Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 841
Discussions came and went, though some suggested that it would be better to send a naturalized citizen, or hire an influential native from Macau or even Batavia as consul - hiring foreigners as consuls was a common practice in the 17th century.But Skelder felt it was a waste to give up such a great opportunity to directly observe and influence Batavia.

"Diplomats are the best spies." Jiang Shan said seriously to the veterans of the Intelligence Bureau in the office building of the Intelligence Bureau, "It's a pity to give up this opportunity!"

"If there is no suitable candidate, I am willing to go." A person in the conference room said.

This man was in his thirties, with a bearded face, and a pair of black eyes with piercing eyes.With a bun, he looks both elegant and chivalrous.Wearing a teal pleat.One look at this attire, and one can tell that he is a veteran intelligence agent who received training from the mainland in Part B of the Intelligence Bureau's training class.

"I know English, German, French and Latin, and I can read Spanish -- but I can't understand it," he said. "If you speak German, you don't have much trouble communicating with the Dutch."

"Old Zhao, you shouldn't go. We will go to Zhejiang to increase the population soon, and then we will need to transfer the population from the mainland on a large scale. The layout of the two rivers is very important." Jiang Shan immediately denied, "Now, we need at least three or four. It takes a month to settle down effectively, and it takes at least half a year to open up the situation. If you go to Batavia, the previous training will be in vain."

The main task of the intelligence bureau in the second half of 1631 was to acquire and transfer populations from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui on a large scale. The station opened in Hangzhou will be an important distribution point for the intelligence bureau system in the southeast. Of course, Jiang Shan does not want his overall plan to be disrupted.

In the end, according to the principle of recruitment, volunteers were recruited from Caijinkou to Batavia—fortunately, consuls belonged to the status of the open competition and did not need any cover training.

The person who volunteered to serve as consul in Batavia was a veteran named Xue Ruowang, who was a certified public accountant and a certified tax accountant.Specialize in the construction of fiscal and taxation systems in Caijinkou.I was bored with the work of system construction and finance and taxation, so I wanted to go out and see if there were other more exciting jobs to do.Xue Ruowang does not know German or Spanish, but is proficient in English, French and classical Latin, so he can work in Batavia with difficulty.Fortunately, there are many people in Caijinkou, and Cheng Dong said that he can let them go.

"The scale of financial operations of the Dutch was very frequent in the 17th century. We may find some opportunities by placing a person familiar with finance in Batavia." Skade was very happy to hear that someone was willing to go, "In addition, The import and export trade between us and the Dutch can also introduce some modern international trade systems. Or simply open a bank in Batavia..." Skeider said more and more vigorously.

"We will discuss this matter later." Jiang Shan said, "Let Lao Xue stay in Batavia first."

So Xue Ruowang was finally decided to be the consul in Batavia, which made the veteran who had been immersed in books and figures overjoyed.

"After I arrived in Batavia, I tried to set up a Batavia branch as quickly as possible..." he said excitedly.

"To be honest, I'm worried about your future." Yan Ming, the president of Delong Bank, said with a gloomy face at the farewell banquet in Caijinkou, "You have to be careful about that ghostly place, and don't make trouble. Tropical diseases, even if you send a doctor to save you immediately, it will be too late..."

These words immediately made Xue Ruowang lose his enthusiasm.Although everyone was vaccinated with as many vaccines as possible before crossing, and some vaccines that would only be vaccinated when going abroad to Africa and Southeast Asia, many vaccines are not effective for life at one time, and some of them are close to the end of their validity period. .Although great progress has been made in the development of vaccines in biological laboratories, there is still a long way to go to restore the level of immunity in the 21st century.

"It's okay, the Dutch can stay, so can I." Xue Ruowang pretended to be heroic, "Besides, there are a lot of Chinese there. I'll be careful myself."

Before departure, Xue Ruowang got a "safety box".

"This is prepared for you by the organization." Skaide pointed to this small box with exquisite workmanship, rattan buffer layer on the outside, stamped iron inside, and moisture-proof lining with animal skin.

The suitcase is small, equipped with a special carrying belt, which can be carried on the body conveniently, and you can escape with it when necessary.

The boxes contained medicines specially distributed by the Ministry of Health for the local conditions in Batavia.There are anti-malaria, snake medicine, antibiotics, and some other emergency medicines and field survival tools.Finally, 50 Portuguese gold coins.

"Hope you don't get a chance to use this," Skelder said.

"I think so."

As usual, Xue Ruowang will bring his life secretary with him.Xue Ruowang once hoped to get a Dutch woman in Batavia, but the people from the Ministry of Colonization and Trade thought it was unlikely.The Dutch rarely shipped European women to the area, and even a few women were other people's wives.

After Xue Ruowang's life secretary decided to go to Batavia, he received confidential training in the confidential class of the Political Security Bureau, learning codes and radio usage.The commercial and political situation in Batavia can be effectively grasped through the Radio Colonial and Trade Department.

Excerpts from Leibtrini's Correspondence with Venetian Friends.

Dear friends:
It is a great pleasure to write to you. Since arriving in the Far East, all kinds of novel knowledge have been constantly filling my mind. It is a great honor to share these knowledge with you.And being able to go to Lingao is an eye-opener for me.

As the company's entourage, I was able to go to Lingao, a city built by the so-called Australians on Hainan Island, and after obtaining a formal trade agreement, we were allowed to move freely to observe the city built by this ethnic group that we never knew.

As you probably know, as a painter, I have a fascination with seeing things.Whether on the sea to the Far East, in Batavia, or in various places in the East Indies, I try to keep in my sketchbook whatever sights I have witnessed.In Lingao, I certainly have the same interest, not to mention that this is one of the reasons why the company sent me as an attache.

……

Mr. Gonzalez, the Spaniard, and I left the shop in the evening.The gatekeeper of the shop did not restrict our access, but only reminded us not to leave the area of ​​Dongmen City at night with a sign written in various languages.In order to ensure that we can go back to the shop, he also gave us a small cardboard with some kind of writing on it - Chinese characters as far as I can tell - as long as we hand the piece of paper to the passers-by on the road Can be successfully led back to the shop.

There is no difference between Dongmen City at night and daytime, and the street lamps on the side of the street emit bright light behind the glass shades.The catch is very brightly illuminated, and even if a button is dropped on the road, it is easy to find.Street lights not only exist on the main streets, but you can also see their traces even when you enter those branch roads and alleys-but they are not so dense and bright.

Obviously, in such a dark night, the law and order of Dongmen City is better than any other city.The light drove away the best cover for the gangsters to commit crimes-darkness.

Mr. Gonzalez and I wandered the streets until midnight, and we still felt very safe even when there were few pedestrians on the streets. Not only did we feel this way, but those shops that were open until late at night should feel the same as us.

Out of curiosity, Mr. Gonzalez and I went deep into those back alleys.It really surprised me: the streets of Dongmen City, both the streets and the alleys, are very neat and clean-this is really a miracle.We can't see any trace of garbage and excrement in any corner.Every inch of the road surface is paved with slate, gravel, bricks or black fastened sand, so there is no sewage left on the road.It is not difficult to understand why Australians maintain a strict quarantine system for any foreigner entering their territory.It is indeed difficult for epidemics to break out in such a clean and hygienic city.

In order to ensure hygiene, they set up rattan baskets for collecting garbage in many places, and all the garbage is collected in them, and they also set up public toilets everywhere in the streets and alleys.Of course, these two points alone are not enough to ensure hygiene. You must know that many nobles and prominent figures don’t care about defecating or even defecating under the stairs of their own and other people’s palaces—even though there are toilets in the palace.I can only think that under the Australian rule, the moral standards of the local people have been greatly improved.

We were originally going to find a tavern to drink, but the various exotic styles on the streets of Dongmen City attracted us.From time to time, we enter the shops along the street to observe the products in them.The shopkeepers and clerks don't seem surprised by Europeans, they seem to be able to see Europeans quite often.Later we learned that there are Europeans among the Australians.How these Europeans came to be Australians, of course, we don't know.

There are a lot of products sold in the shops, and almost all the common Chinese products in East Asia can be seen here.The price is not too expensive.There is a large supply of fruit locally, and there are even shops that specialize in selling fruit and fruit products.Especially with plenty of preserves.Apparently they have no shortage of sugar supplies.

Australians are unique in the production of various snacks. It is difficult for you to see such a variety of snacks sold in a store in other places. We entered a store specializing in the sale of candies, and the shelves were full of glass products. jars filled with assorted and colorful candies.Even my pen couldn't repeat the color and shape of these candy cubes any longer.They exude a variety of sweet and tangy aromas, which are simply intoxicating.

(End of this chapter)