Chapter 196 Guangzhou City
The Executive Committee has no special scruples about what kind of trade relationship there is between "Furuifeng" and the pirate gang. In fact, when formulating the arms export policy, the Executive Committee had already listed pirate gangs as important sales targets, and the emergence of "Furuifeng" happened to solve the most difficult sales channel problem for the Cross Group.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the strongest armed force on the southeast coast was not the Ming Dynasty's army, but pirate gangs of all sizes. The situation in Guangdong is slightly better. The Ming army in Fujian has rarely won against the Zheng Zhilong pirate group in the past two years, and has been defeated again and again. Fortunately, with the Ming Empire as a big backer, the officers and soldiers were still far more capable of withstanding defeat than the pirates. Although they were defeated repeatedly, they could still continue to fight. For pirates, they may go bankrupt if they lose just once, so they are more willing to spend money to upgrade their weapons to ensure an advantage in the battle, and even spend thousands of taels of silver each to attack the Spanish and Dutch. Looking to buy heavy artillery.
In terms of economic strength, the Pirate Group is certainly not comparable to the vast Ming Empire, but for the Executive Committee, good customers are those who are willing to spend money. The war in the Northeast has been tense in the Ming Empire in recent years, and more than half of the annual military expenditures are spent outside the customs. There is not much spending to update the weapons of the southern army - if not for this, the "Eighteen Zhi" formed by Zheng Zhilong would not be able to Maybe he is prosperous in Fujian.
Comparing the two sides, it is obvious that it is more likely to reach a deal with the pirate group in the near future. When the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers are beaten severely, they will naturally have the idea of purchasing guns. The time travel group will come back to the Ming Dynasty. It’s never too late to negotiate a deal.
After entering the Pearl River, there were obviously more boats on the river, and they became more dense as we went upstream. When we arrived near Humen, we could already see 400-ton Dafu boats traveling in groups.
"These ships are going to Manila to do business with the Francois." Li Nai introduced: "Because of the long distance, the merchant ships all travel together so that they can be taken care of at sea."
"Does it take about ten days to get from Guangzhou to Manila?" He Xi asked with some uncertainty.
"With favorable winds and rivers, we can arrive in Manila in ten days." Li Nai nodded and confirmed his guess: "However, the situation in the South China Sea is unpredictable, so it would be good to arrive in Manila in about fifteen days."
After hearing this, Schneider was thinking about how to attract Guangdong maritime merchants and gradually shift their trading location to Victory Port.
The fleet sailed upstream along the Pearl River for more than half a day, and finally entered the urban area of Guangzhou in later generations.
Schneider pointed to a deserted river beach on the south bank of the Pearl River and said: "If I remember correctly, that should be where the Canton Tower is. I used to visit the Pearl River in Guangzhou and saw the bridges on the river one after another. But look at the whole place in front of me. South of the Pearl River is almost all wasteland, it’s like a dream.”
He Xi responded: "Your ability to identify directions is pretty good. I also remember that the sandbank here is a tourist park. Unfortunately, I arrived in Guangzhou too late to join the main force and did not have time to visit Guangzhou at that time."
After traveling for a while, the two of them could already see the south wall of Guangzhou City from the boat. After several days of rough seas, we finally arrived at our destination smoothly. Both of them were refreshed and began to carefully examine the situation on the shore. In the future, this city will become a stage for them to display their respective skills.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the city of Guangzhou was divided into three areas: Zicheng, Xicheng and Dongcheng. Each of the three cities was surrounded by city walls. Zicheng was separated from Xicheng by the West Lake, and Dongcheng was separated by Wenxi River. The transportation was very inconvenient. In the third year of Hongwu's reign, Zhou Zheng, the governor of Guangdong, presided over the demolition of part of the old city wall, filled in the Haochi between the three cities, and completed the transformation of the three cities into one. In the seventh year of Hongwu, Yongjia Marquis Zhu Liangzu expanded a section of the city wall to the north and built the Zhenhai Tower at the north gate - the same place where Ning Qi was taken by Tao Donglai and others to verify the wormhole when Ning Qi joined the time travel team.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the city of Guangzhou continued to expand southward. According to the description in "Guangzhou New Construction City", the scale of the new city expanded during the Jiajing period alone was "1,124 feet long and 2 feet eight feet high. Three thousand seven hundred and eighty-six feet long, it is the eighth gate. "The east wall is on the line of Yuexiu South Road in later generations, the south wall is adjacent to the Pearl River, the west wall is next to Xihao, and the north wall is against Yuexiu Mountain, covering an area of about six square kilometers. The left and right sides are basically the central urban area of Guangzhou in later generations.
At this time, Li Nai also walked up to them and began to introduce them to the situation on the shore. A several-mile-long wharf was built along the Pearl River outside the southern city wall. This is the area where Guangdong's maritime merchants are most concentrated. Wuyangyi, the Taxation Department, the Approval and Inspection Office, and the Municipal Shipping and Litigation Department are also concentrated here.
Large trading houses such as "Furuifeng" have special docking areas on the pier. The boatmen threw out the cables, and the workers on the shore slowly pulled the boat to the shore. After the boat stopped, the boatmen quickly lifted out the gangplank and put it between the side of the boat and the river bank. Li Nai raised his hand and said: "You two, please get off the boat!"
Both of them were revisiting their old places, but their emotions were very complicated when they set foot on this land again. The last time I came here, I was surrounded by high-rise buildings, noisy traffic, and crowded crowds. But now everything in front of me seems more like a set in a historical movie, incredible but extremely real.
"Does it look like you're filming a movie?" He Xi lowered her voice and asked Schneider beside her.
Schneider nodded and responded in a low voice: "The professional quality of the extras is very high!" A young man with a face vaguely similar to Li Nai and a short beard on his chin came over and greeted from a distance: "Third brother!"
Li Nai quickly stepped forward to greet him, and then introduced to Schneider and He Xi: "This is my brother Li Po. These two are distinguished guests from the Victory Port, Mr. Schneider and Mr. He Xi."
A few people exchanged some polite words of "long admiration for a long time", and Li Po asked curiously: "Are both of them famous scholars?"
Schneider smiled and waved his hand and said: "It's not because of fame. We Haihan respect people with culture and status as sir, even those who do business."
Li Po suddenly said: "I see. The two gentlemen must be a little tired after a long journey. I have prepared a place to rest. Please come this way!"
Li Po had already prepared several soft sedan chairs. Schneider and He Xi made peace with them as soon as they arrived and boarded the sedan chair without refusing. As for their luggage, someone from "Fu Ruifeng" would send it to them later. .
Regarding the issue of accommodation, the two parties had already discussed it when they were in Victory Port. Li Nai also mentioned that he could live directly in Li's house, but this proposal was politely declined by Schneider - many of the tasks of the General Office should not be made public, and living in Li's house would definitely be inconvenient.
Schneider hoped that everything would go according to the normal process. He would first find an inn with a better environment to stay in, and then choose a suitable courtyard in Guangzhou and buy it directly as the residence of the Guangdong Office. At that time, Li Nai patted his chest and said that this matter could be handled by "Fu Ruifeng", which would definitely guarantee good quality, low price and good environment.
Li Nai is not bragging. "Fu Ruifeng" has quite a lot of properties in Guangzhou, and there are seven or eight residences alone. Several of them are always vacant and are specially used to house merchants coming from afar. Therefore, although Li Po did not know in advance that there would be Haihan people returning to Guangzhou with Li Nai, he immediately said that he had arranged accommodation for the two of them.
Regarding the situation of Li Nai's family, the Time Travel Group does not have much information. They only know that Li Nai has two half-brothers, and they have been doing business with their father, and did not take Li Nai's path to study. The path to fame. According to the analysis of the Executive Committee, there should be an issue of inheritance rights between these brothers, and the Guangdong Office must be more cautious in its attitude on this matter.
The two of them sat in the rickety sedan chair, as if they were back at sea again. After a while, they felt their heads started to feel dizzy again. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the sedan to stop. The laborer who carried the sedan opened the curtain and asked them to get off.
"This yard is nice! It's bigger than the yard in the Cliff Office." After visiting the house that Li Po temporarily prepared for them, He Xi praised with satisfaction: "The furniture and living facilities are also very complete. The pier on the Pearl River is not too far away.”
"As long as you two are satisfied, please feel free to stay here. All the utensils here will be provided by me. I will send a few servants to serve you later." Li Po said enthusiastically.
Schneider did not refuse his kindness, and was not in a hurry to ask him for rent or to buy it outright. He planned to live there for a few days first to get familiar with the environment. The city of Guangzhou is neither too big nor too small. Where the Office in Guangzhou should be located is more appropriate. This needs to be carefully considered after on-site inspection.
While they were talking, their luggage was also delivered to the place, and seven or eight large nanmu boxes were carried directly into the bedroom according to their instructions. Li Po saw that things were almost done, so he took Li Nai to say goodbye to the two of them, and agreed to invite the two of them to visit him later.
After the two Li brothers left, only Shi He and a servant who looked after the door were left in the yard. Schneider stood up, stretched and said, "Okay, let's get down to business."
The two first took out the radio and battery, tied the outdoor antenna to a tree in the courtyard, and sent a safe arrival signal to the base camp. The base camp had obviously been waiting for news from them, and they received a reply soon, asking them to put safety first and contact them regularly.
After receiving the news, the two turned off the radio and packed up their things. They did not plan to set up the radio and power generation system immediately until their current residence was determined. Although Akito definitely doesn't understand the functions of these gadgets, it might cause unnecessary trouble.
(End of chapter)