The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 213 What? The Qing Dynasty actually has such elite troops! (It’s the end of the month, please give me a monthly ticket)
"Get out! Get out of here, damn it, you damn Chinese, when will you learn to follow the rules?"

Winster White, the supervisor of the Jardine Matheson docks in Shanghai, was furious. He was waving his cane and shouting at several Chinese sand ships on the river in a London slum accent.

This is an old white man with red hair, a round rosacea, eyes that are always dull, and a flabby body caused by obesity, alcoholism, and smoking foreign cigarettes.

What made him so angry was a few Chinese sand ships that wanted to occupy a deep-water berth connected to the long pier.

This kind of flat-bottomed boat can usually only sail in shallow water with less wind and waves, and cannot carry much cargo, so it is not worthy of occupying Jardine Matheson's precious deep-water berth.

According to the plan, a British merchant ship from India will dock at that place later, and the ship is full of expensive opium! And after unloading the opium, the ship will also load a full ship of silk and return to Europe.
This old white man from the slums of London, who had been a low-class Englishman for more than 30 years, was now very angry: such a big business was delayed by these small Chinese ships, and Mr. Matheson, the boss of the foreign company, would definitely be angry! And he, the unlucky Mr. White, would definitely be scolded and might even be fired.

He hasn’t had enough of his good days in Shanghai!

Thinking of this, he shouted in broken Chinese to a burly Chinese man beside him who had a thick waist, a face full of flesh, and a shiny braid wrapped around his neck: "Chen, take your people and capture the captain and the first mate of that ship!"

"Yes, sir!"

This sturdy man is a disciple of the Cao Gang. His surname is Chen and his name is San. He is the foreman at the Shanghai dock of Jardine Matheson and is in charge of more than a hundred coolies. He is a capable subordinate of the old white man Winster White.

If Mr. White asked him to attack the foreigners on the big sailing ship, he would definitely not dare to do it. But if Mr. White asked him to attack the shipowner or the captain of the Chinese sailing ship that was anchored randomly, he would not only dare to do it, but also be very brave.

It’s not enough to beat him up and catch him, they will also extort a sum of money! Of course, Mr. White’s favor and the fine from Jardine Matheson must not be reduced by a single cent.

"Brothers, take the carrying poles and follow me to catch those people!" Chen San shouted.

"Good Le!"

His disciples immediately cheered, and dozens of strong men who had nothing to do immediately picked up their carrying poles and followed Boss Chen onto the long trestle bridge.

That's so aggressive!
Soon, the group swarmed onto the floating dock in the Huangpu River, blocked a large sand ship that had already docked, dropped anchor, and cast ropes, and began shouting and cursing.

"Where did you come from, country bumpkin? Are you blind? Is this the place where your wrecked boat can stop?"

"This is a dock for foreign ships. You have delayed the foreign masters' big business. Even if you sell your broken ship, you can't make up for it!"

"Damn it, tell your boss to get out here. The foreign boss is already angry!"

"mother"

The group of people were cursing halfway when suddenly, as if the pause button had been pressed, they all stopped talking.

And the one who told them to shut up was one person!

A man walked out of the cabin, stood on the deck, and looked at the scenery of the Bund with his hands behind his back.

The man was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a very neatly trimmed beard. He stood there straight, and the dozens of Cao Gang disciples on the dock were stunned. He glanced at him, and Chen San, who had just been showing off his power, bowed his head and shouted, "I kowtow to the master!"

Then all the Cao Gang disciples on the dock knelt down, leaving only Mr. White, who arrived late with a cane, standing there in amazement.

A gust of wind blew by, causing the tall man's official robe to flutter.
Being an official is still so prestigious!
Luo Yaoguo, standing on the deck, looked at the Cao Gang members kneeling below and couldn't help feeling emotional.

"Are you the owner of this ship? This is the dock of Jardine Matheson & Co. You are not allowed to stop here. Leave now!"

Winster White also recognized the official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty, but he was a foreigner and was not afraid of Qing officials, so he immediately drove them away in stiff Chinese.

Luo Yaoguo just waved his hand gently.

The command sounded.

"Everyone, let's go!"

Then, we saw soldiers with cloth wrapped around their heads, wearing uniforms with the word "Yong" on their heads, carrying muskets and rifles on their shoulders, and with swords on their waists, walking out of the cabin in a line. They walked along the gangplank that had just been laid out, from the ship to the floating dock, and formed three horizontal rows, with about a hundred people in total.

A young officer wearing a formal gown and a glass-topped official hat, holding his sword with his hand, also got off the boat and stood in front of the three rows of soldiers. He then shouted, "Stand at attention. Look to the right and look forward."

Following his series of commands, the hundreds of soldiers neatly arranged their formations. Three rows of soldiers stood in three straight lines, as neat as if they were cut by a knife.

Each of these soldiers had a dark complexion, was full of energy, and had a strong physique. One could tell at a glance that they had not been addicted to opium and had all undergone the most rigorous training!
"This is the Chinese army?" Winston White was stunned. "Am I drunk?"

In his early years, he worked as a mercenary for the East India Company and participated in the Opium War. He had seen how rubbish the Qing army was on the battlefield. Later, he worked as a supervisor at the Jardine Matheson Wharf in Shanghai, and saw soldiers from the Jianghai Customs Office coming and going in the Huangpu River almost every day. Before today, the Qing soldiers he had seen were all staggering. When had he ever seen such elite soldiers? He even began to doubt his mental state.

Just when the old white man was in a trance, Luo Yaoguo had already walked down from the boat with Wang Kuiyi, Zhang Sanxiang, Wu Ruxiao and Xu Yuegui.

"Excuse me, who is the person in charge here?"

Winster White suddenly heard the awesome "Oxford accent" English. He habitually replied in his "ghetto" English and in a flattering tone: "It's me, sir."

As soon as he said this, he felt that something was wrong.

He is now a "foreign gentleman", and the one who speaks to him with an "Oxford accent" seems to be an official of the Qing Dynasty?

Did Qing officials also learn "Oxford English"? Did he graduate from Oxford or Cambridge?

Luo Yaoguo then continued to speak to the old white man in "Oxford English": "I am the chief secretary of Mr. Luo, the Governor-General of Hunan Province of the Qing Empire. I have been ordered to lead a battalion of infantry to Shanghai to discuss military cooperation and other matters with Consul Rutherford Alcock. In addition, I have brought a lot of silver and need to unload it here. Can you provide any help? Of course, we will pay the corresponding fees."

"Of course. It's my pleasure to serve you, sir." The old white man White was completely honest now.

The Governor's Chief Secretary!

He’s a high-ranking official!
Moreover, the other party came with silver to discuss military cooperation with the consul, so he couldn't ruin Lord Aliguo's plan!

"One two one! One two one"

As waves of loud commands rang out, all the foreigners and Chinese coming and going on the Bund were stunned by a well-organized army that they had never seen before.

The uniforms of this army were still Chinese style, and their weapons and equipment were relatively backward, with only a few flintlock rifles and many carrying outdated spears. However, their ranks, pace and mental outlook were almost exactly the same as those of the British and French soldiers stationed in the Shanghai Concession.

Along with these hundreds of Qing soldiers who were like British and French soldiers, there were also two or three hundred porters carrying heavy boxes.

Soon, this army of 500 people stopped in front of the newly built British Consulate on the Bund, and the porters piled up the suitcases together, and then left on their own under the command of a middle-aged white man.

With a loud "Stop", more than 500 people stopped almost at the same time, making a "whoosh" sound.

Then there were a series of commands to form a team, and a battalion-level hollow square appeared outside the British Consulate in a blink of an eye, surrounding several officials, a voluptuous Chinese woman, and a pile of suitcases filled with unknown contents. A military flag with the words "Xiangyong" embroidered on four sides and a large flag with the word "Xue" appeared in the team.

The middle-aged white man walked into the consulate's door.

This scene quickly attracted a crowd of onlookers, who were pointing and talking about this "Western-style" Chinese army.

However, Luo Yaoguo, who led the army, did not walk into the gate of the British Consulate immediately. Instead, he stood on the pile of suitcases and looked around the somewhat empty Bund in Shanghai with interest.

Inside the consulate, the British Consul Alcock had already seen off the French and American consuls, but was talking to another visitor - a Chinese official in his sixties who looked elegant and easy-going and could speak fluent English.

The visiting Chinese official was named Wu Jianzhang. He was the governor of Susongtai and the supervisor of the Jianghai Customs. He was a rare "talent in Western affairs" in the Qing Dynasty and a wealthy merchant in Guangdong who was willing to pay a sky-high price of 500,000 taels of silver to buy the position of governor.

Generally speaking, the actual position of a Taotai, especially the position of Susongtai Tao and Jianghai Customs Supervisor, is impossible to sell, but he offered too much!
Therefore, Emperor Daoguang, who had suffered heavy losses due to the Opium War, sold this "not for sale" official position to him.

The purpose of Wu Jianzhang's visit to the British Consulate today is actually the same as that of the French Consul and the American Consul who just left, all because of the "devil".

Yesterday afternoon, Wu Jianzhang received a letter from Jiangsu Governor Yi Liang and a "Secret Report on the Discovery of the Devil in China". The content of the letter was that Yi Liang ordered Wu Jianzhang to take the "secret report" to the British, American and French consuls in Shanghai and test their positions.

In addition, as the Taiping Army was advancing towards the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Wu Jianzhang also proposed hiring foreign soldiers to defend Shanghai.
At this time, Aliguo was wearing reading glasses and pretending to watch.

Just when Aliguo was thinking about how to extort money from Wu Jianzhang, his office door was suddenly knocked and then pushed open.

"Sir, please look out the window!"

A secretary of Aliguo walked in.

"Outside the window? What happened?" Aliguo took off his reading glasses, stood up and walked to his office window facing the Huangpu River. He looked down and immediately saw a scene that shocked him.

"How is this possible? He, who are they? What are they here for?"

(End of this chapter)