After sending away the people from the security company, Long Yi and the other eight began to divide the work and go all out to develop the cottage.
Long Er and Long San were in charge of training the troops. They selected 500 people from the village to form an elite force, all of which used firearms. The musketeers and caravan guards were equipped with just enough muskets.
Long Si and Long Wu are responsible for contacting the caravan and slowly monetizing the goods in their hands.
Long Liu and Long Qi are responsible for managing civil affairs, leading the villagers to develop production, and develop the land around the village. Yunnan is mountainous and can grow corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops. The village cannot always rely on robbery to survive.
Long Ba was the most knowledgeable. He built a school in the village to teach the children in the village and at the same time help the villagers become illiterate. This was Huai Haijun's consistent practice.
As the leader of the village, Long Yi is of course in charge of the overall situation. Under the leadership of the eight, Longbu Village has quickly entered the fast lane of development.
…
Return to Shanghai.
After waiting anxiously, Wu Jianzhang and the others finally received the bad news.
"Bang!" A teacup was smashed by Wu Jianzhang.
"There must be a conspiracy in this matter. How come four of the five batches of goods were robbed?" Wu Jianzhang asked hysterically.
This time, the Thirteenth Line adopted a centralized transshipment method, all of which were large caravans with thousands of people, just to ensure safety. As a result, the two batches shipped from Yunnan were all robbed by bandits. The two batches shipped from Sichuan were robbed.
A batch of porcelain shipped from Henan was said to have been robbed by Nian bandits.
This thing is full of weirdness. Who has the ability to control the bandits across the country?
"Could it be Huai Haijun?" A Guangdong businessman whispered, "I heard that Huai Haijun was responsible for the merchant's stocking up this time."
"If that's the case, Huai Haijun is too scary. What kind of person is this Dong Shuheng? I can't even see through it."
"Sir, the person who tied the bell needs to be tied to untie the bell. Why don't you go to Huai Haijun to find out?" the businessman reminded.
"That's all we can do. I guess the news will get out in the next two days. If the goods are out of stock by then, we will all be left without food!"
"Come here, send me a message to Mr. Dong of the Huaihai Navy and prepare a generous gift!" Wu Jianzhang ordered the servants at home.
If this matter was all planned by Dong Shuheng, then it would really be unwise to become his enemy.
Wu Jianzhang learned Mingzhe's way of protecting himself. He was not prepared to fight again. This time he approached Dong Shuheng to surrender, but he didn't know what kind of price Dong Shuheng would offer.
The foreigners themselves can't afford to offend them, and Dong Shuheng himself can't afford to offend them, so just give in and let Dong Shuheng compete with the foreigners. In this game, Guangdong Thirteenth Bank quits.
Dong Shuheng did not continue to hang on to Wu Jianzhang and met him in Yuyuan that night.
"Master Wu, last time I planned to establish the Nanyang Navy, I would like to thank Master Wu for helping me to submit a letter to the court." Dong Shuheng said with a smile, reaching out to avoid hitting the smiling man. Dong Shuheng felt that he was in the wrong, so he first relaxed the atmosphere.
"No, Wu just put pen to paper, and the imperial court did not provide any funds in the end. How can Wu get the credit? It is Mr. Dong who worried about the country and the people and raised his own funds to establish the navy."
"I wonder what Mr. Wu is doing when he comes to visit?" Seeing that Wu Jianzhang didn't say anything, Dong Shuheng could only help him get started.
"To be honest, I have been entrusted by a businessman from Guangdong, and I would like to ask you to speak on your behalf to purchase a batch of goods from a businessman from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
"Master Wu, are you referring to silk, tea, and porcelain?" Dong Shuheng asked.
"Exactly, hey... I have no choice but to do it. They are all from Guangdong. I can't let them go bankrupt. The delivery date is coming soon."
"Master Wu, you are not the first to come to me. This matter is really difficult to handle! Everyone knows that I have good relations with businessmen in Yangzhou, but this does not mean that I can interfere in their business at will."
"Sir, what should we do? Please give me some guidance, Mr. Dong."
"Oh, Mr. Wu, what do you think of Yangtze River Group's board of directors system?"
"Of course it's very good. The company's decisions don't come from one person, but take the opinions of everyone, so it's less likely to make mistakes." Wu Jianzhang didn't know what kind of medicine Dong Shuheng was selling in his gourd? He could only follow his words.
"Master Wu, a businessman told me a few days ago that since the customs collects taxes from businessmen, it naturally has to serve Chinese businessmen. Therefore, a board of directors should be established in the customs to be responsible for making decisions on important customs matters."
"Would this violate the rules of the imperial court?" This is the time for Tu Qiong to meet.
Only then did Wu Jianzhang realize that Dong Shuheng was still interested in the customs in his hands.
It's no wonder that Shanghai is now the most important trading port for foreigners in China. There is a concession for foreigners here, and it can also be connected to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Shanghai Customs’ revenue accounts for more than two-thirds of the country’s customs revenue. Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a huge piece of meat?
But if the authority of the customs is handed over, how will I explain it to the people above me?
Wu Jianzhang suddenly understood that perhaps handing over the power of the customs would be a good move.
If the people above want to pursue the case, they must first hold Dong Shuheng accountable. Why didn’t I think of it earlier?
"Master Dong, as long as the court does not blame you, the lower officials have no objection. In this way, the lower officials can relax a little. Su Songtai has a lot of things going on."
"I'm not sure about the specific plan. I have to ask the businessmen."
"I have asked them about the goods problem you just mentioned before. The price they gave is 50% higher than last year. After all, there is less goods this year, so the cost is much higher. Mr. Wu, please go back and ask, if the Guangdong businessmen
If it feels too high, forget it."
"No need to ask, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Cantonese businessmen." Wu Jianzhang's heart was bleeding. The contract they signed with the foreigners was a 20% premium, and they lost 30% in a sudden. But this is better than not delivering the goods.
Much better.
The price Dong Shuheng offered was just within their acceptable range, making Wu Jianzhang unable to refuse.
The next day, the Thirteenth Foreign Bank announced the fact that the goods had been robbed, but promised that all the transactions involved in the contract would be performed on time. Now the foreigners in Shanghai quit, and there are still so many ships here!
So some merchant ship owners organized sailors to make trouble at Shanghai Customs. That night, some sailors threw torches at the customs and set fire to some wooden buildings around the customs.
Some British and French sailors also joined in, and thousands of people tried to rush into the customs. At this time, soldiers from the security company hired by the customs fired warning shots in time. When the warning was ineffective, they shot and killed many people, and then everyone dispersed.
The next day's Yangtze Commercial Daily reported the robbery in detail, and Huayang was shocked for a while.
British and French warships arrived at the customs and threatened to bombard the customs gate.
After the incident, Dong Shuheng transferred Peng Yulin's Yangtze River Navy to Shanghai overnight, along with a regiment of Marines.
Fortunately, this time Britain and France also felt that they were in the wrong and did not fire the artillery immediately. Otherwise, with the Yangtze River Navy alone, the Huai Navy would probably suffer.
Wu Jianzhang had long been frightened and asked Dong Shuheng for help. Dong Shuheng knew that people like Wu Jianzhang could not handle this kind of thing because their bones were too soft.
As the plenipotentiary business negotiator of the Liangjiang Governor-General's Office, Dong Shuheng made an urgent appointment with the British and French ministers.
They were all old acquaintances, and Dong Shuheng was not polite.
"Two ambassadors, I deeply regret the thugs' beating, smashing and looting incident last night," Dong Shuheng said straight to the point.
"Oh, General Dong, you can't say that. This is just a group of sailors expressing their normal demands. Your customs officers actually shot at a group of innocent sailors. They must bear full responsibility." Wen Han stood up and said.
As a diplomat, sometimes in order to protect the interests of his country, it is commonplace to tell lies.
"Okay, sir, please go and see the burned houses. Besides, if they have any reasonable demands, our Qing Dynasty is not responsible for paying them wages." Dong Shuheng sneered.
He is not a diplomat and has little tolerance for such lies.
"Your Excellency, General, you must know that so many merchant ships are stranded in Shanghai, and you are also responsible. Many merchants are hoarding, driving up prices, and disrupting the market. Shouldn't your Excellency take care of it?" said the French Minister.
"Oh, this is completely the law of the market. I believe you two know that there is a shortage of goods this year due to various reasons."
"Your Excellency, General, we believe that you will definitely solve this problem. Otherwise, with so many merchant ships here, we cannot guarantee whether there will be new conflicts. You know that sailors at sea are unruly people." Wen Han
He said, with a hint of threat in his words.
"We will not be soft on the thugs. The Chinese have the final say on Chinese soil." Dong Shuheng said categorically. However, he does not want to go to war with Britain and France now. Even if Britain and France start a two-way war, the current Qing Dynasty cannot handle it.
, especially the navy.
So he softened his tone and continued: "Of course, as for the request made by your envoy, I will also consider it. I will do a good job for our merchants, and then the merchants from both sides will send representatives to negotiate and discuss specific methods."
Wen and Han agreed very much with Dong Shuheng's proposal. Since Dong Shuheng was willing to broker discussions between the two parties, there was still hope of resolving the supply of goods. It was just that the two sides had to argue over the price, which was not what the two ministers were concerned about.
"However, Mr. Minister, someone must compensate for this smashing incident. The Indian sailors who died are fully deserved. The customs guards have fired warning shots in advance." Dong Shuheng still did not let this matter go. After all, it concerns the country.
's face.
"Okay, General, I think you should seek compensation from those businessmen." The two ministers have basically achieved their goals, so they will not continue to struggle with Dong Shuheng on this issue. Anyway, they will not apologize or compensate in the name of the country.
.
Those Indian sailors were just scapegoats found by these British merchant ships. The value of these scapegoats was just to bargain with Dong Shuheng now.
Dong Shuheng couldn't push too hard on the British and French ministers. With the stubbornness of these two families, last night's incident was enough for them to start a war with the Qing court.
It's just that they are now preparing to fight the Russians in Crimea. At this time, these two ministers do not dare to use such trivial matters to make the country unhappy.