Chapter 373: Shanghai (1)

Tirpitz returned to Germany with joy, and the negotiating group of the traversers changed ships in Qingdao, rested on the ship for the night, and arrived at the port of Shanghai early the next morning. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The two escort warships then stopped sailing here, while the Ping An continued its voyage with the members of the negotiating team, sailing from the mouth of the Yangtze River into the Huangpu River, swimming upstream, and arriving at the Huishan Wharf in the Shanghai Public Concession.

Huishan Wharf is the largest wharf in the Shanghai Public Concession, and it is all made of reinforced concrete. Including Huangpu Wharf, Yangshupu Wharf, Huishan Wharf, Huashun Wharf and so on, because the water depth of this section of the river is up to 7 meters, can berth large passenger ships, so it is the international passenger terminal of Shanghai in this era, all the international passenger ships in and out of Shanghai, are docked here, belong to the British Gonghexiang Wharf Company operated. The general area is the area along the Huangpu River from Qinhuangdao Road to Pingping Road in the old time and space, with a total length of about 800 meters. Along the wharf are European-style buildings, and people who have been to Shanghai in the old time and space can still find some familiar buildings.

Before the Ping'an docked, Qin Zheng had come to the bow of the ship, and when he looked from a distance, he saw that the dock was densely packed with people, there were two or three thousand people, and although it was far away, it could also be seen that most of them were Chinese, and it seemed that the pomp and circumstance of welcoming his party in Shanghai was not small. However, most people were fenced off in the outer circle, leaving a large open space in the middle, and there were more than a dozen people, most of them foreigners, and a few were Chinese, one of them was tall and with a flower feather, it was Li Hongzhang, and the other two were Liu Lantao and Li Hongbing, who arrived in Shanghai in advance

In fact, most of the Chinese who came to the dock to welcome the arrival of the negotiating delegation came spontaneously, because Shanghai was the most developed area in China in this era, and they were well-informed, and various theories about the origin of the crossers had already spread in Shanghai. After all, for decades, China has been a character who has been beaten up, so that Chinese can not hold his head up in front Chinese of foreigners, and because Shanghainese people have a broad vision, modern concepts, and no discrimination against overseas Chinese, they also regard the traveler as a point of China, and in their hearts they are more willing to identify with the crosser, so they learned that the negotiation team of overseas Chinese arrived in Shanghai today, and they all spontaneously came to the dock to see the wind of overseas Chinese.

At this time, Qin Zheng's heart was also quite emotional. When he first crossed over to this era, he never imagined that he would come to Shanghai in such a way. It is important to know that Shanghai occupies an extremely important position in China's modern history, because it is the Shanghai Concession, which is the earliest concession area in the history of China's concession, which has the longest existence, the largest area, the most prosperous economy, the most perfect law, the largest management organization, and the most fully developed. It is not only a witness to the humiliation of China's modern history, but also a pioneer of China's modernization.

The Shanghai Concession was established on November 29, 1845, when the Qing government's Su Songtaibing Beidao Gong Mujiu and the British Consul in Shanghai Gee Balfour jointly signed the "Shanghai Land Charter", officially establishing the Shanghai British Concession. In 1848 and 1849, the American Concession and the French Concession were established one after another.

Originally, Britain, the United States, France and other countries only had the right of residence in the concession, and the concession, territorial sovereignty, land jurisdiction, judicial power and administrative power were returned to the Qing government, but in September 1853, the Xiaodaohui uprising in Shanghai captured the county seat of Shanghai, threatening the security of the concession. Britain, the United States, France and other countries felt that the content of the "Shanghai Land Lease Charter" could no longer meet their needs, and in July 1854, they officially announced a new land charter signed by the ministers of the three countries, that is, the "Shanghai Anglo-French-American Concession Charter", commonly known as the second "Land Charter", obtained the extrajudicial autonomy of the concession, and on July 11, jointly established an independent municipal organization, the Shanghai Ministry of Industry Bureau, which formally formed the later real sense of the concession - a country within a country.

However, this second "Land Charter" was drafted and adopted by Britain, France, and the United States on their own, and only after it was implemented in the concession did it notify Shanghai Dao, and there was no discussion with the Qing government at all, and the Qing government could only acquiesce that from then on, all concessions established by foreign countries in China had the right of extralegal autonomy.

In 1862, the French Concession withdrew from the union and set up its own board of directors. In September 1863, the British and American concessions in Shanghai were formally merged and unified under the management of the Ministry of Industry, so that the Shanghai Concession formally formed a situation where the French Concession and the Public Concession were coexisted.

At present, the Shanghai Public Concession has been expanded, with a total area of 33,503 acres, to Zhoujiazui (now the corner of Pingliang Road and Military Industry Road) in the east, to the junction of Shanghai and Baoshan counties in the north, to Jing'an Temple in the west, and to the French Concession in the south. The entire concession is divided into four districts: central, northern, eastern, and western. It roughly corresponds to the riverside areas of North Huangpu and Jing'an and the southern part of Hongkou and Yangpu districts in the old time and space.

So in this time and space, when will the time-travelers be able to recover all of China's concessions and end China's humiliation once and for all? It certainly won't be later than the old plane. And just when Qin Zheng was thinking about it, he only heard a warm cheer from the dock. It turned out that in the crowd, I don't know who took the lead in cheering, immediately triggered a response from everyone, forming a warm welcome to the traverser.

In addition, there were lights flickering from time to time in the crowd, and several cameras that had been set up in the crowd also began to take pictures. In this era, the camera was very large, inconvenient to carry, and very expensive, and a newspaper office generally carried only one or two, so the reporters who accompanied Li Hongzhang to visit Tianjin did not bring a camera, nor did they take pictures of the traversers, but now they are on their own land, and each newspaper office has also moved its own camera to the dock, ready to take a few photos.

When Qin Zheng saw it, he also waved his hand very cooperatively, imitating the image of the national leader in the film and television drama. This time, the cheers on the shore were even more intense and long, and the flashes of the cameras never stopped.

On the one hand, the consuls of various countries who were waiting on the wharf to welcome the overseas Chinese negotiation group were not very good-looking, and they personally came to the wharf to greet the overseas Chinese negotiation group; on the one hand, the overseas Chinese were indeed victorious on the battlefield, and this was a fact that the consuls of various countries had to admit and have to respect the negotiation groups they had sent; on the other hand, it was also because the overseas Chinese were very courteous to the observation groups sent by various countries to Tianjin, so this was also a mutual respect and courtesy.

However, what the consuls did not expect was that so many people would rush to the dock today to welcome the overseas Chinese negotiation delegation and let out long-lasting cheers, which was something that had never happened before. In fact, the consuls of various countries have keenly felt that during this period of time, the atmosphere of the entire Shanghai Concession has indeed undergone subtle changes, and the mood of the Chinese in the concession is obviously different from before, and when talking to foreigners, they are no longer shrunken and timid, and have a little confidence. There are even rumors in the concession that when overseas Chinese come, the foreigners will not be able to enjoy the scenery for a few days.

Although the consuls of various countries knew that the overseas Chinese had no intention of attacking Shanghai, the change in the mood of the Chinese in the concession had to draw attention, and if this momentum was allowed to develop, it would not be a good thing for the concession.

At this time, the Ping'an had already docked and boarded the gangway, Qin Zheng took the lead in getting off the steamer, Li Hongzhang, Liu Lantao, and Li Hongbing took the lead in waiting up, and Li Hongzhang arched his hand and said: "Political Commissar Qin has worked hard all the way. ”

Qin Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Where, where, there is Lord Lao Zhongtang who is concerned." ”

Liu Lantao and Li Hongbing also came to greet Qin Zheng and told Qin Zheng that the office had been rented. Qin Zheng also encouraged the two of them a few words. At this time, Li Hongzhang introduced the consuls of various countries to Qin Zheng.

In fact, as Li Hongzhang, there is no need for him to introduce things, after Liu Lantao and Li Hongbing came to Shanghai, they will meet the consuls of various countries, so it is reasonable for the two of them to introduce the consuls of various countries to Qin Zheng, and it is not Li Hongzhang's turn to do anything. However, Li Hongzhang snatched this errand, of course, because he had a deep meaning, he intended to play the role of an intermediary between the traveler and the countries, and show his sense of existence.

Qin Zheng didn't pay much attention to it, and under the guidance of Li Hongzhang, he met with the consuls of various countries in Shanghai one by one. First of all, the British consul Huo Biqian is naturally introduced, this is a middle-aged man about fifty years old, with a somewhat hairy figure, but his eyes flashed, showing a very shrewd and cunning appearance. The French consul was younger, thinner, with slightly longer hair, and a bit of an artist's temperament, while the American consul Guna was a typical businessman, with a professional smile on his face, which he knew was fake, but not annoying.

The German consul Knappe is taller, and his expression is serious and not harsh, which is completely in line with the image of a strict and serious German, but when he shook hands with Qin Zheng, Knappe's face showed a smile, and he also said, "I hope that in this negotiation, we can cooperate happily with you", Qin Zheng immediately understood that this guy had been instructed by the German state, just to see how he would help himself in the negotiation.

The Japanese consul Oda Kiri and the Russian consul Dmitriev are completely two extremes, the former is short and thin, but he is still wearing a tuxedo, as a result, the two dovetails behind the buttocks are almost dragged to the ground, and with a flattering smile on his face, he subconsciously nods his head and waist when he sees people greeting him, as if he has formed a conditioned reflex, which is really not good for people; , the mouth is so pruned that you can hang an oil pot, and the eyes are about to grow to the top of the head.

Meeting with the consuls, Qin Zheng also had an intuitive impression of the consuls of various countries in Shanghai, although it is said that people cannot be looked like, but on the whole, the quality of the consuls in Shanghai is obviously a level higher than that of the consuls in Tianjin, but this is not surprising, after all, Shanghai is much more important than Tianjin, and countries naturally have to send more capable people.