The 18th year of the Da Yong reign: The beginning of the story involves rescuing revolutionaries.

"Oh?" Wang Zhi was surprised. They were all from prestigious families, so it was normal for them to have met before. What surprised him was that this girl had a really good memory.

The woman's haughty and arrogant demeanor was indeed befitting of Miss Shen's status.

The other party contacted Pastor Ingis, presumably to seek business opportunities and expand their family business. However, at this time, they were unaware that missionaries in Western countries were cannibals.

Outside the side gate, facing an alley, there are scattered noodle stalls on both sides, steaming hot.

Wang Zhi walked out of the alley and looked around. The people coming and going on the street were all in a hurry and there was nothing unusual about them. He casually waved his hand, and suddenly a rickshaw came out from the side and stopped in front of Wang Zhi and his companion.

"Sir, where are you going?" The driver looked up and was more than ten years older than the previous one, but he had a kind and honest appearance. His clothes were very clean, and the towel draped over his shoulder was white.

Wang Zhi finally looked directly at the person in front of him and said calmly, "You're not young anymore, and you're only now switching to pulling a rickshaw?"

......

Beyond the Inspectorate, past the second hall, on the east side, lies the study of Inspector Huo, where he usually handles some private government affairs.

But at this moment, in this private space, there was no sign of Lord Huo. Instead, sitting behind the desk was a kind-faced foreigner, about forty years old, with slightly curly brown hair, wearing a black robe, and a gear hanging around his neck, the metal of which gleamed with silver light.

He stretched out his hands, struck a match, and lit the incense stick on the table. As the white smoke curled up, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes slightly, and revealed a look of rapture. He said, "I like the incense of your Dayong, especially this camphor incense. It keeps my mind clear at all times."

There was another person in the study, a graceful young lady dressed in a purple cheongsam. She smiled and said, "Reverend Ingis, if you like, you can have as many of these as you want."

It was Shen Lingyu, the young lady of the Shen family whom Wang Zhi had seen in a hurry by the artificial hill.

Shen Lingyu secretly noted down the other party's preferences, and thought that Pastor Ingis's taste was really unique. He didn't mention sandalwood or agarwood, but liked camphor.

She communicated directly in a foreign language; having returned from studying abroad, she spoke clearly and fluently.

That is why the family sent her to the government office to make contact with the missionaries of the Tian Shu Sect. Of course, she was also the eldest daughter of the main branch of the family, and after returning to Dayong, she began to learn how to gradually take charge of family affairs.

The family hopes to have trade relations with the Western Yu Empire in the future to expand their business, and also to find out if the other party has any other intentions besides missionary work in Dayong.

Don't hesitate to lend a helping hand where you can, and don't refuse to help those who are difficult to handle.

The Tian Shu Church has a very large influence in Western countries, and its priests are above ordinary clergy and have certain authority within the church.

Shen Lingyu remembered it clearly.

Two years ago, in July, in Hongtu County on the northwestern border of Dayong, a conflict broke out between missionaries and local people. The Western Yu Empire used this as a pretext to launch an attack on Hongtu County. The battle lasted only two days, and the territory was eventually lost.

It ended with the defeat of the Dayong Kingdom.

In detail, the battle was not particularly fierce, but it was this battle that made the Dayong court realize the power of the Western magic crystal firearms, which far surpassed the weapons of the Dayong firearms battalion.

At that time, the late emperor was still alive, and the strategy he chose was to appease the foreigners and keep them at bay.

The Dayong court paid an indemnity of 600,000 taels of silver, dismissed and exiled the magistrate of Hongtu County, and also punished and exiled 112 local people.

In reality, the conflict broke out simply because the fishermen on the riverbank had never seen Westerners with unusual hair and eyes before, so they curiously gathered around them.

Because of the language barrier, the missionaries felt as if they were monkeys in a zoo being stared at, which caused them great humiliation. They then shot and killed three civilians on the spot.

Upon receiving the report, the county magistrate personally led his guards to the scene, where they killed one person and captured two foreigners alive.

However, before they could even be tried, the two captured missionaries were released without charge.

This battle, also known as the Battle of Red Soil, involved a county magistrate named Li Ningbo who was punished.

Since this battle, in the counties under the jurisdiction of Dayong, whenever local officials encounter missionaries wearing priestly robes, they treat them as honored guests and dare not show the slightest disrespect.

It was also during this battle that those powerful families and clans gained a more direct understanding of the Western nations, who were on a completely different path from them and had also pursued considerable strength.

The Shen family had engaged in foreign trade before, but only with small countries, and had never truly connected with the core of Western nations. Going forward, they wanted to cooperate more closely.

With this in mind, Ms. Shen was very humble and polite, a far cry from her previous arrogant demeanor at the rockery.

"Then thank you very much, Miss Shen." Pastor Ingis shifted his body slightly, looked into Shen Lingyu's eyes, and said, "Miss Shen, your purpose in coming all the way from your family to see me is surely not as simple as just making a new friend, is it?"

"Your Great Yong has a saying, 'Get straight to the point,' so Miss Shen, please speak frankly," Yinjishi said, extending his right hand to signal her to speak frankly.

"I didn't expect that Pastor Ingis would also know about the culture of my Dayong. In that case, I will speak frankly."

"Our Shen family wishes to leverage your esteemed religion's influence to facilitate trade with the Western You Empire. Our Shen family has been operating for many years and possesses the strength and resources to cooperate with you; this would be beneficial to both sides," Shen Lingyu said confidently.

Many goods from Western countries, such as matches and pens, were not uncommon even within aristocratic families, but they did not truly find a market. Many small families did not have them, let alone ordinary people.

If trade with the Western Yu Empire is established, and the Shen family is even solely responsible for sales, this would be a huge profit.

"Of course you can."

Pastor Ingis nodded. His answer surprised Shen Lingyu, and things went more smoothly than she had imagined.

Shen Lingyu then looked at Pastor Ingis with suspicion as he pulled out a lump-shaped object wrapped in oil paper from his pocket.

Place it in your palm, tear open the packaging layer by layer, and you'll see a square brick-shaped, soil-like thing lying quietly in the oil paper, with what looks like remnants of stems and leaves. It really looks like a piece of soil dug out of a field, only compacted into a square brick.

She asked, utterly bewildered, "What is this?" She had no idea how it had anything to do with the trade they were about to discuss.

"In the Western Yu Empire, this is called 'black smoke,' but in order to sell it to the Dayong, our Tian Shu Sect has given it a better and more fitting name," Ingis said with a smile.

"What?" Shen Lingyu asked.

"Longevity ointment".