The Western City of Ceylon Island in the southeast of Tianzhu, with the rapid development of overseas trade and overseas colonization in recent years, the Island of Ceylon, which is located at the transit point of Indian Ocean navigation, has also ushered in a stage of rapid development.
Just from the size of Xiyang City, we can see that in the past, the port of Xiyang City was very small, and the urban area was not even the size of a small county town in the Ming Dynasty.
However, now, the port of Xiyang City is huge, with ships like clouds, flags flying, and four-wheeled carriages constantly transporting goods at the docks. At each dock, slaves are busy unloading goods.
Here in the city, the scale has also expanded dramatically. The blocks with numerous commercial banks stretch for several miles. High-rise buildings stand like giants overlooking the earth, and spacious concrete roads run through all directions.
This is Western City, this is Ceylon Island. Ceylon Island and Western City are governed by the Western United Trading Company. Everything is based on commerce, and trade is extremely prosperous.
The Ceylon Governor's Palace of the Western United Trading Company is located halfway up the mountain. It was built at the strong request of Hu Xian, the Governor of Ceylon, and spent huge sums of money to build it.
It is large in scale and majestic. It is located on a mountain and overlooks the sea. You can overlook the entire Xiyang City and Xiyang Port. It is said that the place was selected by a famous Feng Shui master from China. It is also said that it has the aura of clouds and dragons.
In addition to its large scale and majesty, the interior decoration of the Governor's Palace is also extremely luxurious. Based on the traditional Chinese gardens, it incorporates some styles from the Middle East, Persia, and India, and uses a large amount of gold foil, silver foil, and jade.
Decorated with jade, exotic flowers and plants, etc.
So much so that people who came to the Governor's Mansion even sighed that it was even more luxurious than the Ming Dynasty Palace!
In the office of Hu Xian, the governor of Ceylon, Hu Xian sat on his governor's chair and looked at the map of Tianzhu and fell into deep thought.
I have been sitting on the position of Governor of Ceylon for five years. From the 14th year of Hongzhi to the current 18th year of Hongzhi, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. In the 19th year of Hongzhi, it will be the time to publicly recommend a new Governor of Ceylon.
It's time.
The Governor of Ceylon was not appointed by the Ming Dynasty court, but was jointly recommended by many owners of the Western United Trading Company. The court was just going through a process and would not appoint anyone to be the governor.
Hu Xian originally proposed the establishment of the Western United Trading Company and led his people to occupy the island of Ceylon. He made great contributions, so everyone elected him to be the governor of Ceylon.
At that time, the Governor of Ceylon was only responsible for the island of Ceylon, but over the years, the Western United Trading Company continued to expand in Tianzhu, East Africa and other places, and owned many colonies. In order to facilitate management, they were all under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Ceylon.
It can be said that although the Governor of Ceylon is not an emperor, the power he holds is no different from that of the king of a country. The area under the control of the Governor's Mansion is also large enough. Almost all of these places at the southern end of the entire Tianzhu continent have been occupied by Western United Trading Banks.
, and now he is preparing to raise troops to attack Beitianzhu together with Ning Guo and others.
In addition to actual power, the Governor of Ceylon also controlled huge financial resources.
The Western United Trading Company is a joint venture of many powerful trading houses in the Ming Dynasty, including owners, families, big nobles, big bureaucrats, etc. Coupled with the special geographical location of Ceylon Island, the tolls collected at the Xiyang City Port alone cost a lot of money every year.
Received millions of taels of silver.
The Government House of Ceylon can plunder huge wealth of tens of millions of taels of silver from Ceylon Island, Tianzhu, and African colonies every year, and all this wealth is transferred through the Government House.
In addition, the Western United Trading Company under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Palace of Ceylon has more than 100,000 employees, thousands of large and small ships, hundreds of factories, workshops, etc., various plantations, pastures, etc.
at.
In just a few years, the Western United Trading Company has developed into such a behemoth, and the power in the hands of the Western Governor is also astonishing. He holds great power, controls huge wealth, and manages such a huge place and population. Compared with the Tu emperor,
Also want a local emperor.
And this is exactly the reason why Hu Xian is worried.
Since ancient times, power has been the most addictive thing.
Hu Xian originally only served as a small censor in the Ming Dynasty, but now he became the governor of Ceylon and tasted the taste and sweetness of power.
It seems that five years are about to come, and the election for the Governor of Ceylon will be held again. If you are not selected, you will lose your position as Governor of Ceylon.
Having tasted the power, Hu Xian naturally did not want to lose his position as Governor of Ceylon and wanted to stay in this position forever, but this was obviously not an easy task.
The owners behind Western United Trading Company were already very dissatisfied with Hu Xian and would not let him stay in this position at all.
The position of the Governor of Ceylon is actually a bit embarrassing. Although he holds great power, he can decide the life and death of many people with a single word, and can also decide the changes in huge wealth that can easily amount to millions of taels.
However, it is subject to the constraints of many owners behind it. Many things are not just what Hu Xian says, but also require the support of the owners behind it.
In the past few years as governor, Hu Xian has lost himself more and more. The taste of power is both intoxicating and confusing.
Many times, he made decisions without the consent of his bosses, which made the bosses behind him very dissatisfied, as well as the Governor's Mansion.
The owners behind it naturally do not want to spend huge sums of money to build this Governor's Mansion, and the location of the Governor's Mansion should not be associated with the spirit of Yunlong.
Although overseas, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, it is the local emperor, and the Ming Dynasty court also acquiesced in the existence of colonies and vassal states, but the situation of this Western Joint Trading Company is special. To be honest, everyone only joined together to make money in the first place.
There are no political demands.
The meaning of many owners is also very simple, that is, they require the Western United Trading Company to make as much money as possible and bring more wealth to the owners. This is what the Governor of Ceylon should do.
Instead of spending a lot of money to build a luxurious Governor's Mansion, and what about Yunlong's spirit, this Governor of Ceylon was recommended by everyone. What is your relationship with Yunlong?
You Hu Xian, if everyone gives you face, you are the Governor of Ceylon. If everyone is not willing to give you face, you are nothing, do you still want to be the emperor?
This is where the owners behind Xiyang United Trading Company are dissatisfied with Hu Xian.
This is also the reason why Hu Xian has no confidence in the next public recommendation, because there are very few people willing to support Hu Xian, and everyone has no patience with Hu Xian.
I made you the governor, not to be the emperor, but to make money for everyone.
If it weren't for the Western United Trading Company's rapid development in the past few years, which also brought huge profits to the owners, Hu Xian would have been driven out by the owners a long time ago.
There are still many things that dissatisfy everyone about Hu Xian.
Hu Xian's behavior has become more and more like an emperor's, being arbitrary, doing things his own way, nepotism, lining his own pockets, using public tools for private use, etc. This behavior has been known and dissatisfied by many employers.
Some people have already suggested that the governor-general candidate should be re-recommended and Hu Jianxian should be driven out.
"I must not lose my position as Governor of Ceylon!"
Hu Xian clenched his fists and said secretly in his heart.
The taste of power is addictive.
He could not imagine that if he were not the Governor of Ceylon, he would have to return to his hometown in the Ming Dynasty in despair and become an ordinary old man.
Where could it be as beautiful as it is now?
There are many people who come to see me every day, either the prime minister of this vassal state or the representative of a large family. I can decide the direction of huge wealth with just one word. With a stamp of my feet, the entire Indian Ocean will shake.
"We must not let the owner behind the trading house affect everything in the Governor's Mansion."
Hu Xian clearly realized that the owners behind Western United Trading Company were the ones who really decided everything about him.
Thinking of the owner behind Western United Trading Company, Hu Xian couldn't help but frown.
The United Western Trading Company is an extremely large behemoth, with huge interests involved behind it. The wealth distributed to shareholders every year amounts to tens of millions of taels of silver.
None of the shareholders behind this has a simple role.
The two brothers Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, the uncles of the Emperor of Heaven, have always been unscrupulous and lawless because their sister is the queen. Are they easy to mess with?
Li Chunyang of Sihai Trading Company, Sihai Trading Company has access to the world. Behind this are many big families and gentry in Jiangnan. How powerful their combined power is. Hu Xian also knows very well. His Hu family is just a member of the Jiangnan area.
Just a big family.
There is also Wei Guogong, which is the top wealthy family in the Ming Dynasty. The old Xu family is a family of two princes. It is intertwined with the noble groups of the Ming Dynasty and has various interests with many big families in the Jiangnan area.
In addition, there are Liu Jin, the current Minister of Civil Service, as well as Ding Guo Gong, Ying Gong Gong, Cheng Guo Gong, etc. These are all the noble groups of the Ming Dynasty, and Liu Jin's influence is unparalleled.
They were the ones who created the United Trading Company of South Africa. Although it is not very influential in Tianzhu, in East and South Africa, the United Trading Company of South Africa is more influential than the United Western Trading Company in Tianzhu.
The boss behind this, any one of them is the top boss in Ming Dynasty, would he be easy to offend?
It is almost impossible to get rid of their control over the Western United Trading Company and their decision-making power over the Governor of Ceylon. Once it really reaches that point, Hu Xian may not even know how to die.
.
The excessive things he is doing now are just for the sake of being an old friend and because he has done a lot of practical things for Western United Trading Company and made a lot of money for everyone.
But if he really decides to get involved in the important matter of the Governor of Ceylon, the bosses behind him will never let Hu Xianhu come.