Chapter 7: The Foreigners' Fat Sheep

  Li Mingfeng walked through the city of Guangzhou after the war, and the corpses scattered all over the ground were mostly those of Qing soldiers and local civilians. In areas where the fighting had been intense, mutilated bodies piled up like mountains, and the stench of blood filled his nostrils, making Li Mingfeng feel a wave of nausea in his stomach, and he spat out several mouthfuls of sour water.

  The Allied forces announced the implementation of curfew, and all residents were not allowed to go out on the streets. The soldiers of the Anglo-French coalition were basically "hunting for treasure" in various government offices and warehouses, and there was actually no one on the streets, like a dead city.

  "Li, you're here! I've finally found you!" Palande exclaimed as he ran over from a distance.

  "What are you looking for me, Paland?" Li Mingfeng didn't know why this somewhat clumsy British friend had come to find him in such a situation. Usually they would go to various places to "receive" supplies.

  Palan was slightly embarrassed: "We captured an official of the Qing dynasty, but we can't communicate with him and don't know what rank he is. If his rank is high, then we should hand him over to the Governor-General. If he's just a common official, then according to custom, we'll take some property from his family as compensation for protecting him."

  Li Mingfeng was delighted when he heard this, these British people were obviously here to rob them, but they couldn't put down their gentlemanly airs and had to pretend that they were going to give them the money. However, since it was his old friends who wanted to swindle him, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

  Li Mingfeng had Palande lead the way, and after more than ten minutes, they arrived at what Palande called "the home of a high-ranking official of the Qing government". Looking at the large plaque on the door that read "Guangdong Governor's Mansion", Li Mingfeng felt his head spinning. Good grief, it seemed he had stumbled upon the governor's residence.

  Li Mingfeng looked at Palande with a hint of amusement and said: "Palande, it seems you've rushed to the wrong house this time."

  Palando turned around, looking puzzled and asked: "What's wrong? This house looks very rich. We had a dispute with other gangs to monopolize this house, but in the end we occupied it. How could we rob the wrong house?"

  "This family is a high-ranking official of the Qing dynasty, but the master here is one of the top officials in Guangzhou City. According to military law, an official of this rank should be treated with kindness, because they may become future partners of the Allied Army." Li Mingfeng explained.

  After hearing this, Palande punched the gate of the patrol officer's mansion and scolded: "Damn it! That old man served us like a servant to his master. We thought he was just a small figure, but unexpectedly an official of this level would also be like this."

  Li Mingfeng felt a little cry and laugh, facing these robbers, as long as they wanted to live, they could only humble themselves and beg for mercy, without any official position. However, this Guangdong Governor obviously did not understand the way of doing things in England and France. Western powers generally do not annex other countries, they just support an agent to manage the local area, which is called colonial rule.

  Ye Mingchen is an old die-hard, it's impossible for him to betray the imperial court. So, the Guangdong Governor became the best candidate as a proxy for the British and French in Canton. This Bai Gui still thought his life was not guaranteed, but he didn't know that if he surrendered to Britain, this governor position would probably be taken by him.

  Li Mingfeng is too familiar with the temperament of officials in this era, greedy and ignorant. He has been following the British all along since he came to this era. If one day he can't do something that satisfies the British, he really doesn't know how to survive in this agricultural society. Today, there is an opportunity to take advantage of it and make some money, otherwise, if you leave the foreigners, you will starve to death.

  Thinking of this, Li Mingfeng comforted Palande by saying: "Don't worry, although as a high-ranking captive you can be exempt from plunder, but if he voluntarily gives us some of his belongings, I'm sure the Governor will not say anything."

  Upon hearing this, Palande asked in confusion: "Voluntarily giving us their wealth? As if there's such a fool in the world?"

  Li Mingfeng smiled and told him that he would contact the official himself later, and neither Andrew nor anyone else was allowed to interrupt. Palandre had always regarded Li Mingfeng as an oriental nobleman with higher education, and respected him very much. Since he said so, he must have been confident, and did not object.

  Inside the hall, Andrew and more than a dozen others couldn't help but look at the still-eloquent Governor with some impatience, thinking to themselves that although Qing officials were no good at fighting wars, when it came to speaking, they were truly formidable - able to speak non-stop for an hour without resting.

  "Oh, Li, you've finally arrived. Quickly stop this crazy guy, if he continues like this my brothers will all go mad." Seeing Li Mingfeng come in, Andrew and the others were finally relieved.

  In Li Mingfeng's impression, these timid bureaucrats should be short in stature, with a stout body, and wearing ill-fitting official robes. However, this Guangdong Governor Bai Gui was far from the image in Li Mingfeng's mind - he wore a magnificent second-grade official robe, had three strands of white whiskers, and had a fairly dignified appearance, looking every inch the typical honest official.

  It's really true that you can't judge a person by their appearance, Li Mingfeng thought to himself.

  Bai Gui saw these foreign devils suddenly all walking out, and was at a loss for what to do, but it turned out that they were going to pick someone up, rather than being fed up with his chatter and leaving in anger.

  When he finally got a clear look at the foreigners, he was shocked to see that they were actually Chinese with queues, and Bai Gui thought to himself, "I never expected these foreigners to be in cahoots with the Taiping rebels."

  In his mind, as long as they didn't have a queue, they were definitely long-haired counter-revolutionaries.

  "It must be Lord Hakuren." Li Mingfeng deliberately called out his name, rather than addressing him as Governor. This type of bureaucrat is the most shameless; if you show respect to him, he will truly think himself a dignitary. On the contrary, directly calling out his name and putting pressure on him would make him clearly understand who's in charge here.

  As expected, Bai Gui, who had been somewhat underestimating Li Mingfeng, immediately recalled that he was now a prisoner and couldn't afford to lose his life over face when the long-haired man directly called out his name.

  "Yes, I am indeed Guangdong Governor Bai Gui." Bai Gui's face was adorned with a flattering smile, which made Li Mingfeng's skin crawl.

  Calling Andrew and others to sit back, Palan told them Li Mingfeng's arrangement. These British soldiers all closed their mouths unanimously, afraid of ruining Li Mingfeng's plan.

  "Does Lord Hakuren know that the Allied Forces have already breached the castle?"

  "I know, I know, the foreigners are really formidable. Their big guns can shoot much farther than those of the Qing dynasty. They conquered Guangzhou in just one day, what a powerful and majestic army! The shamelessness of Bo Gui has reached a certain level."

  "Now that you know how formidable it is, what does the master plan to do?" Li Mingfeng's smile was somewhat meaningful.

  "As the Heavenly King has already collaborated with foreigners, I naturally want to rely on him and hope to help him guard a region and defend Guangdong."

  Li Mingfeng was taken aback upon hearing this, it seemed that Bo Gui also considered himself a rebel of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

  "I'm not from that side, don't make random guesses." It's better to clarify, or else being mistaken for a long-haired person won't get you any money.

  He paused for a moment, suddenly turned his mind and asked: "Are you a subordinate of the 5,000-year-old Stone King?"

  "My father is not Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping Heavenly King, and I have nothing to do with him. My father is also not Shi Dakai's man." Li Mingfeng almost fainted from anger, abandoning his gentlemanly image of many years, he cursed loudly.

  Andrew and the others had never seen Li Mingfeng so angry. They couldn't understand Chinese, but judging from his expression, they guessed that the "negotiation" had broken down. These men were like evil spirits, and when they learned that their hard-won prize was not appreciated, they immediately raised their rifles and wanted to teach this ungrateful Qing national a lesson on the spot.