"Electric car?" Zhang Peilun is really a little confused now, he has some concept of electricity, because at this time electric lights and telegraphs have been introduced to China, but he can't figure out how this electricity drives vehicles. However, as Zhao Weizhong said, the skills of this group of overseas Chinese are not under the foreigners, and they are in their own right, and they are not the same as the foreigners. It seems to be reasonable, so Zhang Peilun didn't ask any more.

Tianjin Wharf is not far from the Li Shunde Hotel, although the speed of the three electric cars is not fast, but it only takes ten minutes to reach the Li Shunde Hotel.

However, it is far away, Zhang Peilun can see through the front window of the car that there are many people standing at the door of the Li Shunde Hotel, and the hanging lights are colorful, colorful, and you can also hear the sound of music, which is obviously carefully arranged. Zhang Peilun was a little surprised, although the overseas Chinese sent the No. 2 person to the dock to greet him, but the whole process was not complicated, but it was so grand at the door of the Li Shunde Hotel, which may be the etiquette habit of this group of overseas Chinese. Although the current Zhang Peilun doesn't care much about these false names, it is always happy to be received ceremoniously.

And Qin Zheng turned his head in the car to look at the layout of the Li Shunde Hotel, just smiled, and did not speak.

In fact, this is not the arrangement of the Temporary Executive Committee, but the Li Shunde Hotel itself. It turned out that Yang Yuxin, who had just been appointed as the general manager of the Li Shunde Hotel, considered that this was the first time that the traveler had undertaken a political task since he took over the hotel, so he naturally could not be treated ordinarily, and he was also the first historical celebrity to be received. Zhang Peilun is also a well-known person in this era, although it is not certain whether there will be Zhang Ailing in this time and space, but it is only the identity of Li Hongzhang's son-in-law, and Zhang Peilun's historical status will not be too bad. Moreover, the staff of the Qingshan Island Ro-Ro Passenger Ship have also been arranged to work in the Li Shunde Hotel, so Yang Yuxin also has enough manpower.

Yang Yuxin has also worked in the catering industry for more than ten years, and has a lot of experience in organizing this kind of activity, and the three passenger ro-ro ships also have corresponding items such as streamers, balloons, flowers, dresses, etc., so he immediately arranged the door of the Li Shunde Hotel, and also selected sixteen high-value women from the staff, put on concierge clothes, and acted as hostesses at the door.

After Qin Zheng and Zhang Peilun got out of the car, they saw Xie Yuxin, who was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and even his hair was smeared with oily water, and he first said: "Political Commissar Qin, you are here." ”

Qin Zheng smiled, introduced him to Zhang Peilun, and said, "This is Mr. Zhang Peilun, but our distinguished guest, you have to entertain him well." ”

Yang Yuxin said to Zhang Peilun again: "Mr. Zhang, welcome to stay at the Lishunde Hotel." ”

At this time, the news that the overseas Chinese bought the Li Shunde Hotel from De Xuanlin had already reached Shanghai, and Zhang Peilun naturally knew that this person was also one of the overseas Chinese, so he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly said: "This time Peilun is bothering." ”

Yang Yuxin said: "Mr. Zhang's room is ready, please come in." After finishing speaking, he led the way in front, Qin Zheng and Zhang Peilun followed behind, while Zhang Peilun's servant took the luggage and followed at the end, and when he walked into the door of the hotel, the etiquette ladies on the left and right bowed down together and said in unison: "Welcome." ”

Zhang Peilun also looked left and right, only to see that these women were all holding their hair in a bun, wearing a very weird long skirt, the color was very bright, the long skirt of the bottom was dragged to the ground, completely covering the legs, but the top was sleeveless, revealing the pink jade arms, and it was close to the woman's body, outlining the undulating lines, and there was also a ribbon hanging obliquely, and the shawl was not a draped thing, agitating the country, but in private, it is a romantic life that relies on red and green.

Walking into the hotel, Zhang Peilun settled down, looked left and right, and there was not much difference from before, Zhang Peilun had been to the Li Shunde Hotel a few times before, and now it seems that things are wrong, and there are a lot of feelings in my heart.

In the lobby of the Li Shunde Hotel, Yang Yuxin said: "Political Commissar Qin, the banquet has been prepared, you can see when the banquet can be held." ”

Qin Zheng looked at his watch, it was now past half past four in the afternoon, and said, "Let Mr. Youqiao rest for a while, and start the banquet on time at six o'clock." He turned his head and said to Zhang Peilun: "What does Mr. Youqiao think?" ”

Zhang Peilun said: "Everything is listened to. ”

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "That's it, Mr. Youqiao will go and rest for a while, and we'll see you at the banquet later." He turned to Zhao Weizhong and said, "Wait a while, please also invite Mr. Zhao to attend with you." ”

Although Zhao Weizhong is now in a hurry to rush back to arrange for someone to go to Dagukou to pick up the goods, otherwise he will have to pay an extra day of rent, which is a loss that he can't bear, but attending the banquet to welcome Zhang Peilun is more important, and if he has a good relationship with overseas Chinese, it will be very beneficial to his future business. And now there is still an hour to leave the table, which is enough to rush back by himself, of course, Zhao Weizhong can't say that he will go home to arrange his own business, but that he will go back to change his clothes to show his attention, and he will definitely come before the banquet starts.

So Qin Zheng, Zhao Weizhong and Zhang Peilun said goodbye, Zhao Weizhong rushed back to his house, and Qin Zheng had another room to rest in the Lishunde Hotel. After they all left, Yang Yuxin said to Zhang Peilun: "Mr. Zhang, please come with me." “

Zhang Peilun said: "There is labor. ”

Although Zhang Peilun did not have an official position, after all, he represented Li Hongzhang, and even a foreigner, so the traveler still received him with a relatively high standard, and arranged accommodation for him in the most luxurious room in the Li Shunde Hotel, which is equivalent to the presidential suite, but there is no name for the presidential suite in this era.

Yang Yuxin brought Zhang Peilun and his party to the door of the house, handed the key to the gatehouse to Zhang Peilun, and said, "Mr. Zhang, I won't disturb your rest, I will pick you up fifteen minutes before the banquet later." ”

Zhang Peilun thanked Yang Yuxin again, and then Yang Yuxin turned around and left. And Zhang Peilun took a group of people into the room, and people immediately began to tidy up and arrange the room, while Zhang Peilun sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to recuperate, and at the same time was thinking about the passage of the way.

So far, the overseas Chinese have received Zhang Peilun much higher than he expected, which is certainly a good start, indicating that this group of overseas Chinese may have a certain respect for Li Hongzhang behind them, and they are indeed willing to negotiate with foreigners.

However, the current Zhang Peilun is not the hairy boy of the year, of course, he will not be carried away by these false courtesies, thinking that everything can be fine, after all, judging from the actions of overseas Chinese, there is basically no respect for the Qing Dynasty, so it is impossible to respect Li Hongzhang there, and they may be willing to negotiate with foreigners, but under what conditions they are willing to negotiate with foreigners, but it is not known, willing to talk is one thing, but whether they can talk about Long, is another matter.

The main purpose of Zhang Peilun's current visit to Tianjin is twofold: first, to establish direct contacts with overseas Chinese, and second, to find out the basis of negotiations between overseas Chinese, so as to judge the success rate of the negotiations between the two sides. Of course, the latter is also the goal of the consuls in Shanghai, so that the countries can decide whether to negotiate with the overseas Chinese.

Although Zhang Peilun did not know the negotiation conditions of the foreigners, Li Hongzhang had dealt with the foreigners for a long time, and he had a general judgment on the negotiation conditions of the foreigners, and it was estimated that he was sixty or seventy percent sure, but Li Hongzhang knew almost nothing about the behavior of the overseas Chinese, so he had no way to judge, and what he was most worried about was that the asking price of this group of overseas Chinese was too high, and the two sides could not negotiate with him.

Although Zhang Peilun is not an official, he also knows that if overseas Chinese and foreigners do not talk and the war resumes, the biggest victim will be the Qing Dynasty. But now neither side can be controlled by Li Hongzhang and Zhang Peilun, so the top priority is to understand the attitude of overseas Chinese as soon as possible before considering the next step.

Just when Zhang Peilun was thinking about it, he only heard the sound of the door, and a servant came to Zhang Peilun and said, "Master, Manager Yang is here, please go to the banquet." ”

Zhang Peilun hurriedly got up, greeted him, and said, "Manager Yang, and you can go on a trip in person, just call a servant to come and announce." ”

Yang Yuxin smiled and said: "Then what's the matter, Mr. Zhang is our honored guest, and the time is almost up, let's leave now." ”

Zhang Peilun nodded, immediately changed into a brand-new robe, and then left the room with Yang Yuxin with the servant and came to the restaurant.

At this time, Qin Zheng and Zhao Weizhong had already arrived, and they were waiting for Zhang Peilun in the restaurant. Everyone met and greeted each other politely, and then took their seats in turn.

In fact, the scale of the banquet is not large, there are only four seats in total, and each table only has four to six seats, and it is the chairman, there are only two seats, that is, Qin Zheng and Zhang Peilun, and they are separated by a screen seal to form an independent private space.

This is because Zhang Peilun brought not many followers this time, only six or seven people, if it is really a big table, even a table is not satisfied, so naturally it is impossible to have a large banquet, the result is all their own people eating and drinking on it, second, according to the habits of the Chinese, the dinner table is often also the negotiation table, although it may not be able to finalize anything at the dinner table, but it will also play a very important role. There are only two seats at the chairman's table, and they are separated from the screen cover, which is also convenient for Qin Zheng and Zhang Peilun to have a private conversation.