"Be careful of this Chinese!"

As the British consul in Wuchang, Midile would think of this sentence every time he came to visit Handu, and the reason why he reminded himself was because he knew how cunning this Handu was. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As in the case of Russia, although Midile and the British would like to see them defend "Chinese territory", for example by driving the Russians out of the Sakhalin Peninsula(1) and thereby weakening the Russians in the Far East, the Chinese were unexpectedly not only recovering the Sakhalin Peninsula that was said to be theirs, but also taking Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, just after the Anglo-French attack was thwarted.

The rebel fleet not only annihilated the Russian Pacific Fleet, but also uprooted Russian strongholds in the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka. The British naturally welcomed this, as they no longer had to worry about the Russian navy threatening the trade routes of China, Southeast Asia and Australia.

On the other hand, as the consul in Wuchang, Midile learned through some channels that it was impossible for the Chinese to return the Russian stronghold in the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka to Russia. This was not in the British plan, after all, it would force Russia to cede land after the war. But Britain had to acquiesce to this fact as a reward for China.

That is, this Chinese, with the tacit consent of the British, plundered large tracts of land from Russia, although those lands were barbaric, covered with ice and snow, and even worthless. However, in the past period of time, you can see articles praising merit and virtue in the newspapers of Wuchang at any time -- expanding the land for thousands of miles with a thousand soldiers is a great cause that has never been seen before or since.

It is precisely because of this that Midil reminds himself to be careful, but deep down, he knows that Britain's support for this matter will contribute to China becoming an ally of Britain and containing Russia's ally in the future. Although supporting China as an anti-Russian strategic ally is a top priority for Britain. But Midile swore that he must be careful not to crack the door of the man and let the man break into the house.

"Midile, my friend!"

As Midile reminded himself, a hearty and cheerful voice reached his ears.

"Your Excellency Handu, it's a great pleasure to see you."

While stretching out his right hand, Midile hurriedly reminded himself to be cautious again, but the other party's enthusiasm made him worry about whether he had another plan.

After all, the two said that they had dealt with each other before, and Midile had never taken advantage of it once. It seems that every time he has something to say and a plan.

Be careful!

"My friend, I really want to thank you."

Zhu Yifeng did not mention the intention of this meeting at first, but thanked him with a smile.

"The young man you recommended to me was amazing! Robert is a very serious young man, and I believe that with his help, Guangzhou Customs will be able to become an efficient customs office. ”

The Robert in Zhu Yifeng's mouth is actually Robert? Hurd, who presided over the customs of the late Qing Dynasty for nearly half a century in another time and space, may have been an infringement on China's sovereignty by a Britishman appointed as China's chief tax officer. However, during his 48 years at the helm of the customs, he kept the agency clean and efficient, and introduced postal services, lighthouses and submarine cables to China. He was also an important figure in the self-improvement movement, and influenced the reform of the Qing Dynasty in the military and diplomatic fields with his views such as "The Theory of Outsider Observation".

Since the opening of the sea ban in the 24th year of Kangxi (1685), the customs has been the most famous fat shortage in the Qing court, and there are many corruption cases with various patterns, which seems to be the hardest hit area of corruption. Why is it that as soon as Hurd arrives, he can "refresh the customs administration" and put an end to fraud, while Changguan still eats and takes cards, and the sound of the waves is still the same? What kind of gold counting technique did Hurd use to turn decay into magic, to build the customs into a model of honesty and efficiency, and to become a wonderful branch of the Celestial Empire that is not stained by sludge?

In fact, in the final analysis, it is an institutional victory. In the course of nearly half a century of presiding over the customs, there were no more than five cases of corruption in the entire customs. In China, where you are even required to get used to and adapt to the "Chinese characteristics" of corruption, even a century and a half later, is an irreproducible miracle.

After Li Ziyuan became the governor of Guangdong, although the Guangzhou Customs was also in charge, the essence was still the same as the old-fashioned. Guangzhou Customs is not enough manpower, and the lack of unified regulations, naturally it is difficult to have performance, although later imitated the West, but can not learn a reason. In this case, Hurd, who was acting as an interpreter at the consulate in Wuchang, entered Zhu Yifeng's sight.

Anyone who knows the history of the late Qing Dynasty will not ignore this person, will not ignore the miracle he created in the customs, and want to copy the miracle of the customs into the officialdom. It was with this mentality that, under the guidance of Zhu Yifeng, Midile took the initiative to recommend HD to Guangzhou Customs as a consultant. Over the past few months, Hurd has been working diligently, discreetly, and personally as a consultant in the Canton Customs to introduce the British customs system to Canton and train customs officers.

Although there is still a long way to go from Zhu Yifeng's requirements, this is only the beginning after all. But this did not prevent Zhu Yifeng from giving him a very high evaluation, affirming his work, and also praising Midile.

Everyone loves to listen to good words, even Midile, who has reminded himself to be careful, is especially useful to listen to. After the inadvertent sycophant pat, his whole body became floating.

"Your Excellency, if you hadn't given him a chance, how could Robert have been able to show his talents?"

"You're polite, it's mainly because of your recommendation, without your recommendation, I wouldn't have been able to hire such an excellent young man! Well, my friend, I invite you here this time because I would like to ask for your opinion. ”

Zhu Yifeng, who felt that the time was ripe, looked at him and said.

"Well, you should know that the Governorate has more than 3,000 miles of railways planned, which will be completed in the next five to six years, which means that in the next five to sixty years we will need to import more than a million tons of rails and other iron materials from England, as well as a large number of steam locomotives."

Zhu Yifeng's 3,000-mile railway does not refer only to the Han-Guangdong railway. It also includes railways to Nanning and other places and Jiangbei, of course, those railways are in the planning, but this plan has aroused the interest of the British, especially the Midil in front of him, he has inquired about the railway plan countless times, and has repeatedly said that in addition to the British can provide railroad tracks, the British banking community can provide financing.

Of course, the fundamental reason why he was so enthusiastic was the market - a million tons of iron, hundreds of steam locomotives, but this is a market of tens of millions of pounds, how could he not be moved? Not only will he be moved, but once the news is news, the British industry will also cheer.

However, the Governor's Office had been keeping the construction of the 3,000-mile railroad a secret before, and now he told himself what it was for?

But rather than doubting the other party's motives, Midile was more concerned about whether he was ready to hand over the order to the UK. For him, that's all that matters.

"In order to be able to transport these supplies, we will set up a steamship company in Guangzhou, but you know that during long voyages at sea, merchant ships always need to sail into the harbor to receive supplies......"

Without waiting for Zhu Yifeng to finish speaking, Midile said with a smile.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured that I believe that all the ports of the British Empire will open their doors to you, after all, free trade is a fundamental principle that the British Empire has always believed in."

In the face of Midile's "generosity", Zhu Yifeng unexpectedly just nodded with a smile and did not speak. But his eyes saw each other. It seems to be reminding him.

"It's not what he wants!"

The smile of the other party made Midile react, outside the office, what else did he want? Did he want Britain to transfer the port to him?

He's just wishful thinking!

Did he think England was the Netherlands? Just when Midile was about to say no, he only heard Zhu Yifeng say slowly.

"So the shipping company is ready to set up supply stations in the coastal areas of Africa to reduce the cost of transporting goods. I'm referring, of course, to the borderlands. ”

What the?

A supply depot in Africa?

Looking at the Han Du in front of him in amazement, Midile could hardly believe that these were the words he had heard from the mouth of a Chinese official.

"Every time our merchant ships enter the port, they always need to spend thousands of dollars to pay berth fees, replenish fresh water, fresh food, for the British, this is not worth mentioning, but with the construction of the railway, in the future this may even require us to pay millions of huge expenses, so I hope that your country will support my navigation company to set up two or three supply stations along the African coast."

On the surface, Zhu Yifeng complained there, but in fact, he was considering every word, so as not to arouse the vigilance of the British, although now for Africa, to be precise, southern Africa, European countries do not look down on it at all, of course, because the climate there is not suitable for Europeans to live, and it has become the last blank space in the imperial colonial frenzy.

But Britain has an extremely wide range of forces there, and if he wants to enter Africa, he must first get the approval of Britain, otherwise although the development of Africa will not be frustrated, it is very likely to encounter unprecedented resistance, and this is not what Zhu Yifeng is willing to see, so he will make this request to Midile. At the same time, it will not take a year or two to open up Africa, or even ten, twenty, or thirty years, and before that, it needs to be done carefully, and a few supply stations are undoubtedly the best choice, although their scale is extremely small, and even there are only a few dozen people per supply station, but that is a start!

"This ......"

Although Zhu Yifeng's request had little to do with the British, Midile felt the power of the British—even if they set up a trading post in the Borderlands, they still wanted the consent of the British. This seemed to be an opportunity, and after a moment of silence, Midile looked at Zhu Yifeng and said.

"Your Excellency, perhaps, we can discuss this issue, but ......"

(1) Sakhalin is in fact an island, not a peninsula. Between Sakhalin and the mainland, there is a narrow waterway, the "Tatar Strait", which the British have always called "Tatar Bay", never knowing that it actually runs through here. The Russians discovered this in 1849 and managed to keep it a secret. The British did not discover this secret until they conducted another post-war geological survey. Until then it had been called the Sakhalin Peninsula. (To be continued.) )