The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 449: Oh no, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebels are going to attack Macau! (Please subscribe, please vote)

John Bowring, who succeeded Bonham and became the fourth Governor of Hong Kong, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Hong Kong, Commander of the Hong Kong Fleet, Vice Admiral of the Navy, and Minister Plenipotentiary to China and Commercial Supervisor, looked "delicate", but a little neurotic. He had fluffy curly hair and a high and bright forehead, which made him look very smart. He also wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, which gave him a bookish air. His nose was as sharp as a woodpecker's beak, his chin was also sharp, his face was a perfect melon seed, and his beard was shaved clean.

It is said that this English "Mr. Bao" was originally the British consul in Guangzhou, responsible for negotiating with the officials of the Qing Dynasty about "entering the city". What "entering the city"? Of course, entering Guangzhou. This matter is actually clearly written in the "Treaty of Nanjing". Guangzhou is one of the five ports for trade.

Guangzhou was originally a trading port, but for more than 200 years, foreigners were not allowed to enter the city, and could only do business with the Thirteen Hongs outside the city. You say that the wall of Guangzhou City is right in front of you, visible and tangible, but foreigners can't get in. It's like a cake in front of you, you can smell it, but you can't eat it. People usually want something more when they can't get it. Although there is nothing particularly rare in Guangzhou City, foreigners who come to Guangzhou to do business have been unable to enter for 200 years. Isn't this a rare thing?

John Bowring, who was in charge of negotiating with Qing officials to enter the city, was a little... how should I put it, neurotic. He was obsessed with entering the city and wanted to enter. As soon as he took office, he hurried to discuss with the Chinese officials and vowed to enter the city. But Ye Mingchen, who was in contact with him, was also a "tough guy", the Chinese version of "nerve", and he refused to let the foreigners in. Emperor Xianfeng even gave him a secret decree, which clearly stated: Don't stop them, let the foreigners enter the city!
But Ye Mingchen was not so good that he refused to let the British "Mr. Bao" enter the city even if he had to disobey the order. This tortured "Mr. Bao" so much that he thought about it day and night and even dreamed about entering Guangzhou. The dream must have been quite beautiful, and he might even have walked around the streets of Guangzhou in his dream.

You know what, a British diplomat who dreams of entering Guangzhou meets a Qing Dynasty official who disobeys the order and refuses to let foreigners in. This is a clear "two-way rush".

However, although Bao Ling was mentally "tortured" by Ye Mingchen for a long time and did not accomplish anything as the consul in Guangzhou, this did not affect his promotion and wealth. He was born in a famous family in Germany and had a doctorate in law from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Now, he is firmly sitting in the position that originally belonged to Wenxian, issuing orders majestically.

After Bao Ling became the British ambassador to China and the Governor of Hong Kong, he had two major concerns: First, he desperately helped Ye Mingchen, who had "tortured" him for two or three years, to resist the Taiping Army and the Tiandihui rebels. Could this be the legendary "love grows over time"? Second, he continued to think about how to enter Guangzhou City without giving up. This obsession was even more firm than Tang Monk's journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

Coincidentally, his "old friend" Ye Mingchen was also promoted, from the Governor of Guangdong to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. After Ye Mingchen was promoted, he also had two major tasks to do: first, to suppress the Tiandihui and resist the Taiping Army; second, as usual, to continue to prevent foreigners from entering Guangzhou.

Hey, these two "crazy guys" have reached some kind of "consensus" in this regard.

During this period, "Mr. Bao" was really worried about Governor Ye in Guangzhou. He searched for guns and gunpowder everywhere and sent them to Guangzhou to arm the flag soldiers, green camps, and militia for Governor Ye and the Guangzhou general. He also sent the steam gunboats of the Hong Kong fleet to the Pearl River outside Guangzhou to calm down Ye Mingchen. When he heard that the Taiping Army divided into three routes to attack Guangdong, and the Tiandihui members in Guangdong rose up everywhere, he was so anxious that he was like an ant on a hot pot, running around in circles. He probably wanted to bring the British soldiers in Hong Kong to personally help his "old enemy" Ye Mingchen fight the Taiping Army and the Tiandihui.

It's true that his efforts were not in vain, and they really had some effect! During this period, the Tiandihui in Guangdong Province was in uprising everywhere, and thirty or forty counties were turned upside down by them. On the other hand, Shi Dakai's Taiping Army marched into Guangdong from Jiangxi with great vigor and enthusiasm, and the progress was also smooth. The troops were divided into two groups. One group took over the entire Nanxiong Prefecture in northern Guangdong like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves; the other group rushed into Jiaying Prefecture in eastern Guangdong and was now surrounding the prefecture city and attacking it fiercely.

However, Luo Dagang's troops who came from Hunan to attack Shaozhou Prefecture were not so lucky. It is said that they were "repelled" by the army sent by Guangzhou General Jierhang'a and retreated all the way back to Hunan.

Just two days ago, the victory report from Shaozhou flew back to Guangzhou like wings. Ye Mingchen was defending Guangzhou City, fighting to the death with the Red Army leaders Li Wenmao, Gan Xian, and Chen Kai who were entrenched in Foling City in the north of the city. When the victory report arrived, the morale of the army was greatly boosted. Ye Mingchen seized this opportunity and immediately sent 5,000 foreign rifle teams out of the city to engage in a fierce battle with the Red Army. He actually won with fewer troops and drove all the Red Army soldiers in the northern suburbs of Guangzhou back to the Foling camp, and also recovered Sanyuanli by the way!

Now the reports of the great victory at Shaoguan and Sanyuanli were in the hands of Bao Ling, "Master Bao". This foreign master finally showed a gratified smile on his face, thinking to himself: "Master Ye is really capable. He finally did not disappoint me and the British Empire!"

Now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has already seized the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the richest region in China. If they also take Guangdong, which is second only to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in terms of economy, then at least 70% of China's wealth will be under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Qing Dynasty will have to rely on the remaining 30%, or even less income, and I'm afraid life will be difficult. I guess they will have to tighten their belts and become extremely poor!
By then, a unified, progressive, and powerful Taiping Heavenly Kingdom might quickly rise to become the master of East Asia and Southeast Asia! By then, the interests of the British Empire in the East would be greatly threatened.

According to the instructions from Whitehall, Bao ordered "Master Bao" to avoid this situation as much as possible... Now the situation looks good. "Master Bao" had just put down the report sent by the British Consulate in Guangzhou and was thinking whether to take advantage of the heat to talk to Master Ye Mingchen about "entering the city". Suddenly, a curry-flavored English voice came from outside his office: "Mr. Governor, Mr. Lei, the secretary of the Shanghai Consulate, wants to see you."

This "Mr. Lei" is Li Taiguo, which is his Chinese name. His real name is Horace Nelson Lei. His father was the first British consul in Guangzhou. He stayed in China for many years with his father and spoke Chinese and Cantonese like a local. Later, he worked as a translator and secretary under "Mr. Bao", and he was an old acquaintance of Bao Ling.

"Please invite him in." Bao Ling heard this and quickly told the servant outside to invite his old subordinate Li Taiguo in. When he saw the young man who came in exhausted, "Master Bao" proudly picked up the two "victory reports" on the table and gestured to him!
He smiled and said to Li Taiguo: "Horace, you came at the right time. Maybe we will have a chance to visit Guangzhou soon!"

Li Taiguo actually wanted to enter Guangzhou. After all, he grew up outside Guangzhou and had been looking forward to going to the city to play since he was a child. But even though his father was a consul, he could not fulfill his little wish. However, he was not so stubborn about this matter. He did not respond to Bao Ling's words at all, but hurriedly said to Bao Ling: "Mr. Minister, something bad has happened. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's rebels are going to attack Macau by sea!"

"Ah?" Bao Ling was stunned when he heard it. "Horace, what are you talking about?"

"Mr. Minister, the King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is leading a fleet and at least 8,000 infantrymen, marching southward by sea, intending to launch a surprise attack on the Portuguese Macau!" Li Taiguo said as he quickly took out a wax-sealed envelope from his pocket and handed it to Bao Ling.

Bao Ling took the letter, picked up a knife and opened the wax seal, took out the letter and took a look. After reading for a while, he was so shocked that his jaw dropped: "What? King Wu of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is going to attack Tianjin?"

"No, it's not Tianjin," Li Taiguo hurriedly shook his head, "It's Macau, it must be Macau!"

Bao Ling raised his head and looked at Li Taiguo with a puzzled look on his face, as if to say, "One moment you're talking about Tianjin, the next moment you're talking about Macau. What do you mean by that?"

Li Taiguo was so anxious that he quickly explained, "Mr. Minister, Consul Aliguo and I also thought that King Wu's target was Tianjin at first. After all, King Wu himself claimed so. But when I was sailing south on the Jardine Matheson Company's express ship, I happened to encounter the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fleet led by the Dingyuan on the sea outside the Yangtze River estuary... I secretly followed them all the way to the vicinity of Hong Kong Island."

"They went to...Macau?" Bao Ling asked tentatively.

Li Taiguo nodded quickly: "It must be Macau. There are Qing army artillery batteries over Humen, and it is difficult for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's fleet to pass through. And I saw Dingyuan and eleven other steamships heading west, so they must be going to Macau!"

When Bao Ling heard this, his face turned livid instantly, and he couldn't help cursing, "Damn the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom..." As he spoke, he picked up a quill pen, took a piece of letter paper, and began to write a letter, muttering, "I can't let this happen. I have to quickly alert Governor Suarez..."

(End of this chapter)