Chapter 4 Representatives of the Four Nations

  "Li, are you still sleeping? We've finished our morning exercises, and you're still lying in bed." Palande with his loud voice was always the first to report to Li Mingfeng's tent every day.

  As an army interpreter, Li Mingfeng had a separate tent that was much more comfortable than the large tent where ten of them were crowded together. Moreover, Li Mingfeng was not used to eating bread, and the dry bread allocated to him always had a lot left over. And all these leftover bread ended up in Palande's stomach.

  Li Mingfeng turned over on the camp bed, narrowed his eyes and looked at Palando who was devouring bread, saying: "How can you be like a starving ghost, for a little bread, you don't even want British gentlemanly etiquette, disturbing others' sleep early in the morning?"

  "Ugh, don't even get me started. That day when Lord Elgin caught us buying food on our own, he ordered that our bread rations be cut in half for a whole week. And to make matters worse, that despicable Andrew shifted all the blame onto me, so now my personal food allowance is only a quarter of what it used to be! Is he trying to starve me to death?"

  Li Mingfeng burst out laughing after hearing this, and he himself did not expect that the old military officer he met that day was actually the highest leader of this army, Lord Elgin, the Governor General of Canada. Li Mingfeng, who is familiar with ancient artifacts, would naturally be no stranger to this name, because he was the one who ordered the burning of the Yuanmingyuan.

  Ergin treated himself well, but he set up his own tent far away from the ammunition depot and did not allow himself to attend any military meetings, which still showed that Ergin did not trust this pure-blooded Qing national. However, Ergin really needed a Qing national who was fluent in English as his translator, so he could only support himself.

  Just as Li Mingfeng and Parand were chatting intermittently, a military bugle sounded outside.

  "Assembly call?" Palande heard this declaration and was taken aback for a moment, but the soldier's duty made him rush out to assemble without any thinking.

  "Assembly call? The whole army is gathering, are we going on the offensive?" Li Mingfeng muttered to himself.

  At this moment a messenger came in: "Mr. Interpreter, the Governor-General requests your presence."

  "Okay, I'll be right there." Li Mingfeng put on his clothes, wiped his face and immediately rushed to the command center to report.

  The Anglo-French Allied Headquarters, the British Commander-in-Chief Elgin, the French Commander-in-Chief Gros and the American Envoy Reed and Russian Envoy Putiatin are discussing the plan to advance.

  "Yesterday we have already given the last ultimatum to the two Guang governors of Qing, asking them to hand over Guangzhou City. Judging from their current response, they are preparing to refuse our kindness," Erlang said.

  General Gros responded: "It seems that the ignorant Qing people think that their small Cantonese city, with tens of thousands of native soldiers, can withstand our 5,000 brave warriors from France and Britain." At this point, all four big men couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  All four of them had more or less dealings with the Qing officials and knew that these officials were all arrogant, domineering and ignorant. They actually thought that the Qing army armed with spears and swords could contend against the Anglo-French coalition forces armed with rifles and cannons.

  "It's time to teach them a lesson, we'll dispatch troops today and arrive at Guangzhou City by tomorrow noon, I'll host a celebratory banquet at the Qing Dynasty's Governor-General's Mansion tonight." Elgin's tone was somewhat arrogant, but as a British general, he indeed had reason to be proud.

  "Defeating the Qing is not a challenging task, it only takes a few hours to end the battle. The question is what should we ask for after defeating the Qing? What if the Qing does not agree to our terms? It's clear that 5,000 brave warriors can occupy Guangzhou, but they cannot occupy the entire Qing." Russian Envoy Putiatin raised his own questions.

  Lord Elgin smiled and said to Putiatin: "We will try to propose some conditions that China may accept, such as we British only require the legalization of opium and the opening of more ports for trade, and also compensation for military expenses. I think these conditions do not touch the bottom line of China, they are completely likely to be accepted."

  American Minister Anson Burlingame also chimed in, "Yes, we are only asking for trade and for China to allow her citizens to go abroad to work. Our western region of America is in urgent need of a large number of workers to build."

  Gros also put forward his own requirements: "We hope to establish an embassy in Beijing, so that we can have closer contact with the Qing country."

  Just as the powers were discussing how to put forward conditions in subsequent negotiations, Li Mingfeng had already been taken into the command center.

  "Oh, my friends, today I'd like to introduce you to a gentleman, Li Mingfeng, whom you can call Mr. Li. He's a talented student from Oxford University and also the descendant of a wealthy family in Qing China. However, his family was persecuted, and he chose to stand with us. Now, he is my translator." Elgin introduced Li Mingfeng to several national representatives.

  Everyone did not expect that the closed Qing country would also have overseas students, feeling surprised. Later, Li Mingfeng used pure English to greet the American ambassador Le Wei and then used pure French to ask Guo a good question. He then greeted the Russian ambassador Putilin in not very fluent Russian. Although Li Mingfeng did not know Russian, as a frequent tour guide abroad, he still knew the greetings of several major languages in the world.

  What effect would it have if this young man were to deal with those pedantic and ossified officials of the Qing government?

  After Li Mingfeng confirmed the fact that he had traveled through time and space these days, he began to consider where he should go.

  Be an ordinary person? Borrow some money from Palande to buy a few acres of land in the countryside and raise cattle?

  Others may have thought of such a life, but Li Mingfeng only wanted to live a rich life with meat at every meal, wearing silk and living in a big house.

  Are you doing business? First, I don't have the brains for it. Second, I don't have the capital. Third, in this feudal society, without backing from the imperial court, how can a business possibly grow big?

  Reading the Four Books and Five Classics, participating in the imperial examination, becoming a jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examination) and being a minor official is not a bad choice. However, Li Mingfeng really didn't have confidence that he could pass the exam before starving to death. If he took the exam until he was 50 or 60 years old and still couldn't pass, wouldn't he become like Fan Jin? Moreover, Fan Jin's family finally passed the exam, but what if he studied until his own death and still couldn't pass?

  In the second half of the 19th century, China was bullied by powerful countries. This little tour guide, who eats Western food even in modern times, if he can get in touch with the powerful countries here and become their agent in China, wouldn't that be a great thing? As for whether it's treason or not, only those angry youth on the internet care about that. I just want to live comfortably, who cares if the Qing dynasty was bullied or not.

  In today's China, there is no doubt that if one can get close to these four major powers of Britain, France, the United States and Russia, it will be extremely helpful for one's future. Although I want to become an agent of the four major powers in China, why would Britain, France, the United States and Russia choose someone as powerless as me to be their agent?

  Only when he has demonstrated his worth, will the great powers feel that Li Mingfeng is the one who can best satisfy their interests, and only then will they support him, and wealth and glory will be within his grasp.

  Li Mingfeng thought to himself that in the future, he would ride in a luxurious sedan chair, marry dozens of concubines, and enjoy a constant supply of exotic delicacies every day. Just thinking about it made him feel incredibly pleased.

  "Li, as a Qing national, although you studied in the British Empire, you should still be quite familiar with the Qing country." Lai Wei-lian asked. The American envoy always showed the practical habit of Americans, asking the most practical questions for them first.

  Li Mingfeng whispered to himself that an opportunity had come, and with a slightly arrogant tone, he said: "Of course, as the son of a wealthy merchant, understanding the imperial court is our required course. There isn't a single high-ranking official in the imperial court that I am not familiar with. In fact, I personally know many high officials."

  If the great powers were to know that he didn't even recognize a seventh-rank county magistrate, his utility value would be much lower. Li Mingfeng bragged about his identity and naturally attracted the attention of the great powers. Sure enough, after hearing Li Mingfeng's words, the representatives of the four countries all showed satisfied expressions.

  "What's your view on our opponent, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ye Mingchen and his subordinates?" asked American Minister McLane. Although a big war was imminent, the powers still had very limited understanding of the Qing dynasty, and they hoped to get more intelligence from Li Mingfang.

  Li Mingfeng recalled the history he knew, remembering that Ye Mingchen was captured during the Second Opium War, went on a hunger strike in protest, and eventually starved to death in India. Many other officials in Guangzhou became puppets, establishing the first puppet government in Chinese history.

  "Yè Míngchēn has been deeply poisoned by the Confucian ideology of the Qing dynasty, he is a die-hard element and will definitely fight to the end. However, not all his subordinates are hardliners, once the Allied forces achieve a decisive victory, most of them may surrender." Li Mingfeng analyzed on behalf of the representatives of various countries.

  Everyone heard Li Mingfeng's understanding of the officialdom of Qingguo and was very happy, after all, it was an additional source of information.

  "Very well, since that is the case, let us first allow the Qing people to witness the greatness of the British Empire and the French Empire. The adjutant orders the troops to set out immediately, and they must arrive at Guangzhou City by tomorrow afternoon." Elgin gave the order to attack.