Well, the man in the straw hat is naturally Zhao Xin, and the strong man behind him is the guard captain Chai Rugui. As for the woman and the big yellow cat, needless to say?
Zhao Xin happened to have nothing to do this afternoon. He had been busy for so long in Bacheng and it was rare to relax, so he asked Chai Rugui to go to the port to buy some seafood from the fishermen, and took A Miao and Duofu to the beach for a barbecue. Because this place is located in a military restricted area, no one usually comes here, so A Miao also relaxed her restraint. Unexpectedly, not long after the beginning, they met Luo Fangbai and four others.
Although Luo Fangbai is a hero, he is a scholar after all, and he still cares about "don't look at anything inappropriate". If the other party was a Javanese native, it would be normal for him not to wear shoes or even show his arms and legs; but the woman had a fair face, pretty appearance, and was wearing Hanfu. She was obviously Chinese, so he quickly covered his face with his hands, turned around, and was about to take Wu Yuansheng and others with him. leave.
At this time, Zhao Xin turned around and whispered a few words to Chai Rugui behind him. Chai Rugui immediately stood up and walked over, stopped Luo Fangbai and the other four, cupped his hands and said in a deep voice: "Looking at the clothes of the gentlemen, I must have just come to Bacheng." ? Our commander has nothing to do today, so he found this place to rest. If you all appreciate it, your commander will be very happy!"
As soon as he spoke, Luo Fangbai and the other four were stunned, especially Wu Yuansheng and the other two subordinates who looked confused. Only Luo Fangbai was stunned for a moment, then he handed over his hand and said slowly in jerky Mandarin: "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm just here for the first time, and this is a forbidden area, so I might not be suitable."
An explanation is needed here. Wu Yuansheng and the other two people are both Hakkas from Guangdong, and they usually speak Hakka, so Chai Rugui's northern dialect with a Henan accent was like hearing from heaven. Luo Fangbai is different. As mentioned before, this person has a reputation as a scholar and has participated in many provincial examinations.
Since ancient times, language communication between provinces in China has been extremely difficult because of dialects with different accents, especially for those who work as officials across provinces. According to the Qing palace archives of later generations, from Shunzhi to the early Yongzheng period, most of the officials who came to the capital to meet the emperor could basically understand their communications. Only officials from Guangdong and Fujian gave the emperor a headache and had to speak With translation.
The problem is that the imperial power in the Qing Dynasty was highly centralized, and all major military and political affairs were never left to others. When the monarch and his ministers discuss matters, there is also an interpreter at the same time, which not only wastes time, but also is not conducive to confidentiality. So in the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, an edict was issued stating that many people in Fujian and Guangdong were not proficient in Mandarin, and local officials were required to teach them. However, those who were not proficient in Mandarin, including those who were promoted, ministers, tributes, and supervisors, were not allowed to take the examination.
Therefore, if Luo Fangbai wants to participate in the provincial examination, he must work hard on northern Mandarin to express himself fluently, otherwise he will not even be able to enter the Guangzhou Gongyuan. However, Luo Fangbai has been away from the mainland for twenty years, and his daily communication is all in Hakka, so his speech is extremely jerky and slow.
Chai Rugui smiled slightly, raised his hand and pointed to the castle not far across the way and explained: "There are soldiers guarding it, so it's okay as long as you don't go to the fort."
Only then did Luo Fangbai realize that the other party was an official of Beihai Town. No wonder he dared to play in the forbidden area. However, although the other party did not know me, he invited him warmly. Moreover, the person who came over had a calm and measured demeanor, a heroic face, and generous words. Luo Fangbai is also a person with a bold temperament, and if he shirks it anymore, he is just pretending to be coy.
Furthermore, Luo Fangbai's hometown, Shifanbao, was a military camp in the Ming Dynasty, and the people were martial arts. Although he was a scholar, he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child. Seeing the way Chai Rugui walked and behaved, he concluded that this person was a master of martial arts, and he even wanted to make friends with him. Thinking that he was here to cling to the King of Zhao, he just took this opportunity to find out something, so he said: "Old man Luo Fangbai, with the cursive name Xiaochuan. He has been running sea trade in Pontianak. This time, he came to Ba after listening to someone's advice. The city wants to bring in some goods. Thank you for your kindness, sir. Could you please give me your surname and name?"
Chai Rugui held up his hand again and said loudly: "My official surname is Liu, which is taboo Sheng, and the Chinese character is Hui. Now the Bacheng Military Control Council is doing things." After that, he gave up his hand and led the way.
When the four people walked over, Zhao Xin had already stood up to greet him, and they saw that this man was very tall. Not to mention Luo Fangbai, even the sturdy Wu Yuansheng was a head shorter. Such a height is basically rare in Fujian and Guangdong. Luo Fangbai immediately concluded that this person must also be a northerner.
Luo Fangbai bowed deeply to Zhao Xin and said solemnly: "Luo Fangbai, a businessman in Pontianak, pays your respects to Mr. Liu! This is my sworn brother."
Brother Wu Sheng, the other two are the guardians of the villain's family. ” He then explained to Wu Yuansheng and his men in Hakka, and then the three of them bowed in unison.
After hearing the other party's obscure northern Mandarin, Zhao Xin regretted letting Chai Rugui call them over. But now that the matter was over, he couldn't say anything more. So he took off his straw hat, cupped his hands, and said slowly: "Don't be too polite, everyone. We in Beihai Town don't have those stinky rules under the Manchu rule. It's rare to take a break from the busy work today, and this is not an office. Let's just get together as friends. Let's do whatever we want. good."
Although Zhao Xin didn't understand what he heard, he understood the general meaning. He knew that the old man's surname was Luo, and his eyebrows moved involuntarily. However, when he saw that the other person's hair and beard were all gray, he thought that the old man must be at least sixty or seventy years old, so he didn't think much about it.
In his understanding, although Luo Fangbai is fifty-five years old this year, he is in a high position, as rich as his country, and he doesn't take supplements casually. How can he not be this old, right?
However, Zhao Xin still ignored one point. As the ancients said, worry makes people grow old. Since starting up with the Lan Fong Society to the current "Lan Fong Company", Luo Fangbai has been dealing with various forces for more than 20 years. Calculations, conspiracies, and wars are non-stop, and the fate of millions of people depends on it. He made a decision with his words; it is precisely because of this that various psychological diseases of self-centeredness also follow.
Later generations always refer to Lanfang Company as the "Lanfang Republic", but it is not a country. Although Lanfang Company performed the function of public affairs management and had dedicated personnel in charge of military, taxation, judicial, education and other matters, and initially took on the shape of a country, Luo Fangbai's education determined the upper limit of his ambitions. His highest ideal in life is to become a vassal attached to the Central Plains Dynasty, even if he is a feudal official, as long as he can honor his ancestors.
So so far, Lanfang Company is just a Chinese club that uses force to separate one party from another. From this point of view, Luo Fangbai is no less worried about the underworld boss, but only a little more.
On the other hand, Zhao Xin, although he is inevitably involved in various calculations, after all, he has helpers from another time and space to share all the affairs of Beihai Town for him. For example, Chen Qingsong is solely responsible for civil affairs; Yu Deli is responsible for ideology; Hong Tao and his wife are in charge of medical care; Zhao Liang is in charge of industry, and Zhang Bo is in charge of petroleum; Liu Sheng, Wang Yuanfang, Deng Fei and others are in charge of military affairs; plus With his perverted ability, there are really not many things that can make him worry every day.
In addition, Prince Zhao eats various expensive supplements produced in Beihai Town every now and then, and uses top-notch men's skin care products from another time and space. He also does regular skin care every year; so even though this guy is already thirty-seven, But from the outside, it looks no different from when he first came to this time and space.
Luo Fangbai couldn't help but be secretly surprised when he saw that Zhao Xin was young, spoke politely, and had no official airs. To be honest, he had never seen such an official before, and he couldn't help but feel a little more favorable towards Beihai Town.
A Miao, who had put on her shoes a long time ago, had already opened several mats placed under the parasol. Unexpectedly, as soon as the first one was placed, Duofu occupied one without hesitation, squatting on it and looking up at the fragrant food on the grill, ignoring several visitors. When Luo Fangbai saw it, he couldn't help stroking his beard and laughed.
Zhao Xin doesn't drink, so the only thing he has here is good green tea. After everyone sat down, they first drank tea and chatted; gradually, Luo Fangbai's Mandarin became much more fluent, and the content of his conversation with Zhao Xin also shifted from the people and customs of West Borneo to the war between Beihai Town and the Dutch.
"I wonder what will happen to various parts of West Java after your department's victory over the Dutch?"
After chatting with Luo Fangbai for a while, Zhao Xin could see that this man was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, so he casually said, "If it were an old gentleman, how would you handle it?"
"Your Excellency, are you trying to test me?" Luo Fangbai put down his tea cup, twirled his beard and pondered for a moment: "In my opinion, we should knock the mountain to shake the tiger, and use the opportunity of a great victory to intimidate the Western barbarians. As for the local vassal kings, I guess they will also We don’t dare to do anything inappropriate. This time when the Dutch retreated, the town of Beihai ordered the Javanese vassals to surrender and pay tribute. From then on, we Chinese people have become more ambitious, which can be said to be very satisfying."
Zhao Xin smiled slightly and said: "But I have heard King Zhao mention it before. He intends to annihilate the Sudanese kingdoms and take over Java and even the Thousand Islands in Southeast Asia as the land of China. Transforming barbarians into summers is not a good idea. The vassal came more thoroughly
end. What did the old gentleman think? "
Luo Fangbai's heart suddenly trembled, and the hand holding his beard couldn't help but stop. The other party actually told him such an important military and national event to an outsider. What did he mean?
He turned his face and looked at Zhao Xin with eyes as deep as an ancient well. Although this young man spoke politely, there was an indescribable magnanimity in his words, which made people feel majestic and hard to offend. Luo Fangbai was very familiar with this aura, because he was such a person himself, but the confidence in the other person's words was beyond his reach. Thinking of some rumors about King Zhao, an incredible thought suddenly arose in his mind.
Thinking of this, he shook his head in self-mockery and said: "You are laughing at me, how can I understand these military and state affairs? King Zhao has a grand plan and aspires to conquer the world. He is a figure like Zhu Hongwu of the previous Ming Dynasty. When I went to Nanyang, it was just In order to earn millions of wealth like Mr. Tao Zhugong, and one day return to his hometown and shine on the lintel of his family. Now he is half buried in the loess. He is old and has no interest in these things of competing for world supremacy. "
"Haha. Mr. Luo cannot agree with what Mr. Luo said. Cao Cao has clouds, old wings are restless, and his ambitions are thousands of miles. Martyrs are ambitious in their old age. What's more, in your Pontianak, an old man also said something similar. I I felt very happy after hearing it.”
While talking, A Miao brought over grilled shellfish, fish, shrimp and other items on a plate. She smiled at Zhao Xin, then carried Duofu to the side, picked the grilled fish with chopsticks, and fed it bit by bit. Duofu was extremely satisfied with his meal and kept wagging his tail.
Wu Yuansheng couldn't speak Mandarin and couldn't understand much, so he drank several cups of tea and felt bored. At this time, I smelled the strange smell of the seafood on the plate, and I couldn't help but move my index finger. It was already dusk at this time, and he had been hungry for a long time, so he picked up his chopsticks and ate happily as if there was no one else around.
At Zhao Xin's invitation, Luo Fangbai also took a few bites with his chopsticks. He is old and pays attention to cherishing blessings and keeping healthy. Although the seafood tastes delicious, it doesn't matter who is right. You must know that the most lacking thing in Pontianak is this stuff.
When Zhao Xin saw Wu Yuansheng clearing away the food on the plate in a blink of an eye, he smiled and asked, "I still have crocodile meat here. I wonder if this brother is interested?"
Luo Fangbaixin said don't ask, maybe you got this thing from hunting in Kajiang. It's just that he can't figure out how Beihai Town preserves the meat and prevents it from spoiling. He immediately told Wu Yuansheng in Hakka. Unexpectedly, the other party immediately applauded and said that he had not eaten it yet and only heard from the Dayak people that he could eat it.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Xin asked A Miao to take out the marinated crocodile meat from the portable cooler on the ground and put it on the grill. Luo Fangbai and the others were surprised to find that after opening the small white box, white air-conditioning air came out. Moreover, the crocodile meat taken out by the other party was cut into pieces, with various sauces already spread on them, and each was sealed in an unknown transparent bag. The woman first cut open the transparent bag with scissors, took out the crocodile meat inside, and put it on the grill with a black clip.
This is too luxurious!
Although Luo Fangbai and Wu Yuansheng are extremely wealthy, their knowledge is incomparable to those of the salt merchants in Lianghuai and those in the 13th Bank of Guangzhou. They never thought that anyone would make ice and store meat in the hot Southeast Asia. .
It is said that the ice used in the Qing Dynasty was all natural ice. Because of the heat in Lingnan, meat was always stored in cold well water, but only for two or three days at most. This is especially true for Southeast Asia near the equator.
Luo Fangbai took a sip of hot tea, sorted out his thoughts, and then continued the previous topic. He asked Zhao Xindao: "I have lived in the new port for a long time, but I didn't know there was such a person? What did he say?"
At this time, Zhao Xin had already learned from the previous conversation that the old man named Luo in front of him was not yet sixty years old, and he already had some concerns in his mind. He put down his chopsticks, took the handkerchief handed by A Miao and wiped the corners of his mouth, slightly He smiled and said: "Don't tell me that I'm useless, my words are as sharp as a sword and my nose is as sharp as thunder!"
"Oh? Hahahaha~~" Luo Fangbai laughed loudly. He didn't expect that the other party had actually read his early poems, and he couldn't help but feel bright on his face.
"My lord, it turned out that I was talking about Brother Luo, who is from the same clan as me." Luo Fangbai cupped his hands at Zhao Xin, with a look of pride and pride on his face.
Zhao Xin squinted his eyes and smiled.
He said, "Mr. Luo, do you know that Brother Luo?"
"I've only met a few times. Speaking of which, I recognize him, but he doesn't recognize me!" Luo Fangbai laughed a few times, and then said to Zhao Xin, "I wonder what you think of Brother Luo?"
Zhao Xin said calmly: "This man was able to quell the barbarians and invaders in six years, expand thousands of miles, and achieve such great things in the land of Xipo. Regardless of his courage and scheming, he is really one of the few Chinese characters among us." People deserve the words "famous throughout the ages". It’s just...hehe. "
Luo Fangbai was greatly surprised when he heard that the other party thought of him so highly, and he felt as if he had met a confidant. But then he heard the other party change the topic, so he blurted out and asked: "But what?"
"In my opinion, our brother Luo's knowledge and vision are still a bit lacking. He only values the people from Jiaying Prefecture and Dabu, but excludes Chinese from other places. He only sees the friendship between fellow countrymen and does not know the friendship between compatriots. Affection."
"this!"
Luo Fangbai thought that the other party would say that he did not establish himself as king and sent people to vassal the Qing Dynasty, so he was about to express his difficulties. Who knew that the other party actually said this. He was about to defend himself when Zhao Xin continued:
"Although West Borneo is huge, the Chinese companies only know that they are partisan and hostile to foreigners and foreigners. Today the Cantonese will fight the Hakkas, and tomorrow the Zhangzhou people will fight the Cantonese. Rivers of blood will be shed for the sake of a few gold mines, and even the roots will be eradicated. It's just a joke for the Dutch and the Tubang Sultan. In the past, Zhang Hengqu once said, the people are our compatriots, and the things are with us. Living in the wilderness overseas, do our compatriots who speak with different accents have to be treated with hatred by the invaders? Excuse me Mr. Luo, what should I do if all the gold mines are mined? Should I kill the other party's territory and then rob it?
Although Brother Luo dominates the West, what will he do to the Chinese laborers who went to Nanyang with the same idea as him? The reason why everyone went to Nanyang and endured all kinds of diseases was to enable their families to live a good life. However, they are burdened with usurious loans that they cannot afford to repay for several years or even a lifetime; they are then used to confuse their minds and paralyze their spirits; and they are exploited with tin coins and lead coins to exploit their labor income, just to make a few people rich and worthy. Enemy country? It’s okay not to mention such a hero. "
With a "sting" sound, a few drops of fat seeped out from the fatty crocodile meat and fell into the charcoal fire. Wu Yuansheng, who was salivating, suddenly felt the sound of pindrops all around him. He turned back to Luo Fangbai in surprise and said in surprise: "Brother, why are you so sweaty?"
