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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 192: Determined to Win

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    In December 1842, the British Prime Minister recommended Captain Barfour as the first British consul in Shanghai and gave him an important task to find a long-term settlement for the British.  On the evening of November 8, 1843, Bafour came to Shanghai with six assistants.  Early the next morning, he rushed to Daotai Yamen and paid a visit to Daotaigong Mujiu, the local official in Shanghai.  Balfour proposed to rent a piece of land in Shanghai to build a British consulate.  This request made Gong Mujiu break out in a cold sweat. He thought that if Hua and foreigners lived together in the future, some trouble would inevitably arise, and he couldn't afford to be blamed by the court.  Gong Mujiu rejected Bafur's request, but Bafur would not give up. For several days, he sent people to search for rental houses in the city. On the other hand, he continued to put pressure on Gong Mujiu and threatened that if  Unable to find a house, they are willing to set up tents in the city to live and work.  When the negotiations between the two parties reached an impasse, a Chinese businessman took the initiative to find Bafur and offered to rent his house to Bafur for use as a consulate.  As if he had found a life-saving straw, Bafur immediately rented this old house with 52 rooms.  At this point, Gong Mujiu had no choice but to report to the court and acquiesce on the grounds that the place would not disturb the people.

    Shortly after Bafur¡¯s death in Shanghai, he issued a notice announcing that Shanghai was officially opened as a port on November 17, 1843.  Within one and a half months after the opening of the port, 11 foreign companies had already poured into Shanghai.  British missionaries, doctors, consulate personnel, etc. also came in droves.  At the same time, people of all colors including adventurers, nouveau riche, compradors, financiers, businessmen and even gangsters from all over the country also gathered here.  For a time, the sound of whistles continued in the Huangpu River, and the lights on the roadside stayed on all night; suits and leather shoes, long robes and jackets crowded around each other, and local dialects and European and American languages ????were mixed together.  

    What happened next was just as Gong Mujiu expected. The Chinese people who had never seen Western scenes even spared foreigners from eating and dressing.  There are often a large number of curious Chinese people watching, who only have to surround the nobles to go to the toilet.  No one could bear to watch like this, and the conflict between China and the Yangtze broke out. One missionary finally couldn't bear it anymore. He didn't take action, but asked one of his followers to take action.  This believer was a Chinese, and he beat up the onlookers, but was turned away by his compatriots and sent to the Yamen.  In the end, Bafur actually used warships to threaten the Manchu government, and Gong Mujiu had to let go and apologize.

    Then Bafur struck while the iron was hot and asked Gong Mujiu again to buy a piece of land.  Hua Yang separated to avoid further trouble.  So Gong Mujiu started the leasing process for the first concession in China's modern history.  After two years of arduous negotiations, the British obtained a concession covering an area of ??approximately 830 acres, extending from Yangjingbang to the south, Lijiachang to the north, Huangpu River to the east, and Jie Road to the west.  The annual rent per acre is 1,500 Wen.  The promulgation of the charter marked the emergence of the British Concession, the first concession in China's modern history.

    Two years after the concession appeared, the number of foreigners was only 134.  The living facilities in the concession are also not perfect.  The building is basically a shantytown.  The first overseas Chinese to come to Shanghai.  The British botanist Fu Jun once recalled the humble house where he lived: "Whenever it rained in the morning, the clothes and quilts were completely soaked. When it snowed, six birds flew in through the window." It was not until the beginning of 1849 that various foreign companies began to move in.  The first batch of brick and wood buildings were built on the Bund, and bamboo and straw shacks were slowly phased out.

    As the number of overseas Chinese coming to Shanghai continues to increase.  The British consul was also planning to expand the concession area and seek more powers.  In 1848, the new British consul in Shanghai, Aliguo, formally proposed the expansion of the British concession.  In November, China and Britain signed an agreement to expand the British concession area to 2,820 acres.

    Now the long-haired rebels are coming.  From the first day when the rebels bombarded the west gate, a large number of Chinese refugees poured into the concession to seek shelter. Many of these people were wealthy people. They were very afraid of being caught by the Taiping Army and having their property taken away. However, both Suzhou and Hangzhou were making trouble.  Mao, desperation, these people took a large amount of money to rent to escape.

    ??The original rules of the concession were that Chinese could only go to the concession to do business during the day and had to return to the city at night. Even the workers employed by the foreign companies in the concession could not stay in the concession.  But as the saying goes, money can make the world go round. After a large number of wealthy households fled to the concessions, with the help of Christian Chinese people, they used silver dollars to clear the way. The concessions in various countries opened their doors one after another, euphemistically called shelter and refuge.  The Chinese suffered in the war.

    At the same time, foreign merchants have also keenly discovered business opportunities. These wealthy households are all accustomed to living a luxurious life. They cannot afford any hardship. These wealthy households who fled with only money need all the basic necessities of life.  Friendly international friends immediately thought of an excellent opportunity to make a fortune, which was to provide these fleeing Chinese with excellent food, clothing, housing and transportation.

    It¡¯s no wonder that these Western merchants came from afar. It was at the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion, and the trade routes along the Yangtze River were blocked. Now Suzhou and Hangzhou were also at war, and the only land route was cut off. Many foreign merchants engaged in trade had a slow business, so they had to take advantage of  The idle funds built a group of simple houses along the coast of the Yangtze River, rented them to these "refugees" who were fleeing the war, and started a real estate business. Some foreign companies even rented out empty warehouses and sold delicious Western food.  and clothing.  The concessions in various countries are like a colorfulThere is a trading market where you can buy everything. The concession is much more lively than when there were only black slaves and Indian Asan.

    In the conference hall of the British Consulate, British Minister Wenhan looked out through the bright south window of the conference hall. After seeing the bustling scene along the pidgin beach, he took off the cigar in his mouth and blew out a puff of thick white smoke.  He said slowly: "Gentlemen, it seems that we can no longer send our troops to Shanghai City to make unnecessary sacrifices. Our interests have always been in the concession. Look at this scene, there are so many Chinese here, we need  More people are needed to help maintain order and protect the security of the concession. I am not sure whether there will be an influx of more refugees in the future. If we want to accept more refugees, we will need more people to maintain order."

    The French Minister Blomble and the American Minister Marsali looked at each other and cursed the old fox in their hearts. Everyone knew that the soldiers guarding the outside of the concession kept the poor refugee people out of the concession, and those who entered the concession were all wealthy people.  Wen Han, a wealthy man with spending power, is worried that if more and more refugees rent thatched shacks outside, the few soldiers in the concession will be unable to control the situation. Now even the guards guarding the consulate have been sent out with half of their manpower.  , went to serve as a patrol on the streets to maintain order.

    And after listening to detailed reports from missionaries from various countries, the three people began to have doubts in their minds about whether hundreds of mercenaries could help the Qing army defend Shanghai City.  The news came back yesterday that a patrol force of more than a thousand people from the Qing Army was defeated by the Taiping Army.  Only less than a hundred people escaped. The envoys of the Three Kingdoms were full of worries about the poor combat effectiveness of the Qing army. They could not let hundreds of soldiers risk huge risks to help the weak Manchu Qing defend Shanghai City. Every soldier from their own country was extremely  It is precious because the three countries in the Far East only have so few troops.  As the Russians became more and more restless, Britain and France began to mobilize troops to prepare for war, and the British troops in India began to mobilize. At this time, it was impossible to invest troops in the Far East.

    What's more, the parliaments of various countries have decided not to get involved in China's civil war, and all countries must maintain a neutral attitude, so Blomble and Marsali heard that Lord Wenhan meant to back down.

    But Captain Hooper of the British Navy said loudly and inappropriately: "Your Excellency, our British Empire cannot succumb to the threat of small rebels and retreat. We can mobilize the Spartan docked in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen and other places.  , the Enconto, the Antelope and the Greek warships gathered in Shanghai, plus the Hamels and the Angel in Shanghai, we have six warships, enough to deal with those nasty yellow-skinned monkeys. "

    Lord Wenham took two deep puffs of his cigar.  He said slowly: "Colonel, you have a good idea. It is necessary to mobilize warships from other ports to strengthen the defense of the Shanghai area. But you have to pay attention, the mobilization of warships is not to attack those rebels. What we want is to use powerful  Use force to protect our interests in China. Unless the rebels attack the concession, I will not authorize you to take any action against the rebels."

    Blomble stood up and said: "Your Excellency, I agree with your point of view. After all, those Taiping soldiers are people who believe in God. We in France are happy to help those religious people. I have decided to send people to recall people in the city and churches.  Soldiers, if the rebels do any injustice to the church or missionaries, we in France will never sit idly by and ignore it. But if these rebels are devout Christians. I believe they will be friends of France.  "Following Blomble, he picked up his hat and flicked it and then said: "Lord Wenhan, I'm going back. Maybe I will go see the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in person, because Father Weng Yige is like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom leader I described.  There¡¯s a level of enlightenment that I aspire to.¡±

    Wenhan was a little anxious. If the French went to meet the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, once an agreement was reached, it would inevitably cause loss of British interests in the later period. But he said quietly: "Your Excellency, Minister, I hope we can go together, but  That must be done when the war has calmed down, it is too dangerous to go now."

    Blomble smiled slightly and said, "Maybe, but I believe they would prefer the French who are more devout to Christianity." After that, Blomble put on his hat, nodded to everyone and left the meeting room.

    Marsali also stood up, shrugged and said: "Wu Jianzhang became a murderer, and the rebels became devout Christians. Well, I don't know if there are any changes in this world that I don't know about. But  Mr. Wenhan, I have also decided to recall those American boys. After all, the disparity in military strength is too great. We Americans will not bleed for a war that is destined to fail. Maybe Mr. Blumble is right, I should also go to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  Try your luck, and you may get unexpected surprises. As for our poor Wu Jianzhang, we will advise him to prepare for evacuation in advance. After all, we are friends who have cooperated with us for many years, and we don¡¯t want him to lose his head, but in this situation  , I can¡¯t think of a better way to help him. Goodbye, everyone, Sunday.Fast.  "

    With Marsali leaving, only the British were left in the conference room. Lord Wenhan looked very ugly. He said to Aliguo, Midile, He Bo and others: "Send someone quickly to inform the church and  Soldiers from other places, please return to the concessions. The response speed of the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom exceeded our imagination. He was still in Suzhou a few days ago, and now his army flag has appeared on the outskirts of Shanghai. It seems that he is determined to win Shanghai.  , the trouble we caused him does not constitute a threat at all in his opinion. I don¡¯t want to expand the conflict, so we can only choose to avoid it temporarily!¡± (To be continued.)
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