The one who came to give Chen Zikun an ultimatum was John Brown, second secretary of the British Consulate in Nanjing. Walker, a young man in his twenties, though he tried his best to hide his tongue and still showed a slum accent in the East End of London, was quite tall, six feet tall, almost catching up with Chan, and his face was flushed with pimples because of excitement.

The consulate only sent an inexperienced low-level diplomat to negotiate with Chen Zikun, no doubt in their eyes Chen Zikun was just a small warlord who did not enter the stream, Chen Zikun did not care about this kind of humiliation at all, but the aggressiveness and domineering attitude of the Walker diplomat angered Liu Ting, who acted as an interpreter, and couldn't help but look at him angrily.

Walker was very rampant and cocked Erlang's legs, he had studied Chen Zikun's background, and knew that he was a student in the United States, a senior intellectual, and the Chinese newspapers boasted about him very much, but when he saw a real person, he had a nondescript three-lock beard, which looked like a clay statue in the temple of Emperor Guan, how could he have the demeanor of a foreign character.

Chen Zikun looked at the arrogant British diplomat indifferently and said to Liu Ting: "You take a break." Then he cleared his throat and said in a standard Cambridge accent: "Mr. Walker, I would be happy to settle an account for you, that in 1775 in the small town of Lexington, in the United States, British Army Majors Francis Smith and John Pitcairn led eight hundred soldiers, facing seventy ragged farmers with guns, the gap between them seems to be greater than we do today, but do you know what the result is? ”

Walker was stunned by his hand, and he was known for his good arguments in college, and he actually opened his mouth, only to hear Chen Zikun continue: "In 1783, the United States became independent, from your North American colony of the British Empire, to an independent and free country, and today, the United States can compete with Britain, I don't think you disagree with my point of view." ”

"But, Your Excellency, I do not think that your high arguments have any connection to our present dispute." Walker remains tough.

Chen Zikun smiled: "Boy, don't you understand that the giant ship of history is unstoppable, I admit that you have a lot of warships and a lot of cannons, but can you stop the fiery hearts that yearn for freedom?" You can bombard me, you can defeat me, but you can't stop China's progress, your country's freighter sailed savagely in the Huai River, rammed and sank our ship, causing casualties and losses, my country's police detained me according to law, the defendants live in a detention center with comfortable conditions, there is plenty of food, and there are free lawyers to defend them, everything we do is in line with the standards of a civilized country, and you, actually sent warships to threaten, may I ask, who is barbaric and backward? Is it you, or am I? ”

Walker found a loophole and said sharply, "Your Excellency, I must remind you that British ships have the right of navigation within your own waterways, and Britain also has extraterritoriality, and you cannot arrest our nationals. ”

Chen Zikun said disdainfully: "Who did you sign a traitorous agreement with? Do I admit it? ”

Walker said, "Then what do you want to do?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "It's not that I want to deal with it, but in accordance with the law." ”

"Can't do it!" Walker ** dropped a sentence, he was not afraid of Chen Zikun, behind him was the British Empire and gunboats.

"You have to compromise because God is on my side!" Chan is even tougher than him.

"Wait to face the Royal Navy's cannons!"

"In the face of the wrath of the awakened people, no cannon is worth mentioning!"

Walker said he couldn't say anything about him, and protested by leaving the room.

"Someone, send one to Mr. Johnbull." Chen Zikun said with a pun.

This was a formal diplomatic meeting, and there were no professional diplomats in the office, but college students who knew English from various offices came to help.

Dashuai didn't become a diplomat, otherwise there would be Gu Weijun's job, everyone thought so.

……

Second secretary John Walker returned to the hotel, and after dinner began to write in a diary, which was one of his good habits.

"Today's negotiations with the military rulers of Gangdong Province hardly feel like negotiating with Chinese, but like defending at university, or talking to Bismarck about territorial issues, Chen Zikun, unlike most Chinese, I often have to be impressed by his eloquence and penetrating perspective, and sometimes I even wonder if the timetable for the withdrawal of British forces from this continent has begun to count down......"

There was a faint commotion outside, and Walker pushed open the window to see that the streets were crowded with people, leaflets flying like snowflakes, and slogans with shocking black letters, which he did not recognize, but could guess, nothing more than incendiary slogans such as Down with imperialism.

After five minutes, the second secretary came to his senses, the procession was coming for him, his heart was beating violently, but on the surface he still maintained the demeanor of an English gentleman, and he sorted out his suitcase in an orderly manner, and suddenly his entourage Agui broke in and stammered: "No, no, no, no." ”

"Calm down, my friend." Walker reassured, but his back was already wet, and he had heard a lot of Boxer stories.

"The police are coming." Agui finally said a complete sentence.

As soon as the words fell, a team of black-uniformed policemen went upstairs and led the patrol officer to say, "British, we have been ordered to protect you, and we will go into the house quickly so that you will not be hit by debris." ”

Walker didn't understand, and thought he was here to arrest him, and was about to protest strongly, but Aguilara pulled the corner of his coat and told him in pidgin English that the police were here to protect him, and Walker was relieved and went into the house and closed the window.

Wave after wave outside, "Down with imperialism!" "Punish the British ship that caused the accident!" "Get out of the British gunboats!"

"This is probably the anger of the Chinese people." Walker thought that if there was a destroyer on the Huai River at this moment, as long as he fired a shot, he would shoot it, and these angry students would be as honest as quails.

But the destroyers of the British Empire were trapped dozens of miles away, far away from the water and could not quench their thirst, and they could only rely on their own strength and wisdom to mediate and bring the Chinese to their knees.

The student demonstration lasted for two hours, attacking the exterior wall of the hotel where Walker was staying with rotten leaves and rotten eggs, and there was no other radical action, and after the students dispersed, Walker took Ah Gui out of the hotel, stepped on the leaflets and slogans on the streets, and went to visit Swire & Co. and Mobil Oil Company near the docks.

Walker then went to the cell of the Marine Police Corps to visit the detained crew again, except for the British captain and the first mate and other senior sailors, the ordinary Chinese sailors had been released, the captain and others lived in rooms with sun and clean bedding, and the quality of the food may be unbearable for the French, but it was okay for the British.

The Marine Police also assigned a free lawyer to the captain who had caused the trouble, and everything was handled in the proper way, and Walker spoke with the captain to make sure that he had not been mistreated before leaving.

"Mr. Walker, get me out of here, I'm suffocating." The captain said nonchalantly.

Out of the gate of the Marine Police Corps, Walker saw a large group of Chinese kneeling at the door, wearing linen and filial piety, and placing wreaths next to them, he knew that this was the pomp of the Chinese funeral, and listened to Agui explain that these people were the families of the drowned Chinese, and ran to ask the government to help them out.

Walker looked at them coldly, this group of lowly yellow-skinned monkeys, a black and thin woman actually nursed the child with her arms open, her child was also black and thin and obscene, really like a monkey, there were three children of different heights standing next to the woman, with vegetables on their faces, patches on their clothes, and Gui said that the father of these children, and the only laborer in the family, died in this disaster.

"May God bless them." Walker hurried away and returned to the hotel, it was getting late, he took a shower and went to sleep, lying on the bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, the woman's dull and sad gaze seemed to prick some of the softest corners of his heart.

Walker sat up, he thought of his own background, he had lived in the foggy East End of London, where industrial workers were concentrated, prostitutes, Jews, gamblers, and drunkards were endless, and his father, Walker, a shipyard worker, died early in a work accident, and his mother, a blind Irish woman, raised several children to grow up so that his eldest son, John, could go to college and get ahead.

Being sent to the Far East is both a challenge and an opportunity, and Walker warned himself not to be blinded by the pity of the Chinese, who can always take poison and sharp knives out of the child's swaddling clothes, must not pity them, and notify the consulate tomorrow so that the Royal Navy can continue to put pressure on the Chen Zikun authorities.

……

When Walker tossed and turned, the commander's residence was also lit up all night, hearing that there was an armed conflict with the British, Yan Su hurriedly rushed back from the front line, and when he learned that the British ship had been scared back, Chief of Staff Yan breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank God, I'm afraid that the provincial city will become a sea of fire, our strength is not good, and we can't fight hard." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Our strength is not good, but we have wisdom, it all depends on Secretary Liu, and the clever plan to retreat from the British ship should be the first merit." ”

Liu Ting blushed: "Where, it's the commander-in-chief who has a good command." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Don't be modest, this thing really rewards you, I thought you were talking about making fake mines to deter British ships, why did you still make real mines?" ”

Liu Ting said: "This kind of water mine has been around since ancient times, when I was a child, I rummaged in my grandfather's study, and I once saw this kind of sailor weapon in a military book, the tank contains coarse gunpowder, and a bowl is put on it, and the bowl is covered with charcoal, covered with thin ash, and the water flows down, and the ship is hit and loses its balance, and the coals overturn and ignite the gunpowder, and the explosion damages the enemy ship. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Erudite and strong, good at use, Liu Ting, it's a bit condescending to let you be a secretary." ”

~