I

  Chapter 490 487 [Chinese and Chinese merchants]

  Dali Temple, the Supreme Court of the country.

Because the emperor attached great importance to the case, Tang Yi, the minister of Dali Temple, tried it in person and announced the verdict: "...Since the defendant did not know that Furong was a poison, and there was no relevant law in this dynasty, the corresponding punishment was exempted. Judgments were made on the merchants Zhou Zhi, Chen Bangding, and Jin Xue Kong, Li Guangxun... were acquitted. All the defendants were sentenced, and all the drugs were immediately handed over to Dali Temple for centralized destruction. After the promulgation of the "Order of Prohibition of Planting, Prohibition, and Fasting of Drugs", if the defendant commits another crime, this time Crimes will be counted together!"

  Li Guangxun's whole body went limp, and he sat down on the spot. He thought he was going to die.

   Several merchants left Dali Temple together. Zhou Zhi said, "I dare not stay here in the south. I want to apply to immigrate to Shandong with my family."

   "Yes, yes, yes, the south must not stay." Li Guangxun was terrified.

  Although Dali Temple released them without charge, the terrible aftereffects of the addicts after they were imprisoned have already spread throughout Nanjing.

   And those more than a thousand smokers are either rich or expensive.

   Even, seven of them died due to drug rehabilitation. I dare not ask the emperor to settle the account, but have to put it all on the merchants who sell drugs.

  A group of merchants returned home and ordered their family members to prepare for relocation, and then went to the government to apply for relocation. They were willing to bear all the immigration expenses themselves.

   I was afraid that I would walk too slowly, and I would be made things difficult by the officials every day, and even died on the charge of Luo Zhi!

  Chen Bangding and Jin Xuekong were not reconciled, and they got together to discuss in secret.

   "Brother Chen," Jin Xuekong said, "neither you nor I can be called rich, and there is no other way to do business. So we went to the north, what can we do for a living?"

Chen Bangding also thought so, but he was afraid of being punished: "What if you don't go to the north? Li Shilang's son, and Mr. Xi Ming himself, have suffered a lot from drugs this time, and they may be retaliated if they stay in Nanjing!" "

   "Go overseas!" Jin Xuekong said.

  Chen Bangding asked: "Brother Jin has connections overseas?"

Jin Xuekong said: "Although this drug is harmful, as long as it does not harm the people of the country. We sell the drug to Japan, North Korea, Annan, first to the local rich, and then to the local nobles. The more people who smoke The more we get, the more we can get rich. If Your Majesty doesn’t fast on drugs and arrest so many people to detoxify in prisons, we don’t know that this thing is so hard to get rid of. Since it makes people want to stop, it’s a big business, this is A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

  Chen Bangding hesitated and said: "But the cultivation of poppies is banned everywhere. Where can I get so many drugs and sell them?"

  Jin Xuekong said with a smile: "My little brother still left some poppy seeds, which were not confiscated by the officials. Let's go to Annan first to find a piece of land to plant. After the business in Annan is booming, we will hire sea ships to go to Japan to do business!"

   Sea-going ships also have a rental business, because sea transportation is very dangerous, some ship owners simply sit and collect rent.

  Pay a deposit first, and you must have a collateral. If the ship is capsized in a shipwreck, the owner will not refund the deposit, and then ask the government to make a judgment to compensate the collateral.

  Chen Bangding said: "Annan has never been there."

Jin Xuekong said: "I have a fellow countryman doing business in Annan. According to what he said, the southernmost territory of Annan Ruan Lord was expanded and occupied in the past few decades. The indigenous people there were driven and killed by Annan, and the population has not yet recovered. Come here, there are still many unowned lands in the mountains. The Annan government also encourages Han people to cultivate, as long as they pay taxes honestly. Let’s find some land from the Annan government and plant poppies as medicinal materials.”

  Chen Bangding hesitated.

  Jin Xuekong urged: "Would you like to, give me a word quickly. Let's go together, and we will take care of each other. If you don't go, then I will go by myself."

   "Man dies for money, and birds die for food. It's done!" Chen Bangding gritted his teeth and went all out.

  These two vicious and smoking guys now know that the drug is poisonous, and they are going to harm people for money.

  Although the victim is not Chinese, Zhao Han will punish him severely if he finds out. Because once drugs are rampant in neighboring countries, they will come back sooner or later, as you can see in the United States of later generations.

  The two first moved their family to Qiongzhou, and after settling their families down, they went to the southernmost part of Vietnam together.

  The place they chose is located at the junction of Annan, Champa, and Nanpan. It can be understood as a three-way zone, and at the same time it is actually controlled by the Vietnamese Nguyen regime.

  Everything was settled, Jin Xuekong stayed in the local area to clear up the relationship, and Chen Bangding went to Yunnan to buy drugs.

  They couldn't even wait to grow their own. After buying the spot, they offered the drug to the magistrate, saying that it was a medicine for relieving fatigue and curing diseases. After the other party became addicted, he said that this is a Chinese elegant thing, and scholars like to drink it.

  In just half a year, more than 200 new customers have been developed, all of whom are Vietnamese officials and gentry.

  The process was unexpectedly smooth, and the two of them didn't want to go to Japan anymore. They concentrated on developing their business in Vietnam, and made the officials of Ruan's regime a bunch of drug addicts—this is the place Zhao Han wants to take, and they will definitely be wanted everywhere in the future!

  These merchants, for 100% profit, dare to trample on all human laws; with 300% profit, they dare to commit any crime, even sell the rope to hang themselves.

  Don't talk about the two guys who sell drugs, just talk about serious maritime merchants in Zhejiang, Suzhou, Guangdong, and Fujian.

  As more and more ports are opened, and even European merchant ships are allowed to dock, these coastal merchants are rolling up.

  Maritime merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, carrying goods from the Yangtze River, went to Guangnan (South Vietnam) to sell at low prices to grab business. Merchants from Fujian, Guangdong and Haizhou also carried goods and went to Southeast Asia to sell them at low prices to occupy the market.

  Manqing sea ban is so severe, they dare to smuggle like this, how can they bear it when they meet Zhao Han who opens the sea?

   Batavia (Jakarta).

  Here is the world of the Chinese and the Dutch.

  The Dutch mainly worked as farmers, soldiers, craftsmen and officials, while the Chinese mainly worked as handymen, supervisors and small traders.

  The Chinese and the Dutch have their own residential areas, which are strictly separated from the Malay aborigines. The Chinese residential area implements autonomous management, and each block has a Chinese leader, and these leaders are called "Japitan". Among them, one or two Chinese Kapitan can be elected as municipal councilors (only the right to observe and make suggestions).

  A Chinese fleet slowly docked, and a large number of Chinese port coolies, led by Dutch officials, went to unload the cargo.

  Even the coolies in Batavia are mostly Chinese. Malay natives are not reassuring, because they are often lazy and stupid, and even drop their goods into the sea.

  Even the canals, city walls, and houses in this city were built by Chinese, and the construction was contracted by Chinese businessmen such as Yang Kun and Pan Mingyan.

   During the period of building the city, the Chinese had to pay a poll tax of 1.5 riel (about one tael of silver) per month, otherwise they had to volunteer to help build the city wall. The Chinese paid five times as much tax as other citizens for the city's fortifications. When the city hall was built, the Chinese paid three times as much tax as all other races combined.

  Most of these Chinese came from Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen years, and now account for 20% of the total population of the city.

  However, most of them are already married and married Malay native women. Including Chinese wives and children, all Chinese families account for more than 40% of the population in Batavia!

  Pure Europeans are less than 10%, and Eurasians are also less than 10%.

  After the Chinese fleet unloaded, the sea-going ship was sent to the shipyard for repairs. The shipyard belongs to the East India Company, and the top managers and senior shipbuilders are naturally Dutch. However, the middle and low-level employees of the shipyard are all Chinese from the coast of China.

  Lin Changfu belonged to the first group of Chinese laborers, who immigrated in the 48th year of Wanli.

  At that time, they were not called immigrants, and they couldn’t survive in Guangdong. It happened that Master Yang recruited laborers to go to sea, so Lin Changfu took the settling allowance and followed.

  At the beginning, they came to build the city, and they didn't earn a penny of wages, only food and housing. It’s okay not to participate in the construction of the city wall, either swim back to Guangdong, or pay a head tax of one tael per month.

  Lin Changfu was cheated miserably, and scolded Master Yang's eighteen generations of ancestors all over his heart.

  After the city wall is repaired, canals have to be dug, and houses have to be repaired after the canals have been dug.

  The Dutch actually paid the wages, but they were all embezzled by the Chinese contractors. After the construction work was completed, the Chinese contractors did not let the workers go back, because they paid the workers resettlement allowances and advanced the boat tickets from Guangdong to here, and the Chinese workers had to continue working to pay back the money.

  In order to maintain its own rule, the Netherlands was afraid that the Chinese laborers would leave, so they specifically arrested Malay women and assigned them to Chinese laborers as wives without compensation.

  Chinese laborers marry wives and settle down, and they are bound here, and most of them choose to stay.

  Lin Changfu's son is already twelve years old, and he works with him in the shipyard. Now he is just an apprentice boatman. They have learned how to build large ships, and they are even more skilled in ship repairing. A skilled craftsman like Lin Changfu earns 6 reals (about 4.3 taels of silver) a month.

   It seems that I make a lot of money, but there is still a poll tax, and the prices are quite expensive, so I can't save too much money every month.

  After working for a long time, I can finally take a little rest.

  Lin Changfu distributed some meals to his son. The tall boy ate a lot. How could the meal managed by the shipyard be enough?

  This son is clever, but he is dark, born to a Malay female aborigine.

  Lin Changfu decided to save some more money, and took his wife and children back to his hometown. He hadn’t visited his ancestor’s grave for more than 20 years.

   "Changfu," Chen Dongshan came over with his job bowl, and said mysteriously, "Have you heard that the Ming Dynasty is gone, and the emperor has changed from his hometown!"

  Lin Changfu smiled and said, "I heard that the new emperor's surname is Zhao."

  Chen Dongshan said again: "I also heard people say that this is a good emperor. In our hometown, farmers can divide the fields. There is not enough food in the fields, and they can go fishing at will. The new court can't stop fishing boats."

   "Redistribute the land? Why is it such a good thing, don't listen to people talking nonsense." Lin Changfu shook his head again and again.

Chen Dongshan said: "If you can't divide the land, you can change the emperor. I have saved more than forty taels of silver, and I can buy a few acres of land when I go back to my hometown, and I can also repair the ancestor's grave. Go back, maybe you can catch up with the Chinese New Year."

   "Where's the wife and children?" Lin Changfu asked.

  Chen Dongshan said: "I will definitely take it back, so why not stay here?"

  While the two Chinese boatmen were chatting, the Eastern Affairs Council of the East India Company was having a heated discussion.

   Discuss two topics:

  First, whether to fully withdraw from the South China Sea, because it is more profitable to wait for the Chinese businessmen to ship the goods to Batavia than to go to China for the Netherlands.

  Second, whether to allow the Chinese in Batavia to build schools.

  (end of this chapter)