"What's something interesting?" Wu Jianzhang said with a smile, "Can you tell me about it?"
"Okay!" Luo Yaoguo nodded, "But this is not the place to talk, and it would be inappropriate for Mr. Zhang's five hundred elite soldiers and brothers to bring five hundred thousand taels of silver and put them on the street. I wonder if Mr. Wu can arrange it for the brothers. A good place? It would be best to arrange it in the British Concession, so that transactions are convenient and the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are easy to keep."
Wu Jianzhang thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay... let me discuss it with Mr. Aliguo."
Luo Yaoguo smiled and cupped his hands: "Then I'll leave it to Mr. Wu." Three hours later.
In the British Consulate in Shanghai, a large group of people were finally sitting in the living room, all of whom were prominent figures in Shanghai from China and Britain.
On the British side, there were not only the No. 1 and No. 2 British Empire in Shanghai - Consul Aliguo and Vice Consul Wetoma, but also Mathison, the chief executive of Jardine Matheson.
On the Chinese side, they were headed by Wu Jianzhang, Tai Dao of Su Song and Superintendent of Jiang Customs, and Wang Kuiyi, the prefect of Hengzhou Prefecture in Hunan, plus Luo Xueyan, the "foreign affairs master" of Hunan Governor Luo Bingzhang, and Wu Ruxiao, the master of Zuo Zongtang, the leader of the Hunan Army. .
As for Zhang Sanxiang, Wang Dalong, Xu Yuegui, the five hundred "Qing Dynasty's most elite infantrymen" and the five hundred thousand taels of silver, they were all arranged in Tongshun Building, less than Sanhuali away from the British Consulate - this is Wu Jianzhang The head office of the business firm that I opened is located on a large piece of land at the junction of the British Concession and the Chinese Concession, and many houses were built, collectively known as Tongshun Building. In addition to the ones used by Tongshunxing for their own use, there are also some that are ready to be sublet, but I haven't found my next home yet, they are all empty.
Wu Jianzhang discussed with Aliguo, and after obtaining the latter's consent, he lent all the empty rooms in Tongshun Building to Luo Xueyan and others.
However, it took more than two hours for Luo Xueyan and others to settle in. It was not until the afternoon of that day that Aliguo and the two people he called, Weitoma and Matheson, drank cup after cup of milk tea in the living room of the consulate. , when he was almost vomiting, Luo Xueyan, Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, Wu Ruxiao and others arrived belatedly.
But it’s better late than never!
Aliguo and others are all well-educated British gentlemen or magicians. Even if they are a little annoyed while waiting, they can only smile and be polite, sometimes speaking fluent Chinese, and sometimes speaking English with an Oxford accent and Luo Xueyan Chatting and laughing, saying some clichés that are not nutritious.
After trying for about half an hour, Aliguo didn't get much valuable information out, so he stopped trying and started asking directly: "Mr. Luo, just now Mr. Wu told me that you were following Governor Luo in Hunan. When I was fighting against the Taiping Army, I heard some very interesting things...about that demon that descended from the sky?"
"Yes, that's what I said." Luo Yaoguo took another sip of the original British milk tea with the same rich aroma as milk tea, and replied with a smile, "It is indeed very interesting."
"Is it convenient for me to come and listen?" Aliguo asked.
"Of course," Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, "Mr. Consul, do you know about the Battle of Capricorn Crossing and the Demons Falling from the Sky?"
Aliguo nodded, then pointed at Wu Jianzhang: "Mr. Wu also sent me a "Secret Report on the Discovery of Devils in China" today. It was written by a Russian priest who is the head of the Oriental Orthodox Church in Beijing.
The priest once participated in the Battle of Changsha, and it is said that he fought against demons. The opening chapter is about the Battle of Reiyidu and the descent of demons from the sky.
"That's what the court said," Luo Yaoguo laughed. "The Changmao people don't admit that the one who descended from the sky is a demon. They say that the one who descended from the sky was an angel!"
"Angel?" Aliguo shrugged, "Mr. Luo, is this the interesting thing you said?"
"Of course not, Mr. Consul, look at this." Luo Yaoguo put down the milk tea cup, then took out a hand-copied thread-bound book from the sleeve of his official robe and placed it on the coffee table.
Aliguo's deputy, Weituma, is a China expert. He has been in China for more than ten years and is proficient in Chinese. He glanced at the text on the cover of the eyeliner-bound book, and then said to Aliguo in English: "Rutherford, this book
The name of the book is "The Great Book of Prophecy"!"
"The Great Prophecy? What did it predict?"
"Many things were predicted." Luo Yaoguo said, "For example... Mr. Louis Bonaparte, the President of the French Republic, will become the Emperor of the French Empire in December 1852!"
Aliguo was unconvinced.
It is already late February of the year 1853 in the Western calendar. Napoleon III's proclaimed emperor cannot be considered a prophecy.
"And in October 1853, the Ninth Russo-Turkish War broke out!" "Oh?"
The Ali Kingdom did not show much interest, after all, it was a Russian-Turkish war!
"Both Britain and France will be involved in this war!" "What?"
"this………"
The three British people present were stunned.
Luo Yaoguo went on to say: "This war will last two to three years and will cause more than 500,000 deaths!"
"How is this possible!" "Such a thing is absolutely impossible!" "This is the most vicious curse!"
The three British guys couldn't sit still now. They knew that there were conflicts between Britain, France and Russia, and it was understandable for them to have a fight. But what kind of scale would it be if more than half a million people died in the war?
Luo Yaoguo shrugged: "The Great Prophecy not only predicted the outbreak, duration and huge losses of the Ninth Russo-Turkish War, but also predicted some events before the outbreak of the Ninth Russo-Turkish War. For example, this month,
A Russian prince will travel to Turkey's capital
They asked the Turkish government to recognize that the Russian emperor had special protection rights for the Orthodox subjects under the rule of the Sudan. They also asked the Turkish army to withdraw from Montenegro - this was one of the triggers for the outbreak of the ninth Russo-Turkish War!
The British and French governments will support Turkey in this crisis.
Therefore, the Turkish government will reject Russia's ultimatum in May this year and allow the British and French combined fleets to enter the Dardanelles Strait... Well, there are many similar events predicted, which are all recorded in this "Great Book of Prophecy"
!」
The three foreign adults looked at each other, and they all looked incredulous. Although they all claimed to be believers in God, and seemed to be quite interested in the "devil appearing in China", in fact they were all quite "materialistic" , naturally I don’t believe in any devil descending from heaven.
But they don't know what to say about this "Great Book of Prophecy"... What is predicted in this book to happen in February and May can be verified very quickly!
Moreover, it is impossible for a Chinese, no matter what he studied, to accurately grasp the complex relationship between "British, French, Russian, and Turkish" today, so that he can perform deductions and calculations, right?
British Vice-Consul Wytoma frowned and said, "So...does this "Great Book of Prophecy" predict what is about to happen in the East?"
"Yes." Luo Yaoguo nodded, "On July 8th this year, the 'Black Ship Attack' incident occurred in Japan." "What is the 'Black Ship Attack' incident?" A Liguo was a little confused. "It was a military force from The American fleet from the New World broke into Edo Bay and used force to force Japan to found a country!" Luo Yaoguo said, "It's a bit similar to what your British did to our country between 1840 and 1842!" This is a bit unpleasant to say. !
However, the British gentleman did not fall out with Luo Xueyan. Consul A Liguo just smiled and said: "I wonder if there are any prophecies about the Qing Dynasty in this "Great Prophecy Book"?"
"No!" Luo Yaoguo replied simply and neatly, and then he pushed the book towards Aliguo, "Mr. Consul, I gave this book to you as a token of my gratitude."
"Oh, thank you then." Aliguo glanced at his deputy, Wetoma.
This China expert picked up the "Great Book of Prophecy" that still smelled of ink and turned to the first page. After taking a look, he couldn't help but frown.
"What? What's written on it?" Aliguo asked.
"There are some poems written on it," Witoma said.
Chapter completed!