The British have been operating the Shanghai Concession for more than 30 years, and they used the British to patrol and arrest in the early years, but these big noses are patrolling on Chinese soil, and it is naturally very easy to show off their might, but if there is really a case or something, let them go to find out the news or something, it is definitely a duck on the shelf!

Therefore, soon recruiting Chinese to serve as concession patrols became a solution, most of the British held some higher-level positions, and the Chinese patrols did specific things, but, within a few years, the Chinese patrols had occupied 8 percent of the Concession Patrol Bureau, which made the British begin to be uneasy, and this is why there was an Indian Asanlai Concession.

And in fact, for these bearded Indian Ahsan, the contradiction between the Chinese patrol and them is also very intense, after all, they are doing the same thing, and these Indian natives actually want to take double the salary of the Chinese patrol...... At this moment, seeing that the two Ah San were actually beaten up, several patrols were all smart characters, and immediately realized that the two in front of him were not ordinary businessmen.

Ouyang Hao took Lu Hong's name and stabbed it, and the slightly older patrolman looked at it, and muttered a few words to a few patrolmen behind him, and those few immediately ran to pull the two Indians who were lying on the ground and were still humming into the house, and he immediately arched his hand politely, "Lord Lu, down there is Zheng Xiongrong from the Patrol Bureau, hurry up and invite inside, are the two of you here to find Lord Hurd, the envoy of the tax department?" ”

This Zheng Xiongrong's speech and the sophistication of handling the matter just now, Lu Hong naturally saw that this person must have a certain status in the Chinese patrol, this kind of person in Shanghai, a place where three religions and nine streams are mixed, it can definitely be regarded as a scarce resource...... However, whether it can be used for oneself is the question.

He smiled slightly, and asked in a pun, "Detective Zheng?" It's not easy for Chinese people to make a living in the concession, I don't know if you patrol the house in this concession and are well-informed? ”

Hearing that Lu Hong didn't answer his own question, but said something, Zheng Xiongrong obviously understood something, and arched his hand towards Lu Hong and smiled: "Lord Lu, the business on the beach is all in the foreign banks along the river in the British Concession and the French Concession, if you want to inquire about any news, we have some ways to patrol the house!" ”

This is an accident, Lu Hong is also happy in his heart, of course, he will not be stupid to directly let this guy go to help investigate the Nanyang Naval Division, "Detective Zheng, let's talk in detail later, by the way, I invited the brothers to have a drink, I was a little impulsive just now...... Impulsive......"

Speaking of this, he and Zheng Xiongrong both tacitly laughed, and when they turned around the main hall of the Customs Building, they wandered to a very gorgeous living room on the west side of the fourth floor, Zheng Xiongrong went in for a while, and after a while, a tall Englishman wearing clerical clothes walked out, and when he saw Lu Hong, who was not inferior in stature, he was somewhat surprised, and after looking up and down, he spread his hands, "I am Pastor Haiberg, you are Lord Lu sent by Yan Jingqin, Sir Hurd is waiting for you inside!" ”

Lu Hong smiled slightly, and started the homely routine very casually in English, "Pastor Highberg seems to have a Welsh accent, I once lived in White Basket for a while, and the whiskey there is amazing!" ”

His two sentences immediately made the pastor look at him strangely, in this era, under the rule of the Qing political axe, there are very few officials who are really familiar with the West, and most of the so-called Westerners are actually self-taught little by little behind the foreigners, but he just nodded politely and did not continue to talk.

Lu Hong saw that this guy seemed to be a little taciturn, but he didn't say more, and when he walked into the house, an old British man in a suit and a white beard had already gotten up and walked over, but Lu Hong immediately noticed that the old man was smiling, but there was no trace of enthusiasm......

"Lord Lu, I saw that your name was stabbed, I have already heard Lord Li Zhongtang mention the matter of Lord Qincha, I didn't expect you to supervise the affairs of the navy, do you still have any special reasons with our Customs and Excise Department?" The old man's Chinese is very fluent, and even pure Beijing accent.

As soon as Lu Hong heard the tone of the Englishman, he knew that the white-bearded old man was not Santa Claus, and the meaning of non-cooperation had been revealed between these words, but he was not here to listen to the nonsense of the British old man, this old guy, who has been sitting in the position of the tax department for decades, can almost be said to be the most powerful Brit in China...... However, this is precisely the weakness of this old British man!

"Sir Hurd, the matter I have come to investigate is naturally related to the Department of Customs and Excise Affairs, are you willing to condone any form of customs evasion?" Lu Hong did not move his expression and calmly put down a set, it was obvious that he was doing things for the emperor who was high above, and any time he held the sign of the little emperor, it would be of great use!

Hurd frowned, a smile flashed across his face, he pointed to the next place, and suddenly changed the subject, "Ah...... Lord Lu, sit down first and then discuss it carefully! ”

And when the old British man turned around and slowly paced to his seat, he already had a rhetoric, "Lord Lu, any form of tariff evasion will naturally be punished, and I naturally absolutely support this...... However, presumably Lord Qincha should also know that all the manpower of our Customs and Excise Department is collecting this tariff for the Qing Empire, and if it is too complicated, I'm afraid I can't do anything about it! ”

Lu Hong's previous rhetoric was to get Hurd to promise to help, in fact, he was also very aware of the fact that if the Customs and Excise Department was a corrupt Chinese official, it was estimated that he would not be able to find any useful information from the footcloth-like ledger...... However, although later generations have been extremely critical of the fact that the British controlled China's customs, as a pragmatic cross-section, this is obviously a special solution in a special historical period.

I would never underestimate the wisdom of the large number of people who can be ranked among the famous ministers of Zhongxing in this era, maybe they did not have enough foresight, but the customs is in the hands of a group of completely stupid officials, which is obviously the worst thing to do...... In fact, the Department of Customs and Excise was established in 1856, although the British obtained huge trade dividends with compulsory low tax rates, the problem is that if there is no strict collection of customs duties by the Department of Customs and Excess, those products will also enter the Chinese market through other unknown channels.

Of course, Hurd, an old British man, also gained enormous benefits in his 40 years as the director of customs and revenue, but at the same time, as a contractual clause, he should have served the Manchu government wholeheartedly, at least on the issue of customs tariff collection, because he even received hundreds of thousands of good silver per year and a shortcut to the upper echelons of the empire in China.

Therefore, Lu Hong did not hesitate to use national interests to trap Hurd, for an Englishman, to be in the political arena of this Far Eastern Empire, this reputation is undoubtedly crucial, although Hurd has a deep background, but also can not despise a Qincha who can represent the emperor!

Lu Hong took out a letter from his pocket and put it in front of Hurd, "Sir Hurd, this is Lord Qincha's hope for your assistance, of course, Qincha's guards will be ready to participate in any action that requires them!" ”

When Hurd opened the envelope, he was visibly surprised at what it mentioned, but after a little consideration, he agreed!

Lu Hong exchanged a few more polite words with Hurd, and after the better time, he said goodbye and went out, outside, a Chinese patrol had been waiting here for a long time, and when he saw Lu Hong, he immediately greeted him!

;