African Nationhood

Chapter 102 Lanfang Republic (Part )
  At its peak after the founding of the Lanfang Republic, it had a land area of ​​31 square kilometers and a population of more than 300 million, including more than 100 million Chinese.

But now there is only one isolated city left in the powerful Lanfang Republic, and the leader of the selection has become a hereditary Liu family.

Moreover, the current leader of Dongwanlu, Liu Asheng (some say Liu Wanchen), has been reset twice. Coupled with his old age and coma, the Lanfang Republic has no hope of revival.

In the original time and space of 1884, Liu Asheng died, and the Dutch took advantage of the situation to occupy Dongwanlu and demolished the Lanfang Company headquarters.

Because they were afraid of being blamed by the Qing Dynasty, the Dutch did not dare to directly annex the Lanfang Company, and at the same time supported the puppet regime to control Dongwanlu City.

When the Qing Dynasty fell in 1912, the Dutch directly annexed the Lanfang Company.

Dongwanlu City was built very early, but it became famous because of the Lanfang Company.

Even now, this tropical city is still full of life. Walking through it, you may even feel like you are in the land of Fujian and Guangdong, and you can hear Hakka and Hokkien all the time.

Shi Jintang stood on his horse and looked at the lazy guards at the city gate. He sighed and asked Ye Shilong to come forward to negotiate.

Not long after, Ye Shilong came back and told him that he could enter the city as soon as he came here without notification.

Shi Jintang was stunned for a moment. Is the city defense here already so relaxed?
  But it is right to think about it. If it were not so lax, Dongwanlu City would not have been easily defeated by the Dutch two years later.

Entering Dongwanlu City, we found that the urban construction facilities here are still very low. Except for a small number of brick buildings, most of the houses are still wooden shacks.

People here wear mostly linen clothes, with very little cotton, and the colors of the clothes they wear are relatively dull.

It may be because the productivity level here is too backward, or it may be because it was blocked by the Dutch.

All in all, everything here feels depressing and dull.

In addition, all the men here still have braids, and they still consider themselves to be subjects of the Qing Dynasty.

As we go deeper into the city, we find that the number of brick buildings in the city center begins to increase, and Shijintang can already see some towers and temple buildings.

After Ye Shilong asked a few people, they arrived at the general manager's building of Lanfang Company.

This is a masonry building with a high pagoda roof. The overall shape is very retro, but a bit nondescript.

It is estimated to have been influenced by some Muslim-style architecture.

The guard standing at the door was more energetic, but he was not very tall and had a dark complexion.

When they saw Shi Jintang on horseback, their faces showed surprise.

If Shi Jintang's skin color and face were not similar to theirs, they would all think that Shi Jintang was a foreigner.

Ye Shilong stepped forward to report again. The guards at the door were startled when they heard clearly that the visitor was a "British" and hurried inside to report.

Not long after, a middle-aged man came out. This man was wearing a long robe and a mandarin jacket. He had a grimace, big bags under his eyes, and dark eyes.

When the man saw Shi Jintang and Ye Shilong, he immediately smiled and handed over his hands, "Li Yuchang, a small man from the countryside, has met many noble people."

Hearing that the man called himself Li Yuchang, Shi Jintang couldn't help but look at the man for a while.

After the Dutch occupied Dongwanlu in the original time and space, he and another leader Liang Luyi organized a militia to fight against the Dutch.

However, their resistance only lasted for more than a year before they were suppressed by the Dutch. Since then, the Lanfang Republic has become history.

"We can't be called noble people. We are all compatriots of Yan and Huang. Mr. Li, please don't be polite."

When Li Yuchang heard Shi Jintang's words, he felt slightly warm in his heart. This young nobleman was quite easy to get along with.

"Guys, please follow me in. Our commander is already waiting for you."

Shi Jintang threw the horse's reins to Shi Ming who was following him, and then entered the chief's building first.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw a portrait. The person on it was an old man with a white beard.

There are couplets on the portrait, the first couplet: Open up the Eastern Xinjiang, and build mountains and rivers with eternal loyalty.

Second line: The breaking waves come south, and a powerful sound spreads across the sea map.

Horizontal batch: Qi penetrates the ninth level

There is also a line of small words below: The portrait of Luo Gong Fangbo.

Shi Jintang bowed solemnly to the old man, and Ye Shilong and others who followed him also bowed.

This move greatly increased Li Yuchang's favor. This noble man was indeed easy to get along with.

Moving on, it’s antique, with mahogany furniture and golden nanmu screens everywhere. Even the book shelves are made of mahogany.

Most of the porcelain, jade, calligraphy and paintings displayed everywhere are valuable.

Apart from anything else, the various furniture and ornaments in this house are worth a lot of money. As he walked, Shi Jintang secretly made up his mind that these treasures would not come cheap to the Dutch.

After walking for a while, they entered a spacious hall. Li Yuchang said to Shi Jintang: "Dear guest, please sit down for a moment while I go to invite the commander."

Not long after, an old man with white beard and hair staggered out of it, followed by Li Yuchang.

This old man must be sixty or seventy years old. Although his clothes are luxurious, the style still resembles that of a mandarin jacket and robe.

He has a skinny body, sunken cheeks, and dull eyes. He looks like an old man in his twilight years.

When the old man sat down in the main seat, Li Yuchang pointed at Shi Jintang and said to the old man: "Chief, this is Shi Jintang, Mr. Shi, the general manager of the British Royal Company."

The old man said "Oh" and said nothing.

Shi Jintang didn't like this dim old guy, but he came here to talk about cooperation, so he loudly said to the old man: "Hello, Mrs. Liu Jia."

Hearing Shi Jintang's greetings, the expressions of the two people opposite him changed.

"Jiatai" is the official name given by the Dutch to the leader of Lanfang Company, which means the Chinese leader.

But for the Dutch to appoint Chinese officials, isn't this a naked mockery? When Shi Jintang came here and mentioned this title, it seemed like he was here to slap him in the face.

If Liu Asheng was really more bloody, Shi Jintang might have a different view of him. Who knows, the change in Liu Asheng's face only lasted a moment, and he returned to his previous senile state.

Li Yuchang's expression suddenly changed, and he angrily yelled at Shi Jintang: "In Dongwanlu City, there is no 'Jia Tai', there are only Datong Zhi and the Chief of the Tang Dynasty. Please bear this in mind!"

Shi Jintang chuckled, "Sorry, I'm rude. I'm here to discuss cooperation with your company."

"Cooperation, how to cooperate?"

Ye Shilong stepped forward directly and handed over a trade catalogue. The fonts on it were all in traditional Chinese, so he was not afraid that the other party would not be able to understand them.

Liu Asheng was old and his eyes were too dazzled to see clearly, so he handed it to Li Yuchang who was standing aside.

When Li Yuchang saw that there were rifle bullets among the items, his face immediately lit up with joy.

He looked at it carefully again and found that these things were what they urgently needed.

Then he came close to Liu Asheng's ear and whispered a report. When the two of them finished reporting, Liu Asheng's old face showed a smile and said slowly in an old voice: "That's very good. I wonder what products our distinguished guests need from us?
  Our company in Lanfang is now in a state of disrepair and our products are poor and we are afraid that we cannot satisfy our valued customers. "

Shi Jintang nodded, "It is true that Lanfang Company is too poor and does not have any good products, but you have abundant labor here, which is exactly what Nanhua Company is in urgent need of.

Therefore, I want to recruit labor from your side to expand our company's land.

What do you two think? "

"Are you recruiting people? Yes, that's great. We have a lot of people here."

Li Yuchang's words were filled with joy. They had been besieged by the Dutch for too long and were in short supply of weapons.

If we can establish a connection with the Nanhua Company and weapons will continue to arrive in the future, we will no longer have to fear the oppression of the Dutch.

Shi Jintang is not optimistic about Li Yuchang's optimism. The Dutch will not let them be happy too early.

Once the Dutch protested, the Nanhua Company would "rectify its mistakes immediately" and directly remove weapons from the trade catalog.

"I will leave people from the company here to act as liaisons. It will also be convenient for your company to contact us. What do you think, Mr. Liu?"

"Well, yes, Yu Changzhen will handle it. We must make sure that the distinguished guests are happy and satisfied."

Li Yuchang repeatedly claimed that it was, and then Liu Asheng stood up slowly and left.

Next, Li Yuchang, deputy director of Lanfang Company, led Shi Jintang and others to select a two-story building in Dongwanlu City as a liaison office.

Ye Shilong became the chief representative of Nanhua Company in Dongwanlu City.

Before leaving, Shi Jintang called Ye Shilong and Zeng Ze together to talk.

“The purpose of placing you here is threefold: first, to do a good job in immigration;
  Second, pay more attention to collecting intelligence from these two places.

The third is to accumulate strength and be able to use it at critical moments and stand firm.

Our Nanhua company is going to order this Dongwanlu City! "

　Please read, invest, collect and recommend.

　　Thank you to book friends for your monthly support of 20190613220608414!

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)