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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 165: Borrowing Teachers to Help Suppression

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    After hearing what the guard said, Wen Han asked in surprise: "Rong Lu? Who is this person?"

    Blomble shrugged and said: "No need to ask, it must be Wu Jianzhang of Shanghai Road. He seems to be the only Manchu official who can speak English."

    Marsali frowned and said: "My two ministers, I still think we should help our poor Lord Daotai. After all, he has given us a lot of benefits in Shanghai, right?"

    This Wu Jianzhang was named Tianxian, nicknamed Daopu, and nicknamed Ah Shuang. When he was doing business in Guangdong, he was named Wu Tianyuan, and foreigners called him Shuang Palace.  A native of Cuiwei Township, Xiangshan, Guangdong, he came from a humble background. In his early years, he made a business selling chickens in Macau, Guangzhou and other places. People in the market said selling chickens was a pleasure.  In 1832, Tongshunxing was opened in Guangzhou to do business.  In 1839, he participated in discussions with foreign businessmen on the issue of guarantees to ban the import of opium.  After the opening of Guangzhou as a port in 1843, he engaged in tea trade, accumulated huge sums of money, and invested in Qichang Foreign Company together with the Americans, becoming one of the seven largest shareholders of the bank.  He went to Shanghai around 1845 and expanded his business by engaging in opium smuggling, tea trade, pawn trade, etc., and also donated money to obtain a candidate.  After he was appointed Taoist Su Song in 1848, because of his fluent English and familiarity with foreigners, he was considered by the Qing court and the British and American consuls as a "talent to communicate with foreigners". In the same year, he promised the United Kingdom to expand the concession and the United States to open a concession in Hongkou.

    Wenhan and Blomble looked at each other. They both knew the relationship between Wu Jianzhang and the Americans. Marsali seemed more like helping the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and was extremely enthusiastic about Wu Jianzhang's proposal to use his teacher to assist in the suppression.  Wen Han touched his chin and smiled: "We have met Wu Jianzhang who can speak English. Have you met other Manchu and Qing officials who can speak English?"

    Marsali and Blomble shook their heads together, Wenhan nodded and said: "Okay, let's meet this Ronglu, Ronglu? I have never heard of this name."

    The guard turned around and went out. After a while, he came in with four Manchu officials. They were all dressed in ordinary Manchu military attach¨¦s. The first one was only sixteen or seventeen years old. He looked very young, but his eyes were cold and surly.

    Ma Shali looked and saw that Wu Jianzhang was not among them, and he didn¡¯t recognize any of the four people. He couldn¡¯t help but be very disappointed.  Lord Wenhan was also surprised. He had never seen any of these four Manchu officials. He wondered what would happen if they came.

    I saw the young Manchu military attach¨¦ walking forward, with a smile on his cold face. He stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "My name is Ronglu. I am an imperial guard from the Forbidden City. Who is Lord Wenhan?"

    Ronglu spoke fluent English. Except for Blombull, Marsali and Wenhan all understood it. Wenhan stepped forward slightly surprised and said: "I am Lord Wenhan, the imperial guard? I am the great emperor.  The bodyguard?"

    Ronglu nodded and said: "Exactly, Lord Wenhan, all four of us are."

    Marsali exclaimed: "The Emperor's bodyguards? Oh my god, why did you come to Shanghai? Has the Emperor figured it out? Wants to receive me in person? Can I go to Beijing to hand over my credentials in person?"  "

    Ronglu's expression returned to coldness, he frowned and looked at Marsali, who was a little thin, and asked, "I wonder who this is?"

    Marsali stood up and stretched out his right hand to shake hands with Ronglu, and said: "My name is Marsali, and I am the United States Minister Plenipotentiary to China."

    Ronglu grunted, stretched out his hand to shake Marsali's hand and said, "Nice to see you, Your Excellency, Minister. We came to Shanghai to handle other matters. For diplomatic matters, you should talk to the Governor of Liangjiang or the Minister of Commerce of the Five Countries.  "

    Marsali was very disappointed. He shook his head and said: "Damn it, you guys are pushing and pushing like this, you know? I met Ye Mingchen, Minister of Commerce of the Five Countries, and made a request. He asked me to find the Governor of Liangjiang.  I went to Shanghai to find the new Governor of Liangjiang, Yiliang, but he asked me to go back to Ye Mingchen. Do you Chinese really not want to have contact with outside countries?"

    Ronglu said calmly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Minister, this matter is not within the scope of my responsibilities, but I may be able to take your words back. The final result is beyond my control."

    Marsali's eyes lit up and he said: "Really? That's right. You are the emperor's bodyguard. You must have a way to talk to him. We, the United States of America, want to establish diplomatic relations with China. On behalf of the United States, I want to go to Beijing to see the emperor.  The emperor, hand over the credentials in person.¡±

    How could Ronglu actually talk to Emperor Xianfeng?  But he still said without changing his expression: "I can try."

    Marsali was very surprised, while Wenhan frowned a little. He knew that the Manchu officials were all the same thing. The British had not been able to fulfill the request for the minister to go to Beijing to meet the emperor and submit his credentials for so many years. This young man in front of him could  Do it?  Wenhan was very suspicious.

    After Blomble listened to the translator on the side, he stood up and made an introduction. Ronglu was stunned. It was a coincidence that the ministers from the United States, Britain and France were all there.

    Wenhan invites everyoneAfter sitting down, except Ronglu, the other three Manchu military attach¨¦s looked very reserved and curious about the sofa, piano and furniture in the reception room. The Indian servant in the embassy brought coffee to the dead man, but Ronglu drank a few.  Mouth, his face was calm, but the expressions on the faces of the other three people after drinking coffee were very painful.

    Wenhan coughed lightly, holding back his smile and said, "I wonder what's wrong with Mr. Ronglu?"

    Ronglu put down his cup and said, "I came here to borrow troops from the three envoys."

    Hearing this, Wenhan and Blomble shook their heads together. Wenhan frowned and said: "Unfortunately, we have domestic orders that Britain remains neutral in China's civil war. We, the British Empire, are powerless to borrow troops to deal with the rebels."

    Blomble also nodded, only Marsali remained silent. Ronglu's expression remained unchanged and he said calmly: "His Majesty the Emperor sent me not to deal with the long-haired rebels in Nanjing, but to deal with the rebels in Shanghai.  "

    Wen Han and others were stunned. Marsali frowned and said: "Mr. Ronglu, your great emperor wants you to deal with local rebels. You should go to Shanghai Dao Wu Jianzhang and ask Wu's Yamen to send troops. You seem to be looking for  Wrong place."

    Ronglu was still sitting upright and said calmly: "I'm not wrong, Minister Marsali, I think you should know Wu Daotai's origin. He is from Guangdong."

    Marsali nodded and said, "So what?"

    Ronglu said slowly: "Wu Daotai is from Guangdong. He made great use of fellow Guangdong people in his office. The Geshiha and government officials around him are all from Guangdong. As far as we know, the influence of the Guangdong gang in Shanghai has spread to the entire yamen of Susong Taidao.  They are plotting an uprising to capture Shanghai."

    After hearing this, even Wen Han couldn't sit still. After all, the person he had a secret agreement with was the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom, and the origin of this Guangdong gang was unknown.  Marsali exclaimed: "Oh my god, the Cantonese gang? Who are they? What do they want?"

    Ronglu picked up the cup and took another sip of coffee and said: "Many of them are rebels from the Guangdong Tiandihui. The leader is Liu Lichuan, who is a friend of Wu Daotai from the same hometown. Others include the local Qingpu grain-resistant peasants,  Some local gangs. Liu Lichuan and others planned to launch a rebellion to rescue his accomplice Pan Qixiang who was sentenced to death for the Qingpu religious case, and then capture Shanghai."

    Wenhan frowned and said, "Mr. Ronglu, I think you should remind Wu Daotai instead of coming to us."

    Ronglu shook his head and said: "I have discussed this matter with Wu Daotai, but Wu Daotai firmly believes that his fellow villagers will not harm him, and now that most of the people in his yamen are rebels, he does not dare to act rashly."

    Wenhan still shook his head firmly and said: "Unfortunately, Mr. Ronglu, we can't send troops with just a few words from you. You may be able to mobilize reliable troops from other places to solve this problem."

    Ronglu smiled slightly and said, "I'm also very sorry. All the soldiers from surrounding counties have been transferred to Suzhou and Hangzhou to fight against the long-haired rebels. I have no soldiers to transfer." At this point, Ronglu took out a copy from his arms.  Wrapped in yellow silk, he said slowly: "However, I have an imperial edict from His Majesty the Great Emperor. When we go south this time, we can mobilize money and food from various prefectures and counties. Since you ministers have difficulty in sending troops, I would like to use Shanghai's customs duties as collateral.  We borrow a certain amount of money from a bank in a certain country, and then recruit a group of volunteers or mercenaries to do things for us. After the work is completed, we will pay you."

    Wenhan coughed slightly and turned back to Marsali and Blomble: "Gentlemen, maybe we should discuss it in private." Then he turned back to Ronglu and said: "I'm sorry, we have to excuse ourselves for a moment."

    Ronglu nodded, raised the cup and drank coffee again. Wenhan and others got up and went to the next door.

    After a few foreigners left, Chengen beside Ronglu frowned and said, "You Ronglu, you can still talk nonsense about foreign devils. What is this? It tastes terrible, and you still drink it with gusto?"

    Ronglu said lightly: "This is coffee, just like our tea, it is a drink of foreigners."

    Cheng'en said with some anxiety: "Brother Rong, what do you think will happen if the foreigners don't agree? Wu Daotai doesn't want to listen to us. If he says something to Liu Lichuan, I'm afraid it will alert the snake. Otherwise, we should go back.  Please send troops from Beijing."

    Ronglu snorted and said: "We have mobilized troops from the capital. The day lilies are already cold. Don't worry. Wu Daotai won't say anything to Liu Lichuan for the time being. He still can't bear to be rich. He also has difficulties. They are all friends from the countryside.  , and there are spies from the Tiandihui in the yamen. If he makes any changes, it will definitely alert the rebels. Maybe they will start an uprising in advance. On the contrary, it will be better for us to come forward. Foreigners are all people who are blind to money.  Moreover, if the war breaks out in Shanghai, their trade will also be affected, and they will agree. As long as this precedent is set, and we can borrow help from our teachers to suppress the war later, the foreigners will be able to agree more easily.??¡±

    Cheng'en let out an ooh, looked at Ronglu strangely and said, "How do you know so many things?"

    Ronglu said calmly: "I have a master who used to be a comprador working in a foreign company. He told me."

    While talking, Wen Han and others returned to the reception room. Wen Han did not waste time and coughed lightly: "Mr. Ronglu, after our discussion, several of our countries will form a volunteer team to defend the concession. As for the volunteers you need,  We can publicize it to the people of various countries in the concession on your behalf. I hope you can tell us the specific salary and benefits, and how much loan you need?"

    Ronglu laughed, stood up and said: "I am very happy to cooperate with you to jointly protect the interests of Shanghai. I already have the specific regulations here. Let's discuss it in detail later."
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