He reacted quickly and vigorously refuted such rumors: "Nonsense, this must be the news that Lin Song's bastard released to fool people, and now that Liu Jiehu's soldiers are fighting with the Yi people near Shanghai, how can it be possible to go south to Fujian Hu to talk nonsense, it must be nonsense."

Even if Shi Yunqing repeatedly made such a refutation, the hearts of the entire small group were still not very stable, within two days, another five or six hundred people left, some of them threw themselves to Lin Song and Zhai Zhenbin's side, and some people went back to their hometown in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Shi Yunqing had to make up his mind to make a hard hand, and he must solve Lin Song and Zhai Zhenbin's team, but he soon found that the other party's strength and his own balance of power.

Huang Wenjin's reinforcements have already entered Fujian, and more news proves that the Hong army has indeed reached a draw with the French army.

The only suspense is whether the first division will enter Fujian?

Unlike Shi Yunqing's small group of Xiu's attention to the entry of the First Division into Fujian, the entire First Army, including the First Division, is making every effort to recover the sacrifice paid by the First Division, and the casualties of 18,000 people are not as simple as a number, and many combat units are about to be rebuilt.

The 1st Division did not catch up with the most fierce battle, but the reduction of the whole division still exceeded 3,000 men, and it was difficult to get new recruits at the end of the Lunar New Year, so it had to prepare to receive a large number of recruits after the Lunar New Year, and even after receiving this batch of recruits, the entire Rainbow Army was still pinned down near Shanghai.

Although the Russian Expeditionary Force has been devastated, the French Expeditionary Force is still a thin camel, which may threaten to give a fatal blow to the Hong Army at any time, so Liu Chang had to put 70,000 or 80,000 troops near Shanghai to be ready to fight at any time, and at the same time use these troops as bargaining chips that have been half negotiated.

Although the battle between the two sides came to an end, the war at the half-table table became even more intense, and sometimes it was almost the bayonet that was red, surpassing the fierceness on the battlefield.

For the French and the Russians planted such a big heel, the British have gone from being happy to the point of wanting to restore the balance of power, the blow to the French and the Russians is too great, up to now, the French have been killed in the battle more than 2,000, and the wounded are still dying, and the Russians are even more mixed, the 5,500 expeditionary force they sent is now less than 1,000, and the rest of the expeditionary force is either killed by the rainbow army, captured, or deserted.

Even the remaining 1,000 Russian expeditionary forces could not be withdrawn to Siberia now, and Liu Chang's envoy had already made solemn representations to the parties in the Shanghai Concession, demanding that these Russians be handed over to the Hongjun, although such a proposal was immediately rejected by the Westerners in Shanghai, but the concession parties could only put the nearly 1,000 expeditionary forces under house arrest and use them as pawns at the negotiation table.

Recently, as the talks between the Hongjun and the French reached a stalemate, many wise British people had suggested that the nearly 1,000 Russians should be armed again, and the concession had already armed itself with a volunteer army of more than three cadres as a strong backing for the defense of Shanghai.

Of course, all this was to maintain the balance of power near Shanghai and prevent the strength of the Rainbow Army from growing, and with all kinds of measures, the negotiations between the Rainbow Army and the French were on the right track, and the British felt that the situation in the vicinity of Shanghai was now under their control.

Johnson, one of the masterminds behind this series of operations, said with a smile: "Although HSBC has lost some of its profits, peace and development are what we want to see the most."

The opponents who played bridge with him were all the top existences among the British in Shanghai, and everyone laughed: "That's right, we can't let the rebels be too strong, this is in the interests of England." ”…,

"The current situation is the most perfect ending for our powers."

Johnson told his poker friends: "The French had a good deal with Yoo, and it is said that Yoo had made quite a few concessions, and at least the French didn't need a witch like Joan of Arc to save their expeditionary force." ”

One of his card friends, a diplomat in the Shanghai consulate, Lin Deng, smiled: "Yes, thanks to Mr. Johnson's arrangement, we Britain can play a greater role in the future Far East bureau." ”

For the British, the balance of power is the most important, only when the Rainbow Army achieves a greater victory, the Manchu government will make comprehensive concessions, but when everyone's bridge is playing happily, someone over there runs in angrily: "My Excellency, when are you still in the mood to play cards,"

Everyone looked back and saw that it was none other than Mr. Ryan, who had a vital interest in the Rainbow Army, one of the most important arms suppliers of the Rainbow Army, and he had an inseparable relationship with the rebels, even when Johnson's senior class exerted a lot of pressure on him, this Mr. Ryan continued to provide a large amount of arms to the rebels.

Seeing his frustration, Johnson knew that the French must have made unexpected progress in the middle of the table, and he said with a smile: "Ryan, you don't have to worry, have a cup of coffee, let's have a good talk, and maintain the Chinese mainland...... few

"Fart," Ryan, the old man, had already directly lifted the chair of His Excellency Taipan: "You bastard, Britain's business in China for a hundred years will be ruined by your stupidity, you bastard,"

His fist almost landed on Johnson's head, and everyone quickly dragged him down: "Your Excellency Ryan, don't be angry, don't be angry, we should be sensible, what the hell is going on,"

"What happened?"

Ryan swept over the crowd with idiotic eyes: "You idiots in British history, you ......,"

He looked at the group of idiots: "Montoban has just reached an agreement with the Chinese, the French Empire will provide the Great Yan Army with a military loan of 30,000 silver, and in return, the French Empire will receive the right to build the railway from Shanghai to Nanjing via Hangzhou, you idiots." ”

Johnson, the senior of HSBC, almost fell out of his chair, he couldn't believe his ears, and roared: "A military loan of 30 million silver? It can't be, there's no way there's no way there's so much gold franc in Mentoban,"

Xian knew very well that although a lot of French banknotes and gold coins had been shipped from India and other places, Mentoban had very limited cash in his hands, so how could he possibly provide a military loan of 30 million taels of silver to the Hongjun?

"He sold his artillery, ammunition, weapons, and ships to the rebels for a good price."

Ryan trembled with anger at the thought of the damage this arms trade had done to his business: "Mr. Johnson, you finally know what you have done now, right?" I ......,"

He couldn't say anything to accuse, this time Johnson's group completely lifted a stone and shot themselves in the foot, desperately dismantling the stage, but the result was that the French took the biggest advantage, and Johnson, the senior of HSBC, burned his eyebrows.

Although HSBC is still in the name of a foreign bank, it is actually a monopoly silver group, and the issuance of Hong Kong dollars and loans have become the most profitable business of this silver bank, and now in Shanghai and East China, HSBC's main business is to issue loans to those newly emerging trading groups. …,

Although these trading groups have cover of one kind or another, they are in essence engaged in the trade of industrial products and military supplies related to the Hongjun, and HSBC has made an astonishing profit from these loans, but HSBC has never intervened in this kind of business, and the most lucrative hòu is the most profitable loan to the Hongjun.

In the past nearly a year, Liu Chang and Hong Jun have repeatedly expressed their goodwill to the British and British capital, and asked for a commercial loan from HSBC, which can provide collateral approved by the British, but both HSBC and Johnson believe that the competition in the Chinese civil war has not yet reached the final moment, and they are not willing to mind too much, and refuse to lend money to Hong Jun.

But in fact, it was another loan that was extremely lucrative, and if it weren't for the fact that the Hongjun only occupied two or three provinces, HSBC Yinqian would even be willing to provide a low-interest loan, and after the victory over the French, providing such a military loan to the Hongjun was once again on the agenda of HSBC.

But in the end, the economy was subordinated to political necessity, and not only did they not provide direct loans to the Rainbow Army, but even the indirect loans to the Rainbow Army traders decided to withdraw the loans, so as to force the "Rainbow Bull Supply" to adopt the most flexible attitude at the negotiating table with the French.

And now Johnson has found himself the biggest idiot in the world, working desperately, but in the end he has given the French the greatest benefit, which is a loan of 30 million silver,

In fact, the French only used some broken copper and iron that could not be transported back to the mainland to offset most of the amount of this military loan, and the loan paid directly to the Hongjun was perhaps less than half or even less of the 30 million taels of silver, and when he thought of this, he regretted it and wanted to smash his head.

It's just that as a banker, he has to fight for the interests of HSBC to the end, and it seems that there is still a possibility of recovery, he asks Ryan: "How did you get this news?" Is this news exactly? ”

Ryan's face was full of anger, pain, and struggle, and he said helplessly, "You know, I have a full deal of trade with Liu Jiehu and the rebels, so I have close contacts with them, and the person who provided me with this information is absolutely reliable, and I have also obtained this information from other sources. ”

Johnson clenched his fists, stood up, and said to his friends: "I must state that the French were able to win some victories in the negotiations because of the great assistance of our British, and as a result I must demand that the French have to share the interests of England and France in this loan." ”。 Bring the master @ Tian ruthless and get eternal life