It was not unexpected that these Francois could agree to Shen Yi's request.
Because these Westerners have no sense of family and country to speak of.
They are businessmen.
As long as there are enough benefits, not only to help Shen Yi get a few people over, but also to let them sell their family members to Chen Guolai, it might not be a problem.
Of course, Shen Yi was not sure about the level of firearms in Europe now, but he knew one thing.
That is, in Europe of this era, glass technology should already exist. Although there is no mature optical glass, ordinary glass should exist.
Glass is the foundation of modern science.
Only with glass can we have telescopes, microscopes, various test tubes, and even give birth to a series of new things such as photography. So no matter what progress the Westerners are now, Shen Yi still wants to bring back some glass craftsmen from the West.
Introducing science and technology from other continents is very difficult in this era of backward transportation. If everything goes well, it may take one or two years to achieve certain results.
If it doesn't go well, there may be no benefits for three to five years or even longer.
But someone has to do this kind of thing.
Shen Yi is now starting to make plans, hoping that within three to five years, there will be certain results. By then, he will not need these Westerners to provide him with any advanced firearms. He only needs these Westerners to help him get things like telescopes. Today's hard work was not in vain.
Shen Yi chatted with a few foreigners in this restaurant for more than an hour, then got up and left.
Because the Chinese proficiency of these foreigners was really limited, Shen Yi could not get much information from them.
After Shen Yi left the restaurant, Zheng Hu immediately came up to him, bowed his head slightly and said to Shen Yi: "Sizheng, are these people of use to you?"
"It's still useful."
Mr. Shen smiled: "It's just that it will take two or three years to see the effect."
He looked back at Zheng Hu, thought for a while, and said, "I remember there is also a Di newspaper company in Fuzhou."
Zheng Hu nodded and said: "Yes, Fuzhou is the provincial capital of Fujian, so naturally there is a newspaper office."
"Um…"
"Send a letter over there and ask the Fuzhou Newspaper Bureau to inform Xu Fu to come to Lin'an Mansion immediately. I will wait for him in Lin'an for half a month."
Zheng Hu lowered his head to calculate the time, then nodded and said: "Yes, I understand."
Mr. Shen thought for a while and continued: "These foreigners will probably be useful in the future. If they want to make friends with you, you should make friends with them. But if these people do evil in Lin'an, there is no need to help them." They, let them fend for themselves."
Zheng Hu said "Hey", lowered his head and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Si Zheng, these people are quite honest and should not dare to commit trouble in our Dachen."
Mr. Shen looked up at the sky, then stretched out: "Then I'll leave these people to you. When Xu Fu arrives in Lin'an in a few days, let him deal with these foreigners."
Zheng Hu bowed his head respectfully and said, "Yes."
Shen Yi put his hands in his sleeves, got into the carriage, and left the restaurant on the edge of the West Lake.
For him, contacting these Westerners has two uses. One is to make some preparations for the future, and for now, the more important thing is to expand a trade route for Xu Fu. After all, Xu Fu is now The "royal fund manager" was also the main source of income for the anti-Japanese army, and his investment could not fail.
If Xu Fu exports things from Jiangnan to the West, although the business cycle is a bit long, the profits will be very considerable.
After all, in another world, the goods of the Ming Dynasty were very popular in the West, resulting in a net inflow of silver for hundreds of years.
If this money can be earned, it is natural for Xu Fu to make it first. As for the future, when the trade routes prosper, it will be the Shipping Company that will make more money.
Make the court rich first, and then you will be qualified to mention the Northern Expedition in the future. Otherwise, the little emperor's decree will not even be able to pass the Ministry of Revenue, let alone talk about the Zhongxing at the top of his lungs.
After dealing with the affairs of the Westerners, Mr. Shen had nothing to do, so he took Jiang Sheng to wander around Lin'an City. Although Jiang Sheng was Shen Yi's little follower, after all, he was also from a big city like Jiangdu. He used to live in Yueqing. , he had no desire to go out. Now that he had arrived in Lin'an City, which was slightly more prosperous than Jiangdu, Jiang Sheng was quite excited. He stood beside Shen Yi, pointing to the Jinan specialty store on the roadside from time to time, and smiled at Shen Yi. Then he said: "Young master, when we leave, buy some Lin'an specialties and go back to Jiankang during the Chinese New Year, and bring them to my wife and young master."
"Pull it down."
Shen Yi said with a smile: "Most of these specialties are for food. I am familiar with the food of Lin'an Prefecture. The West Lake vinegar fish that Magistrate Chang invited me to eat yesterday was so unpalatable that I would die."
Jiang Sheng lowered his head slightly and responded with a smile: "I haven't eaten anything delicious in Lin'an Mansion for a few days. Maybe it's because I haven't found a good store yet. I might wait a few more days. Just met..."
While the master and servant were chatting, Jiang Sheng suddenly raised his head and looked straight ahead. He lowered his head slightly and said, "Sir, look at the old man in front of you, do you know him?"
Shen Yi then raised his head and looked straight ahead, and saw an old man who looked like a rich man standing under a big tree on the street in front of him. Shen Yi glanced at it from a distance, and then squinted his eyes slightly. , smiled and said: "We probably know each other, but we shouldn't recognize him right now."
"Just pretend not to see it."
Mr. Shen put his hands behind his back and did not look at the little old man again. Instead, he walked forward on his own. As soon as he passed by the big tree, he heard a rather helpless sigh coming from under the big tree on his left: "Little Mr. Shen, don't go any further. My legs and feet are not good, so I can't keep up with you."
Shen Yi then looked to the left and saw Zhou Futai, the governor of Zhejiang Province, Zhou Yishan, standing not far to his left. Mr. Shen hurriedly stepped forward, raised his hands to Zhou Futai and said, "It turns out to be Zhou Zhongcheng."
Shen Yi said with a smile: "This Lingbo City is indeed a prosperous place. It is really rare to see high-ranking officials on the street."
"Little Mr. Shen, please stop making fun of me."
Zhou Futai cupped his hands towards Shen Yi and let out a long sigh: "My kid was messing around and bumped into Mr. Shen. I came here specifically to apologize to Mr. Shen."
The reason why these provincial-level feudal officials add the word "小" in front of Shen Yi is because they consider themselves to be one generation above Shen Yi and his elders.
Shen Yi didn't really care about the idea of taking advantage. After all, given his age, he wasn't particularly disadvantaged.
When Mr. Shen heard this, he also sighed: "Shen has tried his best to contact the internal guards regarding Mr. Zhou's matter."
"No way, no way. Mr. Zhou should not draw his bow with the intention of shooting me."
Shen Yi took a deep look at Zhou Yishan and said with a serious face: "It was easy to say anything, but after the arrow was shot, it was hard to say anything."
"Even I don't have a good time telling the inner guards."
Zhou Futai sighed silently.
"There is a rebellious son in the family, which makes Mr. Shen laugh, but..."
"After all, his crime is not worthy of death, so there should be room for change, right?"
After all, the feudal official was a feudal official. He saw the essence of the problem almost at a glance and was already asking Shen Yi what conditions he had.
"It all depends on people."
Mr. Shen smiled broadly: "I'll treat Zhong Cheng to a meal. Let's chat while we eat?"
Naturally, the conditions need to be discussed slowly.
"I'd better please please."
Zhou Yishan forced a smile: "This meal, no matter what, should be invited by me."
Mr. Shen made a gesture of invitation with a smile on his face.
"I just want to experience Lin'an delicacies, and I would like to ask Zhongcheng to help me find a good restaurant."
Zhou Futai forced out a smile.
"The delicious food in Lin'an Prefecture is all local food..."