Shanghai, Yanjiang Avenue, Nanyang Hall.

Like Beijing, there are many large and small guild halls in Shanghai, and the guild halls in Beijing are mainly set up for fellow bureaucrats, gentry and people of the imperial examination, while most of the guild halls in Shanghai are townspeople with industrialists and businessmen as the main body.

The Nanyang Association is not small in scale, but also very magnificent, and it is also a small reputation in Shanghai, all because of the increasing prosperity of the Nanyang maritime trade in recent years, rubber and guano can be said to be the unique business of Nanyang are in short supply, in addition, brass, tin, sulfur, hemp products, bird's nest, cinchona, spices, grain and other trade is also flourishing year by year.

What no one knows is that the Nanyang Association itself is the industry of the Nanyang Society, and in recent years, as Yuanqi has gradually strengthened its control over the South Seas and Southeast Asia, the South China Association has gradually put the focus of its development on the West, but its influence in the South Seas should not be underestimated.

Huang Dianyuan's family is in Groba, and when he comes to Shanghai, he naturally stays at the Nanyang Guild Hall, he neither goes out to hang out nor is he a guest, and he understands the situation in China with the directors of the Guild Hall every day, he has been in the West for many years, and he knows very little about the domestic situation.

On this day, he was chatting with the director Lin Anqing in the guild hall, and the porter hurriedly came in to present an envelope and said, "This is the ...... that the faithful society has just sent. ”

After opening the envelope and looking at it, Huang Dianyuan ordered: "Prepare the car and go to the palace." ”

As soon as he heard that he was going to Zhennan Wangfu, Lin Anqing raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said, "Big boss, it's already twelve o'clock, do you want to eat something and go again?" ”

Huang Dianyuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, there may not be a wine banquet, but the prince of good wine is afraid that he has already prepared it." ”

Hearing that Huang Dianyuan arrived in Shanghai, Yi Zhizhi not only prepared good wine, but also specially ordered a table of banquets in the Lotus Garden, the South China Association has made a lot of contributions over the years, and all kinds of medicines sold to Western countries and containing the ingredients of the South China Association are through the hands of the South China Society, and Huang Dianyuan has been stranded in the West for many years.

Entering the Zhennan Palace, under the guidance of Lin Meilian to the Lotus Garden, seeing Yi Zhizhi waiting at the gate of the garden, Huang Dianyuan's heart was hot, and he hurriedly strode up to meet him, and he was still more than a dozen steps away, he just arched his hand and smiled: "How dare you be the big shopkeeper to greet you——。 ”

Yi Zhizhi greeted him a few steps, saw that his temples were white, and said with some emotion: "Brother Rong is coming, how can you not welcome him personally, don't say for a few years, but I want to worry about Brother Rong." ”

Huang Dianyuan Lang laughed and said: "After a few years, you have to get drunk, and the big shopkeeper has prepared good wine?" ”

"With Brother Rong coming, how can there be no wine?" Yi Zhixiang smiled and took his hand and said, "The banquet has been prepared, and if you don't get drunk today, you won't return." As he spoke, he turned his head and ordered: "Guard the door, no one is allowed to enter the garden, and prepare another decanting soup." ”

Listening to his order to prepare a sobering soup, Huang Dianyuan couldn't help but laugh secretly, but he also sighed in his heart, the other party is now the king of Zhennan, and he can even be said to be the most powerful person in the entire Qing Dynasty, and he is not young, knowing that the amount of alcohol is not as good as him, but he still wants to accompany him to get drunk.

The charcoal fire in the room was booming, and as soon as he entered the door, he felt the heat wave on his face, Yi Zhishu took off his coat and said, "Brother Rong is free." ”

Along the way, there was not even a maid and a little maid, Huang Dianyuan knew that this was specially arranged, and naturally he would not be restrained, and he himself was not a restrained person, he sat down at the table, Yi Zhizhi opened a beautifully decorated wooden box, and took out a bottle of wine, "This is a Moutai ...... blended with a century-old treasured original liquid." ”

Hearing this, Huang Dianyuan's eyes couldn't help but light up, and he hurriedly took the wine bottle, couldn't wait to pour a glass, took a sip of the wine glass, and tasted it before he spoke: "Good wine, it is indeed good wine!" As he spoke, he glanced at the bottle, "How much is that?" It's not enough to drink. ”

"Don't worry." Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Enough! As he spoke, he lifted the lid of the hot pot and poured a plate of mutton as thin as cicada wings, "This is mutton shabu, Brother Rong can taste it." ”

After drinking three cups in a row and eating a plate of mutton shabu, Huang Dianyuan said with emotion: "When it comes to diet, it is better in our country, and Western countries can't catch up." ”

"Brother Rong has worked hard all these years, I toast you." Yi Zhishu said and drank a glass refreshingly.

After drying up the wine in one gulp, Huang Dianyuan said: "What kind of hard work is it in the next place, the big shopkeeper is fighting in the east and west, but in a few years, he has laid down the territory of Nuoda, and the country is also thriving, even the prosperous era of Kangqian is difficult to compare with ......." ”

Yi Zhixiang said with a smile: "It is really not easy to be praised by Brother Rong like this. ”

With the intention of drinking, Huang Dianyuan asked directly: "The big shopkeeper has never made wedding dresses for others, why did he establish a constitution but let the royal family form a cabinet?" ”

"Our country has experienced thousands of years of feudal autocratic dynasties, and the constitution is not something that can be achieved overnight." Yi Zhixiang put down his wine glass and said slowly: "Furthermore, it is difficult to conclude whether a constitutional monarchy is suitable for our country at present, and now it is just an attempt." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Brother Rong has been in the West for many years, you should understand the situation in France, starting from the Bourbon Dynasty, France has experienced a feudal monarchy, a republic, an imperial system, a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary republic, and a presidential system. ”

Listening to these words, Huang Dianyuan had a bottom in his heart, and he no longer dwelled on this matter, he knew very well that he was far inferior to the other party in terms of vision, and after taking a sip of wine, he said: "There is still a matter that I have been puzzled about, and those various drugs containing the ingredients of Luoying, Western countries do not boycott it, why let Nanhua sell it?" ”

Smiling, Yi Zhizhi said: "Why did the Qing Dynasty boycott opioids back then? Not only because of the dangers of opium, but also because of the massive loss of silver caused by the opium trade.

The harm of returning to the UK is greater than that of opium, and it has also caused a large outflow of gold from Western countries, and within a few years, Western countries will strictly prohibit it.

Have you ever heard of the saying that the channel is king? Let the South China Association lay sales channels from the beginning, especially the channels of smuggling and underworld sales, in order to be able to operate for a long time. ”

Huang Dianyuan glanced at him and said, "There is still opium smuggling in China today?" ”

Sighing lightly, Yi Zhizhi said: "No matter how strict the ban is, it is impossible to put an end to it, the profit is too big, enough to make people take risks, I heard that there are still people farming in the north now." ”

Huang Dianyuan said tentatively: "Northeast? ”

"There are remote places in the Northeast, Shaanxi, Gansu, Mongolia and other places." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Nowadays, the price of opium in China remains high, and there is no shortage of people who take risks. ”