Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 837 Businessman's Report ([-])

The three of us had a discussion about the use of the fancy stakes.Mr. Gonzalez believes that this is a special kind of idolatry of Australians.This is a kind of sacrificial facility for them, with religious meaning.But Mr Triney said he couldn't see any religious undertones in it, because it wasn't an idol, nor was there any Australian way of revering it.Personally, I think Mr. Trini's statement is justified. We didn't see anyone pay homage or worship to these wooden posts along the way, and there were no similar traces: no one made offerings, incense or sacrifices to the wooden posts.

The distance from Bopu to Bairen is very short, and we estimate that we only passed one league.We entered the range of Bairen City.We later learned that we had never entered Bairen City—the so-called Bairen City is a castle for Australians, and no one can enter or leave except themselves and the aboriginal cronies who serve them.But outside of Bairen City, a large-scale city was built around the Australian castle.They call it Dongmen Market.Because it is located in the east of Bairen City.It is said that when the Australians first arrived in Lingao, they traded with the local aborigines here.Within a few years, what started as a humble bazaar has grown into a rather prosperous town
The Dongmen Market itself has no city walls to defend it, but there are towers guarding the entrance and exit of the road.Such towers are common here.Not only in Bopu, but also on both sides of the road.The Australians seem to use it as a major defense.The tower is generally square, the bottom is made of thick stone strips, and the tower body is made of burnt bricks.There are also some very simple and staggered structures made of wood or bamboo.Towers generally have two to three floors.Some of the towers' facilities can be called small fortresses.There were moats surrounding the towers, and walls, often topped with cannon.The Australians deployed guards in the towers to form a strict lookout system.Apparently the Australians are very anxious about their local presence and are always on guard against someone coming to attack.

Our carriage entered Dongmen City, and entered the main street of Dongmen City, which was from east to west.The streets were wide and level, wide enough for a dozen armored cavalrymen abreast.There are many shops on both sides of the street, displaying a variety of goods.There are two storeys and three storeys.Very compact.The street scene here reminds me of The Hague or the business district of Amsterdam.Australian houses are by no means similar to Chinese buildings, but more similar to European houses.But they are more frugal and practical. Their use of space is astonishing. How to squeeze the most space out of a limited area is the only aesthetic standard of their buildings.And what surprised us most was that every house we saw had a tiled roof, and every house, big or small, had windows with large panes of glass.

On both sides of the main street, there are many small horizontal streets.Whether it is the main street or the branch road, there are not many pedestrians on the street.All the streets are paved with the same black gravel that paves the road, and is as flat and smooth as the road.The streets are surprisingly clean—I have never seen such a clean city, either in the East or the West, except in the Netherlands.There is no garbage, no sewage, and no human or livestock defecation.

On both sides of the street, separate stone sidewalks are built, and coconut tree saplings are planted on the sidewalks.Aussies seem to love the coconut tree, planting this useful plant everywhere.Here again we see similar stakes on similar roads.But this time we easily identified its purpose-obviously a street light.Iron lamp holders and glass shades confirm our ideas.It is said that every night, someone will light the street lamps.Lighting street lamps at night to provide lighting can obviously provide enough safety for shops and pedestrians.However, their use of such a costly practice seems to prove the point that Australians "act extravagantly".

Our carriage stopped before a large, handsome red-brick house, a boxy house with a pitched roof and German shingles.The windows are tall and narrow, and of all the Lingao Australian houses I have seen, it is the closest to the aesthetic point of view of a European house.According to the accompanying officials, this is a commercial building.Specially for foreign visitors.Foreign businessmen can also choose to stay here, where there are exquisite food and room supplies.

We got out of the carriage under the leadership of the accompanying officers.Australians don't pay attention to ostentation at all. Except for a few accompanying officials and guards, there are no extra people, let alone gorgeous guards of honor.We were simply led into the store.We were then taken to a small waiting room.

Our entourage and interpreters were left in the waiting room before entering the lobby.In this regard, I expressed objection to the leading officials: because then we will not be able to communicate.But the other party answered me in German: "I don't need your interpreter who can only speak Cantonese."

His German is a bit strange, but it's the most accurate German I've ever heard outside of Germans in all of Asia.His accent seems to be that of northern Germany.

But then, no matter how hard I tried to talk to him, he kept silent.Until we were brought into the hall to be interviewed.

The lobby is small in size but richly decorated.There are fine glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling - but we found the glass shades seemed to be completely closed, and there was no trace of candles on them, maybe it was just a decoration.In the center of the hall stood a sumptuous Chinese screen, larger than any we had seen in India and Persia.The large paper paintings on the walls depict mountains, rivers and flowers.colorful.The paintings are very large in size, some covering almost the entire wall.Mr. Trini believes that these paintings have a distinctly European technique, including the use of light, composition and perspective.I think of the pamphlet you gave me, Your Excellency, which said that Portuguese missionaries had activities in Lingao, which was probably written by some monks.

The floor of the hall is covered with luxurious Persian carpets, and many Chinese-style chairs and tea tables are neatly arranged in a semicircle in front of the screen.An Australian dignitary greeted us before the screen.

This Australian official is the so-called "Executive Committee"-similar to our master in status.The accompanying officer reminded us that this is one of the nine most distinguished senators in the entire Australian Senate.Has full authority in trade matters.

This executive member is very young, because Australians do not grow beards at all, it is difficult for us to see their specific age.But I estimate his age will not exceed 30 years old.Such a high position for a man of his age may have been hereditary.He was dressed very simply, like all the Australian officials we met along the way.We would not have been able to recognize such a great man on the street if our accompanying officer hadn't made an introduction.

Your Excellency, during the voyage, I have read many Chinese travel diaries written by travelers and missionaries, each of which mentions that Chinese officials like luxurious and spectacular scenes, and a large number of retinues and guards of honor are necessary for every official facilities, but here in the Australians, we do not see Australians have such a hobby at all.As a member of the executive committee, he has neither guards of honor nor many officials and guards.Completely received us with the most down-to-earth attitude.This made me think of our motherland -- Australians are similar to us in many ways.

The executive committee invited us to sit down on the chairs in front of the screen, and then he apologized through the accompanying officials, because there are no local people who understand our language, and if High German cannot be used as the language of the meeting, he asked if we could use French, English, Spanish or Latin.I mean that High German is a very convenient language for us.

Before the meeting started, I handed over to the executive committee the letter from the Batavian East India Council to the Australian Senate in Lingao to prove our identity.And presented them with a list of gifts.The other party expressed his thanks.Afterwards, we had relevant conversations on trade issues.

Australians are very interested in all kinds of goods we ship.All our shipments they are willing to buy.And willing to start further negotiations on expanding trade.I seize this opportunity to express my dissent on the issue of customs tariffs.Your Excellency must have seen in my earlier report that, while they charge very little or even no duty on most of their imports, they impose heavy duties on spices, the chief export of the company in the East Indies.I objected to this and asked to reach a unified tax rate with them, that is, except for tax-free goods, we will impose a [-]% tariff on all goods sold in Lingao regardless of the variety.At the same time, our products are allowed to be freely sold in Lingao instead of being completely bought by Australians.That is, allowing commodities to follow the market, rather than forcing them to trade at their prices - a condition I don't think is appropriate.

The other party objected to this.He thought a one percent tariff was too low.And he completely rejected the notion of a uniform tariff, arguing that it must be levied on a case-by-case basis for each commodity.However, he agreed to adjust the tariffs on spices, giving us customs privileges for spice imports.As for the package purchase policy, he also allows us to sell freely according to the market price without being affected by this policy.Although it failed to make the other party reach the condition of a unified tariff of one percent in the end, it was able to make the other party accept these two points. I think this is a considerable progress.Then I tried to reduce the company's export tariffs to an appropriate rate.

　In the early 17th century, the roofs of many cities in Europe were still thatched.Certain cities did not become fully tiled until the late 18th century.In addition, the popularity of glass windows did not reach until the 18th century.

　　The interprovincial republics, or the cleanliness of the cities of the Dutch are famous in Europe.In addition, Dutch politicians were also known for their simplicity at the time-certainly by the standards of the time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)