There were three representatives of the squires in Tianjin, namely, Cao Jianqiu, who was a student of marine machinery at the Beiyang Naval Academy, and because he was fluent in foreign languages, he was now acting as a translator in the concession, and he also ran a commercial house in the concession by taking the opportunity of the relationship with the foreigners; Zheng Yizhi, comprador of Swire & Co., Liang Yanqing, comprador of Jardine Matheson & Co.,

All three of them were businessmen, and they all had quite good relations with foreigners in the concession, but in China in this era, most of the people who did business had some relationship with foreigners, and if they failed, they would not be able to do this business, so they were in a city like Tianjin that was relatively open to the outside world.

Originally, after talking with Fang Bin yesterday, the three of them were a little relieved, this group of self-proclaimed overseas Chinese seemed to be a group of civilized people and would not mess around. But this morning when they learned that the crossing army had captured the concession, the three of them were immediately frightened, and they did not see that this group of people looked kind and polite, but they were bold in doing things, and they dared to attack the concession, but the concession was so easy to touch?

In the hearts of the three of them, they are not optimistic about the crossing army, mainly because in the past 60 years, the foreigners have established the myth of invincibility in China, so the three of them think that as long as the Eight-Nation Alliance forces come back, they can immediately recapture Tianjin. Yesterday, the three of them just wanted to entrust themselves with this group of overseas Chinese, but they never thought of taking refuge in this group of overseas Chinese.

The three of them have been dealing with foreigners for a long time, and they know the temper of foreigners, but in fact, except for Russia and Japan, the rest of the countries do not have much ambition for China's territory, and only want to do business, of course, it is inevitable to take advantage of business. The loss of Tianjin is not a big deal for foreigners, and it will be over if they are recaptured, but the concession is the lifeblood of foreigners, and most of the foreigners' business is in the concession. It's definitely not over. Therefore, Tianjin was lost, and the three of them and this group of overseas Chinese were entrusted with nothing, but the concession was taken down by them, and it was difficult to say that they would get together with them again.

Moreover, the three of them all do business with foreigners, have a good relationship with foreigners, and have their own industries in the concession, and this group of overseas Chinese does not seem to deal with foreigners very well, and I don't know how this group of overseas Chinese will treat them.

So the three of them immediately got together and discussed for a morning, thinking that this group of overseas Chinese did not look like reckless people, and they first occupied Dagukou, then took Tianjin, and now they have captured the concession, obviously they have some strength, although the Boxers made a huge noise, but they did not capture the concession, so the Eight-Nation Alliance may not be able to win easily. What's more, according to Fang Bin, since this group of overseas Chinese founded a country overseas, since it is a country, it has some strength, so the outcome of this battle may not be known.

So the three of them decided to come and ask for a meeting again, and then talk about it.

Qin Zheng thought for a while, nodded as well, and said, "It's okay, then let's meet them." ”

After a short time, Fang Bin led the three of them up to the Bell and Drum Tower, and first introduced Qin Zheng to them.

Although the three of them heard the word "political commissar" for the first time, they could guess that it should be the official name of this group of overseas Chinese, but they didn't know what kind of official they were, and the position corresponding to the Qing court, but they were definitely not petty officials, because Fang Bin was also very respectful in front of him, so they didn't dare to slack off, and immediately gave Qin Zheng a salute, with a look of sincerity and fear.

However, Qin Zheng's attitude was similar to Fang Bin's, very gentle, and he didn't put on any official pretensions, and he also emphasized the discipline and policies of the army, so that they could rest assured. Because Qin Zheng's words were the same as Fang Bin's, it also made the three of them feel a lot more at ease.

Of course, these are not the main objectives of the trip, and after a few more words, Cao Jianqiu said: "Political Commissar Qin, I heard that your army has captured the Tianjin Concession yesterday, I don't know what to do with the concession, and what about the foreigners in the concession?"

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "The three of them probably have something to do with foreigners." ”

The expressions of the three of them were suddenly a little embarrassed, and after a while, Liang Yanqing had the courage to say: "Don't hide it from the political commissar Qin, the three of us do have some business dealings with foreigners, but this is also a helpless move, if we don't have dealings with foreigners, this business can't be done, and we have no choice but to do it ourselves, but we haven't used the power of foreigners to do anything hurtful." ”

Qin Zheng smiled and waved his hand, "The three don't need to explain, I don't have anything else, there is nothing bad about doing business with foreigners, we may also do business with foreigners in the future, and we also welcome foreigners to do business, but the concession must be taken back, because this is China's place, foreigners must abide by China's rules when they come to do business, so as long as they do business honestly, whether it is foreigners or Chinese, we welcome it, but if we want to bully China and conquer China with guns, we will never agree." ”

When the three of them heard this, they were all relieved, knowing that they were not in danger for the time being, and then Qin Zheng said again: "I don't know if the three of them have any property in the concession?"

The three of them glanced at each other, and finally nodded honestly.

Qin Zheng said: "Don't worry, although we occupied the concession, we didn't loot it, and even the foreigners in the concession didn't hurt it, but we just sealed up all the shops, but this is also because we just occupied the concession and haven't restored order yet, and it will be slowly unsealed in the future, and your property can come to the concession tomorrow, I will arrange someone to check it for you, and it will be unsealed immediately, and you can continue to do business." ”

When the three of them heard this, they hurriedly expressed their gratitude to Qin Zheng, and Zheng Yizhi said again: "Political Commissar Qin, although your army has occupied Tianjin, the main force of the Eight-Nation Alliance is in Beijing. ”

Qin Zheng said: "You can rest assured, the Eight-Nation Alliance has arrived, we have our own countermeasures, and even if we are defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance, we will never affect you, if you are still not at ease, wait until tomorrow after cleaning up the property in the concession, although the three of you can leave Tianjin, we will never stop it." ”

In fact, the three of them did not have the idea of leaving Tianjin, but first, their own industries are in Tianjin, and after leaving Tianjin, they will become nothing, and they will not leave Tianjin unless they have to; second, they don't know if what Qin Zheng said is true, in case it is to test themselves, so they dare to express their intention to leave Tianjin at this time, so they have said that they will never leave Tianjin, and will fully support the crossing army.

And Qin Zheng just smiled and said: "Three, there is no need to say these scenes, what I just said is the truth, since we have captured Dagukou, Tianjin, and the concession, we will naturally bear this consequence, so we will never affect you, you can leave Tianjin if you are willing to leave, if you stay in Tianjin, then when we are at war with the Eight-Nation Alliance, you can also watch from the sidelines, and after this battle is over, it is not too late to decide." ”

When the three of them heard this, their faces were a little embarrassed, because Qin Zheng said it too bluntly, which just said what they thought, but Qin Zheng's statement also showed that this group of overseas Chinese had considerable confidence in themselves, and did not take the Eight-Nation Alliance in Beijing seriously, and they also expressed the generosity of this group of overseas Chinese, you must know that whether it is the Qing court or foreigners, they will not care whether they are affected or not, of course, Qin Zheng may just say this, but the Qing court does not even bother to say such things, so in the hearts of the three of them, they also have the idea of waiting and seeing, and even think that if this group of overseas Chinese really defeats the Eight-Nation Alliance, it may not be bad。

At this time, Qin Zheng said: "But there is one thing we have in here, and we need your help." ”

When the three of them heard this, they all immediately became nervous, they didn't know what harsh requirements Qin Zheng would make, and some people even thought that what Qin Zheng said just now was a lie, and now he was trying to see it. Cao Jianqiu said: "I don't know what the political commissar Qin has to order, as long as it is within our ability, I will never refuse." ”

As soon as he saw the changes in the expressions of the three of them, Qin Zheng knew what the three of them were thinking, and said with a smile: "The three of them don't need to be nervous, since the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Tianjin, the population of Tianjin has been greatly lost, and the top priority now is to recruit people back and restore the vitality of Tianjin. ”

This request is really not too much, and the three of them are all relieved when they hear it, Cao Jianqiu hurriedly said: "We are naturally responsible for this matter, please rest assured that Political Commissar Qin will do it immediately?"

Qin Zheng nodded again and said, "In this way, the matter of recruiting back Tianjin residents will be entrusted to the three of you." ”

Speaking of this step, the goal of the three of them was basically achieved, so they said a few more kind words, got up and said goodbye, and Qin Zheng didn't keep it, and asked Fang Bin to send them out.

After the three of them left, Qiu Yahui said: "Political commissar, are these people reliable? ”

At this time, Fang Bin just came back, and after listening to it, he said: "Of course it is unreliable, to put it bluntly, they are compradors, relying on foreigners to do business, but now that our military strength is strong, they have to be wronged, if we are defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance, they will immediately defect, but they are local people, familiar with both people and land, so there are many things that they have come forward to do, of course, it is much easier than us." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "Although they are unreliable, it does not mean that they are our enemies, resulting in the situation of comprador Chinese businessmen, the Qing government has to pay the main responsibility, but the vast majority of compradors belong to the object that can be united, in the old time and space, our ancestors were united by all the forces that can be united, only to develop and grow, and finally achieve the success of the revolution, so in this time and space, we still have to adhere to the implementation of this policy." ”

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