Dominate the Country

Observing the military strength of the Fu Han Army was one of Robert's tasks. He asked David to pay close attention to the guards outside, observe them carefully, and pay attention to their weapons. The answer he got disappointed Robert. Judging from the weapons and training of the guards outside, the Fu Han Army is much stronger than the Qing Army in Guangzhou.

"How is it? How did you talk today?" David Osmant did not participate in today's talks.

Robert reached out and handed over the minutes of the talks. "The rebel government has great sincerity. They decided to open Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other coastal cities as trade ports. They also allow our people to move only in the trade port cities without any restrictions."

"There are no restrictions on trade. Business is dominated by merchants themselves. Just don't forget to pay taxes to their government."

"On the specific trade list, there are even a few tariff-free goods listed."

"Compared with the Tatar government in Beijing, the sincerity and openness of the rebel government are far beyond . "

David Osmante simply closed the minutes of the meeting, and waited until Robert finished speaking before he spoke: "But I can see that you don't look very happy. Did the Chinese raise tariffs? "

"Of course. Especially tea and raw silk. "Robert rubbed his forehead, "In addition, they formally protested to us and submitted a letter of protest about opium. "

"That Han, unceremoniously asked me to tell those opium merchants after returning to Guangzhou, asking if their heads are harder than steel knives. This is a threat!" Robert angrily lined up the table. "This is a threat!"

David raised his eyebrows. As a person who hates opium very much, David is not as angry as Robert. But he also understands Robert's anger. The company owes less than one million taels of silver in the account treasury in Guangdong. As the boss, Robert has the responsibility to wipe out these deficits as much as possible. This is an obvious political achievement. If Robert can wipe out those deficits during his future term, he will become a hero of the company and it is not impossible to jump into the company's committee. Opium is Robert's most reliable weapon, like a sharp spear piercing the dark cloud over the Guangzhou office.

The Fu Han Army now wants Robert to throw away his sharpest spear before he walks to the arena!

"They also refuse to accept silver ingots, gold ingots and any foreign currency to circulate in their domestic market. After Shanghai opens its port, they will set up a bank at the port, the Commercial Bank. To use gold and silver ingots and Eagle Dollars, you must first go to their Commercial Bank to exchange for Chinese gold and silver coins or gold and silver certificates. The handling fee is 2% of the exchange amount."

"This is robbery, naked robbery!"

If Robert still feels a little guilty about the opium trade, he knows the appearance of those opium-addicted guys in the UK. Then the subsequent bank exchange fee will make him really furious.

Now David Osmant also frowned fiercely. The 2% handling fee may not seem much, but it is pure profit. No one wants to spit out the fat meat that has been eaten. Payment - This additional tax has disappeared for more than ten years, and the British have long been accustomed to the days without payment.

In the East-West trade of this era, the Thirteen Hongs still controlled a relatively large voice in the pricing of commodities. Before the rise of the opium trade, China was always in a strong position in the bilateral trade between the East and the West.

After 1760 AD, almost 50% of China's total tea exports were shipped and exported by British ships. Every year, more than 30 British merchant ships arrived in Guangzhou, accounting for 50% of the number of merchant ships in Sino-European trade, and continued to increase. The British East India Company enjoyed a vital position in the export trade of Chinese tea.

But this is not a reason for the British to threaten China. Today, the British government also imposes a tax of up to 119% on tea. More than 15% of the annual revenue of the entire government is tea tax levied by the state. Throughout the 18th century, tea smuggling was the most watched thing in Britain. The widespread smuggling of tea and the prevalence of counterfeit and inferior tea caused great harm to the British government, the East India Company and ordinary consumers.

France, the Netherlands..., the entire European continent was smuggling tea to Britain. This phenomenon continued until the British took the initiative to reduce tea taxes and tariffs. France, the Netherlands and other countries made a huge profit, and people in their own countries did not drink tea, so the French and Dutch who imported tea decreased year by year, and the British imported tea every year gradually increased to 80% or 90% of China's annual tea exports.

But at this time, the British government still imposed a high tariff of 119% on tea. It will take another ten years for the East India Company to monopolize China's tea trade. Britain's own high tea tax also became a profitable evidence when Han Teng argued with them about tea tariffs.

Last year, the total weight of tea consumed in the British Isles exceeded 9 million pounds, and the total tea sales in the UK was 1.3 million pounds, and these two numbers are still increasing. So the more than 50% of the volume is not only not a bargaining chip for them to threaten Chen Han, but their own lifeline. Robert was controlled by others, the East India Company was controlled by others, and even Britain was controlled by others. He was full of anger at Chen Han's predatory regulations. But at the same time, he deeply understood that if the Fu Han Army really insisted on this request, he would be powerless to resist.

He could only let the Fu Han Army slaughter their flesh and blood! "This feeling is too bad!" Robert couldn't calm down.

David kept silent, thinking with his head down. The Fu Han Army had two requests for them. The first was to build a Western-style sailing ship; the second was to run a school and recruit teachers.

The East India Company and Britain could not possibly have any influence or threat on the Fu Han Army. After fighting a seven-year war, the British government owed 26.4 million pounds in seven years. The huge financial pressure made it impossible for the British government, the main backer of the East India Company, to give up the vital tea tax. And the British at that time had no ability to intervene in the Chinese war in the Far East and provide a lot of assistance to the Qing Dynasty in terms of arms and money. The Tiandihui in Fujian was very repulsive to the British because of their intervention in the Battle of Fuzhou. Wuyi tea, the most popular tea in Britain, only accounted for a small 7% of the weight of tea shipped back to China by the East India Company last year. You should know that in the London market, the price of Wuyi tea is higher than that of Zhejiang pearl tea, ranking first among Chinese teas.

The war in the past two years alone has caused heavy losses to the East India Company. If they dare to turn against Chen Han, who will soon completely rule South China, it will not be the Chinese who will suffer.

What do businessmen fear the most?

It is that the opponent holds their weak points in his hands, while they do not have any handle on the opponent.

Even a good cook cannot cook without rice. Robert is in a very bad mood now.

Although the Fu Han Army is willing to open up the market completely, regardless of the "trade share", it seems to be very beneficial to their East India Company at first glance. But this "profit" is for all foreign merchants who come to China for trade, not just the British?

Robert and David would not think that the "handling fee" is also for all foreign merchants who come to China.

Among all European countries trading with China, the British have the highest trade volume, so naturally they suffer the most. Both of them are distressed.

Perrier, who is in the same manor, has sent people to look at the guards in the manor. The military attachés accompanying him also have a very high evaluation. Of course, like David Osmante, they are very disdainful of the Chinese musketeers still wearing armor.

It is believed that the muskets of the Qing Dynasty, the opponent of the Fu Han Army, were of poor quality, revealing the protective power of the iron armor, which made the Fu Han Army develop the habit of wearing iron armor. If their opponent was the French Army, a shot from 200 yards away could penetrate the iron armor, and even if the muskets had no accuracy at all, they could still kill people if they hit them. The Fu Han Army would have thrown the heavy iron armor as far as it could.

Robert didn't know that Perrier had sent a letter to Han Peng, saying that France could provide enough craftsmen to help Chen Han build Western-style sailing ships. Even so, they were still behind Lustig. Lustig sent a letter to Han Teng on the day he moved into the manor.

Sweden's shipbuilding level is not as good as that of Britain and France, but it is not bad. The shipbuilding level of any European country that traveled across the ocean to trade in China is on the average level. Not only that, they are also willing to accept a group of Chinese sailors to train on their cargo ships. Just like what Chen Jigong had inquired about, a Western-style sailing ship is completely different from a Chinese-style sailing ship. It takes a year for a sailing rigger to be of great use. It takes a long time to train a qualified sailing rigger.

There are also navigation chiefs, navigation officers, riggers, and then boatswains, gunners, and accountants...

These people are lower in status than the captain, first mate, and second mate, but they are the guarantee of the smooth sailing of a Western-style sailing ship.

Before Robert knew it, Han Teng had already negotiated a deal with the Swedes. Shipbuilding was too slow, and the shipyard could build it slowly, but the navy could not wait. If they wanted to buy ships and training ships, they could only say that people waited for the ships, not the ships for people.

If Perrier was not so enthusiastic, the deal would have fallen into the hands of the Swedes. Han Teng negotiated a deal for three sailing ships for him, two with a displacement of 500 metric tons and one with a displacement of 1,000 metric tons. Perrier also got a share of the pie. His enthusiasm brought orders for two sailing ships to the French East India Company. One 500-ton sailing ship, one 300-ton sailing ship. The last 500-ton sailing ship order was given to Robert.

The Swedes didn't know that it was the Gallic rooster that disrupted his business. All six sailing ships, Han Teng, would be handed over to Lustig.

So "not knowing is happiness". Lustig only saw the profits of the three sailing ships. When facing Han Teng, his face was full of joy. He was completely immersed in the joy of the current harvest!

Although this group of foreigners has only been here for three or two days, the news is reported to Hangzhou every day. Lustig's "knowledge" made Chen Ming's inner favor towards Sweden increase by 10%. As for whether to send people to the Swedish sailing ship as interns, Chen Ming did not hesitate at all. He immediately issued an order to the navy, asking them to focus on selecting 100 middle-level and grassroots officers and non-commissioned officers. These people will start from sailors who mop the floor when they arrive on the Swedish ship!

Chen Ming will provide these people with doctors and interpreters.

These selected personnel must be the best of the best in the navy, and they are all the elites of the current Fu Han Navy.

At the same time, no one knows that Chen Ming is also preparing to give the Europeans a big gift, he wants to "conquer" scurvy.

Chen Ming still knows the rate of casualties among sailors in the Age of Discovery. With the current technical conditions, it is common for 20 to 30% of the casualties to occur in a round trip between the East and the West. If you are unlucky, it is not surprising that most of the people on the ship will die.

Europeans have been sailing for 300 years, and scurvy has always been the number one killer on the ship, and they have not yet conquered it.

But Zheng He's fleet, which came earlier than them, had never encountered such a thing. Because Chinese people eat bean sprouts, they carry a lot of mung beans in their cargo holds (there are many varieties of bean sprouts: Chinese toon sprouts, buckwheat sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, pepper sprouts, green black bean sprouts, acacia bean sprouts, sunflower seed sprouts, radish sprouts, bean sprouts, peanut sprouts, broad bean sprouts). When there are no vegetables, they just soak them in water. After a few days, the green bean sprouts will fill the basin, and then you will not lack vitamins if you eat them. The foreigners did not discover this technology. [Of course, the surrounding environment of Zheng He's voyage to the West cannot be completely equated with the Europeans' great voyages. Zheng He's fleet basically sailed near the coast, and there were many residents and ports along the way, so they could replenish various foods, including vegetables, at any time.

During the Age of Navigation, European fleets sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope. They could not see the mainland for ten days or half a month. If they did see the mainland, it was all deserted, and it was very difficult to supply. 】

However, there is definitely a reason why Chinese ships have never found scurvy in history. The main reason is that Chinese people have the habit of eating bean sprouts, while there are no bean sprouts in the Western world. It is said that Li Hongzhang introduced them to the West when he was on a diplomatic mission to Europe. Long-distance voyages without vegetables will cause scurvy, a VC deficiency disease. Bean sprouts are actually fresh vegetables, containing a lot of vitamin C, and bean sprouts do not require soil for cultivation. They are the easiest vegetables to get on board.

In addition, Zheng He's fleet not only had bean sprouts to eat, but also carried a lot of pickled vegetables and kimchi. The Chinese also drank green tea, which also contains vitamins. These unique dietary habits of Oriental people avoided the problem of scurvy in the Chinese fleet represented by the "Zheng He Fleet", while Europeans have been troubled by the demon of "scurvy" since the Columbus Fleet.

This problem was solved by the Europeans at this time - Captain James Cook.

The devil of scurvy was conquered by the Europeans in 1768 when Cook, who was hired by the Royal Society as the commander of the expedition, led a team to explore the Pacific Ocean. During his journey, he tried different methods to prevent the crew from suffering from scurvy. He found that the key to preventing scurvy was to provide the crew with sufficient fresh food, especially fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C such as lemons. This demon that had been hanging over the heads of the Western world for three hundred years was defeated. During Cook's first exploration journey, no one died of scurvy throughout the journey, which was an absolutely rare achievement at the time. He wrote a detailed report on his research results in this area and submitted it to the Royal Society of London, which led to him being awarded the Copley Medal by the Society in 1776 as a commendation.

Since the mystery has been solved by the British, Chen Ming thought it would be better to get rid of it first and immediately refresh the West's understanding of this ancient continent.

How easy it is to brush up your favorability? Chen Ming remembered it very clearly when Cook and scurvy were in the past.

When the instructions were delivered to Han Teng, Robert had already received the order for the last 500-ton sailing ship. The British East India Company had no reason to refuse. This was Chen Han giving them money. Not only that, Chen Han also entrusted them to recruit a group of retired naval officers and soldiers with good health and skills from the West. For each person recruited, different salaries were given depending on their status. Just like the shipbuilders and craftsmen, this is a business without capital. But the overall benefits are very small and cannot be compared with the sailing trade at all.

Robert was very jealous of Sweden and the Gallic rooster.

As for Lustig's promise to be an intern on a Swedish merchant ship, Perrier and Robert also agreed.

"Although China no longer develops large-scale trade with the outside world after the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese are not always bound to this land. Not to mention the glory of Zheng He's fleet during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, our fleet had already sailed to Persia a thousand years ago in the Tang Dynasty. You may not believe in bean sprouts, pickles, kimchi and green tea, but why not give it a try?"

Time is gradually approaching June, and the European trade ships in Guangzhou are about to set sail.

All Europeans welcome the Fu Han Army's initiative to equip the "interns" with doctors. At this time, doctors are definitely a rare and greedy profession in Europe. At the same time, the foreign devils at this time did not regard Chinese medicine that fiddled with "grass roots and barks" as ignorant witchcraft.

That rhubarb is still a popular product that Europeans have imported from China in the past two hundred years [starting from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty]. However, now that the war has started, the rhubarb mainly produced in the northwest cannot enter Guangzhou, but the Russians take this opportunity to smuggle rhubarb to Europe in large quantities. [Note: Before the 47th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, the rhubarb trade was directly controlled by the Russian Tsar, and private traders had no way to get involved. ]

This drug, which was mainly used as a dye in China, was completely extracted from the pigment and processed into medicinal materials. It was exported to Europe in large quantities for two hundred years. [Raw rhubarb has a strong laxative effect, which is what traditional Western medicine values. However, Chinese medicine is different. It mainly uses processed rhubarb; after rhubarb is processed, its medicinal properties change, and its laxative function is weakened. There is no raw rhubarb in Guangzhou.]

There are also herbal medicines in the West, especially in the UK. Don't worry about Chen Ming's previous life - how much Westerners in the 21st century discriminated against Chinese medicine and regarded it as witchcraft, but is the real reason really the medicine? That is a comprehensive victory and suppression of Western civilization over Eastern civilization!

In Kyakhta's border trade, the rhubarb exported from China was worth twenty rubles per pood [equivalent to approximately 37 catties]. When the Russians shipped it to Western Europe, it was sold at an average price of two hundred rubles.

"You can feel free to try it boldly. We are also considering the safety of the dispatched personnel. If you still can't conquer the demon of sepsis, you can only pray to the gods." Han Teng said with a smile on his face, while I muttered in my heart, wondering if it would still be useful to pray to Mazu and the Sea Dragon King after leaving Nanyang?

Chen Ming also specially took photos of lemons, but unfortunately, there were no lemons in China at this time [native lemons were only discovered in Beijing in the early 20th century], so he could only prepare a large amount of orange juice for the interns.

"If you go out with a hundred people, I hope you will come back with a hundred people!" They didn't even have time to learn the language. On the merchant ships that are also foreigners, there are more or less people who understand Mandarin.

Chen Ming thought about the naval trainees and sighed. These people are the forerunners, and since they are the forerunners, sacrifice is inevitable. Just like the battle report from Fujian that he held in his hand, Zhao Mingde was dead, a veteran of the Tiandihui uprising. Chen Jie won another victory, killing Zhao Mingde directly on the battlefield, and also gave Ling Liang of Yanping Mansion a hard blow!

The latter was born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, but was a general of the Tiandihui. Not only did he fight bravely against the Qing soldiers and civilians, he won more than he lost, but he was still defeated by Chen Jie.