Chapter 322: The British Bamboo Scam

Chapter 322: The British Bamboo Scam

Chapter 322: The British Bamboo Scam
Those who were born in Ling are from An Ling, and can drive faster than the post station. But looking at the mountains and hills of our hometown, we can see the bright moon of Huai River together.

When I am free from work, I sing and sing, but when I am poorly paid, I cannot stop singing. Fortunately, my family is still together, so I don't have to complain about my younger brother or my elder brother.

Hailing has been a rich place and a paradise on earth since ancient times. Even the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army never harmed Hailing. Officials in Hailing have always lived a life of resting from war and cultivating literature, singing and dancing.

Including the talented Qiao Songnian, who, while serving in Hailing, spent his time reading poetry, drinking wine, and traveling around the mountains and rivers.

If Shao Quanzhong had no ambition, it would be quite comfortable for him to be a free and useless prince in the prosperous and gentle city of Hailing.

However, it is impossible to be without ambition. When you reach Shao Quanzhong's level, you either advance or retreat.

Even if Shao Quanzhong wanted to be like Zeng Guofan and retire at the right time, no one in his family would support him. Almost all his wives were waiting to become his empress, and his father was waiting to become the emperor.

The only person who doesn't need Shao Quanzhong to be the emperor is Rong Hui, who also needs him to be in power to ensure that China's industrialization does not fail halfway, and she needs Shao Quanzhong's army to protect the country.

Only Shao's mother felt sorry for her son, who was away from home all year round. "Why don't we just make do with what we have now? Our life now is something we never dared to dream of before."

Shao Quanzhong shook his head. "Mom, I can't go back to where I am now. Only by moving forward can I stay safe. If I retreat, my whole family will be torn to pieces and exterminated. It will be impossible for me to be a rich man."

It was already the third day after Shao Quanzhong returned home. The Shao family was reunited for a rare occasion and was very happy. Even Quanxiao, Quanren and Quanyi took leave to come back and reunite with their family.

As for the telegram from London, it was good news. Because Shao Quanzhong was married to the Windsor family, the two Minotaur-class warships he ordered became royal orders, and he was given priority in using the dock.

It has now been launched and the ship's installation has begun. It will be completed early next year.

Shao Quanzhong called back to express his gratitude and carefully made a request.

The Nanyang Fleet cannot compare with the British Fleet and does not have so many ironclad ships. Therefore, there are still enough qualified gunners, so the ship-mounted artillery still uses the breech-loading guns we are used to, and there is no need to bother to modify them into muzzle-loading guns.

Well, now the British Empire Navy has too much budget and the fleet is too large, resulting in a shortage of qualified gunners. The warships have been changed from breech-loading guns to backward but easy-to-operate muzzle-loading guns, and have started to take a detour, which is known in history as the "Lost Decade".

I don't care what you do. Britain is rich and powerful. If we find something wrong in the future, we can afford to buy it all back.

I need these two ships right away. Our Nanyang Navy is small and cannot afford to mess with them. We have two advanced 10,000-ton ironclad ships. Please don't harm me, my brother.

Shao Quanzhong glanced at Quanxiao and said, "Second brother, you should resign from the Baoding Army Officers School right now and go to the Grand Duchy of Crimea to be my prime minister."

Quan Xiao stiffened his neck and said, "No! I am a soldier. I learned military affairs in Berlin with great difficulty. I am doing well as an instructor in the Army School. Why should I go to the barren land of the Russians to be the prime minister? Can't you ask Le Xiucai to go? Otherwise, Shao Yigu is better than me."

How did Shao Quanxiao go to Baoding to be an instructor? Well, Master Qiao was the principal of the military academy, and with the help of the military chief, the school preparations were very fast.

Chief Instructor Emery is still accompanying Shao Quanzhong on his visit. The school has been initially built using existing buildings and all students have been recruited.

We can't keep waiting for the great Emory to come back before school starts. Anyway, it's impossible for the school to have only one chief instructor.

As a result, the Huai Army General Staff in Fengyang was also wiped out and temporarily seconded there to give lectures. After all, they were all top students from the Berlin Military Academy and could be used for the time being.

Let's talk about Quan Xiao. Although he has no talent for fighting, he studies hard and has good grades in all subjects. It is difficult for him to make decisions on the battlefield, so he is quite suitable to be an instructor.

After such a period of trial teaching, he had become the acting chief instructor and would be Emery's deputy in the future. He was working very hard, but suddenly his elder brother stopped him from doing the job. He was very unhappy.

Shao Quanzhong glared at him, "This is not up to you, pack up and get on with your job! Le Xiucai and Shoigu are my right-hand men, can they be sent to a remote place? You're the one."

"You can take a ship to Suez, and go overland to Port Said, and I will send the Black Sea Fleet to pick you up."

Shao Shucai had to support his eldest son, "Quanxiao, no matter how remote Crimea is, it is still our Shao family's land. Can we trust others to manage it? If your eldest brother asks you to go, then go."

Quan Xiao was still unconvinced, "It's the same if Kelimu sends someone else. Do they dare to rebel against Big Brother? If we don't control the officers of the new army, when the new army has established 36 regiments, will our Shao family still have the world?"

Shao Quanzhong slammed the table and said, "You know nothing! I think you learned nothing in Berlin. Do you know what the biggest advantage of the Huai Army is? It is the practice of universal reserve forces in the Huai Army's territory."

"Don't think that Ruilin is the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Our reserve insurance teams are flourishing all over Shaanxi and Gansu. The money was invested by the old Shao family. No one else in Shaanxi and Gansu can take it away."

"You can calculate, how many of the 36 regiments of the new army are occupied by our people? Jiangning Provincial Government, Anhui, Ili Province, Kokand Province, Shaanxi, Gansu, Guangxi, Guangdong, British Columbia Province, and Mecca Province, our people occupy the quota of ten regiments."

"Where do those officers for training come from? All the officers in our territory are from the insurance team. Do you need to win their hearts and minds?"

"In addition, Henan is Zhang Zhidong's old territory. Do you think others can take it away? Can Ruilin of Xi'an control the Self-Strengthening Army? With Zhang Zhidong's mind, if Ruilin can control the Self-Strengthening Army, I will take my head off and kick it like a ball." "We have one-third of the new army, and you are not satisfied? You must make me rebel now, right?"

"Brother, why don't you rebel?"

"Why are you getting involved in this? If you don't understand, you are courting death. Let me tell you, the first person to fire the first shot in a rebellion never has a good ending. Was it Chen Sheng and Wu Guang who succeeded, or Huang Chao and Li Zicheng?"

"Let them form a new army. If the Hongmen and Tiandihui don't infiltrate the new army like a sieve, I will write my character Shao backwards. By then - forget it, there's no point telling you this. Get out of here right after dinner."

Quan Xiao was driven to Crimea. The German language he had learned with great difficulty was useless, so he refused to learn Russian in anger and forced the popularization of Chinese in Crimea. This was a matter for the future.

Isabel and Maria at the scene both covered their mouths and laughed, and they particularly admired Shao Quanzhong's domineering bandit style.

You may say he is a country bumpkin, but he is very adept at dealing with the great powers, and even the genuine diplomats cannot defeat him.

He has a handsome face, but a hot temper like a bandit. It is unprecedented to have so many contrasts in one person.

"Yuting, with two new sisters coming into the family, our house is no longer big enough. Should we expand the palace?"

The one who brought up this matter was Wenxiu, who was in charge of the family. She was different from Ronghui. Ronghui always called Shao Quanzhong "Brother Shao", but Wenxiu only called him that when they were alone together, and she called him that in a more formal way in front of others.

Shao Quanzhong waved his hand and said, "No need. Let Isabel and Maria live in one room, and Ping'er and Liu Niang live in another room, and help her take care of the children."

"I'm not at home all year round, and I always need someone to be my secretary, so there's no need to leave the house empty. If someone has a child in the future and can't accommodate him, Ronghui's room will be empty, and we can use it. Hailing is not a place for us to live for a long time, so let's not bother."

Shao Quanzhong's decision seemed to show that he did not care about his concubine, but everyone knew that was not the case.

In the future, most people will probably move to the Forbidden City. The expansion and renovation of the palace will take two to three years, maybe not even a few years.

The family dinner was over, and Shao Quanzhong prepared to visit Tian Xing, who had been recuperating in Hailing, and have a drink with his elder brother.

Maria, who had just married, had put on her military uniform again and came over to report, "The Commissioner of Customs, Hart, wants to see you. Ma Haiyan, who you called, is also waiting outside. Who do you want to see first?"

Shao Quanzhong took a concubine, but it was not a big deal like marrying a principal wife. Only his family members plus Wu Wenxi came to contribute. However, Hart followed from Tianjin and attended the wedding, which showed that the British big brother valued his loyal little brother.

Hurd didn't say anything along the way, so why hasn't he left yet and is coming to see me?
"Let's meet Hurd first."

After all, Ma Haiyan is one of us. Although he was recruited from Tianfang Province all the way here, the task he was asked to do was not an urgent matter.

Hurd remained graceful and took off his hat to greet Shao Quanzhong, "Your Excellency the Earl."

In the eyes of the British, the title of Prince Rui conferred by the Qing Dynasty is nothing but crap, and the Earl of Jersey conferred by the British Empire is of course the most honorable.

Shao Quanzhong poured tea himself attentively, "Sit down, sit down, Lao He, don't be polite with me, just tell me what you want to say."

Hurd did not sit down. He put his hands behind his back and looked at the world map on the wall of Shao Quanzhong's study. "My Lord, congratulations on your appointment as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Do you have any idea to drive the French out of Saigon? The British Empire is willing to provide full support."

Shao Quanzhong took off his military cap and put it on the table, scratched the back of his head, looking worried.

"Lao He, aren't you making things difficult for me? You want me to fight the world's second-best player? Are the French so easy to offend?"

"The Qing Dynasty now has two allies, the United States and Prussia, so it doesn't have to be afraid of France."

"But the two countries cannot send troops to Annan, so I have to fight on my own. Don't you British have a deep understanding of Burma? That place is a quagmire. If I want to attack Saigon, I will suffer heavy casualties."

"Besides, if we provoke the French and send a large army to attack, won't the Qing Dynasty be in constant war? Those censors will definitely report me for provoking the border. What if the French attack my Crimean territory? Wouldn't it be difficult to defend it? I can't make up my mind."

Hurd waved his hand. "Your Excellency is wrong. What do you mean by 'you British'? You are a member of the Windsor royal family, so of course you have to contribute to Britain. The Grand Duchy of Crimea is your private territory, and the property of the Windsor royal family is protected by the British Navy."

"As long as you are willing to contribute and help the British Empire weaken France, you can ask for any conditions you want."

Shao Quanzhong looked through the glass window of the study and stared for a while at the bamboo in the yard that was cut down by his father but had stubbornly grown back on its own. He smiled mysteriously, thinking, what a good bamboo pole that has been delivered to his doorstep.

When facing Hurd, he looked reluctant again, "Then I will make a request."

(End of this chapter)