Chapter 32: The New Charter of the Chamber of Commerce

  "How can this be, they are truly audacious, what do these rebels want to do, do they still have the imperial court in their eyes, and do they still consider us officials as parents, they actually dared to pull out a troop under our noses, it's infuriating!"

  As expected, he handed over the letter of appointment along with some seized correspondence to Niu Chuan-shan, immediately causing an earthquake in the official circles of Chongqing. Even Zhu Youji, the Taotai of Dongchuan, who had always been low-key, made an appearance, his face turning green with rage and his whiskers trembling wildly.

  "Governor, you should take charge of this situation! These rebels and bandits have joined forces, fortunately, Shunqing discovered their plan and destroyed the Tianxia Village hideout. If they had succeeded in coordinating an attack from inside and outside, I fear our Chongqing would be shaken to its core! At that time, it wouldn't just be our official hats at risk, but even our very lives!"

  Zhu Youji composed himself and picked up the appointment letter to take a look: "Shun Qing, it says here that this is the third branch team. Does that mean there are first and second branch teams as well?"

  "Going back to what you said, it seems that the terrain of Dongchuan is mostly mountainous with little flat land. Hidden in these mountains are large and small bandits who have connections with the Hui Party, and the Hui Party has also merged with the Luan Party. Relying on the strength of these people, if preparations are made properly, I'm afraid that except for Chongqing, no city in Dongchuan can be defended!" Qiao Yu naturally wouldn't let go of the opportunity to intimidate these officials, so his words were laced with threats. Zhu Youji's face was extremely solemn.

  "General Niu, how many more troops can Chongqing mobilize at present?"

  "Governor, the patrol battalion still has 2,000 men, and there are over 1,500 men in the water camp guarding the harbor. There is also a new artillery team, several hundred old patrolmen, and some remaining Green Standard soldiers who have not been disbanded. The only reliable ones left are Shun Qing's 2,000 newly trained patrolmen. To be honest, Governor, apart from those under Shun Qing's command, the rest are unreliable. Not only is their combat effectiveness low, but they have also been infiltrated to a very serious extent and are completely useless."

  Zhu Youji heard Nuan Chuan's words and the two of them stared at each other in dismay. As the situation had reached a critical point, slapping the table was no longer useful; what was crucial now was to come up with a solution. After a moment of silence, Zhu Youji, who had more experience, spoke up: "Let's do this: you and I will explain the situation in Chongqing to Governor Zhang and ask him to dispatch some new troops to quell the unrest. Additionally, let's give Shun Qing more responsibilities. Those few hundred original police officers should also be put under his command, as well as the patrol battalion. We'll also allocate 200,000 taels of silver to strengthen the police force. What do you think, Shun Qing?"

  Qiao Yu was delighted in his heart, but still looked solemn and fearful: "Serving the imperial court is my duty, I can manage those patrol officers originally, but the Patrol Defense Camp is a military force of the imperial court, I am not a military officer, nor do I have an imperial edict, it's really not good to intervene, nor can I control it!"

  "That patrol camp can be temporarily let go, you're in charge of the police now. Shunqing, I and your father had a past relationship, now we've entrusted our lives to your hands, don't be careless!"

  "Elderly gentleman, rest assured, as long as I, Qiao Shunqing, am here, Chongqing will absolutely not fall into chaos!"

  Out of the provincial government, Qiao Yu's heart was full of ambition. Now that most of the power in Chongqing had fallen into his own hands, it was time to show off his skills and quickly expand his forces, especially to thoroughly train the police under his command into an army. Only with sufficient strength could he firmly grasp Sichuan in his hands and occupy a favorable position in the future brutal warlord battles.

  At this time, several businessmen had gathered in the White Mansion, discussing matters. It turned out that due to the falling out with the Ge Old Association, although everyone's shops in Chongqing were guaranteed safety, some outer counties and even Chengdu were affected. Everyone wanted to discuss a countermeasure, but Qiao Yu was not present, and Bai Kuan could not make decisions on his own. Just then, Qiao Yu arrived at the mansion with his men from the government office.

  "Shun Qing, you've finally come back! Was it the old lady who saved you? How could you return and go straight to the yamen without even stopping by home to say a word?"

  "Uncle, don't worry, everything is fine. This time I found something important in Tianpeng Village and had to hand it over to the authorities for processing first! Let you worry!"

  "Shun Qing, what have you discovered? Can you tell us?" Wang Dong Cheng asked with a smile.

  "What's wrong with it? It's just a letter of appointment, a letter of appointment from the revolutionary party to the mountain bandits!"

  No one present was a fool, openly appointing officials, this is an open rebellion, no wonder Qiao Yu would hand things over at the first time.

  Wang Gui was the most astute, and he keenly noticed that Qiao Yu's mouth seemed to be carrying a hint of a smile: "Shun Qing, what good news is this?"

  "It's really a good thing that Lord Daotai has already let me take over all the original patrolmen and concentrate on maintaining the security of Chongqing, preventing rebellion!"

  Qiao Yu's power is expanding, and everyone else is also delighted. They are all in the same boat, either rising or falling together, like ants on a rope. They can't wait for Qiao Yu's influence to grow stronger, protecting their safety. Now that the imperial court has become unreliable, everyone has a clear understanding of this in their hearts.

  Xue Shanhua was somewhat anxious and spoke up, "Shunqiang, we've come this time to ask for your advice. Our trade route has been constantly harassed by the Ge Lao Hui, although our losses aren't great, it's still a bit of a headache. What do you think we should do?"

  Qiao Yu had been worried about this after catching Gu Jinlong again, but since the old club didn't make any moves, he relaxed and didn't expect them to launch an attack after all.

  "Brother, you were quite honest for a while, how come you suddenly dare to come out and disrupt our business again?"

  Bai Kuan let out a bitter laugh and said, "Shun Qing, you don't know the situation. Gu Jinlong and the others escaped from prison just two days after you left. Han Yong wanted to pursue them, but he was worried that it would be like luring a tiger away from its mountain, and besides, those people ran too fast, so they didn't come back. As soon as they escaped, the situation became chaotic."

  Qiao Yu is now truly speechless towards this bizarre Qing government. They can't even keep such an important prisoner in custody, it's really unknown what they are living on. No wonder a group of mobs can make them busy and flustered, these people are also complete idiots.

  "Gentlemen, the situation has already occurred and is about to be resolved. I think our Chamber of Commerce currently has sufficient strength, so let's follow the example of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces' Chambers of Commerce and establish our own armed forces. Relying on military power to protect the safety of trade routes, in today's increasingly insecure world, without any armed force, it would be difficult to guarantee that our vast business empire will not encounter problems!"

  The people present were not surprised when they heard that Qiao Yu wanted to form an armed force. Some of them had already thought of this idea, but they still needed to see what Qiao Yu meant before making a move. Now that everyone was on the same page, it was naturally for the best.

  "I think we should just let Shunqing handle everything, it's only fair that the capable ones take on more work, and we'll just provide the funds!" Xue Shan's proposal received support from many people, but some still had doubts in their minds.

  Xu Hua was one of them: "Mr. Qiao, if we establish an armed force, won't the imperial court interfere?"

  The prestige of the Qing dynasty's 300-year rule still has some effect, although it is about to perish, but the name of a court is still heavy on people's minds.

  "The imperial court is now precarious, not only will it not intervene, but on the contrary, it will eagerly let us establish our own forces to deal with the revolutionary party. Everyone can expand their ambitions even further. Nowadays, in European and American countries, the government's power is often not the strongest, and those who truly control the Western powers are the powerful financial groups that manipulate elections, control national policies. We all started from industry, we don't have to be slaves of the imperial court, but can rival it, even surpass it!"

  This era is the era of capital, and Chinese businessmen are far inferior to their foreign counterparts in terms of ambition. At most, they collude with government officials, but still have to endure the darkness of officialdom, without having the courage to control the government in their own hands. Qiao Yu was also revealing this kind of ambition for the first time in front of these businessmen, and he felt very pleased seeing everyone falling into a state of shock.

  "We want to suppress the imperial court, not to rebel like the revolutionary party, but to rely on our influence to make the imperial court formulate policies that conform to our interests and serve us!"

  "Isn't this constitutional?" someone asked immediately.

  "It's both right and wrong! Constitutionalism is a petition, to put it bluntly, it's begging others, we don't just want to beg, but also have the power to force the imperial court to listen to us!"