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Shanghai in 1854 was a bit more depressed than usual, because the Xiaodaohui occupied the city and the Qing army was constantly fighting in the area around Shanghai, which directly affected Shanghai's trade, but on the other hand, it gave birth to a boom in the real estate market in the Shanghai Concession. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although the war affected the trade, the trade was not stopped because of the war, and the foreign wharf was full of raw silk, white silk, yellow silk, kapok, tea and other local goods that were about to be exported, and naturally the bulk foreign cloth, foreign iron, foreign nails, foreign wax, glass, and hardware were about to be sold inland. Everywhere around the docks and warehouses you can see foreigners in high-nosed and blue-eyed costumes, as well as Indians, Manilans, and blacks who are employed by them.

The flagship of the British Far East Fleet, HMS Halmis, docked at the Shuntai wharf, and Colonel Hubber, the Admiral of the Far East Fleet, accompanied Wen Han to disembark. Shun Tai Pier is not far from the British Consulate in Shanghai, and Consul Ali Guo is waiting on the pier. As soon as Lord Wenhan got off the boat, he respectfully accompanied him aboard a two-wheeled leather wagon, which was extremely luxuriously decorated, with the brass fenders of the black-painted ruts polished, a small British flag planted on the top of the canopy, and an Indian groom with a big twinkle on his head sat on a high seat and cried "oh-ah", the whip was "snapped", and two white-nosed chestnut horses led the cart to "tuk" and ran quickly, and the rubber wheels pressed the rolling sound of "wheels" on the stone road. Wearing a black top hat, Ali Guo showed a strand of flaxen hair under the brim, light gray eyes, and an indescribable smile on the corner of his mouth.

“…… Although the Taiping army did not occupy Beijing, the rule of the Manchurians still seems to be maintained, but now many people believe that their rule cannot last too long, just two months ago the rebels on the Wuchang side saw that their fleet occupied Chongming Island, this is not the most worrying, what is even more worrying is that after the Chinese rebels in Jiangning conquered Jiangyin a month ago, it is very likely that they will march to southern Jiangsu, and they are very likely to meet the whole division with Xiaodao, so now, the Shanghai gentry and the Qing army are panicking, The British merchants and overseas Chinese relatives in the concession were uneasy, and no one knew when the rebels would attack Shanghai, let alone whether the rebels would abide by the neutrality they had promised before. “

Ali Guo's words surprised Wen Han a little, he didn't expect the situation to change so quickly, and he was even glad that he had made the right choice and came to Shanghai. The situation in Shanghai is far more complicated now than it was in the past.

"Are the Chinese on Chongming Island in contact with us?"

The answer was in Wenhan's expectation.

"Yes, after they occupied Chongming, they sent people to negotiate with us, and in the negotiations, they promised that they would not directly intervene in any war in Shanghai unless we helped the Qing army, and that they occupied Chongming in order to prevent the government army from blocking the mouth of the Yangtze River and thus affecting their trade with other countries. Your Excellency, although this may be an excuse, through my observation that the rebels on the Wuchang side preferred relations with Britain and other European countries, but the premise was that the relationship between the two sides must be equal. “

Yes, it is precisely because he knows the difference in Wuchang that Wen Han will come to Shanghai from Hong Kong again, Shanghai is his short stay, the next stop, he will go to Wuchang, looking at Shanghai, which has become more prosperous than a year ago, Wen Han suddenly smiled.

"Maybe we should be grateful for this war, without this war, the Shanghai Concession would not be as prosperous as it is now!"

"You are so much because of the war that so many Chinese live in the concession, Your Excellency, you may not believe that the most well-equipped residential area in the concession belongs to the rebel leader of Wuchang, and according to the current market estimate, his land and buildings are worth no less than 6 million silver, that is, nearly two million pounds!" There was no more successful estate in the whole concession than him, and he was a successful businessman! ”

There was more jealousy in Ali Guo's words, because last year that person bought the remote and untouched land in the concession through the hands of the consulate, and now the best ordinary houses in the concession have been built on those lands, and their value has increased by no less than a hundred times, if it were not for the fact that person is the leader of the rebels, I don't know how many real estate companies will be jealous, they will really take these lands at no cost.

But who would dare to do that now?

"He is indeed a successful businessman, and his vision has made him who he is today, but now is the time to test the vision of the British, and indeed to test us!"

As the two spoke, the carriage had already arrived at the British Consulate, a three-story Victorian-style western-style building with granite-bottomed large stone strips running through the walls, and a red-background blue road "rice" flag floating on the semicircular dome. Through the bright south window of the conference hall, you can overlook the Huangpu River, large and small foreign ships and Chinese sampans are like shuttles passing through the river, from time to time you can hear the boat bells on the river and the dull and uniform sound of the water feet, through the right window you can see the meandering Suzhou River, the simple and dirty canopy boats are crowded on both sides like small reptiles, leaving only a narrow waterway in the center, the fishermen who are called "boat households" by the Chinese government have eaten and lived on the canopy boats for generations, and the sewage and garbage in the river flow down the river and flow into the Huangpu River. Drift into the sea as the tide rises and falls. On the other side of the Suzhou Creek is the county seat of Shanghai, which was built in the 32nd year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, and it has been a full 300 years ago.

Wen Han got out of the carriage and entered the consulate chamber, where he took off his top hat and handed it to the Indian waiter who was waiting next to him, and turned to sit on a Victorian sofa. Then he took a box of cigars out of his pocket, handed one to Aliko, cut off the tail of the cigar, picked up the other himself, and lit the cigar.

After taking two deep puffs of his cigar, Wen Han looked at Ali Guo and said:

"I have received your report that the situation in China is now worse than last year, the rebel army has not only almost occupied the capital of the Manchurians, but the other rebel army has also occupied Guangdong, and in the next few years China may undergo fundamental changes, which is the so-called "change of dynasty", whether either side becomes the ruler of China, it is the interests of Britain that may have a fundamental impact, and our responsibility is to ensure the interests of Britain when the change comes, but on the other hand, according to the instructions of London, The Royal Navy could not intervene in the Chinese Civil War unless a direct attack was found. ”

Although this attitude is the same as last year, it is forced that Britain has already been involved in the Crimean War, and together with the French it has waged war against the Russians, and now Britain is simply not capable of getting involved in the conflict in China.

Colonel Holber explained:

"Just a month ago, according to the orders of London, the Far Eastern Fleet, for a long time in the future, the first task is to fight the Russian Pacific Fleet, which means that it is very likely that the Far Eastern Fleet will need to leave Hong Kong and Shanghai, so it is impossible for the Far Eastern Fleet to give Shanghai any protection, at least until the end of the war with the Russians."

As the Admiral of the Far East Fleet, He Bo was in his thirties, and as soon as he finished speaking. Ali Guo said in an extremely helpless tone:

"Colonel Holber, we are all very aware of this, after all, Britain is also in a time of war now."

Because the situation was well understood, Ali Guo did not show much surprise at this.

"Of course, this is only a possibility, after all, there is no war in the Pacific yet."

As the minister to China, Wen Han cheered for his subordinates on the side, and then asked:

"Mr. Aleeko, how much do you know about the Governor's Mansion in Wuchang?"

"Your Excellency, there is a simplest example, we have dealt with the great emperors of Manchuria for decades, but they have not yet learned how to deal with civilized countries, and they always let the magistrates deal with the so-called "foreigners". The magistrates were so evasive in their dealings with us that we sometimes couldn't figure out who he was representing, whether he represented the court or the local government, or only his personal ......"

Referring to the experience of dealing with the Manchurian Emperor, Ali Guo shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and then pointed in another direction.

"But the performance of Wuchang is really beyond our imagination, they know from the beginning, how to deal with civilized countries, or they deal with us in the way of civilized countries. At the same time as they occupied Chongming, they set up an office in the concession, in a residence belonging to their officials. ”

"Not only that, but they've sent diplomats to the UK, and their diplomats have been welcomed in London like never before, and they're dealing with us in a civilized way, so we have to give them a civilized response, of course, to protect the future of Britain."

Lord Wenhan nodded, and then he looked at Ali Guo again and said:

"I want to ask a question, when I was in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, I heard many people mention that the governor of Wuchang, who was of very noble origin, was also a descendant of the Chinese royal family hundreds of years ago, so he was universally supported in Guangdong, and even in Singapore, he was recognized by the Chinese, how do you feel about this?"

The minister's question made Ali Guo stunned for a moment, and then he replied.

"Believe me, Your Excellency, maybe his bloodline is very noble, but China is not Europe nor France, bloodline will not play a decisive role, in the end, it is their strength that determines the future of China!" (To be continued.) )