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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 243: A State within a State

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    When Ma Shali asked about Wu Jianzhang's whereabouts, Xiao Yungui was nonchalant and said calmly: "Wu Jianzhang? This murderer has been beheaded in public, and his head is giving orders to the entire army."

    The interpreters from various countries were shocked when they heard this and hurriedly translated. After hearing this, Marsali, Wenhan, Blomble and others stood up in shock and started questioning each other, among which Marsali was the most fierce.  , he kept asking Xiao Yungui why he killed Wu Jianzhang without trial.

    Xiao Yungui did not expect that the foreigners who killed Wu Jianzhang would have such a big reaction. At this time, he slapped his head and vaguely remembered that Hong Yun'er had told him about Wu Jianzhang's background.  Wu Jianzhang is not only the boss of Tongshunhang, one of the thirteen banks in Guangdong, but also one of the seven largest shareholders of Qichang Foreign Company in the United States.  Needless to say, Qichang Foreign Company was the most famous American-owned company in the Far East in the 19th century. Its influence was like that of the East India Company to the United Kingdom.  The counterpart of the Guangdong Thirteenth Bank has been doing foreign trade business with the great powers since 1832, and has close business relationships with various countries.  Wu Jianzhang's death can be said to have caused the great powers to lose an extremely important trading partner, and many businessmen and companies still have creditor and debt relationships with Wu Jianzhang. This person's death will involve a lot of lawsuits, and it is very likely that they will suffer losses as a result.  No wonder the ministers from several countries reacted so violently.

    In history, after Xiaodaohui captured Wu Jianzhang, Liu Lichuan did not kill him because of his fellow countrymen's peaceful friendship, and was rescued by American missionaries. This also shows that the Americans really spared no effort to save Wu Jianzhang's life.  But Xiao Yungui did not regret killing Wu Jianzhang. Historically, Wu Jianzhang escaped.  Xiao Yungui was crazy about suppressing the Xiao Dao Association. Xiao Yungui didn't want to keep this kind of person so that he wouldn't feel any pain.

    I saw a few foreigners smuggling their noses and making a lot of noise in their tent.  Xiao Yungui slapped the table again and shouted angrily in English: "Shut up!"

    This loud shout startled everyone, and the tent became quiet for a while. Xiao Yungui stood up and said loudly: "Tell me one by one, can this noise be solved? This is your gentleman.  Is it graceful?"

    Lord Wenhan snorted, swung the tail of his tuxedo, and sat down. He knew that Marsali would be the first to speak out.  Blomble also shrugged and sat down. The cooperation between the French and Wu Jianzhang was far less than that of the United States and the United Kingdom.  He just wanted to fish in troubled waters by making noises.

    At that moment, Marsali stood in the center of the big tent, waving his arms and said loudly: "Your Majesty the King of the West, if you kill Wu Jianzhang, it will cause chaos in Shanghai and Guangzhou's business, and Wu is also one of the important shareholders of our American Qichang Foreign Company. If you kill  He has seriously violated the interests of the United States! Even if Wu has committed a serious crime, he should be handed over to a public trial by various countries. If you make a private decision, you must bear the consequences!"

    Xiao Yungui sneered: "Who is Wu Jianzhang? He is a businessman at best. Killing him will cause chaos in Shanghai and Guangdong's trade? Mr. Marsali, your words are too alarmist. I have a message for you. Then  Even if no one is missing, the earth will still turn! Wu Jianzhang is a shareholder of Qichang Foreign Company, yes, but he is also a Manchu official. This time in Shanghai, he commanded his army to kill tens of thousands of people. There were many innocent people among them.  , I just seek justice for the victims! Hand it over to all countries for a public trial? Is this necessary? The consular jurisdiction in the "Wangxia Treaty" is limited to you foreigners. Wu Jianzhang is a Chinese and a prisoner of this king. He should  It is up to me to decide what crime to punish!"

    Marsali pointed at Xiao Yungui angrily and said angrily: "This is a banditry that despises human rights. Everyone has the right to a fair trial!"

    Xiao Yungui cursed: "Go to the *** for a notarized trial, when Wu Jianzhang was massacring those unarmed people. When did you so-called impartial consuls and ministers come out and say a word? Now you are here to accuse me.  Is the king unfair? What is the truth? The Manchus were the first to be barbaric, and I will follow him to the end!"

    The two got into an argument. Wenhan and Blomble didn't seem to find it strange at all, but they enjoyed the noise. Whether it was the British Parliament or the cabinet of the Second French Empire, this kind of noise was commonplace.

    Finally Wenhan stood up and said: "The two of you arguing will help solve the problem. It would be better for us to discuss how to solve the matter at hand."

    Marsali sat down panting and took a sip of tea, but Xiao Yungui's face was red. It was obvious that King Xi had the upper hand in this dispute.

    Seeing the two of them stop talking, Wen Han said slowly: "Your Majesty the King of the West, we in the UK are very sorry that you made such an irrational decision to let an important and influential businessman and official die. Wu had promised our British Empire to expand the concession during his lifetime.  area, and also has several trade transactions with our British East India Company. We need to discuss it before we can list the specific losses. Please note, Your Excellency, the King of the West, you promised to ensure that our British interests are not harmed, but now  Wu Jianzhang's death, all the losses caused can only be??Your army is here to take charge.  "

    ¡°Here we go again, these damn foreigners are all bandit logic, why should Xiao Yungui be responsible for the sins caused by Wu Jianzhang?

    Blomble also echoed: "Yes, Wu Jianzhang also promised us that France would expand the scope of the concession. The concession scope of Britain and France can be expanded to the Hongqiao and Yangpu areas. This is recorded in an official note."

    The current British and French concessions have not exceeded the Suzhou River, and the public concessions of later generations have not yet appeared. This time the British and French want to expand the concessions, they want to occupy both sides of the Suzhou River and combine some good ports and prosperous markets on both sides of the Suzhou River.  Enclosed in to meet their country's growing trade needs.

    Regarding the concession, Xiao Yungui thinks it¡¯s nothing. Since it is clearly stated that it is a concession and someone else rents your land for use, it is different from the direct cession of Hong Kong. To be honest, it seems that Shanghai would have been impossible to develop without the concession and investment from foreigners.  Didn¡¯t Shenzhen, which was reformed and opened up in later generations, also develop in this way?  If you need to develop backward places, you have to attract foreign capital and businessmen to invest. When people come and want to build docks, warehouses, residences, factories, etc., you have to give them space, rent out the land, and rent it for decades.  Only then do you have the confidence to invest, right?  It is impossible to ask others to invest.  It¡¯s not like we¡¯re giving people protection.

    Xiao Yungui¡¯s next step is to build southern Jiangsu, and an extremely important part of this is to attract foreign businessmen and capital.  In Xiao Yungui's view, appropriationism has never been shameful. What is shameful is that you don't know how to use it, and you have obviously brought it, but you only picked up sesame seeds and lost the watermelon. This is shameful appropriationism.

    The longest lease period in Shanghai's concessions is only ninety-nine years, and the area is very large. Expanding the concessions is actually nothing.  Expanding the concession means that more merchants and companies from foreign powers will come to Shanghai, which will have huge benefits for Shanghai's economy, commerce, and customs.

    But Xiao Yungui also saw the disadvantages of the concession.  The great powers can station troops in the concession, but they also have consular jurisdiction, customs tariffs are negotiated, Chinese people are not allowed to enter the concession, etc. This damages China's sovereignty.  Xiao Yungui feels that expanding the concession is not a problem, but the problem is how to expand it. He also wants to limit the occurrence of some things that damage sovereignty through this lease negotiation.

    Xiao Yungui said calmly: "Lord Wenhan, Lord Blomble. Wu Jianzhang promised that we can discuss the expansion of the British and French concessions, and we can agree to this." Following Xiao Yungui, he turned his head and looked at the angry Marsali.  Asked: "Mr. Marsali, is your country interested in expanding the concession? I think the United States can also expand some concession areas, and this is also negotiable."

    Marsali sighed, he didn¡¯t expect Xiao Yungui to raise such an issue.  The Manchu Qing Dynasty had always been very afraid of foreign powers' requests for land in concessions, believing that this would be detrimental to the national system. They were also worried that trouble would arise among Chinese and foreigners. The United States' concession was limited to the Hongkou area and was limited to the missionary land of the American Episcopal Church.  The area is very small, and most Americans still conduct business activities in the British Concession.

    Xiao Yungui did not wait for Marsali to reply.  Then he said: "Actually, I think that the expansion of concessions in various countries can be discussed, but my only request is that the management and security rights of these concessions should be handed over to our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In fact, the concessions of various countries can be merged and unified into  A large public concession can promote business exchanges between various countries, so that land rent, land prices, and labor prices in the concession can be unified, which is convenient for businessmen from various countries, avoids confusion in the market atmosphere in each concession, and avoids the management of the concession.  unfairness in many forms.¡±

    Historically, the public concession actually appeared in September 1853. After the Xiaodao Society occupied Shanghai County, the Manchu and Qing government lost control of the concession.  In July 1854, the British and French concessions in Shanghai jointly established an independent municipal organization, the "Shanghai Industrial Bureau", established a police force, and began to manage all affairs of the concession on their own, formally forming the first real concession in which each country exercised its own rights.  Judicial, financial, management, and garrison rights truly turned the concession into a state within a state.

    Since Xiao Yungui understands the real dangers of the concession, he is now planning to expand the concession in exchange for countries giving up the exercise of those messy rights in the concession, thereby avoiding the emergence of a state within a state.

    Sure enough, the ministers from the three major countries all whispered to each other after hearing this, but this proposal was too abrupt, and several ministers needed to weigh it carefully, so in the end Wenhan said: "His Excellency the King of the West's proposal is very constructive, but this proposal we  We need to go back and discuss it carefully before we can decide.¡±

    Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "Yes, we also need to re-formulate Shanghai's land lease regulations and pass a land lease agreement signed after re-negotiation with various countries."

    Seeing that Xiao Yungui offered a part of the leased land, Ma Shali softened a little and asked: "Then, Your Excellency, King Xi, after Wu Jianzhang's death, who will fill his vacancy?"What about the investment quota and business transactions that came out?  If Wu Jianzhang's family gave up their investment in Qichang Yangxing and asked for their shares back, Qichang Yangxing would suffer huge losses.  "

    Xiao Yungui snorted contemptuously and said: "There are so many rich people in China, are you still worried about finding no one to invest? I have He Yuanlun, the president of Baoqing Chamber of Commerce, and Zhu Changlin and Wei Helin of Guiyun Company.  The two bosses, these three are all wealthy businessmen. Zhu Changlin and Wei Helin have great influence in Hunan, Guangxi and other places. He Yuanlun controls more than 90% of the business transactions of Baoqing merchants. They can all buy Wu Jianzhang's shares.  I also heard that Qichang Foreign Company hopes to open up a business route to Wuyi Mountain to purchase tea directly. I believe the three of them can do this. As for Wu Jianzhang's business in Guangdong No. 13 Bank, Guangdong No. 13 Bank has made enough, and it is time to  It's time to change people. In a word, I will find someone to fill all the commercial and trade voids after Wu Jianzhang's death. All you need to do is settle the accounts with Wu Jianzhang's heirs in Guangdong. Money is not a problem, what I need is to have  The direction of investment!" To be continued.  If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (.Vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m to read.)
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