Liu Zheng arrived in Guangzhou in mid-August, and it has been his fourth month in his residence in the mall area.

Since October, businessmen and store staff from other Western shopping malls have left Guangzhou and returned to Macau for the winter. They will not return until the tea trade season begins next May.

Liu Zheng did not go to Macau, so he could only stay alone in the mall with his subordinates. Not to mention that Zhao Xin and others did not buy a house in Macau when they came in August, even if they bought it, he would not dare to go there. The Portuguese Macau authorities and Beihai Town still have no accounts.

Four months ago, when Zhao Xin and his friends left the Pearl River, in order to punish the private opium trafficking in Portugal, they bombarded the Mama Cabinet fort and sent someone to send a letter, which made the Portuguese authorities very angry.

So don't think that Liu Zheng could fool the Portuguese with the sign of "Great Ainu Kingdom". They were not fools. They quickly figured out the details by bribing officials from the Tongzhiyamen of the Haigong Tongzhi. Although they did not have the ability to send a fleet north to attack Beihai Town, if Liu Zheng fell into the trap, it would be enough for him to drink a pot.

If Western businessmen were here, Liu Zheng felt that his life was quite fulfilling. He had no time to go to the business bank to ask about the price of the product, then went to the foreign business club to have some tea, chat with someone, and cultivated French conversation skills by the way.

But now all the foreign merchants left, and the shopping malls in various countries were closed. Several business owners also returned to Guangzhou City to enjoy, and a few guardians were left in the shops. At present, in addition to the shops and workshops that provide daily life services on Jingyuan Street, they also opened their doors to do business. Other places in the shopping mall area have become deserted and the doors are closed.

Speaking of Guangzhou Shisanxing Shopping Center in the 18th century, it is actually another time and space Guangzhou Cultural Park, plus the area from Renmin South Road to Renji Road. Specifically, it is from Zhujiang River to the south, to Shisanxing Street in the north, to Xihao in the east, to Lianxing Street in the west, to cover a total area of ​​51,000 square meters, which is almost the area of ​​7 football fields.

The establishment of the mall area can be traced back to more than 70 years ago, that is, 1715.

At that time, the British East India Company was determined to normalize and formalize trade with China, so with the approval of the Qing court, it rented a house on the west side of Xindoulan Street in Xihao and sent personnel to stay for a long time.

By May 1719, the French East India Permanent Company was established and officially established a shopping mall in Guangzhou to operate trade with China.

In 1727, the Dutch merchant house was established; in 1730, the Spanish merchant house was established; in 1731, the Danish merchant house was established; in 1732, the merchant ships of the Swedish East India Company arrived in Guangzhou and established the Swedish merchant house. Later, the merchant ships of the Habsburg Dynasty arrived, and the merchant house was also established, known as the "Ostend Merchant Hall".

At that time, except for a few European countries that established East India Company, they would rent houses for a long time, other merchants from Prussia, Germany, Italy and other countries only temporarily rented houses during the trade period from May to October every year, and they would cancel their rents until they came to China next time to find a place. Therefore, some shopping malls were not on the edge of the Pearl River, but were located in the areas of Leather Shoe Street, Guyi Street, Doulan Street and Dashi Street south of Lantern Street.

After 1760, the Qing court strengthened its policy of preventing foreign barbarians. Foreign merchants could no longer rent houses in Xiguan, but were moved to the vicinity of the docks along the Pearl River. All the commercial halls that were originally scattered in various streets were transferred to the south side of Shisanxing Street.

At the beginning of this year, Qianlong pinched his nose and agreed to come to Guangzhou to trade and open a shopping mall. Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who received the secret order, knew that it was of great importance. Finally, he decided that the Wanhexing Cai family, who served as the chief merchant, was responsible for the connection. If something happened, you will ask.

It was already May of the lunar calendar when Cai Shiwen gritted his teeth and took over his errands. The biggest problem before him was the house. It was definitely too late to build a new building, so he had to free up the "Little Stream Pavilion" where Wanhexing was located.

This is a Chinese-style building with five entrances in front and back. It has a magnificent interior decoration. It is close to the Zhujiang River and has a garden. It is located on the west side of Xindoulan Street and outside the south gate is Doulan Street Wharf. Because it is next to a stream to the east, it is also called "Little Stream Tour" by foreign merchants.

Next to the west of the Stream Pavilion is the Dutch Pavilion, and further east is the British Tour, the Bass Tour - locals call it the fried restaurant, the Old British Tour, the Swedish Tour, and the Ostend Tour - locals call it the twin Eagle Tour, the Baoshun Tour, the American Tour, the Ming Office Tour, the French Tour, the Spanish Tour, and the Denmark Tour.

The reason why there are two British companies traveling to Guangzhou every year is that there are too many British East India Company merchant ships; in addition to the East India Company's own, there are also a large number of Hong Kong-footed merchants, which makes the original store not sufficient to be used, so I rented another place near Xindoulan Wharf for British East India Company.

After Liu Zheng came to Xiaoxi Pavilion, he was very satisfied with the environment and decoration as soon as he entered the door. This place not only has the exquisite carvings and gorgeous decorations of Cantonese houses, but also combines a large number of Western architectural styles, especially the decorations of the living room, the dining room and the study room are extremely gorgeous, and each piece of mahogany furniture is meticulously carved.

In fact, the early buildings in the shopping mall area were all Chinese-style houses, which were no different from ordinary private houses. They had three rooms wide and three to five, and were separated by patios. There were gates on both sides of each shopping mall, facing the Thirteen Street to walk around the guests, and facing the Pearl River to load and unload in and out of goods.

More than 40 years ago, a fire broke out in Xiguan, burning more than 100 houses in the mall area. The result was that the rebuilt shopping mall style became Westernized. After 1760, all shopping malls not only had the appearance, but also the interior architectural spaces were transformed into European style, which was completely different from the residential buildings in the nearby Xiguan District.

The most obvious change is that the local buildings have abandoned the ceremonial halls on the central axis, and transformed the first floor of the entire building into a large arched corridor connecting the front and rear. In addition, there is a porch with a triangular lintel, with three glass windows on both sides; the second floor facade is equipped with an outer corridor railing and glass doors and windows.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Liu Zheng readily paid a rent of 1,200 taels of silver a year, and also presented Cai Shiwen with a small bag of pearls, two bottles of pearl powder, and two snow-white marten fur.

Cai Shiwen didn't take it seriously at first, and even felt a little dissatisfied, feeling that Liu Zheng was stingy. But when he opened the deer-skin bag containing pearls and poured the ten pearls into his palm, he immediately took a breath of cold air. Each of these pearls had the size of a little finger, with a diameter of 8 mm, each of which was smooth and round, crystal clear, and exuded a champagne-colored light.

Cai Shiwen has been in business for more than 30 years and has seen countless Western treasures, but he has never seen such a pearl.

I have long heard that a pearl called "Tana" was produced outside the pass. It has a round texture, huge size, crystal clear color, and is hard to obtain. It is extremely precious. Only the emperor, the empress dowager and the queen can wear it. Even if it is a prince, the prince cannot use it.

Is this the legendary Dongzhu?

When Liu Zheng saw Cai Shiwen's surprise, he couldn't stop talking, so he smiled arrogantly and said, "This is the Dongzhu, the Songhua River and Heilongjiang River produced in the extreme north. I'm just a little bit of politeness, I hope you can accept it with a smile."

Cai Shiwen said it was true! You must keep this thing when you take it back, it is an absolute heirloom!

Well, these pearls are actually freshwater breeding pearls that Zhao Xin bought from another time and space. Not to mention the diameter of 8 mm, there are 12 mm. Taking them out can scare them to death, and can make all women from Guangzhou to Beijing go crazy and scream non-stop...

New tenants came to the mall area. According to the rules, they should visit various businesses first, and then hold a banquet to enhance their understanding. However, before Liu Zheng could visit others, the French who lived on the other end of the mall area came to the door first.

The Frenchman who came was named Chrétien Louis Joseph de Guignos, the Chinese name was Deguine, and he was 32 years old this year. What surprised Liu Zheng was that this man actually spoke fluent Guangzhou Mandarin.

The problem is that our Veterinarian Liu is not only trash in French, but also not very good at Guangzhou Mandarin. Fortunately, Cai Shiwen sent his son who is familiar with Northern Mandarin, which saved him from the embarrassing situation of talking to the chicken and duck.

When introducing himself after entering the door, Degine said that he was the acting consulate of the French Consulate General in Guangzhou, which scared Liu Zheng and thought that he would allow Europeans to open a consulate in this year?

"Master Liu, don't listen to him. This French man is actually a French translation." Cai Shiwen's son named Cai Zhaoping. While walking to the living room, he took the opportunity to whisper to Liu Zheng.

What? Just translated it? Liu Zheng nodded calmly.

In fact, Cai Zhaoping is right, and Degine said that he was an agent of the consulate. The key point in this is that the Qing Dynasty believes that French shopping malls are business, but the French government set up Guangzhou shopping malls into consulates in China.

The story begins in 1769. The French East India Company at that time lost large colonies in North America and India in the Seven Years War and suffered heavy damage to overseas trade. So it decided to liquidate and dissolve the property, and was taken over by the royal management committee authorized by Louis XVI.

In this way, the originally simple trade station became an institution under the French Navy, and its functions also changed from doing business to providing services to French merchant ships coming to Guangzhou for trade, such as resolving disputes and collecting ships from various countries to the shore of Huangpu Port.

In February 1776, Louis XVI decided to change the Guangzhou Management Committee into a consulate based on the experience of the East India Company in Surat, India, with a consulate, a clerk, and a small number of staff. The main responsibilities were to mediate business disputes and maintain harmonious relations between merchants in their own country and with merchants in other European countries.

Although there were many missionaries from the French Jesuits in the palace in Beijing. While serving the palace office, they also shouldered the important task of communicating with Chinese and French emperors, the Qing government did not regard the French consulate in Guangzhou as a formal diplomatic institution of a sovereign state. They only went to find it when there was a dispute between Chinese merchants and French people. Moreover, the one who came forward was still a businessman, not the Guangzhou government.

In 1784, 25-year-old Degenie set out for Guangzhou. He was appointed as the second translator and secretary of the Consulate in Guangzhou, and also served as a correspondent to the French Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Literature.

Because insufficient funds have always plagued the French Admiralty. As a result, the year before yesterday - in 1785, the Admiralty planned to cut consulate staff and reduce expenses, leaving only one consulate and one translator.

Since the former consul Wei Ya has resigned and the new candidate has been delayed, the Admiralty Department has asked Dejine to serve as the "Agent Consul" as he is proficient in Chinese and has worked in the consulate for a while.

After Dejine came to the flower hall to sit down, he first expressed his praise for the interior decoration of the Little River Pavilion, and then talked about his relationship with the Cai family. After that, he began to get to the point and asked: "Mr. Liu, I have been in China for many years. I don't know much about the history and culture of East Asia, but I have read a lot of books. I'm sorry, I have never heard of the Great Ainu Kingdom. Where is your country? How big is the land area and how many people are?"

Liu Zheng smiled and thought to himself that he knew you would ask this. So he asked his subordinates to take a hand-drawn map from his suitcase, spread it out on the table to display it, and began to talk Brabra.

Who can't fool you? Anyway, it's just a piece of cake. In this year, except for the Russians who visited the Kuril Islands, other European countries didn't even know where the Esiao land was.

Dejine was confused, but he keenly grabbed what Liu Zheng said, that is, there was a country established by the Seris on the East Asian continent northwest of Essians.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I know the word 'Seres', but its meaning refers to China. This is recorded in Greek literature." Degine was a little surprised and then explained: "I believe you don't know that my father, Joseph de Guignos, was a researcher in Oriental Studies. He is the director of the Syrian Department of the French Academy. Before I came to China, I also read a lot of literature on the Far East in the academy."

Done, I met an expert. What should I do?

Liu Zheng decided to take it to the death and continue to fool him.

"Great! It turns out that Mr. Degine, you also know about Seris. In fact, the founder of that country was the direct successor of the former Ming emperor, who had been living in our Great Ainu Kingdom. Since the Qing Dynasty had been cruelly ruled in China for more than a hundred years and slaughtered all the princes and princes of the former Ming Dynasty, his great-grandfather... no, it was from the generation of Emperor Gaozu that he had been accumulating strength and intending to revive his own country. Just a few years ago, the direct successor led a group of great wise men and fearless warriors to the bitter and cold land to open up a new country, and defeated the Qing Dynasty's attack several times..."

Liu Zheng said with great enthusiasm, but Cai Zhaoping, who was standing behind him, was sweating profusely.

God, what are you talking about? He is also the successor of the direct descendant, and it is clearly the remnant of Zhu Ming!

However, according to this person's opinion, the news of the imperial court's defeat outside the pass last year was actually true. This fact is too great. You must report it to your father when you go back tonight.

When he came to his senses, he heard Liu Zheng still talking: "This place has thousands of miles of fertile land, from the Arctic Ocean to the north, from the South China Sea in northern China, from the Greater Xing'an Mountains to the east, and from the Pacific Ocean to the west..."

Cai Zhaoping, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but be curious and looked at it. What a guy! As the imperial court's jurisdiction in Jilin and Heilongjiang were all placed into the sphere of influence of Beihai Town, his eyes almost fell off.

Although Degine was proficient in Guangzhou Mandarin, he read a lot of information when he was in France before. However, because Europe generally lacked understanding of the inland Chinese in this era, he instinctively believed Liu Zheng's words, and the more he listened, he became more and more fascinated, which was a fool.

Speaking of the defeated prince’s restoration of the country, it not only contains conspiracies, but also the shadow of swords and blood. It would be so inspiring if he had an emotional entanglement with any female relative of the enemy during the restoration of the country!

"Your Excellency, your description of the Kingdom of Cyris and the descendants of the Ming emperor reminds me of a great work by Shakespeare, "Hamlet". If you want to read it, ah, sorry, I only have the French version. But I can tell you a little bit..."

Before Liu Zheng could refuse, Dejine began to talk endlessly. Liu Zheng complained in his heart, "Isn't it just the Prince's Revenge? Who do you look down on? I saw it in high school."

It is said that the French are romantic. To borrow the description of Wei Yuan in "Haiguo Tuzhi", it is called "We like the present, not worrying about the long term." To put it bluntly, there is wine today and drunk today, no matter who he is tomorrow.

This is the same for Degine.

This guy came at around 3 pm, but as he chatted, it was 6 pm before he knew it, and he was still feeling unsatisfied. Liu Zheng thought to himself that I had already gone to the toilet three times, so why did this guy still stay and wait for a meal?

Sure enough, when Liu Zheng politely asked Dejine to have a simple meal, the latter responded immediately.

"Thank you very much for your kind invitation! Please wait, I will go back and get a bottle of good wine."

Good guy, just climb it with a pole!

After Dejine left, Cai Zhaoping said to Liu Zheng: "Master Liu, this Frenchman is just a pauper. He has to go to various shopping malls to eat and drink almost every day. Almost every family in the Thirteenth Street knows this."

"There is still this?"

Liu Zheng was very surprised. This was a consular diplomat. Louis XVI couldn't afford to pay such a little money, right?

What he didn't know was that since 1780, France's trade in Guangzhou had reached a low point. In seven years, only 16 merchant ships arrived at Huangpu Port, and the Guangzhou Consulate became an institution that no one paid attention to in France.

Because no one paid attention to it, Degine's consular title was just an empty stance. Since India often could not send wages and subsidies on time, he lived a tight life in the past two years, and even the flagpole in front of the French Pavilion was broken and he had no money to replace it.

In addition, because the Qing court promulgated the "Regulations on Preventing Foreign Barbarians" in the 25th year of Qianlong (1760), it ordered foreign merchants from all over the country to go to Macau to spend the winter every year, which made his financial situation even worse, and his annual expenses increased thousands of taels of silver out of thin air.
Chapter completed!