Chapter 44: Ariya Country's Famine

  Listening to Li Zhen's crazy words, Ariya's temples throbbed rapidly.

  In an instant, Ari's face sank, and he pounded the table, saying in a cold voice: "General Li, we are discussing a serious and profound topic. Your rudeness is very impolite. Besides, what I said was just a fact - the bandits occupied Shanghai, and the interests of the British Empire were damaged. Shouldn't you make compensation?"

  Yang Nengge interrupted: "General Li, both sides are negotiating, be careful."

  "We need help and can't afford to antagonize them."

  Two people openly flattered Ali G, making Li Zhen's anger soar, extremely furious.

  Shanghai was occupied by the Small Swords Society, and it is true that the Small Swords Society must be eradicated, but absolutely not in a humble and pleading manner to ask foreigners for help. Li Zhen would never do such a thing, nor would he allow his subordinates to do so. Li Zhen understood even more clearly that a diplomat like Harry Parkes was a representative of the interests of dividing China, and if he were allowed to turn the tables, it would be an ineradicable poison.

  "Bastard!"

  Li Zhen's expression was cold and stern, his eyes scanned Yang Nengge and Lan Cuiwen like a knife.

  Yang Nengge and Lan Weiwang were startled, but glared at each other in anger.

  Li Zhen seemed to have not heard, and said lightly: "Ben Jiang is the supervisor of the Shanghai Customs, fully responsible for the affairs of the Shanghai Tariff. If you two do not have a good opinion, then do not interrupt, I have my own plans. You must remember that you are officials of the Qing Dynasty, your words and actions must be for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, do not think about pacifying the Shanghai bandits with humility and flattery, understood?"

  Two people dared to be angry but didn't dare speak, and stopped talking. This foolish guy in front of me even dares to offend the British, provoking him would only lead to being insulted.

  Ai Tang saw Li Zhen, Lan Weiwen and Yang Nengge having a dispute, and secretly felt pleased.

  Ah Li's eyes gleamed coldly as he continued, "General Lee, if you cannot compensate the British Empire for its losses, the empire's troops will remain neutral and may even send someone to contact the Small Knife Society. You'd better think carefully."

  Ma Hui and Ai Tang immediately expressed their stance, both demanding that Li Zhen compensate for the losses of their respective countries.

  Ugly face exposed without reserve.

  Li Zhen leaned back in his chair, a sly smile spreading across his face. "You want to send someone to make contact with the Small Knife Society? Fine, be my guest. I'm really looking forward to seeing whether your envoy will have their ears cut off or their arms chopped off after meeting with the leader of the Small Knife Society. Probably they'll just slink back here with their tails between their legs. Threats like yours may work on Yang Nengge and Lan Yuwen, but I'm not buying it. Let's not waste our breath on empty talk."

  A Li Guo, Ma Hui and Ai Tang looked at each other, their eyes all showing a look of surprise.

  At this moment, the three suddenly realized they had met a formidable opponent.

  As Li Zhen said, Xiaodao didn't care about foreigners and was very discriminatory against them.

  Before that, the Ari country had sent someone to contact Liu Lichuan, the leader of the Small Knife Society, and wanted to support Liu Lichuan as a spokesperson. Although the person who was sent did not get hurt, he was driven out of Shanghai and returned with his tail between his legs.

  Liu Lichuan is not cooperating, so it's impossible for the UK and Xiao Dao to be on the same line.

  Li Zhen looked at the three of them with a playful and mocking gaze, a faintly contemptuous smile playing on his lips.

  This expression made Ariya even more furious.

  Ari Country angrily said: "The small knife will not cooperate, the empire can remain neutral. At that time, relying on your few hundred soldiers, relying on a few hundred guns, it is impossible to take down Shanghai."

  Li Zhenhao said with a shrug: "The longer Shanghai is occupied, the greater the impact on your interests in the concessions. What am I afraid of? At most, it's just a delay in putting down the rebellion."

  Li Zhen made a nonchalant gesture, while Ali Guo, Ai Tang and Ma Hui were even more stifled.

  Li Zhen continued: "Merchants from Britain, the United States and France come to China by sea, where they may encounter typhoons, storms or even pirates, all of which can result in losses. Are you going to ask the pirates for compensation when you lose money? Or are you going to ask the heavens to compensate you by dropping gold coins on your heads? It's simply absurd!"

  "The petty thief will cause trouble and your interests in the concession will suffer losses, I express sympathy."

  "But this is what Xiao Dao would do, it has nothing to do with the Great Qing Empire."

  "Whenever something happens, you all want to shift the blame onto the Qing government. This is absolutely impossible. You people make a fortune in Shanghai, getting rich and fat, but don't even give half a cent to the Qing government, not even paying taxes. When something happens, you think the Qing government should compensate you? That's nothing but bandit logic. To put it bluntly, you don't even pay protection fees, so if you get killed or chopped up, that's none of my business."

  Li Zhenyue said with increasing anger, his heart filled with boundless indignation.

  Yang Nengge and Lan Weiwang were completely numb, this guy was absolutely crazy.

  "Ah, this is the territory of the Great Qing Empire, and our treaty also allows us not to pay taxes. We are operating legally. Now that we have suffered losses, why shouldn't we receive compensation? Your words are nothing but bandit logic."

  "Get out!"

  Li Zhen raised an eyebrow and stood up with a swoosh.

  Li Zhen pointed at Ali and said, "You keep mentioning the treaty, but does it say anything about compensation? Since it doesn't mention compensation, don't bring up the interests of that crappy empire. You made a profit and put it in your own pocket, but now you've lost money and still want someone to pay for you. I don't know if your brain was kicked by a donkey or pinched by a door."

  "Hmph!"

  Huang Shi Hai couldn't help but burst out laughing, feeling extremely delighted in his heart.

  Yang Banhou also felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart, thinking that Li Zhen was bold and decisive enough, much stronger than those Beijing officials who would nod and bow to foreigners.

  A Li Guo saw Li Zhenqiang being tough, and felt helpless in his heart. After a pause, A Li Guo said in a low voice: "If you don't compensate us, we'll send our own troops to attack the Small Knife Society and take back our losses."

  At this time, a robber's behavior was exposed without a trace.

  Li Zhen's eyes were as sharp as a knife, and his voice was low and hoarse. He said slowly: "Let me repeat this once more. This is the territory of the Great Qing Empire, and Shanghai is part of it. If you, Ali Country, dare to take military action in Shanghai, I can consider it as Britain provoking the Great Qing. At that time, I will order an attack on you."

  Hahaha...

  Ali country burst out laughing and said: "You are just a bunch of mobs!"

  Li Zhen said solemnly, "The soldiers in the military camp are indeed not very good, but the more than 900 soldiers I brought with me all listen to me. Perhaps you want to say that there is a fleet, there are big guns, and even well-trained soldiers. But I'm not afraid, what can a dead man fear? After dying, one can still recruit soldiers for continued training and then continue fighting."

  Li Zhen paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "On the contrary, it's nothing for your soldiers who have crossed the ocean to die or get injured. If many of them died, it would be difficult to explain when they return home, even for you, the Consul General in Shanghai."

  Ari felt extremely uncomfortable in her heart, as if there was a fly stuck in her throat.

  Li Zhen's stubbornness is like oil and salt that cannot be penetrated, and he cannot be made to surrender.

  "Hum, let's go!"

  Ali Guo saw that intimidation was ineffective, and he stood up and walked out of the camp.

  Ma Hui and Ai Tang also stood up, looked at Li Zhen with a complex expression, and followed Ali Guo to leave. The three foreigners left dispiritedly, and the remaining foreign soldiers also left quickly.

  Postscript: one of three watches