Gaoji had Yanyin as a mortgage, so he called together the wealthy merchants in the city: foreign merchants, salt merchants and Chaozhou merchants to share the loan per person. Although the interest on this loan was not high, with Yanyin as a mortgage, there was no loss. As a result, the 400,000 taels of silver were quickly divided. [Read the latest chapter] Gao Ji couldn't help bragging a lot, and his prestige among Guangzhou businessmen also improved.
The fact that Gao Ji had borrowed money to redeem the city was soon spread through Meng Xian's channels. As one of the largest exchange banks in Guangzhou, Delong also lent 5,000 taels of "city redemption fee" in this collective loan.
After Gao Ju collected the silver, except for the 300,000 taels that Li Fengjie sent out in batches to the Australian military camp outside the city, the remaining 100,000 taels were deposited in Delong according to his wishes. Make a note and hand it to Governor Li.
Boxes of silver were checked one by one in the military camp and shipped one by one. This cash will greatly alleviate the current problem of insufficient reserves of precious metals at high prices.
Gao Ju personally visited the military camp outside the city several times and presented Wen Desi and others with a large number of gifts, as well as a lot of sheep wine to reward the three armies. This time, his attitude towards the Australians became more respectful. They were not only rich and capable tycoons, but also robbers armed to the teeth. Fortunately, they are also businessmen who keep their word. As business partners, the Australians are exemplary.
Gao Ji is happy that he can maintain a good cooperative relationship with the Australians. In addition to Eunuch Yang, the Australians can also be a great backer. Compared with the greedy Eunuch Yang, the Australians are obviously among the "rich people" The kind of person who shares all interests.
The gifts given by Gao Zhou were of high value, and most of them were luxuries and luxuries of this era. Wen Desi was very satisfied after seeing them, and his caregiver accepted them all. After listening to Gao Zhou's compliments, the two sides talked freely about their future development. “Wider scope” and “deeper” cooperation. He readily expressed his willingness to provide the capital's political and business channels that Gao Zhi had been reluctant to provide.
During the last visit, He Chengzong also went with him, and the two parties reached an agreement on launching the second phase of negotiations in Macau. According to Li Fengjie's wishes, Li Luoyou will be specifically responsible for the negotiations in Macau. As for the time for the Australians themselves to return to Guangzhou, Li Fengjie requested mid-December - after the commotion has subsided.
Later, Wen Desi and others hosted a banquet at Gao Ju, He Chengzong and his entourage in a fake jingshe. The two parties exchanged glasses, toasted several times, and then presented gifts, including Li Fengjie and others, who all had valuable Australian goods as gifts. The host and guest parted happily.
Now that the city redemption fee has been paid, there is no need for the task force to stay outside the city. Chen Haiyang and others levied a "reasonable burden" outside the city, and after fully demonstrating the unrest, they chose a day to withdraw from the province.
On November 2o, the task force fired 24 guns. The entire army boarded ships and left the camp. The task force arrived at Humen that evening. Join the remaining troops in Humen. Most of the facilities here have been dismantled, and the supplies have been transferred to Hong Kong, leaving only two squadrons of special agent boats and one naval company to continue to be stationed - this is a bargaining chip reserved for the next step of negotiations with the Guangdong local government. After resting for a night, Chen Haiyang and others led the fleet to leave the Humen Anchorage, pass Macau, Mo Daoyang, and enter Victoria Bay at noon on the 21st. The fleet finally anchored at the Central Anchorage. The two-month-long "Pearl River Basin Crusade" came to an end.
In the past two months, the construction of the 852 base in Hong Kong has begun rapidly - a large number of prisoners have enriched the labor force. When Chen Haiyang and the others returned to Base 852, several outposts and forts covering the entrances and exits of waterways around Hong Kong had been completed. The first major road built near Central is currently under intense construction. The road roughly follows the coastline. Hong Kong's first wharves, warehouses, and trading houses will be developed along this road.
Because the negotiations have not yet officially ended, the General Military Administration's telegram to the task force is to rest on the spot in Hong Kong. Some ships that need repair and maintenance can return to Lingao, and other ship personnel continue to be on standby. As soon as the negotiations broke down, they re-entered the Pearl River and launched operations.
Li Luoyou witnessed the Australian fleet sailing out of the Pearl River Estuary escorted by small boats emitting black smoke. He knew that the overall situation had been decided - the most urgent thing now was to clean up the mess. Sure enough, an order came from Guangzhou to immediately start negotiations with the Australians.
Li Luoyou's mood for this negotiation was both conflicting and looking forward to. The expectation is that after this negotiation, trade can resume and normal life on both sides of the Pearl River will return to normal. Whether from the perspective of his personal interests or the interests of the people, concluding a peace treaty with the Australians is of great significance.
The reason why he felt conflicted was because he already knew what the Australians had done on the Pearl River in the past two months. The officers and soldiers once again showed their absolute incompetence. The Australians, with dozens of boats and one or two thousand people, were wreaking havoc on both sides of the Pearl River as if they were in no man's land, extorting "reasonable burdens" everywhere, and killing many local squires. , captured thousands of prisoners and took away a lot of property.
What the Australians are doing is like being a slave again. Of course, they were more polite to the common people than the beast-like slaves. They did not arrest people at will, nor did they rob, murder and set fire everywhere. He's just very ruthless towards the rebels. Li Luoyou is keenly aware that Australians are much smarter and more dangerous than establishing slaves.
The location for the negotiation was chosen to be Huang Shunlong's private residence. Huang Shunlong felt honored to serve both shopkeeper Li and the Australians, so he set aside the best courtyard for their use.
The negotiator sent by Lingao was Skade, the office director of the Ministry of Colonization and Trade. This peace advocate has always advocated negotiating peace with the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible and even accepting peace. This time the executive committee agreed with him to negotiate peace, but did not allow any "recruitment".
In addition to the conditions already agreed upon in Guangzhou, such as the return of all Zihao properties, compensation for losses, and the resumption of bilateral trade, Si Kaide also made six demands:
First, Australians are free to purchase and hire people, and can dispose of them and export them as they please, and the government is not allowed to interfere.
Second, all ships under Australian names entering Guangzhou for trade are not taxed. The goods on board are exempted from taxation, that is, they are exempted from paying customs duties.
Third, Zihao and other Australian industrial and commercial enterprises will continue to pay various official business taxes, but they will be exempted from all unfavorable regulations.
Fourth, Australians enjoy extraterritoriality in Guangzhou, and all arrests, detentions and interrogations involving Australians require the consent of the Australians.
Fifth, Australians can freely purchase land and build houses in Guangzhou.
Sixth, Hong Kong Island and surrounding outlying islands are controlled by Australians. Quasi-Australians act freely on it.
Skade finished reading these six items. Li Luoyou felt a little relieved - there was no such thing as terrible compensation or coins. Because of the lessons learned from the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was extremely vigilant against such things. But the last item caught his attention. Doesn't this so-called "control" mean that he wants to cede Hong Kong Island?
In the history of the Ming Dynasty, Xiangshan Ao was far less famous than Hao Jing Ao. Even businessmen like Li Luoyou, who had been doing business along the coast of Guangdong for a long time, were not very familiar with it. However, regardless of whether they were familiar with it or not, ceding the land was absolutely necessary. .
"It is absolutely impossible to cede Xiangshan Ao." Li Luoyou knew very well that this little-known island is probably under the control of the Australians now. Their request to add this clause during negotiations is nothing more than excessive. It's just a matter of showing the way and confirming one's own rights.
Skade said nothing and continued to listen to his statement.
"... Not to mention that Lord Fujun dared not agree to this request to cede Hong Kong Island, even the emperor dared not mention the word 'land cession'." Li Luoyou said, "Furthermore, Lord Fujun also dared not agree to this clause. I dare not report it to the imperial court in order to reach heaven to hear it."
Si Kaide continued to remain silent. These issues were also mentioned by Yu Eshui of the Great Library when the negotiation conditions were drafted - as far as the current situation is concerned, Ming Dynasty is required to sign a treaty similar to the "Treaty of Nanjing" It is institutionally impossible. No governor or governor would dare sign such a document.
"Furthermore, the imperial court is extremely wary of people from overseas, and the debate over the ban on Shanghai and its release has never stopped. You still have to come to Guangzhou openly and pretend to be Australians, let alone Mr. Fujun. He cannot cover the sky with one hand - there are several officials in this city who can directly report to the imperial court - even if he can do it, what will happen if the governor of Guangdong changes his position? "
Si Kaide was very convinced: "What do you think, sir?"
"This matter can only be known to you and me, and it must not be told to the world." Li Luoyou said.
Li Luoyou said that the Guangdong local government could only secretly agree to the various conditions proposed by the Australians. Both parties were silent about their wealth, and they could not openly state it in writing, let alone blatantly use the banner of the Australians.
The Ming government prohibited all foreigners from living and doing business in Guangzhou. Except for the Portuguese who had the privilege of entering Guangzhou twice a year for trade, no foreigners could live in Guangzhou. Of course not Australians either.
If this power is forcibly demanded, even if Li Fengjie is willing to sue for it, the back and forth in the court will never come to fruition in just three or four years.
"Fortunately, Australians are also of Chinese descent, and their faces are no different from those of Ming Dynasty people. Why don't you just continue to be Ming Dynasty people?" Li Luoyou came up with a plan to let them pretend to be Aboriginal in Guangzhou.
As long as the identity problem is solved, everything can be solved.
Since he is a native of Guangzhou, he can buy land, build a house, buy and sell people, hire workers, etc. The government will never interfere. As for large-scale population export, Li Luoyou believes that as long as it is transported away The government will not only not obstruct the influx of refugees from other places, but will also welcome them - otherwise they would have prevented Australians from exporting people from Guangzhou a few years ago.
As for the second article, the issue of ship tax, since Australians are considered indigenous to Guangzhou, and the ship sails between Lingao and Guangzhou, it is an authentic domestic coastal trade, so there is no need to pay the tax of overseas merchant ships and foreign ships. Necessary quotas and water taxes.
As for the third tax exemption issue, as long as we can reach a tacit agreement with the government, it is of course not a problem - the commercial taxes of the Ming Dynasty were not high in the first place. As long as the merchants had a certain backing, local officials did not dare to demand excessive extortion, and the merchants paid taxes. Not much pressure. Of course, some necessary bad rules are unavoidable, but given the reputation of Australians for killing people without blinking an eye, I'm afraid no one would want to take this money blindly.
Regarding the request for extraterritoriality, Li Luoyou smiled bitterly and said: "You still care about this? There is no one in Guangzhou who is so blind that he can punish your crimes. You are now a wealthy gentry. If a picture is sent to the Yamen, you are committing murder and arson." Even the gangsters can be saved."
Regarding the issue of Hong Kong Island, Li Luoyou firmly opposed their occupation of Hong Kong Island. I think the governor will never agree to this matter.
"The Fujun can only turn a blind eye to this matter. It is absolutely impossible for you to rent this place like the Portuguese." Li Luoyou said, "This matter is not a trivial matter. The Portuguese can settle in Hao Jing'ao because of their luck. Don't force it."
After more than ten days of bargaining and exchanges of letters and telegrams from both parties to Guangzhou and Lingao, the two parties finally reached an agreement in principle in Macau. It was later called the "Treaty of Macau" in history, but there is great controversy among imperial historians as to whether this agreement was a real treaty. The mainstream view is that this treaty can only be regarded as a memorandum of understanding between the empire and the local government of the Ming Dynasty. The text of the treaty was not formally signed and sealed, and even the text preserved by the Ming Dynasty could not be found later. It is not an international treaty in the true sense. This document can only be implemented in Guangdong with the powerful force of the empire's ships and artillery.
Since the Guangdong government concluded this treaty in private, it would certainly not be publicly stored in the archives. It was just stored in Li Luoyou's mansion as a top-secret private document for future reference. This text has long been lost. According to the text preserved in the Great Library, the entire Treaty of Macau has eleven articles.
1. Australians are free to go to Guangzhou and several surrounding prefectures and counties under the control of the Guangdong Governor's Yamen to live, do business, and farm, and can bring their family members, servants, and clerks. However, they must pretend to be natives of Guangdong and cannot openly call themselves Australians.
2. All affairs involving Australians in Guangzhou are handled by the Purple Shopkeeper. If there are any business or civil disputes, he has the full authority to come forward and deal with them with the government.
3. All Australian properties in Guangzhou are subject to tax as usual in accordance with government regulations, except for miscellaneous fees and various fees.
4. Australians can buy land and real estate in Guangzhou.
5. Australian ships entering Guangzhou for trade are exempt from paying all rates, quotas and fees. However, it must pretend to be a Ming ship and cannot call itself an Australian ship. Otherwise, taxable fees will not be exempted
6. Australians can freely conduct any trade in Guangzhou and transport goods, gold and silver in and out freely, and the government shall not interfere.
7. Australians can hire and purchase people in Guangzhou. and the freedom to take them wherever Australians wish.
8. The Guangdong government will not interfere with Australians repairing ships in Xiangshan Ao.
9. All properties, land, trade names and property owned by the original Australians in Guangzhou will be returned. Since some of the goods have been sold and some of the money-making equipment have been destroyed, the two parties have now reached an agreement that the Guangdong side will pay a one-time payment of 30,000 taels of Kuping silver as compensation.
10. All Ming people implicated in the previous round of arrests of Australians shall not be infringed upon by the government, and all those who have been captured will be released. The government will pay a one-time payment of 5,000 taels of Kuping silver as compensation for the property it infringes upon.
11. After all compensation, release and return work is completed, all Australian troops stationed in Humen will be evacuated.
In addition to the eleven paragraphs, there are additional treaties and several agreements. Many details were drawn up personally by the arbitral tribunal's staff, and the writing format was very solemn.
Generally speaking, the Executive Committee does not attach great importance to this treaty, because this treaty is generally just a private agreement reached between the Senate and Li Fengjie. The binding force on the Ming Dynasty government was limited to the period when Li Fengjie was in charge of Guangdong. Once Li Fengjie resigns, the entire agreement will become invalid.
However, the traditional characteristic of Chinese officialdom is that the inheritance of bad rules is extremely serious. As long as this agreement operates smoothly for a few years and an interest group is formed around it, the newly replaced Guangdong Governor will have no choice but to do anything. Furthermore, according to the current development momentum, it is still unknown how long the Ming Dynasty can maintain its rule in Guangdong, and how many governors of Guangdong can be replaced.
The reason why this low-level memorandum had to have detailed terms and grand style was because the main intention of the memorandum was to satisfy the Senate - to give the senators a sense of satisfaction that they had signed an unequal treaty. In Ma Jia's view, the countless goods, people and the 300,000 taels of city redemption fees brought back by the task force were worth all the treaties.
Although the treaty itself was of little significance, after the telegram of the signing of the Treaty of Macau reached Lingao, the Senate still ordered that 24 cannons be fired at Bopu and the whistle should be blown for one minute as a celebration.
The Macau Treaty did not involve the disposal of the remnants of He Rubin's troops trapped in Qiongshan. Li Fengjie believed that this matter had nothing to do with him in the first place, and so far, no state or county in Qiongzhou Prefecture had reported a fault, so he was happy to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
On the day after celebrating the signing of the Macau Treaty, news came from Guangdong: Wang Zunde, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, died of illness while taking office in Zhaoqing, and Governor Dayin was temporarily cared for by Li Fengjie.
As a result, the task of how to clean up the mess in Qiongshan and rescue He Rubin's troops fell on Li Fengjie. Of course, he can continue to play deaf and dumb until the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi comes to take over and let him deal with it. But Li Fengjie had an idea in his heart: he hoped that he could change from "nursing" to "agency", and finally become a full-time employee directly. For this reason, he sent Pegasus to pass the message to Beijing and asked the master of his Zhezi Study Room to move around in Beijing immediately. At the same time, he sent Li Luoyou to Lingao again to try to reach an agreement with the Australians on the rescue of He Rubin's remnants as soon as possible.
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