After the news of the defeat in the Battle of Majiang returned to Beijing, Cixi Lafayette turned the table, and Li Hongzhang also switched from the main peace to the main battle, but the Qing court fell into a strange silence for three days and did not say anything about the Battle of Majiang. The imperial court even prepared an edict to declare war on France, and the reason why it was not announced for a long time was because everyone was waiting for the result of a quarrel.

Almost at the same time as the French invaded Vietnam, there was a fierce quarrel at the imperial court, and both sides of the quarrel were inextricably linked to the imperial court, but it seemed that they had nothing to do with the imperial court. The war was ignited by Luan Yu, the Manchurian minister in Beijing, and it was Hurd, the chief tax department of the Qing Customs, who was attacked by Luan Yu. Luan Yu is Chinese, but he does not kneel to the imperial court, Hurd is an official of the imperial court, but he is an Englishman, and the imperial court can only be very embarrassing to be sandwiched between the two.

The cause of the conflict between the two was a petty lawsuit at Shanghai Customs. A Manchurian merchant named Yu Jinglin purchased light industrial products from Zhejiang and shipped them to Nagasaki, Japan, and at the same time transported Japanese paper fans and other handicrafts back to Jiangnan, and then he was arrested by the customs and his cargo ship in Shanghai was seized at the same time. After the customs checked Yu Jinglin's customs clearance records, they found that this buddy had not paid a dime in taxes, and directly judged him as a smuggler, not only asking him to make up a huge amount of taxes, but also inviting him to visit the prison cell in Daqing. Yu Jinglin's family naturally approached the Manchurian consulate in Shanghai, and Leng Yunhe came forward again, invoking the treaty between the Qing Dynasty and Manchuria, and the Manchurian merchant Jiangnan was exempt from duty, and demanded that the customs release Yu Jinglin and return the seized goods. After the customs reported the matter to Beijing, a major battle began between Hurd and Luan.

"Britain, France, the United States, Russia and other countries have signed a most-favored-nation agreement with the Qing Dynasty, and according to the principle of equality of one body, if the imperial court exempts Manchuria, it should exempt all most-favored-nation countries!" Hurd was the first to attack, but his target was not Luan Yu but the imperial court.

After Hurd rectified the customs, the customs tariffs rose sharply, and they had become the most important source of revenue for the Qing Dynasty. Hurd said this, but he wanted to force the imperial court to cancel the tax exemption for Manchuria. At the national level, he could drive a wedge between Manchuria and the Qing Dynasty, and at the private level, he could further expand the revenues of the customs offices in Jiangnan.

Hurd also calculated an account for the imperial court, based on the current trading volume of Shanxi, Hebei Economic Zone, and Jiangnan Trade Zone, if the tax on Manchuria was started, the imperial court's income could increase by more than 15 million taels per year. White wine and red faces, wealth and silk are moving! The imperial court always felt that its life was tight, and it was naturally very tempting to see such a large amount of income. After several plans, the imperial court sent Hurd and Weng Tongyi to find Luan Yu together, hoping to start taxing Manchurian merchants, but they didn't expect to be scolded back by Luan Yu with a word.

"Between the Qing Dynasty and Manchuria, the name of the monarch and the minister is really one, and Manchuria is still a part of the Qing Dynasty, but it operates in an autonomous mode. The imperial court's tax exemption of Manchurian merchants was an internal affair of China, and it had nothing to do with any other country, nor did it involve the issue of uniformity! "Guo Xing'a has never thought of independence, let alone declared independence, Luan Yu has a reason to say.

Regarding Luan Yu's reply, the imperial court very much agreed, 15 million taels of silver was lovely, but Guo Xing'a admitted that a part of his Qing Dynasty was more important. The court retreated without saying a word, but Hurd did not give up, he was also a stubborn temper, if the Manchurians were allowed to mix like this, he would have worked in vain for decades.

"The goods trafficked by the merchant were not traded within China, but were destined for Japan. If the goods have left the country, they should no longer enjoy the duty-free treatment! According to international law, Japan is still an independent country, at least Hurd and other Europeans think so.

"His Majesty the Emperor Heisei of Japan, for the blessing of my Manchurian general Goxinga, the two countries are already one, and going to Japan does not involve leaving the country! Moreover, the imperial court's tax exemption for North Manchukuo was a supportive policy for Manchurian merchants, and had nothing to do with the business area operated by the merchants! Luan Yu is still justified, but he has already hated Hurd, who has nothing to look for, and is ready to teach a lesson to this Guoxing's single-handedly General Customs Department and the first Qing official of the Qing Dynasty.

Luan Yu wanted to find fault, but Hurd was also very cooperative, and obediently sent the handle to Luan Yu's hand. Shortly after Yu Jinglin's lawsuit ended, the Manchurian Legation in Beijing found that the official documents mailed by the Guangzhou Consulate had been opened. After Luan Yu entrusted Ke Yiping's acquaintances to investigate, the results were even more shocking: not only were the mails between the Manchurian consuls and the legation opened, but the mails sent by the Yamen of the Liangguang Governor, the Yunnan Governor's Yamen, the Liangjiang Governor's Yamen, and the Shanghai Governor's Yamen were all opened and read by post, and even more private mail was opened. Luan Yu took an official letter and sued Hurd in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, because China's postal service is currently in charge of the customs.

China's postal service has existed since ancient times, but it is only a government-run post station, and no one is allowed to use it except the official, and the exchange of private mail can only rely on people. After the invasion of China, the Western forces brought the modern postal service into China, because they needed to send things to China, and some people needed to send things back to Europe. After Hurd took charge of the customs, in order to facilitate his own movements, but also to facilitate the postal exchanges of merchants and ministers from various countries, he introduced his first set of postal methods and management rules in the sixth year of Tongzhi. However, at that time, they were mainly targeting maritime transport, and their customers were mainly Westerners. By the second year of Guangxu, this system was completely complete, not only extending in all directions, but also having detailed management rules and methods. Hurd also took advantage of this to control China's postal industry, extending Britain's tentacles to countless places.

The emails of the various yamen and the Manchurian legation were indeed peeked at by Hurd, who needed to understand the situation of the Sino-French conflict and provide more information to the British, and then Luan Yu grabbed the pigtails. Although the postal incident did not bring Hurd to the downfall, it also made him turn back, and the postal system was completely nationalized by the Qing Dynasty, and with the help of Manchuria and a large number of foreign students, he established his own postal system. There are countless high-ranking people in the court, they just didn't notice this little thing before, and after being reminded by Luan Yuyi, they immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and of course they wouldn't let Hurd go.

Hurd thought that he had suffered a big loss, Luan Yu's anger was also out, and the matter could come to an end, but he didn't want Luan Yu to still chase and fight. As soon as the postal incident ended, Luan Yu launched a new offensive, which was the Macau incident. After the Industrial Revolution, the opium trade was no longer the mainstream of European countries bullying the Qing Dynasty, but some non-mainstream countries were still engaged in this thing, such as Portugal. The opium trade was not a glorious affair in the first place, and the Portuguese wanted to save some costs, so they chose smuggling. Since the Xianfeng period, the Portuguese have been tossing and turning endlessly, even if opium is legal after paying taxes, they still insist on smuggling.

In order to increase tax revenue and curb the smuggling wave of the Portuguese, Hurd has made official communication with the Portuguese government many times since he took charge of the customs. But the Portuguese were not very face-saving, and made a lot of demands on their lips, but in private they were still the same, and the smuggling did not stop for a day. Hurd, who was loyal to his duties, could only work on both sides, one to persuade the court to make concessions as much as possible, and the other to persuade the Portuguese not to be insatiable, and finally the two sides were brought together. Portugal "forever" possessed Macao, in exchange for the assistance of the Portuguese authorities in collecting opium duties.

"The Manchurian government is willing to provide the imperial court with 20 anti-smuggling patrol gunboats free of charge, and at the same time assist the imperial court in rectifying the smuggling problem. When people come to our house to steal things, we have to cut the land for others, how can there be such a reason in the world. Portugal is just a small European country that has been destroyed several times, and how can my noble Celestial Empire be humiliated by them. The imperial court can severely punish Portuguese smugglers from now on, and if there is any excesses by the Portuguese officials, the Manchurian government will bear all the consequences for the imperial court! "Cong Guoxing'a is very dissatisfied with Luan Yudu's treatment of Hurd and the mud, and of course he is willing to come forward to solve the problem.

The most taboo thing for the imperial court is to cut the land, and the little bit of Macau has always been controlled by the Portuguese, and the imperial court doesn't care very much, but the face of the imperial court can't stand it! Since Manchuria is willing to come forward, the imperial court is naturally happy to be tougher, at least this is very face-saving. Hurd and the idea of the mud were naturally vetoed by the imperial court.

After Hurd suffered two losses in a row, the battle between Luan Yu and him was over, but when the news of the defeat in the Battle of Majiang came, the two of them were fiercely on the bar again. As soon as the news of Ma Jiang's defeat came back, Luan Yu raised the issue of the right to divert water to the imperial court. The so-called right of diversion of water refers to the power of the state to enforce the compulsory pilotage of foreign ships entering the water diversion area of the state in order to safeguard sovereignty and national defense secrets and ensure the safety of ports and ships. However, Hurd's "General Regulations on Water Diversion in China" gave the imperial court's right to divert water to foreigners, and it was almost monopolized by white Westerners. With the right to divert water, outsiders can naturally detect the hydrological conditions of the imperial court's coastal ports at will, and the French can easily enter and exit the Ma River. Luan Yu directly proposed to the imperial court, hoping that the imperial court could take back the right to divert water and firmly control it in the hands of the Qing Dynasty and Manchuria.

In normal times, the imperial court really doesn't care about these small things, and it will focus on listening to Hurd's opinion. But this time Ma Jiang's fiasco was too much of a stimulus to the imperial court. Hearing that the fiasco was related to the right to divert water, the imperial court immediately issued a decree to revoke the right to divert water, and also expelled all foreign pilots. These Hurd's tails can be stepped on, and he has a total of this extra right, which has been stripped off by Luan Yu.

Customs justice, postal rights, and water diversion rights are just appetizers, and the last place where big money is involved is the main battlefield of Hurd and Luan Yu, as well as the main battlefield of the Manchurian Empire and the British Empire.