After bidding farewell to the treasurer, the red-flag carriage passed through the garden square in front of the Governor's Palace, passed several streets and houses, and followed the count's instructions, passing through the south gate of the castle and heading towards the seaside. The road under the wheels was three
More than a hundred years later, Manila's famous landscape street - Roxas Beach Boulevard. However, in this time and space, although this road is regarded by the colonial authorities as a military thoroughfare connecting Cavite and Cavite fortresses in Manila, it is allocated every year
A sum of money was spent to maintain the road, but the condition of the road was a mess: the so-called repairs were just shoveling a few shovels of soil into the ruts and throwing two bundles of firewood into the pits.
Although the carriage swayed a bit when it passed these obstacles, it did not slow down at all. The shock-absorbing leaf springs creaked under the body, but it withstood the test. The carriage drove until it reached a small bay surrounded by sand dunes. Behind the bay was a
A small fishing village called Marat. Looking from the small boat on the beach and the shabby thatched huts, there are only two brick and stone buildings near the fishing village, one is a church, and the other is two buildings located on the slope of the harbor.
A two-story villa surrounded by a wooden fence. It was built by a former city manager of Manila for his sick daughter so that she could breathe the beneficial coastal air. Until the little girl died of illness and the city manager left his post and returned to the country,
This exquisite building began to deteriorate day by day. Weiss bought it without spending much money.
Before the car stopped, Weiss opened the car door and jumped off. Shlick lingered on the steps behind the car for a long time before slowly getting down. Weiss had long known that this seemingly strong black slave was actually
He was so timid that he was frightened out of his wits by the swaying and bouncing of the carriage just now. Weiss left Schlick there alone in a daze and walked straight to the garden of his new residence.
Both the villa and the villa have open doors. The yard is filled with bricks and sand. The grass and vines that were originally covered on the stones of the courtyard wall have been shoveled down. Carpenters and masons hired from Parian are busy repairing the yard.
The part of the building that had been damaged by years of inactivity was renovated at the earl's request.
The grass and trees in the yard have been cleared away - in the tropics, plants are extremely rampant. As long as human activities are slightly reduced, the plants will quickly regain their lost ground. When I first bought this villa, the grass and trees in the yard were so dense that it was almost unbearable.
walk into.
In addition to Mimi, who was supervising the work of the craftsmen in the house, there was also a young man who led a few local servants to unload large and small wooden boxes from an ox cart and carry them into the house. They were all Weiss' luggage. Many of them were
Part of it is the various attire used by the fake earl: these were purchased from Macau at a high price, and part of them came from the spoils of the Manila galleon.
The young man wore a newly made long-breasted livery, embroidered with the "coat of arms" of the Count of Vannovar family. His hair was cut unevenly. The short stubble stood on his forehead in a messy way, like a dog gnawing it.
Above. This is undoubtedly the result of shaving my hair in front of the mirror. No one in the local area would cut such short hair.
This was considered a kind of obedience to the "organizational arrangements". Originally, he had been wearing his navy training uniform, but when it came to his hair, the young man refused to compromise and continued with this strange hairstyle.
Weiss knew that this young man who was trying his best to show off himself and was afraid that others would not know that he was an "Australian" was named Jimide. He was a naturalized citizen from a Chinese businessman family living in Beiqi. The protracted civil war in Vietnam had already destroyed a considerable number of Vietnamese.
The Chinese businessmen in Yangzhou were dragged into the abyss of bankruptcy, and Ji Mide's father was one of them. Although he did not lose both his life and property, the whole family was already living without money, and they did not even have the money to return to his hometown in Fujian.
Relying on the introduction of an acquaintance, the father and son found a job at Dachang Warehouse. Unlike their father, who only wanted to make a living, the exquisite Australian products inspired the young people to have an almost fanatical yearning for "Australia". This enthusiasm even
This impressed Beiqi station director Bei Kai. He sent a report to Lingao and recommended Ji Meade to go to school in Fangcaodi.
Because of the family business, Jimide learned to read, write and calculate accounts since he was a child. In addition, he is smart and studious. Obtaining the Lingao B diploma naturally took a lot less effort than most natives with refugee origins. Because of his age and expertise, he enrolled in the university.
In the business vocational class at Yerba Caodu, when I was about to graduate, I was selected to join a Southeast Asian company to participate in the first Luzon voyage trade internship.
This internship assignment that everyone envied in Fangcaodi was a minor joke for the young top student in the business class - he contracted tropical typhus, and with complications, his life was almost hanging by a thread.
At this time, the fleet was ready to return. Although he was out of danger under the treatment of the ship's doctor, he would not be fully recovered within ten days and a half.
The fleet cannot wait any longer. The trading fleet composed of sailing ships should return as soon as possible before the trade wind season is over. However, no one can bear the great risk of bringing an infected person who has not yet recovered from the disease on board. Ocean-going ships are originally
It is a hotbed of epidemics, and even the strictest isolation measures may not be able to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases. In the end, it was decided to let Jimide stay in the Guangdong Guild Hall in Parian to recuperate. Ping Qiusheng left him a batch of medicine and money, and sent him
The merchant guild first gave him an additional gift and used him to find someone to take care of Jimid and take him back when the next trade ship arrived.
Before departure, Weiss knew from the intelligence source that he "will find a useful person" in Manila. After today's almost tampering with the intelligence agent, Weiss felt that he was very motivated after recovering and "always ready to help Australia."
The young man who "contributed to the cause of Song Dynasty" should indeed be thrown out and put to some use. It would be a pity to let him stay at home all day doing odd jobs.
Weiss walked up the steps and walked a few steps along the porch. Dark and thin Chinese craftsmen came in and out of the open door, carrying ash buckets and sawed lumber into the house, and he followed them into the house.
In order to increase the illumination inside the house, the windows on the first floor have been enlarged, and a full-height space has been added directly to the roof - a hole has been opened in the roof to prepare for the installation of a glass skylight.
The newly installed blinds made by Delingao were all open, making the originally dark living room a lot brighter. Although the ventilation was good, the strong smell of lime, raw lacquer mixed with linseed oil still made him frown. Mimi
He didn't care, running around the living room to clean up, nimbly avoiding the splashes of plaster and paint from time to time. The fluttering skirt and the girl's slender waist suddenly made Weiss smell the pungent smell.
There was a hint of the alluring fragrance of youth. He waved his hand and motioned for Mimi to accompany him and look around. There was a busy construction scene everywhere in the villa and garden, with the sound of hammering walls and nailing wood and the noise of craftsmen.
His bedroom on the second floor has been basically completed. The walls smell of freshly painted limewash, and the floor has been covered with Porto cork flooring shipped from Macau. This kind of flooring is wear-resistant, beautiful and elastic, and is very suitable for high-rise buildings.
Popular with the elders.
Furniture has been placed in the house. The furniture is old furniture from the original villa. It has been left vacant for many years and has become damp and deformed. Mimi hired a carpenter to renovate it. The furniture is very strong and is made of high-quality local wood.
According to Lando's instructions, the single bed has been laid with high-level straw mats, gauze mosquito nets and bamboo skin pillows, which looks very refreshing.
When he thought about the Spanish people in Manila sleeping on mattresses, he felt itchy all over and wanted to take a bath immediately.
However, the newly built bathroom was empty, with no equipment and only a few reserved holes.
"The bathroom equipment will have to be shipped from Macau later. There are also pipes. But people here don't know how to install them..."
"It doesn't matter, we will send people along with the ship to install it." Lando said, "Has the drainage culvert been completed?"
"The coolies can't come to work until the day after tomorrow - the local coolies are very nervous now, and the prices have also risen." Mimi took out a small notebook, "The foreman in charge said: the prices of everything here have increased. Even the lumber."
Timber is everywhere in Manila, as long as you find enough workers to cut it down and transport it back. If the price of these things increases, it only means that the artificial increase has been very large.
"A new bathtub has been prepared for you in the bathroom downstairs - it was bought from the Japanese village according to your instructions. A temporary toilet has been set up in the yard. As for soap, bath brush and toilet paper, they are in the toilet
Li'an has bought it. It will be delivered shortly."
Is the Southeast Asian company doing a good job? Lando thought to himself, at least he doesn’t have to write special letters to apply for these most common daily necessities.
"All the windows must be replaced, and these ridiculous shells must be replaced with glass." Filipinos like to use pearl shells on their windows to block the scorching sunlight, and in Manila, where earthquakes occur frequently, it is far away to replace damaged shell window panels.
It is much cheaper than glass. Even the Spaniards are not exempt from this custom - not to mention that the European glass that can be completely transported to Manila during the bumpy sea transportation that lasts for a year is sky-high.
"Go to Huang Ji's shop in Parian to buy glass. His family sells the glass plates of Southeast Asia Company on a consignment basis, and then ask them to send a glassmaker over. No, I'm not asking you to buy it. I'll ask Jimide to do it.
One thing, remember to bring my business card. And this idiot Shlick, ask him to stand guard at the gate in full force! Go quickly, my sweetheart."
Seeing Mimi closing the door and walking out with a blushing face, Weiss took off her stuffy boots with a happy mood. He did not lie down directly on the bed, but lay on a bed he bought from Parian's bamboo shop.
On the bamboo couch - he was not planning to take off his clothes stained with mud and sweat to enjoy the bed just yet - relying on the habits he had developed on the battlefield, he quickly fell asleep amidst the noise. (To be continued.