When Li Haidon arrived in Guangzhou, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi had already been replaced by Tan Zhonglin. Zhang Zhidong, who had ordered 20,000 "Manlixia rifles" from Baoji Foreign Company, was transferred to the Governor of Huguang last fall. Cai Xiyong, who is now in charge of this matter, also went to Wuchang with Zhang Zhidong.

Tan Zhonglin is an old conservative bureaucrat. Unlike Zhang Zhidong, since he took office, most of Zhang Zhidong's original Westernization measures have stopped operating. Schroeder was worried that the contract would not be fulfilled smoothly, so the 20,000 rifles shipped this time would be smashed into his hands.

"Don't worry, a mere governor would not rashly tear up a contract signed with the Westerners, unless he doesn't want to continue to stay in his current position." Li Haidn said with a smile. Besides, Governor Tan is still a very cautious person, such a person will not take a slight risk for the money of the court.

As expected, things were as he expected, without any twists and turns. As for the visit of a "Prince Prince", Lord Tan was as careful as possible to meet the needs of the guests. It went smoothly. In just three days, Li Haidn had more than 700,000 taels of silver on his books.

However, this is also a problem. Lee Haydn is not going to ship them back to Europe. The international silver price has been depreciating, and he does not want the money he earns to shrink again.

"Let's go to Wuchang." Li Haidn quickly made a new decision.

"What are we doing? Our plan is to buy raw silk and tea in Shanghai." Schroeder asked.

"Go to find that Governor Zhang, maybe we can sell some more rifles." Li Haidn said. In fact, his real idea was the steel plant that Zhang Zhidong was preparing.

Unlike Governor Tan who was afraid of causing trouble, Zhang Zhidong was very welcome to the visit of an Austro-Hungarian "prince", which at least means that his position in the minds of foreigners is quite important. Although Li Haidn is not a "prince" and is just an earl now, what does it matter? In the eyes of these Chinese bureaucrats, he is the younger brother of the crown prince and will sooner or later become a prince.

Li Haidun was still shocked by Zhang Zhidong's enthusiasm. After leaving Guangzhou, the group stopped in Shanghai for a while. The cruiser "Apal" went up the Yangtze River and arrived near Wuchang in just over a day. According to the plan, Li Haidun planned to let the warship dock at the Public Concession Pier in Hankou, and then go to visit Zhang Zhidong after a night of rest.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the warship arrived at Baisha Bay, it was stopped by a gunboat full of colorful flags.

"What's going on?" Lieutenant Colonel Hansel was a little at a loss. He was ready to order the warship to prepare for combat. Fortunately, Lee Haydn stopped his actions in time.

"Lieutenant Colonel, here, no one will attack an Imperial Navy warship." Li Haidn said, sure enough, the sailors quickly reported the situation.

"It was the special envoy sent by the Governor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty."

"It's the Zongli Yamen!" Li Haidn wanted to correct his mistake. The Qing Dynasty now has no so-called Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but after thinking about it, let's just forget it. Anyway, the two are the same thing. "Please come up!" he said to the captain.

Several Qing people with braids went up the deck along the gangway. Lee Haydn and Hansel led a team of sailors on the deck to welcome several guests.

The other party was soon found out, and Zhang Zhidong sent his chief adviser Sang Zhiping as a representative to welcome the visit of a "European prince". The other was Liang Dunyan, a diplomatic representative sent by the Prime Minister of Beijing, from the affairs office of various countries. According to reports, Mr. Liang had studied in the United States.

Li Haidn couldn't help but look at him for a few more times. Standing in front of him was a standard Qing bureaucrat, and there was no trace of studying in the United States from him. The environment can really change a person a lot, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The warships were stationed on the Hanjiang River. The Hanyangmen Wharf in Wuchang is now unable to accommodate thousands of tons of ships. Li Haidun followed the host and took a few followers to Sang Zhiping and Liang Dunyan to transfer to the gunboat sent by Zhang Zhidong and sailed to the Hanxiangmen Wharf. The Wuhan town in this era is a world of difference from the Great Wuhan in his memory. Apart from Guishan and Snake Mountain, he seemed to have come to a strange and dilapidated town.

Zhang Zhidong took a group of officials from Hubei to Hanyangmen Wharf to welcome Li Haidun's arrival, which surprised him deeply. "Can I be considered a very important guest?" Li Haidun smiled when he saw the formation on the wharf. This was very good and was more beneficial to his plan.

After getting to the dock, Li Haidn saw the Qing officials standing up several rows. The leader was a thin old man. Next to him, there was also a Westerner who was also thin and had a braid on his head. These should be Zhang Zhidong and Gu Hongming, that's right.

Liang Dunyan walked between the two and said to Zhang Zhidong and Lee Haydn: "This is Prince Haydn of Austria."

Zhang Zhidong raised his hands to Li Haidun and said with a smile: "Welcome His Highness to the three towns of Wuhan, it's so brilliant!"

"I'm very happy to know you, it's a great honor!" Lee Hayden also said in French with a smile, then stretched out his right hand, he did it on purpose.

Zhang Zhidong seemed a little embarrassed. He didn't know what the "prince" was going to do. Gu Hongming quickly whispered a few words in his ear, and Lord Zhang also stretched out his right hand a little stiffly.

This is a moment worth remembering, I held the hand of history, thought Lee Hayden.

Afterwards, Li Haidon introduced his entourage, and Zhang Zhidong also introduced his subordinates: Hubei Governor Tan Jixun, Wang Zhichun and Chen Baozhen. Below are a lot of scenes without any nutrition.

Li Haidon stayed in Wuchang for two days and quickly achieved his goal. Li Haidon intentionally or unintentionally mixed some Chinese during the conversation, which made Zhang Zhidong feel very friendly and immediately looked at him differently. Everything else was easy to deal with. Cai Xiyong, who was in charge of Western Affairs, would not make Lord Zhang unhappy, so he ordered 30,000 rifles and fifty Skoda cannons from Li Haidon. In fact, Zhang Zhidong originally planned to only order 15,000 rifles, but because he liked Li Haidon, he simply gave him some favors.

Why did Li Haidon like him? It was just because when he talked about the Hanyang Iron Factory that Zhang Zhidong was preparing to build, he put on a few more high hats.

"Steel is the cornerstone of industry. The Governor's move is very wise and very visionary. In later generations, Hanyang Iron Factory is enough to make you famous in history!" Li Haidn was talking about the facts. Sang Zhiping, Liang Dunyan, Cai Xiyong and others rolled their eyes when they heard this. Who said that foreigners would not flatter? Everyone, who was usually arrogant, now they were so happy that their eyes narrowed into a slit.

Li Haidon talked about some professional knowledge of steel mills. Although he didn't understand it very well, it was enough to fool Zhang, who was more amateur. In the end, Governor Zhang hoped that he would serve as an advisor to the iron mill. Li Haidon happily said that he would do his best to be a good adviser for the friendship between the two countries.

Of course, friendship is secondary, mainly because of silver, which is a big business with more than 6 million taels of silver, about 30 million kronor.

After leaving Hanyang, Li Haidun ran to Jiangning to visit Liu Kunyi, the minister of Nanyang, and even went to Tianjin to meet Li Hongzhang. He was always full of interest in these governors who held real power.

As for going to Beijing and taking a look at the titular emperor, let’s forget it. Emperor Guangxu could not bring profits to himself. Li Haidun successfully sold 60,000 rifles and 100 Skoda cannons in the Qing Dynasty, which can be regarded as a full return.
Chapter completed!