Zhang Guangsheng rented a very Jiangnan-style house for helping the north of the city. It was built three times inside and outside. You can tell at a glance that it had been built for no more than five years. A few miles south is Zhou Jinggang, and there is a nameless one to the east.

The river.

It is rainy in summer, and the river water has risen to less than half a person from the window of the several rooms to the east. You can see the reflection of the white walls and black tiles in the water. Then look at the willows in front of you whose branches are hanging into the water.

Ren Yuer couldn't help but sigh: "Linshui, the ink painting, is like living in an ink painting!"

"The water in this river is higher than that in our place. If it rains for a few days, will it flood?" Yu Sangu asked worriedly.

"It shouldn't be possible. It's impossible for people to build such a big house."

Just as they were enjoying the scenery outside the window and curiously studying the foreign goods Zhang Guangsheng helped to buy, Han Xiufeng was standing at the gate and asked in confusion: "Guangsheng, why doesn't the owner live in such a good house?

?”

"Isn't it just a mess with foreigners."

"Foreign people?"

Zhang Guangsheng raised his arm and pointed to the east bank, explaining: "The master's family is a Ningbo native named Xu. He came to Shanghai with his father since he was a child to do bean goods transactions. The transaction was very big, so he planned to settle down in Shanghai.

Every inch of land in the city is valuable, so how could such a big place be built for him? Later, I bought this piece of land with the locals.

When he bought these dozens of acres of land, the land rented by the British was not large. My fellow villagers said that the area outside the north gate of the county town was only more than 60 acres. In the 26th year of Daoguang, the British Consul was the Consul of the British.

I felt that the place I rented before was not enough, so I asked the then Taotai Gong Mujiu to negotiate, and rented a lot of land, from Yangjinggang to the south, Lijiazhuang to the north, Huangpu River to the east, and Jielu to the west, from the original six

More than ten acres of acres suddenly became more than 830 acres."

"What happened later?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

"Not long afterwards, it seemed that in the 28th year of Daoguang, England changed a consul. As soon as he took office, he went to negotiate with the then Daotai Lingui, expanding the northern boundary to the bank of the Wusong River (Suzhou River) and the western boundary.

From the original boundary road to the river behind you, it expands to Zhoujing in the southwest, and from Yangjing in the south, it is still bounded by Yangjing in the south, from more than 830 acres to more than 2,800 acres!

”

"From more than 60 acres to more than 2,000 acres, foreigners are getting more and more demanding!"

"Who said no, the foreigners will give you the size of their territory. Gong Mujiu and Lingui lose power and humiliate the country!"

Han Xiufeng agreed deeply, and thought about it and asked again: "So that is the Chinese border on the river, and the foreigners' concession across the river?"

Zhang Guangsheng smiled bitterly and said, "On the other side is the horse racing hall and the main road built by foreigners. Foreigners not only run horse racing on the other side, but not only play the ball throwing on the other side, but foreign monks also run here every now and then to preach. Although the master is doing business,

The businessman, but not those compradors from foreign companies that even their ancestors don’t want, are unbearable to the troubles. They finally built this house and were reluctant to live there again.”

"So that's it." Han Xiufeng nodded and subconsciously turned around and looked towards the east coast.

Zhang Guangsheng thought for a while and said helplessly: "I heard from the owner that the Englishman seemed to think that the current concession was not big enough, so he asked his comprador to find him several times, wanting to buy this house and the more than 20 acres in front of the house.

The land and the people around him sold almost all of them, but he didn't. He said that even if the house and the more than 20 acres were abandoned, they would not be sold to foreigners."

"Have backbone!"

"It's useless to have backbone. The current Daotai and county magistrate has no backbone. He has helped foreigners find him more than once, and he doesn't know how long it will take."

"Yes, it's useless to have backbone alone." Han Xiufeng didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, and sighed and walked into the yard.

I thought Datou and Su Jueming were packing things inside, but I didn't expect that the two of them were not only in the flower hall, but also when they saw him, they took a piece of paper wrapped in dessert, and came up and said happily: "Fourth brother, you

Smell it, this thing is so fragrant!”

"What is this?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"I don't know, I'm just about to ask you, can you eat it?"

Before Han Xiufeng could speak, Zhang Guangsheng couldn't help laughing and said, "This is foreign soap, for bathing, and you can't eat it."

“Isn’t bathing just taking a shower?”

"Yes, yes, it's for bathing." Zhang Guangsheng took the soap, opened the paper wrapped outside, and explained while pretending to wipe it on his body: "Wipe it, rub it, rub it, and rub it when taking a bath.

There will be a lot of bubbles, and then rinse them with water to remove them. Not only will it wash your body clean, it will make people feel refreshed, and there will be a fragrance after washing."

"That's what women say!"

"It can be used by men." Zhang Guangsheng knew that they had never seen these before, so he put down the soap and picked up a tin box, carefully opened it, and held it in front of Han Xiufeng: "Second Master, this is tooth powder, which is used to brush teeth and rinse your mouth.

By the way, aren’t there a few small brushes over there? When you wash, dip your small brush in tooth powder. Just like me, brush a few more times and your teeth will be clean.”

"It's interesting," Han Xiufeng took the smell and looked at the pile of foreign goods on the round table and asked, "What are those doing?"

"This is a foreign fire," Zhang Guangsheng opened a paper bag, took out a square paper box, opened it and pulled out a match, and stroked it on the edge of the box. He heard a sneer and gas a blue flame: "Second Master, the Fourth Master,"

, It's that simple, it's much easier to use this to attract fire than a scythe."

Han Xiufeng couldn't help but put down the tooth powder, took the match, and tried to scratch one, but he didn't expect it to be done with one stroke, and couldn't help but smile and said, "It's more convenient than a fire sickle. It should be a sniffy inside. This foreign fire is not cheap.

.”

"It is naturally not cheap for ordinary people, and it is really nothing to you." Zhang Guangsheng smiled, unpacked a few exquisitely packaged paper boxes, and introduced them carefully: "Second Master, you have done it in the capital city."

Director of the Guild Hall, you must have seen the ringing bell. This is a foreign watch, a small foreign bell.”

"I have seen foreign pocket watches, but this foreign watch is not cheap."

"This is given to my cousin by my fellow countrymen. I gave a total of two pieces. My cousin took one piece away and specifically told me to give it to you before leaving."

“Didn’t it be bought with money?”

"Second Master, do I dare to lie to you?"

"Okay, since I didn't buy it for money, I'm disrespectful."

"This wind-resistant foreign lamp is called a horse lantern in Shanghai. This is foreign oil, so I will add it to it for you. Look, unscrew the lid, pour the foreign oil in, and then screw the lid on. This crystal cover is OK

Open it, Jueming, please take the foreign fire..." Zhang Guangsheng taught everyone how to light the lantern, and pointed to the foreign fire on the table and said: "These are all for women, including foreign rouge and pollen, and

Foreigners’ mechanism of foreign needles. Fourth Master, look at how thin, smooth and hard the needle rod is. The needle is sharp and sharp. It is easier to sew clothes than our earth needles."

Zhang Guangcheng not only helped to buy a bunch of foreigners' daily necessities, but also sent a lot of foreigners' fabrics such as grey, foreign, serge, gu velvet, and velvet.

Han Xiufeng was dazzled and couldn't help but smile: "I remember a book says that within the five states, there is only one China for those who have no daily needs in other countries.

, said, "All foreign goods are so-called clever and useless." If I use these things, will people say that I, Han Xiufeng, "respecting foreign countries" or even admiring foreign countries?"

"Fourth Master, the corrupt scholar who said these words has never seen foreign fire, nor even foreign guns and cannons. I don't know how powerful foreigners are!"

Han Xiufeng sat on the magistrate's chair, took the tea from Su Jueming, and sighed: "Not only do I know how sharp the foreign gun is, but I also saw foreign gun ships today. One gun ship was equipped with dozens of guns.

It's really a strong boat and cannon! When you think about it carefully, we lost the battle between Daoguang and foreigners in the 22nd year of Daoguang. Think about it again. You just said that foreigners are getting more and more arrogant.

The concession is expanding again and again. I think compared to Guangdong bandits, foreigners are a big problem!”

"Fourth Master, it would be great if all the princes and ministers in the capital had the knowledge of you." Zhang Guangsheng took the opportunity to compliment.

"What can I know about the fifth-rank fortune deputy who came from donating me? I was lucky enough to read Wei Yuan's "Haiguo Tuzhi". I had the opportunity to come to Shanghai to do my job and opened my eyes. I won't talk about these things, talk about the serious business, these

Oh my God, have you asked me for who can buy foreign guns?"

Speaking of it, Zhang Guangsheng hurriedly said, "Report to the Fourth Master, there are not a thousand compradors and communications in Shanghai, and most of them are from Fujian and Guangdong. Many of their ancestors have done it in Guangzhou Thirteen

Anyway, most people will say things about foreigners and understand foreign literature. If you only buy ten or eight shots, you can help you find any one, but what you want to buy is not ten or eight shots. They can't afford such a big deal.

They are not worth it.”

"You mean you're asking them to buy it cheaply?"

"Second Master, I've inquired about it. Buying a foreign gun that uses a fuse to ignite is not expensive. You can buy one for twenty or thirty silver dollars."

"What about the kind of fire that comes from the fire?" Han Xiufeng asked anxiously.

"The firebuzzer is not only expensive, but it may not be possible to buy it." Zhang Guangsheng said helplessly.

"Why can't you buy it?"

"Foreigners use that kind of bird gun themselves. Most people will not sell it when buying foreigners. Even if they sell it, they will not sell it too much. Naturally, the price will not be cheap. It is said that it costs 60 or 70 silver dollars per ball."

Before Han Xiufeng could speak, Su Jueming asked in surprise: "Guangsheng, have you really inquired about it? The firebuzzer gun is really only worth sixty or seventy silver dollars per shot?"

"I've really inquired about what the Fourth Master told me, do I dare to play the joke?" Zhang Guangsheng thought about it and smiled bitterly, "But that was the price more than 20 days ago. Now I'm buying it will probably not be the price anymore."

There are many foreigners in Shanghai, so if foreigners buy foreign guns, they will naturally use silver dollars. Most of the silver dollars of foreigners are seven cents per cent, which means buying a foreign firebuzzer, no matter how much the fire is converted, it will only cost four or five.

Ten taels per shot. It is cheaper than expected and much cheaper. I can imagine how much money the people who helped Yizhen Wu’s family come to Shanghai to buy guns.

Han Xiufeng felt that even if the price of this gun increased, it would not be much higher. He asked with a smile: "Guangsheng, why can't you buy that price now? Is there a big buyer besides us?"

"Fourth Master, I heard from others, and I don't know whether it is true or false."

"Let me tell me who is buying it?"

"The bandits are buying," Zhang Guangsheng put down his teacup and smiled bitterly: "The court has no silver, and the bandits have some silver. I heard that the British Consul not only went to Jiangning, but also transported foreign guns, cannons and gunpowder to Jiangning one after another.

.The foreign companies in the concession, even those foreign merchants who did not open foreign companies, are now doing business with bandits. Anyway, even if they are seized by the court, the court will have no choice but to confiscate their goods at most."

"The Fourth Master, Guangdong bandits believe in foreign religions, they are all in the same group!" Su blurted out.

Han Xiufeng looked back at Su Jueming and pondered: "No wonder the price has increased. It turns out that there are really big buyers! But do they all believe in foreign religions? I think it's not very important. After all, foreigners are profit-oriented. If there is money, they will not make money.

Because the thieves and bandits believe in foreign religions, they will not do our business."

Zhang Guangsheng suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Fourth Master, I heard that foreigners are not a monolithic part, and foreign religions are divided into several sects. English, French and Citimen believe in the same foreign Bodhisattva, but their doctrines are still different.

Yes, anyway, Citi foreign monks and English monks are not the same as those of English. Besides, there are also troublemakers among the foreigners. If something happens, they will find their own consuls. If nothing happens, they will do their own things. I heard that they don’t listen to the consuls’ greetings.

, it's lawless."

"Okay, let's go to a few concessions tomorrow morning to check out the largest foreign company and talk to foreigners directly."

"Fourth Master, we don't speak foreign language."

"We don't understand foreign languages, and foreign companies cannot have no translations that understand our words. In short, we have to talk to Citimen and English, and French people have to talk to them. This is a deal, and the money is
Chapter completed!