The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 294 Prince Gong, Shanghai Beach (Please vote and subscribe)

Shanghai, Huangpu River.

The bright morning sun was rising from the horizon, passing through the clouds, emitting golden rays that sprinkled on the Huangpu River, making the earth-yellow river water glow with golden light, and also covering the large and small ships traveling on the river with a layer of golden light.

Prince Gong Yixin stood palely on the deck of an old lock ship belonging to the Guangdong Navy, looking at the busy scene at a floating dock not far away that extended from the Bund shore into the Huangpu River.

Large wooden boxes painted black were being unloaded from a large Western sailing ship by dock workers. Then each of them carried two boxes on a shoulder pole and walked towards a large gate outside the dock.

The big door was open, and there were two sheds outside, one large and one small. There were two western-style scales in the small shed. All the wooden boxes had to be weighed, and then several people who looked like shop assistants guarding the shed would keep accounts, issue invoices, stamp and seal the boxes. After a series of operations, the wooden boxes were carried by the coolies to the large shed next to it, and then the coolies went back to carry the boxes.

Outside the large wooden shed, there were several soldiers from the Shanghai New Army guarding it, carrying foreign rifles. Their military posture was excellent, and they stood motionless, like two statues.

"What's in those boxes?"

Yi Xin asked.

"Looking at the shape of the box, it should contain foreign guns!"

Shengbao, who was standing by, replied, "At least a thousand boxes of foreign guns, with at least five guns in each box, that's almost five thousand!"

"So many?" Yi Xin took a breath and muttered in a low voice: "What does Luo Xueyan want to do by buying so many foreign guns?"

Shengbao didn't know how to answer, so he could only keep silent.

At this time, hurried footsteps sounded, followed by the sound of waving sleeves: "I, Wu Jianzhang, the governor of Susongtai and the supervisor of Jianghai Customs, come to see His Majesty!"

Wu Jianzhang came hurriedly.

He no longer cares about Susongtaidao and Jianghai Customs. The territory of Susongtaidao is under the direct jurisdiction of Luo Yaoguo, and Old Wu has nothing to do with it at all.

As for the Jiang Customs, it is now taken over by Huang Shijie's cousin Huang Shicheng in the name of the chief legal advisor of the Customs.

Although he did not understand trade, Luo Xueyan, Wu Jianzhang, Wu Ruxiao, and the British, American, and French envoys had already drafted a simple and easy-to-operate fee collection standard. He only needed to bring a group of Xianghu children who could read and write and do accounts, and work with the Cantonese who could deal with foreigners in the Jiang Customs.

According to the latest standards, the Jiang Customs will collect fees twice, based on the length of the ship and the weight of the cargo unloaded from the ship, but these two fees are not collected directly by the Jiang Customs staff.

The people at the Jiang Customs were only responsible for estimating the length of the ship and weighing the cargo. Of course, if the cargo was not suitable for weighing, Huang Shicheng or other customs masters would need to come forward to negotiate tax issues with the cargo owner.

After the Jiang Customs personnel determine how much tax should be paid, they will issue a tax bill to the cargo owner and the ship owner. At the same time, officers and soldiers sent by the Shanghai New Army will temporarily seal the goods.

The owner of the goods took the tax bill to the newly opened HSBC Bank on the Bund to pay the money, and then got back a receipt and a document for picking up the goods, and then he could go to the shed to take away the sealed goods.

After paying the money, the ship owner would also receive a receipt, which he could show to the officials of the newly established Naval Port Authority of the Governor's Office when leaving the port.

The inspector of the Military Court of the Shanghai Governor's Office would stay in the HSBC Bank and conduct random inspections of goods passing through customs and ships entering the port. At the same time, there would be people guarding the Wusongkou to record the situation of ships entering and leaving.

In addition, there is an anonymous reporting box in HSBC Bank, where you can submit reports in Chinese or English, which can go directly to Shanghai Governor Luo Xueyan himself!
Just this simple reform has plugged most of the loopholes in the Jianghai Customs Office, and at the same time it has greatly increased the cost of corruption.

Originally, it was only the responsibility of the Customs Supervision Office. Now, HSBC, the Shanghai New Army, the Supervisor of the Military Governor's Office, and the Navy Port Authority are in charge of their own affairs. If one link is not clear, the corruption cannot be carried out. Moreover, the standards, procedures and channels for collecting money and complaints are clear and transparent!

The consequences of being caught breaking the law were extremely serious! Even if the original Jiang Customs Supervisor wanted to do his job properly, he had no power to arrest or execute corrupt officials.

But the Military Court of the Shanghai Governor's Office has the power to kill people!

So over the past few months, the Jiang Customs has turned into a government office with decent salaries, and the efficiency of collecting money has increased by one or two times!
Similar reforms will be extended to all government offices under the jurisdiction of Luo Yaoguo (Luo Xueyan) in the future.

However, Wu Jianzhang, who lost the huge profits from corruption, did not lose out. He was originally a "money-greedy executive", but now he is a "shareholder of the company" and has a lot of shares!
Tongshunhang's real estate and Qichanghang's foreign trade have been doing very well in the past few months! HSBC, in which he invested and participated in the management, has also made a lot of money. His beloved grandson Wu Chaoyue has just been appointed as the Consul General of the Qing Dynasty in the Straits Settlements. These days, he is following another Lord Luo and several other subordinates of Luo Xueshuai to attend a "diplomatic class" led by the former American Consul Major Ma Hui.

He was about to be sent to serve as Consul General. According to Luo Xueyan, the Qing Dynasty's Consul General in Southeast Asia was there to "sell official positions for God" and his "financial prospects" were bright!

So these days, Old Man Wu and Young Master Wu, the grandparents and grandchildren, are very motivated.

Shanghai New District, Tongshun Building.

"Taipei Wu, Magistrate Wang, Co-magistrate Zeng, and County Magistrate Cheng, the main reason I came to Shanghai is to investigate Westernization and the New Deal."

The person who spoke was Yi Xin. After floating on the water for many days, Prince Gong finally stepped on land again. He was now sitting in the reception room of Wu Jianzhang's Tongshun Building, wearing casual clothes, crossing his legs, waving a paper fan, and did not look at all embarrassed as if he had fled.

His father-in-law Guiliang, his confidants Shengbao, Wenxiang, and Jin Aduo all changed into full official uniforms, sitting or standing, all in high spirits. The great man Hong Daquan was still dressed as a Taoist priest, with an unfathomable look on his face, and no one knew what he was thinking.
The people in charge of receiving Prince Gong in Shanghai were Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, Zeng Guohua, and Cheng Fupei. Well, they were all a good match, and it was obvious that Shanghai was still the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

Just now, when Prince Gong was strolling on the street in a Western carriage, he saw many Chinese men without braids on the back of their heads, they had their braids cut off! Some of them were wearing Taiping Heavenly Kingdom style hoods.
Of course, there are braids too!
The styles are a bit mixed!
Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, Zeng Guohua, Cheng Fupei and the other four of them certainly had no seats in front of Prince Gong; they all stood respectfully.

Hearing Prince Gong's question, Wu Jianzhang immediately replied with a smile: "You have come to the right place to study the Westernization Movement and the New Deal in Shanghai. Shanghai is now thriving because of the Westernization Movement and the New Deal!"

"Well, I can see that!" Prince Gong nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "By the way, the people in Shanghai don't seem to be too worried about the Taiping rebels coming?"

"Your Highness, you may not know that Shanghai and Taiping have already reached a ceasefire."

Wang Kuiyi took over Prince Gong's question and answered with a smile: "Although the Shanghai New Army has only 8,000 people, they are all equipped with foreign guns and cannons. There is also the French general Pierre who is responsible for practicing foreign exercises with foreign instructors. It is not comparable to ordinary training of bravery! The Taiping army has attacked Anting several times in recent days, but they have always returned in defeat, so they can only negotiate with Marshal Xue."

"Negotiate?" Gui Liang raised his eyebrows. "What to talk about? Luo Xueyan is an official appointed by the imperial court. How can he negotiate with the traitor? Does he want to surrender to the enemy?"

"Minister Gui, you are exaggerating!" Cheng Fupei said coldly, "Now the southeast is already in an avalanche, all the armies are heading north, Suzhou and Changzhou have been lost, only Marshal Xue has won some small victories with his 8,000 new troops, not only defending Anting Town and Jiading County, but also recovering Chuansha Hall, Nanhui County, Fengxian County, Chongming County, including Shanghai, Baoshan, and Jiading counties. Marshal Xue has saved six counties and one hall for the court!
However, these six counties and one hall are still not as good as the Changmao who have already taken over half of southern Jiangsu and half of northern Jiangsu. If the Changmao really sends 100,000 or 200,000 troops to attack, Xue Shuai will not be able to resist. For now, he must pretend to be submissive and protect these six counties and one hall, and then bring back the 12,000 elite soldiers under Lord Zuo to Shanghai, 2,000 of whom are from the Shanghai New Army!"

"How dare you talk like that?" Shengbao frowned and looked at Cheng Fupei, who was still in mourning clothes. "Who are you? How dare you talk to Lord Gui like that?"

"Master Sheng," Cheng Fupei said coldly, "Do you really want to know who I am? If you know, you will be in trouble!"

"Enough!" Yi Xin didn't dare let Gui Liang, Sheng Bao and Cheng Fupei investigate further.

Given the current situation, if Luo Xueyan is forced to choose sides, he will definitely join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

"I believe in Xueyan!" Yi Xin said, "Even Zhang Shicheng, the King of Wu of the Yuan Dynasty, and Chen Youding, the Minister of State of the Yuan Dynasty, are loyal ministers. Since Xueyan is not in Shanghai, let's arrange for me to meet with the foreign envoys first! Last time I met three foreign consuls in Yangzhou, but the meeting was hasty and we didn't talk about anything. Now I am here specifically for the New Deal and Westernization, so I can talk about anything!"

(End of this chapter)