"Xiguan is really a good place. In the luxurious cabin of the armed transport ship of the Thousand Islands, Taiwan Bank General Manager Shao Shuguang opened a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet and said while backing it for Huang Hanhua: "Guangzhou people now like to come here to do business and buy things. Not only rich people come to buy, but ordinary people sometimes come. Therefore, there are more and more market taverns, tea shops and brothels here, which is very lively. The most important trade with Guangdong merchants is completed in the special market there, and then transported them back to the merchant station to store them together."

The commercial station Shao Shuguang mentioned naturally refers to the Haizhu Island commercial station. This fortress-style commercial station built by a Taiwan bank has now more than 200 armed personnel, equipped with more than ten artillery pieces, wells, grain warehouses, arsenals, and cargo warehouses in the city, and has strong self-supporting ability. If it weren't for the Portuguese, Dutch, and English who were equipped with powerful firepower, they would have no choice but to defeat the cold weapons under Li Chengdong in a short time and could only be siege for a long time. Once they were siege for a long time, the people on the east coast were not deaf and blind. A large number of people would immediately come to rescue the siege on warships. With their strength, any enemy would have to escape in front of them, including the King of Guangdong and the Duke of Huiguo of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Nowadays, after the rapid growth of the previous two years, the trade volume of Haizhu Island Merchant Station has now entered a mature and stable period. In other words, it is that it has entered a bottleneck period, that is, merchants in Guangdong who are willing to do business with the East Coast people have basically come. If they are unwilling, there are naturally other channels to do business. No matter how powerful the warships of the East Coast people are, they are limited to quantity and performance, and it is impossible to block the entire Guangdong and Fujian offshore. Some people have channels to do trade, not to mention that the warships of the East Coast people cannot stay here all the time. Their tasks are heavy.

Most of the merchants who came to trade in Guangdong were from Guangzhou and Huizhou, and the products were mainly tea, raw silk, brocade, medicinal materials, and porcelain. Occasionally, some other rare goods such as tung oil, pig bristles, etc. were resold for a long distance. People on the east coast also accepted them all, and they received as much as they could, without a second thought.

After the above-mentioned goods were acquired by the Bank of Taiwan, they were basically a few sailboats entrusted on the Indian Ocean route to transport them back to China for sale, with great profits, after all, they are all urgently needed materials in the local area. And because of this, the Bank of Taiwan was able to accumulate profits greatly within a few years and make the company's value bigger and bigger, becoming a famous hen that lays golden eggs. Once upon a time, the Taiwanese Bank even looked for money because its stocks could not be sold. But now, it is difficult for you to have a chance to invest. Shao Shude and Shao Shuguang and his son held less than 10% of the company's shares, which was already quite jealous.

The root of all this is undoubtedly trade with mainland China. Therefore, from the standpoint of Taiwan Bank, Shao Shuguang and others, they are never willing to give up this hot commodity, because it involves huge interests. For this reason, after having some money in the company's account, Shao Shuguang has ordered two "Star"-class light cruisers in the local name of Taiwan Bank, not old ships, but new ships, which is quite face-saving. He spent a huge sum of more than 40,000 yuan for this, and it is obvious that he was slaughtered, but he didn't care at all, because this money is worth it and it is necessary to spend it. After all, Taiwan Bank cannot always survive by leasing the ships of the third fleet, Okhotsk Sea Squadron, right?

"The city of Guangzhou is really a rare quiet place in this chaotic world. It has abundant resources, a large population, convenient transportation and a developed economy. If it weren't for being dominated by the vulgar and unwritten old man Li Chengdong, I think it would be better." Shao Shuguang brought the wine glass to Huang Hanhua and said, "The Xianghe wine produced in South Africa is rare in the Far East. Try it and you will definitely miss it."

"Your bottle of wine can be sold here for about a few dozen yuan per bottle. A lot of homesick people will probably pay a high price to ask you for it." Huang Hanhua took a sip and joked: "Such fine wine and delicious food. With the prosperous scenery of Xiguan, you can really get drunk, and people can vaguely see a trace of the prosperous times. I just don't know what this Guangzhou city looked like during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty."

"Haha, yes. However, I am also worried about how long the prosperous scene in Xiguan and even Guangzhou City can last. Once a military disaster occurs, hundreds of thousands of people and millions of wealth in Guangzhou City may be wiped out overnight." Shao Shuguang smiled first when he heard this, then sighed softly, and said, "Some people just can't live with the people who want to live a quiet life! Wu Sangui, an old man, knew that his death was coming, and there was not much time left, so he all started to attack the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou. The Emperor Yongli of Kunming was panicked and kept sending letters to reinforcements from all over the country to enter Yunnan to protect the lords. Although this Duke Huiguo Li Chengdong on weekdays, he was still alive.

He was domineering, but he knew the importance of it. He had already sent his son Li Yuanyin to lead 20,000 troops to go west of Guangzhou Prefecture, intending to enter Yunnan through Guangxi to fight against Wu Sangui's army. In addition, the chieftains of the Ming army in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places also responded, gathering troops to fight to the death with the Wu bandits, and his courage was commendable. However, the Zheng family of Fujian no longer had any entanglements with Li Chengdong in Chaozhou Prefecture, but did not send any powerful troops to the west to serve the king. They just bought muskets, cannons and war horses, and made all kinds of weapons. It seemed that they wanted to have troops to protect themselves. Isn't this idiot heard that there was no end to the collapse of the nest? Alas, he was really shallow."

Huang Hanhua was speechless after hearing this. He was the secretary of Liang Xiangjian, the former captain of the Denglai Development Team. He was naturally very informative and could understand some information that ordinary people could not know. He had no good feelings for the Zheng family in Fujian. He felt that although this person shouted slogans all day long and was extremely respectful to the Southern Ming court on the surface, he was actually an absolute warlord and his intention to separatist Fujian was very obvious.

In fact, there were many people in the late Ming Dynasty. They might not have the ambition to become kings and dominate. They just wanted to separatist the country and live happily. This Zheng family is a typical example. However, no matter how, Wu Sangui is now in the south with 60,000 elite troops, and is still recruiting surrenders and rebels along the way. The situation of the Southern Ming court is not optimistic. You don’t send a large army to serve the king, but only sent a relative of a close clan to bring more than 2,000 people to march westward through the Liangao area. This attitude is indeed a problem, and people will be criticized in the future.

"I heard that there are still some chieftains in southern Sichuan who did not listen to Wu Sangui's orders and secretly communicated with the open and state. How could Wu Sangui dare to be confident and bold in commanding the army to the south? If he was defeated, the left camp of the Shun Army also broke through the defense line of Kuizhou Prefecture and rushed in. These chieftain soldiers jumped out to rebel again, and he would be in big trouble." Huang Hanhua said with some confusion in the glass of wine in his hand: "Is it just to pave the way for his descendants in advance? If his descendants are so unbearable, they will definitely not make any progress?"

"It's both sides to promote it, both the factors urging the Qing court and his own urgent wishes. The old thief Wu asked the Qing court for food, wages and equipment for so many years. Although the Qing court did not give it to him every time, he also allocated a lot. If the old thief Wu doesn't work hard to fight, it would be unreasonable. Besides, he is old after all, and his son is not a good weapon. If he is a hostage, he has no material to cultivate and cultivate. Wu Yinglin, listen. I said it, the information of the military police team wrote that this person is average. Once Wu Sangui kicks his legs, can he be as pioneering and enterprising as his father? Stop making fun of it, it is good to be able to defend and achieve success, but also enterprising? Haha, it is impossible! There are arrogant soldiers and powerful generals inside, and the Qing court with unpredictable intentions outside and the Zuoying of the Shunjun, a great enemy of life and death, and his life and death, will have a hard life." Shao Shuguang said, and he looked down on the descendants of the Wu family in his words.

"There should be few rumors in the outside world, right? There are many rumors spreading, not to believe it! But he really has nothing outstanding, it should be the best for the middle-aged man. If Shoucheng has a team left by his father, he should be able to support him. It is indeed a bit difficult for him to be pioneering and enterprising." Huang Hanhua looked at the lively scene of the crowded people by the Pearl River outside the porthole, shook his head slightly and said, "Now it depends on what kind of territory his father can build for him. If he can really dominate the Southern Ming Dynasty and unify it. If the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan are integrated and digested, the Wu family will advance and attack and retreat. With the richness of the base in Sichuan, you can take Guangdong and Guangxi to the east, Hubei to the north, and you can peek at Guanzhong. The only trouble is probably Guangyuan. The Hanzhong line is still firmly controlled by the Qing Dynasty's direct line, like a thorn on its back, which is quite a threat. If Wu Yinglin can inherit such a big situation and control Guangyuan, Hanzhong and Kuizhou, it will be really difficult to control and a separate kingdom."

"Yes, so it depends on the situation of the war now. Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and others have rectified some of the Southern Ming troops in recent years, and their direct troops have also been expanded to a certain extent. The equipment should be much stronger than before. More importantly, they have gained a certain chance of breathing. Now, they face Wu Sangui's 60,000 troops. Although it is difficult to resist, they should not be defeated thousands of miles. And as long as they are not defeated quickly and have a crushing defeat, there will always be a chance in the long-term stalemate. What I am most afraid of now is that the old thief Wu will break the main force in one battle, and then quickly conquer the city and recruit surrender and rebel. That is really the situation is over." Shao Shuguang said: "The last time I sent it, it said that Liu Wenxiu had been unfavorable in several battles in Guizhou, and lost more than 7,000 troops, which made the old thief Wu occupy a lot of a piece of it." Shao Shuguang said: "The news sent last time said that Liu Wenxiu had been unfavorable in several battles in Guizhou, and lost more than 7,000 troops, which made the old thief Wu occupy a lot of money." The local area also recruited a group of fence-skinned chieftains, and the momentum rose sharply. Last month, I went to Guangzhou City to meet with the Xintai Hou Hao Shangjiu. During the chat, I talked about the situation in the Southern Ming Dynasty, saying that although the battle situation is still not optimistic, it has greatly delayed the speed of the Wu bandits' advance, and its spirit has been wiped out a lot. Hao Shangjiu even mentioned that Li Dingguo held Qujing Prefecture for several months, fought with Ma Bao, the general under Wu Sangui, and defeated this guy under the Nanning County, and captured more than 3,000 troops, greatly boosting the morale of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The Wu Old Thieves' side troops should not be able to reorganize any decent offensive in a short period of time. Now, it depends on the main force personally led by Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu and others, and the result of the Guiyang battle with Wu Old Thieves' head of the army."

"Yes, this battle is extremely critical, it is almost a war that determines the direction of South China..." Huang Hanhua echoed.

At this time, the "Thousand Islands" had already whistled into Lizhi Bay and anchored in the river. There were many small boats near the shore. When I saw the giant "Thousand Islands" (actually the standard displacement is only 250 tons) coming, they all avoided it, causing chaos on the river surface.

Lizhi Bay was not as silted as in later generations, and the area of ​​Guangzhou City was not as large as that of later generations. Although there were many lands formed by alluvial rivers in the Xiguan area, it was still a water town country, and the Shibapu area was even more invisible. Therefore, the shipping conditions here were actually very outstanding. However, even so, the "Thousand Islands" still dared not take risks, but stayed in the deep waters surveyed in advance, and then transported people and goods ashore in batches with small boats, including Shao Shuguang, Huang Hanhua and others.

Shao Shuguang came to Guangzhou Xiguan from Taiwan Island, mainly to introduce Huang Hanhua, the new deputy general manager of Taiwan Bank and the head of Haizhu Island Merchant Station, to merchants here who have close trade relations with the East Coast people. In other words, in the future, he will be the one who will be responsible for him. Shao Shuguang usually sits in the Dinghai Port of Ningbo Prefecture, coordinates the overall situation, and will no longer be asked about the specific details of the south.

Huang Hanhua actually also has multiple positions. He is the head of the Haizhu Island Merchant Station and is responsible for import and export trade with Guangdong Merchants. He is also the diplomatic liaison between the East Coast Government and Huiguo Duke Li Chengdong and even the Southern Ming Dynasty court. In addition, he is the highest in charge of the spy network that has been slowly established in the past two years to spy on the intelligence of South China. His work is not easy, and it involves several fronts, and the requirements for people's abilities are quite high.

However, Huang Hanhua is still optimistic about whether he can do these things well. He was from Liang Xiangjian's secretary and has been in Yantai for many years. He is familiar with general administrative affairs and is still qualified to grasp people's minds. Later, he was transferred to Laizhou Prefecture for a long time, and participated in a series of local construction, emergency rescue, disaster relief, refugee resettlement and other things. His ability has been improved to a certain extent. This time he was transferred to Guangzhou to fully be responsible for the affairs here (and to solve the level problems, he also took the position of deputy general manager of the Taiwan Bank). It is also the trust of Jiang Zhiqing, the captain of the Southern Development Team, for the sake of his new official, so he is now full of confidence and plans to show his strength.
Chapter completed!