The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 461 Mr. Bao, listen carefully, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a powerful country! (Please subscribe, please vote)

Guangzhou City, formerly the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, is now the headquarters of King Wu.

In the third hall, a table of authentic Cantonese cuisine was being served. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves. However, despite the great fun, no one was drinking freely. The wine served was also the Huizhou glutinous rice wine Lingnan Wanhuchun, which was fragrant and rich, but had a low alcohol content. This jar of "Wanhuchun" had not even been half finished yet!

Luo Yaoguo was already half full. He looked at Wu Chongyao, Zhang Jingxiu, Pan Shicheng, Yin Dazhang, Chen Kai, Li Wenmao, Gan Xian and others who were sitting at the same table with him. They were all as reserved as clerks accompanying big bosses for dinner. They were holding wine glasses and sipping Wan Hu Chun in small sips. They looked so cautious, afraid that they would drink too much and would not be able to answer the questions of Lord Luo later.

These people either had already joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or had just submitted their names and a lot of money. But there was no definite news about what kind of treatment Luo Yaoguo was going to give them. Moreover, Luo Yaoguo's military force was ridiculously strong, and could even beat the English soldiers in Hong Kong. In the face of this absolute force, the so-called chips and merits in the hands of these people were like small shrimps, not worth mentioning.

Besides, Luo Yaoguo was the "general manager" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's land distribution policy, and he was both the maker and the strong promoter. And the people present were all members of the landlord class in Guangdong Province. How could they not feel uneasy and worried about this situation?

At this time, Luo Da probably felt that he couldn't keep these "little employees" waiting any longer. So he put down his chopsticks, picked up a towel and wiped his mouth. With a smile on his face, he looked at the seven people at the same table and said slowly, "My idea is to pick out the seven counties of Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde, Xiangshan, Dongguan, Xin'an, and Huaxian from Guangzhou Prefecture and establish a new Guangzhou Prefecture to implement the same special policies as Shanghai. That is, there will be no land distribution, but we will also open up to the outside world, encourage industry and commerce, encourage foreign trade, and warmly welcome foreign businessmen and foreign investment. In the future, Guangzhou Prefecture will be built as a key port special zone like Shanghai. In addition, in the future, Guangzhou Port will focus on overseas Chinese businessmen in Southeast Asia, as well as those vassal states and colonies..."

Luo Yaoguo did not intend to open the door to the outside world all at once. He thought that he had to do it step by step. First, he would establish two key port special zones, namely Shanghai Prefecture and Guangzhou Prefecture; then, he would establish a few limited open commercial ports, such as Ningbo's Yongjiang North Bank Commercial Port, Yangzhou's Guazhou Commercial Port, Tianjing's Xiaguan Commercial Port, and Hanyang Prefecture's Hankou Commercial Port. After Fujian was recovered, he would open Xiamen and Mawei Commercial Ports. In this way, two port special zones plus six commercial ports were formed, a total of "eight ports for trade".

Why did he do this? First, he wanted to concentrate on developing the two major ports of Shanghai and Guangzhou, and at the same time take care of the six small commercial ports of Ningbobei, Guazhou, Xiaguan, Hankou, Xiamen, and Mawei, so that these places can run first on the road of capitalism and industrialization; second, to accumulate experience in opening up and cultivate a group of capable cadres who can manage new industrial and commercial cities; third, of course, to firmly control the customs and crack down on smuggling. After all, Luo Yaoguo had too few capable cadres at hand. If everything was opened up, he really couldn't manage it. Once smuggling became a trend, import and export taxes could not be collected.

As soon as he said this, Wu Chongyao, Li Wenmao and others listened and thought about it in their hearts. These were all "dry stuff"!

First of all, in the whole of Guangdong, only these seven counties can implement the same special policy as Shanghai. For other places, the distribution of land is a foregone conclusion and there is no room for negotiation.

Secondly, as a special port zone, the new Guangzhou City will have great development opportunities in the future and is definitely worth the huge investment.

Thirdly, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would have to fight for territory like other powers in the future! And the Guangzhou port would become the "rear base" for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to develop southwards...

Luo Yaoguo picked up the wine glass, took another sip of "Wan Hu Chun" to moisten his throat, and continued: "I will briefly talk about the development plan of Guangzhou Port: the inner city area of ​​Guangzhou that originally belonged to the Guangzhou garrison flag army, as well as the flag fields and flag camp training grounds outside Guangzhou City, will all be nationalized. Shamian Island and Haizhu Island will also be nationalized, but the civilian fields on these two islands will be generously compensated. The inner city of Guangzhou and the two islands of Shamian and Haizhu will be developed and operated by the Guangzhou government, and they will be turned into new port areas, commercial areas, and residential areas. The flag fields and training grounds outside the city will belong to the reserve department under the management of the military advisory meeting... Did you all understand? If you have any questions, don't hold them back now, just ask them quickly."

"Your Highness, Prince Wu," Li Wenmao, the leader of the Guangdong Red Army, saluted in a proper manner and asked respectfully, "Look, this time, there are so many Red Army soldiers from all over Guangdong who responded to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is estimated that there are no less than 300,000... Although they have not made any great achievements, they have worked hard. I wonder how Your Highness plans to reward these brothers? And what is their future?"

"Give each of you ten silver dollars first as a token of my appreciation!" As soon as Luo Yaoguo opened his mouth, the seven people eating at the same table were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped to the ground.

Ten silver dollars per person doesn't sound like much. But if you calculate carefully, multiply it by 300,000, that's 3 million silver dollars! This number is enough to make people dizzy. Coincidentally, the silver that Wu Chongyao just presented to Luo Yaoguo on behalf of the Guangzhou business community was exactly this amount. Luo Yaoguo didn't put a penny in his own pocket, nor did he use it to reward his trusted followers. He waved his hand and gave it all to the Hongmen brothers who participated in the Red Army Uprising. What does this mean? This shows that Luo Yaoguo is sincere to the Hongmen brothers from the bottom of his heart, and it also proves that he is financially strong. He gave out 3 million silver dollars as soon as he said he would, and he didn't feel sorry at all!

"Secondly, these 300,000 Red Army soldiers cannot be dispersed like this. They should all be reorganized into the Guangdong militia." Luo Yaoguo then began to make arrangements. "Those who have a family or a job can go back to their own jobs. However, they can still retain their status as militia soldiers. Guangdong Province will give them a subsidy of five silver dollars every year, which will be paid to them until they die a hundred years later. As for those who have no property or job, they will be incorporated into the militia corps of each prefecture. Let them disperse to various places first to maintain public order. Don't worry, there will be better arrangements waiting for a while. Before the re-arrangement, the Red Army soldiers who joined the militia corps can receive one silver dollar and five dou of white rice every month.

In addition, the salaries of the regiment commanders, battalion commanders, captains, and platoon leaders of each prefecture's militia corps will be reduced by one level, in accordance with the salaries of officers of the same rank in the Taiping Army."

These are two huge expenses! However, the cleverness of this move is that it can control all the most powerful and ruthless characters in the Guangdong Tiandihui... Only by controlling them can Guangdong be peaceful and the land distribution can proceed smoothly.

When Li Wenmao heard this, he immediately bowed to Luo Yaoguo and said with admiration: "The King of Wu is truly a man of unparalleled benevolence and righteousness. Wenmao, I admire him from the bottom of my heart."

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Brother Li, I will definitely arrange places for the local militias. Go back and tell your brothers to wait in peace. Also, you, Brother Gan, and Brother Chen will serve as the chief and deputy chief of the Guangdong Militia Corps. This status and salary are equivalent to the division commander and deputy division commander of the army!"

Upon hearing this, Li Wenmao, Gan Xian and Chen Kai were so excited that they quickly stood up, bowed deeply to Luo Yaoguo, and kept thanking him.

"Hurry up, hurry up..." Luo Yaoguo smiled and waved his hands at the three of them, "You are not the chief and deputy chief for nothing. Now I have an important task for you!"

"Your Highness Prince Wu, just tell us what you want us to do." The three stood up and asked impatiently.

Luo Yaoguo chuckled and said, "Cut off all supplies to Hong Kong Island. Also, don't allow our Hongmen merchants to do business in Hong Kong Island!"

"Understood!" The three Hongmen bosses were so decisive that they immediately accepted Luo Yaoguo's order without saying a word.

"Okay, everyone, sit down." Luo Yaoguo asked the three of them to sit down first, then turned his gaze to Wu Chongyao, Zhang Jingxiu, Pan Shicheng, and Yin Dazhang, "If you have any questions, just ask."

The four of them looked at each other, and finally Yin Dazhang, who had sold out his adoptive father, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, Prince Wu, you spared Gui Bo before, what are you going to do with him? And what about the tens of thousands of bannermen in Guangzhou? Otherwise..." As he spoke, he showed a fierce expression on his face, and made a gesture of wiping his neck, which meant that he was willing to help do this dirty work. Luo Yaoguo couldn't help but complain in his heart: "This man is really a 'talent'!"

"No, I have my own plans." Luo Yaoguo ignored Yin Dazhang and turned to look at the other three people, "Who among you can help me go to Hong Kong?"

Wu Chongyao quickly clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, Prince Wu, I have some friendship with the Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Bowring-pao. I wonder what Your Highness wants me to say to him?"

Luo Yaoguo counted on his fingers and said, "First, tell him that I have more than 500 people in my hands, of which more than 480 are Indians and about 40 are white. Second, tell him that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has no idea about the Treaty of Nanjing. Third, let him know that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is now one of the great powers. Fourth, emphasize to him that the British will never make a profit in Hong Kong... absolutely never! Fifth, invite him to Guangzhou for negotiations. Let's sign a new treaty of mutual benefit and equality. I guarantee that the British will make a lot of money from cooperating with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future."

(End of this chapter)