The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 687 Everyone else has compensated, why shouldn’t they compensate me?
After a while, the Green Camp withdrew one after another, and the incident in Shisanhang suddenly became a farce.

However, the turmoil was far from over. Consuls from various countries saw that Chen Zhengwei was ferocious and the matter would become a topic of conversation in the days to come.

After the Green Camp withdrew, the American minister and consul finally arrived. When they entered the consulate, they saw a section of the wall had collapsed. Both of them frowned, wondering if a conflict had occurred.

I saw Chen Zhengwei sitting at the table having morning tea.

"Mr. Chen!"

"Have you been police officers before?" Chen Zhengwei asked after looking up at the two of them.

"No..." Both of them shook their heads, not knowing why Chen Zhengwei said that.

"What the police like most is to clean the floor after everything is over. You always wait until everything is over before you come. I thought it was your habit when you were police officers!" Chen Zhengwei said while eating.

Both of them looked a little embarrassed. George Seward said, "Mr. Chen, I sent a telegram to Washington in the middle of the night and have been waiting for Washington's reply. Washington said... that he supports Mr. Chen's decision! Even if it means war!"

"In addition, the president was shot and is still receiving treatment."

This is what George Seward just found out.

"I know this!" Chen Zhengwei curled his lips: "Next, you go and negotiate with the Qing officials! Two of my people died in prison, and five were skinned! Let them pay 300 million silver dollars! Otherwise, we will go to war!"

"They pay compensation every time anyway. They pay so much to the Japanese, so much to the British, and so much to the Russians. Why shouldn't they pay me?"

"There is no such truth in the world."

"Mr. Chen, I will definitely negotiate with them! This is my duty!" George Seward said immediately.

As for the consul, there is not much he can do with the minister here.

The only use is that I am familiar with the officials and environment in Guangzhou.

After sending the two away, Chen Zhengwei continued to eat while saying to Lin Changning: "As a big boss, sometimes you have to show off your horses!"

"Do you know why?"

"Pulling a group of people out to stand there is to tell others that you are strong, powerful, and have the support of others, and you have money!"

"That way others will come to you!"

"Everyone is here to make a living!" Lin Changning smiled. She had seen those gangs in Singapore.

"So you don't understand! People's hearts are like this!" Chen Zhengwei said, "I'm so powerful here, and those Cantonese people know that we are doing well in San Francisco when they see it!"

“They went to San Francisco on their own initiative without anyone looking for them!”

"Look at those thugs outside. Do you know how much their clothes cost? At least six dollars!"

"Do you know how much this Guangzhou person earns per month?"

"How many?"

Chen Zhengwei thought about it and realized that someone had told him about this, but he had forgotten about it.

"Call those guys over! The ones who were caught before!" Chen Zhengwei ordered Li Xiwen.

After a while, a few henchmen came in, unable to conceal their excitement on their faces: "Brother Wei!"

We got our revenge last night, and just now we saw Brother Wei scare away the Guangzhou government officials, so we are all very excited now.

"Tell me about the situation in Guangzhou. How much does an average person in Guangzhou earn per month?"

"Ordinary people have at most two taels of silver! That's about 3 US dollars!" said one of them.

Now one tael of silver is about 1.5 US dollars.

"Why does it sound even worse than the workers in Peru?" Chen Zhengwei paused with his chopsticks and looked up.

“Workers in Peru still make $5 a month!”

"Otherwise how will they go out to sea?" several thugs laughed.

"Ordinary people may not even be able to get two taels of silver! If there are more children in the family, they won't even have enough to eat! And life is not just about eating, clothes, kerosene, everything costs money!"

"Then tell me, do they want to go out and make a lot of money?" Chen Zhengwei asked again.

"Of course I do. Who doesn't want to find a way to survive? It's just that we are unfamiliar with the place overseas and don't know what's going on. If we don't have any other choice, few people would dare to leave!"

Chen Zhengwei looked at Lin Changning and said, "That's exactly what it is! Let them see that I can protect them and know that I am strong in the United States. They can make a lot of money by following me, so they will naturally follow me."

This is also one of the main purposes of his coming to Guangzhou.

The demonstration is not only for the officials in Guangdong, but also for ordinary people.

No matter how much they heard, it was all lies, but what they saw with their own eyes was real.

"This time, Lin Fuyuan has dealt with some people. When the time comes, as long as we spread a little word, those people will find a boat and leave on their own."

The county magistrates bribed by Lin Fuyuan, such as those in Panyu County, Xin'an County, and Fu'an County, all facilitated smuggling.

As long as the connections between the upper and lower levels are established and the news is spread, people will naturally rush to these counties.

Then ships were arranged to send people to Ryukyu at regular intervals, and to the United States every once in a while.

The road is opened.

What remains is to let those officials in Guangdong know that they are not easy to mess with, turn a blind eye to this matter, and not jump out to cause trouble.

"Brother Wei, there are a group of people here. If they knew there was a way to make a living in San Francisco, they might go there with their families."

"Who?" Chen Zhengwei asked. From the other party's tone, he knew that they were not ordinary people.

"Tanka people!"

"Tell me what happened!" said Chen Zhengwei.

"They are none of the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Even the poorest people on the shore are commoners, but they are different. They are untouchables."

"Those people have nothing but a boat. They eat, drink, defecate and urinate on the boat. The men fish, man the boat and do hard labor, while the women become prostitutes! When boys are born, they go fishing, and when girls are born, they are sold to other families. When they grow up, they become prostitutes again."

"Most of the seven or eight thousand flower boats on the river are them!"

"People call them crooked hooves because they have been on the boat for so long that their legs can't be straightened and their bodies are short."

"They are fishing and eating fish in the river, and they smell like fish. I guess Brother Wei wouldn't like them..." The henchman talked for a while, and he also felt that Chen Zhengwei might look down on these people.

Chen Zhengwei really looked down on it.

Knowing that these people grew up sailing, I think they are good candidates for the navy.

But if you can't even straighten your legs, that's a problem. After thinking for a moment, he felt that these people were still useful, so he asked, "How many of these people are there?"

"In Guangzhou alone, there are at least 100,000! There are also many in other parts of Guangdong and Fujian."

"Find out the situation of those people and give it to me!"

The fishing industry in Los Angeles also needs to develop, and these people will always come in handy.

And the proportion of women is high, even if they have some defects...what is there to choose from among the Chinese in Los Angeles?

There are more than 200,000 Chinese people now, and less than 10,000 of them are women.

They saw that the sows were all pretty, and many of them married Mexican women.

According to what Ma Zai said, these people are also untouchables in Guangzhou. No matter how poor they are, they look down on them. These people are already so poor that they have nothing to lose.

If there is a way to make a living in San Francisco, many people would go there with their families.

In addition, the legs cannot be straightened because the bones have been shaped because he has been on the boat since he was a child.

But those who are younger can still recover.

It would be nice to pick some of them as navy later.

After dinner, Chen Zhengwei said to Lin Changning and Wanyun, "Go change your clothes and go out for a walk!"

Then he said to Li Xiwen, "Arrange a hundred people to follow me out."

After a while, when Lin Changning and Wanyun changed their clothes, Chen Zhengwei staggered out with a cigar in his mouth.

After leaving the consular gate, Chen Zhengwei looked around and saw that it was quite lively in the distance.

This is Shisanhang, which is the most lively place in Guangzhou.

It was right in front of the consulate, and it was deserted.

"It's so lively over there, but it's so quiet here that there's not even a ghost!" Chen Zhengwei pointed to the distance and said:
"I can tell from the first glance that this Guangzhou Consul has no manners!"

“Everyone walks around him!”

Li Xiwen scratched his head and said nothing.

It was quite lively when I came here yesterday.

It would be strange if there was any bustle here considering what happened at the door this morning.

"Don't forget to have someone clean up this place and rebuild the wall later!" Chen Zhengwei said as he walked to one side and pointed at the collapsed wall.

On this street, there is the consulate on one side and shops on the other. When the shop owners saw Chen Zhengwei and the guards behind him, they hid in their shops and peeked out.

Although it has only been one day, everyone knows that this person is not to be messed with.

As Chen Zhengwei led his men to the bustling area, the entire street was in chaos. Everyone hid on both sides of the road and secretly looked at this group of people.

Generally speaking, beautiful women like Lin Changning and Wanyun are the most eye-catching.

But no matter who they are, the first person they see is Chen Zhengwei, as if there is light on him.

Then you notice other people.

The guards around Chen Zhengwei were all wearing uniform hunting suits, and the material and workmanship of the clothes were obviously expensive.

It wasn't until these people passed by that people started whispering behind them.

“Are these people from the Qing Dynasty?”

"It is said that they came back from abroad! Those piglets who went out to sea made a fortune overseas!"

"There are so many silk shops here! Much more than in San Francisco!" Wan Yun said excitedly as she followed Chen Zhengwei. Women can't walk when they see beautiful silk.

"Remember this, I'll ask the Qing Dynasty to compensate me with another shipload of silk! If they don't, just wait for the war to start!" Chen Zhengwei said to Li Xiwen.

Lin Changning was both amused and confused. The Qing Dynasty was unlucky to have met him.

"Hey, look at that, is that a brothel?" Chen Zhengwei pointed at a building not far away.

Lin Changning stretched out his hand and twisted Chen Zhengwei's waist. This was a natural instinct.

But for Chen Zhengwei, it was just a mosquito bite.

……

While Chen Zhengwei was wandering around the streets of Shisanhang, Zhang Zhaodong was sitting in the hall discussing matters with Fang Yao after sending a telegram to Li Hongzhang.

"These people have strong ships and powerful guns, so we definitely cannot defeat them! Now it depends on what the imperial court says!" Fang Yao sighed.

"I think Lord Li also thinks it's better not to fight!" Zhang Zhaodong also shook his head.

"I heard from my subordinate Captain Qian that this man is planning to sell guns?" Fang Yao asked what he wanted to know most.

"I don't know about that. But even if he is willing to sell it, it is not our turn to buy it!"

The two men discussed for a moment and decided to wait for the court's decision.

However, it was not long before the American Minister George Seward came to discuss compensation.

……

At the same time, Li Hongzhang received Zhang Zhaodong's telegram and frowned deeply.

Especially the description of the power of the firearms in Chen Zhengwei's hands.

He devoted his entire life to Westernization, but he didn't know that the foreigners' firearms had developed to this level.

Then he called the diplomatic adviser Luo Fenglu.

"Are all the foreigners' muskets so powerful?" Li Hongzhang asked worriedly.

"The muskets of other foreigners are also powerful, but his is particularly powerful. Otherwise, why would even the US government sign an agreement with him? This treaty was signed under duress!" Luo Fenglu said immediately.

"So you must not conflict with him. My lord, it would be best if we could buy a batch of firearms from him. They are much more powerful than those British and French muskets!"

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang's worries were slightly relieved and he nodded slightly.

He then wrote another memorial and had it sent to the capital at full speed.

　There won't be too many plots in Guangzhou, and it will probably be over in two or three days.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)