Wenhan got out of the carriage and quickly walked into the conference hall of the British Consulate. He took off his black cloak and handed it to the Indian waiter who was serving next to him. He turned around and sat on a Victorian lion claw sofa. He took out a box of cigars from his pocket, handed it to Aliguo, handed it to Colonel He Bo, and picked up another one. After Aliguo lit it for him, Wenhan took a deep breath and vomited a long string of smoke rings.

"What do you think about today?" Wen Han gently rubbed his temples and said with some depression: "Are we really going to surrender to those rebels?"

Colonel He shook his thick sea lion beard and said loudly: "Mr. Minister, it's time to teach those arrogant yellow-skinned monkeys a lesson. They are trampling on the dignity of our British Empire! The seven warships in Shanghai are enough to send all their so-called naval troops to the bottom of the sea, and we can fight all the way to their capital, Tianjing!"

Midile disliked He Bo's traditional British official style very much, and sneered: "Col. He Bo, do you have the strength to defend the Shanghai concession? All your warships are going to fight the Taiping Army. Who will conquer the Russian Petropavlov military port?"

Wenhan was also disgusted with He Bo's unconstructive words and said lightly: "Col. He Bo, your current mission is to form a joint fleet with the French Expeditionary Fleet and prepare to attack the Russian Petropavlov military port, rather than reopening a battlefield. Midile, what do you think?"

Midile said in a gentle voice: "Mystery, the interests of the British Empire are different from the war ten years ago. The crisis at that time was mainly because the Qing Dynasty wanted to destroy trade activities in the Far East and expel all legal British merchants. Opium was just an excuse in that war. We needed that war to open the trade door of this ancient country. The situation is different now. The Taiping Army occupied Shanghai, and they did not destroy any trade activities. On the contrary, they were working hard to restore the trade order. I can see that His Excellency Xiwang really wanted to build Shanghai into the largest trading port in the Far East. Whether it is the right to build roads or mining, it is the interests we need, and opium will gradually become history."

Midile has always sympathized with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Wenhan was not surprised by his remarks. He asked with one hand on his chin, "How do you explain to the East India Company, Jardinet and other foreign companies?"

Midile shook his head and said, "There is no need to explain anything. Your minister, the two partners of Jardine Wong's early years did start with opium trade. But now opium is no longer the main trading commodity of Jardine Wong's foreign company. I believe they are more interested in railways and mining, and other foreign companies believe that the same is true. When the war in Shanghai is in full swing, haven't all major overseas companies traded with the Taiping Army? And East India Company? Your Minister, do you think the East India Company's life in India will last longer? Isn't it what the Prime Minister wants to see if the opium policy of the Taiping Army further attacks the East India Company?"

Wenhan understood a little. The East India Company was founded in 1600. It was an institution established by emerging colonial countries in the 17th century after the colonial expansion of Portugal and Spanish. Initially, the British mainly used the East India Company to do business, and later became a tool for British colonialists to invade India. They continuously transported India's food and industrial raw materials back to the UK, and made huge profits from it.

The government granted East India Company various powers, such as monopolizing trade rights, training military power, declaring war power, setting up courts to judge the rights of residents of the country or colonies, etc. The East India Company actually became an agency for the British government to invade India. Another method of plundering by East India Company in India was to monopolize the trade of opium, salt and tobacco. Among them, the income of opium accounts for about one-seventh of the company's total income. Bangladeshi farmers forced to grow opium, then smuggle it to China for sale, making huge profits from it.

Since the 1760s, the East India Company began to decline. The company's employees have too much power, which has caused corruption to become a trend. At the same time, the company's levy of taxes on the Indian people caused the Indian people to continue to revolt. If a company wants to suppress the uprising, it requires a large amount of expenses. This has caused a vicious cycle and limited the company to many crises. The British government has begun to take action against the East India Company. By 1813, the East India Company's trade monopoly on India was abolished, and in the same year, the British government canceled its trade monopoly on China. After the East India Company's trade privileges on China were abolished, they came to Guangzhou Thirteen Branches after the East India Company's trade privileges on China were abolished, and in the same year, the British government canceled its trade monopoly on China.

The British merchants in trade changed from unified organization from East India Company to scattered merchants. The British government sent officials to negotiate business matters with the Chinese government, which changed the original negotiations between merchants and merchants into intergovernment negotiations, thus sowing the seeds of the fuse of conflict between China and Britain. After all the powers were abolished, the East India Company embarked on the road to bankruptcy. In 1858, the East India Company spent all her life to accumulate enough wealth for the UK and was kicked away. The East India Company was officially abolished by the British government, and the British government began to directly rule India until 1947.

Wenhan understood Midile's meaning and did not necessitate the greater interests for the interests of those opium merchants, but he said unwillingly: "But we may lose the power to negotiate tariffs on this, which will be extremely unfavorable to us in the future."

Midile smiled and said, "My Lord, there are no eternal friends in the world, only eternal interests. At present, we are consistent with the interests of the Taiping Army, so we should safeguard the common interests together. In the future?" Midile shrugged and said, "Who can explain the future clearly?"

Aliguo nodded and said, "Mystery, Mr. Midile's words are correct, but in the face of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's tariff rules, we can decently maintain the privileges we had before, such as the consular approval rights for foreign ships entering and leaving Chinese ports, which should be retained."

After pondering for a moment, Wen Han said slowly: "Okay, let's try our best to get what we can get."

At this moment, the door of the conference room rang, and an Indian waiter came in and said, "Sir, Mr. Alexander Madison of Jardine Madison has arrived."

Wen Han said oh, stood up and said, "Please come in."

Midile smiled and said, "This Scotsman is really strange. Today, he did not attend this important invitation. He only sent a representative to him. He came here at this time."

Aliguo said with some concern: "Midile. Could it be that he came for the opium trade?"

Midile frowned and said, "It's impossible, Alexander is not the kind of person without vision."

While he was talking, a man wearing a top hat and a black tuxedo walked in. His face was long and he wore a single eyebrow in his left eye. After coming in, he took off his hat and bowed and said, "Wu An, gentlemen, I heard that you have encountered setbacks in the Taiping Army?"

As traditional Englishmen, Wenhan looked down on this Scotsman. The two founders of Jardine Wong Foreign Company were Scots. One was William Jardine who graduated from the Edinburgh Medical School in the UK, and the other was James Madison who graduated from the University of Edinburgh, England. The two collaborated to start the Maniak Company to engage in opium smuggling, and their business grew bigger and bigger. They not only sold opium in Guangzhou, but also hired German missionaries to go north to the Bohai Bay to smuggle and sell drugs, accumulating a large amount of wealth and capital. On July 1, 1832, Jardine Wong and Medison, the day after the Maniak Company went bankrupt, founded Jardine Wong Foreign Company in Guangzhou. Alexander Madison was the nephew of James Madison. Now he is one of the major shareholders of Jardine Wong Foreign Company.

Wenhan's face looked a little ugly when he heard Alexander's sarcastic words. Midile smiled and said, "Alexander, do you want this?"

Alexander took off the single cover of his left eye and said with a smile: "Politicians always need to think about a lot, but we businessmen are simpler. Lord Wenhan, we only need benefits." He paused and said: "Can I sit down and talk?"

Wenhan then came to his senses and asked Alexander to sit down. The Indian waiter brought Alexander a cup of hot tea. Alexander took a sip and said, "What a sweet and fragrant tea. I believe that one day the UK will lose Chinese tea, that would be a disaster. Gentlemen, I came here to say that our Jardinet Company is happy to support the introduction of the new tariff policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and we have no dissatisfaction."

A Liguo sarcastically said, "Has Jardinet Company been so generous that he gave up the opium business?"

Alexander shook his head and said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no matter how the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom controls the input of opium, our Jardines Corporation will continue our opium trade, which is not a conflict. We always smuggle opium, whether in the Qing Dynasty or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we can smuggle. We have twelve fly-cut cargo ships. I don't believe that the old naval anti-smuggling ships in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can catch us, and even if we catch up, the armed forces on our ship can scare them away. So gentlemen, this move by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is for

For capable businessmen, it is not a problem at all. Even if the worst case happens, we will not lose money when we go to the Qing Dynasty to smuggle opium. What I care about is the next investment. I heard that the war god of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to build a railway in Shanghai. Our Jardinea Foreign Company very much hopes to get this business. We hope that the Minister can come forward to deal with it. In the future, our Jardinea Foreign Company will reward the Minister, the Consul, and the Midile, each with three percent of the railway equity."

Wen Han and others were all moved when they heard this. Alexander was right. In fact, they didn’t need to worry about the opium trade of Jardine Mahjong. As Alexander said, if a capable foreign company wants to continue the opium trade, this is not a problem at all. The key is to cooperate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom next step.

Wen Han nodded and said, "We also hope that our British company will get the right to repair roads. I am also acquainted with the King of the West. We will work hard on this matter. I hope your plan will be better."

Alexander smiled slightly and said, "Please rest assured that this is. As long as the Western King wants, we can build the railway to Nanjing." Alexander paused and continued, "I have another thing to come today and need the help of the Minister."

Wenhan asked, "What's the matter?"

Alexander said in a little embarrassed manner: "There is an important figure in the Rothschild family who followed the medical team of Luo Weilin to Suzhou. Today, news came from there that this important figure and the medical team acted separately. Our people there lost their trace. We need to find him and continue to protect his safety!" (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!