Pace Western Restaurant is located on the east side of Jingshan Mountain, where you can see the rippling blue lake and the guild hall opened by foreign devils to entertain Chinese friends and foreign devils. You can also see the majestic Bauhinia City. Western culture is rooted in the imperial city right under your nose.
This kind of club is a membership-based club, and Li Guolou has joined this club a long time ago. But today he was in a rush this morning and forgot to bring his membership card. When he came to the door, he was blocked by the Indian Asan who was the doorman. Fortunately, he spoke English
He was fluent, and after being scolded, Asan from India went to find his friend Du Xianyu here.
Under the guidance of his friend Du Xianyu, Li Guolou entered the Pace Western Restaurant. Du Xianyu was dressed very much like Li Guolou, with a coat, leather boots, trousers, and the hat was a top hat worn by Westerners. It was carefully decorated.
With his two mustaches, you can tell he is a successful businessman.
After making fun of Li Guolou, Du Xianyu and Li Guolou walked into the restaurant inside. The sound in the exquisite restaurant was very soft, and even the sound of spoons and plates could be heard. The noble foreign gentlemen were pretending.
You can see all the corseted foreign girls here. Although it says
When entertaining Chinese friends, the difference between foreigners and fake foreign devils can be seen from their respective seats. To the east is a gathering area for fake foreign devils. Eleven fake foreign devils are located on both sides of the long table, waving elegantly and saying
Speaking Pidgin English, he exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Guolou.
Li Guolou knew about their virtues. Some of them could only speak these few sentences in foreign language, and the rest of them spoke in English that combined Chinese and Western styles. But first, he praised their improvement in English.
The English level of Li Guolou who stayed in the British Empire is not on the same level as most of the fake foreigners there. Most of them are compradors, and the English that businessmen are exposed to is used for business. If you discuss with them the most popular English in the Western world,
On the topic of Darwin's theory of evolution, these people are all scratching their heads.
The fake foreign devils here were seated in order of status, with Li Guolou sitting at the bottom. However, no one here dared to underestimate Li Guolou. They all knew that Li Guolou’s family had a strong power in the south.
Some fake foreign devils also had business dealings with Li Guolou's family and knew that he was an angry young man who, like them, was a little out of tune with the Qing Empire.
Li Guolou snapped his fingers, and "Bo'er" wearing a tie immediately walked over quickly with his chest raised and his stomach drawn. Li Guolou reported a long list of dish names, letting everyone see his English proficiency.
Huang Guang on the side smiled and said: "Mist Li, can you eat so much?"
Li Guolou said: "Mist Huang, I have been running all morning, and now I can eat a cow. I ordered a bottle of aperitif, French champagne, and invite everyone to drink it together."
Today is a day for fake foreign devils to gather, which is what foreigners call Friday. Usually, you pay for your meals and talk about some interesting topics. In the afternoon, you play cards, chat, smoke cigars, or watch Western singing and dancing performances in the club.
Of course, you can also find some white-skinned foreign girls here, but this kind of activity is only played by one person or a few people, and not so many people will participate in this kind of activity together.
Du Xian is the organizer here. If you take off his hat, you can see that he has shaved Western hair. He is no longer a member of the Qing Empire and has become a British citizen. You can feel his superior aura here.
Du Xianyu began to talk at length. Today's topic is still when the Nien Army in the east and west can be eliminated.
Li Guolou knew very well why they were so interested in fighting. Nowadays, the treasury has no money for war. The army of the Qing Empire was borrowed from foreign banks, domestic compradors, and bank accounts by the governors Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang.
The Qing Empire declined to the point where one had to rely on personal charisma and strength to borrow money.
And these people are all creditors, and they have become the backbone of a country. If they refuse to serve the country, the country will go bankrupt and the army will mutiny. After all, these people love the Qing Empire in their hearts, and they will not
I would like to see the Nian Army sweep through half of the Qing Empire like the Taiping Rebellion.
Li Guolou also echoed a few words, saying that the war was about to end and everyone should have a good life. He didn't have much say here. These fake foreigners invited him to join the club because of his fists. Du Xianyu
He was beaten by Li Guolou. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, Li Guolou had a British aura about him, which made these fake foreign devils feel friendly, and they would not know each other without being beaten.
After lunch, a group of people came to the box and sat on the sofa with a box of Cuban cigars. Some people like to smoke cigars, while others like to smell the aroma. Drinking bitter coffee, smoking big cigars, and puffing away,
Make these fake foreign devils feel like dragons among men.
Li Guolou held a cigar in his left hand and raised his voice: "Mr. Du, I heard that several of your ships were robbed of cargo. Has the case been solved?"
Du Xianyu was poked in a sore spot and cursed: "I am really unlucky for eight lifetimes. This kind of thing will happen in the river transport. The Qing Gang are really bastards. I also bought insurance, but now I refuse to admit it. I have lost thousands."
Two taels of silver, but they only compensated me two hundred taels of damages. I really wanted to go to the Yamen to file a complaint, but when I thought about being dragged into the bottomless pit of litigation, I could only swallow my teeth."
Li Guolou said: "Mr. Du, I am now working in the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice. I will solve your case for you. Don't think about it. All the goods will be returned to you."
Du Xianyu was overjoyed at first, but then immediately changed his face and said, "You are not a good person. You gave me such a big favor and invited us to drink. Who are you delivering the message for?"
Li Guolou chuckled, looked around at the people around him, and said loudly: "You live in a high-end area and you don't know how chaotic the capital is now. Murders and arson are happening in an endless stream. The war situation has spread from the city to the outside of the city, Mr. Du
They are the victims of this gang war. There are no rules in the world anymore, and your cost of doing business will be even higher, and some people have gone crazy."
Everyone is interested in murders and arson. Li Guolou picked out some recent cases and mentioned them. Of course, he highlighted the murder cases he solved, letting the eleven fake foreign devils know that he is no longer idle now.
He has been transformed into a useful person to society.
Yu Hanbing, who is in the Fushou drug business, has a deep understanding of the gang chaos and is also helping Li Guolou to speak. He is also very worried about the current situation. His store has to pay several protection fees. There are no rules anymore.
Can be talked about.
Yu Hanbing sighed and said: "The yamen is useless. A few people came to take a look and said a few innocuous words, but they didn't even arrest them. I mentioned that there was a backend reporting the brand number, but they said they had never heard of it. Mr. Li, why is your yamen
So weak."
Li Guolou said: "That's because they have people in the yamen, and they are all covered. They slip in and come out again, so the yamen officials don't even bother to arrest them. Now the yamen has been infiltrated by gangs, and there are people from all kinds of gangs.
Everyone has to give face. The people above don’t care, as long as they have money to accept them, they are not gangsters anyway, they will just leave after their term is over.”
Yu Hanbing sighed and said: "If I hadn't done business with foreigners, I don't want people to know that I'm a gangster. I want to be a master. Without a master, just paying protection fees won't be of much use."
Li Guolou rolled his eyes and said: "Mr. Yu, don't tell lies with your eyes open. You have joined a gang a long time ago. I will find out which gang it is."
Yu Hanbing's eyes widened and he said angrily: "Mr. Li, don't talk nonsense, I am a legitimate businessman."
Li Guolou said: "Mr. Yu, in your line of work, you can't achieve such a high status without the support of a gang. But you have been hiding it. I think you should be from the gang in the south. You came to the north to gain a foothold.
What I said is right."
Yu Hanbing's face turned pale, and he no longer had the habit of a businessman. He glanced at Li Guolou sideways, with a sinister look on his face. He really looked like a big brother in the world. Li Guolou knew that he was a member of the Ge Laohui.
The Hong Gang was a gang whose sect was to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. It was a gang that was severely punished by the Qing Empire. In order to survive, the Hong Gang split into many small sects, hiding the purpose of resisting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. For example, the Ge Lao Hui in Sichuan started from the Hong Gang.
The gang has evolved. Brother Laohui has already extended its tentacles to the capital. How big is the plan? It cannot be told to others. How can it be said in public.
Li Guolou was the best at reading people's glances, laughed loudly, and said: "I'm sorry that I said something wrong and made you angry. I will come to apologize immediately. I have offended you so much."
Fat Huang Guang stroked his big belly, giggled and said, "Mr. Li, you will be fooling people if you enter the Yamen. This is the funniest joke I heard today."
The other fake foreign devils also laughed together. They are all human beings, and no one needs to teach them the talent of deception. They have their current status, they have sold their ancestors, and they all have ulterior pasts. Just laugh away the embarrassing things and never do it again.
Talking about Li Guolou's nonsense, unless one day they want to use Yu Hanbing, this matter will be exposed by them. This is the cunning of businessmen, taking advantage of each other to avoid making loss-making transactions.
Li Guolou showed off his cleverness for a while, but offended Yu Hanbing and put him in an embarrassing situation. Li Guolou stopped talking, feeling angry that he had ruined a good game.
When Du Xianyu saw that Li Guolou seemed to have forgotten what he wanted to say, and started talking about insignificant gossip, he became interested in Li Guolou instead. Li Guolou gave him a meeting gift of thousands of taels of silver, which also calmed his mind.
Another request. Li Guolou exuded a mysterious temperament and was able to expose Yu Hanbing on the spot. Although it was a bit rash, it also showed that Li Guolou had some skills. He could see the deepest parts of people, making him an excellent candidate for a spy.
Du Xianyu was very interested in Li Guolou. The strange encounter between the two, Li Guolou's mysterious appearance in the capital, his strange actions in Liubu Yamen, and his ability to speak fluent English. Li Guolou expected that Yu Hanbing was a senior brother.
person, then he expected that Li Guolou was a spy sent back to the Qing Empire by the British Empire, and that Li Guolou was a traitor. This was Du Xianyu's judgment of Li Guolou, a "British man".
With the help of countless people he knew, Du Xianyu understood Li Guolou's background. He recognized his "British compatriots" as family members. This time, he would help Li Guolou as long as he could.