Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 124 Trip to Guangzhou (Part [-])

Xiao Zishan ordered Sun Chang to prepare mule carts and sedan chairs to pick up people at the pier.The others hurriedly cooked and cleaned, and the empty house suddenly became busy.Sun often said that mules and carriages were free of charge, just go to the Wei Escort Agency - Escort Bureaus usually have "outer cabinets" (tertiary industries) for mules and carriages because of the needs of escorts, and everything is ready-made.

While arranging to pick up people, he ordered to prepare a sedan chair to visit Gaoju.On the way, he asked Sun Chang about his activities in various aspects this year.Sun Chang said that since they left, Gao Ju often sent people to deliver some things.Ask if there is any news about Australian maritime merchants.The neighborhood was also calm, except that Liu Laoxiang was making a lot of noise at the mouth of the Pearl River, and the market was slightly disturbed.He didn't know much about the officialdom, he only knew that a high-ranking official in the palace had fallen in Beijing, and the officialdom in Guangzhou City had also changed, but he couldn't explain the rest.

Xiao Zishan knew that the so-called high official in the palace was Wei Zhongxian, and history had not changed its trajectory in this time and space: Nine Thousand Years, who was in power for a while, had passed away in a hotel in Nanguan, Fucheng County, Hebei Province on the sixth day of November last year. Suicide in the store.From December last year to the first half of this year, Emperor Chongzhen was investigating Wei Ni's remnant party, and it was not surprising that the officialdom was shaken.Travelers should be grateful for this situation to a certain extent: people are panicked, and no one has the heart to deal with a pirate infestation on Hainan Island.

Xiao Zishan's sudden visit surprised Gao Ju.He had no choice but to use the word "drag" given by the treasurer Wen to build Wei Zhongxian's ancestral temple. At the time, the treasurer made it clear that there would be major changes that month, and it didn't happen: Eunuch Yang was originally in Guangzhou. It was almost like going to the government to urge him every day, Gao Ju didn't dare to delay too much, it was just a slow preparation, and it took about [-] days.Suddenly, little Eunuch Yang came to say goodbye, ordered to suspend the preparations for the construction of the ancestral hall, and hurried back to Beijing with all the Australian goods he had prepared.He was so stunned by the high-level exaltation, and after another ten days, he received a letter from Beijing, and only then did he learn that: On May [-], the emperor suddenly fell ill, and his condition was very serious.It wasn't surprise that he lifted it up now, but goosebumps on the back of his head.

"On May 20th, there are changes in Beijing, and things can be slowed down." This is what shopkeeper Wen said when he bid farewell.In contrast, this group of sea merchants who were already somewhat mysterious made him even more unpredictable.He hurriedly asked people around, asking if anyone had ever seen a strange large foreign ship?But no news.He had no choice but to give up and wait for the sea merchants to come to him with all his heart - after all, the payment of [-] taels of silver is still here.After waiting and waiting for more than a year, there was still no news. Just when he felt hopeless, he heard some rumors in the past month: that there was an unprecedented huge ship in Qiongzhou.The sailors on the ship, all with short hair and short clothes, were very fierce.I couldn't help but muttered in my heart: Could this be the ship of the Australian maritime merchant?I was thinking about whether to send someone to the local area to inquire.

Hold high while asking people to serve wine to welcome the wind, while booing and asking for warmth.He also brought the sales list of the goods and told him that there are 5 taels of silver to pick up right now, and the rest of the silver can be collected after more than ten days.

"Don't worry about the silver, you can store it here with Shopkeeper Gao first." The traveler is not short of silver, but supplies.Xiao Zishan didn't have too much politeness, and told him that the purpose of this trip was to buy goods, because there were so many kinds of goods, and he needed to ask shopkeeper Gao for help.Gao Ju thought that it was still the porcelain, spices and hardwoods of the past, and he said yes, but when he opened the list and looked at it, he was dumbfounded.The above list is completely unexpected: pig iron, graphite, fluorite, bile alum, alum, soap alum, saltpeter, mirabilite, soda, sulfur, arsenic, realgar, orpiment, cinnabar, borax, gypsum, tin, lead, copper ,mercury……

Most of these things, Gao Jue didn't even recognize them, some of them he knew and needed to be used in the workshop, and some of them were simply medicinal materials.Saltpeter and sulfur are things that are controlled by the government. Pig iron costs [-] shi. It’s okay to say that you just need to go to more iron yards. The mercury also costs [-] shi—I’m afraid there is no mercury in the whole city of Guangzhou. One stone - what do they want these for?Could it be that some emperors and dignitaries in Australia died and were embalmed with mercury?

While he was thinking wildly, Xiao Zishan saw that his face was changing, and asked: "Is there any difficulty in these?"

"I can find everything." Gao Li put down the list, "It's just that the quantity is too much? Let's talk about gallstones, mercury, etc. It's not bad to have a stone in the whole city. There are so many."

"Then I ask Mr. Gao to worry about it. I want as much as I want." Xiao Zishan didn't know what these things were for, but since they were bought by name, they were very important.

"Brother entrusts me to do things, I should do my best," Gao Ju suddenly changed his address, and said in a low voice, "But there are a lot of prohibited things in it, it's not that elder brother can't do it, but you have to ask about everything, and it's easy to handle things measure."

Xiao Zishan was stunned for a moment, he knew that saltpeter, sulfur and the like might be things controlled by the government, but he hadn't thought about the others: "I don't know which are prohibited goods?"

"Iron, this item is not allowed to be exported. But this is still easy. But copper, arsenic, saltpeter, and sulfur are a bit more difficult, especially the amount that brothers want is very large—"

"These are all raw materials for Australian goods." Xiao Zishan already knew from Sun Chang that Gao Ju made a fortune in Australian goods and became a "wealth myth" in Guangzhou.Using the raw materials for making Australian products as an excuse, he must do his best.But it's also a big truth: Ministry of Industry badly needs these things to start modern manufacturing

Sure enough, Gao Ju immediately fell silent, as if he was thinking about something, and after a while, he said as if he had made up his mind: "Since brother wants it, I will definitely help. It's just that it takes time to prepare the goods, how long can brother wait?"

"Fifteen days."

"It's a little tight, I asked my shopkeepers to go out to buy separately. Try to arrange it! I don't know where the goods will be shipped? Is it still—"

"I have to ask my brother for advice on this matter." Another purpose of Xiao Zishan's trip is to establish a communication line from Guangzhou to Hainan. In the future, he will carry out large-scale purchases in Guangzhou, and urgently needs a suitable transshipment point.There are many people in the city, and it is very inconvenient to import and export goods in large quantities. Therefore, it is necessary to find a warehouse outside the city as a place for goods to be transshipped.

He told Gao Ju about his request, and Gao Ju said that it was easy. He set up his own warehouse and wharf on Youyuzhou at the mouth of the Pearl River—the place where fishermen specialized in smuggling, and they were all half-private and half-bandit characters.Being a public official in the city is too easy to dare to go in, which is almost equivalent to an extrajudicial world.The traverser's ship can dock here.He is allocating a warehouse alone for the turnover of goods.

"This is very good." Xiao Zishan was quite satisfied with this arrangement, and then told Gao Ju that they bought these goods for a long time, as long as they could buy them, they wanted as much as they had.

After the discussion was over, Gao Ju asked them if they had any new Australian goods arriving in Guangzhou this time.Xiao Zishan just smiled slightly, "It's just a joke, and in a few months, brother will naturally know about it."

These words gave Gao Ju incomparable room for imagination, but also left him with a little fear.From a personal point of view, he is not afraid of the short hair in front of him, but the looming powerful force behind him makes him uneasy.This group of Australian maritime merchants is by no means as simple as a merchant.

The next time Xiao Zishan visited was Sun Kecheng, the treasurer of Qiwei Escort. The Escort has the ability to transport bulk materials over long distances and is a good assistant in establishing land transportation lines.

Along the way, Sun Wei had already told his owner the details of the Escort Bureau.This is a bodyguard bureau composed of family, fellow countrymen and teachers. From the head of the bodyguard, Sun Kecheng, down to the boys and grooms on the counter, they are either from the same family, from the same township, or from the same school as master, apprentice, and brother.The geographical, blood and patriarchal relations between them are extremely close.They only take the route from Guangzhou to Nanchang, Jiangxi, and also do short distances within the province.Along the way, there are several sub-colons outside the cabinet, which can be regarded as a medium-scale in Guangdong Province, and there are some contacts in all aspects.Xiao Zishan calculated that if he took control of this escort agency, it would be of great benefit to the trade and intelligence activities here in Guangdong.

Shopkeeper Sun was quite happy with his visit——Australian maritime merchants are really friendly people.Xiao Zishan sent some more gifts, the two sides chatted very happily, Xiao Zishan took the opportunity to ask about the business affairs of the Escort Bureau.

Sun Kecheng sighed again and again, and his face darkened a lot.

The dart business is not bad.It's just getting more and more uneven along the way.There used to be a lot of bandits on the road, but they were still well-known figures in the rivers and lakes, and more or less obeyed the rules of the rivers and lakes. In the past two years, they have become the world of bandits and bandits. They are either desperate farmers or deserters who cannot be paid. No matter what your brand name or rules are, if you see something, you will grab it, and if you see it, you will kill it.In the past, the bandits only wanted soft gold and silver, but now the bandits they encounter simply want things and cars.

Bandits and bandits are rampant, and the villages and towns along the way are all forming regiments, setting up strongholds everywhere, and crossing the villages and towns to interrogate and guard everywhere. Foreign bodyguards like them, if not for the masters and apprentices. The brothers are basically from Jiangxi, and there are some human relationships. It is difficult to hit the tip and settle down in the place.After barely walking a few times, even though they didn't throw darts, a dozen brothers were killed or injured.Everyone in the Escort feels that the future is unpredictable.

When Xiao Zishan proposed to subsidize them by investing in shares, and at the same time to open a new escort road, Sun Kecheng's mouth was wide open——Since the escort agency business started, the escort bureau was not a profitable business. To be able to start a business, to earn the money of hard work, and to be able to live a well-off life all year round, it is impossible to say that you can get a large dividend, so no one has ever used money to invest in the business of the Escort.

"Don't pay dividends." Only then did Xiao Zishan come up with an idea, "Now we want to open a business in Daming, and the business of transporting goods by shop is indispensable. There is no one more familiar with this business of water and land transport than you. With this money, we Firstly, we don’t want to share dividends with the Escort, and secondly, we don’t interfere with the internal affairs of the Escort, but in the future, wherever our business name will go, the Escort’s business will also go!”

(End of this chapter)