The Red Chamber: The Rise of the Lin Mansion

Emperor Zhide took the contract, walked back to the seat behind the imperial case, and looked through it carefully.

After watching for half a stick of incense, Emperor Zhide put down the contract and asked Lin Yun, "It cost seven to eighty thousand taels of silver to buy such a small thing. You must have been cheated by foreigners, right?"

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, although these things are not of high value, the blueprints inside are invaluable. If you want to import them and make them yourself, you must have the blueprints."

Emperor Zhide: "Is there any difference between this Mauser rifle and the flintlock gun we produce?"

"There is a big difference. If Your Majesty wants to understand the advantages of this rifle, you can send someone to the foreigner to get one and bring it back to have a look."

"What are you doing with so many textile looms and looms?"

"Xiaochen wants to open a weaving factory. I plan to buy these machines for my own use."

Emperor Zhide said with a dark face: "You never forget to earn money for your family."

Lin Yun said hurriedly: "This humble minister pays his own money and will never take advantage of the court."

When Emperor Zhide heard this, he wanted to go up and kick Lin Yun a few times. It was not that he was reluctant to part with the money, but he was disgusted that this guy was too selfish and never forgot to make money.

He changed the subject and said: "When will this batch of goods be delivered? Will you pay after the goods arrive?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, some of these goods are shipped directly in India, and they can be delivered quickly. It takes about half a year to arrive. If they are shipped from Great Britain, it will take more than a year to go back and forth.

Emperor Zhide asked curiously: "Where did the East India Company come from? Why can they do arms trading?"

Lin Yun thought for a while and answered truthfully: "The East India Company was a business group composed of a group of merchants. They were all for profit. When the company was founded, there were only a few ships traveling between Britain and India for trade. After accumulating capital, They began to expand their fleet. Years of accumulation also brought them huge assets, which allowed them to own an astonishing number of fleets, and they also had money to hire some armed forces to protect their merchant groups. These people are India defeated tens of thousands of government troops who opposed them, which shows that their strength is so strong that it must not be underestimated."

Emperor Zhide was shocked when he heard the words, and he hurriedly asked: "How many warships are there under the East India Company? How many soldiers?"

"There are about dozens of warships, and there are estimated to be more than ten thousand mercenaries at their peak."

Emperor Zhide said with a gloomy face, "Did they regard my Great Chu as the second India?"

Lin Yun: "The East India Company is a greedy wolf. If you want to deal with them, you need a powerful naval fleet."

...

Emperor Zhide put down the paper in his hand, picked up another memorial, and said to Lin Yun: "Lang Shijie, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, invited the court to restore the shipping department in Guangzhou, and set aside a concession area for British merchants to store goods. What do you think?" Is it feasible?"

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "It is possible to restore the Shibo Department, but it is absolutely impossible to set up a concession. Foreigners have always been greedy. If you allocate a piece of land to him today, he will be thinking about two or three tomorrow. If things go on like this, I am very embarrassed." The coastal defense line is in danger!"

"You have some knowledge, much better than Lang Shijie."

After a pause, Emperor Zhide said again: "If the Shibo Department is reopened in Guangzhou, who do you think can take on this important task?"

Lin Yun really wanted to say that no one is more suitable than me.But he still forcibly suppressed the urge to recommend himself to the emperor, and evaded: "I don't know much about the officials in the court, so I dare not speak rashly."

Emperor Zhide laughed and said, "I thought you would recommend yourself."

"I know that my ability is limited, so I dare not try to be brave, so as not to miss a big deal."

"It's good to know the seriousness. Let me put this thing here first, and make a decision after I gather all the ministers to discuss."

"The minister respects the order."

...

After Lin Yun left, Emperor Zhide asked Dai Quan, "What do you think about this?"

Dai Quan: "What Lin Daizhao said just now is similar to the information collected by the secret guard. It can be seen that he still has a clear understanding of foreigners."

Emperor Zhide: "Lin Yun is right in saying one thing. Closing oneself to the outside world will only make my Great Chu weaker and weaker. My Great Chu is a kingdom of heaven, how can I be afraid of a small armed business group."

"Your Majesty Shengming."

Emperor Zhide suddenly remembered, "What has Lin Ruhai been up to lately?"

"Master Lin has been teaching scholars in Yichen Academy, and rarely returns home."

Emperor Zhide: "Immediately send secret guards to check on Lang Shijie to find out if he has colluded with foreigners?"

"The old slave respects the order."

Chapter 283: Not an inch less

Although he got a hint from Lin Yun, the wily and calculating George Macartney did not immediately make this suggestion.

In the next few days, the two sides continued to talk and argue with each other, which made Lin Yun extremely depressed.

Just when Lin Yun felt that he couldn't bear it anymore, George Macartney finally threw away the etiquette of kneeling on one knee.

Seeing that the foreigner finally backed down a step, the negotiating officials on Dachu's side immediately went back to discuss.I don't know who made the decision, but finally agreed to the suggestion made by the foreigners.

...

On April 23, Emperor Zhide summoned several representatives of the British Mission in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Daming Palace.

After the ceremony, George Macartney presented the letter written by the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of Great Chu to Emperor Zhide for reading.

Lin Yun translated the letter on the spot and read it to Emperor Zhide and all the civil and military officials.

George III proposed in his letter that he appointed many smart, capable and well-informed people to form missions to go to various parts of the ocean to explore unknown countries.It is said that they did this not to conquer and expand territory, nor to seek wealth, nor even for the commerce and business of their subjects.

They just want to understand the earth where humans live, to explore the products around the earth, and to exchange science and technology and share the fun of the world with various unknown countries~

In short, it was to show the Great Chu Emperor that he had no malice towards Great Chu, but just wanted to promote the alliance between the two countries, so that Emperor Zhide could let go of his guard, and agreed to the two countries to start trade in goods and exchange what they needed.

After Lin Yun finished reading the letter, he slandered George III in his heart. Your business group has taken over India, and what's the use of saying that, even a fool would not believe you.

Emperor Zhide was not angry when he arrived. After saying a few words that were not painful or itchy, he asked the British envoy to stay in the capital for a few more days and let them have enough fun before returning home.

When George Macartney saw that the German emperor never mentioned the trade between the two countries, he quickly took out the documents he had prepared earlier and asked the German emperor to read it so that he could give a reply as soon as possible.

Under the gesture of Emperor Zhide, Lin Yun took the document again and read it publicly.

On behalf of the British Mission, George Macartney made six demands to Da Chu:

The first is to request Da Chu to allow British merchants to trade in Ningbo, Zhoushan and Tianjin;

Article [-]: Allow British merchants to set up business representative offices in the capital;

Article [-]: Choose an island near Zhoushan for British merchants to live and store goods;

Article [-]. Set aside a piece of land in Guangzhou, allowing the British to come and go freely without prohibition;

Article [-]. Great Britain merchants who ship their goods from Macau to Guangzhou shall enjoy tax exemption or tax reduction;

Article [-]. It is determined that British merchant ships pay taxes in accordance with the customs regulations, and no additional taxes shall be levied.

After Lin Yun finished reading, there was an immediate commotion in the hall.

Prince Xuan stood up first, and rushed to Emperor De to report: "Your Majesty, the request made by foreigners is too rude, and I ask Your Majesty to reject it."

Zhou Muzhai followed and said: "Your Majesty, what the prince said is that the demands made by foreigners are too rude. I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to drive them all out of the country."

"My minister agrees."

"My minister agrees."

"My minister agrees."

~

Seeing the anger of the officials above the main hall, several representatives of the British Mission were dumbfounded.

George Macartney hurriedly asked the translator next to him, what happened to these people?

The interpreter said with a guilty conscience: "Our Dachu officials said that your request was too much, and they asked His Majesty to deport you."

Before George Macartney could react, he heard the servant shouting in a shrill voice in the hall: "Your Majesty, the envoy from Great Britain is a guest from afar, and you should not be rude. As for the request made by the envoy, the cabinet will work with the Ministry of Rites." Discussions, consents that should be agreed, and criticisms that should be criticized, must not be taken lightly, nor indulged."

When several ministers heard the words, they stood up together, held up the wat board in their hands and said: "Your honor is respected."

"Retreat."

...

As soon as Lin Yun walked out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he heard George Macartney calling him from behind, "Mr. Lin, please wait a moment."

He turned back and asked: "Earl Macartney, is there something wrong with you?"

George Macartney: "I would like to ask you, why do your officials in Dachu so strongly oppose our trade request?"

"This matter is very simple. We cannot lose an inch of land in Dachu. It is a delusion for you to use your business skills to occupy land in Dachu."

Francis Baring defended from the side: "Mr. Lin, I think you have misunderstood. We British businessmen only want to make money. We are not interested in your land."

Lin Yun was about to refute a few words when he felt someone grabbed the back of his neck.

Immediately, Prince Xuan's voice reached his ears, "Boy Yun, do you want to collude with foreigners and betray my interests?"

Lin Yun turned around and smiled and said, "My lord, am I teaching them a lesson?"

"Oh! what did you say?"

"I told them that we must not lose an inch of Dachu's land."

"Good boy, you are absolutely right."

Prince Xuan raised his hand and slapped Lin Yun hard on the shoulder, almost knocking him off his butt.

Lin Yun rubbed his shoulders and said: "My lord, can you be gentle, my small body can't stand your patting like this."

At this time, Wang Ziteng walked over and smiled at Prince Xuan: "My lord, are you trying to find bad luck for foreigners?"

Prince Xuan chuckled and said: "Master Wang, you came just in time. I have an idea to teach foreigners a lesson. Do you think it is feasible?"

"My lord, come and listen."

"Didn't Your Majesty ask you to inspect the foreigner's army? You can take a hundred soldiers with you and find an excuse to beat up the foreigner so that they know that my Dachu's army is not vegetarian."

Wang Ziteng said hesitantly: "My lord, it is a felony to transfer troops without permission, and I dare not obey orders."

Prince Xuan: "I will help you to ask His Majesty for an order. You just need to be prepared."

Wang Ziteng: "If His Majesty agrees, I will act according to the order."

"Master Wang, you can go to the Fourth Battalion of Zuowuwei in the Beijing Camp to pick people. There are a group of desperadoes trained by Boy Yun, who are especially good at fighting."

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "My lord, they are death squads, not desperadoes."

"it's the same."

Wang Ziteng looked at Lin Yun and said with a smile: "Lin Daizhao, since you trained people, please go pick them."

Lin Yun declined and said: "The lower officials are no longer serving in the Beijing camp, how can they meddle in military affairs indiscriminately. If Mr. Wang wants to pick someone from the fourth battalion of Zuo Wuwei, he can send someone to find General Ding Yuannan. He is more familiar with him than I am. The strengths and weaknesses of the Expendables soldiers."