The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 217 The time traveler's golden finger is here! (Golden finger, please vote for me, please subscribe!)

The so-called old lock ship is actually a Western-style sailing ship with a Chinese-style hard sail. Compared with the sand ship in the Yangtze River, this type of ship is stronger and taller, can be equipped with larger caliber cannons, and the hard sail can turn left and right. Compared with the soft sail, it is more suitable for use in the Yangtze River where the wind direction is changeable.

Historically, the Hunan Army was able to gain control of the Yangtze River water by relying on this type of old lock ship.

If Luo Yaoguo wanted to secure his position as the lord of Shanghai, he must have a navy that could travel across the Yangtze River and the nearby seas.

At the same time, a fort had to be built at Wusongkou to prevent the British and French fleets from entering the Huangpu River directly. In fact, the purpose of purchasing 12-pound cannons from Jardine Matheson was to build a coastal defense fort.

Although a few old lock boats and a dozen 12-pound cannons were not enough to defend Shanghai, weren't there still the French and American consuls in Shanghai who were not fooled?
Only fooling the English and not fooling the French and Americans is a violation of the unequal treaties.

According to the Sino-British Humen Treaty, the Sino-Sino Wangxia Treaty and the Sino-French Huangpu Treaty, Britain, the United States and France enjoy unilateral most-favored-nation treatment in China!
That is to say, the same "deception" that Luo Yaoguo gave to England should also be given to France and the United States.

It’s a pity that Russia has not established a consulate in Shanghai and has not yet obtained unilateral most-favored-nation treatment, otherwise it could have fooled the Russians - but there is no rush. When Nicholas I is beaten up by the British and French, the angel in Shanghai can still arrange private consultation for him.

But Alcock, Wade, and Matheson were all old con men, and they always struggled before being fooled.

The three foreigners talked in low voices for a while, and then Aliguo said to Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, and Luo Yaoguo: "Mr. Wu, Mr. Wang, Mr. Luo, it is impossible to reach a deal of more than 100,000 ounces of silver in one meeting. We still need some time to consider.

How about this, we sign a memorandum first, recording the content that both parties have reached a preliminary agreement on and the issues that have not yet been agreed upon. How about we have a second round of consultations next Monday morning? "

Wu Jianzhang first translated Aliguo's words into Chinese, and then said to Wang Kuiyi and Luo Yaoguo: "Master Wang, this is how foreigners do things. Brother Luo, you have dealt with foreigners before, so you should know this."

Luo Yaoguo nodded: "Then let's sign a memorandum first. But we don't have to do this, right? Now the Taiping army has arrived at the city of Jiangning, time is running out!"

"Of course, of course!" Wu Jianzhang said, "I will do what I promised you right away! By the way, Brother Luo, I have a thousand Brown Bess rifles and 30,000 rounds of fixed ammunition stored in Tongshunhang. I can hand them over to you today."

"Oh," Luo Yaoguo was delighted, "Are those brown bass rifles equipped with bayonets?"

"Bayonets? Yes, yes, yes," Wu Jianzhang nodded repeatedly, "There are more than 2,000 bayonets."

Luo Yaoguo frowned: "Why are there so many extra? Is it a gun with two bayonets?"

"No," Wu Jianzhang shook his head, "General Feng's men and the militia in Shanghai were not used to using bayonets, so they didn't want them."

"I see." Luo Yaoguo nodded gently, then looked back at Wang Kuiyi. Wang Kuiyi naturally listened to Luo Yaoguo and said with a smile, "Well, that's it!"

Seeing that the fifth-rank prefect Wang Kui nodded, Luo Yaoguo said to Aliguo in Oxford English: "Mr. Consul, let's finalize the contents of the memorandum."

After sending Luo Yaoguo, Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi and Wu Ruxiao out of the British Consulate, Aliguo went into the consul's office with Wade and Matheson, closed the door, and began to study "The Great Prophecy".

"Thomas," after sitting down in the chair behind his desk, Alcock asked his deputy Wade, "how about the Great Book of Prophecy?"

Upon hearing this, Wade took out the "Great Book of Prophecy" from his pocket and placed it on the desk. Then he smiled and said, "This "Great Book of Prophecy" was just written. You can even smell the scent of ink."

"So this book called The Great Prophecy is a hoax set up by those Chinese?" Matheson asked with a frown. "It's hard to say," Wade shook his head and said, "Maybe some of the content was copied from the original. There is not much content in this book, all of which are things that will happen in the second half of 1852 or 1853. And all the events copied in it happened outside of China.

And there are many events that can be verified very quickly, such as Her Majesty the Queen will give birth to a prince on April 4 this year, and he will also suffer from hemophilia."

"This is impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Aliguo and Matheson both looked incredulous and even a little angry.

But their "disbelief" and "anger" are justified!
Because it is absolutely impossible for Prince Leopold to suffer from hemophilia!
The prince is the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He has three older brothers and three older sisters, all of whom are very healthy. At least they don't seem to have anything to do with hemophilia.

Hemophilia is a genetic disease that can only be inherited from a father with hemophilia or a mother who has the gene for hemophilia but does not develop the disease. There is no record of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's parents, grandparents, or grandparents suffering from hemophilia.

The couple has given birth to three sons and three daughters, all of whom are healthy, and none of them has hemophilia. As for whether the daughters carry the hemophilia gene, they will only know after their sons are born.

But the lack of a family history of hemophilia and the presence of three healthy boys made it clear that it was impossible for Queen Victoria to give birth to a son with hemophilia.
"But," Wade suddenly looked up at Alcock and Matheson, "but what if there really is a devil?"

"Thomas," Aliguo looked at this top student from Cambridge University and a China expert in the British diplomatic community in disbelief. "You graduated from Cambridge. How could you believe such a ridiculous thing?"

"This is just a useless Chinese curse!" Matheson agreed immediately, "We shouldn't believe in the contents of this "Great Book of Prophecy", not a single word!"

Wade seemed to realize that he had just spoken out of turn, and quickly said, "Yes! You are right, we really cannot believe a single word of it! We are all well-educated civilized people, how can we believe the so-called prophecies made by ignorant barbarians? Then, should we report this "Great Book of Prophecies" to Minister Wenxian?"

Aliguo said: "Of course we have to report it! Although we all think that the contents of the "Great Book of Prophecy" are not credible, the final judgment still has to be made by Minister Wenxian.

Thomas, please hurry up and translate all the poems in the Great Book of Prophecy, write an analysis report, and then send it to Hong Kong together with the Secret Report on the Discovery of the Devil in China to be handed over to Minister Bonham. I hope our work will help Minister Bonham further understand the complex situation in China and make the most favorable decision for the empire. "

Bonham was the British Empire's Minister Plenipotentiary to China and Director General of Commerce, as well as the Governor of Hong Kong. In this era when the first transoceanic telegraph cable had not yet been laid, the power of the Minister Plenipotentiary was very great, and Bonham, who was also the Governor of Hong Kong, even had the power to mobilize the British troops stationed in Hong Kong to launch a small-scale war!
The power of Consul Aliguo was much smaller. He had to conduct diplomatic activities and colonial aggression under the control of Emperor Wenxian and according to his instructions.

"Yes, Mr. Consul, I will translate the Great Prophecy right away." Wade picked up the Great Prophecy on the desk, turned around and left Aliguo's office.

"Mr. Consul," said Matheson, the boss of Jardine Matheson, "Should we sell equipment like the armed old lock ship to the chief secretary of the Governor-General of Hunan of the Qing Dynasty?"

Aliguo thought for a moment and nodded: "I am inclined to sell! After all, the current situation in Jiangnan is too unfavorable to the Qing government. Only when the two warring parties are evenly matched can we reap the greatest benefits."

"Okay, I understand!" Matheson was very excited after getting a satisfactory answer. He is a businessman, and he can only make money if he succeeds in business!
Aliguo smiled and said, "Remember to sell it at a higher price. Also, don't forget my share!"

"Yes, sir!"

(End of this chapter)