Seeing Xu Dayong's look, He Xiwen and the other three people thought this move was the right one. As long as we get closer to this person, the idea of getting a batch of in-demand goods from the Ministry of Trade is promising, and even establishing a long-term cooperative relationship is not impossible. Of course, it is definitely unrealistic to expect this meal of wine, but you have to have a good start, right?
Nowadays, various light industrial products produced in Beihai Town are popular throughout East Asia, such as cigarettes, matches, candles, leather goods, cooling oil, etc. Among them, cooling oil is the most popular among the common people. Because it is more durable than the essential oils favored by wealthy people, demand exceeds supply in mosquito-infested areas in the south, and the retail price has doubled several times. If you can get a batch of goods from the Ministry of Trade through Xu Dayong, the profit from resale will be at least doubled.
In fact, the formula of cooling oil is not mysterious. Experienced pharmacists and doctors can guess it almost immediately after smelling it or even tasting it. However, it is difficult to imitate it in batches and compete with Beihai Town on price.
Don't underestimate a box of cooling oil that was just mediocre in later generations. It reflects the industrial strength of this era from the inside out. The first is the large-scale extraction of various oily drugs. Compared with the distillation process of adding firewood and burning water in the 18th century, Beihai Town's factory in Bacheng can extract 300 liters of oily substances every two hours; the second is petroleum Vaseline, a by-product of industry, comes in large quantities and is much cheaper than beeswax; then there are small round boxes made of tin-plated thin steel strips, spray-painted with a red paint base and a yellow tiger head.
Tinplate was not a rare thing in Europe in the 18th century. It existed in Bohemia in the 14th century. It was mainly used to make tableware and cooking utensils. It was sold in Macau, so it was called "tinplate". ". But to make it as thin as Beihai Town, to make it so small, and to manufacture it in large quantities, even the most industrialized Britain is unable to do so.
Historically, the French only invented the tinplate can production manual in the early 19th century. From then on, the British began to mass-produce tin-plated cold-rolled steel strips and make military cans. But in this time and space, hey, if the three-piece can production line in Beihai Town is operating at full capacity, the annual output can reach up to 100,000 tons; if converted into a 500-gram can, that is 200 million cans.
"Alas!" Just when He Xiwen was thinking to himself, he heard Xu Dayong sigh suddenly, and the squinting expression before disappeared. He stood up and took the wine glass from Ping'er's hand, and just tasted it briefly, with a look on his face. With a hint of a smile, he said: "Thank you girl for your kindness and music. It's just that Xu is drunk, I'm sorry."
Um? ! Not only did this move surprise He Xiwen and the others, even Miss Ping'er's face changed, wondering, is this person playing tricks on me? Just a moment ago, he looked like a pervert, but in the blink of an eye, he turned into a gentleman?
Liang Wenying said: "Master Xu, what are you doing?"
After Xu Dayong sat down, he explained: "Don't be surprised. The so-called gentle ladies are so-called gentlemen, and Xu is no exception. It's just that Xu and his wife swore an oath when they got married last year. It's okay not to mention this."
He Xiwen and others all looked at each other in shock after hearing this, wondering whether this person had a tigress at home? The problem is that Beihai Town is so far away from Lianzhou. No matter how powerful the tigress is, can she control this place? See, Xu Dayong is also a seven-foot-tall man, but you are so afraid of your wife?
Ping'er, who was standing by, was pretending to be in tears, but when she heard these words, her eyes lit up. In my heart, I couldn't tell that this man was actually a gentleman, and his husband and wife loved each other deeply. If I could follow such a person, I would have a good destination in this life.
Everyone here has their own guesses and plans, but what they don't know is that the man in front of them is not only the spy chief of the Northern Navy registered with the Manchu and Qing court, but he also has an unknown secret. This secret is actually quite funny when revealed. It was only on the night of the wedding that Xu Dayong found out that his wife Cha Mei was not only a Miao from Guizhou, but also the kind who could cast poison.
When Xu Dayong was sent to northern Jiangsu, in order to conceal his identity, the accompanying female operator pretended to be a family member. A few months later, the two became a real couple. Unexpectedly, just over a year later, the woman died of an emergency. Later, he met a tea girl in Chongqing, and after spending a few months together, he somehow got to know her right. However, because Cha Mei was not yet eighteen at the time, and Xu Dayong often traveled around, it was not until last year that the two got married.
Just as the two were getting married, the pretty tea girl in a bright red wedding dress made Xu Dayong swear that he would never let her down in this life, and served him a cup of rice wine that had been prepared for him. Xu Dayong drank it without caring about anything else as his semen was in his brain. After entering the sage's time afterwards, the tea girl shyly told him that there was "love poison" in the wine and told him the taboos involved.
Tea girl has been lonely these years. She has seen too many false feelings in the brothel in the barbarian camp in Jiangbei, and her heart has become extremely sensitive. She followed Xu Dayong to the outside world without any relatives. Although she accepted him, she was worried about the future, so she thought of the poison method she learned from her mother.
It’s hard to say whether “gu” really exists, but the ancients believed in it. The Miao people in many areas know it and pass it down from generation to generation, such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan, but even the people who cast the poison cannot explain the principle clearly. Regardless of the fact that tea girls were abducted by traffickers at the age of ten, it is normal for girls to get married at the age of twelve or thirteen in these days, so they have learned about it since they were young.
This thing must be made on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, when the Yang Qi is at its peak at noon; the ingredients are nothing more than centipedes, poisonous snakes, earthworms, ants, loaches and mixed with Chinese herbal medicine.
As for the "love poison" specifically, it is usually planted by a man when a young girl wants to commit herself to him. It is also called "sticky poison" in the Xiangxi area. Once the man has sex with a second woman, he will explode and die. The "love voodoo" can only be solved by the woman who cast it, but after being solved, the woman cannot have a second man, otherwise she will also die suddenly.
This "extremely good news" immediately frightened Xu Dayong. He didn't even think about scoring twice. Early the next morning, he went to Zhao Xin for help as if he were a dead mother.
Zhao Xin almost burst out laughing after hearing this, and secretly exclaimed in his heart. He pretended to think deeply for a while, and then he said seriously that we don't advocate monogamy, so you should just take the lead and set an example. As long as you don't owe Tea Girl, the poison won't strike. In a few years, when the couple has a lot of babies, she might be able to get rid of you one day when she is happy.
Xu Dayong was about to cry but had no tears, and said that if the tea girl couldn't give birth to a son, wouldn't my Xu family be extinct? Zhao Xin was afraid that he would be distracted and do something stupid, so he patiently explained the principles of "XY". He also said that although you are over thirty, Cha Mei is still very young. Besides, our medical skills in Beihai Town are well developed, so it is not difficult to give birth to seven or eight children. Why worry about not having a son?
Xu Dayong had seen Zhao Xin disappear out of thin air with his own eyes, and he had also seen Zhao Xin make a room full of food appear with a wave of his hand, so he firmly believed in the words of this "True Dragon Emperor". From then on, even if he drank flower wine outside, he would just indulge his eyes. He would only drink wine with his eyes, but once he wanted to do it seriously, he would not dare to do it seriously.
By the way, when he went south to Anping Port, Cha Mei was already pregnant. In addition, Xu Dayong's house is next to Wang Changsheng's house, and Wang Changsheng's wife will help take care of anything.
Seeing that Xu Dayong refused to eat even the meat in his mouth and looked henpecked, He Xiwen and the others lost interest. It was not easy to mention the cooling oil anymore, so they had to find an opportunity to talk about it. Afterwards, the banquet ended hastily, and Xu Dayong returned to Yin Hotel. Before leaving, the Ping'er girl looked at him lovingly, with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
He Xiwen didn't really care that the business was not concluded. There would always be opportunities in the future. At present, his main task was to reach Nanning Prefecture within the specified time.
Early the next morning, while having breakfast, he suddenly received a telegram from the Northern Navy Staff Headquarters: According to the news from Guangzhou, Lin, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty, and Fuchang, the general of Guangzhou, had arrived in Zhaoqing with 5,000 troops and planned to plan the Mid-Autumn Festival. Rushed to Wuzhou after the festival. In addition, Guangxi Admiral Peng Chengyao has led his troops to Xunzhou Prefecture, and the Qing troops from Liuzhou Prefecture, Guilin Prefecture and Pingyue Prefecture are being transferred south to assist Wuzhou and Xunzhou respectively.
After reading the telegram, He Xiwen went to the war room located in the signing room of the General Military Mansion. As soon as he entered the door and saw Huang Zhong and others there, he immediately held a meeting to discuss the battle plan.
At present, the biggest problem of He Xiwen's department is the ship. The Nanliu River and the Beiliu River are not connected. After the troops from Lianzhou arrived in the north of Yulin City by boat, they had to walk more than 40 miles overland to Beiliu and board the boat from the Shajie Pier. However, when the troops were attacking Yulin, the nearby Beiliu County magistrate jumped over the wall after hearing the news. He actually sent troops to seize all the ships that had not had time to leave at Wangfushan, Toutang, Shajie and other docks, and poured tung oil on them and burned them. . When the campers reached Beiliu, burnt shipwrecks could be seen everywhere on the river.
After that, although the troops also searched for boats everywhere, they probably found only small fishing boats with room for four or five people, and not a single cargo ship with hundreds of materials. This would be fine if a small group of troops could infiltrate at close range, but large-scale long-distance transport of troops would be useless. There are more than 500 miles of waterway from Beiliu to Teng County! He Xiwen had no choice but to ask the campers to recruit local craftsmen and work hard to build bamboo rafts. The issue of the boats would be dealt with after taking Teng County.
Now more than twenty days have passed, and nearly a hundred large bamboo rafts have been prepared. He Xiwen's only concern was whether the Qing troops from Wuzhou and Teng County would set up an ambush in the narrow river channel to intercept the troops after they were dispatched. The bamboo raft has no cover or blockage. Once the Qing army hides in a hidden place on the shore and fires rockets, it will definitely be enough for the soldiers to drink.
When He Xiwen listened to the report of Huang Zhong and others, he had already made a decision in his heart, and his frown gradually relaxed.
"I decided to go out on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's still the old rule. Wei Chao will lead the troops who will camp first. If the Qing troops along the way don't stop them, ignore them and leave them to Liang Wenying behind. The first goal is to capture Teng County. .”
Huang Zhongtong nodded and said: "By taking Teng County and controlling the Xunjiang waterway, the Qing army in Wuzhou will not dare to act rashly, and we will avoid being attacked from both sides."
At this time, a young staff officer said with worry: "The army is dispatched, and there is a lot of movement just when the materials are loaded on the ship. These days we are building bamboo rafts in Beiliu with great fanfare, and the Qing army's spies must have seen it. Rong County's The defenders are not worried, but if Wuzhou knows about it, will they reinforce Teng County?"
Huang Zhongtong said nonchalantly: "If that's the case, then let's sing a big show for them."
He Xiwen knew that Huang Zhongtong had the most evil ideas, so he asked, "What can you do?"
"We might as well do this."
As Huang Zhongtong expressed all his thoughts, an intense drama began to be staged in Beiliu County.
First of all, on the morning of August 10th in the lunar calendar, as soon as the snack shops in Beiliu County opened their doors, they received large orders for mooncakes from Beihai Navy. The total number was as high as tens of thousands, and the people from Beijun who came to place the orders paid in advance. After paying a 50% deposit, each dim sum shop was filled with joy and worry. The joy was that this was the first time such a large order had been received after all these years of work, but the worry was what would happen if the goods could not be delivered on time?
In the morning, grain stores, dried fruit stores, and butcher shops throughout Beiliu County were full of people and busy traffic. Those who came to purchase were all the owners and clerks of various pastry shops. They swept away flour, nuts, pork, sugar and other items. Some of them were late and went straight to Yulin City for big purchases.
In addition, all the dim sum shops declined private orders for mooncakes. They explained to the customers with smiling faces that it was not that we didn’t want to sell them, but that it was an official order. I couldn’t help it!
At noon, dozens of Green Camp prisoners, led by several Northern Navy soldiers, drove several ox carts filled with wood through the streets and alleys to an empty space on the east side of the Chenghuang Temple in the northeast corner of the city. After unloading the wood and selecting a fairly flat ground, the prisoners started working with the tools on the car. After more than an hour, a huge wooden platform frame began to take shape.
"I dare to ask Master Jun, what is this going to do?"
Because the Beihai Navy did not disturb the people these days, nor did they engage in any forced bribery or extortion, the people inside and outside the city also let go of their worries and were no longer afraid of the Beihai Navy, so some passers-by came forward curiously to ask.
"This? This is a stage." The Northern Navy soldier who answered them explained with a smile. "Shengjing, the companion capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was captured. Our officers said that during this Mid-Autumn Festival, the army and the people should have fun together. From August 14th to the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be a two-day opera. In addition, all the people in the county who come to listen to the opera will have to pay tribute to each other. A piece of moon cake, ten dollars."
"Ah! Why don't you pay for the mooncakes for nothing?"
"May I ask Master Jun, what kind of drama are you going to play?"
"Southern Opera. A troupe invited from Lianzhou." Guangxi Opera had not yet been born in Guangxi at this time. The main popular among the people was "Southern Opera", which originated from Kun Opera. People in the opera troupe were also called "Red Boat Children".
The common people who heard the news were all dumbfounded, and then they were very happy. By the evening of that day, everyone in the county knew about it, and people from all walks of life were talking about it.
"No wonder Huang Ji is so busy today. I bet the Beihai soldiers want to buy moon cakes."
"Do you think this Beihai soldier has a lot of money? Is it a scam? Moon cakes are given out to everyone who goes to the theater, so how much do they have to give out!"
"What's the benefit of lying to you? You're not happy to eat mooncakes for free and get money for them?"
"Don't talk about Huang Ji, Zhang Ji and Li Ji both took orders from Beihai soldiers. The dried fruit shop next door to my house has sold out everything. It's so empty that rats can run away! I wanted to buy two taels of olive kernels, but I couldn't find any!"
"Hmph! You're buying people's hearts, but it's a waste of money and people! I think this Beihai Town is nothing more than that."
"Brother, be careful! Now that the imperial court has lost even the ancestral home of Shengjing, the date will change! Scholars like us must make plans in advance."
"I just don't know when the new dynasty will start to recruit scholars."
"I originally thought that when the new emperor ascended the throne, I would definitely open Enke next year, but I didn't expect that Beihai Town would actually come to Guangxi. I'm sorry that someone who studied hard for ten years in a cold window threw his money into the street! If you don't take a big watermelon when you have money, I will not only If I want to go, I have to take my parents, wife and children with me! Let’s see if he can keep his word in Beihai Town.”
"Let's go together!"
The tall stage was set up in just one day, and on August 12, the theater troupe from Lianzhou Prefecture also arrived. Because the Beihai Navy paid three times the salary and took care of food and housing, the dozens of people in the troupe felt like they had been given a shot of blood. They traveled more than 200 miles of waterways and dozens of miles of mountain roads without feeling tired.
Time soon came to the morning of August 14th. On this day, Beiliu County was crowded with people inside and outside. People from villages and villages all over the ten miles came to hear the news, and many even came from Yulin City to watch the excitement. Thanks to Bei Haijun's points set up at various city gates, every citizen who queues up to enter the city can receive a mooncake card with Bei Hai Hai's five-star mark. Otherwise, so many people would be in chaos. How many moon cakes and money would there be? Not enough to give.
The flow of people after entering the city rolled along the west and south streets of the city in the direction of the Chenghuang Temple. The shops along the way were now busy. People who came in to shop were rubbing shoulders; the clerks were sweating profusely. , the shopkeeper’s hands cramped when counting money, and he smiled like a lunatic.
The place to receive moon cakes and money is located at the gate of Taiping Shrine on the west side of the Chenghuang Temple. The Beihai Navy used ropes and wooden stakes to encircle the winding corridor in advance. Those responsible for maintaining order were all county government servants, holding sticks in their hands and constantly shouting that those who did not line up would not be given money or mooncakes. After hearing this, the people did not dare to crowd in and could only wait in line. Fortunately, the stage was not far away, so people lining up could hear it even though they couldn't see it, which was quite satisfying.
What happened in Beiliu County quickly spread to Rong County, which made the originally nervous soldiers and civilians of Rong County immediately relax. Since the Northern Navy captured Yulin, the magistrate of Rongxian County summoned the people to defend the city and let the Northern Navy attack at any time. The problem is that after so long there is no movement, no matter how tight the string is, it can't stand it.
Well, since the North Sea Pirates are going to have fun with the military and civilians, it seems that this Mid-Autumn Festival can be peaceful for two days, so let's take a breather. The magistrate of Rong County immediately wrote an urgent military report and sent someone to Teng County.
Cantonese opera in the mid-Qing Dynasty was actually Kun Opera. After it was introduced to the Four Prefectures of Gao, Lei, Lian, and Qiong, it was also called the "Xia Si Prefecture" opera. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China that Cantonese opera basically switched to Guangzhou dialect.
(End of chapter)
