African Nationhood

Chapter 342 Mr. Li

May 5, Maputo Port (today’s Port of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique).

Amidst the whine, the "Golden Hook Harbor" slowly stopped and docked.

As the giant cruise ship docked, Zhong Wenyao, who was standing at the bow of the ship, was the first to step down the gangway, followed by immigrants who continued to disembark.

The outside of the first-class cabin on the ship was already crowded with Qing clerks wearing long robes and mandarin jackets with pigtails. They were the personal accompaniments of Li Hongzhang on this visit.

After the cruise ship docked, they all walked over and stood on the bow of the ship, silently observing how the immigrants were treated after disembarking. Others were silently looking at Mapu Port.

Seeing that the immigrants had almost disembarked, one of their followers came out from the crowd, returned to the first-class cabin door, and knocked on the door.

"Sir, the immigration has been disembarked. Do you want to disembark?"

After a "hmm" came from the cabin, there was no more sound.

I followed my instructions, walked along the deck to the gangway, and disembarked "dengdeng".

When he arrived at the pier, he saw Ouyang Geng and his party standing with Zhong Wenyao, and he walked over.

"May I ask what is the position of this distinguished official?"

Zhong Wenyao had long been fed up with this follower. On the ship, he would come to the captain's cabin to make noises whenever he had nothing to do.

He introduced in a muffled voice: "This is our company's specialist in charge of cultural matters, Ouyang Geng."

The attendant looked puzzled after hearing this, "What kind of official is the commissioner? What rank is he?"

After hearing the question from his entourage, Ouyang Geng smiled bitterly: "We don't follow the rank here, only the scope of management.

In addition to being in charge of cultural affairs, I also work part-time in diplomacy, so I came to greet Mr. Li on behalf of our General Manager Shi. "

The attendant nodded when he heard the words, "What ceremony did you arrange?"

Ouyang Geng smiled and shook his head, "There is no ceremony. After Mr. Li gets off the boat, we will arrange a car outside to pick him up and take him to the city hall for a discussion."

The personal attendant immediately became anxious upon hearing this, "Our lord is the title of earl, and was appointed by the Qing Dynasty as the Qing Dynasty's plenipotentiary ambassador to Europe. You actually didn't make any preparations?"

Ouyang Geng nodded, "Our Nanhua Company is a colonial company under the British Empire. It has no diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty, and our company has no right to establish diplomatic relations with other countries.

Therefore, Lord Li can only receive ordinary visitors when he visits. It is impossible to receive high-standard visitors. Lord Li, please bear with me. "

The personal attendant was choked by Ouyang Geng's words and could not continue. He snorted and returned to the ship.

Not long after, he came to the cabin door and said, "Sir, there is only a commissioner from Nanhua Company here, and there is no other ceremony to greet you. How do you want to express it?"

The cabin door opened and an unsmiling middle-aged man walked out of the cabin and said angrily: "This is unreasonable. This Nanhua Company is too arrogant."

When the personal attendant saw the middle-aged man getting angry, he hurriedly said: "The other party said that they were a colonial company under the British rule, and they had no diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty, nor did they have the power to establish diplomatic relations.

When Lord Li comes, he can only receive him as an ordinary distinguished guest, so..."

The middle-aged man had something to say, but an old voice came from the cabin behind him.

"They are right, we are Qing people, and if we continue to compete with these false etiquette, we will ultimately lose face.

Let's go, get off the boat. "

As the sound stopped, an old man wearing a warm hat with three eyes and dappled feathers, tall and thin, with crooked cheeks and wearing a bright yellow mandarin jacket walked out of the cabin.

He is Li Hongzhang, the Qing Dynasty's special envoy to visit Europe and the United States, the first-class imperial envoy, and the first-class earl.

……

As Li Hongzhang came out, many of his followers came over one after another, and the guards slowly got off the cruise ship.

Li Hongzhang got off the gangway and looked at the order of the entire dock, without any noise or chaos.

The people at the dock all had rosy complexions and high spirits, which was completely different from the people of the Qing Dynasty.

The workers and vendors at the dock were very surprised by Li Hongzhang's arrival and stared at them.

……

Ouyang Geng walked up to Li Hongzhang and bowed his hands.

"The junior Ouyang Geng pays homage to Mr. Li!" Li Hongzhang glanced at Ouyang Geng and said "hmm".

"Let's go!"

Ouyang Geng didn't mind the slighting of this important minister of the empire, but instead led the way diligently.

After leaving the port, I saw a row of cars parked at the port, headed by a "Crown" car.

"What is this?"

Ouyang Geng answered with a smile: "This is the automobile factory owned by our General Manager Shi. The third generation of the 'Crown' sedan released this year is specially designed for dignitaries. Please get in the car, Mr. Li."

After saying that, Ouyang Geng quickly walked over, opened the car door, and carefully asked Li Hongzhang to take his seat.

After Li Hongzhang was seated, Ouyang Geng walked around to the front of the car and sat in the passenger seat.

"This Crown car is a new product this year. Our General Manager Shi said that if you like it, I will give you one as a gift."

Li Hongzhang said "Yeah", and the stern middle-aged man also got into the Crown car.

As soon as he sat down, the middle-aged man let out a sigh.

Li Hongzhang glanced at him, and he immediately stopped wanting to speak.

Ouyang Geng looked back at the middle-aged man sitting in and asked curiously: "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I, Liu Xuexun, am Mr. Li's staff."

Hearing that this person was Liu Xuexun, Ouyang Geng smiled and said to the driver: "Let's go to the city hall."

The convoy started slowly and headed towards the center of Mapu Port City.

……

Through the glass car window, Li Hongzhang slowly felt the city of Mapu.

The roads are wide, the buildings are new, and even the trees on both sides of the road are lush and green.

From time to time, you can see men and women walking briskly along the road. Most of them have a quiet and contented smile on their faces. This kind of smile is not seen on the faces of the people of the Qing Dynasty.

Most men have crew-cut hair, and most of their heads are held high without braids weighing them down.

The women were dressed plainly and concisely, their steps were light, and their eyes were full of life.

……

The motorcade passed a school along the way, and it happened to be recess time. He could hear the laughter of the children in the school while sitting in the car.

Li Hongzhang couldn't help but turn his head to check carefully and found a line of popular Chinese characters written on the school gate. He glanced at it and understood the general meaning.

"Is this a junior high school?"

"Yes, this is Mapugang Junior Primary School, a place dedicated to early childhood education. If they graduate from here, they will advance to secondary schools.

If you graduate with excellent grades, you can also study abroad in Europe, all at public expense, and return to the company to serve after graduation. "

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but think of the Ouyang junior in front of him. He was one of the young children he had advocated sending to the United States.

Now he has become a subordinate of the British. How unpredictable things are!
  "Where is your General Manager Shi?"

"We, Mr. Shi, and your friend Mr. Guo Songtao and Guo are waiting for you at the city hall. You can see them when you get to the city hall."

Li Hongzhang said "Oh" and said no more.

Liu Xuexun, who was in the back seat, sighed secretly. He knew that Dong Weng was secretly feeling sad.

What I feel deeply about is that a young boy studying in the United States broke away from the shelter of the Qing Dynasty and created a huge foundation in just over ten years.

Dong Weng must also be sighing: The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old!

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  (End of this chapter)