Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1143 Huygens

Zhong Lishi returned to the city hall and explained the situation to Wei Bachi and others—although there are many local elders, most of them are on temporary business trips and are not members of the Kaohsiung Front Committee, so they do not need to attend the meetings of the Front Committee.However, in order to formally respect the authority of the Lower Senate, Hachisha always informs when discussing matters, and it is up to him whether he comes or not.

Veterans like Hong Laojun and Shi Dafu never attended the meetings of the front committee unless it was related to their work, and the veterans of the navy generally did not attend either.

There were a lot of people in the meeting room this time, all of them were smiling and their eyes were full of spring. Some of them were still walking back and forth in the meeting room, smoking cigars, chatting and laughing from time to time, they seemed very active .

As soon as Dr. Zhong came in, he felt that the atmosphere was not right, so he bit the bullet and talked about the specific resettlement situation first, and then talked about Mr. Boncourt's request.

"Vaccinia is nothing, I can make the decision." Wei Bachi thought for a while and said, holding a huge corolla-shaped South China Sea cigar in his hand, which didn't match his face shape a bit. "What do you think these two Dutchmen are here for? To negotiate with us?"

"I don't see any specific purpose." Dr. Zhong said, "The governor's envoy said: It's a private visit."

Liu Zheng said: "I think these two Dutchmen have malicious intentions, maybe they are spies!"

"Spies are for sure, not to mention these days, even after hundreds of years, diplomats will not be responsible for collecting intelligence." Wei Bachi disagrees, "Anyway, show them their muscles, and maybe they will be called Dutch in the future." Get out of the way directly from the senior staff, and save us from getting rough."

What everyone is most interested in is the little Yanma -- the elders are puzzled by the fact that the Dutch would bring their children all the way to East Asia. Now they are relieved to hear Dr. Zhong's introduction that it is for vaccination.After all, in this era when the emperors and nobles, down to the common people, are discolored by the "flowers", a medical technique that can prevent infection is enough for people to take such a big risk.

In addition, with their status and status, the voyage process is certainly difficult. After all, they are not hard-working sailors and small businessmen. If you work hard and die, your safety is still guaranteed.

"Speaking of which, what are the identities of these two people?" Wei Bachi asked.

"According to the envoy of the High Commissioner, it was Huygens' father who came on behalf of the Prince—that is to say, he came on behalf of the Seven Provincial Governments, not the East India Company. As for Mr. Boncourt, he is a member of the East India Company. A senior businessman, at least at the same level as Hans Putmans here."

"I still can't figure it out, why did the Dutch send a diplomat and a senior businessman to Taiwan? And also send a special ship? Is it just to send their children to vaccinate, and look at our construction by the way Achievement? The Dutch don't have a disease, right?" Liu Zheng was still surprised.

"I think their purpose is to negotiate with the shogunate to resolve the Hamada Yabei incident." Wei Bachi has considered this issue many times, he said, "From 1626 to now, the Japan-Dutch trade was interrupted. According to history It was also this year that the Dutch compromise was finally resolved."

That being said, everyone is more relieved.The trade with Japan was indeed the most important trade activity of the Dutch East India Company in East Asia. It is conceivable how urgent they were to solve this problem.

"The only thing I find strange is that the representative of the Dutch government—Mr. Constantine Huygens is not an employee of the East India Company, and the coalition government of seven provinces generally does not interfere with the activities of the East India Company in Asia."

Li Di said: "Huygens should be targeting us more—after all, we are now a major force in East Asia."

"It's also possible." Wei Bachi nodded, "We'll entertain them and see what kind of trouble they can make."

Then he said to Zhong Lishi: "I will leave this matter to you. I see that you are very interested in Papa Huygens..."

Zhong Lishi hurriedly argued: "I'm talking to his son..." Suddenly he realized that such an argument was inappropriate, so he quickly changed the subject: "They are guests, so we naturally want to do our best as landlords." After looking at the elders, he said earnestly, "Everyone is a guest, so please don't do anything that would scare the guests—be more respectable."

All the elders at the scene expressed that they were "a pleasure to have friends coming from afar", and they had no idea of ​​zombies at all, they were all "gentlemen" from the Senate, and they all expressed that they should hold a grand reception to entertain the distinguished guests from the Netherlands.Wei Bachi was particularly enthusiastic about this:

"We must treat our foreign...no, guests well." He said while flicking his cigar, "let them fully appreciate the hospitality of my Senate and the deep friendship to the Dutch people."

At dusk, Zhong Lishi and several chefs started preparing dishes for the reception in the customs kitchen.

Dr. Zhong is an out-and-out "foodie" besides his knowledge and wealth. He not only loves to eat, but also loves to figure out how to cook.When I was in Lingao, I started cooking by myself very early.After the completion of the Taibai Observatory, as long as the colleagues in the Ministry of Science and Technology get good ingredients or find some suitable excuses, they will gather at the Observatory to let Dr. Zhong take the spoon to "scrub a meal".Some people joked that apart from the many instruments and equipment in the Taibai Observatory, there are too many kitchen utensils.

He came to Taiwan this time for a business trip and made sufficient preparations for his appetite.A box full of various kitchen utensils and condiments.The kitchen in the customs house, which had been vacant, was also his use.

The kitchen was very busy at the moment, Zhong Lishi asked Zhong Xiaoying to keep an eye on the pot of tomato soup, while she took a hammer to beat the meat paste for swallow skin.When the swallow skins were ready, he turned back and ordered Xiaoying to bring the seasoned minced meat, only to find that the person helping behind him was Huygens.

Zhong Lishi was startled and said, "Mr. Huygens? Why do you..."

Huygens smiled slightly and said to Zhong Lishi: "I am also very interested in cooking. Just now I heard from your daughter that you are good at cooking, especially the roast duck is very delicious. I want to see your roast duck and our side. What's the difference between the roast goose..."

"Welcome! Welcome! Just don't dislike the mess in the kitchen..." Zhong Lishi greeted Huygens.Secretly wondering: when did Zhong Xiaoying speak German?As for these Dutch people, it would be very rare to be able to speak a few words of Cantonese that is out of tune.

Zhong Lishi glanced back and saw that Zhong Xiaoying was cheering up the duck deftly, talking and laughing with the blond girl while cheering up.Although I couldn't hear what was being said, I could tell that the two were communicating.

"Xiaoying!?" Zhong Lishi was taken aback.

Huygens probably saw his surprise, couldn't help smiling, and said: "Don't be surprised, your daughter doesn't speak German, but Cretia learned from Chinese sailors and businessmen on board the ship and Batavia. A lot of Chinese..."

"It's Cantonese." Zhong Lishi said.

Huygens was puzzled: "Isn't that Chinese?"

Zhong Lishi was dumbfounded. This traditional misunderstanding that all Chinese people speak Cantonese in Hollywood movies in the 20th century has a long history.All I had to say was: "Look, you speak Low German, and Mr. Boncourt and I speak High German... You can't say the two are the same thing, can you?"

"Oh, I see what you mean." Huygens was thoughtful, "but you speak German very strangely..."

Dr. Zhong was about to continue explaining, when he suddenly heard laughter from two young girls next to his ears.Zhong Xiaoying found herself when she saw Zhong Lishi, and smiled mischievously at Zhong Lishi.Say loudly to him in Mandarin: "Father, I don't understand her Cantonese very well..."

Dr. Zhong warned, "Be careful when you do things, and be careful not to get burned!"

Zhong Xiaoying said to Zhong Lishi: "Cretia said she would teach me how to cook fish in the Dutch way..."

"Really? That couldn't be better." Zhong Lishi thought this was a good way to promote benefits.Of course, it's hard to say what specific benefits this friendship has...

Suddenly he realized that his thinking had become too "senatorial".Everything should be meaningful, depending on the purpose.

Zhong Lishi hung the pumped ducks into the oven—he roasted six ducks in total.Needless to say, the elders, the Dutch are probably also big eaters, and six ducks are the minimum.He looked at the head of the fire, fiddled with it with an iron hook, and closed the fire door when he saw that the fire was suitable. He came to observe Cretia's Dutch-style grilled fish.

"Remove the bones, tail, and head, leaving only the meat... Then put olive oil, bay leaves, onions, milk..."

It can be seen that Cretia's craftsmanship is good, and her movements are very skillful.Dr. Zhong couldn't help admiring a few words. In his opinion, this girl should be regarded as a lady of everyone. He didn't expect to be able to work in the kitchen.

"I used to help my mother cook," Kretia said. "Then God took my mother away, and I was the only one who cooked..."

Dr. Zhong knows that the average age of people these days is very short, but from her language, it can be heard that the Boncourt family was not a wealthy family in the early years, otherwise in this era of low labor costs, it would not be possible for a wife and daughter to cook. meal.No wonder she and Zhong Xiaoying have a lot in common—both are working people.

"Miss Boncourt is a very capable lady. Thanks to her for taking care of our lives along the way." Huygens said with a smile, he is a Dutch nobleman and a diplomat.However, the social atmosphere in the Netherlands is different from that of other European countries. Nobles and rich people live a simple life and advocate labor.So the attitude towards labor is relatively positive.

Dr. Zhong took the opportunity to inquire: "Mr. Huygens, how is your youngest son Christian?"

(End of this chapter)