Chapter Twenty-Two: Guangzhou City

  That night, the group arrived in Conghua County. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Li Mingfeng and Qin Cheng unanimously decided not to enter the city and set up camp directly in the wilderness to rest.

  Lin Wan'er was a woman, so Li Mingfeng let her rest in the carriage. A night passed without incident, and early the next morning, Li Mingfeng and his companions set off again, heading straight for Guangzhou City.

  From Huazhou to Guangzhou is only over a hundred miles, and in less than two hours the horse team arrived outside the city of Guangzhou. Li Mingfeng gazed at the ancient city wall of Guangzhou from afar, his eyes moistening. In this era without dependence or support, only here could give Li Mingfeng a sense of home.

  Just as Li Mingfeng was feeling deeply moved, Qin Cheng, who had gone ahead to report back to the city, returned on horseback.

  "The Governor himself has come out of the city to greet you, sir," Qin Cheng said breathlessly, his tone clearly conveying his astonishment.

  Li Mingfeng had long known this result, and this time he was taken away by the Tiandihui, it's all because of Bo Gui. This old ghost is still relying on foreigners for survival, and can't afford to offend him. When he heard that Li Mingfeng was back, he would definitely come running eagerly.

  Li Mingfeng looked down on Bo Gui as a person, but since he was in Guangzhou, he had to give face to the governor no matter what. He ordered Xiao Xiao to support him and Li Mingfeng got up with one hand holding onto the carriage, forcing himself to stand up.

  At teatime, from a distance, dozens of soldiers and yamen runners were seen hurrying over, surrounding a four-man green felt sedan chair. Bo Gui was sitting in the sedan chair, already so anxious that he wished he could get out and run himself, urging the bearers to hurry up.

  At this sight, Li Mingfeng squeezed out a few tears. With the support of Xiao Xiao, he stumbled forward while wailing: "Bo Gui big brother, you've finally come! Younger brother almost didn't get to see you!"

  Bo Gui stopped the sedan chair and quickly stepped forward, grasping Li Mingfeng's arm. His face was filled with sorrow and regret, no less than Li Mingfeng's: "Younger brother, this time it's all my fault for letting you fall into the enemy's hands. Fortunately, your good fortune and longevity allowed you to escape, but if something had happened to you, I would have been guilty of a crime punishable by death." Bo Gui took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped away tears, as if he had really cried.

  Knowing that Li Mingfeng's leg was injured, Bo Gui let him sit down in the sedan chair. Just as they were about to lift the sedan and enter the city, they heard a loud noise. When they opened the curtain of the sedan chair, it turned out that General Mu Ke of Guangzhou and other officials had all rushed over.

  Li Mingfeng reluctantly exchanged pleasantries with the crowd for a long time, until noon, when he finally finished greeting the officials who kept coming in an endless stream. China's officialdom has been a matter of eating and drinking for thousands of years, and the Qing dynasty was no exception.

  The governor's mansion set up a banquet, from the main hall to the sky well, there were 30 or 40 tables. With the experience of last time, Bo Gui had arranged thousands of Green Camp soldiers outside the mansion early on. Those who came to the banquet this time were either high-ranking officials or nobles, and all those with some status in Guangzhou City came.

  Li Mingfeng had thought that he would just return to the city and take a good rest, but unexpectedly it turned out like this. If it weren't for Bo Gui sending someone to sing his name and register as a guest, presenting him with a gift of money to ward off evil spirits, Li Mingfeng would have long since thrown up his hands and left.

  These days, Li Mingfeng has gotten used to wearing a long gown with a false bottom. There's a saying that goes "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". If he were to dress strangely and unusually, it would be hard for him to interact with these local officials. Since that's the case, Li Mingfeng just went along with this attire.

  After drinking three cups, Li Mingfeng roughly understood the current situation amidst the casual conversations of the crowd. After the foreigners took Guangzhou, they made some repairs and set sail north again, leaving only over a thousand British soldiers to maintain order in Guangzhou City.

  From the conversation, Li Mingfeng could also hear the worries of Bai Gui and others. This time, if the foreigners go north and lose the war, Guangdong will be recovered soon, and his surrender may be exposed and attacked one day. If they win the war, the foreigners will occupy Guangzhou City and not leave, then these officials will only have a name but no real power, and everything will need to follow the orders of the foreigners. Regardless of the outcome, these people do not want to see either result.

  Collecting people's money and helping them eliminate troubles. This time, the banquet collected so much money from others, although Li Mingfeng couldn't solve any problems, he should at least comfort and guide them a few words.

  "Gentlemen, please do not worry about the war." Wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, Li Mingfeng spoke eloquently, "I also understand what you gentlemen mean. Internally, you fear that the imperial court will blame you for surrendering to foreigners, and externally, you are afraid that foreigners will occupy Guangdong for a long time and refuse to leave. I am aware of all these concerns. As someone who eats foreign rice, if foreigners lose power, I would be the first to suffer misfortune. But have you seen me panic?"

  Everyone frowned and thought about Li Mingfeng's words, at this time a rural squire sitting in another seat asked in a low voice: "Does Mr. Li mean that the foreigner has already won this battle?"

  "Victory is not necessarily achievable, but defeat is impossible." Li Mingfeng smiled and replied, "This time the Anglo-French coalition has come with less than 5,000 troops. How strong they are, you gentlemen should have a good idea in your hearts. If this time we march north and the imperial court unites to fight, defeating the foreigners is not impossible. However, England and France are major Western powers, each with hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers. Even if you can defeat 5,000 coalition troops, provoking England and France will lead them to send a million-strong army to attack next time. What military strength does the Qing have left to resist?"

  Everyone who heard that the two countries of England and France actually had an army of one million was frightened, with cold sweat dripping down their backs. They thought to themselves: Fortunately, these foreigners' territory is far away; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

  Ignoring the shocked gazes of the crowd, Li Mingfeng continued to say: "Although foreigners are strong, you gentlemen don't have to be afraid, because foreigners also have three fatal weaknesses. Firstly, this time the invading foreigners are divided into four countries, although they are attacking our Qing Dynasty together, but in reality, they are united in appearance but divided at heart, and when they achieve certain results, the contradictions between the four countries will erupt. Secondly, it is something that all of you gentlemen know, the country of the foreigners is thousands of miles away from here, wanting to occupy the Qing Dynasty is extremely difficult. Thirdly, which is also the most important point, foreigners have no intention of swallowing up the Qing Dynasty."

  A local gentry stood up again and asked: "Sir, you said that foreigners have no intention of annexing the Qing Dynasty, we believe this, but since foreigners will eventually leave, after the imperial court takes over Guangzhou in the future, we will still be unable to escape punishment."

  "Don't worry, even if the foreigners leave, the imperial court won't bother to settle old scores with you. In my opinion, the imperial court and the foreigners aren't sworn enemies either. The foreigners invaded China purely for profit. Once the imperial court suffers a loss, as long as it doesn't shake the foundations of the Qing dynasty, it will definitely cooperate with the foreigners, offering them huge profits in exchange for firearms and cannons to wipe out the Taiping rebels. When the day comes that China and the barbarians are on good terms again, how could the imperial court possibly hold you responsible?" Li Mingfeng, who had some knowledge of history, knew that the Qing government wouldn't care about ceding a bit of sovereignty as long as it could defeat the Taiping Army and secure its rule. It would even agree to territorial concessions and indemnities if necessary.

  It is clear that these feudal bureaucrats were also very familiar with the imperial court. If foreigners really wanted to sell firearms to the imperial court to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, then negotiating and cooperating with foreigners, or even ceding territory and sovereignty, was not impossible.

  Everyone felt relieved and excited, and they all came to toast Li Mingfeng. Li Mingfeng had noticed the expressions of the people in the room earlier, including Bai Gui and a few others who didn't flinch when they heard that the imperial court might cooperate with foreigners. It was clear that these guys had already anticipated this outcome. Especially Bai Gui, he was willing to cooperate with foreigners, on the one hand because of their overwhelming power, and on the other hand because he saw that in the future, the imperial court would inevitably cooperate with foreigners, and he just took a step ahead, maybe even gaining the reputation as the first person to promote Sino-foreign exchange.