The two consuls also had a certain number in their hearts, no matter what the personal relationship was, and Mrs. Jenson always knew the importance of it, and would not blindly favor it. In other words, even if she wants to blindly favor her lover, she doesn't have the power. Therefore, he did not reject her, on the contrary, he greeted her very politely.

Although Han Rong is in a high position, on this occasion, he can only wait for others to pass on the word. He also had a way to prevent himself from being insignificant, so he gave an order, and the official sent out a few bowls of coffee. The coffee powder purchased is the best in the foreign industry, but the coffee utensils are the blue and white porcelain bowls of Dajin Gaozong, which are extremely nondescript.

The two sides have been in contact several times before, and although there are no formal negotiations, they are familiar with each other. Knowing that Zhao Guanhou is proficient in the Taixi language and is familiar with the public law of all countries, he is not an easy opponent to deal with. However, they also saved a lot of trouble, and after greeting each other, they sat down on both sides of the long table.

Antoine took out a document and read it word by word

"According to statistics, the direct economic losses caused by this incident to our nationals are equivalent to 250,000 francs."

"The economic damage inflicted on the Albion Concession is worth four thousand Albion pounds. Here, I must express my gratitude to Lord Yuan in my private capacity. If it weren't for the timely appearance of his cavalry, I think our losses would have turned into a staggering figure. ”

Antoine took over: "In addition to the economic damage, in our two countries, fifteen expatriates were unfortunately killed, nine were injured, and three chaste Lady Capetian were attacked by a mob......"

"I must interrupt you, Sir Antoine, because I happen to know all three chaste Capetian ladies who are engaged in acting in a small dance hall. Moreover, the project of the performance is extremely irregular, according to the words of our Jin country, it is called immorality. Come to think of it, their chastity is also very limited. ”

Zhao Guanhou interrupted Antoine's speech and also took out a document: "This is what I learned from the concession, and it has the signatures of several Capetian gentlemen, all of whom are excellent citizens who have official jobs and pay a certain amount of taxes to the government of your country. Also, this is the testimony given to me by Mr. Hoover of Merlin & Co. I think it's enough to prove the identity of these women. Mr. Consul, we continue to ......"

"Well, let's give up the entanglement on this issue. Regardless of the identity of those girls, you must admit that during that riot, our expatriates were attacked by mobs and there were casualties. According to the public law of all nations, your country is obliged to ensure the safety of our nationals in the concession, and if you fail to do so, you should compensate us. Recently, there have been incidents in your country that are not friendly to our nationals. In Shandong, there is a strong anti-religious sentiment, and not long ago there were clashes between the people and the church in Jinmen. I have reason to believe that this attack was not an isolated incident, but an attempt by some people in your country to provoke contradictions between the people and religions, and finally achieve their goal of attacking the church. It is the court of your country that must show us its sincerity, and the sincerity of protecting the interests of our country and Albion in China, and the compensation and punishment of the murderers are all part of sincerity. ”

Consul James also tapped the edge of the table with his pipe, "I personally support the opinion of His Excellency Antoine, in addition to punishing the murderers and paying compensation according to the actual losses suffered by the concession, the imperial court of your country should pay a financial compensation to show its sincerity." Young man, you're doing well this time, you're doing well. Hoover is a friend of mine, and he told me about you, and I personally appreciate your act of returning him safely to the concession and admire your bravery in killing the mob. So here, I want to remind you, don't get yourself in trouble. If our minister comes forward, your emperor will still promise to compensate, and pay more, and at that time, all the responsibility will fall on you. I don't think you have to take on that responsibility. ”

Zhao Guanhou and the two of them all communicated in Capetian, and then translated the conversation to Han Rong, and when Han Rong needed to speak, he translated it. At this time, there is naturally no need to translate these words. James smiled at Mrs. Jenson

"Madam, you should advise your friend that you should be flexible, and there is no need to dwell on some details. That's not good for him, and it's not good for us. In fact, if we want to, we can get everything we want through the minister. He insisted that he would get nothing, so why not stand with us? I guarantee that he will get a good commission, and besides, nothing will go wrong. ”

Zhao Guanhou smiled slightly, and then shook his head, "Your Excellency, thank you for your kindness, but unfortunately I can't accept this kind of suggestion." ”

"Your Excellency, here we must first clarify a few questions. First of all, the losses calculated by the two of you are not supported by relevant evidence. If you follow the calculation method of insurance claims in your country, you will need to provide relevant proof to determine the loss. Among them, several warehouses were burned to the ground, and there was nowhere to check the inventory inside, and the price was quoted by the merchants of your country, and there was no inspection. As far as I know, a foreign firm that was robbed is on the verge of closure because of its poor management, and I think there is a lot of doubt about the value of its report. If your Minister insists on this figure, I would like to ask Mrs. Jenson to come forward and make a new appraisal of these shops. ”

Mrs. Jenson nodded, "I'm willing to help." ”

Han Rong listened to Zhao Guanhou's translation, and also felt that what he said made sense, if he could reduce this part of the compensation, and then paste it into the compensation, his life would be a little better, and he did not refute it. just listened quietly, but still prompted, "Guanhou, you have to be cautious, don't be unreasonable to the two consuls." ”

Madame Jensen smiled at Zhao Guanhou and winked at him, obviously reminding him that Han Rong was not on his side.

Zhao Guanhou didn't pay attention to Han Rong's attitude, but talked eloquently, "Your Excellency, my country's imperial court is gentle and distant, and pays attention to diplomatic relations. Therefore, even if the source of the compensation price is difficult to determine, it is still willing to pay according to the price. That is the sincerity of our country. On the contrary, it is the two of you, you insist on asking for additional compensation, but it is not the way of friendship. Of course, the Chinese court is willing to pay the bereavement of the victims, the treatment of the wounded, and even a part of the due consolation. The Chinese government will never tolerate the punishment of the murderers. In the Yamen Prison in Jinmen Prefecture, there were more than 100 prisoners to be beheaded, and only 18 people were beheaded in the Jinmen Teaching Case that day. Isn't this sincerity enough? ”

"Speaking of hostility towards your country, as far as I know, it is mainly concentrated in Shandong. And there, the proportion of capet is not high. And the patronage there belongs to Prussia, doesn't it? Furthermore, we must first clarify the question of where hostility towards your country comes from. Of course, there are reasons for the mob to rebel, but it is undeniable that there is another factor here, that is, the local officials have not handled the situation well, and connived at the mob to do evil, and besides, the missionaries and parishioners of your country also have to bear some responsibility. ”

In fact, in diplomatic situations, blindly showing weakness is not the way to go. At this time, the officials of the Jin State mainly had two Afurong wars, and there were two Goryeo wars, and there were Goryeo defeats later, so they did not dare to speak hard with foreigners. However, Zhao Guanhou is not an important person himself, and he can not bear such a serious responsibility in speaking, and secondly, his understanding of foreign affairs is deeper than that of most officials in this era. In the negotiation of these foreigners, as long as they occupy the legal principle, they do not need to deliberately curry favor.

Antoine's face was grim: "Your Excellency, I think you have exceeded your duty as an interpreter, perhaps we should propose another interpreter." ”

"Then you will lose a lot of things. Of course, you can change to an interpreter that you think is reliable, but believe me, there is no interpreter who understands the actual situation of Jinguo officialdom better than me, and there is no interpreter who is more suitable to act as a bridge of friendship between the two sides than me. If the negotiations fail because of interpretation, I think that will be an outcome that none of us want to see. ”

Mrs. Jenson also made up the stage at this time: "Having Zhao Guanhou as the interpreter is part of the peace treaty between me and His Excellency the Governor. If he is replaced, I will also leave, and I think it will be even more difficult for you to get compensation then. ”

With her statement, Zhao Guanhou is tantamount to having an extra tough backer. These two foreigners are not confused, and they are not ignorant of the attitude of Jin Guo. The high pressure must be wanted, but if they really talk about it, they will turn against Han Rong because of this, and they can't make this decision.

In fact, because there was already a telegram to transmit the news at this time, and the two had already received a secret report from the capital, there was a voice in the Jin court that advocated that they would not hesitate to fight and would not pay a penny.

As consuls of a powerful country, they are not really afraid of war with Jin, after all, in the previous few collisions, most of them have benefited themselves. But the problem is that the consul's poor handling of diplomatic issues leads to war, which has a really bad impact, and in addition, if the war against the gold country cannot be won quickly and it becomes a stalemate, the huge military expenditure will be a pressure on both countries. When the time comes, the parliament will still blame itself, which is also more than worth the loss.

Madame Jensen was supposed to advance and retreat with them, but this woman was obviously biased towards the little white-faced side, which made Antoine a little angry, and James played a round at this time, "Okay, I think we can talk to His Excellency Zhao Guanhou." I also admit that what you said has a certain truth, if Lord Yuan is in Shandong, I think Albiang's interests will definitely be more protected. ”

"You are right, Lord James. If it is Han Dashuai or Yuan Dashuai in Shandong, I guarantee that the so-called boxers will not be so rampant. In that chaos, the first appearance of our troops in the concession is proof of this. If figures such as Han Dashuai and Yuan Dashuai are transferred by the imperial court because of this matter, then the attitude of the transferee may not be too beneficial to the two. ”

Zhao Guanhou looked at Antoine again, "Your Excellency Antoine, if this matter cannot be negotiated with you to reach a result, I don't mind, report to the General Office of National Affairs Yamen, and our country's Qingwang Chitose will consult with Your Excellency Lu Ban, the Minister of your country." I think neither of you nor I want things to come to that point, what do you think? ”

"Oh? Are you threatening me? Antoine snorted coldly, "If the matter comes to the Yamen of the General Office of National Affairs, I think the first person to lose his crown is His Excellency Guanhou." ”

"Antoine, I think you're wrong. He had received a yellow coat from the Queen Mother of their country, and you, as the consul, should know what that means. Jenson smiled, "Besides, if he does lose his crown, I'll hire him as my employee." Therefore, the issue of his future has nothing to do with our negotiations, and we continue to talk about this issue of compensation. ”

Zhao Guanhou sneered and slammed the document on the table, "My opinion has been expressed very clearly. The Daikin Congress has allocated for economic damage, as well as the cost of casualties, as a sign of sincerity in the diplomatic relations between our two countries. However, the additional compensation will be forbidden. ”

Antoine's face sank like water, and his tone was cold, "If this is the case, then there is no need for us to waste time here, let His Excellency the Minister come and discuss this issue with the prince of your country." ”

James lit his pipe at this point, "Antoine, my old friend, I think, you're in a bit of a hurry." Now this is the time when we should relax, have some coffee, have some snacks, and ...... Keep talking. ”

The foreigner's request was naturally unreasonable, and a room was quickly prepared next to it for a few people to rest. Jensen dragged Zhao Guanhou to his lounge and asked angrily, "Hell, what are you doing?" I can only help you get here, you can't count on me to help you sell Warby Bank. Also, do you know what kind of behavior it is to anger a consul of a country? ”

"Is it serious? I thought going to the window with you was enough to irritate him. Zhao Guanhou smiled and pressed his hand on Jensen's shoulder

"Honey, laugh, you smile beautifully. Yes, that's right, that's it. You don't have to worry, the emotions of the two people have not yet exploded, according to our words, they are singing red face on the one and white face on the other. I'm sure you can see that, both of them, like me, don't want the negotiations to break down. If they really get into trouble with the minister, they will not be able to escape from their incompetent reputation, and I don't think it will be good for their future. ”

Zhao Guanhou and the ability to speculate on people's hearts are better than many people in this era, and he can see that the two consuls don't really want to brush their sleeves. If everything has to be resolved by the minister, the consul of a region will lose the meaning of existence.

When encountering difficulties, handing over contradictions to superiors is undoubtedly a manifestation of laziness and incompetence, and officials in any country will not like such subordinates. Antoine and others are not stupid, so naturally they will not do such a thing. The so-called not talking about it is nothing more than putting on a show and putting pressure on yourself. It should be with James now, talking about their price floor.

On the other side, Han Rong did not leave the negotiation room. It was supposed to be a sign room for the governor, and when the people had withdrawn, he first got up, closed the door, and then pushed open a bookscase, and behind the bookcase, a hanging flower arch appeared. There are air holes in the door to ventilate and see the outside.

I don't know which governor built this secret room, but I think it was to deal with the unexpected, and when the enemy army raided the governor's yamen and there was no way out, the governor could hide in the secret room to avoid being searched by strong enemies. It is the true intention of strategizing and winning a thousand miles.

After Han Rong took office, when he was rectifying the yamen, he found this secret room and renovated it, but in terms of use, it was not used to escape, but to eavesdropping. As soon as the bookshelf was moved, the hanging flower door opened, and a fourteen or fifteen-year-old, combed her hair twice, and wore a flag costume at the bottom of a flower pot, walked out of it. (To be continued.) )