The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 665 What? You Chinese are still willing to keep black slaves? (Please vote and subscribe)

"Gentlemen, please come this way." The white gloves of Blake, the secretary of the Governor's Palace, drew an elegant arc in the air.

His ivory cane struck the gravel on the street, making a crisp clatter. Three uniformed, turbaned Indian policemen immediately waved their canes to disperse the beggars who had gathered around him to beg for food.

Moore shook his head slightly and muttered, "You won't see such vicious police in China."

Bai Siwen covered his nose with a handkerchief embroidered with gold thread, frowned and said to Moore: "You went too late, if the Qing Dynasty was still there."

After the beggars were driven away by the Sikh police with canes, two luxurious carriages drove up to Moore, Friedrich and Bai Siwen.

"Get in the carriage," Blake smiled and waved to Moore and Friedrich. Immediately, two attentive Indian servants from the Governor's Mansion came forward to take the suitcases from the two people and helped them move them to the luggage rack at the back of the carriage. However, no one came to serve Bai Siwen.
"Really? I'm a knight too!" Bai Siwen complained, but he still moved his luggage onto the luggage rack himself. Then he wanted to get on a car with Moore and Friedrich - there were only Moore, Friedrich and Blake in the car, and there was still an empty seat. But a light-skinned, young Indian in a suit stopped him with a fake smile on his face, and pointed to a carriage behind him: "Take this one."

"I don't even have the right to ride in the same car with Mr. Moore?" Bai Siwen certainly understood what the Indian meant - he had been in the UK for so many years, how could he not know about racial discrimination?
But in England, he could still live in South Kensington, his two sons could go to Eton, and he was knighted and became a royal advisor. How could he not go anywhere with such status? Why was he inferior to Moore and Frederick in India?
"Sir, please take this one," the Indian said, smiling and pointing to the carriage behind. "They are all the same, let's take one! I also received my education in the UK and passed the ICS exam!"

This Indian is full of pride when talking about receiving education in the UK and passing the ICS exam.

Bai Siwen wanted to argue again, but the carriage that Moore and Friedrich were sitting in had already started. He had no choice but to ask unhappily, "What's your name?"

It’s easier to file a complaint after you’ve found out the answer clearly!
"My name is Satyadranath Tagore, and I come from the Tagore family of Bengal." The young Indian official smiled and stretched out his right hand.

Although Bai Siwen didn't know that the Tagore family of Bengal was the most supported Indian Brahmin family by the British Indian authorities, he knew from the tone of Satyadranath Tagore that this person must be a local Indian "master". So he also extended his hand to shake hands with this Indian "master", and then smiled and said: "Bai Siwen, from the Qing Dynasty, currently living in England, a British knight."

When Satyadranath Tagore heard Bai Siwen say that he had a "knighthood", an expression of envy and jealousy flashed across his face, but he soon put on a fake smile.

Bai Siwen and Tagore got on the carriage together, but the other Indians were not qualified to enter the carriage - they were "hanging tickets" and were hung outside the carriage. Obviously, Tagore still looked up to Bai Siwen and put him and himself in seats where both of them were qualified to sit in the carriage.

In this way, the two carriages sped along the dirty and messy streets of Calcutta, one after the other. The carriage passed through a slum and slowed down. Moore saw an old woman cooking in front of a bamboo shed. The clay pot she used had a crack, and the fire was emitting choking green smoke. The old woman's wrists were as thin as dead branches, and she was obviously malnourished for a long time. Behind her, several naked children were fighting over half a rotten mango.

"These people are untouchables," Blake said nonchalantly, "and are considered untouchables in the eyes of their Indian compatriots." He seemed to see that Moore and Friedrich had some sympathy for these untouchables, and shook his head and said, "There is no need to sympathize with them. It's not worth it!"

"Not worth it? Why?" Moore said.

Blake said in a cold tone: "Because they can't help themselves!"

When turning a corner, the scene suddenly changed. A huge, Western-style building made of white granite shone in the sun, with plants trimmed into balls neatly arranged in front of the door. Indian guards in scarlet coats stood with guns, their brass buttons polished to a shine - we had arrived at the Indian Governor's House in Calcutta.

When the iron gate of the Governor's Mansion slowly opened, twenty Sikh guards raised their guns and saluted at the same time. Each of them wore a red turban, and from a distance they looked a bit like the Taiping Army in the early days, but when you get closer, you can tell that they are completely different.

Lord Canning stood waiting under the Greek columns, with the Star of India medal he had just received hanging on his chest. The Governor-General of India had his white hair combed meticulously, but Moore noticed that his eyelids were swollen and there were two deep wrinkles at the corners of his mouth.

"Welcome to Calcutta, gentlemen." Canning's voice was a little hoarse and tired. It seemed that the work of killing Indians was quite hard. "I hope you have adapted to the climate of India."

In the banquet hall, the long table was set with sterling silver tableware, and in front of each seat were several different wine glasses, each corresponding to a different wine. There were also a large number of forks, from those for eating oysters to those for eating desserts.

"This is Mr. Nathaniel Rothschild," Canning introduced to the crowd, "the special envoy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, this is..."

"Moore, Friedrich, Swenson." Nathaniel laughed, "This world is really a small place. We actually met each other in India!"

Canning said, "So you two know each other!" He added, "Mr. Moore is now the British ambassador to Korea and Japan, Mr. Friedrich is his personal assistant, and Mr. Bai is his translation secretary."

"Moore, Friedrich, Svensson, welcome to India!" The speaker was Albert Sassoon, who was also a player in the last "Shanghai Financial War". He fled back to India after losing all his capital. Unexpectedly, he has now become a guest of honor at the Governor's Palace in Calcutta.

"Nathaniel, are you the special envoy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" Friedrich asked, "I remember you seemed..."

Nathaniel made a gesture of surrender: "Surrender means half the loss. I am here to buy grain from India for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"Buy food from India?" Moore asked, "But isn't India suffering from famine?"

"But the price of grain in Calcutta is pitifully low now," Sassoon said with a smile. "Even if it is shipped to Tianjing, it is no more expensive than rice in mainland China. If it is broken rice used as feed, it is even cheaper."

"It seems that millions of people starved to death in India last year?" Friedrich said in a low voice, "And India just experienced a rebellion of unprecedented scale!"

Canning took the Havana cigar handed to him by the waiter and took a puff. "The rebellion in 1857 was not because people starved to death, but because we touched the inheritance rights of the princes and nobles." He blew out a puff of smoke. "The biggest mistake of the East India Company was to try to change India's thousands of years of tradition."

Moore couldn't help but interrupt: "Such as banning widows from being buried alive?"

"That's right!" Canning's eyes suddenly lit up. "The Sati system is a sacred tradition of Hinduism. Yesterday, the king of Jaipur just held a funeral ceremony for his deceased father, and seven wives and concubines volunteered to jump into the fire. That scene was really, really great! Do you know the Queen of Jhansi who was captured by Prince Shi Dakai? This woman has caused us huge trouble! She is just a widow. If we didn't prohibit widows from being buried alive, she would have jumped into the fire long ago!"

Friedrich's hands clenched his napkin tightly. "So you think that reinstating the practice of burning widows will strengthen British rule?"

"My dear sir, you don't understand India." Canning smiled and shook his head. "The people here don't care who rules them, they only care whether their caste system is respected. We have decided not to send high-caste Indian soldiers to Burma - this will make them lose their caste. We are also preparing to write to the queen and ask her to be crowned as the Queen of India to replace the Mughal dynasty."

The two Indian officials present bowed their heads immediately, with flattering smiles on their faces. Tagore, who was in the same car with Bai Siwen, seemed to have a bright look on his face!

At this moment, a Sikh guard hurried into the banquet hall, his footsteps were so light that they made almost no sound on the carpet. He whispered something in Canning's ear, and the Governor's face immediately became serious.

"Gentlemen," Canning adjusted his gold tie, "let us go together to greet the God of War from the East."

All the British Indian officials, Nathaniel and Sassoon in the hall stood up and faced the door.

In the courtyard, pine torches lit up every corner. Shi Dakai walked in quickly, wearing the latest blue-gray uniform of the Taiping Army, with a medal awarded by the French on his chest and a yellow silk ribbon unique to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom draped over his right shoulder.

……

At the same time, the whistle on the Potomac River startled a flock of birds, which flew up from the oak forest of Davis Manor and fluttered across the water. Mrs. Davis waved a peacock feather fan and watched with interest as the Chinese guests picked up a piece of buttered bread with ivory chopsticks.

"How did Bishop Zhao use two 'pencils' to hold the bread?" she said with a smile, "Can you teach me?"

Xianfeng smiled slightly, turned his wrist slightly, and put the bread on the tip of the chopsticks steadily into his mouth. His old friend Senator Davis was wearing glasses and looking through the draft of the Washington State Constitution brought by McMullen.

"Oh my God!" Senator Davis suddenly slammed the table, making the crystal glass clink. He stared at Emperor Xianfeng, "Bishop Zhao, you, you actually wrote slavery into the state constitution of Washington? What on earth do you want to do?"

Xianfeng smiled and said: "We also want to keep black slaves!"

Davis threw the "Draft State Constitution" on the table and said, "Stop it. Black slaves are much more expensive than Chinese immigrants, and they are lazy. They also need white supervisors to watch over them. How can you Chinese bear to keep black slaves? Bishop, tell me the truth. What do you want to do?"

Xianfeng smiled and said, "We just want to get the treatment we deserve... to have citizenship! Senator, do you think that with the slavery clause, can we get the Southern Democrats to support us?"

(End of this chapter)