Chapter 73 Blood Revenge
Chapter 73 Blood Revenge
Shao Quanzhong didn't invite anyone to the main room, so he sat down in the guest room.
"Mr. Gordon, we have captured four British and French officers and 102 Filipino mercenaries. The ransom is 25,100 taels of silver. Have you brought them?"
Except for the leader Wall who went to France for treatment and never returned, the entire foreign rifle team was basically wiped out in Tongzhou.
Yang Fang learned from his mistakes and felt that the foreign gangsters and Nanyang mercenaries were useless. Gordon and Bodaan were two real professional soldiers he had newly hired who had served in the Anglo-French Allied Forces.
As for Falsde, he was the deputy commander who stayed behind in Shanghai to look after the foreign rifle team that came out to rob, and his main job was to guard the baggage and artillery.
He was Wall's confidant and escaped death because he did not participate in the robbery.
Gordon was calm and didn’t rush to speak, and Bodaan blurted out, “Lord Yangfang gave us enough money, but these prisoners are not worth that much money.
Commander, five thousand taels is impossible.
If they die in battle, we only need to pay 500 taels of compensation. To save their lives, Commander, we will pay a maximum of 1,000 taels per person. If it's more, you can just kill them and we can save money."
The mercenaries from the great powers like Britain and France were basically gangsters and thugs.
Scumbags are not welcome anywhere. Coming out to rob money is considered as waste utilization. Even if they die, they can still contribute to local security. Britain and France still support these white ronin.
Shao Quanzhong had threatened that he would not bargain for 5,000 taels. Now that the other party was bargaining, Shao Quanzhong was not angry at all, "What about the Nanyang mercenaries?"
Falsde interjected, "Fifty taels for each Filipino mercenary is acceptable, but can we let them go back with their guns?"
Shao Quanzhong laughed, "You have a good idea. Guns are more valuable than their people. But it's not impossible to negotiate.
Let's put it this way, including the gun and the man, one hundred and fifty taels each, and I'll take the man when I get the money."
Falsde nodded, "That's settled!"
Falsed was very excited. An American rifle cost three hundred taels of silver from Henry Wall, so it was quite worth it to redeem it with one hundred taels.
Shao Quanzhong did not have bullets for American rapid-fire rifles, nor did he want to equip himself with internationally made equipment, which would add pressure to logistics.
One hundred taels can be exchanged for a new British quick-firing rifle and a thousand more rounds of bullets, which is a win-win situation.
Only Gordon frowned.
He was very dissatisfied with the Wall brothers' huge profits from the foreign rifle team, but unfortunately he had no say now.
If the foreign rifle team ever has their own way, they will definitely purchase cheap British rifles.
After the price was discussed, Shao Quanzhong looked at Bo Da'an with a smile, "You foreigners are really so worthless, can't you increase the price by one thousand taels each?"
Bo Daan patted his chest and said, "That depends on what kind of foreigner they are.
For a ruffian like him, one thousand taels of ransom is too much.
A professional soldier like me is worth two thousand taels, while real foreign officers like Commander Gordon and Commander Falsed are only worth five thousand taels.
This time we brought a hundred soldiers to escort the silver. They are stationed at the dock outside the dike. They are all hired veterans of the Anglo-French Allied Forces.
If you give me two hundred thousand taels of silver, I will kill them all without blinking an eye."
Shao Quanzhong laughed loudly, "Not bad, not bad, everything can be priced, I like the way you foreigners do things.
We are friendly forces. I have 200,000 taels of silver now, but I can't just spend it on friendly forces, right? - Are you really only worth 2,000 taels?"
Before Boda'an could figure out what Shao Quanzhong meant by this question, Wenxiu pulled out a revolver from under her skirt, raised her hands, and walked towards Boda'an.
First pull the trigger to release the space to prevent accidental discharge, then move the hammer with your left hand and the bullet will be loaded.
Bo Daan was stunned, "Beauty? What do you mean? Put it down quickly. This is not how you play with a gun. It's too dangerous."
Wen Xiu sneered, "I'll let you die knowing full well.
Didn't you say that you killed a seventh-rank official at Baliqiao? That was my father.
Now, I want to avenge my father."
Wenxiu approached step by step, Boda'an was terrified. He was bragging in Taizhou, but he didn't expect to meet the family of a Qing official in the capital thousands of miles away. It seems that he can't brag casually, it's life-threatening.
Just as he was about to turn around and dodge, Shao Quanzhong and Zhang Siwen "supported" him from the left and right, "Master Yang, don't be too excited, calm down, calm down."
Am I excited? I am afraid of death and want to escape. Can you stay calm when a gun is pointed at you?
"Let me go!"
It was too late. Wenxiu had already walked up to Boda'an, put the muzzle of the gun against Boda'an's chest, and pulled the trigger.
Then, as Shao Quanzhong taught, he held the trigger with his right index finger and moved the hammer continuously with his left hand. "Bang bang bang bang bang", five shots in a row, all hit Bodaan's chest.
Bodaan died with his eyes wide open, his last thought being, "I will never brag so easily again in my next life."
Wenxiu ran out of bullets and her pistol fell to the ground. She suddenly covered her face and burst into tears, then buried her head in Shao Quanzhong's arms, unable to stop crying.
If Dad were still alive, would I have to step forward as a woman and take charge of the Wen Group? Dad, I'm so tired.
Shao Quanzhong patted Wenxiu's back gently, his expression unchanged, and looked at Gordon and Falsde with a smile.
The two envoys entered the village for negotiations without bringing guns, so they were unable to stop Wenxiu from killing people.
Gordon was leaning on a cane, and Falstead was only equipped with a command knife.
Falsde drew out his sword and pointed it at Shao Quanzhong, "Sir Shao, you shot the negotiating envoy on the spot. Are you preparing to go to war with the foreign powers?"
Shao Quanzhong said calmly, "Calm down, calm down. First of all, let me correct you. I didn't shoot the messenger. It was this lady who killed him.
Secondly, the current common national policy of the great powers is to remain neutral in the war between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Rebellion.
Would they accept the support of the soldiers hired by the Qing court for making money? If they knew that you violated their national policy, you would be arrested, right? "
Zhang Siwen, the head of his personal guards, stood beside him with a gun, so Falsde didn't dare to do anything with a knife.
He sheathed his knife, "Well, we're going to take this young lady away. She shot a French citizen and must face French trial."
Shao Quanzhong waved his hands and said, "You can't take my woman away. Besides, it's useless even if you take her to Paris for trial.
This is blood revenge, she is innocent."
Gordon's mustache twitched. "Your understanding of our Western laws is outdated. Blood feud is now also a crime."
"Really? I heard that blood revenge is often punished lightly. Usually it's exile three thousand miles away.
Don't you British usually exile people to Ireland? The worst punishment is exile to Australia or New Zealand.
If the Paris verdict is to exile him 20,000 miles away, it will be exactly to the barbaric land of Qing Dynasty that you mentioned. So let's not bother with it, shall we?"
Gordon knew that Shao Quanzhong was playing tricks and there was no way he could take this woman out of his barracks.
Wenming Stick paused, "Just wait, we will protest to your emperor, and you will lose your hat for it."
"Really? Then I'll wait. Miss Wen's father died on the battlefield and was just posthumously honored as a hero of the Qing Dynasty.
Do you think the emperor would punish his daughter for avenging a hero?"
Shao Quanzhong perfunctorily bowed to Beifang, "That's right, blood revenge is illegal in my Qing Dynasty.
However, in order to show his grace, His Majesty exercises the power of amnesty every year and pardons several criminals, among which those for blood revenge are almost all pardoned.
Do you think that if France did not support Bodaan, would His Majesty pardon Miss Wen?"
Gordon: …
“Brother Shao, I didn’t find you at the training ground, so you are here.
I'm done with get out of class, let's go home together."
Rong Hui, looking radiant, entered the guest room, followed by Shao Quanzhong's adopted son Wang Yongxian.
Before he saw the body lying on the ground when he entered the room, he saw Wenxiu huddled in Shao Quanzhong's arms and was stunned.
(End of this chapter)