Chapter 224: Luo Xueshuai appeared in Shanghai (seeking votes and subscription)

Monday, August 1853, 3.

British Consulate in Shanghai.

In Consul Alcock’s office, the four leading figures of the British Empire in Shanghai, Consul Alcock, Vice Consul Wade, Jardine Matheson, and Webber, the boss of Butterfield & Sullivan, had all taken their seats. The rich aroma of coffee and milk tea floated in this small office.

Consul Aliguo was not in a hurry to start today’s meeting. Instead, he was sipping freshly brewed coffee while reading three text messages. These three letters were sent by the French Consulate, the American Consulate, and the Bishop’s Office in Dongjiadu early this morning. The content of the letters was the same, expressing support for Luo Xueyan, the “Snow Marshal”!

French Consul Aitong, American Consul Ma Hui, and Bishop Francis Xavier of the Nanjing Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church all agreed that in view of the current severe situation, and taking into account the corruption and rigidity of the Qing Dynasty, as well as the extreme policies and heretical beliefs pursued by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Luo Xueyan, a warlord from Hunan, might be the only collaborator who could ensure the interests of the great powers in southeast China. They hoped that the British Consulate in Shanghai would also regard Luo Xueyan as the most trustworthy Chinese official.

“Gentlemen,” Consul Alcock had finished reading these three short but very important letters. He put down the letter paper and looked at Wade, Matheson and Weber in front of him and said, “It seems that Luo Xueyan did not waste the precious time of Saturday and Sunday. He used these two days to convince the American Consul, the French Consul and Bishop Chao Fangji. And according to the principle of consensus among the great powers, we’d better regard Luo Xueyan as the most trustworthy Chinese official!”

Matheson of Jardine Matheson was the first to agree: “Mr. Consul, it seems that we have no better choice than him. Although Wu Jianzhang is easy to talk to, he has no other advantages.”

Jardine Matheson’s biggest competitor, the boss of the Bosun Bank, Weber, a forty-something opium dealer with tanned skin and sharp features, took a big sip of sweet milk tea and said with a smile: “Mr. Consul, since there is no good choice at the moment, let’s support him first to deal with the emergency.

We can also negotiate with Yi Liang, the governor of Jiangsu in Suzhou, at the same time. We can ask him to help promote the revision of the treaty on the condition that Luo Xueyan will be supported to help him resist the Taiping Army!”

The company, also known as Dent & Co., was the business of John Dent, the drug lord who pushed the Opium War. Opium was still the most profitable business of the company. After making money from opium, what other business could the company calmly do?
Therefore, the biggest demand of Matheson & Co. was to promote “treaty revision” and demand that the Qing court further open up and allow goods including opium to be imported into China freely and at low taxes!

“That’s a good idea. It’s always been difficult to communicate with those officials of the Tatar Dynasty. I hope they can be more reasonable this time!” Aliguo nodded. “Thomas, why don’t you go to Suzhou in person to meet Yiliang. You can also call Wu Jianzhang and ask him to go with you to tell Yiliang in person that we have reached a cooperation with the Hunan warlords headed by Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan in the Qing Dynasty!”

“Yes, Mr. Consul.” Wade smiled, “I believe Yiliang will seriously consider our request!”

Aliguo thought for a while and said to Wade, “Thomas, tell Lord Yiliang that if we can support one Luo Xueyan, we can support a second and third Luo Xueyan, as long as he can cooperate with us sincerely.” He paused and said, “Although this Luo Xueyan seems to be someone we can deal with, we must also be wary of him becoming China’s Ali Pasha. So we should use him as an example and support a few more Chinese warlords so that they can check and balance each other.”

Wade, Webber, and Matheson all nodded heavily.

“It’s settled! It’s settled! Shanghai will soon be my, Luo Xueyan’s, world!”

In Tongshun Building, a two-story Western-style building, Luo Yaoguo’s surprised cry suddenly rang out.

Jiao Hong, Xu Yuegui, Zhang Sanxiang, Wang Kuiyi, Wu Ruxiao, Wang Dalong, Feng Zicai, Cheng Fupei and others who had been waiting there for a long time immediately stood up and shouted in unison: “Congratulations, sir! Congratulations to you, sir!”

Luo Yaoguo walked to the main seat and sat down, then called on the group of men who had followed him to “break into Shanghai” to sit down.

After seeing that everyone was seated, he took out a stack of documents from the western-style leather bag that Wu Chaoyue had given him today, waved it, and said with a smile, “This is the contract that was just signed! We signed a contract with the British for 4,000 brown basses, 150,000 rounds of fixed ammunition, 18 twelve-pound cannons, two old lock ships equipped with twelve six-pound cannons each, a steam tugboat, and various types of twelve-pound and six-pound shells totaling 7,200 rounds. The total cost was 165,600 silver dollars! All are spot goods, and you can pick them up at the warehouses of Jardine Matheson and Po Shun Hong today!
In addition, Lord Wu gave us 1841 brown basses, Minié rifles and Charleville rifles purchased from the French, and another M rifles purchased from Qichang Foreign Company. Although we spent more than silver dollars this time, we got a total of foreign rifles, more than rounds of various types of fixed ammunition, cannons, and three ships, enough to equip two divisions!
This is not the most exciting thing. The most exciting thing is that I bought all the foreigners’ munitions in Shanghai! Even if Xianfeng brought a mountain of gold, he would have nothing to give him! “

When Luo Yaoguo announced this series of good news, the group of people below were already smiling, and they all admired Archangel Luo very much – this angel’s method of coaxing people was really clever!
No, that is not a means, it is magic, it is supernatural power!
Wu Jianzhang and that group of foreigners must have been bewitched by an angel!

Just when these people were about to congratulate Luo Yaoguo for his “supernatural powers”, Luo Tianshi suddenly coughed, and then his tone began to become heavy. “We have bought guns and ammunition, but to really build a team, guns and ammunition alone are not enough, we also need soldiers! Even if we only want to build a division, we have to recruit 7,000 to 8,000 strong men. Can we recruit that many people? How long will it take?”

After saying this, he looked at the people below with burning eyes.

“Sir,” Wu Ruxiao clasped his fists towards Luo Yaoguo, “I have something to say.”

“Ruxiao, tell me.”

Wu Ruxiao replied, “Sir, I have already consulted Wu Jianzhang. There are more than 200,000 people in Shanghai County and the concessions, of which more than half are Cantonese, Fujianese, and Ningbo people, and less than half are local natives. It is a typical case of the guests being strong and the hosts being weak. Moreover, the more than 100,000 Cantonese, Fujianese, and Ningbo people are all strong. Among them, Cantonese and Fujianese are almost all disciples of the Tiandihui, and the Xiaodaohui in the Tiandihui has the largest number of people. Most Ningbo people join the Caobang. As for the local gangs in Shanghai, there are both Tiandihui and Caobang, and the Tiandihui has the upper hand.”

Luo Yaoguo nodded and said, “It is not convenient for us to distribute land in Shanghai now. If we want to expand the army, we have to recruit soldiers. Ruxiao, have you asked Wu Jianzhang how much money we can give to recruit soldiers in a month? Zengyi, how much money do we have left in our account now?”

“Sir,” Wu Ruxiao said again, “I have inquired with Wu Jianzhang. He offers four silver dollars plus 45 kilograms of rice to Cantonese and Fujianese in Shanghai County. There are still quite a lot of people who apply for the job.”

“Sir,” Cheng Fupei continued, “we originally had 600,000 taels of silver in our account, but not all of it was Kuping silver, and the quality was different. I had Wu Jianzhang collect it and convert it into silver dollars. For your sake, he recorded 700,000 silver dollars in our account at Tongshun Bank. He also promised you 500,000 taels before, so he recorded another 600,000 in the account, a total of 1.3 million silver dollars. Your expenses in Shanghai, including the purchase of guns, ammunition, ships, and gifts, cost more than 420,000 yuan, and now there is more than 870,000 yuan left.”

“That’s enough!” Luo Yaoguo slapped his thigh, “My offer is the same as Wu Jianzhang’s, plus three months of resettlement allowance. I want to recruit 5,000 strong men within 15 days!”

“Sir,” Wang Kui asked, clasping his fists, “I wonder in whose name should we recruit soldiers?”

This is a problem. We definitely cannot recruit soldiers in the name of Luo Tianshi, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Luo Yaoguo thought for a moment and said, “Recruit soldiers in the name of Luo Xueshuai, the Hunan Army Aid Shanghai!” He glanced at his men and asked, “Who among you can take it?”

Wu Ruxiao, Wang Kuiyi, and Cheng Fupei all stood up, clasped their fists, and said in unison: “We are willing to recruit soldiers for you, Marshal!”

These three people are indeed suitable. Wu Ruxiao can fool the people from Guangdong and Fujian, Wang Kuiyi can connect with the government, and Cheng Fupei is enough to deal with the local gentry in Shanghai.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you!” Luo Yaoguo said, “Remember, tell the recruits that they eat Luo Xueshuai’s food and wear Luo Xueshuai’s clothes!”

“Yes!”

Luo Yaoguo then said to Jiao Hong, Xu Yuegui and Zhang Sanxiang: “Brother Jiao, Yuegui and Third Brother, you are the ones who will contact the Guangdong Xiaodao Society, Fujian Xiaodao Society and the Tiandihui in Shanghai. Remember, contact them in the name of the special envoy of the Jiangsu branch of the God Worshipping Society.”

“Order!”

(End of this chapter)