The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 202 Do you want to think about what you are telling me? (Happy New Year!)

At noon, a ship slowly docked at the port of San Francisco.

"What's on the ship?" the customs officer asked during inspection.

"Some herbs from China!" The ship owner Peng Ba put on a smile on his face, spoke fairly fluent English, and handed over a small bag of Spanish dollars.

This thing is hard currency both in China and the United States.

One eagle dollar is equal to one US dollar.

"From China?" After taking the Eagle Dollar, the customs officer said to the people around him, "Go up and check it! Check it carefully!"

"This official..." Peng Ba's expression changed slightly. This bastard took the money but didn't do his job.

This is not his first time to go to San Francisco, it was not like this before.

"If it's herbs, of course you'll be allowed to pass. But if they find something else, do you think it's about the money?" The customs officer shook the bag in his hand and sneered.

But he had no intention of giving the money to Peng Ba.

A moment later, a group of customs officers rushed onto the ship and used crowbars to pry open the boxes one by one.

Some of them were indeed herbs and other Chinese things, but when they checked the innermost box, someone shouted:

"It's opium!"

"Seize them all!" the customs officer ordered loudly.

Someone had already given notice that other goods could be turned a blind eye, but opium must be confiscated.

Peng Ba was extremely anxious and furious, but there was nothing he could do. He had to watch helplessly as the customs seized the entire shipload of twelve tons of opium, as well as the herbs, clothes and other goods.

Peng Ba tried every possible means, but the customs officers refused to listen and refused to release him.

Fortunately, customs only detained the goods and not the people.

Peng Ba could only take a few crew members to Chinatown to find Hong Shuntang and ask them to come up with a solution.

"What do you think is going on?" Peng Ba said to the sailors beside him as he rushed to Chinatown.

In the past, Hong Shun Tang had taken care of the customs. It was said that there were some big shots in San Francisco behind Hong Shun Tang, so the goods could flow smoothly every time.

The result this time was completely different, which made him feel something was wrong.

"Uncle Peng, look at those people... they are Chinese!" Before the few of them had walked too far from the port, a sailor suddenly pointed to the distance.

I saw a group of about a dozen Chinese people walking on the street, wearing gentlemen's suits, hats, and knee-length wool coats.

Unlike the Chinese people I have seen before, they are all dirty and wary of the hostility around them.

These people walked in a careless and ferocious manner.

In the past, the Chinese always avoided the foreigners, but now some foreigners are avoiding the Chinese, and judging from their expressions, some of them dare not speak out.

This made Peng Ba and others extremely surprised.

Peng Ba thought for a moment, then stepped forward to start a conversation: "Brother, are you from the Qing Dynasty?"

"Tsk, a sailor? Just arrived in San Francisco?" The leading young man spoke Cantonese with a Minnan accent.

Peng Ba was even more surprised. You know, there are very few Minnan people in Chinatown, and they are just a small force. But now, something is not right.

"That's right! To be honest, I've been to San Francisco several times before. In the past, it was the Chinese who avoided the foreigners, but now it is the foreigners who avoid you. You are extraordinary, brother!" Peng Ba complimented.

"You are right!" the young man laughed. The young man's name was Shui Zhuzai. He was originally a remnant of Heshun Hall, and later he defected to Chen Zhengwei.

When they came to rob the port before, Chen Zhengwei was afraid of heavy casualties, so he asked Yan Qingyou to take these people with him. He would not feel sorry even if they all died.

Unexpectedly, it went so smoothly and there were no problems.

Shui Zhuzi is ruthless and cruel, but also good at flattering others, and he does quite well under Yan Qingyou.

"Brother, which gang are you from?" Peng Ba asked.

"Tangkou?" Shui Zhuzi looked at him with a smile.

Peng Ba immediately realized that he seemed to have made something wrong.

"We are following Mr. Chen!"

Peng Ba took note of this "Mr. Chen" and chatted with him for a while before asking, "How is Master Quan of Hong Shun Tang now?"

Shui Zhuzi and the men beside him looked at each other and immediately sneered.

When Peng Ba saw their reactions, his heart sank. It turned out that something went wrong at Hong Shun Tang.

"There is no Hong Shun Tang in Chinatown now, let alone Quan Ye!" Shui Zhuzi said.

When Peng Ba heard this, he became anxious and asked quickly, "Who is in charge in Chinatown now?"

"Of course, Mr. Chen is the one who has the final say in Chinatown!" Shui Zhuzi knew that he had just arrived in San Francisco, and Chinatown had undergone tremendous changes in recent months, so it was normal that outsiders didn't know about it.

And as soon as Shui Zhuzi saw Peng Ba's appearance, he knew that something was wrong with him.

"What, something went wrong?"

"There is a small problem... I won't bother you anymore!" Peng Ba smiled bitterly, then said goodbye and led his men to Chinatown with a heavy heart.

"You won't cry until you see the coffin!" Shui Zhuzi sneered and said to the henchmen beside him: "Hang them from a distance and see where they go."

Peng Ba really couldn't believe that Hong Shun Tang was completely gone, so he planned to go to Chinatown to inquire more.

Along the way, Peng Bayi saw some Chinese people in gentlemen's suits strolling around, just like the ones he had seen at the dock just now.

He also discovered that these people had lost their braids.

Now that they have removed their braids, are these people still people of the Qing Dynasty?
When we arrived in Chinatown, everything was very different from before. There were fewer Chinese workers in the square, only a few foreigners were left. However, there were many Chinese workers gathered around a small building near the square.

Peng Ba asked his sailors to find out.

Soon the sailor came back and said, "They said there is a labor service company now, and everyone needs to find a job there!"

There is no more garbage on the streets, and there are trash cans at every intersection.

In addition, what caught his attention most were the young men in gentlemen's suits that could be seen everywhere in Chinatown. These people were all wearing the same clothes, looked very tough, and none of them had braids.

Now Peng Ba and his companions felt that things in Chinatown might have really changed.

Peng Ba found a grocery store he had been to before and asked the owner:

"Brother, how is the situation at Hong Shun Tang?"

"You haven't been to Chinatown for a long time, right? Where is Hong Shun Tang now?" said the boss.

"Who is Mr. Chen in charge of Chinatown now?" Peng Ba asked again.

"That's right! Mr. Chen has the final say in Chinatown. Those outside are all Mr. Chen's people!"

"Who is this Mr. Chen?" Peng Basai handed an Eagle Dollar to the boss.

The boss took the money directly and asked him to sit down and talk.

"Mr. Chen is a very powerful person. He is said to be from Xinning, from the Wencun Chen family. He came to San Francisco with his younger brother and sister, and defeated all the other gangs in just a few months."

"Now not only do Chinese people listen to Mr. Chen, but even foreigners listen to Mr. Chen."

"Although Mr. Chen is a bit fierce at ordinary times, he has done a lot of good things. In the past, Chinese workers here could only get fifteen or sixteen dollars a month, and they were bullied by foreigners. Later, Mr. Chen hanged some foreigners at the dock. It is said that the whole room was full of them. It was scary!"

"Since then, no one dares to deduct our wages, and we are no longer bullied when we go to work." "Now the Chinese workers can get 18 yuan a month."

The more Peng Ba and his companions listened, the more surprised they were. They didn't expect that after not having been there for a few months, there would be such a new figure in Chinatown.

After thinking for a moment, Peng Ba asked, "What is Mr. Chen's personality? What does he like?"

"His personality is fierce!" the boss whispered. "Don't mess with him."

"As for what I like, I don't know."

Peng Ba then thanked his boss and said goodbye.

Then ask elsewhere.

Not long after Peng Ba left, a henchman came into the grocery store, leaned against the counter and asked, "What happened to those guys just now? What did they say?"

The boss was startled and quickly repeated what Peng Ba had asked him. Only after he heard it did the henchman leave.

……

Peng Ba asked around and found out about the changes in Chinatown.

He then brought people to the Xingfa Casino to visit Chen Zhengwei.

"Brother, we are from China and just arrived in San Francisco. We are here to visit Mr. Chen!" Peng Ba stuffed a dollar into the pocket of the thug outside the casino.

"There are many people who want to see Brother Wei. Who are you?" The thug at the door threw the eagle coin casually and then caught it.

"We came here with a shipload of cargo!" said Peng Ba.

"Wait here!" The thug thought for a moment and went upstairs to find Chen Zhengwei.

“Brother Wei, there are a few people outside, saying they are from China, with a shipload of goods, and they want to visit you!”

"In China? Check them out and bring them here!" Chen Zhengwei immediately became interested after hearing this.

After a while, Peng Ba and his men were checked to see if they had anything dangerous on them, and then they were taken to Chen Zhengwei's office.

As soon as Peng Ba entered the door, he saw a young man in red trousers and a white shirt sitting there with a sword in his hand.

He had no braids, and the hair on both sides of his head was shaved. The hair on the top of his head was oiled and combed back. He exuded a sense of wantonness and power.

Not far away there was a girl in a red dress, holding a book in her hand.

When she saw several people coming in, she put the book down.

The clothes are somewhat similar to the long coats worn by women in the Qing Dynasty, but not as wide as the coats. Instead, they are tightened and fit closely to the body, revealing the graceful curves.

Peng Ba felt itchy at first glance, but he didn't dare to look at him any longer and quickly turned his attention to Chen Zhengwei.

"Too young!" Peng Ba was a little amazed.

He looks to be around twenty years old. At his age, I am still an apprentice on the ship.

If he had not asked before coming here, he would have doubted whether the young man in front of him was the Mr. Chen mentioned by the Chinese in Chinatown.

"As soon as I arrived in Chinatown, I heard many people mention Mr. Chen's name. I am so proud to come and visit him!" Peng Ba bowed.

"Are you from China on a ship? A metal boat?" Chen Zhengwei looked at the other party with interest. At this time, the northeast ocean current weakened and the sailboat had just set out from eastern Guangdong.

The other party should be a steam iron ship.

"That's right. We are Baoshang's ship. We have been on the road for more than a month and have just arrived at the shore." Peng Ba said.

"Bao Shang?" Chen Zhengwei thought about it and seemed to have heard someone say that it was a relatively large merchant in eastern Guangdong.

Moreover, since they could use iron steamships to engage in maritime trade, they were obviously not small merchants.

"Please sit down!" Chen Zhengwei raised his chin and motioned for them to sit down and talk.

"What's the situation in the country?" Chen Zhengwei crossed his legs, took out a cigar from the box and handed it to Wanyun.

Wanyun helped him cut it, then lit it with a match, took two puffs and handed it to Chen Zhengwei.

"Mr. Chen, are you asking about the imperial court or the people?"

"The current emperor and the queen mother are working hard to govern the country. The imperial examination has just been reformed, and the content of the imperial examination has been increased to include mathematics, geography, and Western scientific knowledge..."

Chen Zhengwei sneered with some disdain.

Just to prolong life.

"As for the common people, it's still the same. They live neither well nor badly, but they always have food to eat..." Seeing that Chen Zhengwei looked a little disdainful, Peng Ba changed the subject.

Then he talked about some domestic situations.

Chen Zhengwei was not interested in the Qing Dynasty and was just asking casually.

He knows what the next few decades will look like.

Even though there were still twenty years before the Reform Movement of 1898, the self-preservation of the Southeast was almost the same.

"I sent someone to pass on the message before, saying that there is a shortage of people in San Francisco. Have you heard of it? It seems that his name is Lao Cao..." Chen Zhengwei thought of something and wondered if the captain had mentioned his words.

"My ship left early and went to Southeast Asia first, so I might have missed it." Peng Ba said.

"Tell me, what did you bring?"

"We brought twelve tons of the best opium, as well as some silk, porcelain, and some spices from Southeast Asia." As Peng Ba spoke, he took out a small bag and poured the contents onto the table.

All I saw were some gems of various colors.

"Mr. Chen, this is a small gift. It is not a token of respect. I hope you will accept it."

This bag of gems is not cheap, totaling five or six thousand British pound. Peng Ba's heart was bleeding.

However, in order to get the seized goods back, he had no choice but to bleed.

Chen Zhengwei looked at the gemstones on the table and was a little noncommittal: "Do you want something from me?"

This attitude made Peng Ba, who had been staring at Chen Zhengwei, a little disappointed.

You know, these things, even if given to Lord Quan, would be a generous gift.

"It's like this, the goods on our ship were seized by the foreigners at the customs!"

"Please, Mr. Chen, think of a way to get the foreigners to release our goods! After that, I am willing to sell those goods to you at a discount!"

"How much is the cargo on the ship worth?" Chen Zhengwei asked after thinking for a moment.

"The landed price of these goods used to be at least 18. I'll sell them to Mr. Chen for 15! And in the future, whenever our Baoshang ships come to San Francisco, they will visit Mr. Chen first." Peng Ba said decisively.

Without these thirty thousand, it would be considered as making friends with Chen Zhengwei.

Moreover, when Baoshang ships come to San Francisco in the future, they must first ask Chen Zhengwei. Only when he doesn't want the goods will he sell them to others.

"These goods are in the hands of foreigners. You want to sell them to me at a discount? And you're selling them to me for 15 fucking dollars?" Chen Zhengwei looked puzzled and pointed at Peng Ba with the cigar in his hand.

"Do you want to think about what you are saying to me? Are you crazy?"

When Peng Ba heard this, he froze.

　Happy New Year, brothers!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)