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Chapter 61 Businessman’s Report 4
The three of us discussed the latest chapter about the uses of strange wooden stakes. Mr Gonzalez believes this is a special kind of idolatry among Australians. This is a sacrificial facility for them, with religious connotations. But Mr. Trini said he could not see any religious implications in it, because it was neither an idol nor an act of reverence from Australians. I personally think Mr. Trini's statement is reasonable. We did not see anyone paying respect or worship to these wooden piles along the way, and there were no similar traces: no one offered offerings, burned incense or offered sacrifices to the wooden piles.
The distance from Bopu to Bairen is very close. We estimated that we only passed one league. We then entered the area of Bairen City. Later we learned that we had never entered Bairen City - the so-called Bairen City was the castle of the Australians. No one could enter or leave except themselves and the Aboriginal cronies who served them. But outside Bairen City, a large-scale city was built around the Australian castle. They call it Dongmen Market. Because it is located to the east of Bairen City. It is said that when the Australians first arrived in Lingao, they traded with the local indigenous people here. Within a few years, this humble market developed into a prosperous town.
The Dongmen Market itself is not protected by city walls, but there are towers guarding the entrances and exits of the roads. Such towers are common here. Not only in Bopu, but also on both sides of the road. The Australians seem to use it as a primary defensive facility. Towers are generally square in shape, with the bottom made of thick stone strips and the tower body made of burnt bricks. Others are very simple, built with staggered wood or bamboo. Towers generally have two to three floors. Some of the towers are equipped like little fortresses. There were trenches surrounding the towers, and walls, often with cannons on top. The Australians placed guards in the tower to form a strict lookout system. Obviously Australians are very anxious about their local presence and are always on guard against attacks.
Our carriage entered Dongmen City and entered the main street of Dongmen City, which runs from the east-west direction. The streets were broad and level, wide enough for a dozen well-armed cavalry to ride abreast. There are many shops on both sides of the street, displaying a wide variety of products. There are two-story and three-story shops. Very compact. The street scene here reminds me of the business districts of The Hague or Amsterdam. Australian houses are in no way similar to Chinese buildings, but more similar to European houses. But they are more frugal and practical, and they use space to an astonishing degree. How to squeeze the maximum space from a limited area is the only aesthetic standard for their buildings. What surprised us most was that every house we saw was roofed with tiles, and every house, no matter how big or small, had windows inlaid with large pieces of glass.
On both sides of the main street, there are many side streets. Whether it is the main street or the branch road, there are not many pedestrians on the street. All streets are paved with the same black gravel used to pave roads, and are as flat and smooth as the roads. The streets are surprisingly clean - no matter in the East or the West, except in the Netherlands, I have never seen such a clean city. No garbage, no sewage, and no bigger than people and livestock.
On both sides of the street, there are separate stone sidewalks with coconut tree saplings planted on them. Australians seem to be very fond of coconut trees and plant this useful plant everywhere. Here we see similar wooden piles on the road again. But this time we easily identified its purpose - obviously a street light. The iron lamp head and glass cover confirmed our ideas. It is said that every night, someone will light the street lamps. Lighting street lights to provide lighting at night can obviously provide sufficient safety for shops and pedestrians. Yet their use of such costly practices seems to support the idea that Australians "act in luxury".
Our carriage stopped at a large, handsome red-brick house, a square house with a mansard roof and covered with German shingles. The windows are tall and narrow, and of all the elevated Australian houses I've seen it's the closest to the aesthetics of a European house. According to the accompanying official, this is a commercial building. Specially designed to receive foreign visitors. Foreign businessmen can also choose to stay here, where exquisite food and rooms are provided.
We got off the carriage under the guidance of the accompanying officials. Australians don't pay much attention to pomp and ceremony. Except for a few accompanying officials and security personnel, there are no extra people, and there are no gorgeous guards of honor. We were simply led into the store. We were then taken to a small waiting room.
Before entering the lobby, our attachés and translators were left in the waiting room. I objected to this to the leading official: because we would not be able to communicate. But the other party answered me in German: "I don't need your translator who can only speak Cantonese."
His German is a bit strange, but it is the most accurate German I have heard in all of Asia except Germans. His accent seemed to be from northern Germany.
But then, no matter how much I tried to talk to him, he kept silent. Until we were taken into the lobby and received.
The hall is not large in size but richly decorated. There is a chandelier with exquisite glass hanging from the ceiling - but we found that the glass lampshade seemed to be completely closed, and there was no trace of candles on it. Maybe it was just a decoration. In the center of the hall stands a luxurious Chinese-style screen, larger in size than those we have seen in India and Persia. The large paper paintings on the walls depict mountains, rivers and flowers. Bright colors. The paintings are very large in size, some almost completely covering an entire wall. Mr. Trini believes that these paintings have obvious European techniques, including use of light, composition and perspective. I recall that the pamphlet you gave me mentioned that Portuguese missionaries were active in Lingao. This was probably the work of some monks.
The floor of the hall is covered with luxurious Persian carpets, and there are many Chinese-style chairs and coffee tables neatly arranged in a semicircle in front of the screen. A high-ranking Australian official greeted us in front of the screen.
This Australian official is the so-called "executive committee member" - similar in status to our master. The accompanying officials reminded us: This is one of the nine most distinguished senators in the entire Australian Senate. Has full authority in trade matters.
This executive committee member is very young, because Australians don’t have beards at all, so it’s difficult to tell their specific age. But I don't think he's older than thirty. Such a high position for a man of his age may have been hereditary. He was dressed very simply, indistinguishable from all the Australian officials we had seen along the way. We would not have been able to identify such a big shot on the street without an introduction by our accompanying officer.
Your Excellency, I have read many travel notes on China written by travelers and missionaries during the voyage. Each of them mentioned that Chinese officials are fond of luxurious and spectacular scenes, and a large number of entourages and ceremonial guards are a must for every official. Facilities, but here in Australia, we don’t see Australians having such a hobby at all. As an executive committee member, he had neither a guard of honor nor many officials and guards. He received us in the most unpretentious manner. This made me think of our motherland - the Australians are similar to us in many ways.
The executive asked us to sit down on chairs in front of the screen, and then he apologized through the accompanying officer that there was no one in the country who understood our language. If High German could not be used as the language of the meeting, he asked us if we could use French, English, Spanish or Latin. I expressed that High German is a very convenient language for us.
Before the talks began, I handed over to Your Excellency the Executive Committee a letter from the Batavia East India Council to the Australian Senate, proving our identity. and presented to them a list of gifts. The other party expresses his gratitude. Subsequently, we had relevant conversations on trade issues.
Australians are very interested in all kinds of goods we ship. They were willing to pay for all the goods we shipped. and is willing to engage in further negotiations on expanding trade. I seized this opportunity to express my dissent on the issue of customs rates. As you must have read in my previous reports, although they levy very low rates or even exemptions on most imported products, the company's main export to the East Indies, spices, is heavily taxed. I objected to this and demanded that we reach a unified tax rate with them, that is, except for the duty-free goods, all goods we bring into Lingao for sale will be subject to a 1% tariff regardless of type. At the same time, our products are allowed to be sold freely in Lingao rather than exclusively purchased by Australians. In other words, allowing commodities to follow the market trend rather than forcing transactions according to their prices - I think this condition is inappropriate.
The other party objected to this. He thinks a one percent tariff is too low. And he completely rejected the concept of a uniform tariff, arguing that it must be levied according to the different conditions of each commodity. However, he agreed to adjust the tariff on spices and give us tariff privileges on spice imports. As for the guaranteed purchase policy, he also allows us to sell freely according to market prices without being affected by this policy. Although in the end we were unable to get the other party to reach the condition of a one percent unified tariff, we were able to get the other party to accept these two points. I think this is considerable progress. Then I tried to reduce the company's export tariffs to an appropriate rate. ,.
