Wen Han tried his best to make himself smile, damn it, he originally planned to use the plan of selling weapons to blackmail the other party to give up more benefits, damn the Prussians, they actually stole the secrets of my British Empire, and when I go back, I will send someone to report to Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister, and make you pay the price.

Li Yunzhong took the opportunity to open his mouth and said: "Very good, I want 10,000 of these rifles, plus a large number of artillery, and the most advanced gunpowder, don't fool with that kind of defective product." ”

Wen Han exclaimed, "Oh God! 10,000 Krenswick rifles? No, no, no, Your Highness, you know, we don't have that many Krenswicks! I can give you up to 500 sticks. ”

Looking at Li Yunzhong's smug smile, Wen Han said helplessly: "Okay, I admit it, I fell into your trap from the beginning, I lost, I didn't expect the ignorant Qingguo to have such a ...... Gentleman. ”

Li Yunzhong laughed and said: "From today onwards, you are my friend, and in order to repay your generosity, you all have the right of first refusal in the treaty I signed with the United Kingdom." ”

Wen Han's eyes widened, and he said in disbelief: "It's incredible that you actually know the right of first choice, I thank you on behalf of the British Empire, and I will send you the weapon as soon as possible after I return." ”

Next, Li Yunzhong and Wen Han discussed the new covenant and argued for half an hour.

"If you can't do it, you must pay it truthfully"

…………

"Okay, you can set up a minister in Nanjing to China, and I will allocate a piece of land for you to use."

"Oh, that's great, I still don't understand, why those ignorant Qing people don't agree to this request, as if we were going to eat people."

…………

"Admit the cession of Hong Kong Island? No, we will not recognize the cession! Rent? Well, the lease is still negotiable. ”

…………

"Open the city controlled by our army? Yes, no problem"

"Seriously, oh God, thank you so much."

…………

"Allowing merchants to trade freely with Chinese merchants? Yes, except for opium. ”

…………

"This is not good, you have to know that the law in England is different from the law in China, and of course the British must be punished for committing crimes here. However, I can set up a special court to try the 'litigation' of the Chinese and British people, and the British can choose to observe. ”

………………

………………

Wen Han looked at the signed treaty with satisfaction, and said to Li Yunzhong: "I'm leaving, I hope we will always maintain this friendship." ”

Li Yunzhong led the officials to send the British and his party out of the city gate, and when he was leaving, he quietly said to the interpreter: "If you can send guns, artillery and other materials to Nanjing, I am willing to increase the price by 30% to buy, and if you introduce other businessmen to transport these materials, I am willing to reduce the purchase and reduce the half-achievement as your intermediary fee." ”

Leaving a surprised translator, Li Yunzhong said goodbye to Wen Han.

Shanghai was opened after the Opium War, and foreigners soon discovered that "Shanghai has a good business environment". Direct trafficking of silk tea from Shanghai for export can save at least 35% of the freight than transshipment to Guangzhou for re-export.

In 1844, according to foreign statistics, Shanghai's tea exports accounted for only 2% of the country's total, and Guangzhou's accounted for 98%. In 1849, Shanghai jumped to 44 percent, and Canton dropped sharply to 23 percent. In 1846, Shanghai's export of raw silk was 4.27 times that of Guangzhou. Shanghai quickly replaced Guangzhou as the leader in foreign trade.

However, due to the lack of supervision by Shanghai Customs, the import and export declaration of goods depends on the conscience of the senior classes of foreign banks to declare the exact quantity. As long as it is profitable, foreign exchange evasion, arbitrage, bribery, fraud, bribery, merger, and theft of intelligence are rampant, and they are simply lawless. After the three major opium giants, including Jardine's and Baoshun and Qichang in the United States, gathered in Shanghai, the opium trade center moved from Guangzhou to Shanghai. The armed clippers of the three major oceanic companies shuttle along the coast of China all year round. In 1850, for example, there were 227 foreign ships entering Shanghai that year, of which 58 were loaded with opium; The total value of Shanghai's imports was 16.31 million silver dollars, of which opium was 12 million yuan, accounting for almost seventy percent.

Wen Han led a delegation visiting Nanjing to the British Concession, and Ali Guo had already called all the British overseas Chinese to wait in the conference room, and Wen Han told the harvest of the Nanjing delegation, which won the applause of all the overseas Chinese.

Wen Han said excitedly: "Gentlemen, it is obvious that the Han Kingdom in Nanjing is an enlightened country, unlike the ignorant Qing State, the Han Kingdom is willing to open all cities, and is quite interested in the railway plan I proposed, I think we should support the Han Kingdom." ”

Ali Guo retorted: "Mr. Minister, I think it is too early to draw conclusions, we still don't know the specific strength of the Han State, whether it can survive the next round of blows from the Qing State. ”

Bao Ling, an embassy official, said: "I think it is better to continue to observe for a period of time before deciding." ”

The British businessman Meng Qi said: "Gentlemen, can you think about protecting your own safety first, and then think about other things, OK?" ”

Ali Guo came to his senses and said, "Yes, it is time for us to build an army. ”

Wen Han thought for a while, nodded and said: "Let's set up a defense committee first, and then establish a volunteer team, which must be captained by a British officer, and at the last step, persuade the French and Americans to join this committee." ”

Ali Guo exclaimed, "Good idea, I suggest that Lieutenant Colonel Jack be the captain of the volunteers. ”

French Concession

The minister, Bourblon, said to his secretary, Aitang, "Go and inquire what the British got from Nanking, and why Wenhan made such a big battle as soon as he came back - to gather all the expatriates for such a long meeting." ”

Aitang reluctantly signaled: "They are in a meeting now, and I think they have really received significant benefits from Nanjing." ”

Bourblon felt more and more the need to go to Nanjing, and he stood up and said: "I think we should also go to Nanjing, to investigate the military, political, religious, and civil situation of the Han Kingdom, and report it to the government as soon as possible, and you go and gather the priests who remained in Shanghai and go to Nanjing with us." ”

Ai Tang agreed: "Since the British can come back safely, we French will not be in danger." ”

On May 5, the French minister, together with the Jesuit priests Nangre and Fr. Gerpida, arrived outside Nanjing by warship, and the sandbar battery on the side of the moat fired cannons to signal that it would anchor in the distance.

The embassy secretary Ai Tang and the interpreter Ma Kaishi went into the city first to test it, and Li Yunzhong Paimon rose to receive him.

Seeing that there was no danger in Nanjing, the French minister, Bourblon, formally requested a meeting with the Han king in the early morning of May 6.

Li Yunzhong received several people from Bourblon at the place where he received the British minister last time, and Li Yunzhong could not speak French, so he could only ask the Frenchman Markes to translate.

Bourblon greeted, "I wish His Excellency King Han good health. ”

Li Yunzhong still decided to scare them so that he could reap the benefits, and immediately pretended to ask: "I heard Mr. Wen Han say that you French want to support the Qing Demon to attack us?" ”

Bourblon secretly scolded Wenhan for not being moral, and denied it: "These are all slanders, we in France have always taken a 'neutral' position on this war, and will never take sides." ”

Hu Yihuang couldn't help but ask: "The general who attacked Jiangyin sent a letter asking why there were foreigner gunboats to help Qing demons defend the city. ”

Li Yunzhong added: "According to the British minister, those gunboats are all French. ”

Burbulon shook his head and said: "Most of the gunboats are Americans, when you attacked Nanjing, Wu Jianzhang, an official of Shanghai Province, leased 3 gunboats with his own silver, which has nothing to do with the official." ”

Li Yunzhong said: "So your Excellency has no purpose in coming to Nanjing this time? ”

Burbulon secretly said that it was not good, and the conversation was about to collapse before it began, and said anxiously: "Your Excellency the Honorable King of Han, I heard that you got married a few days ago, and I came here to give you some small gifts. ”

As he spoke, he put the list of prepared dishes on the table and pushed it to the opposite side.

Li Yunzhong saw that it was written in Chinese, so he picked it up and looked at it.

Brown Bess rifle 100 shots

10 barrels of black powder

2 cannons

Li Yunzhong scoffed: "You are much more stingy than the British. ”

Bourblon didn't understand why the Han King on the other side showed such an expression, thinking that he still didn't understand the power of the flintlock pistol, and explained: "Your Highness, a Brown Bess rifle can suppress 2-3 bird commanders, which is summed up by our army in the war. ”

Li Yunzhong deliberately boasted: "The British gave me 500 shots of the latest Krenswick rifle alone, and a lot of black powder, and promised to dismantle the cannons in Shanghai and sell them to us." ”