the world is at stake

Rickshaws pulled foreign passengers to the Shanghai General Assembly on the Bund, also known as the British General Assembly.This is the most closed foreigner's club in Shanghai, only open to a very small number of people with status and status.

Passengers tossed five cents to the coachman in exchange for repeated expressions of gratitude.He got out of the car, straightened his top hat, and walked into the main gate.

The classicist-style building is supported by two-story columns, and the concrete exterior is very strong and atmospheric.The building houses a bar, billiards room, restaurant and library, with marble floors and fine wood paneling.

Compared with the land of China, which is full of abject poverty, the foreigner clubs in Shanghai are usually full of atmosphere that can only be enjoyed by Western nobles.The waiter stepped forward with a smile, the band played softly, and the ladies and ladies were affectionate.

But at the moment, the atmosphere in the Shanghai General Assembly seemed terrified.The foreigner who entered the door walked to the bar, and someone next to him asked, "Mr. Sullivan, how is the situation outside?"

The person who came was Sullivan, who worked in the police station of the Shanghai International Settlement. He asked the bartender for a glass of whiskey, shook his head and said, "The Chinese have towed the cruiser 'Adventure' to the Jiangnan Shipyard, and I don't know whether it needs to be repaired or dismantled.

I went to the pier to have a look, the warship was really unlucky.The hole under the waterline could fit a round table, and the interior of the cabin was blasted like a garbage dump. "

The bartender was poured a small glass of spirits by Sullivan, and whispered: "Sir, how does the London side plan to solve the current problem? Will the British navy be dispatched?"

This question has been asked countless times in the past half a month, and Sullivan has no answer.At the beginning, he vowed that the Chinese would not dare to take action, and later he said that the Chinese army would never dare to attack British warships. A few days ago, he said that the Chinese would not dare to take over Shanghai.

In the end, it was all wrong.

After the National Defense Forces took control of Shanghai, they arrested people everywhere, such as the Qinggang Caobang who controlled the coolies at the wharf, or the Tongmenghui from Guangdong, or the feudal "huidaomen" of all sizes.

With the experience of cleaning up the society in the imperial capital, plus the historical documents in the hands of 'Shengguang', and the Shanghai Station of the Political and Security Bureau who have been secretly investigating the situation, the speed of arrest and execution is very fast.

It is said that in less than a week, more than 2000 people have been arrested, and more than [-] famous leaders have been executed.

For example, Chen Qimei, who leads the Central Federation of the League.This person plotted several times to assassinate senior officials of the central government. He thought that staying in the concession and relying on the asylum of foreigners would be safe, but he was arrested on the 3rd of the first month.

Sun Dapao has already arrived in Hong Kong. On the 4th, he learned that he also pleaded with the central government, saying that he should not treat the opposition party harshly and should be tolerant.

The Revolutionary Party rescued him for half a year, asking everywhere for information.Later, it was learned that Chen Qimei was shot dead by the Political Security Bureau on the evening of the 3rd after she was certified as innocent. She was charged with colluding with foreign enemies and conspiring to treason.

Even Chen Qimei can't escape, who else can be spared?

The National Defense Forces not only cleaned up the gangs in Shanghai, but also cleaned up the foreigners in Shanghai.Jardine Matheson was banned for supporting Zhang Xun's rebellion, and several foreigners went to jail.

Even opium dealers like Sassoon cannot escape.Zhou Qingfeng personally helped Cai Xuebin, leading Martha to destroy the family.

The customs controlled by the British completely allowed opium to enter China, and the big powers made huge profits from it.

Many literati in later generations boasted that the customs in the late Qing Dynasty controlled by the British was the only clean and non-corrupt department in China-the people who said this had no brains.People are blatantly making money.

The export of raw silk and the dumping of cotton cloth alone have overwhelmed China's small-scale peasant economy. Only a large number of peasant households have gone bankrupt, and society has collapsed.

Chinese farmers were forced to grow their own opium to fight foreign opium dumping. As a result, grain production was greatly reduced, leading to more serious famine and disasters.

The victory of the National Defense Forces in Nanjing has huge economic benefits. Just by controlling the customs in Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc., it can earn tens of millions of silver dollars every year and save the country's economy.

Correspondingly, the interests of foreigners, especially the British who control the Yangtze River Basin, suffered great damage.The central government of the imperial capital forcibly closed the British and Japanese consulates in Shanghai in order to cut off its economic chain of sucking blood from China.

However, while the National Defense Forces were arresting people, they did not kill all the foreigners in Shanghai.British bureaucrats like Sullivan who worked in Shanghai were arrested and questioned by the Political Security Bureau for a day or two, and then released one after another.

Going to the wharf of Jiangnan Shipyard and looking at the damaged "Adventure", Sullivan returned to the only old nest left by the British in Shanghai, complaining to a group of compatriots who were unwilling to leave and were worried.

"When will the British Navy come back?" A drunk next to him slapped the bar table heavily, "Why don't you go to war? Why don't you organize a powerful expeditionary force?"

Sullivan grabbed the spirits in the glass, drank it down, and sighed: "The reaction from London is so strange that I can't understand it at all. But I believe that Great Britain will not give up the Far East, absolutely not."

Chapter 39 Open

The bar of the British Shanghai Association is still resplendent and magnificent, but the atmosphere has become a club for the frustrated.

After the concession was revoked, the newly established municipal government sent people to check twice.The first time is to check fire safety, and the second time is to check industrial and commercial taxation.

The most respectable foreigner's site in Shanghai was visited by a few Chinese officers in uniform, and all places were inspected, as if a noble lady took a bath and was seen naked by barbarians.

The British throughout East Asia were ashamed and extremely annoyed.

But those Chinese staff were not afraid at all. After the inspection, they gave suggestions for rectification, asking the club to add fire hoses, clean up the escape routes, and the back kitchen storage room and other places that needed attention, because cockroaches and dead mice were found.

This move was like grabbing an Englishman by the collar and slapping hard, but he couldn't hold back a company from the army outside the club, and 'Maxim' stood up.All gentlemen and ladies had to bow their heads.

Alas... Sullivan sighed in front of the bar counter on the first floor of the club, pointed to his glass, and signaled the bartender to continue pouring another glass.

When something considered impossible happens, it would be foolish to ignore it, and how to interpret it becomes the priority.The great powers are wondering why the British government reacted so slowly to China's blatant military provocation.

The gentlemen of the House of Westminster Palace in London are arguing every day about how to make the Chinese pay the price, but Buckingham Palace and No. [-] Downing Street have remained silent, and even the always arrogant British Admiralty has not made a statement.

The military stocks on the London Stock Exchange soared not long ago.Industries such as rubber, steel, and shipbuilding are favored by the financial world.Many European speculators have added to the market.

But the silence of the British government for half a month has made many liquid funds very impatient.Many people borrow money to speculate in stocks. If the stock market does not rise, they will lose money.

This is the case with Sullivan, who is drinking heavily. He works at the Bubble Well Road Police Station near the International Settlement.After China solved the British and Japanese blockade fleet in Nanjing, he learned the news immediately, but instead of mourning the death of his compatriots, he was ecstatic.

Through transoceanic telegrams, Sullivan asked his relatives in London to mortgage their real estate, bet heavily on stocks, and publicized that Great Britain was about to issue war bonds, which would be repaid with the Chinese government's defeat compensation and cession benefits.

The Industrial Revolution created a huge amount of wealth for Britain, which led to the existence of a very large rentier class in London.They hold a lot of funds in their hands, and they want to find projects with high returns all the time.

The number of people who thought they had first-hand information was so great that there was a boom in the London stock market.However, when a large amount of money was optimistic about the future rise of the stock market, and even gambled all his wealth, the British government did not move.

The silence was terrible.

As a result, many interpretations of the current Sino-British situation are flying around.

Difficult to distinguish true and false news circulated in the Shanghai General Club.Speculators are bold and sensitive at the same time.They were able to bet huge sums of money yesterday, and flee in a whirlwind sell-off today.

When the bartender poured Sullivan the drink, he reminded in a low voice: "Sir, maybe you should go talk to the gang of gamblers in the pool room. They seem to have some new news."

Sullivan was very nervous, took out a silver dollar from his pocket and patted it on the bar, "Tell me, what's new?"

"China has air superiority."

"I know this, but Great Britain has it too. We were just raided this time. As long as more machine guns are installed on the warships, those wooden planes can be effectively contained."

In order to make money, Sullivan collected information for nearly half a month.He held down his silver dollar. "This news is not worth a tip of a pound."

"The Kaiser is supporting China, and with great strength." The bartender confided the details leisurely, like squeezing toothpaste.For the uninformed, there is a charge for every word he says.

Sullivan still shook his head, "The Kaiser really wants to provoke China to fight against Britain. But the German navy will not fight for China and Britain. This is not the reason why the war failed to expand."

"What if someone thinks that China will not lose, or even win, and is actively contacting the Chinese government, willing to provide a huge amount of war funding?" The bartender finally said unconfirmed news that has not yet spread.

"Who?" Sullivan was furious. "Who dares to oppose the British Empire so arrogantly? That idiot of Bazel I? He is willing to provide loans to China? It must be him."

The bartender spread his hands, "That's all I know, you should go talk to the gentlemen in the billiard room."

Sullivan let go of his palms and left the bar.When he pushed open the door of the club's billiard room, he saw at a glance more than a dozen executives from foreign firms lying beside the table, calculating something with a few tables.

There is a telephone in the pool room, which is now being moved to the pool table.Every once in a while someone would call the telegraph office or the bank with orders to buy and sell.

"Gentlemen, I'm Sullivan from London, do you mind if I join?" Sullivan greeted, but was ignored by the gentleman at the table.Everyone was not interested in watching him, just staring at the form on the table.

A dozen people were arguing fiercely, as if they were sharing a piece of fat; their voices were very low, as if they didn't want more people to know.

Sullivan was used to such scenes, so there must be great interests in it.He forced his way over and found that what the group of people crowded in front of the ball table was a purchase form written in both Chinese and English.

"Rubber, cotton cloth, wheat, rice, copper ingots, gasoline, kerosene, freighters, railroad tracks, scrap iron and steel..." There are more than a dozen categories and hundreds of sub-items on the purchase form, indicating the quantity, price, and delivery date.

Judging from the letterhead and seal of the form, this is a government procurement carried out by the newly established Shanghai Municipality. The key is that Germany's Deutsche Bank has guaranteed these procurements.

"The price of a pound of rubber is 12 shillings?" Sullivan stared at this.He is well aware that the export cost of a pound of rubber from rubber plantations in Southeast Asia is less than 2 shillings.

There is a sixfold profit in this.

Now Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and other rubber and rice producing countries are basically controlled by Britain and France.These British gentlemen in front of the table have their own channels to purchase goods from Southeast Asia.

Sullivan could see clearly that the orders for 100 tons of rice and [-] meters of Indian cotton cloth on the purchase order had been divided up, and the relevant columns had been crossed out. The order for [-] million pounds of rubber was also eaten up by half.

"In order to make huge profits, you are willing to treason?!" Sullivan shouted righteously, and the next second he lowered his voice, "Where did this purchase order come from?"

A gentleman shook his head, "The Chinese government has not declared war on China, so how can it be treason? This is a purchase made by the Chinese government based on its national reputation, which is reasonable and legal."

"China has destroyed five ships of our navy, and it is already a potential enemy country." Sullivan slapped the table with righteous indignation, and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid that you won't get paid?"

Another gentleman sneered: "The Chinese army has the right to conduct military operations on its own soil. The important thing is that it won, didn't it? There was no response from our government.

As for the issue of payment, firstly, there is a guarantee from Deutsche Bank, and in addition, China's annual customs tax can be at least 5000 million silver dollars, which is enough to pay. "

Another gentleman who was on the phone said displeasedly: "Stop talking nonsense, the latest news from the 'Zhongye Gong'. The order of 100 million pounds of rubber has been eaten by an American."

Oh... hell!

A dozen Brits were annoyed.

Rubber orders are the most profitable, but you need to pay a deposit to sign a contract with the Shanghai government-yes, the seller will give a deposit.

The British guy in the billiards room was extremely jealous of the rubber order, and the quarrel just now was to use telephone and telegram to raise the supply of goods and the deposit-if the delivery could not be delivered in time, not only would they not be able to make money, but the deposit would be confiscated.

Sullivan squeezed to the table, staring at the remaining columns on the purchase form.He suddenly saw a line, "[-] [-]-ton to [-]-ton inland river steam carriers? Why are there no specific specifications and prices?"

The gentleman on the phone shrugged and said, "Don't count on it. This order has been swallowed up by the German government. In order to get the order, Deutsche Bank provides low-interest loans for it.

Germany's four major shipyards have indicated that they can send people to build shipyards in China to manufacture these ships, using China's steel, coal and labor to keep costs down. "

Twenty thousand inland river transport ships are not worth mentioning to industrial countries, but they are enough to keep several shipyards busy for several years.This thing has a fast construction speed and moderate technical content, which is just right for cultivating industrial population.

In order to build ships, the Germans even plan to build steel factories in China.Otherwise, China's current annual steel output of 80 tons is simply not enough.

After the construction of these ships is completed, they will be put into transportation in the Yangtze River and Pearl River basins, which will greatly stimulate the country's economic development.As the shipyard develops, it can naturally be used for shipbuilding.

"When was the German guy so kind?" Sullivan felt incredible.

"Because the profits are high." The gentleman on the phone shrugged. "Who can resist 100% or even two hundred profits? The Chinese military has demonstrated its strength, and we believe in its government's ability to pay."

The phone in his hand rang, he grabbed it and shouted 'Hello', and after a while he shouted joyfully: "Want textile machinery? Second-hand ones are fine too? No problem.

I have a [-]-spindle textile factory in Calcutta, India. It is the latest steam-powered textile machine, which can be transferred at original price.Wait, you said that I am allowed to set up a factory in China? "

The gentleman on the phone was a little taken aback.He put down the microphone and yelled loudly: "Gentlemen, please allow me to leave for a while. It seems that some changes have taken place in the policies of the Chinese government. Wait for me to come back and treat you to a drink."

Good luck is always a pleasure, and the Brit who grabbed the order left very happy.Sullivan also congratulated him, while keeping an eye on the only remaining purchases on the table.

Not only the dozen or so British guys from the general club can grab orders, the city government's purchase orders are open to the whole society, except for the Japanese who were arrested in concentration camps, any law-abiding citizens at home and abroad can participate.

The total purchase amount of this time exceeds 2000 million pounds, and the delivery or construction of the factory will basically be started this year.

The central government of the imperial capital relies on the Shanghai Municipal Government to implement it.Although the premium is high, all of them are materials and equipment that are urgently needed in China.It is very important for expanding the scale of domestic industry.

How to spend the 2000 million pounds cannot be resolved with a few phone calls.But the signing of the intentional contract is enough to make the foreigners who are still in Shanghai arouse unstoppable greed.

Although Sullivan loves Great Britain, he also came to Shanghai in the Far East to seek money.When he found that he could only watch this feast of wealth, he paused and was extremely annoyed.

Thinking about it again, there are so many "traitors" who are greedy for money and profit to support the enemy. I am afraid that the course of this conflict between China and Britain is really unpredictable.

Chapter 40

Sullivan couldn't stay in the building of the Shanghai General Assembly.He felt that a serious crisis was approaching—the Chinese government had made a choice, risking the possibility of war with Britain, but also driving the influence of Great Britain out of the country.

But the British government's response was too slow. There was a lot of news from London, but it was generally noisy.For such a big matter, no bureaucrats came out to make a decision.

Either go to war or compromise, but the stubbornness of the British bureaucracy is vividly reflected-the navy is not sure of victory; the prime minister's office is unwilling to take responsibility; the parliament is urging the war.

All parties in London seemed to be putting on a show, hoping that nothing would hurt their interests.The British Empire is likely to suffer a dumb loss in the Far East.As a subject of Great Britain, Sullivan believed that he could not sit idly by.

The foreign businessmen who stayed in Shanghai were extremely greedy and profit-seeking. They never had any distinction between good and evil, and there were not many restrictions on right and wrong.As long as they can make money, they will not hesitate to serve the enemy.

Finding nothing in the pool room, Sullivan returned to the club bar.The atmosphere in front of the bar seems to be more relaxed. Several gentlemen are talking with their female companions, describing the seemingly crisis at the moment, but in fact there are huge profit margins hidden.

The bartender pours a gaunt Brit.Sullivan recognized the other party in surprise, and whispered: "Anthony, are you still alive?"

The haggard British guy turned his head, blinked numbly, and lay powerlessly on the bar counter, without saying a word.Sullivan leaned over eagerly and continued to ask, "Have the Chinese released you?"

Anthony picked up the wine glass with a dull expression, as if mentally abnormal.The bartender interrupted Sullivan, "The Shanghai branch of the Political Security Bureau has released some of the detained foreign citizens.

For example, Lieutenant Colonel Wei Lepei, who was captured on the battlefield, admitted that he was ordered to interfere in China's internal affairs, and some managers of Jardine Matheson explained how to recruit mercenaries for Zhang Xun.They exchanged what they knew for the promise of immunity from punishment by the Chinese government.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a large amount of testimonial evidence to the public, which made the British Minister Zhu Erdian in the imperial capital very embarrassed, and slapped the British severely in the public opinion.

Although this can't cause any real harm to Britain, the diplomatic circles all over the world are watching Britain's jokes.

In addition, the Dongya Tongwen Academy run by Japan in Shanghai was completely shut down, and more than 300 Japanese teachers and students were shot as spies.Nabeshima Naodai, president of the academy, is no exception.It is said that he is also a Japanese marquis nobleman and the 11th generation Saga feudal lord. "

The british guy who was drunk suddenly raised his head and said hoarsely, "Ilyas Sassoon of Sassoon was also shot for 'drug trafficking'. I saw his head explode with my own eyes.

On the execution ground, I thought I was going to die too, but the Chinese released me.They gave me two options, one is to find my own way, and the other is to continue working at customs and report within five days. "

A series of news was like a critical blow, buzzing Sullivan's mind.But when he heard the last sentence, he asked anxiously, "Anthony, can you still work in China Customs?"

Anthony nodded bitterly, "After I was arrested in the Political Security Bureau, the Chinese used a strong light on my face. I thought I would never give in, but I overestimated myself.

Within an hour, my spirits were broken.I just want to go home, I just want to escape.I answered everything the Chinese asked, and I just wanted to end the nightmare as soon as possible.

But the Chinese are very flexible. They need to maintain the customs operation, so they asked me if I would like to continue working in Shanghai Customs as a foreign employee.

I was also stunned, I didn't expect them to try to win me over after torturing me.I'm very angry about this, and besides the salary they gave me..."

"Very high?" The bartender quietly interjected as he wiped the wine glass beside him.

Anthony said angrily: "On the contrary, it's very low. The Chinese are only willing to give me a weekly salary of twenty pounds. This is less than one-tenth of my original salary."