Chapter Fifteen: Police Adviser

  "You're threatening, the British Empire isn't afraid!" Tony was still arrogant, but seemed to be slightly loosening up. Qiao Yu was familiar with several leaders of the British Consulate, and this Tony didn't seem like a big shot, so he became even more convinced that he was just here to extort them, and had already thought of a way to deal with him.

  "How can a small businessman like me dare to threaten the British Empire? I'm just doing business, whoever has good stuff at a low price, I'll use theirs. Tony, you can't expect me to lose money, right? Before setting up the factory, we contacted British businessmen, but unfortunately, their prices were unacceptable, so we had no choice but to buy German machines. If Britain could offer genuine quality at a fair price, we would absolutely be willing to purchase British machines. I'm actually planning to set up several more factories and need many machines, Tony, if you're willing to help with the connection, I'd be extremely grateful."

  Qiao Yu is now powerless and has no influence, and it's not good to offend Britain arbitrarily, so he changed his attitude and turned to temptation. Tony is just a small secretary, although he can pretend to be a big boss in front of Chinese people, but his status is actually limited. However, if he can bring commercial benefits to the British Empire, his own value will be different immediately, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

  "Mr. Qiao, are you willing to do business with British merchants?"

  "This is undoubtedly the case, I am now about to purchase a batch of machines for producing safety matches. Mr. Tony, you must also know that our country is still producing yellow phosphorus matches, which are toxic in themselves, and some people swallow match heads to commit suicide, this is a tragedy that no one wants to see, can Mr. Tony help?"

  Yellow phosphorus matches are those that can catch fire by rubbing against a wall. This type of match has two major drawbacks: it is prone to self-ignition and is toxic. Workers in the production process would easily get poisoned if they were not careful, and many desperate people in China would swallow match heads to commit suicide. In 1906, the world banned the production of yellow phosphorus matches through an international convention, but China did not ban its production and sale until 1925, a full twenty years later.

  Tony knew that making this deal would bring in at least several thousand silver dollars, and more importantly, it would attract the attention of the Consul and British merchants, which could potentially propel him to new heights, so a smile appeared on his face.

  "Qiao, I'll go contact the merchant now, and I believe there will be results soon. Goodbye!"

  Button transmitted good news, seeing the foreigner finally leaving, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, sending Tony away, with a bitter smile looking at Qiao Yu: "Shun Qing, it's still up to you, I really don't know how to deal with these foreigners!"

  "Hey! I'm still relying on buying my way out of trouble, in other words, throwing money at the problem to avoid disaster. What's there to be proud of? And why is Tony suddenly looking for trouble with me?"

  "These foreigners are so eccentric, maybe it's just a whim. Ah, Shunqing, I have something to ask you! Please help me out!"

  Qiao Yu also had a smile all over his face: "Your Excellency is too polite, whatever you have to say just say it and I will definitely do it!"

  "Shun Qing, let me tell you the truth. Although being a governor looks glorious, it's actually a bitter and painful experience. Not to mention those foreigners riding roughshod over me, now there are constant disturbances below, revolutionary parties running amok in Sichuan, with movements both above and below, but unfortunately my power is insufficient to suppress them. Even Governor Zhu often blames me, I'm just a mouse in the bellows, suffering from pressure on both sides."

  Qiao Yuzhen's complaint is that he has an attitude of "let's just listen for now". These days, being an official is indeed not easy to do, but haven't you seen how everyone wants to squeeze in and get a share? Three years as the governor of Qingzhou, ten million silver taels, the more chaotic the world is, the more fiercely officials cling to their wealth.

  "Everyone can see the difficulties of adults, and adults are also seen by everyone to work hard for Chongqing. If you need any help, just let me know!"

  "Shun Qing is indeed a straightforward person. Recently, I established a patrol police force to suppress the local bandits. However, it turned out that many of them were actually members of the gang, and they repeatedly leaked my plans to capture those bandits. Even the patrol camp was useless. I have the heart to eliminate the thieves, but I am powerless to change the situation. I want to ask Shun Qing to help train these patrol police and eradicate the local gangs in Chongqing, so that the people can live in peace. This will also be beneficial for your factory!"

  Qiao Yu was overjoyed when Nuan Chuan Shan asked him to help train the patrol officers, as this was exactly what he needed to expand his influence. However, Qiao Yu knew that he had to be cautious and not let Nuan Chuan Shan suspect his ulterior motives.

  "Sir, I'm more than willing to help you share your worries. However, since you've already mentioned that a large number of gang members have infiltrated the police force, with these people holding power, it's hard to achieve any results even with intense training in a short period of time. It may even alert the rebels to your plans, which would be counterproductive!"

  "Shun Qing is right, I actually wanted to start anew, but unfortunately the He Fu government has been empty for a long time. If Shun Qing can generously lend a hand, it would be a blessing for the people of Chongqing!"

  This is like wanting a horse to run without giving it grass to eat, Niu Chuan's abacus was truly well-played.

  "Your Excellency, logically speaking, I shouldn't refuse. If it's just training, I'll just have to put in some effort. But if we're starting from scratch and recruiting and training, the cost would be exorbitant. Moreover, what standards should we use for training? Foreign police only need to maintain local security, catch criminals, and can get by with simple training. However, if Your Excellency intends to use these police to deal with rebels, then strict requirements are needed, even military standards must be used in training. Only this way can they cope with those vicious and evil rebels. But this would require a large amount of military equipment, guns, ammunition, etc., which is not something that I, a small merchant, can handle!"

  Niu Chuan heard the good words and also agreed in his heart, Qiao Yu said all the big truths, originally wanted to push this mess to Qiao Yu, but it doesn't seem so simple, closed his eyes and thought for a while.

  "Shun Qing, do you think this will work? You're in charge of recruitment and training. I'll provide you with 10,000 taels of silver and a batch of firearms. Let's start by training 1,000 people for now. I want to see results within three months!"

  Ten thousand taels of silver? You can also afford it! Not to mention that three months' worth of salary is not enough, and the rest of the expenses such as clothing, food, and drink have to be paid out of one's own pocket. But this is good too, isn't this patrol team becoming one's own private army in name and in deed?

  "Sir, since you've said so, I'll take on the task. However, will the prefecture be sending a few people to assist? This is for your training of patrol officers, if there aren't any people from the prefecture, who knows what others might say about me training private troops?"

  "Shun Qing, I hereby appoint you as a police advisor, responsible for recruiting and training patrol officers. Additionally, I will have Shi Shu Ban assist you. I look forward to your early completion of the patrol officer training, so that we can eliminate the rebel party in one fell swoop."

  Qiao Yu agreed and hurriedly made arrangements. Nuan Chuan Shan sat in the main hall, took a sip of tea, and felt extremely satisfied with himself.

  "Sir, Qiao Yu is a person who has studied abroad, it's hard to guarantee that he won't have any connections with the rebel party. You've given him the power to train the police, I'm afraid it will be like throwing bricks at one's own feet!" The speaker was the same tutor who met Qiao Yu when he entered the government office, whose surname was Huang and was from Shaoxing. Although he didn't have any great talent, his mind worked very quickly and he was highly valued by Nuan Chuan Shan.

  "Huang Shiyé, you only know one side and not the other. Although Qiao Yu studied abroad, his father Qiao Guangyuan is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the imperial court. Even though he has retired for some years, I believe he won't let his son do anything treasonous. Moreover, if Qiao Yu wanted to cause trouble, he would have joined the military after returning home, why would he focus on doing business? Isn't rebellion supposed to rely on guns? Besides, Qiao Yu's relationship with the merchants of Chongqing is extraordinary, most of them are inclined towards constitutionalism and are a different story from the rebel party. If he can be used by me, he will get the support of the constitutional party, and the small rebel party won't be a problem!"

  Huang Shiye suddenly enlightened, laughed and said: "Your Excellency's divine machine is wonderful, I just understand your plan. You let him be the police consultant, giving him power, but he wants to take this power, he must deal with the Luandang Party. At that time, it will be a struggle between the Liucheng Party and the Luandang Party. Your worries will also be completely solved! What a wonderful plan! Even if Zhuge were reborn or Kongming were alive, they wouldn't be better than this!"

  He smiled slightly, looking extremely pleased with himself.

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