"Mr. Minister, we are not familiar with the shipyards in your country. Could you please introduce me to a few?"
"Oh, of course. I can introduce you to the Far East commercial representatives and technical representatives of Armstrong Shipyard. Just talk to them."
Liu Qingbei negotiated with the United States, Britain, France and other countries, and finally this huge order was divided among the three countries. Through this order, each company also paid more attention to the trade with Huaihai Group.
The clipper ship is a high-speed sailing ship that originated in the United States. The ideal speed is 12-14 knots and the fastest can reach 17 or 18 knots. On January 22, 1845, it was designed by the American ship designer John Griffiths.
) designed and built at the Smith and Dimon shipyard in New York, the "Rainbow" was launched. The ship has the hallmark hollow bow of a clipper ship and is recognized as the world's first true flying boat.
Scissor sailboat.
The current tonnage of large-scale clipper ships is generally between 1,500 and 2,000 tons, and the price is about 80,000 taels of silver.
Ships are still hybrid-powered, that is, a steam engine power system is installed on a sailboat. The tonnage of ships on the sea is generally about 3,000 tons, and the cost is about 200,000 taels of silver. Because it is a second-hand ship, and because of the bidding from three companies, Liu
Qingbei bought 12 clipper ships and 6 ships at a very reasonable price. These ships can be delivered one after another in about a month.
Most captains and engineers will hire foreigners in Shanghai. There are too few domestic captains with ocean-going experience. According to Dong Shuheng's instructions, sailors will be recruited in the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian. You must know that most of the Chinese naval generals in modern times came from Fujian, here
With many mountains and little land, most people rely on the sea for their livelihood, and it is rich in excellent sailors.
Dong Shuheng is eager to spend huge sums of money to purchase a fleet this time. Economically, it is for the needs of ocean trade. He has an official status and has inherent advantages in trade with North Korea, Ryukyu, Japan and Southeast Asia. He also uses overseas input to
Solve the food problems that trouble you.
Politically, in order to facilitate the layout, North Korea must strengthen its control; Japan must of course support the shogunate and maintain the state of Japanese local daimyo separatism; Ryukyu can be directly controlled by itself. Southeast Asia must integrate the power of the Chinese in Southeast Asia and penetrate the power of the great powers in Southeast Asia.
colony.
Militaryly, it is necessary to reserve talents for the future navy. The current inland water division is still too small and too limited. It is said that a century-old navy cannot be built overnight. He can only use all his time to start with the sailors' skills.
Reserves are started. Building an ocean-going merchant fleet is the fastest way to train sailors.
There are many people sailing in Fujian, Guangdong, and Nanyang, but most of them sail in the coastal waters on old-fashioned sailing ships. Therefore, Dong Shuheng is short of ocean-going sailors.
The city of Singapore rose because of the Chinese, but the Chinese have no say at all here.
During the few days that Wang Tao stayed here, he went deep into the Chinese community. He saw that the Chinese here worked hard and behaved themselves, but they were bullied by the British military and police from time to time. But in this way, this place can be regarded as a paradise for overseas Chinese, because here at least
There will be no natives who will rob and kill Chinese at will.
In order to keep Singapore prosperous, the British had to attract Chinese people. However, they were wary of the Chinese and therefore did not give them any political power.
Wang Tao was a man of erudition and elegance. Before leaving, Dong Shuheng helped him with an errand as a visiting envoy to Nanyang. This gave him an official status. Wang Tao didn't even know if it was true or not. Anyway, it would be fine if the Chinese recognized him. So he
He was very popular among the Chinese in Nanyang. Within a few days, he quickly established good relations with the local Lin family, Li family, Wu family and other big families. These families all gathered here from various places in Nanyang. At this time, Nanyang
All Chinese people have a deep connection with their hometown, and they are all very excited now that they can officially come into contact with official people.
At the beginning, the Chinese established many small countries in Nanyang. They petitioned many times to submit to the motherland, but the Qing government ignored them. The Qing government regarded these overseas Chinese as abandoned citizens. Even now that the Qing government has opened its doors, it is still passive in contacting the outside world.
Basically it is still in a closed state.
Of course, when he went to Singapore this time, Wang Tao's main task was to help Dong Shuheng find talents for Westernization. The Chinese in Nanyang are much more open-minded than those in China. You must know that those who are not open-minded will not leave their homeland to travel to Nanyang!
There are many children of wealthy families here who have received both Chinese and Western education, but in this place in Nanyang, it is useless if you have talents. Foreigners will not reuse Chinese people, and most of them can only inherit the family business.
This time I heard that the Governor-General of Liangjiang wanted to select talents, and each family sent their most talented children.
Lin Jiaxin is the head of the major families in Singapore. Today, the courtyard of the Lin family is filled with banquets. Wang Tao is sitting at the main table, and the heads of the major families are sitting next to him.
"Everyone, please be quiet. Let's raise a glass together. Today, we Chinese in Singapore welcome Mr. Wang to our Singapore to express condolences." The head of the Lin family raised his glass and said to Wang Tao.
"Thank you all for your warm hospitality. Today, on behalf of Mr. Dong, I would like to propose a toast to you all." He finished the drink in one gulp.
After talking about the scene, it’s time to start discussing specific matters.
"Everyone, due to the long journey, you may not know that my Lord Dong was recently promoted by the imperial court as the Admiral of Jiangbei, a first-class military attaché, and the number one general of the Governor-General's Office in Liangjiang due to his meritorious service in quelling the chaos. Your Excellency is well versed in Western affairs and is promoting reforms in Jiangbei.
, set up businesses and factories, build seaports, and develop maritime trade. There is a lack of talents who are familiar with Westernization."
"Your Excellency knows that there are a large number of overseas Chinese in Nanyang who are committed to China but have no way to serve the country. Therefore, when I visit Western Europe, I must stop in Singapore to recruit talents. At the same time, your Excellency also wants to strengthen the relationship with overseas Chinese in this way.
connect."
"My lord has said that as long as you are Chinese, no matter where you are, the motherland will be your backing."
"It's just that our motherland is still too weak, too backward, and unable to protect overseas Chinese. However, I believe that with the united efforts of our generation, our motherland will definitely become stronger, allowing everyone to
Chinese people overseas can stand upright and behave themselves."