Chapter 48: The French Envoy Presents a Lavish Gift

  I'll make sure to show a smile, damn it. I was going to use the sale of weapons as leverage to get more benefits from them, but those damned Prussians stole the secrets of my great British Empire instead. I'll send someone to report back to Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister, you'll pay for this.

  Li Yunzhong took the opportunity to open his mouth and say: "Very well, I want 10,000 of these rifles, plus a large number of artillery, and the most advanced gunpowder. Don't try to cheat me with inferior goods."

  "Good heavens!" exclaimed Wenham. "10,000 Krag-J?rgensen rifles? No, no, no, Your Highness, you must know we don't have that many Krag-J?rgensens! I can give you at most 500."

  Looking at Li Yunzhong's triumphant smile, Wen Han said helplessly: "Alright, I admit it. From the very beginning, I fell into your trap. I lost. I didn't expect that ignorant Qing country would have a... gentleman like you."

  Li Yunzhong burst out laughing and said, "From today on, you are my friend. As a return for your generosity, the treaty I signed with Britain will give you priority in choosing."

  "Wen Han's eyes widened in shock, he stammered: 'You actually know about the right of first refusal, it's unbelievable! I represent the British Empire to thank you, I will send the weapons to you as soon as possible after I return.'"

  Li Yunzhong and Wen Han deliberated on a new agreement, and they debated for half an hour.

  "No evasion of tariffs, they must be paid in full"

  …………

  "Alright, you can set up a legation in Nanjing and we will allocate a piece of land for your use."

  "Oh, that's really great, I still don't understand why those ignorant Qing people didn't agree to this request, it's as if we would eat humans or something."

  …………

  "Recognize the cession of Hong Kong? No, we will not recognize the cession! Lease? Alright, lease can be negotiated."

  …………

  "Open up cities under our military control? Okay, no problem."

  "You're telling the truth, oh God, thank you so much."

  …………

  "Permit merchants and Chinese to trade freely? Yes, but opium is excepted."

  …………

  "This won't do, you must know that the laws of England and China are different. If Englishmen commit crimes here, they will certainly be punished. However, I can set up a special court to try cases involving Chinese and British civilians, and the English may choose to attend as observers."

  ………

  ………

  Wen Han looked at the signed treaty with satisfaction and said to Li Yunzhong, "I'm going to take my leave now. I hope our friendship will last forever."

  Li Yunzhong led the officials to send the British group out of the city gate. At the time of farewell, he whispered to the translator: "If you can transport guns, artillery and other materials from Nanjing, I am willing to increase the price by 30% to buy them. If you introduce other businessmen to transport these materials, I am willing to lower the purchase price, and half of the reduced amount will be your brokerage fee."

  Leaving behind a surprised translator, Li Yunzhong bid farewell to Wen Han.

  Shanghai was opened up after the Opium War, and foreigners soon discovered that "Shanghai has a good business environment". Exporting silk and tea directly from Shanghai saves at least 35% of transportation costs compared to transshipping via Guangzhou.

  In 1844, according to foreign statistics, Shanghai's tea exports accounted for only 2% of the country's total, while Guangzhou accounted for 98%. By 1849, Shanghai had surged to 44%, while Guangzhou plummeted to 23%. In 1846, Shanghai's raw silk exports were already 4.27 times that of Guangzhou. Shanghai quickly replaced Guangzhou as the leading foreign trade port in China.

  However, due to the weakness of Shanghai Customs supervision, the declaration of import and export goods relied on the conscience of the compradors. As long as there was a profit to be made, the foreign firms engaged in tax evasion, exchange manipulation, bribery, fraud, mergers and acquisitions, and theft of business intelligence, and their activities were rampant and uncontrollable. After the three major opium trading houses, including Jardine Matheson & Co., Dent & Co., and Augustine Heard & Co., gathered in Shanghai, the center of the opium trade shifted from Guangzhou to Shanghai. The armed steamships of the three firms frequently sailed along China's coast. In 1850, for example, a total of 227 foreign ships entered the port of Shanghai, with 58 of them carrying opium; the total value of goods imported into Shanghai was 16.31 million taels of silver, with opium accounting for 12 million taels, nearly 70% of the total.

  Wen Han led the visiting group to Nanjing's British concession, where A Li Guo had gathered all the British expatriates in the conference room. Wen Han shared the gains from their trip to Nanjing and received applause from all the expatriates.

  "Gentlemen, it is clear that the Han nation of Nanjing is an enlightened country, unlike the ignorant Qing nation. The Han nation is willing to open up all its cities and is very interested in my proposed railway plan. I think we should support the Han nation."

  "Mr. Ambassador, I think it's too early to draw conclusions now. We still don't know the specific strength of the Han country and whether it can remain unscathed under the next blow from the Qing country."

  "I think we should continue to observe for a while before making a decision," said Bai Lingdao, an embassy official.

  "Gentlemen, can we first consider our own safety before considering other things, OK?" - Mr. Monty, a British businessman.

  Ari Country woke up and said: "Yes, it's time for us to establish an armed force."

  Wen Han thought for a moment, nodded and said: "We will first establish a cooperative defense committee, then set up a volunteer corps, which must be led by British officers. The final step is to persuade the French and Americans to join this committee."

  "Good idea," said Ah Li Guo in praise, "I suggest that Captain Jack take charge of the Righteous and Brave Army."

  French Concession

  Minister Bulbul Broron said to Secretary Aiteng, "You go and find out what the British got from Nanjing. Why did that Wenhan guy make such a big fuss as soon as he came back - summoning all the expatriates for such a long meeting."

  Ai Tang helplessly hinted: "They are having a meeting now, I think they really got great benefits from Nanjing."

  Boule de Blarenberg felt it was necessary to go to Nanjing, he stood up and said: "I think we should also go to Nanjing to investigate the situation of the Han State's military, politics, religion, and civil affairs, and report back to the government as soon as possible. You go gather the few fathers who are staying in Shanghai and come with us to Nanjing."

  Aiteng agreed: "Since the British can return safely, we French will not encounter danger either."

  On May 5, the French chargé d'affaires arrived in Nanjing with Fathers Napoléon Henri Roulleaux and Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse on a warship, which anchored off the city's walls near the Shazhou battery.

  The embassy secretary Ai Tang and translator officer Ma Kaisi went ahead to test the waters, Li Yunzhong sent Meng Shangsheng to meet them.

  Having seen Nanjing and found no danger, French Minister Bourboulon formally requested an audience with the Han king on May 6th in the morning.

  Li Yunzhong received Boule and others at the place where he had previously entertained the British envoy, Li Yunzhong could not speak French, so he let the Frenchman Mackay translate.

  Bulbulun asked: "I wish His Majesty the King of Han good health."

  Li Yunzhong decided to scare them a bit and gain some benefits, so he pretended to interrogate: "I heard Mr. Wenhan say that you French people want to support the Qing dynasty's monsters to attack us?"

  Bourrely cursed the journalist, denying: "These are slanders. France has always maintained a 'neutral' stance on this war and will not take sides."

  Hu Yihuang couldn't help but ask: "The commander who attacked Jiangyin sent a letter asking why there were foreign gunboats helping the Qing dynasty guard the city."

  Li Yunzhong added: "According to the British minister's account, all those gunboats were French."

  Boole shook his head and said, "Most of the gunboats were American. When you attacked Nanjing, Wu Jianzhang, a Shanghai official, rented three gunboats with his own silver, which had nothing to do with the government."

  Li Yunzhong said: "So you're saying that this time you came to Nanjing without any purpose?"

  Bole Boulon said with a dark expression, "Honorable King Han, I heard that you got married a few days ago. I came this time to give you some small gifts."

  Saying that, he put the prepared list on the table and pushed it over.

  Li Yunzhong saw that it was written in Chinese on top, so he picked it up and took a look.

  Brown Bess musket 100 rods

  Gunpowder 10 barrels

  Two large-caliber guns

  Li Yunzhong sneered: "You are more stingy than the British."

  Bulbul Bloon didn't understand why the Han king in front of him had such an expression, thinking that he still didn't know the power of flintlock guns, and explained: "Your Highness, one Brown Bess rifle can suppress 2-3 bird shotguns, this is what our army has concluded from war."

  Li Yunzhong exaggerated: "The British just gave me 500 of the latest Krnswick rifles, and a lot of black gunpowder. They promised to dismantle the big cannons in Shanghai and sell them to us."