Zhong Lizhi returned to the city hall and explained the situation to Wei Bachi and others - although there were many local elders, most of them were on temporary business trips. They were not members of the Kaohsiung Front Committee and did not need to attend the Front Committee meeting. However, eight
In order to respect the authority of the Senate in a formal manner, the ruler always informed him when discussing matters, and it was up to him whether he came or not.
Veterans like Hong Laojun and Shi Dafu would never attend front committee meetings unless it was related to their own work. Veterans from the navy generally did not attend either.
There were quite a few people in the conference room this time, all with smiles on their lips and spring in their eyes. Some of them were still walking back and forth in the conference room, smoking cigars, and there were bursts of laughter from time to time, which seemed very lively.
.
As soon as Dr. Zhong came in, he felt that the atmosphere was not right. He immediately talked about the specific resettlement situation and then explained Mr. Boncourt's request.
"Vaccinium is nothing, I can make the decision on this." Wei Bachi thought for a moment and said. He held a giant corolla-shaped South China Sea cigar in his hand, which did not match the shape of his face. "You said these two Dutchmen came here.
What is the purpose? Do you want to negotiate with us? "
"I don't think it has any specific purpose," Dr. Zhong said. "The governor's envoy said it was a private visit."
Liu Zheng said: "I think these two Dutchmen have evil intentions. I'm afraid they are spies!"
"That's for sure, spies. Let alone these days, diplomats will not still have the obligation to collect intelligence in a few hundred years." Wei Bachi disagreed, "Anyway, if you give them some muscle, they might be able to call themselves Dutch in the future.
Just get out of here as a senior officer and save us the trouble of using force."
What everyone is most interested in is the young pony - the elders were puzzled that the Dutch would travel thousands of miles to East Asia with their children. Now they are relieved to hear that Dr. Zhong introduced that it was for vaccination. After all, the emperor and nobles here
, in an era when people in Li are all turned pale after hearing the "flower", a medical technique that can prevent infection is enough for people to take such a big risk.
Moreover, given their status, the sailing process is indeed difficult. After all, they are not hard-working sailors or small businessmen. They do not have to take risks to ride on a broken ship that requires constant pumping of water to float, nor do they suffer from long-term consumption of inferior food and excessive
Even if you lose your life due to overwork, safety is still guaranteed.
"Speaking of which, what are the identities of these two people?" Wei Bachi asked.
"According to what the envoy said, Huygens' father came on behalf of the prince - that is to say, he came on behalf of the seven provincial governments, not on behalf of the East India Company. As for Mr. Boncourt, he came from the East India Company.
A senior businessman is at least on the same level as Hans Putmans here."
"I still can't understand why the Dutch sent a diplomat and a senior businessman to Taiwan? And even sent a special ship? Is it just to send their children to be vaccinated against cowpox and take a look at our construction?
Achievements? The Dutch are not sick, are they?" Liu Zheng was still surprised.
"I think their purpose is to negotiate with the shogunate to resolve the Hamada Yahei Incident." Wei Bachi has considered this issue many times. He said, "From 1626 to now, Japan-Dutch trade has been interrupted. According to history,
It was this year that the issue was finally resolved through the Dutch compromise."
Having said this, everyone felt relieved. Trade with Japan was indeed the most important trading activity of the Dutch East India Company in East Asia. One can imagine how urgent they were to solve this problem.
"The only thing I find strange is that the representative of the Dutch government, Mr. Constantin Huygens, is not an employee of the East India Company. And the seven-province coalition government generally does not interfere with the East India Company's activities in Asia."
Li Di said: "Huygens should be more focused on us - after all, we are now a major force in East Asia."
"This is also possible." Wei Bachi nodded, "We will entertain them and see what trouble they can cause."
Then he said to Zhong Lishi: "I'll leave this matter to you. I see you are very interested in Father Huygens..."
Zhong Lishi quickly defended: "I am talking to his son..." Suddenly he realized that this statement was inappropriate, and quickly changed the subject: "They are guests, so we naturally have to fulfill our friendship as landlords." After that, he added
After looking at the elders, he said earnestly: "We are all guests, so don't do anything that will scare the guests - be more decent."
All the senators at the scene expressed that they were "very happy to have friends from far away" and had absolutely no thoughts of zombies. They were all "gentlemen" of the Senate. Then they all expressed that they should hold a grand reception to entertain the Dutch distinguished guests.
Wei Bachi was particularly excited about this:
"We must entertain our foreign... no, guests well," he said, waving his cigar wildly, "let them fully appreciate the warm hospitality of my Senate and the deep friendship for the Dutch people."
At dusk, Zhong Lishi and several chefs started preparing dishes for the reception in the customs kitchen.
In addition to being rich in knowledge, Dr. Zhong is an out-and-out "foodie". He not only loves to eat but also loves to figure out how to cook. When he was in high school, he started his own cooking group very early. After the completion of the Taipei Observatory, colleagues from the Ministry of Science and Technology
As long as they get good ingredients or find some suitable excuse, they will gather people to the observatory and let Dr. Zhong cook a meal. Some people joke that in addition to many instruments and equipment, there are too many kitchen utensils in the observatory.
He came to Taiwan on a business trip this time and made sufficient preparations for his appetite. He packed a box full of various kitchen utensils and condiments. The kitchen in the customs building that had been vacant was given to him.
The kitchen was very busy at this moment. Zhong Lishi asked Zhong Xiaoying to keep an eye on the jar of tomato soup. He was holding a hammer and pounding the meat paste for the swallow skin. When the swallow skin was ready, he turned around and told Xiaoying
Ying brought the seasoned minced meat, but found that the person behind him who was helping him was actually Huygens.
Zhong Lishi was shocked and said: "Mr. Huygens? How do you..."
Huygens smiled slightly and said to Zhong Lishi: "I am also very interested in cooking. I just heard your daughter say that you are good at cooking, especially the roast duck is very delicious. I want to see your roast duck and ours.
What's the difference between roast goose..."
"Welcome! Welcome! Just don't mind the messy kitchen..." Zhong Lizhi greeted Huygens. He secretly wondered: When did Zhong Xiaoying learn to speak German? As for these Dutch people, they must be able to speak a few words.
It's very rare to speak good Cantonese.
Zhong Lishi glanced back and saw that Zhong Xiaoying was cheering up the duck with her hands and feet. While cheering, she was joking with the blond girl. Although she couldn't hear what was being said, she could tell that the two were communicating.
"Xiaoying!?" Zhong Lishi was shocked.
Huygens probably noticed his surprise and couldn't help but smile and said: "Don't be surprised, your daughter doesn't speak German, but Credia learned from Chinese sailors and merchants on the ship and in Batavia.
Learned a lot of Chinese..."
"It's in Cantonese," said Zhong Lishi.
Huygens was puzzled: "Isn't that just Chinese?"
Zhong Lishi couldn't laugh or cry. This traditional misunderstanding that all Chinese people in Hollywood movies in the 20th century speak Cantonese has a long history. At the moment, he had to say: "Look, you are speaking Low German, and Mr. Boncourt and I are speaking Cantonese."
They speak High German... You can't say the two are the same thing."
"Oh, I understand what you mean." Huygens said thoughtfully, "but your German is very strange..."
Dr. Zhong was about to continue explaining when he suddenly heard a burst of laughter from two girls in his ears. When Zhong Xiaoying saw Zhong Li, she realized that she smiled mischievously at Zhong Li. She said loudly to him in Mandarin: "Father, sir,
I didn’t understand her Cantonese very well either…”
Dr. Zhong warned, "Be careful when doing things, or you may get burned!"
Zhong Xiaoying said to Zhong Lishi: "Cretia said he would teach me how to cook fish in the Dutch way..."
"Really? That's perfect." Zhong Lishi thought that this would be a good way to promote benefits. Of course, it's hard to say what specific uses this kind of friendship has...
Suddenly he realized that his ideas had become too "senator-like". Everything must be meaningful and based on its purpose.
Zhong Lishi hung the cheered ducks into the oven - he roasted six in total. Not to mention the elders, several Dutch people were probably big eaters, and six ducks was the minimum. He looked at it
I fiddled with the fire head with an iron hook, and when I saw that the fire was at a suitable level, I closed the fire door and came to watch Credia's Dutch-style grilled fish.
"Remove the bones, tail, and head, leaving only the meat...then add olive oil, bay leaves, onions, and milk..."
It was obvious that Cretia's skills were good and her movements were very skillful. Dr. Zhong couldn't help but praise her a few times. In his opinion, this girl should be considered a lady, but he didn't expect that she could still be in the kitchen.
"I used to help my mother cook," Cretia said. "Then God took my mother away, and I was the only one left to cook..."
Dr. Zhong knows that the average age of people these days is very short, but it can be heard from her language that the Boncourt family was not a wealthy family in the early years. Otherwise, in this era of low labor costs, their wife and daughter would not be required to cook.
Rice. No wonder she and Zhong Xiaoying have something in common - they both come from working people's backgrounds.
"Miss Boncourt is a very capable young lady. Thanks to her for taking care of our lives along the way." Huygens said with a smile. He is a Dutch aristocrat and a diplomat. However, the social atmosphere in the Netherlands is different from that of other European countries. The aristocrats
Rich people live a simple life and value labor. Therefore, their attitude towards labor is relatively positive.
Dr. Zhong took the opportunity to inquire: "Mr. Huygens, how is your little son Christian?"