At noon that day, Gu Lihuan was the host and ordered several banquets at the "Taibai Lou" restaurant in Chinatown to entertain He Xiwen and all his subordinates. There is no "Bak Kut Teh" in Penang delicacies these days. Seafood fried rice noodles are the most commonly eaten by the Chinese.
After three rounds of drinking, He Xiwen saw that time was almost up, so he revealed the truth and his true identity. Gu Lihuan couldn't help being shocked when he heard this. You must know that what Beihai Town has done in Annan and Bacheng in the past two years has already spread throughout Southeast Asia and greatly boosted the aspirations of the Chinese people. Nowadays, the Westerners and the indigenous Sudanese no longer dare to regard the Chinese as lambs to be slaughtered at will, for fear of giving Beihai Town an excuse and ending up like the Dutch in Bacheng.
Although Gu Lihuan has been hanging out with the British in Georgetown these years, he can also hear some things about Bacheng from the British people who pass by here. By the way, some things produced in Beihai Town will occasionally appear on the market in Penang. Gu Lihuan's heart moved, and he suddenly thought of something - cooling oil!
Starting almost three or four months ago, something that Europeans call "Serris Ointment" began to appear in shops in Bacheng. Both local settlers and passing sailors regarded it as a miracle medicine. Although this stuff has a pungent smell, it can not only repel mosquitoes and relieve itching, but also can refresh your mind when applied to your temples. It is also very effective in clearing away heat and removing toxins. When he visited Chief Wright last month, he was lucky enough to see the actual product, and he also saw the words "cooling oil" written on the lid of the box. Even though it is only a small box as big as a thumb joint, it sells for as much as half a silver thaler (note), and it is extremely difficult to buy.
If you can use He Xiwen's relationship to get the agency rights for this medicine from Bacheng, and rely on your relationships with several sultans around you, why worry about not being prosperous in the future? Moreover, he learned from He Xiwen that the imperial court that Beihai Town had repeatedly attacked over the years had no power to fight back. In a few years, the country would change its owner!
After hearing He Xiwen's words, Gu Lihuan wanted to hug the big tree in Beihai Town even more. Knowing that he was a rebel from the Heaven and Earth Society, it was definitely out of the question to donate his official position under the Manchu rule, but it would be different if he were a Han. For these businessmen wandering in Southeast Asia, just making money is not enough. If they can donate their official career, that would be a perfect life.
Thinking of this, he picked up the wine glass and said to He Xiwen: "Brother He, I don't dare to say anything else. The ground in Penang is still a bit thin. From now on, if the elder brother wants the younger brother to serve, there is no need to come in person and send someone." Just send me a message, I will take care of it."
Seeing the other party's beautiful words, He Xiwen drank the wine in his glass first, and then said: "To be honest, I came here to ask for help from my virtuous brother."
"But I don't know what big brother is going to do?"
"I'm not here to do any shopping, but to buy land."
"Buy land?" Gu Lihuan was stunned for a moment and thought to himself: Could Beihai Town also want to get involved in the spice business?
Huang Zhongtong on the side saw this and explained: "That's it. I heard that Brother Gu has an extraordinary relationship with the Sultan of Aceh. We want to buy a piece of land each in Sumatra Island and Johor in the south. It can be rented!"
"Oh!" When Gu Lihuan heard this, he suddenly realized that he had already made a calculation in his heart. "Two brothers, if you can trust me, I will handle this matter. I just don't know where the specific position is that Brother He is interested in? What will he do for a living in the future?"
He Xiwen pondered for a moment and decided to tell the truth, so he asked Huang Zhongtong to take out a map of Java made by the Dutch, on which two areas had been circled with charcoal. Gu Lihuan looked at it and felt that it was not a big problem, so he immediately agreed.
Throughout the whole banquet, Gu Lihuan didn't mention a word about cooling oil. In his opinion, what he wanted from Beihai Town was much more than two pieces of wasteland, so he planned to go to Bacheng with He Xiwen to meet the legendary Lord Wang after the land purchase was completed. By then, with the meeting gift, it will be easier to talk later.
The next morning, Gu Lihuan went to the city hall to ask for leave from Captain Wright. He confessed that someone from Bacheng had asked him to do something and he would go out to sea by boat for a few days. When Wright heard that Beihai Town was looking for him, he couldn't help but feel wary and quickly asked for details. He received a letter from the Governor of Madras a few days ago, ordering him to pay attention to Beihai Town's every move in the Java area, and to report any major situations immediately.
Even though Beihai Town doesn't have much territory in South Asia at present, it has a foot in everything, which makes Europeans - especially the British and Dutch very nervous. In view of this, Captain Wright agreed to Gu Lihuan's request, but ordered him to report every detail of his trip to him when he came back.
On the other side, Beihai Town's fleet stayed at Bourbon Island for five days, sold three pirate ships at very low prices, completed fresh water and food supplies, and then continued southward. Seven days later, the fleet arrived at the rough Cape of Good Hope.
At this time, the Cape of Good Hope was covered with dark clouds, the west wind was blowing hard, and the strong west wind jet stream stirred up waves. The roaring huge waves on the sea collided with the side of the ship from time to time, and the roars they made shocked everyone's soul.
Fortunately, July, when the storms are strongest, has passed. Otherwise, if you encounter a "murderous wave" of 20 to 30 meters high, something will definitely happen, and it will be useless even if you don't fear death. Deng Fei made preparations before entering this sea area. All the machine guns and cannons on the Thor's deck were removed, and members of the ship were strictly prohibited from moving on the deck. As for Beihai No. 1 and Beihai No. 2, all the artillery on the gun emplacements were fired with steel cables. After reinforcement, sailors must also tie safety ropes to operate outside the cabin.
Although the sailors of the Northern Navy had all seen the storms in the Tsushima Strait and the typhoons in the South China Sea, they were nothing compared to the sea conditions in front of them. Everyone on the three boats was vomiting. Several sailors on Beihai 2 were knocked unconscious by huge waves rushing onto the deck during the process of untying the mooring ropes. Although they were rescued with all their strength, two of them still died from choking in the water.
The worst thing was the two hundred members of the special operations battalion on board the Thor. These Saurons and Daurs were lying on the portholes when they saw the waves more than ten meters high on the ocean. The lower body usually seems stable, but now they can't even stand firmly, and they are kneeling in the bathroom of the cabin, holding the toilet and squirting wildly.
Zhao Xin was also tortured and took seasickness medicine to no avail. He didn't want to stay in the cabin, so he held a plastic bucket and Deng Fei in the cockpit, staring at the radar above.
After the fleet spent almost a whole day and passed the Cape of Good Hope without any danger, most of the people felt as if they had a serious illness and didn't eat much for two days in a row.
After another eight days, Beihai Town's fleet finally arrived at Gorée Island in Senegal, the French stronghold in West Africa, causing a great sensation.
Zhao Xin couldn't help but sneer at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the sailboats coming in and out of the port, as well as the sailboats parked in the port loading and unloading "cargo".
He casually said to Deng Fei beside him: "See, this is the Black Triangle Trade."
"Black triangle?" Deng Fei held a telescope and didn't react for a moment.
"Negroes, the slave trade. That's what the sailing ships came here for."
"So many?!" Deng Fei was startled and his mouth opened wide. He did not know at this time that as of 1786, France had 56 slave ships here, and more than 30,000 West African blacks were sold to the Americas every year.
The core of the North Atlantic "Black Triangle Trade" that began in the 16th century was the slave trade and the plundering of gold, ivory and pepper from West Africa. The Portuguese, the British, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, and the Americans are all of the same virtue, and no one is cleaner than the other. They transported black people from Africa to the Americas, where they exchanged cotton, sugar, tobacco and minerals for shipment to Europe, and then used processed light industrial products to continue exchanging black people from Africa, and so on.
Don’t talk about the democracy and freedom of Westerners. European capitalism completes primitive accumulation through these. Some modern people mourn the death of an old Queen of England, but they don't know that her ancestors made a fortune by relying on the slave trade with blood-stained hands.
You must know that Britain relied on the unprecedented slave trade and slavery system to develop its economy rapidly. Relying on the huge profits brought by the slave trade, it accumulated enough funds for the first industrial revolution, rich and cheap raw material origins, transportation in all directions, and a vast commodity dumping market, thus changing the original social industrial structure. .
When you have almost accumulated enough, you will put on a compassionate look and shout something about "abolitionism". Why the hell are you doing this already? Isn’t the God of the 16th to 18th centuries the same as the God of the 19th century? Are the Bibles not the same? !
Furthermore, was the abolition of slavery by the British really a discovery of conscience? That’s nonsense! Mainly the plantations in Central and North America have become raw material bases and commodity dumping points for the British. There are still tens of thousands of slaves there, and they are still giving blood transfusions to the British!
This is just like later generations saying that China is a "sweatshop". First, the industry is transferred to lower the price of basic products, and then it puts on a condescending and compassionate face. If he didn't have this, would he still talk about "democracy and freedom" to you?
Like other ports everywhere, the Thor could only park a mile away on the sea because of insufficient water depth. Leaving the manpower on guard duty behind, Zhao Xin, Deng Fei and other accompanying personnel transferred to Beihai No. 1. Then, they will be led by a pilot boat dispatched by Gorée Island Customs to berth in the port.
As the ship drew closer to the pier on Gorée Island, the black men escorted aboard with whips and muskets became increasingly clear in the telescope. Zhao Xin couldn't help but think at this moment that if there was no him and no Beihai Town, the Europeans would sell out the black people and they would start selling the Chinese in the next century. Countless Chinese will become "piglets" and be sold either to Southeast Asia or the American continent. So, he finally couldn't help but utter a national curse.
Deng Fei on the side also sighed helplessly. Beihai Town had no control over Africa's affairs and had no energy to do so. He could only sympathize with them.
