In the face of adversity, the Chinese workers in Peru longed for the care of their motherland, and sent their complaints back twice through officials of the U.S. Embassy in Peru. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

A submission in the hands of President Meng reads: "Since I arrived in the port...... The work is continuous in the morning and dusk, and the hard labor is endless in the cold and heat...... Evil people bully the rich and the poor, lose their conscience, treat contracts as old papers, and wait for their lives to be grassy. Food, clothing, industry and silver only know that they are stingy, haggard and tired, and they are not willing to be merciful. It is common to be demanding, constantly beaten and scolded, or shackled and hard, or hungry and cold and hoeing...... It is difficult to redress the grievances, and the grievances are not in vain...... The Gong Gong presented his kindness. ”

The resignation was submitted to the Qing government on April 16 of the following year, and the illegal trafficking of Chinese laborers in Peru, which had not signed a contract with the Qing government, was finally exposed.

"The Qing government is incompetent!" President Meng sighed and put down the submission, "I don't look at it, the more I look at it, the more angry I become." ”

Princess Katrina Kafu said with a smile: "It's the president himself who has to look at it, a weak country has no diplomacy, and it is indeed good to hand it over to Li Hongzhang, he can be angry, but the president can't." ”

Peru's trafficking of Chinese laborers has also caused resentment in other capitalist countries.

After the middle of the 19th century, Macao replaced Xiamen as the center of Western Chinese labor trafficking, according to incomplete statistics, 117429 Chinese laborers were trafficked from Macao to Cuba and Peru in the 10 years from 1864 to 1873.

In 1873, there were more than 300 pig parlors in Macao, all of which were run by Portuguese, Peruvian and Spanish people.

The prosperity of the Chinese workers' trade in Macao has affected the interests of the United States, Britain, and other countries, because these countries, unlike the old colonial countries of Spain and Portugal, need to expand their foreign commodity markets, unlike Spain and Portugal, which regard the trade of Chinese workers as their only trade with the East, they naturally cannot tolerate the impact and interference of Macao's coolie trade on their so-called "legal" trade.

Thus, Britain and the United States "are compelled to take effective steps in self-defence, even if not on noble grounds, to put an end to this trade so dangerous for their interests."

The Peruvian "Mayesi" was fully loaded, and more than 200 Chinese laborers returned to China, and these Chinese laborers were "stuck in the bilge like a prisoner, and the wind and wind were flowing day and day."

The Japanese authorities detained the ship "Mayesi" and notified the Qing government to conduct a joint investigation with the consuls of Britain and the United States in accordance with the practice of "having an appointment with Britain and the United States in a country without a treaty, and the consuls of Britain, the United States and other countries to conduct a joint investigation, and the captain of the ship and all 230 coolies on board were arraigned.

"This is the first time that the captain of an ordinary coolie ship has been interrogated and convicted of his actions", so the incident has far-reaching international implications: first, it has attracted more attention than any other scandal involving the coolie trade, and more and more people have become aware of the evils of the coolie trade. Secondly, it confirms the alleged abuses of transporting coolies on their way to foreign countries. Finally, the trial also put Peru and Portugal at the centre of the world's attention...... Forcing both governments to ban the coolie trade. ”

At this time, Peru's sugarcane and cotton production and guano mining were in a prosperous period, and a large number of laborers were urgently needed, so "it became a major task for the Peruvian government to establish additional provisions that would allow the continued import of Chinese laborers to the satisfaction of China, as well as to the satisfaction of Peruvian commentaries and international public opinion." The dispatch of envoys to China, which had been planned for a while, could not be delayed any longer.

The envoys must embark on their journey immediately, and they must succeed, otherwise the Peruvian economy will be irreparably damaged.

Captain Guersier was appointed Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan and China. And he soon achieved his desired goal in Japan, accumulating experience in negotiating with the mysterious Eastern Empire.

The Peruvian envoys embarked on the road to China and began negotiations and negotiations.

With the authorization of President Meng, Li Hongzhang began to negotiate with the Peruvians, and the two sides went through three rounds of difficult and unusual negotiations.

From the very beginning, the focus of the Sino-Secretarial negotiations was on whether to repatriate Chinese workers or to make a treaty first.

President Meng means - let Peru return the Chinese workers unconditionally, and the travel expenses will be paid by the Chinese country, Peru will naturally refuse, millions of Chinese workers!

The Peruvian Government's request for the most important purpose of the Peruvian Government's visit to China is to promote the establishment of direct, frank and sincere contacts between the Peruvian Government and the Chinese Government and to finalize them in the form of a treaty.

In a letter to Li Hongzhang, the Secretariat of the President of Huaguo demanded that "because I heard that there was a mistreatment of Chinese workers in Peru, I ordered that the whole Chinese bank be sent back to China, and that confessions were not allowed before the treaty could be negotiated."

In the first head-to-head confrontation between the two sides, the envoy claimed that "there are more than 100,000 Chinese in the country, who are doing business or working as workers in the country, and that there is no such thing as suffering from torture, and that the newsprint rumors here and there are false and fabricated rumors are absolutely unreliable."

Li Hongzhang said that Peru "has never traded with China, but has abducted many people to go abroad, and there are cases of accusations...... Not only is it hated by the Chinese people, but it is also known to its friends in the western country", "Only now can we do business with all of them if they are sent back." ”

In the ninth year of Tongzhi, the U.S. minister forwarded the submission of Peruvian Chinese workers as evidence, and the envoy argued that "...... There is no such thing...... The Chinese are all willing to go, and now most of them are living in Peru, and they do not want to return to China, so how can they force the whole bank to send them back, but China should protect it, and its own country is afraid that China does not believe in harmony, so it is here to discuss how to establish a law for the protection of the charter in the future...... If China does not consult with China, I am afraid that there will be comments from other countries", and said that "if China still does not see the letter, please send someone to Peru to investigate".

Li Hongzhang said, "The country poisons the Chinese at most, who is willing to serve as a consul, or it will be difficult to speak alone...... This matter is difficult to negotiate.

The two sides parted unhappily.

In the second round of talks, the envoy vigorously defended Peru's crime of abusing Chinese laborers, and claimed that "even if the country sends an envoy to China to negotiate the treaty, if the treaty is concluded, it will be protected according to the treaty."

Li Hongzhang calmly said: "China has always put the people's lives first, and it cannot ignore it, and should send personnel to the country to find out whether there is really any mistreatment of Chinese workers before trying to deal with it properly."

Seeing that the goal could not be achieved, the envoy threatened to return to China if he was not allowed to make a contract, and the negotiations reached an impasse.

Britain, the United States, and other Western countries began to intervene and mediate in many ways, and Li Hongzhang calmly analyzed the situation and was ready to make some conditional concessions...... The minister was anxious to accept the pulse, but still replied to the envoy in detail, and allowed to send personnel to investigate and draft four articles of the investigation and handling regulations, which were discussed in person again. ”

Under these circumstances, the negotiations could not continue, so the British envoy Witthuma "agreed to the presidential secretariat of the Chinese state that the Peruvian envoys should be allowed to stay in Beijing for a temporary stay, and only to count the friendship between the British and French ministers, not to deal with business, and to go to Tianjin again in the coming spring", and put the matter on hold for the time being, with the aim of "hoping to promote the outcome that all the embassies wish to see——— negotiating a treaty between China and Peru."

"The president is angry." Li Hongzhang said tremblingly.

After President Meng lost his temper, he sighed and said: "I know it's useless to lose my temper, it's just annoyed, even if we don't have a strong navy and can't pose a threat to this small country, they won't be afraid of China becoming strong and not afraid of death?" ”

"Xiaobang only cares about immediate interests, besides, this is a problem left over from the Qing court." Li Hongzhang comforted.

The third round of negotiations was held, and the arguments between the two sides were still fierce.

With the support of diplomats such as May Willing, an interpreter at the British Embassy in Beijing, and Sassoon, a US consul, the envoy was arrogant and cunning.

Sassoon's letter to US Secretary of State Willis mentioned in the main manifestations of the differences between the two sides: "First, Li Hongzhang refused to use the preliminary agreement as a "treaty" in Chinese. Second, the MFN clause should be included. Thirdly, the following recommendation was included in Colonel Guersier, namely, that China should undertake the obligation to sign an immigration agreement immediately after the report of the commission sent to Peru. Fourthly, Li Hongzhang insisted that this preliminary agreement, agreement or treaty currently under negotiation could be annulled on the basis of the Commission's report and would not oblige the Chinese Government to conclude any treaty in the future. ”

Consul Sassoon mediated between the representatives of the Chinese and the Secretaries, and he told Li Hongzhang that "the Peruvian government ratifies the special agreement [on immigration] only depending on the results of the negotiations, so unless a treaty is concluded, China will certainly lose the benefits of this special agreement" and proposed that "the dissenting immigration clause be replaced by the American clause that only stipulates free and voluntary immigration."

In the end, the stubborn envoy was persuaded to sign the "Special Articles of the Sino-Peruvian Conference" and the "Sino-Peruvian Treaty of Friendship and Commerce".

The signing of the special articles and treaties won considerable rights and interests for the Chinese workers. As specified in the special article: ...... In addition, if the contract of each Chinese worker does not have the word "return", the contract has expired, the worker is unable to pay the ship fare, and he is willing to return to China, the secret country should send the worker and others to the Chinese ship to send it back, and the ship fare does not need to be provided by the worker, and the secret country takes care of it by itself...... The following are some of the provisions of the treaty that are beneficial to the Chinese people.

Therefore, "the signing of the Sino-Peruvian Treaty can be regarded as a small victory won by China in diplomacy, especially in its efforts to protect Chinese workers in Peru," and Li Hongzhang's contribution to this cannot be erased.

Among them, President Meng has not intervened.

However, President Meng is very angry, if China has its own navy, there is no need to suffer from these nests.

The "Special Article of the Central Secret Conference" stipulates: On the one hand, China will send personnel to the secret country to thoroughly investigate the situation of the Chinese people, and show the Chinese workers to make it known. On the one hand, the secret country has all the strength to help and receive it with courtesy.

Therefore, soon after the signing of the Sino-Secretarial Treaty, Li Hongzhang actively looked for suitable talents to visit Peru, and he soberly realized that "...... It is extremely difficult to serve the Absolute Territory today, and Chinese and foreign languages, laws and customs are very different, that is, people with good character and knowledge are rashly traveling far away, so how to start, and Cuba only investigates the actual evidence, while Peru investigates and does both, and it is especially difficult for those who want to get harmonious and clear measures...... Peru recruits most of the Cantonese Chinese workers, and if they want to understand the language and temperament of the Chinese workers, they must be Cantonese; and if you want to be proficient in English and Japanese, you must travel abroad without being Cantonese."

Therefore, Rong Hong, who has a deep discussion of Western studies and Western laws, became his first choice, because Li Hongzhang believes that Rong Hong "is familiar with foreign feelings, and will dare to argue with his peers, and his interests are still known.

Rong Hong did not fail in his mission, and when he went to Peru, the investigation was completed within three months of reading with swift means, and all the reports were completed. The report is accompanied by a detailed "Testimony of Chinese Workers" and "Words of Chinese Workers in Peru", as well as "24 photographs.

Where the Chinese workers were flogged on their backs and were burned with scars, which made people unbearable to witness, Yu Nai took this photograph and presented them one by one in the eyes of the world.

The factory of Chinese workers in Peru is a livestock farm.

All kinds of barbaric actions in the field are brutal and unreasonable, and the photography is particularly eye-catching.

With such conclusive evidence, there is no room for defense, no matter what is said.

This provides a strong favorable basis for the Chinese government to take a tough stance on Peru's contract change.