Chapter 243 For the sake of neutrality and free trade, we must “protect” China’s customs!
“This, this is the direction of Shanghai County.”

“What’s going on? How did Luo Yaoguo’s army fly over Suzhou, Taicang, and Changzhou and arrive in Shanghai in one go?”

Facing the questions from Aliguo and Wade, Matheson just shook his head: “Mr. Consul, Mr. Vice Consul, I don’t know what happened. I only know that more than 2,000 Chinese gang members gathered at the Shiliupu Wharf outside Shanghai County this morning.

Then another fifty to one hundred Taiping troops equipped with brown bass arrived by water, and they flew the flags of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Holy Angel King Wu, and led the Chinese gang members on the dock to attack the Xiaodong Gate of the county town.

The Shanghai New Army stationed at Xiaodongmen did not seem to put up any resistance, but opened the city gates and let the Taiping Army, gang members and the Holy Angel Wu Wang outside the city into Shanghai County.”

“What? Is the news reliable?” Aliguo still found it unbelievable.

“Very reliable!” Matheson said palely, “The spies I sent out were lurking among those Chinese gang members and witnessed the entire process of Luo Yaoguo landing and the Taiping Army and gang members attacking Xiaodongmen!”

“Those gang members are all disciples of the Tiandihui!” said Wade, an expert on China. “It is a secret gang whose purpose is to overthrow the Tatar dynasty and rebuild the Han Empire. Who knows how many uprisings they have launched in the past two hundred years? Moreover, they have long infiltrated the middle and lower classes of all towns in southern China. It is easy for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to incite them!”

“Damn it!” Aliguo cursed, and then asked Wade, “Thomas, do you have any suggestions?”

“Mr. Consul, I suggest sending troops to protect the Jianghai Customs Gate outside the Xiaodong Gate and the Jianghai Customs North Gate outside the North Gate!” Wade immediately put forward the suggestion he had been brewing for a long time.

“Send troops to protect us?” Aliguo looked at Wade, undecided for a moment, “Will this undermine our principle of neutrality?”

Wade said firmly: “This will not destroy neutrality, but will help maintain our neutrality and free trade principles!

Mr. Consul, do you think that allowing a group of robbers and rebels to plunder and occupy the Jianghai Customs will be beneficial to the friendship between the British Empire and the Qing Empire? In any case, it would be more beneficial to the Qing Empire if we controlled the Jianghai Customs than if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom controlled it, right?

And for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is it a hostile act for us to occupy and control the customs office that belongs to their enemy? You don’t think that there are any leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who are familiar with the “International Law” and are well aware of the concept of state sovereignty? “

“That Luo Xueyan should know!” Aliguo said, “From his English accent, I suspect he studied in the UK.”

Wade smiled coldly: “What good does it do to know? I think that if he can really fight back to Shanghai, our goal of jointly managing the Jianghai Customs will most likely be achieved!”

“Co-management? Will he agree?” asked Aliguo.

“Why not?” Wade said, “If we are responsible for the operation of the Jianghai Customs, he will only get more military funds! Everyone knows that Lord Wu is a corrupt official. He spent 500,000 taels of silver to buy this position just to embezzle and profit. And Lord Wu is not the only one who makes money from the Jianghai Customs! Every year, the money that flows into the pockets of these corrupt officials is several times more than the money paid to the Qing court! Even if the Qing court appoints other officials to manage the Jianghai Customs, Lord Wu will not make less.

If we control the customs, I believe Lord Luo’s army can get double or even triple the military pay than now! As long as this account is settled, he has no reason to object. “

“What if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wins?” Aliguo showed a worried look, “Will they agree to co-manage the Jianghai Customs?”

“Even if they don’t agree, what can we do?” Wade shrugged. “They won’t go to war with us just because we control the customs of the Qing Dynasty, right? Besides, the Jiang Customs under our control is always a bargaining chip for both sides to negotiate!”

Aliguo thought about it and felt that Wade’s analysis was correct: “That’s true. But before we send troops to protect the Jianghai Customs, we still need to negotiate with the French and American consuls to maintain the principle of unity among the great powers.”

Thomas, please help me contact Consul Aitong and Major Ma Hui. Tell them that in order to maintain neutrality and free trade, our British Empire will send troops to “protect” the Chinese customs. I hope that the French and American consulates in Shanghai can agree with us. “

“Yes, sir!”

He glanced at the boss of Jardine Matheson again and said, “Also, I need to know the situation in Shanghai County!” “I understand!” Matheson said, “I will send someone into the city to investigate the situation immediately.”

“Someone is coming! Someone is coming! Go and ask Ah Chuan and Ah Xian to bring the soldiers to protect me.”
My dear mother, the rebels have entered the city! Where are you two? “

Inside the Shanghai County City, at the Susongtai Dao Yamen, in the lobby, Daotai Master Wu Jianzhang was already in a state of panic and could only shout and yell.

This morning, he was humming a little tune and eating morning tea with several concubines when the Taiping Army suddenly arrived. Without even a word of greeting, there was a burst of gunfire from the direction of Xiaodongmen, and then someone could be heard shouting something like “The Taiping Army is entering the city!”

What followed was the slogan of “Kill the Qing monsters and go to heaven” which became louder and louder!

Kill the Qing demon. He seems to be the Qing demon! Knowing that something bad was going to happen, Lord Wu rushed to the lobby in a rage, and then a series of orders to mobilize troops were passed down.

He still had Liu Lichuan, Li Yunxian, and Zhou Lichun’s three divisions with a total of more than 2,000 people. Although Liu Lichuan and Zhou Lichun’s divisions were assigned to guard Jiading County and Qingpu County according to Luo Xueyan’s deployment, there were still 700 to 800 people under Li Yunxian’s division in Shanghai County, as well as more than 100 personal soldiers of Wu Jianzhang. How could they still have the strength to fight?

By the way, Luo Xueyan also left a company of foreign rifle troops at the Jianghai Pass and the Jianghai Pass North Pass outside the city. There were also more than a thousand new recruits and a battalion of “veterans” left behind in the Luodian camp.

Wu Jianzhang counted on his fingers and found that he still had some soldiers on hand. As long as they were all mobilized, there was no reason why he could not win.

But the problem is that even though his throat is about to break, the guards outside the hall don’t even pay any attention to him. They all stand straight outside, like wooden men.
Wu Jianzhang, who was a little anxious, didn’t care about the dignity of a fourth-rank official of the Qing Dynasty, and rushed out of the hall with his robe lifted. The guards who had not reacted at first rushed up and stopped Wu Jianzhang.

Wu Jianzhang hadn’t figured out what was going on yet, and he was still jumping up and down and yelling, “Why are you stopping me? The Taiping rebels have invaded, so go and fight them! Go! I have plenty of money. Go quickly, and I will reward you handsomely!”

One of Wu Jianzhang’s fellow villagers finally stopped pretending to be dumb and shouted, “Sir, please stop shouting. It’s useless even if you shout your throat out. No one will come to save you!”

“What?” Wu Jianzhang stared at the fellow villager, “What did you say?”

“Sir, what happened today was done by Brother Liu, Brother Li, and Brother Zhou in compliance with the order of His Royal Highness the Holy Angel of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, King Wu! Brother Liu also asked us to arrest you.”

“Catch, catch me?” Wu Jianzhang’s eyes went dark when he heard this. “Dui Lei, you are all my lackeys, and you are helping outsiders catch me? Do you have any conscience?”

The fellow villager of Lord Wu also spoke in a solemn tone: “Lord Wu, the world has changed! The Qing Dynasty is going to be destroyed, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is going to take over the world. We want to be founding heroes, and we want to be officials! You should be honest and stay in the government office, even if you are arrested! Otherwise, don’t blame us for turning our backs on you!”

Concession, British barracks.

A company of red shirts has been assembled. More than eighty British soldiers have formed three rows at the command, with rifles on their shoulders and the Union Jack flying. The glory of the British Empire is in their hearts.

Consul Alcock and Vice-Consul Wade stood side by side in front of the company of infantry, their eyes determined and with no doubt about the upcoming success.

A British captain in his forties, tall and elegant, stepped up to the two of them and saluted: “Mr. Consul, Mr. Vice Consul, the whole company has been assembled, please give the order!”

Consul Aliguo nodded in satisfaction and ordered the British captain in front of him: “Captain Smith, I order you to lead the entire team to the Jianghai Customs Beiguan Office outside the north gate of Shanghai County and make sure to completely control it! Remember, try not to use force. The Chinese tax officials stationed at the Jianghai Customs have no combat power, and they should be able to be persuaded to leave peacefully.”

“Yes, Consul!”

(End of this chapter)