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On the 20th of May, a fleet sailed into the port of Shanghai.
In the third year of Guangxu's reign, in 1853, the Dagger Society Uprising broke out in Shanghai. Britain, France, and the United States joined forces to launch the Battle of Mucheng and defeated the Qing Army. Britain, France, and the United States joined forces to launch the Battle of Mucheng and defeated the Qing Army. The Qing government signed with the British, American, and French consuls the "Shanghai Customs Taxation Rules" and the "Shanghai Anglo-American French Concession Land Regulations", which expanded the concession's power and seriously damaged China's sovereignty. In the fourth year of Xianfeng, in 1854, the governor of Jiangsu, Geerhanga, negotiated with the British, French, and American consuls in Shanghai and signed nine "agreements", establishing a tax management committee to jointly manage China's customs. As long as a group of foreigners stood on the bow of a ship flying the British flag, it could sail unimpeded in Shanghai.
The ship was loaded with weapons from Hong Kong. Not only the British consulate in Shanghai came to receive the ship, but also several Manchu Qing officials. The chief officer and the corresponding British commercial personnel were responsible for handing over the goods, while the captain sent several of the ship's crew off the ship. Looking at the captain's cautious and respectful attitude, it was enough to prove the identity of these crew members.
The people who came to greet these people were the French consulate personnel. From their clothes, it could be seen that they were military officers sent by the French side. After several people got into the carriage, the initial conversation was relatively serious. The two sides talked about the situation in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Even when the carriage passed by a broken city wall, the French military officer also introduced the city wall built during the Dagger Society Uprising to the British personnel. The concession proposed the method of "building a wall according to the section, cutting off the aid." They built a wall from the north gate of Shanghai County to cut off the connection between the rebel army in the city and the suburbs and the concession, so that the Dagger Society would lose the source of food and other military supplies.
At this time, the French personnel's boasting was enough, the British representative's face was already very unhappy. And the French finally asked the question, "Can the British defeat the Liberation Army in Hong Kong?"
The British representative naturally looked angry, but only for a moment, the British representative calmed down, "If France wants to be qualified to comment on this question, at least can send thousands of troops to Hong Kong first."
This time, it was the French military officer's turn to look ugly. Without England's permission, the French fleet would not be able to reach Hong Kong. Moreover, Napoleon III was now in power on the pro-British policy, and there was no reason for the French officers to quarrel with the English representatives so thoroughly. The French officer had no reason to fight, even if he did not gain the upper hand in a quarrel.
The British and French consul in Shanghai took the lead and held a meeting in Shanghai to discuss the sale of more weapons to Manchu Qing. This was easy to understand. Doing business, especially in the arms trade, was very profitable. The war between the Taiping Rebellion and the Manchu Qing had only been going on for six years, and the equipment of the two warring parties had already been greatly upgraded. From the age of the matchlock to the age of the flintlock. In Europe, from the matchlock to the flintlock, and then to the flintlock, this process took more than a hundred years. The speed at which China's military equipment improved could be said to be "astonishing".
The UK and France both sold their obsolete equipment to China. The British had a lot of bases on the sea, so the main transportation force was naturally the British. The officials were mainly in charge of policy making, while the senior officials of the British and French were in charge of reaching an agreement on the use of the waterway, the port, and the various fees that needed to be paid.
After the senior officials finished formulating the policy, the junior officials began to discuss the details. This included the issuing of various licenses that the senior officials could not discuss, as well as the proportion of taxes. At this point, the problem of keeping the goodies in one's own field arose. The priority to obtain licenses were naturally the British and French businessmen who had a good relationship with the officials. After the interests of the businessmen who could influence the officials were satisfied, if there was still a share of the arms sales, it would be the turn of other businessmen who did not have the connections to fight for the shares.
Of course, these were the unspoken rules that could not be brought out in public. But in practice, the British and French rules were completely implemented according to the principle of distance, proximity, and distance. This matter was being discussed animatedly among the low-ranking officials.
"According to the information we received, a general of the Taiping army called Shi Dakai is marching towards Zhejiang. The Qing Army's demand for arms in Zhejiang has increased greatly. He is the main buyer in the near future. "
"The Taiping Rebellion is also willing to buy more weapons."
"The Minister of Training in Zhejiang, Zuo Zongtang, wants to buy weapons and equipment for his Chu army."
"Recently, a large amount of tobacco has been shipped from Guangdong to Shanghai. The price has plummeted. Although the Qing Army's Jiangnan camp has increased the amount of tobacco purchased by half, the total amount of money spent has not changed. "
From time to time, the junior officials would take breaks to share the information they received from the meetings with the businessmen. At the same time, the businessmen would constantly provide information and try to obtain more profitable terms from the junior officials' meetings. As for who they were trading with and who they were trading with, the businessmen did not care.
The French Consul was the highest representative of France in China. He did not need to participate in the specific discussions. His trusted aides would do the work for the interests he represented. The French Consul needed to consider important matters. For example, he was indirectly asking about the British's progress in India.
Britain was an industrial power, so there must be a reason why the British allowed the French to sell their old weapons to Manchu Qing. The French felt that India was the only reason. The British East India Company wanted to depose the Mughal Emperor and let the British officially make India a part of Britain. This rumor had been around for a long time. If it wasn't for the possibility of war in India, the French Consul could not think of any other reason why the British would accept the French taking a share in China.
The British representative completely avoided discussing the issue of India. He bluntly said to the French Consul, "We actually want to go to war with the Manchu Qing government."
Hearing this, the French Consul was surprised at first, but then nodded happily. The British were very dissatisfied with the agreement they signed with Manchu Qing after the first Great Smoky War. They were even more dissatisfied with Manchu Qing's implementation of the agreement. After so many hardships, they had fought such a war, but in the end, they were not able to knock on the door of China. Apart from the tobacco, the British did not manage to expand their market in China.
"So did London inform our government?" The French Consul asked excitedly. With the cooperation with the British in Crimea, the French Consul naturally hoped to work together again. Crimea was facing the powerful "European gendarmerie" Russia. Manchu Qing did not have the strength of Russia at all. The war against Manchu Qing was bound to be a great victory.
"Now London is still discussing. Personally, I suggest that you can also provide some information to Paris." The British representative said very seriously.
London was naturally responsible for deciding whether to go to war, but it was impossible for London's bigwigs to fly to China for a specific investigation. It was the British officials in China who provided them with the specific information. If the French could also persuade Paris, forming a coalition to attack China would become more likely to be realized.
Hearing the suggestion of the British representative, the French Consul was stunned at first, then he shivered. It was not that he was afraid. The military ability of Manchu Qing was nothing to be afraid of in front of the French. What shocked the French Consul was that if they led the war against Manchu Qing, it would be a great achievement. Victory not only meant victory, but also a lot of spoils of war. The last Great Smoky War was fought in the Yangtze River Valley, and the British had already gained a lot. If they could attack the capital of Manchu Qing, then they would be able to loot a lot. Of course, the French Consul had seen how the Manchu Qing officials amassed wealth. They would definitely be able to loot a lot of gold and silver from their homes. Just thinking of this, the French Consul's eyes almost emitted a golden light.
However, the French Consul was experienced and knowledgeable. He did not immediately get carried away by the glorious future. Instead, he asked cautiously, "Are we going to start a war with the Qing Dynasty instead of attacking Guangdong first?"
The defeat of the British lobster soldiers in Guangdong was also very important news. In any case, the reason why the Chinese army could force back the British lobster soldiers was because of the lobster and the cooperation of the army and navy. It was not Afghanistan more than a decade ago.
15 years ago, at the beginning of 1842, the British decided to evacuate from Kabul, Afghanistan. Before deciding to evacuate, the only request the British could make to the Afghans was to provide a safe passage for the evacuating troops. After the Afghans agreed to the British's conditions, the British began to evacuate. In addition to more than 700 British soldiers, there were also Indian mercenaries and their families, a total of 16,500 people.
Unfortunately, the Afghans did not keep their promise to not harass them, and continued to harass them. Wave after wave of cavalry rushed towards the exhausted evacuating troops. Both the families of the troops and the soldiers were slaughtered. On the fifth day of the evacuation, there were no soldiers left in the British evacuating troops. On the tenth day of the evacuation, the 16500 troops were completely annihilated. Only one person escaped, the surgeon William Brighton. Brighton.
This incident had shaken the whole of Europe, and many European countries also laughed at the British. But laughing was one thing, the British's status as an empire where the sun never sets was fought. The European countries also knew that if the 16,500 soldiers in the British army were all British lobster soldiers, the Afghans' chances of winning against the British army would be less than 1%.
The Liberation Army that could defeat the British army head-on and force the British army to retreat by water was indeed worthy of attention. The French Consul was very worried that if the British went to war with Manchu Qing, it would lead to any changes in the Liberation Army. If Manchu Qing was defeated, and the Liberation Army seized the opportunity to seize power in China, it would not be a good thing.
The British representative looked at the French Consul, who was at a loss because of the news. He sneered in his heart, but on the surface, he still maintained a little respect. "Going to war with Manchu Qing is to let Manchu Qing better implement the treaty, not to destroy Manchu Qing."
When the French Consul heard this, he was even more certain of one thing. If the war broke out, the battle would naturally not be in Guangdong, nor would it be in the Yangtze River Valley where the Taiping army and the Qing Army fought. The war would inevitably break out in Beijing, the capital of Manchu Qing. Just because of this, the French Consul decided to participate. He tried his best to persuade Paris, trying to make the war break out.
Of course, the war in the future would not affect France's current sales of weapons to the Qing Army in the Yangtze River Valley. Selling weapons to the Qing Army was to make money, and attacking Manchu Qing was also to make money. As for whether Manchu Qing would use the weapons bought from the British and French to arm themselves, and then defeat the British and French in the war. The French Consul did not even consider it.
As long as they stood with the British, France had nothing to fear. The French were that confident.
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