Chapter Thirty-Nine: Return to Chengdu

  Kreiman is a man of his word, and Wang Hengyue's long-awaited weapon has finally arrived!

  Two hundred and fifty brand new rifles, each with a bayonet. At this time, the first team can finally be said to have "military uniform", no longer that tattered "beggar" army before.

  Kreman brought another letter asking Captain Wang not to forget the appointment in Chengdu, and the time and place were detailed in the letter.

  Within a few days, Wang Hengyue handed over the military camp and let his chief of staff, Ma Xiao, and Pete accompany him on his journey.

  Before leaving, Yu Lei was called over and after thinking for a moment, he finally spoke out his mind.

  Yu Lei has made several contributions since following Wang Hengyue, but now Yu Lei is a clerk, and there are some absurdities.

  Wang Hengyue's intention was to establish a "Statistics Office" in the first team, after the Internal Affairs Office, nominally for statistics of various materials, but internally Wang Hengyue quietly told Yu Lei his thoughts.

  Yu Lei is a clever person, Wang Hengyue only briefly explained it, and immediately understood the meaning of Wang's words. He calmly said: "Since the adults trust the students, the students will definitely do their best to help the adults!"

  Wang Hengyue nodded, but let Yu Lei be in charge of the "Statistics Office", whether it was a wise choice or not, he had no idea at all.

  This time back in Chengdu, it's completely different.

  Last time I came to Chengdu, I still had the identity of a "revolutionary party", and everything had to rely on Qin Guangcheng to take care of it. But this time back, it was a formal newly established war merit officer.

  He rushed to Qin Guangcheng's home. When Qin Guangcheng saw his brother return, he was overjoyed and hastily ordered someone to set up a banquet.

  Qin Guangcheng had already heard about the things his brother had done in Rong County, and he couldn't stop praising him, saying that he hadn't misjudged him from the start. Now that his brother was stationed in Rong County, although it was still far from being a "big shot" in the local government, at least there was hope for advancement.

  "Qin, this time our brother killed Lu Bao Yin, and Lu Bao Gen will definitely not let it go. He originally had a grudge against you, so please be extremely careful." Wang Hengyue expressed his concerns.

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Qin Guangcheng was not worried at all: "Brother killed Lu Baoyin, that's to eliminate the harm for the people. Even if this hadn't happened, wouldn't Lu Bao have come looking for me anyway?"

  Saying that, he threw the topic aside: "Brother, last time you had Fang Yun bring back a silver note. I've already sent someone to purchase in bulk from the surrounding areas. Now this 15,000 taels of silver have all been converted into white cloth. It's not easy to buy this white cloth, originally it didn't sell well, and there were only a few pieces at each fabric store. I sent people to make large purchases in the surrounding areas, and that's how we used up this 15,000 taels of silver. Brother also instructed me carefully, and I've also stocked up on 5,000 taels worth of goods. But I really don't understand brother's meaning - when can these 20,000 taels worth of goods be sold?"

  "Big brother has only made 5,000 taels? Not enough, not enough." Wang Hengyue shook his head repeatedly, but he couldn't say what was on his mind: "It's just that there might not be enough time to restock. Never mind, it's still considered a success."

  Qin Guangcheng couldn't understand no matter what, why so much white cloth was needed. High-quality, medium-quality and low-quality white cloth filled a warehouse, heaven knows when it would be sold, his brother's actions were indeed unpredictable.

  "Master, Manager Du has arrived."

  "Oh? Brother Charlie is here? Please come in!"

  No sooner had he finished speaking than Du Charlie's not-so-standard but always-on-the-tip-of-his-tongue English floated in: "Good afternoon, Qin Manager!"

  Upon another glance, Wang Hengyue was also there. Du Charlie's face was beaming with a smile: "Ah, Shu Zhi is here too! Brother Shu Zhi made a big splash in Rong County, and it brings great glory to our brotherhood."

  Wang Heng got up and saw that Qin Guangcheng asked one question, Du Chari hadn't eaten yet, so he had someone bring the tableware.

  Du Cha Li didn't mince words, and drank a cup of wine on his own: "Brother is busy all day dealing with those foreigners, really can't get away from them. Those foreigners are inseparable from brother for even a moment, brother has long wanted to quit, but those foreigners keep begging brother, really no way to escape. Not again busy for a whole morning, thinking still haven't eaten, no choice, thickening his skin to come to Qin Zhuang's place to hang out for a bit, haha!"

  This guy is also a boastful person who doesn't bat an eye, but it's likely that the opposite is true, and he's actually desperately seeking recognition from foreigners.

  Qin Guangcheng seemed nonchalant: "What's Charlie up to this morning?"

  "Does Fan Lixi know?" said Du Charlie with a sigh. "This company is American, the headquarters was originally in Chongqing, it's huge, and there's an office in Chengdu. The general manager, Klayman, used to be a close friend of mine. This time they're hosting a party and insisted that I attend as his companion. I wanted to decline, but Klayman wouldn't let me."

  As soon as he heard that it was also a party hosted by Kleiman, Pitt hesitated for a moment, just wanting to speak, but was secretly kicked in the foot by Wang Hengyue. Pitt quickly swallowed his words and looked at Wang Hengyue, who was also holding back laughter like himself.

  Du Charles didn't know that Wang Hengyue had known Kleiman for a long time, and Pitt was his junior. He shook his head and muttered to himself: "This wine party is going to be a big deal, all the consuls of various countries in Chengdu will attend, being able to go is naturally a way to add luster to our country, my brother also thought of this layer so he had no choice but to go."

  "Consul?" Ma Xiao was taken aback, having remained silent until now: "Each country only has a consulate in Chongqing, Chengdu is not a treaty port and cannot have a consulate, where would the consul come from?"

  One sentence made Qin Guangcheng's face turn pale, and he sighed: "Brother Ma, you are an outsider, so you don't know much about Sichuan. Yes, according to the Treaty of Yantai, Chongqing became a treaty port, and Britain, France, Japan, the United States, and Germany successively sent consuls to Chongqing and set up consulates. According to international diplomatic conventions, Chengdu is not a treaty port and does not allow foreign countries to set up consulates or send consular personnel. However, as the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu is the center of provincial government power, the location of the highest administrative chief, the Governor-General, and the Foreign Affairs Bureau. Various countries want to expand their influence in Sichuan, solve major problems, and handle missionary disputes, all of which require timely communication with the relevant authorities in the provincial capital. If they go through Chongqing, the procedure is cumbersome and time-consuming. Therefore, the British, French, German, and American consulates in Chongqing successively set up permanent institutions in Chengdu that are not consulate in nature, some of which even put up signs saying 'Consulate General of a certain country in Chengdu'.

  Ma Xiao heard this and became furious: "This is a matter of national sovereignty, can't the imperial court even manage it?"

  "The government?" Qin Guangcheng sneered: "What can the government do? Except for stipulating that foreign powers are not allowed to engage in consular activities under the name of a consulate, most of their actual consular activities are tacitly approved. Therefore, among the people, newspapers, and sometimes even official documents, these institutions are often mistakenly referred to as consulates."

  Ma Xiao gnashed his teeth: "A country's sovereignty is lost, and the imperial court is actually so weak!"