Xiguan, Shisanhang Shopping Mall.`

Although the British businessmen have agreed to drive the opium-smuggling pump ship to Humen to submit opium, and Lin Zexu has also led a group of civil and military officials to Humen to start confiscating opium, the Thirteen-Shang Commercial Hall District is still under martial law, and all the waterways leading to the Commercial Hall District are still tightly blocked, and naval officers and soldiers patrol and investigate day and night at all intersections.

A four-person carries a sedan chair and stops at the intersection of Doulan Street. Yi Zhizuo comes out of the sedan chair and glances at the patrolling soldiers, but does not step forward. He is joining Wu Shaorong, Pan Zhengwei, Lu Jiguang and others to go to the British Pavilion to meet Elliot, and prompts Elliot and all British merchants to issue a sweet knot that they will not bring opium to China - a document guarantee that they will guarantee that they will never bring opium in the future. If they are brought, once they are found out, they will be fined and will be willing to accept their crimes.

Yi Zhizu was very dissatisfied with this Ganjie. He knew very well that in the face of huge profits of opium, Ganjie was just a piece of waste paper. Of course, the main reason why he was unwilling to come was that he did not want to see Elliot. But not only Wu Bingjian strongly asked him to come, but Lin Zexu also called him to come, and he could not shirk responsibility at all.

It was not yet summer, but Guangzhou was already very hot and the sun was early. Yi Shizu glanced back and saw that there was no sedan chair coming, and he was unwilling to go back to wait in the sedan chair. He thought the sedan chair was too boring, so he ordered the servant, "Go and find a chair to wait on the street." As he said that, he pulled out a cigar and slowly lit it.

Since the martial law, Doulan Street, which was originally bustling and noisy, was deserted, and all the shops were closed. Li Wang looked at the deserted streets and had to come to a few patrol soldiers and smiled and said, "Several soldiers, can you borrow a chair for our young master?"

A soldier glanced at him, then glanced at Yi Qunzu, who was smoking a cigar, and said, "Your young master is a foreign merchant?" Now that the mall is martial law, the people who come here are either foreign merchants or officials. Those who dare to sit in four people to carry a sedan chair are not ordinary gentry, and officials dare not act rashly. For foreign merchants, it is okay to get some tea money.

"Yes, yes." Li Wang smiled and said, "Our young master is Yi Kunguan of Futaixing and Yuanqi's shopkeeper."

When he heard that it was Yuanqi's shopkeeper, the soldier's attitude changed immediately. Who among the navy did not know that Yi Zhizu, the shopkeeper Yi Da was the God of Wealth of the navy, and even Guan Junmen respected him very much. He hurriedly said, "Brother later." He said, and hurried to report.

Soon, a young military officer of twenty-five or six walked out quickly and arrived in front of Yi Zhizu. He bowed and said, "The navy promoted the bid for the central camp leader - Hong Haitao, I have met the shopkeeper Yi Da."

"Sir Hong, don't be polite." Yi Zhizu quickly bowed and returned the greeting.

Seeing him easy-going, Hong Haitao smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Yi Da has to wait for someone, so it's better to go to the house and sit down."

"No more trouble, just sit here."

Seeing that he was unwilling to enter the house, Hong Haitao waved his hand and several soldiers quickly brought tables and chairs to ask Yi Zhizu to sit down. He ordered: "Come and make a pot of tea."

Seeing that he was so attentive, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "What's the situation in the store?"

"Most of Citi merchants have evacuated the mall, and now only English merchants are left." Hong Haitao said: "All food and drinks are delivered to you on a daily basis. Those foreigners are quite honest and have no trouble."

Yi Zhizu nodded, and he persuaded Lin Zexu to let American businessmen evacuate the store. The main ones smuggled opium were the British, and there was no need to knock down a boat of people with one stroke. Foreign businessmen must be beaten and pulled. Moreover, Yuan Qi is working closely with the Americans, Changle Machine Factory, Changzhou Shipyard, Foshan-Guangzhou Railway, and Foshan-Guangzhou Railway now employ a large number of Americans, and they must treat Americans and British people differently.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Hong Haitao said boldly: "I heard that Yuan Qi built a new shipyard in Changzhou and was recruiting craftsmen to apprentices. How many cousins ​​in his hometown are considered smart and clever. Can he go to the factory to be an apprentice?"

After hearing this, Yi Zhi couldn't help but smile. He was so attentive that he had something to ask for. It seemed that Yuan Qi's high salary was quite attractive. He immediately asked, "Where is Lord Hong's hometown?"

"I am originally from Hengzhou Prefecture, Hunan."

In Hengzhou, Hunan, Yi Zhizu nodded and said cheerfully: "Okay, it's not just Changzhou Shipyard. Yuanqi will open several major factories this year and next year. What they want is people. However, apprentices usually only recruit fourteen or five years old-agers between the ages of 18, and those over 18 can only work as workers."

"Does apprenticeships have wages? How much does workers have wages?"

"Yes, apprentices are one yuan a month, ordinary workers are two yuan a month, and they can still increase their wages over time. The wage standards for factories under Yuanqi's name are the same."

It was heard that ordinary workers could earn more than 20 yuan a year. Hong Haitao looked excited. How many yuan can he earn in farming at home? He bowed and said, "I'll write here, let them bring more people here."

"You don't have to be polite." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "You are here in Guangzhou. Come and find me, and I will make arrangements for you."

"Shopkeeper Xie Yi."

Li Wang came forward to report: "Young master, there is a sedan chair here."

Yi Zhizu looked at him sideways and saw a row of sedan chairs coming slowly. He immediately smiled at Hong Haitao and stood up and said, "Sir Hong, go and be busy, I welcome them."

The sedan chair landed, and Wu Shaorong came out first, followed by Pan Zhengwei, Lu Jiguang, and Wu Changqing, the last one. He couldn't help but smile. Unexpectedly, Wu Changqing also came to join in the fun. Several people exchanged a little greeting and walked into the mall area. They walked slowly. Yi Zhizu intentionally left behind. He asked Wu Changqing with a smile, saying, "Changqing didn't go to Changzhou Shipyard to supervise the work, what are you doing here?"

Wu Changqing whispered: "The old man forced him to come."

Yi Zhizu was speechless for a while. It seemed that Wu Bingjian was really unwilling to give up. He asked Wu Changqing to follow him, obviously asking him to mediate between Elliot and Lin Zexu to avoid a war. He didn't want to talk about this topic, so he immediately changed his mind and said, "How long will it take for Changzhou Shipyard to be built? I'm in a hurry to build a steam clutch."

Wu Changqing gave him a blank look and said, "No one of those Citi crews has the experience of building steam Clippers."

"What's the difficulty of steam boats? It's just a steam engine as power." Yi Zhizu said this, but he felt a little relieved. He knew that the ships in later generations used spiral pulp, but he didn't know about professional things. How to seal and waterproof the spiral pulp at the bottom of the stern?

Now, whether in the United States, Britain, or France, steamships use paddle wheels instead of spirals. This is not because the spirals are not clear. Stephen knew that there were four propellers with windmill type blades. But in the end, paddle wheels were used. He didn't know what the specific reason was that the spirals were eliminated. It seems that it also caused some technical workers with experience in building steamships.

Although Wu Changqing didn't know about steamships, he had inquired about some steamships and immediately smiled and said, "Brother Zhizu said it is light and simple, steamships have been widely opened long ago."

The two of them talked all the way, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the British Pavilion. Although the outside was strictly blocked, there were no soldiers in the mall area. The huge Thirteen-Straits Commercial Pavilion area seemed very deserted and empty, and there was no one in the beautiful garden. When a few people arrived at the British Pavilion, Elliot brought the deputy consul, the Diandi, Ma Dichen and others to welcome it.

Seeing Yi Zhizu and Wu Changqing were also there, Elliot's face showed a smile, and said a few simple and polite words with Wu Shaorong and the other two, then reached out to Yi Zhizu and said with a smile: "It's really a pleasant thing to be able to see Mr. Yi at this time."

The American businessman evacuated the mall area entirely because Yi Qunzushi persuaded Lin Zexu. He had heard of this, so he was quite happy about Yi Qunzushi's arrival.

Yi Zhizu smiled and shook hands with him, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't bring you good news."

"It's good news that Mr. Yi can come." Elliot said, shook hands with Wu Changqing, and then reached out to give in and said, "Sir, please."

The group went up the second floor and came to a small living room. After sitting down, Wu Shaorong, who was in a good position, signaled him that he was not pretentious and explained the purpose of the trip in a simple and straightforward manner. Yilu shook his head and said, "Mr. Yi should know that as the commercial director of the British Empire in China, I cannot issue this kind of sweet debt without authorization from Her Majesty the Queen. As for other merchants, I have no right to interfere."

What Elliot said is indeed reasonable. He represents the British government and it is impossible to issue this sweet-hearted marriage. Yi Jingzu nodded and said: "The Chinese court has issued a new ban on smoking - the "Thirty-Nine Articles of the Prohibition of Opium Smoking" stipulates that smuggling and selling opium should be sentenced to death. I think this sweet-hearted marriage is of little significance. All foreign businessmen who come to Guangzhou to trade in the territory of the Qing Dynasty will comply with the laws of the Qing Dynasty and be subject to due legal sanctions."

After hearing this, Elliot hurriedly said, "No, this is impossible. Mr. Yi, your country's laws are too barbaric, and your country's government cannot achieve fair judgment. The people of the British Empire cannot accept it. We should enjoy extraterritorial law."

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said sarcastically: "Does England enjoy extraterritorial legal rights in France, America, Prussia, Russia and other countries?"

"What Mr. Yi is talking about is a civilized country."

"Will civilized countries allow their own businessmen to blatantly smuggle opium?"

"Opium is a legal commodity in European countries, and so is it in the United States."

Elliot is not a quibble. Except for the Qing Dynasty, opium is a legal commodity in other countries. It is easy to be content with this. He immediately said: "But it is explicitly prohibited in the Qing Dynasty."

Elliot spread his hands and said, "We won't discuss this."

"Okay, continue to talk about the law." Yi Zhizu said: "I think the Director should be very clear that the people of England and Geely enjoy extraterritorial legal power in the Qing Dynasty, which is an infringement of the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty! If the laws of the Qing Dynasty were too barbaric and officials were unfair in their trials, they could sit down and negotiate, or the Qing court could set up a special court in Guangzhou to specifically judge foreign-related cases."

"This is a good suggestion. I agree to establish a special court in Guangzhou that specializes in the trial of foreign-related cases." Elliot said as he winked at Wu Shaorong and ordered the deputy consul and counselor, "Take a few gentlemen to the first floor to consult and see how many merchants are willing to issue a loan."

Wu Shaorong knew that he wanted to talk to Yi Zhizu alone. After glanced at Wu Changqing, he stood up to look at Pan Zhengwei. Lu Jiguang and the others said, "We don't understand the law. Is it our job to issue a karma."

Wu Shaorong and the other two left. Elliot glanced at Wu Changqing who was still moving, and Yixiu smiled and said with a smile: "Your Excellency can just say it directly, it's okay."

After pondering for a moment, Elliot said: "Mr. Yi must be very clear about the fact that your country's imperial envoy asked us to submit opium. Now, our opium pump ship is handing over opium at Humen, but the tea promised to us was not moving at all. Mr. Yi should know that this is tens of millions of yuan of opium. To be honest, I am very worried."

"Who promised you? Lord Emperor?"

"Your imperial envoy has never seen you. What you promised was General Wu from the Thirteenth Corps. This is the only one we can believe and the only one we can reach to represent the officials of your country."

"Why don't you ask Mr. Wu?"

"He dared not mention this to the imperial envoy."

“How many tea leaves are promised?”

"A box of opium and five dans of tea."

"Five throttles, five hundred pounds?"

Seeing Elliot nodding, Yi Zhizuo said, "I can help you ask the imperial envoy." Before he finished speaking, Wu Changqing, who had been dull, said, "The imperial envoy cannot agree to exchange five thrones of tea for a box of opium."

"Why?" Elliot hesitated, "Is it because Mr. Wu intends to deceive?"

"How dare General Secretary Wu deceive you?" Wu Changqing said and looked at Yi Zhizu and said, "If the imperial envoy is unwilling to cash out this batch of tea, we can make compensation privately and make compensation as much as possible."

Elliot looked at him and looked at Yi Zhizu, a little unbelievable. More than 100,000 yuan was loaded with tea, which was more than 4 million yuan, and it was paid by Wu Jia and Yuanqi Bank?

Yi Zhizu was held hostage by Wu Changqing, and Yi Zhizu was not good at opposing it. He nodded and said, "However, you must keep it absolutely confidential and not let anyone know. Otherwise, not only the Wu family and my Yan family will be killed, but even the entire Thirteenth Company merchants will be implicated. You must also guarantee that the English merchants will no longer smuggle opium in the future. Of course, Thirteenth Company will also firmly resist opium smuggling. We will not have the money to compensate again."

After hearing this, Elliot realized that Wu Changqing was not joking. After a while, he said, "This matter is too big. Please give me a few days to consider."

After leaving the British mall, seeing Yi Zhizu's face barely, Wu Changqing said timidly: "Brother Zhizu, don't be surprised, it's all the old man's intention."

"Eliu will not agree." Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice.

Wu Changqing said: "What if I agree?"

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said, "If Elliot agrees, we will not agree."

After hearing this, Wu Changqing smiled and said, "This is exactly what the old man said." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!