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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 561: Suitable Candidate

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    Li Chong was released the next day, but was ordered not to stay in the Taiping Rebellion's territory, so Clifford took him to the British and American Settlement, where he also stayed at the Richa Hotel.  The chapters are updated the fastest

    Li Chong once met his uncle, a foreigner, in Guangzhou. Later, Clifford took Li Xuanji back to England. At that time, he hated the foreigners who abducted his little sister, but later in Rong.  With Lu's help, he slowly understood what kind of person his cheap uncle was. Although there was still a trace of resentment in his heart, he also felt that only a person of Clifford's status could be worthy of his sister.

    Later, Li Zhong learned the news through Ronglu's business in Guangzhou. His sister held a wedding with Clifford in London, England. His slightly peaceful mood once again became ashamed and angry. He didn't even know about such a big event as his sister's wedding.  I didn¡¯t invite myself to participate either, she is really an outgoing girl!  Li Chong was an old-style scholar, thinking about the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Permanent Rules. He felt that his elder brother was like his father. Li Xuanji obviously didn't take him seriously by doing this, so by the way, he also resented his elder brother-in-law.

    But he had a bad year this year. After he was defeated and captured, he was escorted to Tianjing as a prisoner and suffered all the humiliation. He once thought about committing suicide, but when the situation came to pass, he was always reluctant to die like this. He still held the love in his heart.  A hope that heaven would surrender him.  That time in Guangzhou, the merchant ship that even Clifford couldn't easily board was finally discovered by Ronglu. It turned out that the big man on the ship was the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Afterwards, Ronglu regretted it. If he had known it, he would have led the troops regardless of the situation.  By rushing up, you can defeat this lifelong enemy once and for all.  And after Li Chong learned about it.  But he was secretly cursing his little sister for being shameless. She had already seduced a foreigner, but then she went to provoke the fake King of the West.  The fake King Xi actually chased her for thousands of miles regardless of his identity, which really brought shame to the Li family. Therefore, he also knew that the fake King Zeng Jin was his younger sister's lover.

    Therefore, after he was captured and humiliated, he always felt that there was still a glimmer of hope that he could survive, so he hoped that King Xi would not kill him for the sake of his little sister.  It seemed that things were going in the direction he expected. Half a month later, he was sent to the Shanghai Prisoner of War Camp for detention, and then he met his little sister.

    To survive.  Naturally, Li Chong would try every means possible. When he found that his little sister seemed to have no intention of rescuing him, he would say any vicious words.  After getting angry with his little sister, he also knew that his way of survival was cut off.

    ??????????????????? There is always a way out, and in the afternoon a jailer came to tell him that someone was already helping him go through the formalities for his release from prison.  You can leave tomorrow.  This surprised and delighted Li Chong.  When he finally left prison, he learned that his brother-in-law Clifford had saved him.

    Sitting in Clifford's luxurious carriage, Li Zhong naturally thanked Clifford a thousand times and acted like a slave. These are the scholars taught by Manchu Confucianism. Most of them are ideological castrations who have lost the spirit of resistance.  There is no spine at all.

    A Liguo was also sitting in the carriage and saw Li Chong being affectionate and calling him a good brother-in-law.  Frowning, he said to Clifford in English: "Is this guy really worth a hundred thousand silver dollars?"

    Clifford also disliked Li Zhong very much, and just smiled and said: "I don't know. Maybe the thinking of Oriental people is different from ordinary people, and you can never guess what they are thinking in their hearts."

    A Liguo smiled and asked: "Including your wife?"

    Mentioning Li Xuanji, Clifford's face twitched slightly. Although the West is open-minded, there are countless incidents of men and women looking for lovers after marriage. The wife of the French Emperor Napoleon once cuckolded this Corsican, and Napoleon  The emperor also had a lover. Although the two eventually divorced, everyone in the Western world thought this was normal.  Before Aliguo and Clifford came to the prisoner of war camp, they went to the Richa Hotel and learned from Smith that a Chinese man had visited his wife, and she seemed to have cried afterwards.  From the description of the appearance, Clifford confirmed that this person was his former love rival, the Western King Xiao Chaogui, which he said in a slightly teasing way in Aliguo at this time.

    Clifford had a gloomy face. He remembered that on the night of his wedding to his wife, he discovered that his wife was not perfect. This was not a big deal in the West, but Clifford guessed that his wife's first time must have been given to him.  Love rival, what he couldn't accept the most was that every time after everyone fell asleep in the dead of night, his wife would sit alone on the balcony and stare blankly at the east. He knew that there was always the shadow of that man in her heart.

    Clifford loves art, and artists have more or less obsessive-compulsive disorder to pursue perfection, so this concept was also brought to married life, and he began to gradually become jealous and dissatisfied.  He once proposed in a family meeting to terminate cooperation with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and terminate investment in the Far East. However, in the face of actual interests, he was unable to do so. Under the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Far East, he began to introduce a large amount of foreign capital to mine ores, build railways, and build various factories.  After building bridges and telegraph lines, the Rothschild family realized that this was another great opportunity to make a fortune, so Clifford's motion was completely ignored.He didn't get a chance to vote, and everyone thought Clifford must be crazy.

    This time Clifford and his wife returned to the Far East because of the needs of the family business. The investment rights to build a railway in Fujian were obtained by the family agent Jardine Matheson. However, after the project started, the two parties began to have differences.  Fujian is a mountainous province, and construction is more difficult than building railways in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After the construction project started, many difficulties were encountered. The British engineers finally asked for an increase in the budget, which meant increasing the right to earn future investment returns, but the Chinese did not agree.  The two parties had reached an agreement before the bidding was opened. Wouldn't the British regret it?

    After several unsuccessful talks, the family asked Clifford and his wife to come to the Far East. The reason was that they had a close relationship with the top leaders of the Taiping Rebellion and hoped that through these means they could resolve the stagnation in the construction of the Fujian Railway.

    After Clifford arrived in Shanghai, with the help of Ali Guo, he found Wang Kaiyun and stated the reasons why the British side needed to increase the investment budget. At this time, China also sent geologists from the Academy of Sciences chaired by Li Shanlan to Fujian many times to verify the situation and discovered the facts.  It is consistent with what the British said. In fact, it can only be blamed on the fact that the technology at this time was not advanced enough and some underground geological conditions were not underestimated. As a result, several bridges and culverts that needed to be built during the construction of railways in Fujian required a significant increase in investment.  After the Chinese side understood the situation, they also understood that it was impossible for the British to continue working at a loss. Finally, Clifford came. After repeated consultations, the two sides finally determined an additional investment budget plan acceptable to both parties, and the matter was resolved.  Gave Clifford a face.

    Clifford got the job done and obtained 50% of the mineral mining rights along the Fujian Railway for the Rothschild family. At the same time, they owned 50% of the income rights from the future operation of the Fujian Railway. This means that after the construction of the Fujian Railway is completed, it will become  Fujian was a necessary channel for tea exports, and Fujian was rich in minerals. The Rothschild family made another huge profit.

    What the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom got was infrastructure construction and mineral development, as well as the factories and ancillary industries built after the development of the mines, which could solve the livelihood problems of a large number of people, and they also had the other half of the mineral mining rights and railway revenue rights. Overall,  It can be said to be a win-win situation.

    After the matter was settled, Aliguo introduced someone to Clifford. This person was his secretary Gong Cheng, and Gong Cheng brought more exciting news about a big shot in the north.  This big shot will stage a major coup next year. As long as the British and French forces can send troops to assist at the right time, I believe the chance of success will be greater. After success, the northern provinces, especially the flat Central Plains, will have the right to build railways and along the railway lines.  All mineral mining rights will be handed over to the Rothschild family for investment and development.

    Such generous conditions made the British very excited. In this way, northern China would become the second India and a base for the British to plunder cheap raw materials, which would then be turned into products in British factories and sold around the world. The British could even build various buildings in northern China.  Plant factories and produce products on site. The big shot generously designated Tianjin, Qingdao and other places as open ports, and promised that foreigners could lease places, and that they could dock warships, station troops, etc. in the concession ports.

    Sir Elgin and Clifford were both very interested. Elgin felt that joining northern China could provide so many favorable conditions. In the absence of major changes in the south, maintaining the status quo in the north and south of China seemed to be most beneficial to Britain.  Clifford, on the other hand, was motivated by commercial interests. If Britain gained a foothold in the north, it might even be able to open routes to Japan, Canada, and the east coast of the United States.

    So the British began to pay attention to this big man's proposal, and repeatedly studied the current political structure and military deployment of the Qing court. Then they discovered that if the British and French forces joined, the chance of winning this coup or mutiny would be more than 70%.  The risk of winning is compared with the profit of several hundred percent. The adventurous spirit of the British has once again exploded. This risk is definitely worth it!

    So the coalition fleet at Dagukou retreated. Firstly, it was to paralyze Prince Gong, the Qing court negotiator. Secondly, it was to avoid the freezing period of the Bohai Sea. Thirdly, it was to prepare to join the coalition expeditionary force in Hong Kong. War was inevitable, but Manchurian  Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty was still feeling complacent about the goodwill and sincerity of negotiations shown by Britain and France in withdrawing their fleets, but he did not know that a conspiracy was already brewing.

    But Li Zhong didn't know that rescuing him was just an episode in these planning steps. The one hundred thousand silver dollars was not provided by Clifford, but by the big shot in the north. He needed a reliable person and this  Someone who has a certain relationship with the British and who understands military affairs will serve as the liaison officer for future coordination with the British and French coalition forces, and Li Chong is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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