"I, Bai Enming, solemnly swear, in the name of God, that on the occasion of becoming a British citizen, I will faithfully swear allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, her heirs and successors, in accordance with the law......"

In the solemn hall of the British Governor's Palace in Hong Kong, Bai Siwen, former deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Qing Dynasty and minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Russian Empire, wore a black suit, pressed the Bible with one hand and the other to his heart, and read the oath aloud in English in front of a rice-shaped flag, with two tears in his eyes. I don't know if I'm excited or sad?

As a lonely loyalist of the Qing Dynasty, the king to whom he should be loyal can only have ...... Two, uh, either Yi Xin or Yi Su, definitely not the British fat queen Victoria. But now his oath was heartfelt, for he was not only a loyal servant (a corrupt and bribed), but also a father and a husband, with a beautiful wife and a half-race son who was as cute as a doll. And his love for his wife and children must be greater than his love for the Qing Dynasty and the emperors.

Therefore, after careful consideration, he resolutely submitted a request to the Governor of Hong Kong, Wen Wen, Hu Zhenguo and other friends to naturalize in the United Kingdom, regardless of the opposition of Li Zongxi, Sun Wen, Hu Zhenguo and other friends. For a businessman like him, a million-pound net worth who has made outstanding contributions to the economic development and education of Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, the British Empire is of course welcome with open arms. So his application for naturalization was quickly approved, and one day in the spring of 1853, he officially swore an oath to the Mizi banner and became a citizen of the British Empire.

Also, one more point. Before Bai became a British citizen, he was with his Polish wife, who had also become a British citizen. He was baptized in the London Evangelistic Church in Hong Kong. He became a member of the Anglican Church.

The oath is taken. Applause rang out. Governor Bonham, who presided over today's swearing-in ceremony, walked up to Bai Enming with a smile and shook his hand cordially: "Mr. Bai, on behalf of the British Empire, I welcome you to join. From now on, the most powerful navy in the world will be your solid backing! ”

Hearing this, Bai Enming let out a long breath. With the protection of the most powerful navy in the world, he finally doesn't have to worry about living a life anymore, and Emperor Zhu can beat Queen Victoria no matter how good he is, Bai Enming Of course, the relationship between Her Majesty Queen Lu Dao and Zhu Jishi is not very good, and it seems that there has been a little unpleasantness. Definitely haven't been on a kang. Therefore, it is safe to join the British nationality, and with the umbrella of the British Empire, Emperor Zhu is not very easy to move him.

To be on the safe side, of course. He is also methodically shifting his focus to Singapore and Australia, and has now acquired large tracts of land for property development in Melbourne, Australia, which is now the fastest growing city in Australia thanks to the discovery of gold in Melbourne in 1851. Bai Enming, who is extremely business-minded, naturally saw an opportunity to make a lot of money, not to invest in gold mines, but in the city of Melbourne itself.

"Enming, I know that you can't get used to Emperor Zhu's arbitrariness. But if you become a foreigner and become a British citizen, you shouldn't ......"

Li Zongxi, who attended the ceremony, is now also a celebrity in the Chinese circle in Hong Kong, and he followed Wen Xian up to shake hands with Bai Enming. I couldn't help but talk about it again. The same thing, he didn't know how many times Lu Dao and Bai Enming had said it, but the other party didn't listen at all.

"Yuting, I'm different from you," Bai Enming shook his head with a wry smile, "The emperor won't do anything to you, he has this little bit of weight, but I ......" He sighed, didn't say anything further, and didn't dare to say it. The festival between him and Zhu Jishi is really a bit complicated, and it doesn't do him any good to say it.

Li Zongxi frowned, he really couldn't think of Bai Enming, a businessman, who would have any inextricable enmity with Emperor Zhu? But who doesn't have a little secret? Or is there an unknown past between Bai Enming and Emperor Zhu?

"Zhenguo, Laishan." Bai Enming walked up to Hu Zhenguo and Sun Wen again, and patted the shoulders of the two, "I propose that you also think about it, it is always good to have an extra layer of umbrella, the cause you have to do is too big and too dangerous, with a British citizen, you can save your life in an emergency." ”

Hu Zhenguo and Sun Wen looked at each other, as if they were a little tempted. Hu Zhenguo said: "Mr. Bai, let's talk about this later." He paused, suddenly frowned, and lowered his voice, "I heard that the imperial court and Britain are talking about recovering Hong Kong, is it possible?" ”

"Yes, Mr. Bai, you are well-informed, this matter...... Is it possible? Sun Wen also hurriedly asked.

The matter of reclaiming Hong Kong is not a big deal in the current Sino-British relations, and Hong Kong is not the same as it will be more than 100 years later, it is not an international metropolis, and Hong Kong has an area of only more than 30 square miles, which is a small island, not including Kowloon and the New Territories, and the space for development is very limited.

But for "dissidents" like Pak En-ming, Hu Zhenguo, and Sun Wen, British-protected Hong Kong is really their best stronghold. Once Hong Kong is recovered by the Ming Dynasty, it will be very questionable whether the "Qingliu Bao" and the Constitutional Research Society will still exist.

"Sooner or later." Bai Enming's mood also fell, "Now the situation in Europe is very tense, Russia may soon attack Turkey, and Britain needs Turkey to control the Near East, so it will try to rescue Turkey as much as possible." And it is the best option to win over Daming to stab the Russians in the back, a small Hong Kong, and if you say that you will send it, you will send it out......"

"Then let's ......" Hu Zhenguo's eyebrows tightened.

"Zhenguo, what's there to worry about?" Li Zongxi also came over at this time and interjected, "Our "Qingliu Bao" has long been a climate, and its influence among readers is even greater than that of "Ta Kung Pao", so I don't believe that the imperial court will close our newspaper." This kind of thing that blocks the way of speech can only be done by the Manchu puppet dynasty that has lost the country! ”

Manchu puppet dynasty!? Six complicated eyes turned around Li Zongxi, and then moved away from each other. Bai Enming, Hu Zhenguo and Sun Wen did not speak, and the scene was a little embarrassing. At this time, the guests who attended Bai Enming's naturalization ceremony had almost dispersed. Bai Enming saw that his Polish wife had finished talking to a few noblewomen, and stood aside waiting to leave with him. So he coughed and broke the silence and said: "Let's go, let's talk at the Far East Hotel, my brother has already booked a banquet, let's talk while eating." ”

Far Eastern Plaza Hotel is still the most luxurious hotel in Hong Kong, and Bai Enming and Li Zongxi are frequent customers here. And Boss Bai's naturalization in the UK is also a big deal in the Chinese high society in Hong Kong, no matter what others say, Bai Enming always treats it as a happy event. Invited all over Hong Kong and the leading figures of the Kowloon Chinese business circles on the other side of the strait, chartered the grand banquet hall of the Far Eastern Hotel, and set up dozens of tables of banquets. He was afraid that others would not know that he Bai Enming was already a British citizen.

The size of the banquet hall is unconventionally large, and glass oil lamps imported from Venice are hung around, and spices are added to these foreign oils, so that the room is full of faint aromas. Bai Enming's main table was in the center of the banquet hall, and there were ten people at a table, except for Bai Enming, Li Zongxi, Hu Zhenguo and Sun Wen, all of them looked like big businessmen.

Bai Enming knew that all of them had the status of a member of the public bureau, either the county bureau or the government bureau, and there was a big boss surnamed Pan who was a member of the Guangdong Provincial Public Bureau, and his family was a boat operator, and his business had been done in the New World and Black Africa! Chinese are really no worse than foreigners in doing business, and in the past, they did not have much share in international trade entirely because of the sea ban. Guangdong has been open to the sea for more than five years, and the sea ships of Chinese businessmen have long been the main force on the South China Sea and East Asian routes. And this Boss Pan is one of the best, and his family property is said to have exceeded 10 million, so he has earned the nickname "Pan Million". And his provincial public bureau member was naturally elected by bribery, and it is rumored that this bribery cost a total of 500,000 silver dollars of "Pan 10 million"! (To be continued......)