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And just when Zhu Jishi was preparing to wave his army to attack Guangzhou, firecrackers crackled at the door of the HSBC Bank in Nanguan, Guangzhou.

Bank staff happily stood on both sides of the gate of the newly completed bank building, bowing to the customers who were lining up in front of the bank to deposit money - today is the first day of the opening of the HSBC building in Guangzhou, so the firecrackers to celebrate have nothing to do with the Ming army's oath to clear the Qing Dynasty.

The style of the house in Guangzhou HSBC is a Western-style building, which is very magnificent, and there are two pairs of brass lions at the door, with teeth and claws, majestic and majestic. At the entrance of the gate, there is a Chinese-style plaque with gold characters on a black background, with four Chinese characters written on it: "Remittance is abundant". The words are very neat, but it is difficult to call everyone. The reason why it can be hung in the hall is because it is not an ordinary person who mentions these four words to HSBC, but a generation of saints in the Qing Dynasty, Aixin Jueluo. Min Ning!

This matter of Emperor Daoguang's bank inscription to Zhu Jishi was made by Lin Zexu and Bai Siwen, two foreign ministers. After the two of them deposited the silver from the Kowloon Yamen into the HSBC Bank, and signed a contract with the HSBC Bank for the purchase and sale of arms, they gave Emperor Daoguang an excerpt to report these two things, and at the same time praised the HSBC Bank for doing a good job. After Dao Guangjun saw the twists and turns of the two, he was naturally overjoyed - all the more than four million taels of silver were exchanged for arms, so why not bombard Zhu Jishi, a thief, into powder?

So he casually took the royal pen of "abundant remittances" and sent it to Guangzhou, and also rewarded the officials of the HSBC Bank, Daban Castel and Morris, who were political envoys.

With the imperial pen of Emperor Daoguang, plus the recommendation of Lin Zexu, the leader of Shilin. The gentry and wealthy merchants of Guangdong. Who else wouldn't trust HSBC?

In addition, the current situation in Guangdong is really unstable. Zhu Jishi raised troops overseas, the sun and moon were raised on Baiyun Mountain, and there were bandits gathering in Guangxi, and not long ago there was news that the Fujian Navy Division was defeated in Penghu, and Penghu Island was based on the anti-Ming and anti-thieves!

As a result, the gentry and wealthy businessmen who had a little money in their hands began to hate the silver in their hands, and they all wanted to deposit it in HSBC, even if there was no interest - now they don't want any interest. It only matters if you can keep the principal. How good is it to save the money, take the passbook and run away? Who would dare to go on the road with a large sum of money?

As for the money houses opened by the Chinese themselves, no one dares to deposit money into them. This is also obvious, now Guangdong is about to be chaotic, and the silver can't be put in Guangzhou City, and it has to be transported away to be safe! HSBC is a French foreign bank, protected by French warships, and this silver can be transported generously - every day on the Tianzi pier in Guangzhou, there are warships flying the French tricolor flag (in fact, it is an armed merchant ship of Nanyang Bank) to help transport silver. Does an ordinary Chinese money bank have this way?

In fact, people in Guangdong shopping malls know that these money banks are now also sending money to HSBC, and they are also afraid that they will be robbed if they get into a mess.

So this HSBC door. During this time, there are people queuing up early in the morning, and they are all big guys with bodyguards and boxes of silver! These are the same people who used to deposit money in the bank. They are all the masters who come out to greet the shopkeeper in person! Now I have to line up honestly, and if you want to enjoy the "VIP" treatment, you have to be an official of the fourth grade or above, or those who have deposited more than 100,000 silver dollars (two) in HSBC.

Bai Siwen, the deputy minister of foreign affairs and the superintendent of Guangdong Customs, met these two conditions at the same time, so his official sedan chair was carried directly through the back door of the HSBC bank, and was personally received by Tang Qiwen, the chief comprador of the HSBC bank in Guangzhou (in fact, the head of the HSBC bank).

"Mr. Tong, what's the situation in Hong Kong and Lantau Island? When will Zhu Yi raise troops to attack? ”

As soon as Bai Siwen entered Tang Qiwen's office, he asked eagerly. His silver had already been deposited in HSBC, and his family members except for Jue Ji had also been sent to Shanghai, so he was ready to run away. Therefore, coming to HSBC today is not a private matter, but a public business - Emperor Daoguang not long ago gave a decree to the Western-style yamen, allowing them to collect information from overseas powers and Zhu Jishi through foreign banks, and HSBC, as the most trusted foreign bank of Daoguang and the Qing Dynasty, naturally has to bear the work of "the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven".

Tang Qiwen didn't answer immediately, but instructed his messenger to guard outside, and closed the door again, before he smiled bitterly at Bai Siwen and said, "The wind is tight!" Lord Bai, have you contacted the killers of the Satsuma Domain in Japan to assassinate Zhu Jishi? ”

Bai Siwen took a breath when he heard this, and his pupils shrank slightly, "How do you know?" ”

"It's not that I know, but Zhu Jishi knows! Not long ago, Zhu Jishi had just visited Japan, and he also accepted the adopted daughter of Tokugawa Iekei, the general of the Japanese expedition, as a concubine, and formed an alliance with the Tokugawa shogunate! This Satsuma clan is a subordinate of the Tokugawa shogunate, and they sold you! Your Excellency, you need to be careful! ”

Bai Siwen's body was trembling slightly, this Satsuma Domain was too hateful! Cutting off Liu Aliang's head doesn't count, but he also sold himself with him...... But this matter, in the final analysis, Lin Zexu is not good! If you agree to exempt the Ryukyu Kingdom from customs duties, won't there be nothing?

"What else is there to say?"

Tang Qiwen said with a worried face: "Of course, Zhu Jishi has issued a notice a few days ago to change the title of Ji Shijun to the Ming Army, and also held a swearing-in meeting on Lantau Island. I heard that 20,000 troops have been concentrated on Lantau Island, and they are about to attack Canton in the near future. Lord White...... It's not that I'm saying frustrating words, I'm afraid this Guangzhou won't be able to hold it! You're not a feudal territory, so let's go as soon as you can. ”

Bai Siwen took a deep breath and seemed to be muttering to himself, "The errand assigned by the emperor has not been done well after all, and there is a negative imperial grace, a negative imperial grace!" ”

As he spoke, he stomped his feet vigorously, then left Tang Qiwen's office and went back to the Qing army camp in the north of Guangzhou to report to the anxious monk Lingqin and Saishan'a. Their Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers had been fighting hard with the Ming army on Baiyun Mountain for three days and nights, and no less than 2,000 corpses had been carried down! Even Fu Fang, the first-class guard sent by Emperor Daoguang to protect Monk Lingqin, was injured by the bomb and made people carry it down from the mountain. But the sun and moon on Baiyun Mountain are still floating!

"Lord Bai! Lord Bai ...... "Bai Siwen got out of the sedan chair as soon as he was dizzy, and suddenly heard someone calling him, still with a Hunan accent. Looking back, it turned out to be the general office of Wei Yuan Wei of the Western-style yamen.

"Brother Mosheng, what's the matter?" Bai Swen asked with a frown. Looking at Wei Yuan's anxious expression, it was not a good thing to think about.

"Lord Bai, is the military situation along the coast of Guangdong critical? What should we do with the factories and schools in Kowloon, and the mines in Qiongzhou, Shaozhou, and Meizhou? Ready to migrate? By land, or by land? Should workers and students follow? If you want......"

Bai Siwen waved his hand impatiently and interrupted, "Brother Mosheng, when is it now?" How do you still have the heart to care about this? ”

Wei Yuan said in a deep voice: "How can you not care?" Factories, schools, and mines are the foundation of our foreign affairs yamen, and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver have been spent on the imperial court, and many machines and equipment are being shipped from overseas...... There are also those students, all of whom have already laid a good foundation in foreign languages, and some of them have studied with foreign masters for several days. ”

In this foreign affairs yamen, Lin Zexu and Bai Siwen are actually not in charge of serious affairs, one of them only knows how to keep the reputation of the first generation, the other only knows how to sell the country and drive Zhu, and there is a foreign consultant Luo Li who only knows how to make money. Therefore, the factory, the school, and the mine are all grasped by Wei Yuan, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is his hard work.

Bai Siwen listened to Wei Yuan's words, and it was right to think about it, the foreign affairs of the Qing Dynasty still had to be done, this factory, school, and mine could not be moved, and the students and workers must go to Shanghai, so that they could take over the foreign affairs in Shanghai in the future.

"Mo Sheng, then you hurry to Kowloon and bring the students and workers to Guangzhou, and I will go and talk to the competition system and the monk king, and ask them to send troops to escort the students and workers to Shanghai. By the way, let's go together, this Guangdong ...... I'm afraid it's going to be messy! (To be continued......)