The curtain of the trial was draped. The city is getting dark, it's getting dark! There were many flickering lights, some of which were torches, and some of which were lit buildings and warehouses.

This is the Russian Concession in Tianjin, and it is also the only remaining foreign concession in Tianjin.

The Russian Concession of Tianjin was officially demarcated in the year of the year, divided into two districts, east and west, bounded by the old Longtou Railway Station, the west area bordered by the Italian Concession, and the eastern area bordered by the Belgian Concession, close to the Haihe River, and the German, British, French, and Japanese concessions on the banks of the river were far away.

The Russian Concession in Tianjin covers a total area of more than 5,400 acres, about the same size as the British Concession, and the Russian Concession is also the narrowest of all the foreign concessions in Tianjin, running from east to west along the Haihe River. The length of the riverbank alone is over 11,000 feet, and the banks of the river are full of piers. From this. From the point of view, the Tianjin Russian Concession is the most promising of the ancestral circles of all countries. A country within a country.

However, the actual situation was not as simple as imagined by the Russian generals and politicians who planned to seize the ancestral territory, because the law and order in the Russian Concession had always been very bad, and the bureaucrats and profiteers in the Russian Concession were rude and corrupt at the same time. Not many foreign businessmen were willing to use the Russian Concession as a base, not only did foreign businessmen not go to the Russian Concession, but even the Russian businessmen who had some of their duties were not willing to stay in the concession, they preferred to set up their strongholds in the British Concession and the French Concession on the other side of the Haihe River. Because that bridge was connected to the French Concession, it was called the French Bridge.

It is precisely because of this that although the Tianjin Russian Concession has the convenience of a railway station, it has never prospered in the past, but because there are many traditional water docks in the Russian Concession, there are many vehicles and ships in transit, and it is precisely by collecting taxes on these transit vehicles and ships that the daily expenses of the Russian Concession are guaranteed, and the Russian Concession authorities are ridiculed as "tsarist tax collectors." Although it is true that the Russian Concession also operated a leather business and a tea brick business.

However, the situation is changing, and the appearance of the Russian ancestral territory in Tianjin is also changing, because of some diplomatic actions, the once depressed Russian concession has suddenly become prosperous.

Since two years ago, various countries began to hand over the Chinese concession to the central government of China in accordance with the provisions of the new Sino-foreign treaty, and the Russian concession, which was not prosperous, has gradually become "prosperous." Because the concession has always been an "extralegal area" that hides dirt and dirt. Therefore, when the concessions of various countries in Tianjin were abolished one after another, those industries that could not survive in the Chinese Concession were immediately transferred to the Russian Concession, and gambling houses and tobacco houses regarded the Russian Concession as a place of refuge, and those prostitutes who bought and sold human beings also took refuge in the Russian Concession. Relying on the protection of the Russians, he survived.

In the past two eastern periods, there has indeed been a short-lived deformed prosperity in the Russian ancestral realm, and this prosperity is based on the corrosion of the body of Chinese society. Add to that the existence of consular jurisdiction. As well as the indulgence of the greedy bureaucracy of the Concession authorities, the Russian Concession has in fact become a paradise for criminals, where there is the myth of getting rich overnight, but more often than not, the ghosts crying wolves from the darkest corners of society and humanity.

It is not only the ordinary people who pay the price for the abnormal prosperity of the economy of the Concession, but when the evil accumulates to a certain extent, it will inevitably explode suddenly in some violent form, and the destructive force unleashed by it cannot be countered even by the Russian Concession authorities.

At present, the Russian Concession in Tianjin is experiencing a devastating riot and turmoil, and the burning buildings are a direct result of this riot and turmoil, which was triggered by a conflict on a football field.

The first to clash was a gang of Russian hooligans and a gang of German hooligans, because of the conflict while watching a football game, the two gangs did not hesitate to fight, and then this conflict over football quickly turned into a riot and chaos related to national interests and national dignity.

This partiality was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, so the conflict intensified, and finally unstoppable, so the riots and chaos turned into a riot and chaos, involving not only German nationals, British nationals, and Russian bridge people, but also the Chinese living in the concession.

Since the Tianjin Russian Concession is an important Weizao wharf, many Chinese who broke into the Kwantung were willing to choose to board ships from the Russian Concession and take a ship to the Liaodong Peninsula, but the law and order in the Russian Concession was very chaotic, there were many black shops, and under the protection of the ancestral patrol, they wantonly extorted and blackmailed those Chinese who broke into the Kwantung Territory, which accumulated considerable anger. Therefore, after seeing the foreigners in the concession fighting, many Chinese who were blackmailed by the black shops also began to carry out their revenge. Burn those black shops to the ground.

On the other hand, there are quite a few foreign gangsters among the foreigners who are now stranded in the ancestral realm, and there are many people who have gone to the Far East and are penniless, so they also take advantage of the chaos to start looting and setting fire to the concession on a large scale, and because of the violence, they are born at night. From the very beginning, the order of the entire concession quickly turned towards chaos and disorder.

This riot and chaos lasted from last night to this afternoon, although it is now dark, and the Russian army's suppression has already begun, but it seems that it has not been completely controlled at present, and you can still see looters on the streets, leather goods, tea bricks, wax, clothing, spirits, cigarettes, and everything that can be moved into Sichuan opera trophies. As long as you're brave enough, you'll be able to go home with a full load.

Tianjin Russian Concession, Western District, Haihe River. On the banks of the French Bridge.

There is a Russian-style building standing here. It is the Ministry of Industry Bureau, the administrative body of the Russian Concession in Tianjin, because of the high terrain here, standing on the upper floor of the Ministry of Industry Bureau, you can overlook the entire western and eastern areas of the concession.

Now, a German expatriate stands by the window on the second floor, looking out over the dark East End. Looking at the burning building in the dark, he cursed viciously.

"These damn Russians! They don't look like people from the civilized world at all! As I said earlier, let the Russians engage in construction. That's delusional. But let them engage in sabotage, it will definitely be more than enough! Perhaps, the current revolution in the Russian Empire is also like this, everything is chaos. It begins with chaos and ends with chaos, and eventually the Russians will appear, and they will get nothing but self-destruction. ”

Standing at the window and muttering to himself, Hannagan was not worried that the Russian Concession authorities would arrest him for his German comments, for the simple reason that he was arrested. Because he was a guest invited by the Russian Foreign Company. The reason why he was able to stand on the office building of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau of the Concession was to judge the riots and disorderly products. It was the Russian Foreign Company that asked him to take refuge here.

As for the war in Europe, what happened to the German and Russian merchants in the Far East? Even the British allowed the German bridge people to live in the British Concession, let alone the Russian Concession bureaucrats who valued money as their life.

Before the riots and chaos were completely subsided, it was very dangerous to venture down the streets, either by the mob or by the military police, and Hannagan now had enough reason not to take the risk, because he was now a rich man, and after the war in Europe, he wanted to return to Germany with a large sum of money to show off.

It's not that Hannagan doesn't want to go to the Chinese Territory, but the Russian Concession is violent and chaotic, the Chinese Cubic Party has blocked the border, and there is no way to contact the outside world, so Hannagan can only take refuge in the Ministry of Industry Bureau, and he has been in the office building of the Ministry of Industry in this concession for almost a day, and he is so uncomfortable that he has to vent the scene outside the window.

Dozens of businessmen from various countries took refuge in the Ministry of Industry of the Concession with Hannagan, and like Hannagan, they were eagerly waiting for news to get to China as soon as possible. It's safe there, because there's order there.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Someone got hurt! Someone got hurt! ”

Just as Hannagan was cursing the Russians. Downstairs came the shouts of a concession catcher, followed by a few shouts in Japanese, which caught Hannagan's attention, and he looked downstairs to see a group of men carrying several wounded men into the heavily guarded Ministry of Works.

Hannagan quickly went downstairs and soon saw the wounded, all Japanese businessmen. And with them rushed into the Ministry of Industry Bureau several Chinese, one of whom turned out to be an old acquaintance of Hannagan.

"Mr. Duan, I didn't expect us to meet here. Where are you from? It looks like you're very embarrassed. ”

Hannagan greeted the acquaintance.

Hearing someone greet him, Duan Qirui turned his head to look and recognized Hannagan.

"I managed to rush over from the Russian consulate, and now, I'm afraid that the Russian consulate has been set on fire by the mob."

Duan Qirui sighed, took the handkerchief handed to him by Qu Tongfeng behind him, wiped his face, and recalled the thrill just now, he was also a little afraid.

"Is the situation at the Russian consulate so critical? Isn't there an army there to protect it? ”

Hannagan was very surprised that there was a battalion of Russian infantry stationed in the Russian ancestral boundary in Tianjin, and the strength was insufficient. Although it is not enough to suppress the entire concession, it is still competent to divide troops to protect various important institutions. In fact, he had heard that the consulate was protected by an infantry company and that there were machine guns, but now that he heard the meaning of this passage, it seemed that the Russian consulate was in trouble.

Without waiting for Duan Qirui to answer, everyone in the Ministry of Industry Bureau heard the sound of machine gun fire from "Gu Tzu Gu Gu " Da Zhi Di, which was also mixed with the sound of rifle fire.

Hannagan heard the gunshots and immediately identified them. It's on the Eastern side, and the Russian consulate is over there.

"It looks like the Russians are really in big trouble." Hannagan touched his chin and muttered to himself. Then he glanced at Duan Qirui, who had regained his composure.

"Mr. Duan, why are you here? I heard that after you retired from politics, you started a shipping company to run the South Seas route. And as far as I know, it seems that the Russian Concession of Tianjin does not have a route to the South Seas, but there is a route to Japan. Hannagan asked.

Duan Qirui sighed and said: "The route competition over there in Nanyang is fierce, and I have long ceased to operate the shipping company. ”

After speaking, Duan Qirui glanced at Qu Tongfeng beside him. Both of them looked gloomy, Duan Qirui said this euphemistically, in fact, the real situation is that they lost their old capital by operating a shipping company, and they also owed a lot of debts, and this time they went to the Russian Concession in Tianjin. The two of them planned to find a way to see if they could act as agents for Russian tea merchants and purchase raw materials from the south. But he never thought that he would encounter the violence and chaos in the concession.