Chapter 238 It turns out they are all undercover agents! (Please subscribe and vote)

Unlike the Shanghai Concession, which was full of wide roads and spacious Western-style buildings, the appearance of Shanghai County did not change for the better with the opening of the port to trade. It remained narrow and dilapidated, just like most of the county towns under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, relying on the infrastructure handed down from the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the already crowded county town became even more crowded due to the large number of immigrants who flocked to seek a living after the port was opened. In 1853, many refugees fled to escape the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As a result, nearly people lived in the less than two square kilometers of land enclosed by the city wall of Jiuhuali!

This is simply people stacking up on top of each other!
Standing on the old city wall built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and looking down, what you see are small, short and thin two- and three-story houses crowded together. Compared with the spacious and bright courtyard houses in Beijing, the houses here are really a world apart. The houses here seem to be squeezed into every possible space, just to make use of all the space, but in order to save costs as much as possible, they try their best to be low and cramped. Three-story houses are often only the height of a normal two-story house, and even that is not enough, they have to build a loft inside the roof that is not high enough for people to live in. People with taller stature can’t even straighten their backs when they live in it.

However, compared to the people in most places in the Qing Dynasty, the people living in this extremely crowded city are extremely happy, because they are less likely to die of hunger and cold. Although most of them can’t live a comfortable life, they can still find a job that is enough to make a living.

This is because the opening of the five ports to trade after the Opium War caused the depression of Guangzhou, but at the same time it allowed Shanghai, which guards the mouth of the Yangtze River and has the first port in Jiangnan, to rise rapidly.

The foreign concessions next to Shanghai County can provide a large number of employment opportunities. The docks, construction sites, foreign companies, shops and various factories and workshops that have sprung up like mushrooms after rain all need a large number of laborers. And the demand is increasing year by year! It even exceeds the speed at which people are pouring into Shanghai from all directions. Therefore, although the working people squeezed into Shanghai County are also suffering, they can still earn much higher wages than elsewhere.

If they could find a job in a foreign company, dock, construction site or factory, their income would definitely exceed that of most rural landlords!

These “working people” whose incomes exceeded those of the landlords were more willing to spend money than the landlords who were reluctant to spend money on food and clothing. Therefore, business in Shanghai County was extremely prosperous. Almost every crowded and narrow street was filled with various shops on both sides, and it seemed that every one of them was doing a booming business. Even the vendors hawking their wares along the street were busy all the time, and it seemed that they could make a lot of money every day.

However, even in such a seemingly prosperous city where not many people were on the verge of starvation, there were still three powerful rebel organizations, namely the Guangdong Small Knife Society, the Fujian Small Knife Society and the Shanghai-based Tiandihui.

The reason for this situation is that the Qing government has never lacked the ability to manage the grassroots of industrial and commercial cities. They can rely on thousands of Huang masters to suppress the grassroots in rural areas. Even if the lower classes in rural areas have been starving to death in large numbers, these Huang masters can still rely on the landlords’ armed forces to suppress them.

However, in industrial and commercial cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, the power of the gentry was negligible. The poor who came from all directions to make a living were very willing to join various gangs and work together for more security.

This gave organizations like the Tiandihui and the Xiaodaohui the opportunity to flourish!

After all, Guangzhou was the residence of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Governor of Guangdong, and the General of Guangzhou. It was suppressed by the feudal army of more than 10,000 people, including the Governor’s Banner, the Governor’s Banner, and the Eight Banners. In addition, Guangzhou also had Hancheng and Manchucheng. No matter how powerful the Tiandihui in Guangdong was, it would be difficult for it to enter Manchucheng, and it was not easy to successfully revolt.

In comparison, the power of the Qing Dynasty in Shanghai was much weaker. Shanghai was not the headquarters of the Songjiang government office. Before Luo Yaoguo established the new army, there was only one county government office, one Jianghai Customs Office, and one Daotai Office. The county government office had only three squads of detectives, and the members were basically disciples of the Tiandihui. Of course, the soldiers in the customs office had joined the Tiandihui more than a hundred years ago, and the situation of the Daotai Office was similar to that of the county government office.

That is to say, among the people in Shanghai County who were employed by the Qing Dynasty, only one Shanghai County Magistrate, Yuan Zude, was not a member of the Tiandihui. Even Wu Jianzhang, the Susongtai Dao and the Supervisor of the Jianghai Customs, was a member of the Hongmen. How could he not join the Hongmen when he was a businessman who raised ducks and became a big comprador? He joined the Guangyi Hall, so he was so familiar with Wu Ruxiao. In theory, he was also a disciple of Luo Yaoguo and Su Sanniang!

Therefore, it was natural for him, as the military inspector, to use Liu Lichuan and Li Yunxian, two big leaders of the Tiandihui and the Xiaodaohui, when he was organizing the Shanghai militia.

They are our own people, the Hongmen brothers, they are all loyal people, you can use them with confidence!

“Meet Officer Shuang!”

In the military office of the Susongtai Military Commission, three “big guys” in Shanghai, Liu Lichuan, Li Yunxian, and Zhou Lichun, were saluting Wu Jianzhang. All three of them were wearing black gowns, with wide silk belts tied around their waists, their sleeves rolled up to reveal their white linings, and they were holding a fan in their right hands – all dressed like the big guys of the Hongmen in Shanghai.

Liu Lichuan, who stood in the middle of the three, was short and sturdy, with high cheekbones, sunken eye sockets, and a pair of bright eyes. He was the leader of the Guangdong Small Knife Society in Shanghai. At that time, the majority of foreigners living in Shanghai were from Guangdong, so he was also the most powerful “tycoon” in Shanghai.

Standing on the left of Liu Lichuan is Li Yunxian, who is not tall and looks like a scholar. He is also the most educated of the three. He is the leader of the Fujian Small Sword Society and also Wu Jianzhang’s “jianghu master”. He handles all the affairs of the jianghu. There are not as many Fujianese as Guangdongese in Shanghai, but a Small Sword Society uprising broke out in Fujian Province a few months ago. After it was suppressed, many members of the Small Sword Society fled to Shanghai to seek refuge with Li Yunxian.

Therefore, Li Yunxian has the strength to compete with Liu Lichuan for the leading position.

On the right of Liu Lichuan stood a tall, fair-skinned, bearded handsome man named Zhou Lichun. He was the leader of the Luohan Party, a branch of the Tiandihui in Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture. The members of the Luohan Party were all poor farmers in the Qingpu area. Zhou Lichun himself was originally a small landlord and the leader of the Qingpu Tiandihui. Last year, he organized the Qingpu farmers to resist the grain tax and then pulled up the Luohan Party. He had clashed with the government several times and was almost an open rebel. But ten days ago, he suddenly accepted Wu Jianzhang’s amnesty and brought hundreds of Qingpu “militiamen” to Shanghai County to serve.

Seeing that his three generals were very capable, Wu Jianzhang nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: “I’ll tell you a secret. Luo Daotai’s 6,000 new troops will set out in three days to relieve the siege of Jiangning! So Shanghai will be guarded by our three battalions. You have to be alert. You must guard against the gangs in the city and the foreigners in the concession who may take advantage of the situation to rob.”

After hearing what he said, the expressions of Liu Lichuan, Li Yunxian and Zhou Lichun changed.

Although Luo Xueyan’s 6,000 new troops were just a start-up, they had a very good foundation. They were 800 Hunan veterans, all of whom were elite, and they looked a bit scary. Although Jiao Hong, Xu Yuegui, and Zhang Sanxiang had already contacted Liu Lichuan, Li Yunxian, and Zhou Lichun, the three of them did not know Luo Xueyan’s true identity, so they did not dare to act rashly.

Now he is leaving with 6,000 new soldiers, that’s great! When he comes back, Shanghai will already be ruled by the Small Swords Society.

Wu Jianzhang seemed to have noticed that his men were all worried, so he smiled and said to them, “But don’t worry too much. Luo Daotai is just pretending to send troops this time. He won’t really fight the Changmao. He will be back in ten days or half a month at most. You help me keep an eye on them for the next ten days or half a month. When Luo Daotai comes back, I will give each of my brothers a reward of three dollars.”

“Thank you, Officer Shuang!”

The three bosses all looked happy and bowed to Wu Jianzhang.

Wu Jianzhang continued, “There is also a project to dig trenches and build wooden walls west of Shanghai County. I will give this project to your Yixing Company. You should quickly recruit workers and start the work as soon as possible. Don’t be afraid to spend money. Now is not the time to save money.”

Liu Lichuan did not agree immediately, but asked: “Shuangguan, how should this project be done? Where should the ditch be dug? How should the wooden wall be built? The land outside the city is owned by someone, and we can’t just dig it casually!”

“Go recruit some people first, maybe 2,000 first. I will discuss the specific construction methods with the foreign engineers and Magistrate Yuan.” Wu Jianzhang frowned slightly, “The Taiping Rebellion is about to come, we must protect the county and the concession at all costs!”

Liu Lichuan, Li Yunxian, and Zhou Lichun clasped their fists together: “Understood.”

(End of this chapter)