Chapter 285 Liu Zhengs Thirteen Lines of Miscellaneous Notes (1)
At the end of November, Pereira, who was responsible for designing the new port construction plan, submitted the first draft to Zhao Xin.
After more than two months of on-site inspections and a careful understanding of the construction level of Beihai Town, Pereira, who is from Macau, decided to locate the new port in a narrow bay fifteen miles southwest of Beihai Town.
Because whales can often be seen there, people in Beihai Town call it Whale Bay.
The narrowest width of Whale Bay is 500 meters and the maximum 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 terminal into four, lining up from the northeast side of the bay to the southwest, which can accommodate up to thirty thousand-ton ships.
After watching for about twenty minutes, Zhao Xin raised his head and said to Pereira: "Very good, Mr. Pereira. In addition, I also need to build another one in the southeast of Beihai Town, that is, in the bay south of the workshop.
port."
Zhao Xin is very satisfied with Pereira's work. However, in his plan, military and civilian docks must be strictly separated in the future, and it is best to keep them far away. The purpose is to keep them secret. The two small frigates he purchased from Andrew will be purchased next year.
All outfitting work will be completed in the summer and it will be ready for delivery.
I didn’t know if I didn’t ask, but I was shocked when I asked. Zhao Xin took the time to contact Andrew these days and found out that the outfitting of warships is a very long and cumbersome process, and the project volume generally accounts for 100% of the total ship construction project volume.
About sixty/sixty percent.
Even though Zhao Xin has completed 80% of the hull construction of the two ships he purchased before, the subsequent outfitting will still take a year.
The main construction period of the outfitting is between the launch and the first sea trial, and after the sea trial and before the official delivery, a lot of finishing work of the outfit must be completed. Fortunately, Zhao Xin does not need electronic warfare systems, air defense systems and missiles, otherwise the delivery period would be
will be longer.
Of course, then again, if Zhao Xin wants missiles, he has no choice but to sell them or not, and it is certain that he will be targeted by interested people.
"Forgive me for offending, Your Excellency, I think the port in Whale Bay is sufficient. There are as many as thirty berths in the plan." Pereira scratched the frostbite on his face a few times and spoke.
Speaking in broken Mandarin, he spoke carefully.
These Macao-Portuguese people have been in Beihai Town for a few months, and they are extremely uncomfortable with the climate here. From the warm and humid subtropical zone to the cold and dry Beihai Town, many people have suffered from frostbite; every time they return to the house from outside,
My hands and face feel itchy and painful.
In addition to chilblains, Pereira and other Macao-Portuguese workers also often catch colds and have become frequent visitors to the hospital. If Beihai Town had not had medical technology far ahead of this era, these Macao-Portuguese workers would not have been able to survive this winter.
Zhao Xin thought for a while and said: "I'm sorry for you, Mr. Pereira. I know it's cold now. Well, you'd better take advantage of the winter time to learn the language, so that you can communicate more easily in the future. You can go to the port in the southeast
We’ll do the survey and design again next spring.”
"Thank you very much for your consideration, Your Excellency." Pereira said and bowed out.
Shortly after Pereira left, Sheng Haizhou knocked on the door and came in, saying to Zhao Xin: "Sir, Serdan and the others have news!"
"read."
"Yes! It has been found out that the Qing government recruited tens of thousands of civilians from Shangyangbao and Fengtian areas to build a city in Hunchun. The original Hunchun City has now been replaced by an earthen wall, twelve feet high, with a city perimeter of seven miles and four sides.
All have city gates. In addition, there is a mountain city three miles east of Hunchun City, with stone walls surrounding the city for fourteen miles. This place is surrounded by water on three sides. It was originally an abandoned city, but it has been restored."
Zhao Xin said "hmm" and asked, "What's happening on the other side of the Mongolian River?"
"There wasn't much movement there, but at the western foot of Tongken Mountain, a barracks was built on the east bank of the Hunchun River. There are currently 100 armored soldiers stationed there."
"Where is Hunchun's military strength?"
"Hunchun is currently guarded by a deputy general called Guan Bao. He has three thousand people under his command, half of whom are musketeers. Serdan also found out that Ning Guta will send troops here next year."
"Guan Bao? What is the origin of this person?"
Sheng Haizhou said: "He was our prisoner before. He is thirty-three years old this year and is a Manchu with a white flag. This time he came from the capital with Qinggui. I don't know the rest. Why don't you catch a few tongues and ask?
?”
Zhao Xin thought about it for a while and decided that it was not necessary. He believed that it was true to put up fences and start construction now; as for the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, it was just a goldfish in a glass tank - it could not make big waves. Of course, if Qianlong really
Sending a hundred thousand troops to engage in human wave tactics is another matter entirely.
So he said to Sheng Haizhou: "No need, let Serdan and the others withdraw."
After saying this, Sheng Haizhou added: "There is a call from Guangzhou. Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, is sending someone to contact the British. It is said that they want to buy warships."
"How far has it come?"
"The telegram didn't say anything. But the people in Guangzhou said that all the British people have gone to Macau for the winter and won't be able to go back 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 be going to Macau now?"
"Ah?" Sheng Haizhou was stunned and quickly reminded: "My lord, have you forgotten what happened at the Pearl River Estuary? Sir Liu told you this when he called last time."
"Oops!" Zhao Xin slapped his head, thinking that he had been so busy recently that he even forgot about this matter.
Because of the shelling of the Macau Fort at the Pearl River Estuary, the Macao and Portuguese authorities refused to allow Liu Zheng and his party to enter Macau City for the winter, and even asked Liu Zheng for Pereira and others through Wanhe Bank.
But Liu Zheng simply pretended to be stupid and said that he had no knowledge at all. He bluntly said that he was the business representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom and had nothing to do with the group of Seris people.
However, the Macao and Portuguese people are not fools. They will understand everything once they send someone to inquire.
So this winter Liu Zheng could only stay in the store in Thirteenth Street and scratch the walls.
It is said that the commercial hall of the thirteen businessmen from various countries in Guangzhou is about 100 meters away from the Pearl River. It is more than 100 miles away from the Humen Fort and more than 30 miles away from the Huangpu Anchorage. The entire foreign business area is more than 600 meters wide from east to west.
Each country that came to trade used a big house as a place of residence and trade, thus forming a business hall. The front of each business hall was exactly the same, all facing south.
The buildings of the commercial buildings are all three-story, and the interiors are built in a Western style. If one room is calculated with two large glass windows, the "Great Ainu Kingdom" commercial complex currently has the least number of rooms, only two;
The easternmost Dutch Pavilion has eight rooms.
Because the flag of the Great Ainu Kingdom is a white bear flag with a red background, after the flag was hung up, people in the surrounding area spread word of mouth and called this place "White Bear Row". By the time Liu Zheng knew about it, it was too late to change it.
On the right side of the White Bear Pavilion is the Gao Gong Pavilion - the French Pavilion; on the left is the Double Eagle Pavilion - the Imperial Pavilion (Holy Roman Empire); further to the left are the Danish Pavilion, the British Pavilion and the Dutch Pavilion.
There is a wide corridor in front of the British Pavilion and the Dutch Pavilion, which stretches all the way to the Pearl River. Two rows of pillars support the roof of the corridor. On the gables are engraved the emblems of the two countries and mottos written in Latin. Liu Zheng later learned from the French
I learned that what was written on the wall of the British Pavilion was "For the benefit of the King and the British Government", and what was written on the wall of the Dutch Pavilion was "I support".
There is a street called Tongwen Street between White Bear House and the French Pavilion. At the north end of Tongwen Street stands a very large Chinese-style courtyard. This is the "Gongsuo", also known as the "Foreign House Guild Hall". The Gongsuo is the home of Thirteen Merchants.
The public property of the country is usually maintained by allocations from merchants. Anything related to foreign trade needs to go through the public office. For example, when establishing new regulations, restating old regulations, or modifying tax rules, the heads of commercial offices from various countries must be invited to come here to discuss with merchants.
There are many small courtyards in the house for entertaining guests and talking about business, as well as open-air courtyards. The office is managed by the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank, and the current general merchant is the Cai family of Wanhe Bank.
When Liu Zheng has nothing to do, he often goes to the office. Unlike businessmen from other countries, he will ask for a pot of tea and sit in the open-air courtyard for an hour. It is called to understand the local situation, but in fact it is
To get the news.
The only thing that Liu Zheng felt extremely regretful about when he came to Guangzhou City was that he couldn't see any women. Not to mention the business district, he couldn't even see a maid in the office. But this didn't mean anything to him, anyway, the fifth girl was already there
I stayed with him for many years.
Baixiongxing is the private property of the Cai family of Wanhexing, and it is leased to Beihai Town. According to the law, merchants are not allowed to bring firearms, gunpowder and weapons into Beihai Town, but this ban is ineffective for Beihai Town. The Cai family checked the luggage of Liu Zheng and others
Afterwards, they could not recognize the pistol that had been dismantled into parts as a weapon; as for the bullets, Liu Zheng and others put them in several small tin cans, and the person in charge of checking the luggage of the Cai family did not think that weapons could be stored there.
What Liu Zheng didn't know was that in another time and space, the business offices of various countries in the Thirteen Banks were all razed to the ground by British artillery fire during the Second Opium War. Since then, consulates have replaced the Thirteen Banks.
Because of the arrival of new faces, the enthusiastic French people quickly came to visit. Later, people from Austria-Hungary neighbors, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries also came to visit. Everyone showed great curiosity about Liu Zheng's arrival.
He has an Oriental face, no strange braids, and his clothes are not Oriental at all. When Liu Zheng said that he was actually from Seris, the expressions of his Austrian and French neighbors were completely different.
"Serlis people?" Christopher Zweig, a senior classmate, looked confused. He remembered which book he had seen it in.
Facing the puzzled Austrian businessman, the Frenchman's face was full of contempt, saying that he was really a bumpkin from the Habsburg family, and even the Silis people, who were rich in silk, didn't know about it.
The Dutch looked at Liu Zheng with a playful expression, and said in their hearts, don't think I don't know, there was a letter from Nagasaki last year, and you people bombarded Saga Domain and Nagasaki Port with your front legs, turned around, and ran to
Guangzhou is pretending to be a wolf with a big tail.
In these years, the gifts given to merchants from various countries were all the goods they trafficked. Apart from clocks, woolen fabrics, jewelry, and spices, there was nothing new. If Liu Zheng could bring weapons, I guess Liu Zheng would also receive short muskets and knives.
.
After Liu Zheng accepted the gifts from his neighbors, he presented each of them with a calculator, artificial pearls, and two pieces of silk.
Anyway, he just wanted it as a gift that the other party could not make or copy in this life.
However, when another neighbor from a trading company came to visit, the originally lively scene suddenly became deserted.
You guessed it right, the British are coming!
The British came to protest. Morris, the chief executive of the commercial office, expressed great indignation at the Seris people's bombardment of Hengqin Island, and mentioned in his words that he wanted Liu Zheng to pay compensation and apologize.
Liu Zheng sneered: "What does this have to do with me? I am the trade representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom, and the Thor just sent us here by the way. By the way, Mr. Morris, you are in the warehouse on Hengqin Island
, there seem to be a lot of things that shouldn’t be there, such as opium.”
As soon as these words came out, all the senior executives of the commercial bank present were stunned, and Morris's expression suddenly changed.
The French and Dutch looked at Morris and said to themselves: "Damn the British! It turns out that you are actually secretly smuggling opium on Hengqin Island. Why don't you share this good thing with everyone?"
Morris sneered and said: "Mr. Liu, you are sophistry. Macau has found out everything about your relationship with that ship. I warn you, the British Empire will seek justice for its people. In this 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 Seris people, I welcome the navy of the British Empire to come. Don't blame me for not warning you in advance. As long as you dare to come, keep it
There’s no coming back!”
Morris's face turned green with anger, and he immediately stood up and left without even saying goodbye. He thought that if I were the Governor of Bengal, I would have sent a warship north to settle the score with you.
Liu Zheng's first meeting with his new neighbors ended in such an awkward atmosphere.
In the days that followed, Liu Zheng would wake up every morning after breakfast and go out for a walk in the square surrounded by railings to eat. Sometimes he would meet his French neighbors and Austrian neighbors and chat with each other in English about today's events.
The weather hahahaha... with Liu Zheng's limited English ability, that's all.
Although the square at the entrance of Shisanhang is exclusive to each family, the Chinese people know all about their temperament. If they can take shortcuts, they will never take detours, regardless of ancient or modern times.
When Liu Zheng moved into the business building, he noticed that the fence on the square had been damaged, and some people often passed by here. There were often vendors doing business here in the square, such as those selling salted olives, selling peanut pastries, and selling
There were tea and porridge vendors, and one day there were even some opera singers.
In addition to these little people in the market, there are often people who come here specifically to see the ghosts. Sometimes when these people see Liu Zheng, they will shout in surprise: "Who is this guy? Why doesn't he have pigtails?"
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 shocked to hear what happened looked at Liu Zheng with surprised eyes, and cursed fiercely: "Rebels deserve to die