After pondering for a while, Xiao Yungui said to Tang Erniu outside the cabin: "This king knows, let his brothers be on guard, this ship is a British ship, and they don't dare to build it yet." Xiao Yungui was very sure that the Qing army did not dare to come on the ship to search, although in the history of the Yarrow incident, it was also because the Qing army forcibly boarded the Yarrow to search and caused conflicts, but at that time, the Yarrow was in the open sea, but here was Baoshun Wharf, whether it was Bao Ling or Guangzhou Consul Ba Xiali would not let the Qing army go on board to search, and the Yarrow at that time was not strictly a British ship, it was just a smuggling ship that received a ship license in Hong Kong, and the Radiance was a real British ship.

Sure enough, not long after Tang Erniu received the order, the sound of the dispute between the two sides became louder and louder, Xiao Yungui looked through the porthole, and saw more than 100 Qing soldiers and sailors and crew members of the Guanghui on the dock confronting each other, and the manager of Smith Matheson and Captain George of the Guanghui were arguing with several Qing Dynasty officials, and the interpreters on both sides had to raise their volumes to cover up each other's voices. The men and horses on both sides were heavily armed, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air.

In the past year or so, relations between Britain and the Qing court have been very tense, the Qing court was dissatisfied with the British dealings with the Taiping army behind their backs, and refused to allow local officials of the Qing court to borrow teachers to suppress them, while the British were dissatisfied with the Qing court's ambiguous attitude on the revision of the treaty, and at the same time repeatedly refused the request of the minister to go to Beijing to present his credentials. In the eyes of the British, the Qing court was synonymous with stubbornness and ignorance and disobedience, and if it were not for the current tense time of the Crimean War, the British would have provoked the Second Opium War, because the British always believed that the benefits of the First Opium War were too small.

Therefore, the British and the Qing court felt that the other party could not be trusted, and the British had always been hegemonic and made the British in Guangzhou fearless, and the officials and Ye Mingchen in Guangzhou were not like those high-ranking officials in the capital who were far away, let alone the high-ranking Emperor Xianfeng, they knew that the British were really unprovoked.

So. Although the Qing Dynasty officials on the dock were full of voices, no one dared to give the order to rush directly to the ship, after all, there were still a large number of Qing regiments training behind the dock, and the sailors and crews of the Brilliant could not stop the Qing army alone. These Qing Dynasty officials who had been in Guangzhou for a long time obviously knew some foreign affairs, and this seems to have benefited from the fiasco of the last Opium War and the results of many years of dealings between Guangzhou officials and foreigners.

Rong Lu, who was standing behind a group of Guangzhou officials, laughed, and he admired these colleagues very much. Their righteousness and fighting for every inch of land really looked like that, but in reality they didn't do anything at all. Rong Lu didn't know who the people on the ship were, and the fine work he sent was just to investigate that Li Chong's sister had been kidnapped, and Rong Lu guessed that these people must be the Taiping's fine work in Guangzhou, and only these bold people dared to rob people in the British merchant hall area. So Rong Lu asked Ye Mingchen to send soldiers and horses to search for him. One is to eradicate the Taiping army's spy stronghold in Guangzhou, and the other is to snatch Li Xuanji back. He saw that Clifford was definitely not a simple figure. If only you can pass the brother-sister relationship between Li Xuanji and Li Chong. Taking the Clifford line is definitely beneficial and harmless to the Hunan army.

Although Rong Lu moved very quickly and went to see Ye Mingchen overnight, Governor Ye was also very cooperative, and the Guangzhou Green Battalion and Regiment Training Soldiers and Horses were also mobilized very quickly, but the detailed work of the Taiping Army seemed to be more powerful. By the time they arrived at the secret stronghold of the Taiping Army, it was already empty. Rong Lu even suspected that the Guangzhou government, green camp, and regimental training all had the Taiping Army's meticulous work, but at present, the Hunan army had not yet arrived, and he was not good at doing anything. Once a mutiny is provoked, it is not fun.

Fortunately, some clues were found, and some people who got up early to collect dung saw a group of people hugging a sedan chair and going to Shuntai Wharf, so Rong Lu ordered people to rush directly to Shuntai Wharf, and there was only a big ship parked on the wharf, so Rong Lu asked people to get on the boat to search.

Only a few people know about Xiwang's trip to Guangzhou on the Jardine Matheson's Guanghui, Smith and Captain George both know about Jardine Matheson's experience in Guangzhou, and Bao Ling and Pa Xiali also know that the British attach great importance to Xiwang's trip to Guangzhou. Because the King of the West was an important potential ally of Britain in the Far East, this potential ally became even more important with the successive victories of the Anglo-French combined fleet against Russia in the north. At the same time, on the battlefield in Fujian, the Taiping army was also gradually approaching Fuzhou, and the clever British knew that it was only a matter of time before the Qing court lost the two ports of Fuzhou and Xiamen. In Britain, there have even been proposals for an enlightened Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to completely replace the Qing Dynasty, arguing that it would be more in Britain's interest to have a trustworthy and enlightened Christian state in the East.

Of course, all this clamor was caused by the fact that the Qing court was currently not birding the foreign powers, and Xiao Yungui sometimes wondered if Xianfeng disregarded his face and fully agreed to the treaty proposed by the British and sold the country to the ground, would the great powers still support the Taiping Army of the Western Palace like this? The answer is no, when the time comes, the great powers will definitely come out to help suppress it, and that is the answer that you don't need to think about to know.

Therefore, Xiao Yungui was also happy to see that the Qing court had a bad relationship with the foreign powers. This guy looked at the current situation and thought secretly, it is best to have a stunned young man to go to a fire, a fire on both sides, it is best to die a few British, although the British sent a lot of ships to the north, but Hong Kong and Guangzhou they still stationed a few warships, absolutely enough for the Qing army in Guangzhou to drink a pot, if the two sides go to war, then this trip will be even more turbid.

But the more Xiao Yungui waited, the more disappointed he became, the officials in Guangzhou were all thundering and raining, and Rong Lu was actually calm, it seemed that he didn't know who the people on the ship were, maybe Rong Lu just thought that the people on the boat were just the leaders of the Taiping Army in Guangzhou, and the weight of this person was not worth the risk. However, Xiao Yungui didn't expect that Rong Lu was actually coming for Li Xuanji.

When the two sides were at a stalemate, a group of British soldiers came to the docks with the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Bao Ling, Minister Plenipotentiary in China, and the British Consuls in Canton, Pashali and Clifford.

Seeing the arrival of the British soldiers, the Qing army's green battalion soldiers and regimental training soldiers consciously gave way to it, which made Xiao Yungui frown after seeing it, it seems that this fire can't be done. Xiao Yungui regretted a little, just now he should have let Tang Erniu lead people to disguise, and after fishing in troubled waters, he first fired a secret gun and provoked an incident, at this time, the Qing army saw that the British soldiers had already confessed, and they were afraid that it would not work again.

Bao Ling stepped forward to ask the Guangzhou officials a few words, and those officials did not pay attention to Bao Ling, but looked at Rong Lu behind him, because it was Ye Mingchen who came to explain, and he listened to the dispatch of Rong Junmen in everything.

Rong Lu was still wearing civilian clothes at this time, he smiled faintly, stepped forward to greet Bao Ling, and said, "Sir Bao Ling, the matter is very simple, we suspect that there are rebels from our country on this ship, so we have to go on the ship to search." ”

Bao Ling had already known Rong Lu yesterday, and he also knew that this Qing official was different from other officials, he had business dealings with many foreign firms in the UK, and Ye Mingchen also trusted him very much, and Bao Ling was still very restrained at the moment and said: "I'm sorry, Lord Rong, this ship is our British merchant ship, and it is full of British citizens, and my country has always maintained neutrality in the rebellion in your country, and will never harbor rebels on the ship." ”

Rong Lu had a smile on his face, but he secretly scolded Bao Ling shamelessly, everyone in Guangzhou knew that foreigners had been doing business with the Taiping Army, and there were many merchant ships that set sail from Guangzhou to Shanghai and Ningbo every month, Shanghai and Ningbo had been occupied by the Taiping Army, and these ships were going north for sightseeing? Rong Lu admires Bao Ling's lying skills, and he doesn't even blink his eyes, it seems that the most liar on this shijie is a politician.

Rong Lu touched his chin and said with a smile: "According to the Jiangning Treaty, we have the right to inspect the ships suspected of violating the law, and I also suspect that there are smuggled goods on board, please order Sir Bao to fulfill the treaty." ”

Bao Ling sneered and said to each other: "If you want us to fulfill the treaty, then we must first ask the Governor of Liangguang to give us a reply to amend the treaty, we proposed a note to amend the treaty as early as last year, and there is still no clear reply to this day, Lord Rong, do you think this kind of request for us to unilaterally fulfill the treaty is appropriate?" ”

Rong Lu is still a little younger, he is far less than Xiao Yungui, who used to work in his father's big company, and he does not have Xiao Yungui's deep social experience, so he showed a flaw for Bao Ling, the old fox, to catch. But he turned his eyes to look at Clifford, smiled secretly and said, "Mr. Clifford, my men have seen that someone has kidnapped your fiancée on this ship, and your fiancée seems to be from our Qing Kingdom, and according to the law, she should be rescued by us." ”

Rong Lu originally wanted to stimulate Clifford, as long as Clifford said the slightest mistake, he could take advantage of the situation, use the excuse of rescuing his own woman, and get on the boat in a grand manner.

Unexpectedly, the relationship between Clifford and Xidian was not ordinary iron, and Clifford also knew that his fiancée was a veritable traitor, so it was impossible for him to let Rong Lu lead a group of Qing troops to rescue his fiancée. No matter who kidnapped Li Xuanji, as long as he was on a British merchant ship, Clifford was not worried about Li Xuanji's safety.

At that moment, Clifford said lightly: "Last month, my fiancée had become a British citizen and was no longer from your Qing Dynasty, which Sir Bao Ling could testify, and the relevant procedures were also handled by Sir Bao Ling." ”

Rong Lu looked at Bao Ling in astonishment, and this politician, who was accustomed to seeing wind and waves, said casually without blinking his eyes: "Yes, since Miss Li Xuanji and Mr. Clifford are engaged, according to the laws of the British Empire, Miss Li Xuanji has all the conditions to become a British citizen, there is no doubt about this. ”

After Clifford finished speaking, he didn't pay attention to Rong Lu, he turned around and walked towards the ship, and the British sailors and crew in front of him consciously got out of the way. Although Li Xuanji did not become a British citizen at all, Clifford believed that Bao Ling would help him do what he said, and he only wanted to see Li Xuanji as soon as possible at the moment. (To be continued......)