The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 555: We are doing business with the devil! (Please subscribe and vote)
"Honey, it's time to take your medicine." Victoria's voice was sickeningly sweet, and the gilded medicine spoon made a crisp sound as it tapped on the edge of the medicine bowl.

"Take medicine? What kind of medicine is this?" Albert narrowed his eyes and asked in confusion as he looked at his wife who was obviously older than him, had given birth to a bunch of children, but was still radiant.

"It's a potion that can save your life!" The Queen's voice was full of surprise. "It's called 'Royal Coptis chinensis'. It was brought to the UK by Chinese Ambassador Wang Libin. It arrived the day before yesterday. The Magic Committee immediately arranged for beggars in the slums of London to test the potion. The effect is quite good, and it doesn't seem to have any additional toxicity."

It seems not?

When Albert was thinking about whether to drink this potion that might have huge hidden dangers, his stomach made another gurgling sound. He struggled to stand up and looked at the bone china teacup in the Queen's hand. Victoria put the gilded medicine spoon against his cracked lips. The "Royal Coptis" in the spoon shone like gold. The prince's Adam's apple rolled, and the medicine brewed with "Royal Coptis" quickly flowed into his mouth - it was so bitter!

Although the Royal Coptis chinensis was bitter, it was very effective against Albert's intestinal bacteria. In less than an hour, his diarrhea stopped and he could lean on the bed to ask his wife about the magic potion "Royal Coptis chinensis". Before he asked the question, the prince's brows were knitted again - life-saving magic potions are of course good things, but it is a big problem that the magic potion is not in the hands of the British Empire! A big problem that may threaten the national security of the United Kingdom!

"Dear Albert, drink some more 'spiritual tea' and be careful not to burn your mouth."

Before Albert could speak, the Queen took a cup of freshly brewed green tea from a maid and handed it to the prince.

"This is..." The prince looked at the bone china teacup that was emitting green smoke, feeling a little strange. It seemed that there was only clear water and some floating tea leaves in it.

"This is the Royal Tea from China," the Queen said. "Drink it with boiling water. It has a miraculous effect on maintaining the stomach! Dear Albert, don't drink milk tea in the future. Drink the Royal Tea brewed with boiling water instead."

"Wait," the prince interrupted his wife, "Why is it Royal Coptis chinensis and Royal Spirit Tea?"

Queen Victoria smiled and said, "Because Mr. Wu Chaoyue, the representative of Jiangnan Pharmaceutical in China, wants me to give his product the title of 'Royal'."

The title of "Royal" is still very popular in the UK, and it sounds high-end and classy. Although the meaning of "Royal Berberine" is not great, the medicine that cures diseases and saves lives is not afraid of not being sold at a low price, and it is impossible for it not to be sold - the production capacity is limited, and the demand is huge! However, if the green tea produced in Jiangnan is crowned with the name of "Royal" and sold in Europe under the name of "Royal Magic Tea", it may be able to sell well.

The British are already planting tea in India. Although it is not yet time to harvest in large quantities, it will be a matter of time. Luo Yaoguo has long been thinking of a solution - industrialization requires huge investments!

Although China does not lack capital at present and the silver accumulated from hundreds of years of trade surplus has not yet been distributed, the value of this silver can only be maintained if it is held in the hands of the Chinese. Once a large amount of outflow occurs, the price of silver will collapse.

Therefore, Luo Yaoguo had to do everything he could to expand exports! New export products, such as coptis root and garlic, had to be developed. Old advantageous products, such as silk and tea, had to be consolidated. Even porcelain, which had begun to fall behind, had to catch up!

"He wanted it, so you gave it to him?" Prince Albert took a sip of the tasteless tea, and the hot water flowing into his abdomen gave him a warm feeling - it seemed to be of some use!

Could it be that this spiritual tea really contains spiritual energy?

"Of course I won't give it to you for free!" The Queen said with a smile, "Mr. Wu Chaoyue has agreed to transfer the production technology of berberine to us and grant us patent authorization!"

Transferring berberine production technology and patent authorization is an important means for Luo Yaoguo to expand the coptis and garlic business. Because there are problems in the production, storage, transportation, and promotion of berberine and allicin, Luo Yaoguo's desire to eat alone is likely to result in neither business growing. The European upper class can ensure that they have berberine and allicin, what does the life and death of the people below have to do with them? By then, even if berberine and allicin can always be equal to gold, they will not make much money, and there will not be much demand for coptis and garlic.

Therefore, it is most cost-effective to transfer technology, open up patent authorization, and allow European pharmaceutical companies to produce berberine and allicin together. Of course, technology cannot be given away for free.

"What's the price?" Albert was not stupid. He knew that no matter whether it was the devil or the prophet, no one would give benefits to others for free. "Does Luo Yaoguo want our steam ironclad warships and breech-loading guns?"

"No," the Queen shook her head. "They want to establish a joint venture with Sharp Brothers to open a factory in Shanghai that specializes in producing textile machinery and steam engines. They also want to develop new silk reeling machines in Sharp's Shanghai factory."

Sharp Brothers was the world's best manufacturer of textile machinery and steam engines during this period. It is no exaggeration to say that it was the foundation of the industrialization of the British Empire! "He is indeed a greedy devil!" Albert's face changed, and he gritted his teeth lightly, "What he wants is the most fundamental thing!"

"Should we reject this deal, my dear?" Queen Victoria whispered.

"No, we also need to master magic!" Albert shook his head gently: "I must be responsible for this transaction personally. We are doing business with the devil!"

At the same time, United States, West Coast, San Francisco.

"My last name is Huang, and I'm from Hunan." When Huang Shiren said this while standing on a pier in the San Francisco Bay, he immediately became alert. He glanced around and found that the person he was talking to was a young man in a black robe, a little thin, with pockmarks on his face. He was holding a copy of "The True Testament" with Hong Xiuquan's image printed on it, and a cross was hung on his chest.

Obviously, this is a True Testament pastor.

"My name is Zhao Si, and I'm a pastor of the True Covenant Brotherhood in San Francisco." Xianfeng took out a True Covenant leaflet and handed it to Huang Shiren with a smile on his face. "My brother, you haven't joined the True Covenant yet, right? Why don't I lead you into the religion? As long as you convert to the True Covenant, the King of Heaven will bless you, and the Brotherhood on earth will also protect you!"

This is Xianfeng’s job now - to convert people to Christianity!
According to the order of his superior Lei Lao Hu, he had to recruit at least ten new believers at the San Francisco dock every day. If he failed to do so, he would be deducted money! If he exceeded the target, he would receive a bonus.

However, it is not difficult to recruit ten people a day, because the Chinese who travel across the ocean to the New World also need an order that allows them to make money with peace of mind, and the True Covenant Sect is now one of the controllers of the order on the West Coast.

If Chinese people join the True Promise Sect, they can make money under the protection of the True Promise Sect.

The True Promise Sect was doing "long-term business" on the West Coast of the United States. Whether it was the True Promise Sect headquarters in Tianjing, the True Promise Sect's Dongdian branch in Seoul, or the "Tianwang Sect" of Hong In-gan and Hong In-jeong, their demands for the West Coast were similar, which was to do everything possible to expand the Chinese (East Asian) ethnic group. As the ethnic group expanded, the sales of Chinese and Japanese products on the West Coast would expand, the amount of gold flowing into East Asia from the West Coast would increase, and the pressure of excess population in East Asia would be transferred out.

"Mr. Huang, please join us!" Xianfeng said kindly, "Only if you join us can you make money on the West Coast. Otherwise, those white people will oppress you to death." At this time, Xianfeng suddenly found that Huang Shiren was reading a True Covenant leaflet with his head down. "Mr. Huang, can you read?"

Huang Shiren showed a hint of pride on his face: "I was once a scholar!"

"Scholar? Great!" Xianfeng was pleasantly surprised and grabbed Huang Shiren's hand. "We need talents like you! Come join us. I will help you find a job as a teacher. If you really have the knowledge of a scholar, I can give you forty dollars a month. That's two taels of gold!"

Two taels of gold is equivalent to thirty taels of silver!
That's three hundred and sixty taels a year! The annual salary of a first-rank official in the Qing Dynasty was only one hundred and eighty taels. Huang Shiren couldn't believe his ears and even felt that he had met a liar.

Xianfeng held Huang Shiren's hand tightly - how could he let go? That was a huge bonus, and sooner or later this man would be on par with Xianfeng. There were many Chinese workers on the West Coast now, but not many of them were literate. Even Archbishop Hong Renzheng himself had never won the title of scholar.

A scholar on the West Coast is more valuable than a Jinshi in China, and one can become the principal of a Chinese school right away.
"Er Dezi, come quickly, there is a scholar here!" Xianfeng was probably afraid that the scholar would run away, so he quickly called De Ling, who was preaching nearby, to come over. The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, carried Huang Shiren and went to the cathedral.

True Covenant Cathedral, San Francisco.

Hong Renzheng was sitting in his own reception room. The newly elected Senator Jamie O'Connor, who had just applied gold foil to the statue of Hong Xiuquan, was sitting opposite him, holding a cup of green tea in his hand, his brows slightly frowned. "Bishop, Mr. Sherman and I have discussed this. If I propose any resolution in Washington that is beneficial to the Chinese workers on the West Coast, it will not have any chance of passing. Instead, it will make all the white voters in California rally to the Democratic Party. The True Creed faction can control only 20,000 white voters at most, which is not enough to help me get re-elected. The goal of the Republican Party is to win at least two congressmen, a senator, one of the governors or mayors of San Francisco, and four electoral votes in California. If this can be done, the Republican Party can guarantee to prevent the passage of anti-Chinese legislation as much as possible in the next four years."

"Anti-Chinese legislation?" Hong Renzheng was stunned. "Why? The Democrats want to exclude Chinese people?"

"More than that," Jamie O'Connor shook his head. "After the San Francisco riot, the gentlemen in Washington were already planning to enact anti-Chinese legislation, but the abolition issue attracted more voters' attention, so the advancement of anti-Chinese legislation was relatively slow."

(End of this chapter)