The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 691 Fame
"Mr. Chen, the Qing government agrees to negotiate!" George Seward found Chen Zhengwei.

"The negotiation will take place in Tianjin. Their chief negotiator is Li Hongzhang, the governor-general of Zhili. He has participated in the signing of many treaties and is very experienced in this area." George Seward was afraid that Chen Zhengwei didn't know Li Hongzhang, so he specially introduced him.

"I know him."

"Before, I asked for 300 million silver dollars plus a shipload of silk, but now 300 million silver dollars is not enough." Chen Zhengwei leaned back on the sofa and threw a cigar to George Seward.

"Military expenses don't cost money?"

"My ship sailed from Guangzhou to Zhili. Did the steam engine burn coal? It burned money!"

"Let them add another 100 million silver dollars! A total of 400 million silver dollars, plus a ship of silk! As for the rest, it is your business! But I don't want this negotiation to drag on too long!" said Chen Zhengwei.

In fact, he didn't ask for much. He just wanted 200 million taels of silver (300 million silver dollars) and a shipload of silk.

We did not ask for any other unequal terms in trade.

The Qing court dragged on for so long that it was completely embarrassing.

Chen Zhengwei was a commoner who gained power in the West. Then he turned around and not only refused the reward from the court, but also dared to threaten the court. He was simply outrageous.

Whenever the Beiyang Navy had several gunboats of more than a thousand tons, Cixi did not want to negotiate.

It’s just that the fleet has reached the gate of Zhili, and Chen Zhengwei fights wherever he goes, so no one would doubt whether he dares to open fire.

That's why we have to talk about it.

If he was really an American, it wouldn't be so troublesome.

In 1874, Japan sent 3000 Japanese troops to invade Taiwan on the pretext of killing innocent drifting immigrants.

Without fighting a single battle, the Qing Dynasty signed the Treaty of Beijing with Japan, paying Japan 50 taels of silver as compensation and recognizing Japan's "righteous act of protecting the people."

At the same time, the Beijing Treaty also provided an excuse that Ryukyu was a vassal state of Japan. It was on this excuse that Japan annexed Ryukyu in the past two years.

"Mr. Chen, we will meet your requirements as soon as possible!" George Seward bowed slightly, and he was very confident about this.

The key is how to take advantage of this opportunity to gain more benefits.

This is where his value lies.

"If you have any questions, let me know!" Chen Zhengwei waved his hand. After the other party left, he smiled at Li Xiwen on the side and said, "Look, everyone bullies you just because you are weak!"

"Do you know why?"

"Because they are easy to bully!" Li Xiwen said with a smile.

"That's right, it's because you are easy to bully! Who else should I bully if not you?" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile, holding a cigar in his mouth.

"Who else do you want to bully? You've already bullied everyone!" Lin Changning's voice came from a distance: "Wash your hands and eat!"

……

The negotiations in Tianjin went very quickly.

The Qing court admitted that it had arrested seven Chinese Americans, and that two of them died in prison due to the arbitrary actions of some officials and accidents.

The Qing Dynasty paid 270 million taels of silver and 8 pieces of high-quality silk, worth 60 taels of silver.

A total of 330 million taels of silver, approximately equivalent to 500 million silver dollars.

In addition, the two sides signed a new agreement, which stipulated that all Chinese with American household registration would be treated as American citizens in the Qing Dynasty, and any illegal acts must be handed over to the consulate and legation for trial.

This agreement is called the Sino-American Treaty of Amendment.

But Chen Zhengwei did not give nothing.

DuPont needs to lift its ban on the sale of smokeless gunpowder to the Qing Dynasty.

Chen Zhengwei didn't care about this. Even if the Qing Dynasty got smokeless gunpowder, nothing would change.

Chen Zhengwei doesn't even care about the compensation.

What he cared about was the impact of this agreement on the Qing Dynasty after it was signed.

After the contract was signed, news of the agreement spread from north to south, first to various trading ports, and then spread from these cities.

"The Sino-US Treaty of Amendment is signed!"

In Yingtian Prefecture, newsboys are constantly selling newspapers on the streets.

"What new treaty was signed?" Shanghai residents frowned when they heard the shouting.

In the teahouse, several young scholars were discussing the imperial examination.

Hearing the hawking, a young man looked out into the street and sneered, "Are you losing money again?"

All the treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty over the years involved no less than paying compensation.

This man was only in his early 20s and had a good appearance. The people around him were not very old either, with the oldest being less than 30 years old.

"Brother Weiting, just take a look and you will know." A man in his 25s or 6s nearby said with a smile, and then another younger young man went downstairs to buy a newspaper.

"What's there to see? You'll get angry if you see it!" said the young man called Wei Ting coldly, and his full name was... Yuan Shikai!

With him were the brothers Xu Shichang and Xu Shiguang, who came with him to take the autumn examination, and another person who was also a scholar.

Xu Shiguang was reading the newspaper as he walked and almost fell down while going up the stairs.

"What's going on? You're watching it so intently!" Xu Shichang asked.

"You read the newspaper..." Xu Shiguang didn't know what to say, so he handed the newspaper to others.

Yuan Shikai was quite prestigious among the crowd. After taking the newspaper, others gathered behind him and read it carefully.

"Who is this Chen Zhengwei?" Yuan Shikai saw a name in the newspaper and asked.

Judging from the newspapers, this agreement is related to him.

The others looked at each other, confused.

"Which Chen Zhengwei?" A young man wearing a top hat nearby moved his ears and asked. "Brother, have you heard of this person?" Yuan Shikai stood up and bowed, "I saw it in the newspaper. It seems that he is a Chinese in the United States?"

"That's definitely him! Chen Zhengwei, Chen Lao Hu!" said the young man.

"Please help me, brother. Who is this Chen Zhengwei, Chen Lao Hu?" Yuan Shikai asked. Noticing that the man's hair was not long and his braids were fake, he said, "Brother, you have returned from overseas, right? I don't know what to call you?"

"Rong Shangqian!" The young man said with a smile, "If you want to know about Chen Lao Hu, you can, but first lend me the newspaper."

After taking the newspaper and reading it carefully, the young man's expression changed a little.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhengwei actually sent his warships directly to Zhili and forced the court to sign an agreement.

This young man was one of the Chinese students studying in the United States. After returning, he was assigned to work at the Jiangnan Telegraph Bureau. Unexpectedly, when he came out to wait for a friend, he heard Chen Zhengwei's name and couldn't help but speak.

After returning the newspaper to Yuan Shikai and others, Rong Shangqian sorted out his thoughts and told them what he knew.

"In the past hundred years, many people in the southeast coastal areas have gone overseas to seek survival... In addition to Southeast Asia, many people have gone to the West to seek survival..."

"In the United States, everyone is a foreigner, so the Chinese naturally became an excluded group. It was common to be ridiculed and bullied. This was especially true in western regions such as San Francisco..."

"Then it was this Chen Lao Hu..."

Yuan Shikai was fond of wielding swords and sticks, and he was fascinated by what was happening on the sidelines, especially when he heard that Chen Zhengwei was rampant in the United States, even the US government had to give him some leeway.

He even traveled around South America and gained great prestige among Chinese people overseas.

Yuan Shikai kept praising: "A real man should be like this!"

"Brother Weiting!" Xu Shichang quickly pulled Yuan Shikai and told him to be quiet.

This time, Chen Zhengwei led his troops to Zhili and forced the court to sign an agreement. You said "a real man should be like this", what do you want to do?
Yuan Shikai also realized that he had said something wrong and just laughed it off!

When he returned, he said to Xu Shichang: "A real man should be like this, protecting the people and promoting the prestige of our country!"

Xu Shichang didn't say anything, but he nodded in his heart.

……

Foshan, Xiqiao Mountain, a young man holds "Haiguo Tuzhi", a book about Western science and geography.

"Kang Nanhai, stop looking! Something big has happened!" A young man pushed the door open.

"What's the big deal?" The young man put down the book in his hand.

Another name of Kang Nanhai is Kang Youwei.

"Look at this, the Sino-Sino Treaty of Amendment has been signed!" The young man walked over quickly and put the newspaper in front of him.

Kang Youwei took the newspaper, read it for a while, shook his head slightly, and sighed:

"This court..."

"Chen Lao Hu, you know, right?"

"I've heard of it before!"

"Don't you like Western theories? In my opinion, you might as well go to the United States to study. Even if you go there to see it with your own eyes, it will be better than sitting here reading a book!" said the young man.

“It is said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles!”

Kang Youwei was immediately tempted.

……

The news of this agreement continued to spread, spreading to all the ports. Within two days, it had spread to all the coastal areas.

The imperial court then sent people to find the newspaper and strictly prohibited it from publishing relevant information, and only then was the matter barely suppressed.

But even so, the news had already spread, and Chen Zhengwei's name gradually became known.

Many people know that there is such a group of Chinese people overseas, and there is also such a big shot named Chen.

……

"What the newspaper said is right. It really improves the image of Chinese people overseas! Guangzhou's newspapers are really good at speaking!" Chen Zhengwei was shaking the newspaper in his hand.

He read every newspaper of the past two days.

Many of them accused and denounced him, saying that he had no loyalty to the king or his father and called him a thug and a robber.

However, after several newspapers in Guangzhou caught fire, more people began to introduce him fairly.

"I see how you are praised in the newspaper every day!" Lin Changning joked with a smile.

There was a thick stack of newspapers under the table, all about Chen Zhengwei.

"You don't understand, this is called becoming famous!" Chen Zhengwei laughed and threw the newspaper on the coffee table.

"I came here to pressure those Guangdong officials so that they wouldn't dare to interfere with immigration, but those who moved here are also laborers!"

"But this is different! Those who can see these newspapers are all literate people, the elite class, and there are many brave and knowledgeable people among them."

"If some of them go to the United States... they will be of use soon! What do I lack the most? Talents!"

Anyone who dares to go to the United States to join him just because of the information in this newspaper must be an extremely daring person.

Either they are full of passion, or they have outstanding insights, or they are good at scheming.

None of this matters.

The important thing is that these people must be very brave.

And with more people like this, we can definitely pick out a lot of useful talents from them.

This is what he values most.

"Have someone pack up everything tonight. We'll go to Hong Kong tomorrow!" Chen Zhengwei said to Lin Changning.

(End of this chapter)