"Boom~~! Boom~~! Boom~~!"
According to tradition, the Spanish fleet fired a salute before entering the port to show that it had no hostility. According to the rules set by the British in the 17th century, one cannon was fired from the warship, and three cannons were fired back on the shore. This was also the origin of the 21-gun salute.
However, as a latecomer to the West Coast of North America, the Overseas Corps did not have this set of rules. All its ships entered the port through radio communication and blew their whistles when entering and leaving the port. Although the Russian ships had fired cannons in salute when they entered the harbor before, the fort had no response to them. At that time, the Russians were quite puzzled, wondering why they didn't follow the rules?
In fact, the reason is very simple. The arsenal in Beihai Town has never produced 75 mm caliber blank ammunition. If he returned the salute with live ammunition, Lu Qi thought it would be too wasteful, so he simply didn't fire.
Things are different now. Zhao Xin, known as the "Mythical Beast of the Northern Navy", has arrived, and his stockpile of artillery shells has increased by thousands. Lu Qi has become so wealthy that he would be sorry for his conscience if he doesn't show off.
So after the Spanish's seven-gun salute was fired, the gunfire rumbled immediately from the Golden Gate Fort. In order to frighten the Spanish, Rucci asked four groups of artillerymen to fire out 21 shells as quickly as possible. One group fired six rounds in a row, and the other three groups fired five rounds in a row.
In an instant, the sea three kilometers away from the fort was like a boiling pot. Although the water column set off by the explosion was not very high, it could not withstand the rising and falling, which was truly spectacular. Not to mention the Spaniards on the two Manila galleons, even the Russians on the two-masted merchant ship in the port opened their mouths and were stunned.
Shortly after the "gun salute" was fired, a large red assault boat sailed out from the pier on the east side of the Cape Fort, carrying an officer and four soldiers on it, and sped away quickly in the direction of the Spanish fleet.
At this time, Zhao Xin walked back and said to Lu Qi: "Send someone to call that Baranov. I will talk to him first. You will deal with the Spaniards today. Tell them that the meeting venue needs to be arranged tomorrow." Let’s talk formally in the morning.”
"No problem. Do you want to arrange an assistant for you?" Lu Qi had already heard that Zhao Xin spoke Russian very well, but he had never seen it before.
"Just look for that He Xiyang."
Lu Qi said in surprise: "He? Can he do it?"
Zhao Xin said nonchalantly: "That boy studied the navy. Let him get familiar with the Russians first, and then let him be responsible for the liaison with Alaska."
He Xiyang never expected that the revenge for yesterday's kick would come so quickly. An hour later, when he received the order to report to the conference room of the base, he saw Zhao Xin sitting on the chair as soon as he entered the door.
"you?"
He Xiyang, who was only nineteen years old, was a little confused for a moment. He didn't understand why the man he met yesterday was here. Wasn't he from the engineering team? However, when he walked to the long table and looked carefully at the bearded man sitting on the chair opposite, suddenly, the corners of his mouth began to twitch involuntarily, and his legs became a little weak.
Although Zhao Xin had a fake beard on his face at this time, he was not wearing a hat. In addition, there was plenty of light in the room, so the outline of his face appeared extremely clear.
He Xiyang would never forget this face even to death. You must know that the bust portrait of the man in front of you can be seen almost everywhere under the rule of Beihai Town on the other side of the sea. Many people have it in their homes, and they worship it like a god, not to mention in military schools and military camps. .
He Xiyang unconsciously looked at the wall on the right and saw that the half-length photo of Prince Zhao that was originally hanging was missing for some reason, leaving only a shallow rectangular mark on the wall.
Well, Zhao Xin had someone take down the frame. He didn’t want the Russians to recognize who he was.
"Lieutenant Lieutenant He Xiyang of the Navy has been ordered to report here! Please give instructions!" He Xiyang finally mustered up the courage, and in line with the mentality of "stretching out one's head and retracting one's head is also the same", he stood at attention and performed a military salute.
Zhao Xin looked at the young man in front of him, a smile appeared on his lips, and then he raised his hand to signal the guards behind him. The guard took a step forward, picked up a piece of order on the table, and said: "Lieutenant He Xiyang, after research and decision by Chief Lu of Kinmen Base, you will be your assistant to cooperate with our special envoy to participate in commercial negotiations with the Russians. This is Order, commander of Kinmen Base in Beihai Town."
He Xiyang stood upright without moving, feeling that time passed extremely long. After finally waiting for the guard to finish reading the order, he saw Zhao Xin stood up from his chair, walked around the table to him, stretched out his hand and said: "Let me introduce myself, my surname is Liu, my name is Liu Sheng, and my external identity is His Highness King Zhao. Special envoy coming, you can call me Commander Liu."
What a mess! He Xiyang was stunned for a moment, but when he saw His Royal Highness King Zhao blinking his left eye at him, he realized and understood that the other party's identity must be kept secret.
"Yes!" After saying that, he cautiously stretched out his hand and shook it with Zhao Xin.
ah! His Highness's hands are big, soft, and warm. I rub them! It was very strong, and my bones hurt when I held it. It seems that the aftermath of yesterday's kick is not small. For a moment, He Xiyang suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of pride. Looking at the entire Beihai Navy, who dares to kick King Zhao? I! just me! Even my dad wouldn’t dare!
Zhao Xin seemed to have seen what He Xiyang was thinking, so he pretended to be evil and whispered: "Boy, are you very proud, right? Great, I will tell your father about you and that Indian girl in two days."
ah! ! He Xiyang opened his mouth in disbelief, thinking that this was going to be terrible.
Another half hour later, Baranov, wearing a black sea otter fur hat, walked into the conference room with a smile under the leadership of the guards. This man had been waiting in Kinmen Town for more than twenty days. When he heard that the special envoy from Beihai Town had arrived to see him, he was as happy as if he had eaten bee dung. However, when he bowed to Zhao Xin and announced his home, and then heard the other person's fluent Russian, his whole body felt as if he was struck by lightning, and his knees weakened and he collapsed to the ground.
Zhao Xinxin said what is going on? It’s not the Chinese New Year yet, and he’s not interested in giving red envelopes. He immediately motioned to He Xiyang to help him onto a chair, and asked the guard to pour him a cup of tea. Baranov knew he was being rude and his face turned red with embarrassment. He thanked him and took the teacup, trying to cover up his embarrassment by drinking water. But while he was drinking water, he peeked at the tall man opposite him from the corner of his eye.
What Liu Sheng! What envoy! The man in front of me is clearly the King of the North Sea who has made the entire Russian Empire talk about it!
Well, Zhao Xin thought he could fool people with a fake identity, but what he didn't expect was that Baranov had met him and was deeply impressed.
Fifteen years ago, 33-year-old Baranov moved his family to Irkutsk from Kargopol on the Onega River. He later became a factory owner, acquiring two local factories and organizing numerous fishing expeditions to northeastern Asia and Alaska.
In 1788, the Northern Navy defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Yaksa. Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng then led their troops westward and captured Irkutsk. At that time, because he was an honorary member of the Free Economic Association of the Tsarist Empire, Baranov was honored to be the target of being beaten. He and a dozen businessmen were called to the Military Control Commission for a lecture.
He was quite surprised at the time. He didn't expect that there were Chinese people who were so tall and could speak Russian so well. It took him some time to find out that the person who lectured them that day was the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army.
More than a year later, as Beihai Town's rule in Irkutsk became increasingly stable, Baranov already knew who Zhao Xin was. But at that time, he had already accepted the invitation of industrialist Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov and sailed to Alaska to serve as the business leader of the newly established "Northeast American Company".
Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, the King of the North Sea did not stay in the Far East, but actually came to the west coast of North America!
At this moment, Zhao Xin had already noticed something was wrong. The Russian in front of him seemed to be very afraid of him, so he asked in a tentative tone: "Mr. Baranov, have we met before?"
"Uh... I met him once. Six years ago, in Whitehall, Irkutsk."
Zhao Xin squinted his eyes and recalled for a moment, then said with confusion: "Are you the boss of that glass factory? I also ordered someone to order a batch of flat glass from you, right?"
Baranov was overjoyed. He didn't expect that the other party still remembered him. At this moment, his heart was as turbulent as the Bering Sea in winter. Fortunately, he didn't leave. He gritted his teeth and waited for another ten days in Kinmen, but in the end, this great god arrived!
He knelt down on one knee towards Zhao Xin with an excited face and said: "Your Majesty, please allow me, your humble subject, Alexander Andreevich Baranov to salute you again. See you again." It is my lifelong honor to meet you. If you don’t mind, you can call me Alexander.”
It is said that Russian names usually consist of three parts, their own name, their father's name, and their family's surname.
"Get up, Alexander, there will be no need for red tape." Now that his identity was recognized, Zhao Xin stopped pretending. He said to Baranov with a serious expression: "I came here secretly this time, so you know, don't reveal my identity to the outside world. Do you understand?"
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. As your loyal subject, I swear this in the name of Our Lady and my family."
The reason why Baranov is so groveling is because not only does his family live in Irkutsk, which should now be called Baibai City, but also because he has devoted his life to developing the fur trade in Alaska. cause. Now, for him, as long as he can get the King of the North Sea to nod, it is no problem to monopolize the fur trade on the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean. It will be difficult for him not to develop!
Nowadays, the Czar in Europe cannot be counted on. The only thing he can rely on is Beihai Town, so he will swear allegiance. Of course, this depends on the premise that Beihai Town supports him in exploring Alaska; if Zhao Xin does not support his plan, he will have no choice but to defect to the British.
Zhao Xin nodded slightly and said: "I have already roughly read your plan for the "Huamei Trading Company". Let's talk about the details, starting with the charter."
"Okay, let me explain it to you in detail. My plan is like this."
Just as Baranov began to tell, He Xiyang, standing behind Zhao Xin, also pressed the switch of the recording pen in his hand. Zhao Xin gave him this voice recorder just now and told him how to use it.
The so-called "charter" is actually a franchise. In later generations, many industries fell within this scope; such as aviation, insurance, and trusts, all of which require the government to grant franchise qualifications.
Specifically, what Baranov wants is mainly a fur trade monopoly and military defense in Alaska. In his plan, the future "Huamei Trading Company" would need to obtain hunting, trading, mining, and navigation privileges.
For example, the company has the right to occupy new land south of 55° north latitude. As long as this area is not occupied by other countries, it can belong to Beihai Town and be operated by the company; and the resources acquired by the company are not limited to the surface of the earth; Minerals underground.
In addition, the company will recruit immigrants from Siberia, and Beihai Town will also allow the company to import and export goods to the immigration area duty-free; that is to say, the company actually has immigration rights and duty-free trade rights. At the same time, the company can also independently sign trade treaties with other countries, and even have its own flag and currency - a "mark" made of sea otter skin. For this reason, Beihai Town can collect high taxes from Huamei Company.
It was clear that Baranov wanted a franchise that was highly exclusive and monopolistic. He hopes that the limited period of the franchise will be at least 20 years, and the company can be renewed by the extension of the charter, unless the town of Butterworth terminates its use.
In terms of the company's structure, his plan is to restructure it on the basis of the "Northeast American Trading Company". After all, the strongholds on the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island are owned by Shelikhov and another shareholder Nikolay Created by Petrovich Rezanov, the process was also full of hardships and bloodshed. For example, the "Sitkalidak Island Massacre" occurred in August 1784, in which nearly three thousand local indigenous people were killed.
The current total capital of the North-Eastern North American Trading Company is 724,000 rubles, divided into 724 shares, each share having one vote. Baranov’s plan is to expand the total share capital to 1,000 shares, with the face value of each share remaining at 1,000 rubles, and every 25 shares having one vote. Only shareholders with at least 10 shares can participate in voting at the shareholders’ meeting.
How to put it this way, due to the vast area of Siberia, although the promotion of North Sea silver dollars has been ongoing, because local businessmen are accustomed to using rubles for settlement, Baranov still habitually calculates share capital in rubles.
One ruble is 28 grams of silver, and one tael of Kuping silver in the Qing Dynasty is 37.5 grams, equivalent to five Beihai dollars. Therefore, the par value per share is 149.33 Beihai dollars, which is nearly thirty taels of silver. The face value of this share capital does not seem to be much, 25 shares are only 750 taels. But you have to know that this money is a lot of money for Europeans who are seriously short of precious metals!
In general, the granting of the concession will enable Huamei Trading Company to obtain a transcendent legal status, but it will also be extremely dependent on the support of Beihai Town.
The company will be granted a charter by Zhao Xin, the future emperor of East Asia, and thus obtain the status of a "legal person"; in terms of share capital, it will be jointly contributed by the businessmen participating in the company and Beihai Town, forming the company's common capital. All subjects under Beihai Town, regardless of status, rich or poor, can buy stocks, including those with Russian nationality living under Beihai Town.
In this sense, Huamei Trading Company will serve the national interests of Beihai Town and become a pawn in the occupation of Alaska; and this national interest is not only commercial interests, but also lays the policy foundation for the reasonable and legal annexation of Alaska.
