The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 255: Wen Xian must have gone to Tianjing to see God! (Please subscribe, please vote)

While Luo Yaoguo and Xu Yuegui were talking, the carriage they were riding in was already rolling forward, and there were six guards carrying Colt 1851 revolvers in front and behind to protect the carriage.

The carriage headed north and soon left Shanghai County and entered the newly established "Chamber of Commerce Management District."

The so-called Chamber of Commerce Management District is actually the original British Concession and French Concession. After Luo Yaoguo took back the sovereignty of the concession, in order to maintain the stability and prosperity of the concession before the establishment of the new Shanghai Municipal Government, Luo Yaoguo ordered the establishment of the "Chamber of Commerce Management District" in the name of "Supervisor Luo Xueyan". A committee composed of one representative from each of the British Chamber of Commerce, the French Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was fully responsible for the municipal administration, judicial, public security, taxation and other affairs in the management area.

If a judicial case involves Chinese people, the court established within the administrative area has no authority to hear the case, and it must be heard personally by Shanghai County Magistrate Cheng Fupei.

The defense of the administrative area was entirely the responsibility of the Shanghai New Army.

According to Luo Yaoguo's plan, after the establishment of the new Shanghai Municipal Government, this "Chamber of Commerce Management District" will automatically become a district government under the municipal government, called the Shanghai New District Government, which will be at the same level as the Shanghai County Government and Baoshan County Government.

The committee originally responsible for managing the "Chamber of Commerce Management Area" will become part of the Shanghai Advisory Council envisioned by Luo Yaoguo.

According to Luo Yaoguo's idea, as long as the gentry and merchants in Shanghai County and Baoshan County paid more than a certain amount of tax, they would also be eligible to recommend advisory members to join the Shanghai Advisory Council. In the future, Shanghai New District, Shanghai County, and Baoshan County could recommend a total of 30 advisory members to join the Advisory Council.

The Shanghai Advisory Council will be a local council with certain legislative and deliberative functions. It means "certain", not "all", because the one who really has the final say in Shanghai must be, and can only be, Governor Luo Xueyan.

According to the plan, any local laws and resolutions passed by the Advisory Council must be approved by the Governor before they can be implemented. And the members of the Advisory Council must also be appointed by the Governor - the Chamber of Commerce and the gentry can only recommend, and Governor Luo has the right to disapprove, and also has the right to appoint his own people to the Advisory Council directly.

At the same time, Governor Luo can also deprive any advisory committee member of their seat and kick them out.

Moreover, Governor Luo could also issue decrees directly in the name of "Governor's Order" without going through the Advisory Council.

In short, Luo was the emperor of Shanghai in the future, the real "lord of the beach" who had the final say! The reason why he could do this was because the decrees issued by the Shanghai Military Governor's Office granted the future Shanghai Beach Government the administrative power and the legislative and deliberative power of the Shanghai Advisory Council. The army of the Shanghai Military Governor's Office was the foundation for the existence of this new Shanghai in the troubled times.

But right now, this foundation is not very solid.

When Luo Yaoguo's carriage passed along the Bund Avenue, he saw through the glass window of the carriage a steam paddle-wheel gunboat with a tricolor flag flying anchored on the river. Shortly after the British Minister to the Kingdom of Bonham arrived, the French Minister to the Kingdom of Bourboulon and the American Minister to the Kingdom of Marshalle also arrived.

Bourboulon arrived on a steam paddle steamer from the Indian Ocean, while Marsali arrived on a clipper merchant ship.

Although the Americans do not have much military force in Shanghai at the moment, in a few months, Matthew Perry, the protagonist of the "Black Ship Attack", will lead a US Navy fleet to the Far East. In the original history, this guy once coveted Taiwan Island!
In addition, the French troops that arrived with Bourboulon numbered more than 100. With their arrival, the number of French troops stationed in the Shanghai "Chamber of Commerce Management District" has reached nearly 200, while the number of British troops has reached 400.

Although the army of only 600 people was less than one-tenth of the number of the Shanghai New Army, this foreign army was stationed next to Luo Yaoguo's bed.
"Sir, the British steam sailing ship seems to have left!" Xu Yuegui suddenly said to Luo Yaoguo at this time.

She had been following Luo Yaoguo to the "Business Management District" every day these past few days, passing by the Bund twice a day on average. She had long been familiar with the Hermes, but today she did not see any trace of it.

"Wenxian rode it to Tianjing to see God. The king of heaven probably couldn't see it, but God might be able to see it!"

As he spoke, Luo Yaoguo's tone turned cold and he said, "They must have left early this morning without even saying hello to me, the commander-in-chief!"

"See God?" Xu Yuegui blinked, "Is it Yang God?"

Luo Yaoguo laughed and said, "Are there any other gods besides him?"

"No, actually," Xu Yuegui paused, and asked a little worriedly, "Sir, will Wen Xian reach an agreement with the King of the East that is disadvantageous to us?" "It's hard to say," Luo Yaoguo thought for a while, "It seems that I have to go to Tianjing City as well."

In the original history, Wenxian's trip to Tianjing was fruitless. He even didn't get off the boat because he didn't want to kowtow, and relied on middlemen to pass messages. But this time, the situation is hard to say, after all, the "angel" really exists!
Luo Yaoguo's "flying car", "angel suit", "angel hat" and the mooncake box he brought should all be in Tianjing City now. They might even be put up for worship. Wouldn't Wen Xian have to kowtow to them when he goes there?
I have already kowtowed to this person, so it’s no big deal to kowtow to Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing again, right?

Therefore, Luo Yaoguo felt that he had better rush back and watch carefully to prevent Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, the two "foolish sons of God", from being deceived by the cunning British imperialism.

"Sir, the road between Shanghai and Tianjing is not smooth. Now Queen Su's army has only occupied four county towns and a dozen towns in Kunshan, Zhenyang, Changshu, Zhaowen, and Jiangyin. The territory from Jiangyin County to Dantu County is still in the hands of the Qing demons."

Because Changshu and Zhaowen counties shared a county seat, there were only four county seats in these five counties. The county seats of Kunshan and Zhenyang counties were given to Su Sanniang by Luo Yaoguo. Changshu and Zhaowen were taken by Su Sanniang and the Upper Army, while Jiangyin was taken by Zeng Tianyang and the Upper Second Army.

As for Suzhou City, Su Sanniang only led the main force of the previous army to make a feint, but did not really attack the city. After Luo Yaoguo led the Shanghai New Army back to Shanghai, she immediately led the troops to withdraw from Suzhou City and returned to take Kunshan and Zhenyang, and also established the Wuwang Mansion on Yufeng Mountain outside Kunshan County.

In this way, Luo Yaoguo could travel between Kunshan and Shanghai in the future, being the King of Wu in Kunshan and the military governor in Shanghai, doing two jobs at the same time.

"Yuegui, don't worry. There should be ten brigades equipped with foreign rifles in the Upper First and Second Armies. As long as we take out two brigades and add my pistol company, it will be enough to escort me to Tianjing."

Luo Yaoguo smiled and told Xu Yuegui that he was not worried at all about whether he could arrive in Tianjing safely.

He bought more than 12,000 foreign rifles in Shanghai, of which 6,000 were given to the Shanghai New Army, 1,000 were given to Liu Lichuan and Li Yunxian, and the remaining 5,000 were left in Yufeng Mountain, Kunshan, and given to Su Sanniang.

As long as Su Sanniang mobilized a thousand foreign riflemen to protect Luo Yaoguo, wouldn't the journey from Jiangyin to Tianjing be easy to pass?

"Yuegui, Yu Garden is now in your hands. After I leave, you should announce to the public that I have caught a cold and need to stay in bed for a few days. No visitors are allowed." Luo Yaoguo then instructed, "Sanniang will stay in the Wu Palace in Kunshan. If anything happens in Shanghai that you, Ruxiao, Dalong, and Kezhong are unsure about, go and ask Sanniang for instructions."

Luo Yaoguo's team in Shanghai is currently relatively streamlined, mainly consisting of Xu Yuegui, Wu Ruxiao, Wang Dalong, Li Kezhong, Cheng Fupei, Wang Kuiyi, Wu Jianzhang and others, but the real core team includes only four people: Xu Yuegui, Wu Ruxiao, Wang Dalong, and Li Kezhong.

Among them, Xu Yuegui was in charge of Luo Yaoguo's mansion, Yu Garden, Wu Ruxiao had taken over the Jianghai Customs, the money-collecting government office, and Wang Dalong and Li Kezhong were responsible for controlling the Shanghai New Army.

"Got it, sir, don't worry. With us here, nothing will happen in Shanghai." Xu Yuegui nodded, then changed the subject and mentioned Zhou Xiuying again, "Sir, do you want Xiuying to accompany you to Tianjing? You are already a king, and according to the rules you can have six queens, but you only have Queen Su. Queen Su is also very anxious, and she has asked her subordinates to keep an eye out for someone suitable for you. I think Xiuying is a good choice."

Luo Yaoguo frowned slightly when he heard this. Of course Zhou Xiuying is fine. But it's a little dangerous!

Xu Yuegui seemed to have seen through Luo Yaoguo's thoughts, and immediately patted his chest and assured: "Sir, if you are worried about Xiuying, I will make arrangements for you."

Arranged? How would you arrange it?

Luo Yaoguo was about to ask in detail when the carriage he was riding in stopped outside a garden villa. Li Hongzhang, Wu Chaoyue, and a short, well-mannered young man in a long gown came out of the villa to greet him.

Luo Yaoguo patted a thread-bound book on his thigh with "The Great Prophecy Book Volume 2" written on the cover, and said to Xu Yuegui with a smile: "Yuegui, let's talk about Xiuying later. Let's meet Li Shaoquan and Wang Lanqing first. Do you remember what to say?"

"of course I remember!"

(End of this chapter)