p> Shanghai, China.

p> On May 2o, a fleet sailed into the port of Shanghai. In the third year of Guangxu, that is, in 1853, Shanghai broke out in the Xiaodaohui uprising. Britain, France, and the United States joined forces to defeat the Qing army in the Battle of Mud City. The Qing government signed 14 paragraphs of the "Shanghai Customs Taxation Rules" and the "Shanghai Anglo-American Concession Land Regulations" with the British, American, and French consuls, expanding the power of the concession and severely undermining China's sovereignty. In the fourth year of Xianfeng, that is, in 1854, the governor of Jiangsu, Gil Hang'a, negotiated with the consuls of Britain, France, the United States, and the three countries in Shanghai, signed nine articles of the "agreement", and established a tax administration committee to jointly manage the Chinese customs. British-flagged ships, as long as there is a group of foreigners standing on the bow, can be unimpeded in Shanghai.

The > ship was loaded with weapons from Hong Kong, and was met not only by British consulate personnel in Shanghai, but also by several Manchu officials. The first mate and the corresponding British businessman were responsible for handing over the goods, and the captain sent several people off the ship, looking at the captain's cautious and respectful attitude, which was enough to prove the identity of these people.

They were greeted by the French consulate > the clothes they were wearing, and they were military attachés from the French side. After a few people got into the carriage, the initial conversation was quite serious. The two sides exchanged views on the situation between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Even as the carriage passed through a ruined wall, the French military attaché introduced the British to the wall that had been erected during the Knife Society's uprising. The concession proposed the method of "building a wall in sections to prevent receiving aid" and built a wall from outside the north gate of Shanghai County to cut off the connection between the rebel army in the city and the suburbs and the concession, so that the knife society would lose its source of food and other military supplies.

p> By this time the boasting of the French personnel was obvious enough, and the British delegates were already very unhappy. And the French finally asked the question of "can the British army defeat the Liberation Army in Hong Kong".

p> The British representative looked naturally furious, but it was only angry for a moment, but the British representative regained his calm, "If France wants to be qualified to evaluate this issue, it must first be able to send thousands of troops to Hong Kong." ”

P> Now it was the turn of the French military attaché to look ugly, and the French fleet could not reach Hong Kong without the permission of the British. Moreover, Napoleon III, who is now in power, has adopted a pro-British policy, and there is no reason for the judges to quarrel with the British representatives to the point of completely tearing their faces. Even if you don't take advantage of the argument, the judge has no reason to fight.

P> led by the British and French consuls in Shanghai, a meeting in Shanghai discussed one thing, the sale of more weapons to the Manchu side. This is easy to understand, doing business, especially the arms deal, is very profitable. The war between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchu Qing broke out only six years ago, and the equipment of the warring sides was greatly improved. Leap from the arquebus era to the cap gun age. Europe went from arquebuses to flint guns to muskets to cap guns, and this process has been going on for hundreds of years. The level of improvement of mid-term equipment can be said to be "amazing".

P> arms sales were quickly agreed, and both Britain and France sold their obsolete old equipment to China. The British have many naval strongholds, and the main force of transportation is naturally the British. The officials were mainly responsible for policy-making, and senior officials from Britain and France were responsible for agreeing on the general intentions of the ministers, from the right to use the waterways, to the right to access the ports, and the various fees that needed to be paid.

p> When the high-level officials finished formulating the policy, the lower-level officials began to discuss the details. This includes the release of various licenses that senior officials cannot discuss, as well as the tax percentage. At this point, the problem of fertile water not flowing into the fields of outsiders arose, and the first to obtain permits were naturally British and French merchants who had considerable connections with officials at all levels. After satisfying the interests of businessmen who can influence officials, if there is a remaining share of arms sales, it is the turn of other merchants who have no channels to fight for those shares.

P> Of course, these are unspoken rules and cannot be taken out and talked about on the table. However, in practice, the rules of Britain and France are completely in accordance with this kind of distant and close relatives, and they are implemented in a way that is first large and then small. This matter was very hotly discussed among the low-level officials,

P> "According to the information we have received, a general of the Taiping Army named Shi Dakai is marching towards Zhejiang, and the demand for arms from the Zhejiang side of the Qing army has greatly increased. This is the main buyer in the near future. ”

p>"The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also expressed its willingness to purchase more weapons. ”

p> "Zhejiang's military training minister, Zuo Zongtang, wanted to buy weapons and equipment for his Chu army. ”

P>"Recently, a large number of cigarettes have been shipped from Guangdong to Shanghai, and the price of the whole cigarette has plummeted. Although the amount of cigarettes purchased by the Jiangnan battalion of the Qing army increased by half, the total amount of money that could be paid did not change much. ”

p> low-level officials adjourned from time to time and then took out the information they had received at the meeting to share with the businessmen. Similarly, businessmen continued to provide information and tried to obtain more lucrative terms for themselves at meetings of low-level officials. As for who the trade object is and who the content of the trade is, the merchants don't care.

p> The French consul is the supreme representative of France in China, and this consul does not need to participate in specific discussions, but makes profits for the interest groups he represents, and has his own henchmen to do it. The French consul has big things to think about. For example, he was inquiring about British progress in India.

p>Britain is an industrial power, so Britain was able to allow the French to dump old arms against the Manchus, and there must be an article behind this matter, and the French side felt that India might be the only reason. It is not a day or two that the British East India Company wants to depose the Mughal emperor and make India part of Britain by the British. If it weren't for the possibility of war in India, the French consul couldn't think of any other reason why the British would accept the French in China.

p> The British delegate avoided discussing India altogether, and said bluntly to the French consul: "We really want to go to war with the Manchu government. ”

As soon as p> this statement came out, the French leader was surprised in advance, and then nodded happily again and again. The British were very dissatisfied with the agreement signed with the Manchus after the First Great Smoke War, and especially with the Manchus' implementation of the agreement. After fighting such a battle with great difficulty, the result was not able to knock on the door of China. In addition to Big Tobacco, the British have not been able to expand their market in China.

p> "So did London notify my government?" The French consul asked excitedly. With cooperation with the British in the Crimea, the French consul naturally hoped to join hands again. Crimea was confronted by Russia, the powerful "gendarme of Europe", and the Manchus did not have the strength of Russia at all, and the war against the Manchus was bound to be a great victory.

P> "Now that the discussion is going on in London, I personally would like to provide some information to Paris. "The representative of Britain was very serious.

p> London is naturally responsible for deciding whether to go to war, but it is impossible for the bigwigs in London to fly to China with their wings to investigate in detail, and it is the British officials in China who provide them with specific contents. If the French could persuade Paris, the formation of a coalition to attack China would be more likely.

> listened to the British representative's proposal, and the French leader was stunned for a moment, and then shuddered. It was not that he was afraid, the military capabilities of the Manchus had nothing to fear in front of the French. The thing that shook the French consul was that it would be a great credit if it led the war against the Manchus. Victory means not only victory, but also a lot of loot. The last Great Smoke War was fought in the Yangtze River Valley, and Britain had already gained a lot of money. If you can attack the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, then you can grab it. Of course, the French had seen the Manchu officials' methods of collecting money, and they were sure to be able to copy countless gold and silver treasures from their homes. Just thinking of this, the eyes of the French consul almost burst into a golden light.

> but the French consul was also well-informed, and he was not immediately carried away by the glorious future, but asked cautiously: "Didn't you fight Guangdong first, but start a war against the Manchus?" ”

p> The defeat of the British lobster corps in Canton was also very important news, in any case, the squadron was able to force back the British lobster corps, or the lobsters and was able to implement the 6 naval cooperation on the riverside. And not Afghanistan a dozen years ago.

p> Fifteen years ago, in early 1842, the British decided to evacuate Kabul from Afghanistan. The only request the British could make to the Afghans before the decision to evacuate was to provide safe passage for the evacuated troops. After the Afghans agreed to the British terms, the great retreat of the British began, and in addition to more than 7oo British soldiers, there were also Indian mercenaries and their families, a total of 16,500 people.

p> It is a pity that the Afghans have not kept their promise not to harass, but have continued to harass them. Wave after wave of cavalry rushed to the exhausted evacuation brigade. Both the families and soldiers of the military were slaughtered. On the fifth day of the evacuation, there were no more soldiers in the British evacuation team. On the 1o day of the evacuation, the 165oo army was completely annihilated. Only one person escaped, the surgeon William? Brighton.

p> This incident also shook the whole of Europe, and the European countries also laughed at the British. It's just ridicule and ridicule, and the status of the British empire on which the sun never sets is played. In fact, the European countries also knew that if the first 16,500 men in that army were British lobster soldiers, the Afghan victory rate of attacking this British army would probably be less than 1%.

p> was able to defeat the British army head-on and let the British army retreat by water, which is indeed worthy of attention. The French consul was very worried that the British war against the Manchu Qing would cause any changes in the army. If the Manchu Qing Dynasty were defeated and the Liberation Army took the opportunity to seize power in China, it would not be a good thing.

p> The British representative looked at the French consul who was quite confused by this news, he sneered in his heart, but on the surface he maintained a little respect, "The war with the Manchus is to enable the Manchus to better practice the treaty, not to destroy the Manchus." ”

p> When the French consul heard this, he was even more sure of one thing in his heart, if this war broke out, the battle would naturally not be in Guangdong, nor would it be in the Yangtze River valley where the Taiping army and the Qing army were fighting. The war was bound to take place in Beijing, the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. For this alone, the French consul decided to get involved, lobbying Paris as best he could, trying to make the war break out.

P> Of course, the future war will not affect the current sale of weapons by France to the Qing army in the Yangtze River valley. Weapons were sold to the Qing army to make money, and the attack on the Manchus was also to make money. As for whether the Manchus would have armed themselves with weapons purchased from the British and French, and then defeated the Anglo-French coalition in the war. The French consul did not think about it at all.

p> As long as it stands with the British, France has nothing to fear. That's how confident the French are. r1o58

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