"The interests are sticky!"

"Yes, the French must not be allowed to take our interests, whether it be loans, road construction rights, or otherwise, we must have the same rights as the French!"

"It's not the same right, we should get more than the French!"

Johnson's suggestion was supported by everyone present, who already regarded the French as their worst enemy, and who had worked hard in Shanghai for all these years finally saw the opportunity to open the door to China, and who expected to let the French get the most advantage now.

Especially Johnson himself, he was even more angry, and he said to Ryan: "Ryan, don't worry, the whole of England is the best backing for our interests in China, and we will give the French a good look!"

Within twenty-four hours, the wind had changed completely throughout Shanghai, and the French consul and Major General Montoban had met three waves of protesting British businessmen, and finally even the British consul and the commander of the British garrison lodged a direct protest for the simple reason that "Britain will enjoy special rights and interests in the Yangtze River valley, and any borrowing and major diplomatic matters against the Chinese belligerents must be approved by the British government." ”

Their proposal was simple, that is, the French withdrew from the loan to China, and handed over to the British the right to build and operate the Hangzhou-Shanghai-Nanjing, the easiest to build and the richest part of China, and their decision provoked a roar from the French, and Montoban shouted: "This is the price of the blood of 2,000 French athletes, I do not agree with your proposal, it belongs to us!"

His attitude confirmed the intelligence of the British, and the British and the French were in a hostile attitude throughout Shanghai, and trade between the two sides was interrupted, so the British in the concession specially cleared the French of the volunteers in the rental area, prepared to disarm the French in Shanghai, and even prepared to ask for reinforcements from Singapore.

And more truth about this loan agreement is slowly becoming known, and the French will provide a huge military loan of 30 million taels of silver to the Hongjun. A considerable part of the loan will be paid for with the surplus of the French, and the rest of the loan will be paid by gold franc notes and gold, with an annual interest of nine percent, and the Hongjun will provide the French with the customs revenue of Shanghai as security. The right to build the Hangzhou-Shanghai-Nanjing railway was handed over to the French.

After obtaining this, the entire British business community was in an uproar, knowing that the tax power of Shanghai Customs was handed over to the British because of the change of the knife society, and now the French can be said to be grabbing food, and their protest had to make the French come forward to show that the French side only considered tax revenues and had nothing to do with the specific right to collect.

And the British also changed their attitude towards the Rainbow Army. They immediately expressed their wishes to Hongjun, and their attitude was extremely tough, Shanghai Customs must be handed over to the British, and at the same time, loans to China and other diplomatic matters must be recognized by the British, but they also changed their previous attitude.

In the past, the British officials did not recognize the Rainbow Army, but now they not only recognized the Rainbow Army and the Dayan government as the belligerent groups officially recognized by the British in the Chinese Civil War, but also believed that they had the right to represent the eastern part of China. It is even admitted that they will have the opportunity to take power in China as a whole in a short time.

Consul Fumar, who had made a special trip from Ningbo, smiled and expressed the goodwill of the British: "We have never forbidden non-military goods from entering the areas controlled by the Hongjun from Shanghai and other treaty ports, quite the contrary. We, the British, have always had great kindness to your army, and we are willing to recognize His Royal Highness King Yan as the ruler of the whole of China, and agree to be willing to expand trade with the legitimate power of China!"

Liu Chang also agreed with Fumar's opinion: "You are right, we are willing to import everything except the opium trade, but now we lack enough funds to import cotton cloth and other industrial goods, and we have to ask the French for some help, but I still believe my English friends." ”…,

"You're right!" Consul Fumar, who has always been known for his good relations with the Rainbow Army, expressed the good intentions of the British authorities: "We can provide you with military loans of a very large amount, as long as they are used for the purchase of British industrial and agricultural goods. We can consider that your army should hand over the administration of the vicinity of Shanghai as requested. ”

The neutrality of Shanghai was the bottom line for the British, but the management of Shanghai had always been in the hands of the Qing government, but for the sake of business opportunities in China for decades to come, the British could no longer care about anything. Of course, Fumar only talked about it on paper, and if Hongjun wants to take Shanghai, it will be at least for a long time.

You know, since the French were willing to provide military loans to Liu Chang and their Dayan army, it would be an unstoppable reality for them to unify the whole of China itself, they already controlled the richest provinces in the whole of China, had the most effective troops, had an invincible record, and even had good relations with the Westerners, and in this case with the support of the French, nothing could stop them from unifying China.

And Liu Chang was equally unwilling to offend the British: "Dear old friend, I believe everything you said, but you also know that we have reached a preliminary agreement with the French, and if we tear up the agreement, then we will be in an extremely passive position, and we will even offend the French, and we can no longer afford a second war with the French." ”

Fumar, however, was thoughtful for his Chinese friends, and he said eagerly: "You don't have to worry about so many problems, now with your words, HSBC will immediately provide you with a loan of millions of silver yuan, with which you can use it to buy all the supplies you need, whether military or non-military, industrial or non-industrial, as long as you say a word, and the interest rate and other conditions can be referred to the French conditions." ”

The annual interest rate of 9% can indeed be said to be extremely low profits, but if you take into account the right to build roads and operate behind it, the British want to take away a lot, so Liu Chang had to say that he could not make a final decision: "I thank my British friends for sending charcoal in the snow, but I dare not offend the French, I have offended the Russians, and I am in a state of war with the Russian government." ”

In this situation, Fumar had to tell Liu Chang the best news: "We will not offend the French, we have reached a preliminary agreement with the French, this military loan will be jointly issued to you by the British and French businesses, and the Hangzhou-Shanghai-Nanjing railway will be jointly built and operated by the British and French, and in order to show our sincerity, we and the French can hand over the 924 Russian mercenaries disarmed in Shanghai to your management." ”

For the nine hundred and twenty-four Russian soldiers captured in Shanghai, the Rainbow Army had repeatedly asked the French and British to put them under their own management, but the British rejected such a proposal, but before such interests, the interests of Russia were no longer worth mentioning.

"That's great!"

Liu Chang finally wavered: "I agree to accept the goodwill of the British and French governments, and have decided to let the troops near Shanghai retreat!"

Fumar shook Liu Chang's hands with a red face, and shouted repeatedly...... Although the French were still making a final resistance in Shanghai, the fact that he could get such strong support from Liu Chang's side meant that the victory of the loan was in favor of the British.

And a few minutes after Fumar left with joy, Liu Chang was also relieved, and he then wrapped the towel sent by Meiying and wiped the sweat off his back: "I finally got the British, no...... It's the British and the French. ”

Bao Meiying had stars in her eyes, and she said while serving Liu Chang: "It's amazing, it's amazing!" …,

In fact, the negotiations with the French did not reach the point of signing an agreement, as the British imagined, and even this consensus was only put forward by the two sides at the negotiating table, and there were still too many technical details to be carefully negotiated.

The French demanded a lot and gave very little actual benefits, in fact they wanted far more benefits than the blood they shed on the battlefield, according to Liu Chang in private: "The Treaty of Nanking is more than the Treaty of Nanjing." ”

For example, the market price of an inland river steam warship is only tens of thousands of silver yuan, but the price offered by the French is a full 300,000 silver yuan, the reason is very simple, that is, the Hong Army had previously offered a reward of 300,000 silver yuan for sinking a French domestic river steam warship, and after the two sides stopped military operations, the seamen of a French steam warship heard about such a reward, and they drove their own warship to the Hongjun.

It was not a paddle steamer, but a steam warship driven by propeller, which could be regarded as a new warship in the French Navy, so the Hongjun happily paid a reward of 300,000 silver yuan to the seafarers above, but now the French proposed that every warship of the French, regardless of size and drive, must be calculated at a price of 300,000 silver yuan.

As for the price of the rest of the surplus materials, it is also appropriate, the French are not dumping a batch of surplus materials, but are ready to use this batch of surplus materials to make the Hongjun bear a huge debt of 30 million silver yuan, Liu Chang thought of this, and replied to Bao Meiying with a smile: "The French can't get it on the battlefield, and they can't get it at the negotiation table." ”

Bao Meiying agreed with Liu Chang's judgment: "If this thing can be done, then we can take all Changhan within this year, right?" ”

She glanced at Liu Chang, there were more stars in her eyes, lowered her voice and licked her tongue: "It's really moving, in order to celebrate, do you want me to come over then?" You can be with the ninth sister. (To be continued) RQ