Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 116 Surprise victory
The voyage went smoothly. On January 1866, , the Guangming sailing ship docked at the Haihe Wharf in Tianjin, and then hired dozens of mule and horse carts to go straight to the capital.

This trip brought 6 taels of silver as tribute, as well as 3 taels of silver as tribute to various departments in the court, plus the prepared wedding gifts, forming a long convoy.

This trip also brought more than 200 tons of pineapples, which needed to be delivered to Beijing later. A small portion was given to the palace and the officials in the court to make friends with the powerful.

In this cold winter weather, where can we find any fruits in China?
Most of them were intended to be sold at a high price in the capital, making a huge profit.

Even in the important capital, people are delighted to see green vegetables. This pineapple is like timely help and is truly precious.

Prince Gong's Palace
Prince Gong Yixin did not meet with several trusted ministers in the Yin'an Hall, but in the warm room on the side, which made him appear closer. Among them was Zheng Guohui.

Warm room

Two ancient bronze incense burners emit the lingering scent of sandalwood, and the silver charcoal used as tribute has a pleasant and refreshing smell, which adds to the warmth of the warm room.

Prince Gong Yixin sat behind the Kowloon desk, listening thoughtfully to the report of Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, on the encirclement and suppression of the Nian bandits, with a very solemn expression.

"...

Otherwise, it would be difficult to sever the connection between the Nian bandits and the Hui Muslim bandits, prevent the bandits from becoming more powerful, and make it easier to annihilate them one by one.

If the imperial court mobilizes all its forces, including the Hunan and Huai armies and the forces of several provinces, and takes advantage of the terrain, practicing the method of "drawing rivers and enclosing land," great things can be accomplished."

After a long and eloquent report, Li Hongzhang bowed respectfully and withdrew, stepping back and standing among several ministers, following the rules very well.

After listening to this, Prince Gong Yixin frowned and remained silent for a long time.

The atmosphere in the warm room was heavy, making people feel suffocated.

Zheng Guohui, who was standing at the end, was really impatient. He did not lower his head and frown like the others. Instead, he glanced at Prince Gong Yixin's expression, and then glanced at the other ministers.

When he saw Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang glared back at him fiercely.

The meaning is: You are such a rude boy, how can this be tolerated!

Zheng Guohui then pretended to be honest, lowered his head and calmed down.

"Jianfu, you don't have to discipline him." Prince Gong Yixin raised his head at this time, looked around at everyone and continued;

"Jinghai was such a lawless and straightforward person. Back then, a mere garrison officer dared to contradict the governor in court. His fearlessness of power is truly a remarkable story."

This evaluation was very high, and several high-ranking court officials present could not help but turn their heads to look at Zheng Guohui with a thoughtful look in their eyes.

Zheng Guohui looked a little surprised and said softly, "May your majesty be blessed! I have caused you trouble again."

"It's just a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

Knowing what Zheng Guohui was referring to, Prince Gong Yixin responded calmly, turning his gaze to Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, with a solemn expression on his face. He sighed and said;
"Jianfu, there was nothing wrong with the bandit suppression plan you and Brother Bohan had decided on. You used the method of 'drawing a river and enclosing land' to trap the enemy.

But the imperial court is facing financial difficulties, and every year it has to pay reparations to various countries. The army cannot go without food for a single day, so it is really difficult to support itself!"

"Jianfu" is Li Hongzhang's courtesy name, and "Bohan" is Zeng Guofan's courtesy name. These private names appear to be more intimate.

When these words were spoken, several important officials of the court were moved.

The fact that Prince Gong Yixin kept crying out "I can't take it anymore" showed that the situation had become very serious, and it seemed like the disease was incurable, and even the prince was helpless.

Li Hongzhang stepped forward and said in a deep voice;

"If this is done, we can encourage the economically prosperous regions of the southeastern provinces to contribute funds, and the imperial army on the front lines will fight bravely to overcome this difficult time. We should be able to overcome this critical moment and see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Cooperating in funding" is a good idea. Several ministers discussed it in a low voice and nodded in agreement.

Prince Gong Yixin's expression also eased a little, and he agreed without much consideration, saying:

"Since this is a public opinion, I will go to the palace today to see the emperor and request an imperial edict to be issued to the southeastern provinces. This is a very good opinion and will solve our urgent problem."

"Your Highness is wise. The New Year is approaching, and important military matters should be dealt with as soon as possible."

"I second the proposal. This is a strategy to stabilize the world." "I second the proposal. This is a great plan." All the ministers agreed, and Zheng Guohui also said something behind the scenes.

Seeing him pretending to go along with the crowd, Prince Gong Yixin couldn't help but curl his lips a little, and waved his hand, saying, "Jianfu, go back and write a memorial, and you wait for my second opinion. After you submit it, I will take it to the palace for approval. Then we can disperse. Jinghai, stay for a while. I have something to ask you."

"May your Highness be blessed with good health. We, your humble servants, will take our leave." Several important officials of the court bowed and then withdrew.

Li Hongzhang walked up to Zheng Guohui, stopped, and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense in front of the prince."

"Nephew, save that." Zheng Guohui felt a warm feeling in his heart. This cheap second uncle Yue is still reliable.

After everyone left, the warm room became quiet again.

Prince Gong Yixin stood up and stretched himself a bit before casually asking, "The Princess praised the South Sea pineapples you sent to the mansion. They are truly delicious. You are so thoughtful."

"This is a small gift from this humble official to His Majesty. Since the nobles in the palace think it is good, I will send someone to deliver it to the capital every month."

"That's too wasteful."

"Your Highness, I'm also testing this with pineapples to see if the royal family and dignitaries in the capital like it. The response has been very positive, so I can open a store and run it long-term, which will definitely be a profit."

"Just do it." Prince Gong Yixin didn't care about these trivial matters, and Zheng Guohui had reported it.

Prince Gong Yixin is also the Chief of the Imperial Clan. If any member of the imperial clan acts recklessly in the future, he has to think about whether he can bear the consequences.

Prince Gong Yixin then remembered and asked curiously, "Where did you get this wonderful fruit, the Nanyang pineapple?"

It’s not really a magical fruit, right?
Zheng Guohui had already prepared a plan for this, and after bowing, he narrated the story in detail, saying:
"Replying to the prince's words
I have a younger uncle named Zheng Shouxin, who is generous by nature and has a broad mind. He doesn't care about running the family business, but instead likes to be a knight-errant and has a wild and unrestrained personality.

During his stay in Shanghai, he won five large sailing ships from a Frenchman named Mendes through gambling. He also heard that the scenery in the South China Sea was beautiful and he couldn't suppress his desire.

So we formed a team and went to Southeast Asia, where we saw all kinds of customs and habits of the indigenous people, which are impossible to describe one by one.

One day, the fleet was sailing to a place in Borneo when it was suddenly hit by huge waves. The astonishing waves were fifty or sixty feet high, and the group of people were in danger.

In this critical moment
My uncle spied a bay and rushed in in a panic to avoid the murderous storm..."

Zheng Guohui exaggerated and said that his uncle Zheng Shouxin had met the native king of Borneo here and helped to repel a foreign invasion, which earned him the favor of the native king.

Marrying the only beloved daughter to Zheng Shouxin and making him the next generation successor to King Boli sounds tortuous and thrilling, it is simply a legendary novel.

This island is rich in pineapples and various tropical fruits, so on the way back, they kept saying "du me du me" and Prince Gong Yixin was fascinated by it and kept asking for details.

Zheng Guohui spent several months in Nanyang and spoke very clearly about the matter.

It is said that Nanyang is like spring all year round and there are more than a hundred kinds of tropical fruits, but only one or two of them can be shipped back without rotting.

Prince Gong Yixin also sighed and felt that the pineapple fruit was becoming more and more precious.

The stuff is not expensive, but the transportation is too troublesome. Moreover, the sea is unpredictable, and there are too many cases of people dying and boats capsizing.

Zheng Guohui's actions are not without reason, but have profound meaning.

Mainly in this way
It left a deep impression on Prince Gong Yixin, and he would think of it whenever it was mentioned.

Prince Gong Yixin reviewed so many important court affairs every day that if he wanted to leave a deep impression on him, he had to come up with a surprise attack.

The 10 carts of pineapples that he delivered to Prince Gong's mansion also doubled in value.

If you want to sell well, you must first make up a good story, otherwise why would you sell it for 500 coins?
Are you really crazy about money?
Three pineapples could be exchanged for one or two taels of silver. Common people in the capital couldn't even think about it. Maybe they could only buy one to try during festivals, just to satisfy their sweet tooth.

But there are so many wealthy and powerful people in the capital, and even the eunuchs in the palace are not short of money. The more than 200 tons of pineapples shipped in advance may not be enough to share.

But before that, you have to build your reputation.

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(End of this chapter)