Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Taiping blood

Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 254: Jardine Matheson

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    Wenhan got off the carriage and quickly entered the conference hall of the British Consulate. He took off his black wool cloak and handed it to the Indian waiter waiting nearby. He turned around and sat on a Victorian lion's paw sofa.  He took out a box of cigars from his pocket, handed one to Aliguo, one to Midile, one to Colonel Ho, and picked up the other one. After Aliguo lit it for him, Wenhan fiercely  He took a puff and blew out a long string of smoke rings.

    "What do you think of today's events?" Wenhan gently rubbed his temples and said with some distress: "Are we really going to surrender to those rebels?"

    Colonel Huber shook his thick sea lion beard and said loudly: "Your Excellency, Minister, it's time to teach those arrogant yellow-skinned monkeys a lesson. They are trampling on the dignity of our British Empire! The seven warships in Shanghai are enough to  Send all their so-called naval forces to the bottom of the sea, and we can fight all the way to their capital, Tianjing!"

    Midile disliked the arrogant and arrogant traditional British officer style of Uncle Ho very much, and sneered: "Colonel He, do you have the troops to defend the concession in Shanghai? All your warships have gone to fight against the Taiping Army. Who can  Where¡¯s Petropavlov¡¯s naval base to conquer the Russians?¡±

    Wenhan was also disgusted with Uncle He's unconstructive words and said calmly: "Uncle He, your current task is to form a joint fleet with the French expeditionary fleet to prepare for the attack on the Russian Petropavlov military port.  Rather than reopening a new battlefield. Midile, what do you think?"

    Midile said in a soft voice: "Your Excellency Minister, the current interests of the British Empire are different from the war ten years ago. The crisis at that time was mainly due to the Manchu Qing's wanton destruction of trade activities in the Far East and the expulsion of all legal British merchants.  , opium was just an excuse in that war, and we needed that war to open the door to commerce in this ancient country. The situation is different now. The Taiping Army occupied Shanghai, and they did not disrupt any trade activities. On the contrary, they were working hard  Restore trade order. I can see that His Excellency the King of the West really wants to build Shanghai into the largest trading port in the Far East. Whether it is road construction rights or mining rights, these are the benefits we need, and opium will slowly become history."

    Midile has always been sympathetic to the Taiping Rebellion. Wenhan was not surprised by his remarks. He put his chin with one hand and asked, "How do you explain to the East India Company, Jardine Matheson and other foreign companies?"

    Midile shook his head and said: "There is no need to explain anything, Minister, the two partners of Jardine Matheson in the early years did start from the opium trade. But now opium is no longer the main trading commodity of Jardine Matheson. I believe they are interested in the opium trade."  Railways and mining are more interested, and I believe other foreign companies are also the same. When the Battle of Shanghai was in full swing, didn't all the major foreign companies do trade with the Taiping Army? And the East India Company? Sir, what do you think of the East India Company's influence in India?  Will it last long? Isn¡¯t it what the Prime Minister wants to see to use the Taiping Army¡¯s opium policy to further attack the East India Company?¡±

    Wenhan somewhat understood.  The East India Company was founded in 1600. It was an institution established by emerging colonial powers such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands in the 17th century after the colonial expansion of Portugal and Spain to deal with certain matters in the colonial areas.  initial.  The British mainly used the East India Company to do business, and later became a tool for the British colonists to invade India.  India's food and industrial raw materials were continuously shipped back to Britain, and huge profits were made from it.  The British government granted the East India Company various powers, such as the right to monopolize trade, the right to train troops, the right to declare war, the right to set up courts to judge residents of its own country or colonies, etc. The East India Company actually became the British government's agent for the invasion of India.  Another means of plundering in India was the monopoly of the opium, salt and tobacco trade by the East India Company.  in.  Opium revenue accounted for approximately one-seventh of the company's total revenue.  Bangladeshi farmers were forced to grow opium and then smuggled to China for sale, making huge profits from it.

    Starting from the 1860s, the East India Company began to decline.  The excessive power of the company's employees has led to widespread corruption. At the same time, the company's extortionate expropriation of the Indian people has led to continuous uprisings by the Indian people.  And if the company wants to suppress the uprising, it will need to spend a lot of money.  This creates a vicious cycle that exposes the company to multiple crises.  The British government had already begun to take action against the East India Company. By 1813, the East India Company's trade monopoly on India was revoked. In the same year, the British government also revoked its trade monopoly on China.  After the East India Company's trade privileges with China were revoked, the British merchants who came to Guangzhou to trade with the Thirteen Banks were transformed from being unified and organized by the East India Company to being individual traders. The British government sent special officials to negotiate business matters with the Chinese government, so that the original merchants and merchants  The negotiations between the two countries turned into inter-governmental negotiations, thus planting the seeds of the conflict between China and Britain.  After various powers were revoked, the East India Company went bankrupt.  Historically, in 1858, after the East India Company spent its entire life amassing enough wealth for Britain, it was kicked away. The East India Company was officially taken over by the British government.The British government began to directly rule India until 1947.

    Wenhan understood what Midile meant, and there was no need to give up greater interests for the benefit of those opium merchants, but he still said with some reluctance: "But we may lose the power to negotiate tariffs, which will be extremely detrimental to us in the future."

    Midile smiled slightly and said: "Your Excellency, Minister, there are no permanent friends in the world, only eternal interests. At present, our interests and those of the Taiping Army are consistent, and we should work together to safeguard common interests. In the future?" Midile said  Here he shrugged and said: "Who can say clearly what will happen in the future?"

    Aliguo nodded and said: "Your Excellency, Minister, what Midile said is right, but in the face of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's tariff details, we can honorably maintain the privileges we had before. For example, the consular approval rights for foreign ships entering and leaving Chinese ports should be retained.  .¡±

    After Wenhan pondered for a moment, he slowly said: "Okay, let's try our best to get what we can."

    At this moment, the door of the conference room rang, and an Indian waiter came in and said: "Sir, Mr. Alexander Madison of Jardine Matheson has arrived."

    Wenhan snorted, stood up and said, "Invite him in."

    Midile smiled and said: "This Scotsman is really strange. He didn't attend this important invitation today. He only sent a representative there, and he only came here at this time."

    Ali Guo said with some worry: "Midi Le. He shouldn't be here for the opium trade."

    Midile frowned and said: "Impossible, Alexander is not the kind of person without vision."

    While he was talking, a man wearing a top hat and a black tuxedo came in. He had a long face and a single eyepatch on his left eye. After coming in, he took off his top hat and bowed: "Good afternoon.  , Gentlemen, I heard that you encountered setbacks with the Taiping Army?"

    As a traditional Englishman, Wenhan looked down upon this Scotsman.  The two founders of Jardine Matheson were both Scots.  One is William Jardine, who graduated from Edinburgh Medical School in the UK, and the other is James Madison, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh in the UK.  The two collaborated to set up the Maniac Company for opium smuggling, and the business grew bigger and bigger.  The two men not only sold opium in Guangzhou, but also hired German missionaries to go north along the coast to the Bohai Bay to smuggle and traffic drugs.  Accumulated a lot of wealth and capital.  July 1, 1832, the day after the collapse of Jardine and Madison's company in Maggnac.  Founded Jardine Matheson in Guangzhou.  Alexander Madison was the nephew of James Madison.  Now he is one of the major shareholders of Jardine Matheson.

    Hearing Alexander's sarcastic words, Wenhan looked a little ugly, Midile smiled slightly and said: "Alexander, do you hope this is the case?"

    Alexander took off his left eye patch, chuckled and said, "Politicians always need to consider a lot of things, but we businessmen are simpler. Lord Wenhan, we only need benefits." At this point, he paused and said, "I can  Sit down and talk?"

    Wenhan finally came to his senses and asked Alexander to sit down. The Indian waiter brought Alexander a cup of hot tea.  Alexander took a sip and said: "What a sweet and fragrant tea. I believe that one day there will be no Chinese tea in the UK, it will be a disaster. Gentlemen, I am here to say that we at Jardine Matheson are happy to support the introduction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's new tariff policy."  , we don¡¯t have any dissatisfaction.¡±

    Aliguo sneered and said, "Has Yihe Matheson been so generous as to give up the opium business?"

    Alexander shook his head and said: "No, no, no matter how the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom controls the import of opium, we at Jardine Matheson will still continue our opium trade. There is no conflict. We always smuggle opium, whether it is in the Manchu Qing Dynasty or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we  They can all be smuggled. We have twelve clipper cargo ships. I don¡¯t believe those old naval anti-smuggling ships of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can catch up with us. Even if they catch up, the weapons on our ships can scare them away. So gentlemen,  This move of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not a problem at all for capable businessmen. Even if the worst happens, at worst we go to Manchuria to smuggle opium on the ground, we will not lose anything. What I am concerned about is the next investment.  I heard that the God of War of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to build a railway in Shanghai. We at Jardine & Co. really hope to get this business. We hope that Mr. Minister can come forward to deal with it. In the future, we at Jardine & Co. will give it to Mr. Minister, Mr. Consul and Mr. Midile.  Each was rewarded with three percent of the railroad stock.¡±

    Wenhan and others were moved when they heard this. Alexander was right. The opium trade of Jardine Matheson did not need to worry about them at all. Just as Alexander said, if capable foreign companies want to continue the opium trade, this is not a problem at all. The key is  This is the next step of cooperation with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

    Wenhan nodded and said: "We also hope that this matter isOur British company has obtained the right to build the road. The King of the West and I are old acquaintances. We will work hard on this matter. I hope your plan will be better-looking.  "

    Alexander smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry about this. As long as the Western King wants it, we can build the railway to Nanjing." Here Alexander paused and then said: "I have one more thing to do today that I need help from, Mr. Minister."  .¡±

    Wenhan asked: "What is it?"

    Alexander said with some embarrassment: "An important person from the Rothschild family went to Suzhou with the medical team of Missionary Luo Weilin. Today, news came from there that this important person and the medical team moved separately. Over there, we  The person has lost his trace, we need to find him and continue to protect his safety!" (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report