Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 340 Don’t let the empire misunderstand! The Royal Navy is determined not to fire the first shot!
A Dutch armed merchant ship and a Saxon armed merchant ship witnessed the Qing army suddenly turning their backs and aggressively attacking merchant ships from various countries.

They decisively decided to fight back.

Relying on more than a dozen ship-borne guns, the Hengmen Water Village was easily destroyed.

The four red cannons of the Qing army in the water village were in fixed positions, with inferior gunpowder and extremely poor gunner quality.

The two sides exchanged blows for a while,
The Qing army left behind more than 30 corpses and ran away with the burning water village.

……

"Captain, the artillery of the Qing Empire is too old. Their shells are not accurate at all, and the fort building is also ridiculous. It seems to be a shabby shed."

Captain Netherlands held up his telescope and carefully looked at the fort shrouded in flames.

Said in a low voice:

"The defense focus of the Ming and Qing empires was all on land. They had a strong army and a weak navy. They were like a replica of Rakshasa in the Far East. Oh, their navy is coming, withdraw. We need to get back to Bada as soon as possible. Via, report what happened here.”

"Stop dreaming. The sense of smell of those people in Jiangnan is better than that of a dog. They are not easy to deceive. Listen to me and sell to Sichuan and Guangxi!"

A handful of creditors who acted quickly got their equity back. Most of the creditors were left empty-handed and collapsed, and they could only dig deep for Shanxi merchants.

If it's too late, there's nothing left. So you must be the creditor with the highest priority in paying off your debt!
Need debt! Just relying on words will definitely not work, you must use thunderbolt measures.

The Dutch merchant ship sailed away.

These people are all fine people, and they know that there is a lot of knowledge in collecting debts.

Dozens of Shanxi merchants sat together as if they were mourning their heirs.

A total of 166 barbarian merchants and sailors were captured, as well as 57 corpses.

If it's early, you can still get your principal back.

So people's faces are gray, cyan, or white.

……

Each of these shareholders is stronger than the last.

Even the most obtuse person understands: Things have changed!
……

……

"I've been thinking about it all night, but I still can't figure it out. Why did the imperial court fall out with the barbarian missions from various countries and even fire cannons? Weren't we still friends before?"

Don't wait for them to move around and try to reduce losses as much as possible.

"It's over, it's over. What to do with the raw silk tea we hoarded?"

but,

No matter how crazy the pressure and threats from various creditor representatives are, it will be of no avail~ We have no money, and we can’t get it out no matter how hard we threaten.

Princes: For "the crime of communicating with barbarians and the crime of communicating with Wu", please ask the court to confiscate the Shanxi merchants.

Tens of millions of taels of silver were exchanged for mountains of tea, silk, and porcelain piled in warehouses everywhere.

Silver is like water in a sponge.

There was a lot of excitement inside and outside Guangzhou for 2 days.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prince's Office, and the governors of various feudal territories all sent their confidants, and they all said the same thing: "Withdraw capital! Pay back the money immediately."

"Sell to other provinces before all the news has spread. If you can sell a little, it's better."

No one in the Shanxi Merchants Alliance could afford to offend, so they could only come and give one to another, and soon the entire capital chain collapsed.

Cao Shunqing, the young master of Baofenglong, did not come.

He has become a traitor in this circle, and the result of jumping the gun is that he first recovered one to two million taels of silver.

"To whom?"

The Saxon armed merchant ship hesitated for a moment, feeling that it was too hard to support itself and slipped away. Relying on his skillful sail control skills, he quickly got rid of the Guangzhou Navy, which had an old ship.

From Shanxi to Guangdong, Shanxi merchants' industries suffered a great disaster. It's either blocked or smashed. The guys were beaten and killed, and the boss was jailed.

"Why don't we sell it to those rebels from Wu State?"

Ministry of Internal Affairs: If the money is not returned, the shops of Shanxi merchants in the capital will be confiscated.

The local governor: first sealed the bank account of Shanxi merchants under his command, and then unblocked it after seeing the money.

There is still some squeezing, it just depends on whether you can pinch it or not.

Powerful creditors from all walks of life came to visit.

"Selling cheap!"

In a house on the outskirts of the city,

"Hey~"

Creditors from all walks of life were so angry that they ordered them to be tortured to make them spit out their money.

"Don't worry about the court. The question now is how to reduce the losses. All the hard work of my Qiao family for several lifetimes has been put into it."

Officials from my hometown in Shanxi: No way, send troops to surround your hometown first.

The Taigu Cao family was captured by the cavalry from Taiyuan Prefecture.

They were packed into prison cars and taken to the Inspector's Office in Taiyuan City.

A group of jailers held leather whips and dipped them in salt water to beat the old man of the Cao family to death.

The inspector covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and took charge personally.

Behind him stood a man in civilian clothes. But judging from the tone of their conversation, it seemed that the man in civilian clothes had a bigger background than the inspector.

"Sir, do you see?"

"Hmph, which debtor in the world would admit that he has money? Keep beating him, beat him hard."

After a while,
The jailer came to report in embarrassment that the old man was dead.

The inspector turned his head and looked at the man in civilian clothes behind him.

The man said coldly:
"Taiyuan, the 20 taels of shares you invested are already coming back. But my lord's shares have not been seen yet. If you are concerned about the feelings of the villagers, please transfer the prisoner to Taiyuan Prefecture. Taiyuan Prefecture will definitely recover it for my lord. justice."

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Press and observe to close your eyes and relax your mind.

Asked in a low voice:

"Cao family, how many people are imprisoned?"

"A total of 54 people returned to Taiwan. Among them, 21 were adult males, 12 were female dependents, and 21 were old and weak children."

"In front of all the men, torture the women. If you still can't get out the money, put a stick on the doll. You must squeeze out the money today."

……

Just tell me,
The inspector left quietly. It's not that he's afraid of blood, but what happens next may break the bottom line of humanity.

Only the jailers didn't care.

I think this is quite exciting, treating the Cao family, who used to be the master of all things, like dogs!

The man in civilian clothes lifted the hem of his robe, crossed his legs and sat on the warm chair of the inspector.

He shouted coldly:

"What are you waiting for? Let's get started."

"Whoo."

Over a cup of tea, another 20 taels of silver were handed over.

But this man in civilian clothes with a Beijing accent was not satisfied and said:

"If there are 20 taels, then there are 200 million taels. Today I slap my chest on the moon and swear, if you ask how much silver you can get next, two thousandths of the total will be yours. I know, these days, empty words are White Fang’s messenger has no motivation, right?”

……

The jailers all laughed together and expressed their determination.

"Your Nie Tai is a second-ranked Jinshi, and your heart is not ruthless enough. For a family like the Cao family that is destined to die, what are you worried about? Are you worried about its resurgence?"

"Don't worry, sir. The younger ones will use their housekeeping skills to serve the Cao family."

The man in civilian clothes left the prison with satisfaction.
The next scene was too perverted. Even a pervert like him felt psychologically uncomfortable. Out of sight, out of mind~
In short, the Cao family spit out another 42 taels of silver.

Then, no more.

Early the next morning, 20 corpses and a group of mentally disturbed people were pulled out of the prison.

Everyone who knew about this lamented that Baofenglong was over and the Cao family was over.

The inspector shook his head and lamented that some money in this world can be owed, and some money cannot be owed~
The Cao family has a good personal relationship with him, but now there is really nothing I can do. Fortunately, the young master of the Cao family escaped in Guangzhou.

If he is still smart, he should find a remote place to hide in peace for the rest of his life.

……

By the Taihu Lake,
Li Yu held up the flintlock gun and gently pulled the trigger.

White smoke rose, and a sheep in the distance screamed and fell to the ground, then struggled to run away.

Apparently it was just a scratch!
Li Yu shook his head and handed the gun to the guard.

Fan Jing complimented from the side:

"Your Majesty's marksmanship is like a god, and he has entered the state of transformation."

"Well, are you making fun of me?"

Fan Jing smiled and said:

"A sharpshooter can kill his prey with a single shot of 3,000 meters. His Majesty shot 3,000 meters, hitting the Qianlong puppet emperor in the north, and the Qing court's money bag in the south. He also turned the Guangzhou port into a beacon front line. That's not all, The remaining heat of the bullet also took away the wealth and lives of eight Shanxi merchants."

Everyone laughed.

This horse pony shot is just right.

He is truly worthy of being a man who can firmly hold the position of Minister of Economy. …

Li Yu was in a good mood and said with a smile:

"Shanxi merchants thought they were in charge of the business, calling the wind and rain, and could do anything. They could raise the price if they wanted to, lift the table if they wanted to, and cut the small pieces whenever they wanted."

"I just want everyone in the world to know, who is the banker? I was so angry that I even overturned people and tables. These thousands of miles of land belong to me, Li Yu, and I am the only one who is qualified to handle it."

"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live your Majesty."

The cheers of a group of people pushed the atmosphere to its peak.

Qianlong, who was recuperating from illness, made a decisive decision after learning about this incident.

Using this excuse, the eight Shanxi merchants with deep interpersonal networks in the capital were uprooted to replenish the national treasury. The adult men were beheaded and the rest were exiled to Ili!

Everyone in the court shouted: Shanxi merchants should be killed!

He actually dared to compensate the operation for the money that the princes of the imperial court had paid for their careers and retirement. Isn't this worthy of being killed by a thousand cuts?

After that, there were no more Shanxi merchants in the world.

The Shanxi merchants who dominated the Ming and Qing dynasties completely disappeared from the historical stage.

Of the massive wealth they accumulated, one-third flowed into the State of Wu, one-third was divided up by the Qing court and various powerful creditors, and the other third was missing, so let’s call it “process loss.”

……

In the house rented by the Beijing Information Agency.

Jiang Tianmu and his men discussed in low voices.

"Team leader, our mission is completed, can we evacuate south?"

"No. After the mission is completed, set up an intelligence point in the capital and leave some manpower to lurk."

"Yes."

The Intelligence Agency has strict rules, and subordinates must obey orders from superiors unconditionally.

One person whispered:
"I don't know if there was a fight over at Dagokou?"

Jiang Tianmu reached out to stop his further discussion, opened the door curtain and walked into the back room. I saw two wounded Saxons, leaning on the kang in a daze.

Seeing him come in, the two of them stood up quickly, gesticulating and talking incomprehensible bird songs.

Jiang Tianmu breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand to continue resting.

……

"Team leader, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, it's just that I'm overthinking it." Jiang Tianmu waved his hand, "I'm thinking about whether to make a fire at Dagokou."

"Alert the Saxon fleet to slip away?"

"No, no, no. Your Majesty had a purpose before coming. The first thing is to let Qing Sa enter war relations, and the second thing is not to let the Saxon fleet escape from Dagukou."

Everyone nodded!

The Qing court is the enemy, are the Saxons friends?

If the complete Saxon fleet slips away, the four advanced sailing battleships may also cause hidden dangers to the Jiangnan coast.

If a sharp knife is not held in one's own hand, then one cannot sleep well if it is held in anyone's hand!

inside the house,

Hong Renhui pretended to be calm and signaled to Stangdong not to reveal the secret of his ability to understand Chinese.

Although Stangdong was puzzled, he roughly guessed the reason.

The two narrowly escaped death and their future was uncertain.

At this moment, it's better to be nice.

Hong Renhui's heart was filled with turmoil as he listened to the discussions outside.

He realized a terrible problem.

The tragic experience of the Saxon mission is probably related to the group of people outside the house. They are the masterminds behind the scenes and the organization behind the scenes that prompted the Qing court to turn against them.

God, what kind of devils are these Eastern Empires? The Tatars are barbaric and arrogant, while the southern Han rebels are despicable and insidious~
……

The next day,

Dagukou Fort finally waited for "reinforcements", 10 heavy red cannons.

Thousands of civilians and 500 Eight Banners cavalry spent a lot of effort to dismantle these artillery pieces from the Jinmen city wall and transport them here.

Governor-General of Zhili, Schuler finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He shouted sharply:

"Send orders to the north and south forts and the Dagu Associated Navy, just wait for the sound of the cannons, and everyone will attack the Yi ships together."

"Whoo."

At Dagukou Fort, the Qing troops were running back and forth, a busy scene.

A mast lookout on the Saxon mission's flagship, Portsmouth, which was anchored three miles away, discovered this strange scene.

So the mast was hurriedly removed.

Find the captain and report.

The captain also had doubts after hearing this. He climbed up the mast to take a look and saw that what he said was true.

"Sign the flag and call the other three captains over for discussion."

Half an hour later,

The four captains decided to send envoys to test it first. The main reason is that the mission has been in Beijing for so long and there is no news. It is difficult for people to be optimistic about the prospects of negotiations.

……

A small sampan carried four sailors and rowed to the shore, with a Union Jack flag fluttering in the sea breeze.

The Qing troops at Dagukou Fort watched this scene nervously.

Shuler, the governor of Zhili, quickly drew out his sword and was about to give the order to fire!
Ge Peifei, the commander-in-chief of Jinmen, quickly stopped him:
"Build the platform, wait a minute. I have a plan."

"speak!"

"Paralyze the foreign devils and reward them with some poisoned food. When the fight starts later, our army will have a greater advantage."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Schuler burst into tears as he laughed, inexplicably appreciating this strategy.

"Great idea, you go and do it."

As a result, the four sailors who landed were given a very warm reception. A nice banquet on the table, 4 cold dishes, 4 hot dishes, and 8 desserts.

Sailors have never had such good food.

Everyone ate Haisai like crazy and burst into tears with gratitude.

……

Ge Beifei was also considerate. He was afraid that raw and cold ingredients would have to be cooked in a pot, which would delay his meal, so he directly collected all the cooked food from nearby restaurants.

2 more pharmacies were searched.

Arsenic, cinnabar, croton, Sichuan blackberry, gutwort, and nux vomica are all good things!

"Sir, sprinkle it on the food like this. Even the mules and horses won't eat it if they see it!"

"You know what, the Yi people are just like mules and horses."

Ge Peifei was born in martial arts and was good at leading by example in battles. He believed in "one force can defeat hundreds of people". It was not easy to come up with such a clever plan.

As he spoke, he opened the wine jar and sprinkled a bag of arsenic indiscriminately.

After working for half an hour, I prepared dozens of "poisonous food and drinks".

"This is a reward from the Qing Emperor. You can take it back to the ship."

"thanks, thanks."

The four sailors were well fed and had one boat when they arrived and two boats when they returned.

however,
The more sophisticated the strategy, the easier it is to make mistakes.

While rowing, several sailors were greedy for wine and couldn't help but drink a little first.

By the time the sampan approached the flagship, the poison had begun to take effect. They could no longer climb the rope and fell onto the small boat, struggling in pain.

"The Tatars poisoned~"

"Help."

……

The decks of the Portsmouth were in disarray. Some sailors instinctively began to raise anchor and sail~
The three surrounding friendly ships also sent signals.

Ask what happened and what should you do?
If Staunton had been present, he would have decisively ordered "Raise sail, set sail, and fire!"

Unfortunately, the captain of Portsmouth was an indecisive fellow. Although he is a former deputy captain of the Royal Navy, he has the heart of a Downing Street official.

He took off his three-cornered hat and shouted on the deck:
"This may be a misunderstanding, and it is related to the friendly relations between the two countries. The gun portholes must not be opened, and the Qing Empire must not be misunderstood."

"We will definitely not fire the first shot!"

……

Dagukou Fort,
Shuler, the governor of Zhili, and Ge Peifei, the commander-in-chief of Tianjin, both put down their telescopes.

The two looked at each other and shouted almost at the same time:

"Fire!"

(End of this chapter)