Chapter 148: Negotiations

When Ye Zhao and his entourage were escorted back to the Lingshan by hundreds of "merchant group armed men" who rushed to hear the news, Yan Zongguang, counselor of the Imperial Consulate in Xinjiapo, and Bi Qilin, the Chinese protector of Xinjiapo, held urgent consultations on the status and future of the Independence Party.

Yan Zongguang has changed his name to Yan Fu, just stepped down from the post of magistrate of Bixia County, the jurisdiction of Bixia County is the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, Yan Zongguang was appointed as the county magistrate when Bixia County had just been established, there are only a few thousand natives on the islands, now six years have passed, Bixia Island has become the most important supply point for the Oriental fleet to southern Africa, in addition to the expansion of the harbor, the island has built a strong coastal defense fortifications, and permanent officers and soldiers.

This year, Yan Zongguang was only twenty-seven years old, and he was appointed as the counselor of the consulate in Xinjiapo, one of the most important consulates of the empire overseas.

Prior to meeting with Bi Qilin, Yan Zongguang had already met with Zhang Yunzong, the (deputy) overseer of the Imperial African Straits Naval Association, rear admiral of the Royal Navy, and the commander of the fleet on this visit to Xinjiapo.

Zhang Yunzong is the most dazzling of the young generals rising in the empire today, and the students who graduated from the Guangzhou Shipbuilding Academy at the same time as him, such as Lu Dahua and Bao Daling, are all cadres of the young Zhuang faction of the imperial sailors, and they have also participated in the battle of Wusongkou, which defeated the Russian Far East Fleet more than ten years ago.

After communicating with Rear Admiral Zhang Yunzong, Yan Zongguang made an urgent appointment to meet with the British government officials of Xinjiapo, and the governor of Xinjiapo, Smith, happened to have gone to Calcutta a few days ago, and some people believed that he deliberately avoided the Chinese fleet to visit New Zealand, in order to keep a low profile about the impact of the Chinese sailors' visit.

The Straits Settlements Governor's Office, also known as Sanzhou Province by the Chinese people of New Jiapo, was received by Bi Qilin, who was appointed as the Chinese Protector five years ago, and is now the most influential official of the Straits Settlements Office.

Bi Qilin is British, his name is deliberately translated into easy-to-understand words by the Chinese translator, and now Bi Qilin, the Chinese tribune, is responsible for maintaining law and order in the Chinese community in Xinjiapo, prohibiting the sale of people (piglets) and regulating the prostitution industry, etc., but he is actually an old colonialist.

Bi Qilin is a businessman, more than ten years ago when Taiwan's former regime did not naturalize the empire, he took advantage of the instability of Taiwan's regime, wantonly monopolized Taiwan's camphor trade, so that the price of Taiwan's camphor plummeted, and the Taiwanese people were miserable, and then the empire intervened, because Bi Qilin made a hindrance, and the "camphor crisis" broke out between China and Britain, of course, because the empire rose in the east and the founding of the People's Republic of China held a tough stance on the outside world, and finally Bi Qilin and other British businessmen left Taiwan in disgrace, but over the years, He has always preached the threat posed by the imperial dictatorship to the civilized world, and is an out-and-out anti-Chinese element, and his appointment as the Chinese protector of Xinjiapo has to be said to be a kind of irony.

In the round table room of the Governor's Palace, Yan Zongguang and Bi Qilin exchanged words, declaring the Independence Party an illegal organization precisely because of Bi Qilin's toughness, and it was he who persuaded many heavyweight officials.

Bi Qilin did not dare to underestimate this Chinese consul who was not yet 30 years old, and the indigenous people of the Chagos Archipelago are now all relegated, and this young Chinese official has made great contributions, and even the indigenous people on the island gave them an umbrella according to the customs of the Central Plains when he left office, and his talent can be seen in just a few years to bring the indigenous people to their hearts.

Bi Qilin hopes to take this opportunity to ban the Independence Party and block the Chinese people's right to speak, and at the same time it will curb the ambition of the Central Plains Empire to move westward, especially when I heard that China's Taihe Bank has recently begun negotiations with Egypt's Pasha on the shares of the Suez Canal, the discovery of gold mines in the area of Devasland in southern Africa, and the increase of the Chinese fleet in Maputo, its intention is clear. If Xinjiapo is turbulent at this time and Malacca is controlled by the Chinese, the Indian mainland will face the dual threat of China from the sea and land, the east-west trade will be choked by the Central Plains Empire, and the Sun Never Sets Empire will suffer the worst defeat in history. Therefore, when Yan Zongguang impassionedly talked about the autonomy rights of the Xinjiapo people, compared Xinjiapo with Australia, and believed that the citizens of Xinjiapo could also obtain the status of a dominion like Australia, Bi Qilin just listened slowly with his pipe, and he had already made up his mind that no matter how the Chinese reacted, he would take advantage of this golden opportunity to ban the Independence Party.

When Yan Zongguang's statement came to an end and he picked up the teacup and tasted the tea, Bi Qilin knocked on his pipe and said slowly: "If your country declares the Fairness Party a legitimate organization, the contemptible people will definitely persuade their colleagues to lift the ban on the Independence Party." Any organization that calls for the overthrow of the government by force will not be welcomed, and I don't know if Mr. Consul agrees with what I said. ”

Yan Zongguang glanced at the old British man with brown eyes, and said in his heart that he was old and strong, and his mouth was not forgiving. Putting down the teacup, Yan Zongguang smiled and said: "The example given by Mr. William is not very appropriate, the Fairness Party is a mob organization that encourages civilians to kill officials and rob money. The Independence Party, like all other parties in Australia, only hopes that the new Jiapo will gain the status of self-government, and based on education and ideology, the new Jiapo can indeed become a member of the civilized world. ”

After tasting tea, Yan Zongguang said again: "What's more, Britain is in charge of the civilized world and maintains the peace and order of the world, so that all people know the dawn of freedom and equality. ”

"I have received an urgent telegram from Beijing, if the Sanzhou Prefecture insists on rounding up the Independence Party, our country will not rule out the possibility of armed intervention, please Mr. William think twice, do not make thousands of people shed blood and become a sinner of history with a momentary moment!"

Hearing Yan Zongguang's last words, Bi Qilin was stunned, he also considered the various reactions of the Chinese, but he really did not expect that the Chinese would threaten with force at the first time, the British Empire, since Napoleon, how could it have encountered a country that intimidated by waging war?

For a while, Bi Qilin did not know how to react, if the officials of the second country dared to threaten to use force, Bi Qilin would have already brushed his sleeves up, but such a solemn warning by Chinese diplomats could not help but make people consider the possibility and consequences of war between the two countries.

And the Chinese sent such a clear signal for the first time, obviously, they just don't want to misunderstand and take luck with Xinjiapo officials, perhaps, a comprehensive round-up of the independence party, will really trigger a war between the two countries?

Bi Qilin shuddered in his heart, he knew that he could not bear such a responsibility, and the self-confident Chinese made him feel that the yellow dragon flag at the negotiation table suddenly had an awe-inspiring and inviolable meaning.