Dominate the Country

Guangzhou Huangpu Wharf is a super-large wharf built in the past decade, with a total cost of 15 million yuan. Located on the north bank of the Pearl River Estuary, it has become the largest coastal and ocean transportation hub in Lingnan since it was completed and put into use.

At this moment, Huangpu Wharf is full of welcoming teams.

A treasure ship is slowly docking at the wharf accompanied by an escort fleet.

This is not the emperor Chen's car, nor is it the emperor's boat, but Chen Ming's son, the ninth son Chen Zhan, who has just been named King of Jieyang, passing by Guangzhou, the first city in the south, on his way to the UK.

Although he is just a prince, this has also inspired endless enthusiasm among Guangzhou people.

The city of Guangzhou has always occupied an important position in the political map of Chen Han. The Lingnan Garrison was located here before it was abolished. In those days, it was not only the station of the Nanyang Navy, but also a large number of land forces stationed here all year round.

However, as the tense period of the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China passed, especially when the entire Nanyang was taken into the pocket of Chen Han, the economy of Guangzhou Prefecture became more and more prosperous, and its status as a military and political center was indeed No. 1 in Lingnan, but its weight in the national political echelon was constantly declining.

Guangzhou used to be the second in the world, second only to Nanjing. But now Yanjing has clearly surpassed it.

Economically, Yanjing is still inferior to Guangzhou, but in terms of political and military status, Yanjing is the absolute core of the north, and it not only involves land, but also targets sea routes.

The Bohai Fleet, which belongs to the Beiyang Navy, is the second-level fleet in the Chinese Navy system, and is at the same level as the North American Fleet, Singapore Fleet, and South Mingzhou Fleet.

Guangzhou feels aggrieved, but it can't say it. The entire Nanyang is China's inner lake. It would be nonsense to say how important Guangzhou's strategic position is, right?

Then Singapore's strategic position is truly important.

Besides, from the perspective of political status, Yanjing is the secondary capital, and it is the natural second.

But now Shanghai is catching up, and Wuhan is also eyeing it, which makes Guangzhou people particularly uncomfortable.

Every spring, the cabinet will release the economic volume summary of important cities in the country last year, and Guangzhou's leading position in the country is facing severe challenges. Moreover, the current emperor has never visited Guangzhou specifically during his several tours, and the emperor has almost never been to Guangzhou. Instead, more and more big businessmen in Guangzhou have transferred their industries to Nanjing.

Even if it is not all, and it cannot be all, it is just a headquarters, which can also contribute to the economic prosperity of Nanjing. At the same time, this is also digging into the corners of Guangzhou Prefecture itself.

However, this is something that cannot be stopped.

Guangzhou's local business groups need to go nationwide and go out. No matter how powerful Guangzhou is, it cannot compare with Nanjing's natural advantages.

So, in this case, Guangzhou people are very welcome to welcome members of the royal family to come here. Although the King of Jieyang did not settle in Guangzhou for a long time, he was just passing by. Chen Zhan's mission is to study in the UK, and also to experience the atmosphere of Europe and the changes in France up close.

Although Chen Zhan himself has no interest in Western philosophy and economics.

Of course, Guangzhou people also remember Chen Han's goodness. Although Chen Ming has never come to Guangzhou specifically, his influence and control over Guangzhou is no less than that of Nanjing and Shanghai, and even better.

Because this city is too dependent on foreign trade.

Guangzhou's own handicrafts and manufacturing industries are really much worse than the extremely prosperous trade and commerce here. Take the shipbuilding industry as an example. Once the Tiannan Shipyard was put into use, it immediately occupied the first place in local shipbuilding.

Guangzhou's own shipyards, because there is no shortage of business-Guangdong and Guangxi are foreign trade, and there are more and more ocean fishing boats. They have a lot of profits to make, so they lie on the past's' merit book' and eat the stored food. After experiencing the initial period of'working hard', they immediately became a little unenterprising.

The shipbuilding skills of the fifteenth year of Chengtian are not much different from those of the five years of Chengtian.

This is also a common problem of privately owned shipyards. Short-sighted, without the spur from above, it is easy to fall into the point of not making progress.

And although this is no longer the home port of the Nanyang Navy, it is also an important military port. The Navy established the Guangzhou Naval Academy here in the seventh year of Chengtian, and the Army also established the Artillery Academy and the Army Command Academy. In addition to the police, taxation, normal and comprehensive universities, Guangzhou can be said to be an important educational center in Lingnan.

Major banks will not forget this treasure land. Even if local banks have been open for many years, the Guangzhou Merchants Group cannot resist the entry of other merchant groups. These companies and business groups supported by banks not only bring in huge financial resources, but also infiltrate the local merchant class in Guangzhou and consolidate the government's rule.

At present, the royal consortium controlled by Chen Ming, the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce, has firmly controlled many merchant companies in Guangzhou in a small range. The education group under the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce has set up a private school with high specifications, high standards and high requirements in Guangzhou, and has accepted a large number of children from Guangzhou's upper class. When these second-generations grow up, they will develop endless connections. Now, it is like a big network that is slowly being woven and developed.

Chen Ming is taking Guangzhou completely into his hands bit by bit.

Chen Ming is also paving the way for his descendants. He certainly hopes that the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce under his command will grow bigger and bigger, and occupy an increasingly important position in more and more important cities.

Just like Singapore, more than 70% of the residents directly or indirectly rely on the industries under the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce for their lives. More than 50% of the fiscal revenue of the Singapore Municipal Government is also related to the business operations of the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce. Large tracts of land worth developing have fallen into the hands of a company under the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce. How much benefit can Singapore bring to the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce after its prosperity in the future?

Of course, the huge amount of funds injected by the Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce has also accelerated the development of Singapore's urban economy. For a newly built city, any injection of funds is a nutrient injection. Now Singapore's market is thriving. Whether it is the port area or the urban area, there are many foreign companies and high-rise buildings, which already have some flavor of modern cities.

Chen Zhan is the first royal family member to come to Guangzhou in recent years, and the title is "Jieyang". This is a city in Guangdong, which makes Guangzhou people feel more close.

When the treasure ship appeared at the Huangpu Wharf in Guangzhou with colorful flags, the decks of all the warships and civilian ships in the Pearl River Estuary were full of cheering sailors and passengers. Including foreign merchant ships, they all fired salutes to salute His Royal Highness the Prince of China. So when Chen Zhan and the princess stood side by side on the front deck, he felt his adrenaline rising constantly. The cheers of the huge crowds on the dock made people feel it.

On the dock, there were also many Chinese and Chinese businessmen who came to Guangzhou from all over Nanyang to trade. And overseas Chinese living in Siam, Phnom Penh and other places. There were even many Europeans.

The British, in particular, were very enthusiastic. Because the final destination of His Royal Highness the Prince of China was Cambridge, Cambridge University in Cambridgeshire. It is said that when choosing between Cambridge and Oxford, the only two universities in the UK, His Royal Highness chose Cambridge directly, and disliked the ugly name of Oxford University.

[The decrees of Henry III and his successors ensured the monopoly of these two universities. Until the beginning of the 19th century, for a full six hundred years, Oxford and Cambridge were the only universities in the UK. There is no such monopoly anywhere else in Europe. 】

As Chinese living abroad, they can feel the changes and improvements in their social status more deeply than the people in Chen Han mainland. This change and improvement has prompted these overseas Chinese to change their behavior in those countries rapidly.

Although the Chen Han Empire did not show its fangs and claws in front of these "friendly countries", everyone knows that the Chen Han Empire is an irresistible behemoth.

If their citizens have a conflict with local Chinese and overseas Chinese, the local government will 100% protect the Chinese, regardless of who is right or wrong, and the fist is the greatest reason!

For example, in Siam, the Chinese are known as the "royal family" in the local area. Originally, this title was an allusion to Zheng Xin's Chinese ancestry, but now the Chinese in Bangkok are in Siam, which is really a hot special power class.

It's just that the Chinese tradition of thousands of years will not be completely reversed in a short time. The biggest external change is that there are more and more pure Chinese-style buildings. As a result, many indigenous buildings have been driven.

Many Europeans who have been to Siam and Phnom Penh are surprised. In their eyes, Siam, Phnom Penh, and Japan to the east are all the sphere of influence of the Chinese. They may not be colonies, but the Chinese enjoy a superior status there.

When the Europeans were running their colonies, the identity difference between European immigrants and local natives was huge and could not be crossed.

But it is different for the Chinese here.

In some emerging seaport cities, the status and wealth of the Chinese need not be mentioned. They can even occupy 70% to 80% of the city's business share, and are definitely the dominant force in the local business prosperity.

However, there is no such kind of resistance or even hostility between the Chinese and the natives.

The latter can still be detected from time to time in the territories left by the Dutch and Spanish, but it is difficult to feel the confrontation and sharp contradictions between ethnic groups in the territories that the Chinese have fought for themselves.

The character of the Chinese makes them not look up to the sky once they gain power. Even if it is superficial, they are mostly gentle and polite to the natives, at least they will not discriminate against them as clearly as the white people.

The Confucian doctrine of the golden mean and the traditional concept of "being kind to others and making money in harmony" are all things that Chinese people who go abroad should be aware of.

In the past, they would lean on the "external appearance" of the indigenous people or the ruling class, such as changing their homes to be full of local characteristics, which was a kind of protection and better integration. Perhaps they still have pride in their hearts and look down on the indigenous people from the bottom of their hearts, but the Chinese who traveled thousands of miles to Southeast Asia are all from the poor class, and poverty has worn away too much of their pride.

Being able to buy an industry and survive is the most important thing for them.

What's the point of making your house and home so Chinese? That will only remind the indigenous people all the time that you are just an outsider. The result is likely to be gradual isolation and indifference, and finally...

In the original era, the power of the Chinese could not change the social situation in Southeast Asia, so they could only take the initiative to adapt to this social situation. But now it is different.

The influence of the Chinese has been passed into the hearts of every indigenous person, and the power of the Chinese can change the social situation of the entire Southeast Asia.

So, in Siam, Japan, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, in these countries, those high-ranking nobles are still learning the Chinese lifestyle and life style. The fact is that the local ruling power actively approaches the Chinese, and the Chinese and overseas Chinese have water in their brains, so they will change their living habits and traditions.

In fact, this is also a kind of sinicization.

Back to the missionaries in Europe, there are also businessmen from various countries who have talked about this situation: the relationship between the Chinese and the natives is indeed relatively friendly, and the contradictions between them are far from the sharp confrontation between the natives and the white people in the European colonies. The reason why the Chinese are rich is not because they are the rulers of the regime, but because they are diligent and hardworking. For many ordinary people, the opportunities between the two are almost equal.

Even in countries such as Siam, some smart native nobles and bosses will hire Chinese to "participate in the shares". They are called shareholders, but in fact they are white gloves. In turn, they can also use Chinese faces and the identities of Chinese and overseas Chinese to expand their farms and plantations.

…

"Zhu Shihai, I often read your editorials. Your opinions are very sharp."

Zhu Shihai was a lawyer who was hired by SF Express. He was exiled to North Korea as a judicial official. After his "service period", Zhu Shihai resigned from his public office again and returned to Nanjing.

His lawyer qualification was revoked. If he took the bar exam again, SF Express would not let him do so. Zhu Shihai then switched to a newspaper. His reputation in the Chinese legal community still has some weight. And the original incident was fair and just. Zhu Shihai started from "Jinling News". Now he is not only a special correspondent for "Fa Bao", but also a visiting professor at the Law University. He can publish articles in "Zhongyuan Daily" from time to time.

"It seems that you are right not to be an official. If I give you a censor, or let you be a chief justice, can you still write so many thought-provoking articles?"

Chen Ming summoned Zhu Shihai because he had a sudden idea, an idea that suddenly popped up in his mind - he wanted to organize a group of scholars to visit Europe for exchanges.

It does not involve engineering machinery, but only education, economy, philosophy, literature, law, and music.

Who is the legal expert that impressed Chen Ming the most? It must be Zhu Shihai. Because in the draft laws revised by the Supreme Court in recent years, Zhu Shihai is the one who proposed the most supplementary articles.

Chen Ming summoned him this time to award him a medal, which was the emperor Chen's commendation to him.

As for what Chen Ming said before, "I often read his articles", it was just a polite remark.

But the polite remark from the emperor is also extraordinary.

While Zhu Shihai was sighing, Emperor Chen started talking again, "Zhu Shihai, why don't you go out with my Ninth Prince? You are studying law, you need to broaden your horizons. You can't just look at China, you should also go to Europe and take a look at the laws and regulations in Europe. Western civilization has also existed for thousands of years, and the laws are also long-standing. You go back and pack your clothes as soon as possible, and I will send someone to send you to Guangzhou."

"Your Majesty, do you want me to accompany the Ninth Prince to go abroad?" Zhu Shihai's expression suddenly became wonderful. This was really unexpected for him, but it was undeniable that this was a good opportunity.

"Yes, not only you, but also education, economy, philosophy, literature, music and other aspects. People should be sent to follow my Ninth Prince to go abroad!"

"Everyone should also go and see what the foreign countries are like. You can't just listen to what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and businessmen say."