Chapter 199 The British East India Company (Part 2)
"I didn't expect that after just a few months of leaving, I actually returned to this place. The world is so wonderful, but compared to when I left, it seems to have become more lively. There are free wines here, so I want to Don't have a drink, Black."
This is in a lounge in Hangzhou Customs. This place is usually hosted by foreigners with certain status. Although their self-containment has been temporarily restricted, no one has monitored them in the room. The decoration is also very gorgeous, and there is free wine and snacks, which will not make people feel imprisoned.
The person who spoke was a tall British man in his thirties standing in front of the winery and greeting his companions. His companions were a middle-aged man with brown hair and slightly fat body, and he was standing at this time In front of the window, the window of the lounge is facing the dock, with masts like a forest, hundreds of boats passing by, people coming and going, loading ships and cargo, which is very lively. A little further away, there is the endless blue sea, and there are still ships coming. often.
However, at this time the middle-aged man was not admiring the scenery outside the window, but was looking carefully at the window sash with transparent glass, reaching out and tapping it gently, then nodding slightly.
"Blake, are you listening to me?" The tall British man had already come to the window and handed him a tall glass with half a cup of dark red wine.
"Thank you, Hans." Black took the wine glass, drank it all, and then looked through the glass in his hand carefully, "Oh! Hans, I have to say that the quality of these glass products is not as good as that produced in Europe You're right, it's really a magical place."
"You finally admit that, Black, here you will find more things you would not expect. To be honest, if it weren't for my holiday, I had to go back to England, and I didn't want to leave here." Hans gave another I poured a glass of wine myself.
"My friend, are you still worried about this? But I didn't deny it at that time! Those who doubt you were the people on the board of directors, but didn't they still send me to come with you?" Black said. He shrugged and made a helpless expression.
At this moment, a knock sounded suddenly. Hans went to open the door. After seeing the knocker clearly, the horse shouted: "Father Adam, I really didn't expect it was you. Come in quickly. Captain Correa ?Why didn’t he come? Is there a new task?"
The person who came was Li Gefei and Joshua Tsang. Joshua Tsang said, "Mr. Hans, I am the same. I am very happy to see you again. Your captain is now following Captain Gonzalez in Japan, so he cannot pick you up. , but I think he will be very happy to know that you are back."
"Is it difficult to fight in Japan? Is it difficult for General Shang to start expanding his overseas colonies? It is a pity that he didn't catch this battle."
"Okay, Hans, it's a disrespect to the Lord if he doesn't talk about war in front of a priest." Black also came over and bowed to Joshua Chan, saying, "Father, I'm so happy to see you. .”
Johnson Chan drew a cross on his chest and said, "May the Lord give you my children."
The sudden arrival of the British was actually the result of a series of accidental factors. The Guan Jian figure among them was Hans, a British man who had worked in the foreign mercenary corps of the merchant army. The foreigner in Correa
There were not many British people in the mercenary corps, only six. Hans was the captain of the British squad. At the beginning of this year, his contract expired and he had something to do to return to China, so he left China. When he was redirecting to India, he
He made a special trip to visit his old friend Joblake who worked in the British East India Company.
After meeting, we naturally had to talk about our own experiences. Therefore, Hans told Black about his mercenary in China. This immediately aroused Black's strong interest and asked him a lot about Shang Yi.
Hans of course answered questions as much as he knew, but in some aspects, he also added some personal guesses and conjectures.
Although at this time, the British East India Company's merchant ships could not enter the waters east of the Strait of Malacca, it does not mean that they have given up the East Asian trade circle. If their own ships cannot go, they will take someone else's ships, and the business still needs to be done.
Made.
Although Britain and Spain had a war for sea hegemony in the 16th century, Spain is now weak and unable to compete with Britain in the sea. The Netherlands has become the most powerful country in the sea and competes for sea power with Britain.
The contradictions are also escalating, and Portugal and Britain have also fought fiercely in India, so the relationship between the two sides has eased. Although Britain is also a Protestant country, it maintains a neutral attitude during the Thirty Years' War in Europe.
Spain has made enemies on all sides in Europe and does not want to provoke a powerful enemy for itself. As a result, the relationship between the two countries has recovered well.
During the Battle of West Hollands, Britain also came forward to protect Spanish warships, and the British went to East Asia to trade, usually on Spanish caravans. However, the British of course hoped to open up trade routes to East Asia.
Two years ago, after Shang Yi's rise, he defeated Spain in East Asia, seized northern Taiwan, and established trade relations with the Dutch and the Spanish. The British East India Company has also heard of these things, but these things are
It has nothing to do with the British, and they don’t know much about China’s common sense, so the British East India Company did not pay too much attention to it.
But now suddenly a British man who had been a mercenary under Shang Yi appeared. According to his statement, the Chinese marquis he served was a political, economic and cultural situation in Europe with considerable power.
Those who are very familiar with and are keen on establishing trade relations in European countries are even more surprising that they can speak fluent French and English, because they are English. Although the grammar is a bit strange, in terms of proficiency,
Even among Europeans, it is rare.
Although these situations made Black unable to fully believe it, out of the sensitive sense of the businessman, he believed that there might be great potential in it. Therefore, while leaving Hans, he left behind, and sent a report to the company's board of directors and applied for it. He could be accompanied by Hans.
, go to China in person, examine the situation in China, see if you can establish trade relations with the general Hans said, and also open up the trade line between the British East India Company and China.
All directors of the British East India Company were also very interested in Hans' experience. Although many directors were extremely suspicious of Hans's speech, they thought it was too exaggerated, because Hans said that Shang Yi could speak grammar very much. The strange but very fluent English is even more incredible. You should know that Britain is not the future empire, and people speak Spanish or Portuguese when doing business. Therefore, I think Hans' words are not believed.
But there is also a director who believes that it is impossible to determine whether what Hans said is true or false, but this opportunity should not be missed. At least one company staff member will go to China to personally examine and then make a decision. Even if it is fake, it will not suffer any losses to the company.
Therefore, the British East India Company recruited a board of directors. After a fierce debate, twenty directors voted, and the resolution was passed with a slight advantage of ten votes, eight votes against and two abstentions. Black was a businessman from the British East India Company. He went to China for inspection. At the same time, he hired Hans as a commissioner and accompanied Black to China. As for Hans' affairs in the UK, the company came forward to help him deal with it and promised Hans that However, the result of this trip to China has reached the company's goal and Hans will be hired as the company's official staff.
In the face of such generous conditions, Hans could not refuse and became a formal employee of the British East India Company. However, what most British people dream of was hired, so they accepted the employment and returned to China with Black.
The two set off from India on a Spanish merchant ship and arrived in the Philippines first. Black did not rush to China, but lived in the Philippines for nearly a month, collecting information about Shang Yi from merchants traveling between China and the Philippines. Because the route from Hangzhou to Manila had been opened at this time, and more and more Chinese people came to Manila to do business, it was not difficult to collect these news.
After sorting out and dividing the collected information, Black concluded that most of what Hans said was true, so he also increased his confidence in this trip to China. Black first put the Philippines in the first place The result of the trip was reported and sent back to India, and then he and Hans took a merchant ship leading to Hangzhou to China.
Because Hans had a mercenary certificate, the two received certain preferential treatment at the customs. After Hans explained his initial purpose, the customs personnel immediately notified Li Gefei and arranged them in the lounge.
Although the Jesuits to which John Choi belonged also belonged to the old religion, and the Protestantism that Blake believed in Britain advocated, he also heard Hans mention John Choi and knew that this missionary was very trusted by Shang Yi, so he also put aside the difference in religion. Johnson Chan respects him very much.
Then Johnson Chan introduced Li Gefei to the two. Although Li Gefei was the Minister of Commerce, he should basically be responsible for the matter involving overseas affairs, so he also served as the Foreign Minister. Although he did not understand the situation of the whole body. But Black still understood that at this time, an important minister in Shang Yi's fief was flattered by such a solemn successor. Because he saw that Li Gefei could speak fluent Spanish, Black felt confident. It seems that it is very possible to complete the company's tasks.