However, the British on the ship did not listen to the advice, and insisted on walking around the narrow market of the county town to inquire about the prices of goods or something, and as a result, hundreds of people flocked to the streets to see the foreigners, and enthusiastically took out all kinds of vegetables and melons and fruits to sell to the foreigners, which made the British officials very moved, and thought that it was completely inconsistent with the situation of the Qing officials describing their subjects as mobs.

The famous British missionary Maddox also visited the city around the same time, returning to say that "[the city] is the largest commercial center on the east coast of China,...... The trade of the magic capital is at least equal to Canton, if not more than Canton."

Later, in 1842, the British navy attacked the Yangtze River basin, and the battle of Wusong occurred, and the county town of Modu also fell into the hands of the British army for a time, but the British did not stay here for a long time, and after staying for five or six days, they asked for a ransom fee of 500,000 yuan, and then left the magic capital and went straight to Nanjing.

Later, as the British Minister Plenipotentiary signed the "Treaty of Nanjing" with the Qing court, on the way back to Hong Kong, he had reached the magic capital, and was deeply impressed by the area north of the magic capital and west of the Huangpu River, and felt that this place was a natural harbor, and it could be supported by the artillery fire of British warships, which was very suitable for the British to live in the magic capital.

In 1843, as the governor of Hong Kong, Pu Ding Cha promoted his artillery captain Bafur to be the consul of the magic capital, and asked him to take a boat north to reach the magic capital.

After receiving the appointment, Bafur went north from Guangzhou, first arrived in Dinghai on the "Vixen", and then transferred to the former steam warship "Maidosa", which was converted into a merchant ship, and arrived at the Huangpu River outside Modu County on the evening of November 8, 1843 (September 17, 23rd year of Daoguang).

Then, on November 9, Bafur went to the magic capital to visit the new Modu Daotai Gong Mujiu, who had just taken office, and that night Gong Mujiu held a banquet at the Daotai Yamen to entertain the British; on November 10, Gong Mujiu paid a courtesy return visit to Bafur, and also boarded the Maidosa, which docked at the Daguan Wharf of Shiliupu.

In the process, Miyamujiu and Bafur were supposed to reach a series of agreements on opening the city and allowing the British to do business in the city, including the famous agreement that "the British would be allowed to move freely around the area for a day."

Before the Opium War, foreigners could only go to Guangzhou to do business, and they could only live in the courtyard designated by the Qing government in Guangzhou, and could not go out without authorization.

After the Opium War, the Qing government was no longer able to enforce such regulations, and there was no need for them.

Bafur was supposed to have a greater range of free movement and a clearer area of action, such as within a 100-kilometer radius of Modu County, but in the end he accepted such a vague agreement.

It is generally believed that there were very few British people coming to China at that time, and it was indeed difficult to ensure safety if they were too far away from the designated residential area, so Bafour did not intend to get too many freedom of movement in the first place.

In the negotiations on November 9, the two sides discussed the issue of the residence of the British, and Bafur proposed that he wanted to find a place to live in the city, and Gong Mujiu, as an official of the Qing court, knew that the mixed living of Chinese and foreign people would cause many problems, so he explicitly refused and asked the British to find a place to live outside the county.

Bafur failed to convince Gong Mujiu, so he could only put this issue on hold for a while, but on the way back from the debut of the Yamen, he met Yao Shuping and Master Yao who fell from the sky, first wanted to monopolize all British business with the Qing Dynasty, and after being refused, he was willing to rent out his own courtyard, so that the British could unexpectedly get a place to stay.

So, on November 14, 1843, Barfur issued a notice to all the British people living in the Magic City, informing them that the British Consulate had been established, and at the same time announcing that the Magic City would officially open to trade with the outside world on November 17.

Considering that there were very few Englishmen in the Magic City at this time, only twenty-five, and all of them came to the Magic City on the Madeusa with Bafour, this kind of notice was only a manifestation of the dogmatism of the English text, and had little practical value.

In fact, most of the British people at that time still lived in the courtyard of Yao's house with the British consul, and if the consul opened the door and yelled loudly, the port would have been opened the day after tomorrow, and the actual notification effect might be better than that of a paper notice.

So, on November 17, 1843, that is, on September 26, the 23rd year of Daoguang, the city was officially opened, and the scene was quiet, no one cut ribbons, no one went to celebrate, and no one even put off firecrackers.

When the city was opened, there were 25 Britons in the city, including the famous missionary Medosa, his son Mai Huatuo, who was Bafur's translator, and the staff of seven or eight famous foreign firms (all of whom came together on the Medosa), such as Jardine Matheson, Benhao, and Taichu, all of whom were British, and there was a serious shortage of Chinese staff.

Recalling these things, Zhao Dagui felt that his visit to the British consul should be able to achieve the desired goal for two reasons:

First of all, the foreign trade of the magic capital will soon reach an astonishing level, forming a rare huge outlet, and the benefits that can be obtained in it are immeasurable if you act properly;

Second, the arrival of the British with enthusiasm and a lot of money and goods, without any Chinese staff to assist them, will make the British show great importance to any Chinese who are willing to get close to them.

In fact, according to Zhao Dagui's understanding, the British had a difficult time in the early days of opening the port, and later a retail merchant named Lin Aqin came from Guangzhou, who was willing to help the British do business, and he was immediately regarded as a treasure, and the British businessmen pooled together 8,000 silver dollars and lent Lin Aqin to establish a foreign firm to do business.

As a result, Lin Aqin, who was originally just a small businessman, established a foreign company called Yisheng, and then expanded the business more and more, and even monopolized more than two-thirds of the import and export trade of the magic capital in 1845 (note: this information comes from the local chronicles of the magic capital).

Considering that in 1845, the export value of the magic capital to Britain was 6,046,000 yuan, and the import value was 5,195,000 yuan, not including the illegal smuggling trade such as opium and the trade between the United States and other countries, it can be inferred that the business of the Yisheng Bank was very large at that time.

If it weren't for the bankruptcy of Yishengxing in 1845, it might have been a giant in Modutan, the kind that can be said to have been spread for a long time in the rivers and lakes.

Lao Wang led Zhao Dagui in, and he was familiar with the road all the way, and soon took him to the area inhabited by the British.

I saw that there were several foreigners in and out of this place, busy with something, and in one of the corners there was someone who put the washbasin on the edge of the flower bed and was washing his face.

"You see, these are foreigners, all with high noses and deep eyes, and their hair is colored, just like a monster. Lao Wang introduced triumphantly.

Zhao Dagui pursed his lips, what's so strange about this, modern society is full of streets, well, it seems to be limited to big cities such as Dadu and Modu.

The well-informed Lord God was a little indifferent to these Westerners, which was very different from the situation where other fellows Wang had seen screaming in shock, which made Wang a little unhappy.

"There's also a foreigner over there who washes his face, you can go over and take a closer look.

Just remember, don't make too much noise and scare people. Lao Wang said with a good attitude of service, but the service seems to be a little too good.

As soon as the two passed, the foreigner who washed his face noticed that someone was coming, and unfortunately, this was a foreigner who could speak Chinese.

"What's the matter with you, you bring irrelevant people over all day long, and you don't talk about politeness?" the foreigner raised his head, pointed at Lao Wang, and said angrily.

"It's my relatives who came to see me from my hometown, and I was about to take them to me, but they were just passing by. Lao Wang smiled and said very hobly.

It's just that this statement obviously can't deceive this foreigner, I saw the other party looking at Lao Wang, Zhao Dagui and others with an angry face, and it seems that he has long understood what Lao Wang is doing.

Zhao Dagui knew at a glance that it was not good, he came over today for something very important, not to make people angry.

“Sorry， Sir，I came here today is to meet the consul， I would like to apologize if it offended you in any way. (I'm sorry, sir, but I'm here today to ask to see Mr. Consul, and I beg your pardon if I have offended you.) Zhao Dagui immediately stepped forward and felt that his English was quite authentic.

Unexpectedly, his words actually shocked the other two people, whether it was the foreigner with a high nose and deep eyes, or Lao Wang, they all looked at Zhao Dagui in surprise.

"You can speak English?" asked the foreigner, surprised.

Zhao Dagui didn't notice until this time that the other party was quite young, he looked like he was only about twenty years old, and if he was in modern society, he would be a sophomore.

"What do you say about foreigners?" was even more surprised by Lao Wang, who seemed to be very surprised to find that his companion could actually speak the words of monster-like foreigners, and almost asked out loud with the young foreigner.

"When I was a child, I met a missionary and learned a little English. (Well, English is here)" Zhao Dagui replied in Chinese, answering the doubts of two people at the same time, and he was not without some pride in his heart.

Although Zhao Zhushen's English is not very good, he is also a person who has studied English for more than ten years, and among the Chinese in this era, he is also a top foreign language talent, and he is one of the best in China.

"That's pretty rare. By the way, below is Walter Henry Medhurst, whose Chinese name is Mai Huatuo, and it is an honor to meet Your Excellency. The young foreigner was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile on his face.

"I have admired the name for a long time, and I am honored to meet Your Excellency. Zhao Dagui also smiled and said, and at the same time stretched out his hand and shook hands with the other party.

"If you want to meet Mr. Consul, come with me, and I will lead you to him. Mai Huatuo said with the courtesy characteristic of a diplomat, and pointed out the direction of the consular office to Zhao Dagui.

"That's a nuisance. Zhao Dagui replied.

At this time, Lao Wang's existence was meaningless, Zhao Dagui patted Lao Wang's shoulder and asked him to go back on his own.

Then, Zhao Dagui went to the room of Bafuer's office with Mai Huatuo.

Zhao Dagui said to Mai Huatuo that he had admired the name for a long time, and it was not all polite words, but anyone who knew something about modern Chinese history would know something about Mai Huatuo and his father Mai Dusi.

Mai Huatuo's father Medhurst (also Waler Henry Medhurst) was a famous missionary who came to China very early, and it was under his auspices that the most widely spread Chinese Bible in China was translated, and he was also the founder of the famous "Mohai Library", and had inextricable relationships with Li Shanlan, Xu Shou, Hua Sufang and others.

"Mohai Library" was the first publishing institution established by Westerners in China, translating and disseminating a large number of religious books and Western scientific books, which played a very key role in the development of modern Chinese journalism.

In addition, Maddox also moved his original hospital in Dinghai to Modu, named Christian Hospital, and later renamed Renji Hospital, which has been a famous tertiary hospital until modern times.

All in all, Maddox played a crucial role in Chinese scholars' understanding and learning of Western culture and technology, and was one of the three missionaries of China's first "Qingpu Teaching Plan".

As the son of Maddos, Mai Huatuo's own experience is also legendary.

Born in 1823, he came to China in 1839 to study several languages in Macao, and in October 1840, at the age of seventeen, he became one of the secretaries of the British Superintendent and Plenipotentiary of Commerce in China (yes, this is the official name of the office) of the British Commander-in-Chief, and during the Opium Wars he became an attaché to Rear Admiral George Iliad and Commander of the Expeditionary Force, Puttingcha.

At the time of the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, Mai Huatuo was one of the four translators of Pudingcha, and considering that he was only nineteen years old at the time, he could be called a teenager.

Beginning in 1843, Mewarda became an attaché to Barfur, the consul of the Magic City, and participated in the signing of a series of important agreements.

After that, Mai Huatuo became consul of Fuzhou in 1854, acting consul and consul of the magic capital in 1860, consul of Hankou in 1865, reinstated consul of the magic capital in 1868, permanent consul of the magic capital from 1870 (hell, what kind of position is this), and retired to China in 1877 and received the knighthood.

There is a very interesting phenomenon here, Maddox is a rare enlightened person among missionaries who respects the Chinese people and is willing to spread advanced Western science to the Chinese, but he does not seem to have any problem with his son serving as an attaché under several British expeditionary force commanders.

Render to God what is God's, and Attila's to Attila's, that is.

An interesting detail that may be worth mentioning is that Mai Huatuo was an important figure in trying to promote railways in China, and for this purpose he did not hesitate to use a deceptive method to buy land in the name of building roads, and then instead jumped onto the railroad tracks to build a railway from the Modu Concession to the town of Wusong, which was officially opened to traffic in 1876.

Of course, the end of this railway was not good, and the Qing court opposed it with the strength of the whole country, and even Shen Baozhen, a famous minister known as enlightened, also thought that the foreigners' move was an insult to the Qing court bureaucracy.

In the end, under the mediation of Li Hongzhang, the Qing court spent 285,000 taels to buy the 14.5-kilometer-long railway that had been laid and opened, and then dismantled the rails and transported them to Dayuan Island together with some machines such as the locomotive.

However, regardless of his later achievements in officialdom and the evaluation of modern Chinese history, Mai Huatuo in 1843 was only a young man of twenty years old.

Mai Huatuo led Zhao Dagui to the door of Bafur's office, and then asked Zhao Dagui to wait for a while, and he went to report it first.

It was some time before Zhao Dagui was invited into the house and was able to meet George Bafour, the first consul of the magic capital.

Born in 1809, at the age of thirty-four, George Bafour was in the prime of his life, and his demeanor was characterised by the decisiveness of a soldier.

Zhao Dagui also has a certain understanding of George Bafur's resume, knowing that his father George Bafur (also a father and son with the same name) was the captain of a naval warship of the former East India Company, and his younger brother was a famous surgeon in India.

George Bafur himself joined the army very early, until he became an artillery captain, during the Opium War, he came to China with Pu Dingcha, who was formerly the Governor General of India, participated in many battles, and later participated in many foreign affairs such as the signing of the "Treaty of Nanjing" as an attaché of Pu Dingcha, and it is said that one of his duties was the Qing court's commissioner for the receipt of more than 10 million taels of war reparations (I don't know what this position is).

After the conclusion of the treaty, Bafur was appointed by Pudingcha as the British consul in the magic capital, and only recently arrived in the magic capital to implement many of the policies issued by Pudingcha.

At this time, Bafur can be said to have hit a wall everywhere in the magic capital, even if he rents a house, he will be resisted by the Qing court, and he finally reached a willingness to rent a house with the people, and he was also regarded as a red guy to watch and earn ticket money, and when he went out to buy things, he had to be deliberately raised several times the high price, in short, he did not have a good time.

Therefore, Bafur was very concerned about McWarto's report that a Chinese who could speak British had visited.

Zhao Dagui and Bafur met and saluted, accompanied by Mai Huatuo, and the meeting that had a far-reaching impact on future history began.

Zhao Dagui took out a few pastries and melons and fruits that he bought and gave them to Consul Bafur as gifts, and the other party happily accepted them.

This is the first time that Bafur has accepted gifts from Chinese locally, the courtesy is light and affectionate, and there is extraordinary political significance, which makes Bafur excited, but he did not expect that as soon as the consulate opened, there were Chinese gentlemen who expressed their closeness to visit, but unfortunately not long after getting up, his teeth were not brushed.

Bafur has also been in China for a long time, and when he saw Zhao Dagui, he was wearing famous brands, oh, it should be said that he was wearing expensive silk clothes, dressed decently, revealing a sense of wealth and luxury, except for his head shaved into a bald head, he was simply impeccable.

This is a rich Chinese with a net worth of at least thousands of pounds, and Bafour's heart moved, and he made a judgment.

Zhao Dagui sat on the chair in front of the consular table and chatted with Bafur in English, leaving a very good impression on Bafur.

There were very few Chinese who could speak English in the Qing Dynasty in this era, and occasionally one or two could only speak some Cantonese English, that is, they could only speak a few English words and express the most basic meaning, but whether they were in line with grammar and so on, completely disregarded.

This English, later known as Pidgin English, later became known as Chinese-style English, was also a million times better than this simplest form of English.

After a few conversations, Zhao Dagui noticed an English book on Bafur's desk and couldn't help but read it out:

"'Chronicle of the Amster's 1832 Trip to the Magic Capital', oh, is the consul studying the information of the Amster's report on its visit to China ten years ago?"

"Yes, we've just arrived in the Demon Capital, and we don't know much about this place, so we need to refer to this. Bafur just replied casually, and suddenly reacted, and couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Can you read English?"

"That's natural, if you want to learn languages, you must learn even words. Zhao Dagui replied naturally, and then he understood that he had said the wrong thing.

Being able to speak a language and certainly be literate was a common thing in later generations, but this is not the case in this age.

One of the policies of the Qing Dynasty was that Chinese Chinese Chinese teaching Chinese to foreigners was illegal and punishable.

From this point of view, it is easier to find foreigners who are proficient in Chinese Chinese and writing, but it is much more difficult to find a Chinese who is familiar with foreign Chinese and writing.

Even in the case of the newly disbanded Thirteen Foreign Firms, there are still some general affairs who can speak English in Guangzhou, but none of these foreign language "experts" who are supposed to be professional can read English articles, let alone write.

Speaking of the position of correspondent, he was actually a person who acted as an interpreter under the orders of the customs superintendent, had a professional license, and was also the head of many employees of foreign merchants.

John Robert Morrison, in his 1832 Guide to Commerce with China, wrote:

"Tongshi is a group of people who are second in status to businessmen, and are known to be fluent in foreign Chinese... Although none of them could read or write a single line of ordinary English or any other foreign Chinese. They don't speak any foreign languages other than Cantonese English, but they are interpreters for the Chinese government... Translation issues between the Chinese government and foreigners... Due to the paucity of such clumsy translation tools as Cantonese English, even if they are well-intentioned, the generals will misunderstand the issues to be expressed..."

In this sense, Zhao Dagui, with more than ten years of English skills in modern society, even if the English grammar and pronunciation of more than 100 years ago were very different from modern ones, he could still throw those so-called professional translators recognized by the Qing court out of the streets.

Moreover, what many English learners may not have noticed is that English education in China is more biased towards modern British English in the 19th century, but is quite different from modern English or American language.

In other words, although the English grammar and common vocabulary of this era are very different from those more than a hundred years later, Zhao Dagui is still the only Chinese in the entire magic capital (if not the whole of China) who can understand English materials, at least in the future, he will learn English much faster than others.

However, at this time, Bafur pointed out this, but Zhao Dagui chuckled in his heart, being a little stronger than others is just excellent, and being too much stronger than others will lead to suspicion.

"I see, I'm curious about how Mr. Zhao learned English in the first place. Sure enough, Bafur threw out a sentence with appreciation, but there was already a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"When it comes to learning English and learning about Western science, I also have to thank a venerable priest who has taught me a great deal of knowledge.

Although my hometown is on the outskirts of the magic capital, you know that we have a lot of people here who take advantage of the monsoon to take a boat to Temasek (Singapore).

When my father was alive, I went to the South Seas twice with my father and went to Temasek.

By chance, I met an elderly missionary at Temasek, who was very kind and called me English and Western technology.

That's how I learned English, learned some natural sciences, and then I fell in love with the UK.

This time, your country has set up a consulate in the magic capital to open a port to do business, and I came to visit you just now..."

Zhao Dagui had long known that there would be such a pass, and he had prepared some rhetoric before coming, but there was no flaw in talking at this time.

Besides, he insisted that he had learned English from a missionary at Temasek, and it was difficult for the British to verify it.