"Sovereignty? Do we still have sovereignty? Qin Guangcheng said indignantly: "In the 28th year of Guangxu, the British consul in Yucheng rented an apartment in Longxing Street, Chengdu, and stationed personnel, claiming to be the 'British Consulate General' in Chengdu; in the 22nd year of Guangxu, after the French consul was stationed in Yucheng, on the grounds that it was necessary to report to the provincial capital Chengdu for various negotiations and cause delay in handling the case, it also set up the 'Chengdu Office of the Consulate in Yucheng' on Sansheng Street in Chengdu in the 28th year of Guangxu. In the thirtieth year of Guangxu, the imperial court agreed that the German consul in Yucheng could temporarily live in Chengdu for 'business affairs'. Germany has successively set up pavilions in Chengdu Yixue Lane, Jinma Street, Xizhu Street and Dongzhu Street, and calls itself the 'German Consular Office'. Where do we still have sovereignty? ”

The more Wang Hengyue listened, the tighter his brows locked.

Charlie Du also sighed rarely: "Although the Americans and I have not set up an office for the time being, we are only hanging the name of an office, but I am thinking that it will come soon." ”

"Sovereignty, sovereignty." Wang Hengyue drank all the wine in the cup in one gulp, and dropped the empty cup heavily: "There is such a court, and the word sovereignty is just a joke." ”

"Don't talk about state affairs, don't talk about state affairs." Charlie Du waved his hand and said, quickly changing the topic: "What happened when I went back to Chengdu this time?" ”

Wang Hengyue was absent-minded, and replied casually: "Kleiman asked me to come to that drinking party." ”

"Kleman?" Charlie Du's eyes widened: "Kleiman invited you to the reception?" ”

Wang Hengyue smiled reluctantly: "I made a deal with him, and Pete is his son and nephew, so I invited us here." ”

Charlie Du's eyes widened, and he tried his best to spend a long time before he was allowed to participate in the drinking party.

Looking at Pete's gaze again, he persuaded him to drink, and then said in a reproachful tone: "Shu Zhi doesn't treat me as his own, why don't you come to me if you have any good deals?" Why bother to cheapen foreigners? ”

Your brother is a serious fake foreign devil, and now when he hears about business, he has turned into a Chinese, Wang Hengyue smiled in his heart: "It's some weapons matter." The new army had just been formed and had to do so. ”

"You're going to come to me in the future." Charlie Du patted his chest and said: "What you want without discussion, Du can always find a way to get it." ”

These words made Wang Hengyue feel good: "Manager Du, I think it's not okay to always rely on foreigners to buy weapons, my brother wants to get a small arsenal sooner or later, specializing in manufacturing rifles and bullets, I don't know if Manager Du has a way?" ”

"Arsenal?" Charlie Du frowned: "This is not a trivial matter, firstly, it needs the approval of the imperial court, and secondly, it costs a lot to set up an arsenal here."

Wang Hengyue also knew that he was a little whimsical.

Whether the imperial court approves it or not is another matter, and this fund alone is enough. Although he earned a sum of money from Lu Baoyin and Yu Ruixiang, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of opening an arsenal.

Immediately smiled and said: "Brother, just say it casually, Manager Du will help me take a look when he is free, and don't take it too seriously." ”

Although Charlie Du is a fake foreign devil, he is not sloppy in business. Since Wang Hengyue opened his mouth, he also kept his heart.

After finishing the meal, Wang Hengyue came all the way, a little tired, talked with him, confessed, and returned to the guest room to rest.

When he arrived, Qin Guangcheng came to invite Wang Hengyue, saying that Wang Hengyue had not yet taken a good look in Chengdu, Qin Guangcheng put down his business, and he must accompany Wang Hengyue to appreciate the customs of Chengdu.

Chengdu is rich in products and enjoys the reputation of "the land of abundance". Because the Han Dynasty was rich in Shu brocade, and the officials in charge of brocade in the imperial court lived in Chengdu, Chengdu was also known as "Jincheng". And because Meng Chang, the queen of Shu after five generations, has planted hibiscus all over Chengdu, so Chengdu is also called "Rongcheng".

Chengdu style is chic. There is not a single road here, and the whole city is paved with stones. The width of the street is only about ten meters, the narrow alley is only two or three meters, and the most popular thing to go out is the sedan chair.

The sedan chair where the ladies and ladies sit is called "Ding Zi Turn".

The so-called "Ding Zi Turn" is a sedan chair carried by three people. And the common people sit on the "eggshell" carried by two people.

At this time, there was an "eggshell", and the tone of the duet between the two palanquin men made Wang Hengyue, Ma Xiao and Pete, who had never heard it, laugh.

The sedan chair driver in front sang a sentence "The sky is shining." The sedan chair man in the back should say "Groundwater Taitai." "A knife in the sky." "There's a groove in the ground." "A flower on the left." "She's your mother."

Pete laughed and applauded, and kept giving up his thumbs to rap, but unfortunately the sedan chair went far away after a while, which made Pete melancholy and reluctant.

"What is that guy doing?" Wang Hengyue suddenly pointed ahead.

Looking ahead, a man in his forties was kneeling on the ground with a bench on his head, and next to it was a rice stall, and the owner of the rice stall and the people who ate were indifferent.

Qin Guangcheng smiled: "This stall is called 'Shabu Shabu Soup', and the person who kneels on the ground and eats white food on the bench above his head." ”

'Oh?' What does 'shabu-shabu soup' mean? Wang Hengyue was very curious.

The so-called "shabu-shabu soup" is actually leftovers collected from major restaurants. The rice stall was taken back, mixed with a few scoops of water, sprinkled with salt, and boiled, it still looked like "oily bubbling". The poor spend three or five small dollars to buy a bowl and eat happily. At the end, I have to laugh at myself, calling the bones mace, the steamed meat skin called Guandao meat, and the fish bones called grate fish.

Of course, there are also "white fooders" who are full of food and drink but have no money, and the stall owner will punish them according to the old rules and make them kneel on the ground and top the bench to show punishment.

Although such a punishment is humiliating, there are some people who are extremely hungry or scoundrels are willing to do it.

"When I saw the shabu soup, I was hungry." Qin Guangcheng patted his stomach: "Let's go, brother, I invite you to go to the 'Chen Mapo Restaurant' to eat." ”

"Chen Mapo Rice Shop" was originally called "Chen Xingsheng Rice Shop", opened in the first year of Tongzhi, by his wife Chen Mapo palm stove, cooked tofu numb, spicy, fresh, hot, etc., quite popular with customers, diners called it "Mapo Tofu", and then changed to "Chen Mapo Rice Shop".

The name of "Mapo Tofu" was seen all over the country in Wang Hengyue's time, but I didn't expect to see the most authentic one here today.

As soon as he saw "Chen Mapo Restaurant", the shopkeeper personally greeted him, with a smile on his face: "Shopkeeper Qin, you haven't been here for some time." ”

"Business is really busy." Qin Guangcheng arched his hand: "Bring a few friends to dinner today, it's still the same." ”

The shopkeeper's face was embarrassed: "Shopkeeper Qin, you bear with me, there are already people in the elegant seat upstairs!" ”