Lu Jianfeng did not provoke provocations on Shanghai Road. Liu Lichuan followed the strategy of low-key development and did not take the initiative.

Fengruiying suffered a big loss last time in Shanghai, which can be regarded as a lesson to them.

Shanghai's merchant escort has just been established and has not yet reached the stage where it can expand externally.

In order to enhance the strength of the merchant escort team, Dong Liang also dispatched some officers from the rear to enhance their regularity.

After several months of training, the army gradually got on the right track.

In order to give confidence to the businessmen living in Shanghai, Chen Deli decided to organize an armed parade.

The morning market had just ended when a loud bugle sounded.

The parade begins.

The escort of the merchant group set out from the military camp on the east side of the county seat, forming a neat queue, fully armed, with dozens of artillery pieces clearing the way.

After passing Shiliupu Wharf, we circled around the edge of the concession, then entered the city from the north gate and headed towards the school grounds in the city.

Along the way, businessmen and people who had known the news for a long time stood on the roadside, waiting to watch the excitement.

"Look, this is the merchant escort team. This team is walking really neatly..."

"They are holding muskets in their hands. They are like foreign muskets, with bayonets on them."

"Will this cost a lot of money?"

"Isn't that right? I heard that all the big businesses have donated money, and our Shanghai Customs tax revenue is also given to them. There is no shortage of money..."

The people standing on the side of the road are ordinary people.

They looked at the shocking scenes before them.

This scene could only be seen from those foreign soldiers before.

The Merchant Corps Guards let everyone know that as long as we Chinese have the money and the right clothes and weapons, we can look no worse than foreigners.

The soldiers in the escort are all carefully selected, and each of them looks tall and mighty.

There is now a large population gathered around Shanghai, and the living conditions of those workers are better than those of ordinary farmers, so their health is better.

After being raised in the army for several more months, with a lot of financial support provided by the business group, the soldiers were eating better than before, and their mental state was naturally different.

"Commander Chen, now that we have strong troops, we might as well send out troops to capture Suzhou." Liu Lichuan stood next to Chen Deli, looking at the army in front of him that he had participated in creating, and couldn't help but feel excited.

"Commander Liu, all our actions must be in line with the head of state's grand strategy. The center of gravity of the Chinese people is still in the south, and the head of state does not have the energy to support us for the time being."

"Suzhou is now run like a metal barrel by Lu Jianfeng. I heard that his army has reached 20,000, and he has just defeated the Taiping Army. Our merchant escort only has 3,000 people, and our military expenses are provided by merchants.

If someone from the group goes to attack Suzhou at this time, what will the court think and what will the merchants in the merchant group think?"

"You are clear about the intention of the head of state to control Shanghai Road. The war serves political purposes..." Chen Deli gave Liu Lichuan another lesson.

Liu Lichuan was not the kind of reckless man who only knew how to lead the army. He understood what Chen Deli meant.

Liu Lichuan was also very convinced of the director of the Ministry of Commerce.

Chen Deli is steady, careful, thoughtful, and good at listening to other people's opinions.

"Let's go and meet the people from the business group."

The business group was founded by Chen Deli and included almost all the big businessmen in Shanghai. Later, businessmen from all over the world continued to join the business group, which made the scale of the Shanghai business group grow larger and larger.

Although wars were going on everywhere, these people were still delivering goods to Shanghai through their own connections and channels.

Most of these products are consumed by Ryukyu Hall, because they are the only ones with channels to transport the products.

Chen Deli also mobilized members of the business group to acquire foreign properties in the concession area.

The concession area in Shanghai still exists, but there are no foreigners left. All the respectable foreigners have left here, and only a small number of people are left looking at the fixed assets.

"President Chen is here..."

When they saw Chen Deli coming, these people greeted him one by one as if they were seeing their own leader. Chen Deli is now the backbone of these businessmen.

Chen Deli pointed to the rows of escorts of the merchant group who were walking past neatly and said: "Everyone has seen it, this is our merchants' own team. I said that I will train for everyone an army that is enough to protect our own safety. Now

I did it, and I ask everyone to live in Shanghai with peace of mind. No matter how chaotic it is outside, our Shanghai beach is safe."

Chen Deli knows that what these businessmen need most is a sense of security. No one wants to make money through hard work, but their money may be robbed by others at any time.

So Chen Deli organized these people, established a chamber of commerce, and then named the merchant group's escort team.

The orders of the entire Shanghai Road were also unified under the name of Wu Jianzhang, which ensured the unification of government orders.

During this period, Shanghai Bund introduced a number of policies that were beneficial to businessmen.

This gave the business group the impression that this Shanghai Road seemed to be opened by their own businessmen.

The Daotai government's decree can be summed up in two words - freedom.

Here, merchants can freely establish a business name, as long as it is registered with the government, there is no need to spend money, and there is no need to find someone to trust.

Transactions are even simpler and more convenient.

The only thing the government does is to protect the property safety of merchants. Here, merchants do not need to worry about the government entering their residences to inspect at will.

When an official enters a merchant's residence, he must obtain a signature from Daotai Mansion.

All taxes on the entire Shanghai Road have been abolished, and security at various checkpoints and streets is now under the responsibility of the security team.

Chen Deli also organized business groups to pay for the renovation of all roads.

The business group is also responsible for negotiating with the Red Flag Gang, which controls the Yangtze River Estuary. It is said that the other party has agreed to allow merchant ships flying their flag to pass through the Yangtze River.

Even the foreigners were very jealous of this, because they could not join the merchant group, that is, they could not obtain the power of navigation.

Now the Chinese business groups in Shanghai have a very clear goal, which is to kill these foreigners and then take over their industries at a low price.

The Chinese have done relevant deductions. If they directly send troops to drive away these foreigners, nearly 5,000 soldiers and horses will be needed. And the factories in the concession area will most likely be destroyed.

Most of the foreign technicians in the factory will be organized to participate in the resistance and die in the war.

The war will also bring Dong Liang's grand strategy to naught. A war-like Shanghai Road is not an ideal refuge for those businessmen.

"President Chen, when can merchant ships go to sea?"

These businessmen are very realistic, and they focus on the issues they care about right away.

"I have already asked for a hundred flags, but the quantity is limited. I plan to auction them on the exchange, so that it is fair to everyone. The money from the auction will be used to maintain the relationship with the Red Flag Gang. In the accounts

Everyone can rest assured that I, Chen Deli, will not embezzle a penny from everyone."

Chen Deli also established a commodity exchange in Shanghai, which mainly served the Chinese businessmen who gathered in Shanghai. At the beginning, the Ryukyu Hall mainly placed orders and the Chinese businessmen received the orders.

These Chinese businessmen do have some connections. Even if the surrounding areas of Shanghai are at war, they can still transport goods to Shanghai.

"We can certainly trust President Chen to handle matters."

Merchants naturally understand that rare goods are worth living in. It is not that easy to manage the Red Flag Gang. These common flags cannot be bought with money.

They don't know how Chen Deli managed to deal with those pirates who didn't have enough money. Just like they don't know how he managed to deal with Wu Jianzhang. Some people say that Chen Deli is Wu Jianzhang's illegitimate son.

This man surnamed Chen seems to have suddenly appeared in Shanghai, and he is also known as a Ryukyu envoy.
Chapter completed!