Chapter 2112 Flower Struggle (Twenty)

The Thirteenth Merchant had hosted a banquet for Nick before, although he did so as a thank you on behalf of the admiral, and Nick "did" him a favor.

It is necessary to mention the legal system of the Qing Dynasty here. As long as someone breaks the law and commits a crime, someone must be punished. If the criminal escapes, his family will be punished. If someone files a public prosecution, judicial officials will intervene and the situation will be judged.

From the humble prison officer to the local magistrate, to the governor, the Ministry of Punishment, and the minister of political affairs, some major cases even require the emperor to personally intervene. Therefore, we can see that just because someone commits the crime of rebellion, the entire village will be burned down, and the entire county will be destroyed.

Fines would have to be paid, the whole province would be in mourning, dignitaries would be dismissed and demoted, and the emperor himself would make atonement to the public.

With the above foreshadowing, you will understand why the public bank was established. Foreign businessmen in Guangzhou sometimes cause serious riots, but the riots do not get the punishment they deserve. First, because no one knows who the perpetrators are, and second, because some

Forces were secretly protecting these people, and the normal order of the criminal law system was undermined. So the imperial court established a public bank to act as an intermediary and guarantor for European merchants. This is the earliest origin of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou.

At the beginning, each of these merchants had committed smuggling or had received humiliating punishments, so they took on this dangerous responsibility. After reaching cooperation with foreign businessmen, whether it was the demands of European businessmen or the governor and two governors,

, or they are responsible for conveying the approval of the imperial minister.

The huge profits have created a self-centered corporate effect. They kowtow in front of the government and pay various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, just like a coolie. However, they use many tricks when facing foreign businessmen. For example, an Armenian brought a drug

The large and round pearls were brought to Guangzhou in the hope of selling them at a good price. This matter soon became known and attracted officials and businessmen, but the price they offered was less than its true value. Finally, after repeated careful examination

A price was reached, a deposit was paid, and the Armenians kept the pearls until the balance was paid. In order to prevent fraud, the box containing the pearls was sealed. There was no news from the buyer for several days, so the foreign businessman was expelled from the scene.

Although the Armenian did not achieve the main purpose of the trip, he still took the deposit and his wealth. After arriving home, he did not hesitate to open the seal, and his real pearls were swapped with fake ones. There is also a famous person named Babon,

He was as well known in Bombay and Madras as he was in Canton. When he was short of about half a million pounds, he mortgaged a box of pearls to a traveling merchant for a large sum of money. When he redeemed the pearls, he found that

A box of pearls turned into a box of peas.

There was a British employee of the East India Company named Hong Renhui. He thought it was difficult to do business in Guangzhou and wanted to go to Ningbo to develop trade. At that time, Qianlong was in Jiangnan, so he bribed and handed the writ of paper into Qianlong's hands.

In his petition, he stated that the Guangdong Customs had extorted foreign merchants in many ways. They not only tried to make things difficult for them, but also owed foreign merchants huge sums of money. Of course, his purpose in doing so was to open Ningbo as a treaty port.

Qianlong attached great importance to this matter and sent a commissioner to investigate thoroughly. To be honest, what Hong Renhui reflected was the truth. The then governor of Guangdong Customs was a close associate of Li Shiyao, the corrupt official Heshen later dealt with. Through a series of operations by Li Shiyao, finally

The Governor of Guangdong Customs was only dismissed, but the East India Company's request was not only not met, but Hong Renhui was also deported.

The person who received the most severe punishment in this case was Liu Yabian, a Sichuan businessman who helped Hong Renhui write the petition. He was convicted of "making money for foreign businessmen" and was eventually sentenced to death and lost his life.

If the opium trade is eliminated, in terms of normal trade, Harrock's request to open more high-quality ports is reasonable, but what Harrock really wants is clear to anyone with a discerning eye.

The merchant who treated us last time was from "Yihe Hang". His business name was Shuangguan. When Chinese names are translated into foreign languages, foreigners cannot pronounce them, so these merchants have a business name, which Nick knows.

Another "Tongshunxing" merchant, his business name is Haoguan.

The Chinese people's hospitality made Nick, who came to thank Shuang Guan for his hospitality, almost be arrested for having another banquet. Dinner was the second most important thing. The main reason was that they had to play a guessing game similar to the Italians. The loser drank and had a meal.

You can eat for several hours, which is really exhausting.

Nick returned to the hospital before the soldiers started enforcing the "curfew." Strictly speaking, it was not a curfew, but the number of soldiers patrolling the streets increased significantly, and they would suddenly conduct interrogations on people they found suspicious, especially in hotels.

kind of place.

After returning to his room, Nick began to look through the study materials Juren left for him.

Confucianism does not recognize the theory of the immortality of the soul, nor does it recognize the belief in karma. They believe that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be punished with evil, but they are all retributions in this life, not after death or next life like Buddhism or Christianity.

A generation.

Buddhist thought has developed rapidly in China because Buddhist thought does not have any direct conflict with local superstitions. It does not have strict rules for secular believers, nor does it require believers to practice asceticism. Instead, it only encourages them to do good deeds, so that Buddhists can obtain happiness in the next life.

I promise to leave this life with full confidence, believing that I will be blessed after reincarnation.

The Ten Palaces of Yama are mentioned here. It is said that they have a book of life and death to record the life span of each person. In one story, there is an old man who lived for 800 years. He married 72 wives and waited for his 72nd wife to die.

, she was very curious about why her husband could live so long. Driven by curiosity, she asked about this matter when she was interrogated by Yama. Then the underworld started a thorough investigation and found that it was actually the last time Yama reinstalled the book of life and death.

That page was lost. So the old man's life span was immediately crossed out, and he died soon after.

There are six paths of reincarnation in Buddhism, namely the heavenly path, the asura path, the human path, the animal path, the hungry ghost path, and the hell path. The most miserable thing is to fall into the endless hell and suffer all kinds of pain.

Taoism has five paths of reincarnation, namely the path of heaven, the path of humanity, the path of animals, the path of hungry ghosts, and the path of hell. Compared with Buddhism, there is no path of Shura.

According to Zhuangzi, both Taoism and Buddhism seem to recognize the theory of the immortality of gods. However, reincarnation in Buddhism is driven by karma, while Taoism is based on the balance of yin and yang. If you made a mistake during your lifetime, your soul will belong to the feminine and will go away.

In the hungry ghost realm, hell realm or animal realm, if there is no fault, it will be positive. Even if you are not a god, you can be reincarnated and become a human being again.

This process of reincarnation requires that after the trial in the underworld is over, the people who carry out the trial are the Ten Palaces of Yama. They are the judges while they are alive, and people also believe in their verdicts. In Buddhism, there is no saying about being judged after death. Even if these two

On the surface, each religion may seem similar to Catholicism, but there are essential differences.

Just when Nick was about to continue his in-depth research, there was a noise outside, and he left his room and came to the yard.

The servant was holding a baby in his hands and was asking the priest what to do.

This is an abandoned baby, but it is not abandoned at the door of the hospital. Parents who abandon children usually leave their children outside the homes of wealthy people. Sometimes these wealthy people will receive 4 abandoned babies a month.

There were twenty or thirty of them when they came down.

It is acceptable to adopt one or two, but if there are too many, they are not a charity, so these wealthy families will send the abandoned babies left on their doorsteps to any place willing to accept these children.

This incident will be unforgettable for Nick for the rest of his life. Perhaps the parents of the abandoned baby had no choice but to abandon the child. They still hope that the child can be happy. The baby boy also has a longevity lock hanging around his neck, which means that he can lock life.

It can cure diseases and eliminate disasters, even if the lock is made of copper.

They placed the child in the place they thought was most likely to bring him happiness, but his final destination was this place.

The priest decided to accept the baby boy, but he would not stay in the hospital. The priest would write a letter to notify the nuns in the foundry to take him away.

As soon as the servant took the baby boy away, many torches appeared at the door of the hospital, and some officers and soldiers rushed in.

Not long after, Nick saw a sedan. After the bearer lowered the sedan, a tall Han man walked out of the sedan. He wore a flower feather on his head, an official robe, and black satin boots with thick soles.

Two inches thick, painted with white paint on the outside.

Playboys always put effort into dressing up carefully. In order to make their braids black and shiny, they would add some wigs. This braid is thick and long, hanging down to the knees, and there are tassels on the top of the braids.

He was Cao Xi, the admiral's assistant. He looked at Nick with a smile. He seemed to be polite and friendly, but also seemed to have grasped Nick's handle. Especially under the guard of so many officers and soldiers holding open fire, he looked extremely suspicious.

A weasel greeting the rooster in the New Year.
Chapter completed!