The silver was blackened by gunpowder smoke and dyed red by blood. When the gunshots stopped, the killing field shocked everyone. Many old people recalled the bloody scene during the Long Hair Festival.
After the war, the battlefield was inventoried, and a total of eighteen corpses of French assassins were found. Another one fell into the Huangpu River and no one has tried to salvage it. Nineteen French Assassins were wiped out.
There were four British assassins, all senior patrol policemen in the British Concession. One was killed and the other three were seriously injured.
Just when Suzuki Tai and others wanted to put these criminals on trial, the British Consul in Shanghai, Bo Fule, led the British sailors and forcibly snatched away the body of the three seriously injured people and the deceased.
"We have extraterritorial jurisdiction. The British committed crimes in the Qing Dynasty and can only be tried by us!"
The old shopkeeper angrily pointed at the blood stains on the ground and the corpses of Qing people scattered everywhere, "You are going to judge? Who will be responsible for the lives of us Chinese!"
Bufor said arrogantly, "I'm sorry that something like this happened. The British side will provide certain compensation to the victims, but the bulk should still come from the French concession!"
"With all due respect, your arrogant display of the compensation silver and works of art this time is inappropriate in itself...have you not noticed that the French Concession has already protested?"
"Up to now, not a single official from the French Concession has attended the welcome ceremony... It was you who invited the assassin because of your own troubles. You should reflect on it!"
The Chinese people present were angry, the crowd began to make noises, and the families of the victims began to crowd forward, and then Suzuki Tai's Marines also came forward with murderous intent.
"What do you want to do? Do you dare to threaten the British Empire with force? Soldiers, protect our citizens!"
The British soldiers rushed forward quickly, vigilantly defending the approaching Chinese soldiers and civilians with their bayonets. The fierce-looking Buffol shouted loudly, "We have extraterritoriality. This is a treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty and us. How dare you deny it?"
"There are warships from the British Empire at the Huangpu River estuary. If you dare to attack the concession, we will bombard the entire Shanghai!"
"Stand back, let's see who of you dares to rob someone! Who dares to make a mistake!"
Just when the atmosphere was extremely tense, suddenly a Buddha's call came from behind the crowd, "Amitabha!" The crowd immediately moved away, and a monk wearing half-worn blue-gray monk's robes came out.
"Consul Bufor, ask your soldiers to put down their bayonets. Are you willing to have a chat with me, a monk..."
"Sakamoto Ryoma?" None of the big shots present knew him, and even the British had information about him.
Since ancient times, human beings have always had a certain respect for religious people. Seeing the appearance of the great monk Longshi, Bufur also quickly found a step to get off.
"Yes, Mr. Ryoma, you can come here...get out of the way!"
Sakamoto Ryoma walked into the British defense circle, looked at the injured man and shook his head, "Bandage it first, be careful not to bleed!"
"Consul Bufor, let me make a long story short. Your British Concession must apologize for today's incident..." Before Bufor could protest, Sakamoto Ryoma lowered his voice and snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Put away your arrogance. You can show off your British empire in front of any ethnic group in Asia, but don't be arrogant in front of the Chinese!"
"Why are you looking so ugly? You even want to threaten me?"
"Yes, the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets is very powerful. Not to mention the Chinese, even if the combined strength of all the countries in East Asia is no match for you!"
"But you seem to have forgotten that we will not fight against the British Empire at all. We can throw all our hatred on your head!"
"You!" Bufu's face suddenly turned pale.
"Hahaha... don't even think about how well received the head of state is in the UK. Do you think Benjamin's resignation did not have the energy of the head of state?"
"The Queen can give up the royal palace to the head of state to live in... The whole aristocratic circle and political stars in London, so we Chinese have nothing to do with it?"
"Don't challenge our dignity, we have plenty of ways to deal with you...not the British Empire!"
"We can use your connections with political opponents to impeach you desperately. We will accuse you of corruption, adultery, and selling state secrets... We will spend a lot of money to buy your allies and make you a loner in British politics!"
"Believe me, we can do it! With all due respect, a diplomat of your level seems not qualified to have afternoon tea with the Queen, right?"
"In that case, why are you so awesome? What are you so arrogant about? Tell me..."
Bufur's legs were trembling at this moment. He never expected that a religious figure could be so rogue, and his tricks were simply impossible to decipher.
Xiao Letian is not capable of killing the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, but he is capable of killing you, a British politician! You can't even bear the dirty water being thrown at me!
"God...God...No wonder people say you have Xiao Letian's blood...you are a monster just like him, a monster!"
"What do you want?" Bufur was as horrified as a little girl who met a gangster.
"Haha, it's okay. I want to see your public apology in the newspaper tomorrow. You can take away these three assassins...but since they killed so many Chinese people, the death penalty is inevitable!"
"Public shooting by the Huangpu River, you have to calm us down!"
"You don't have to worry about France's compensation. Anyway, for all the victims today, each person will be compensated with one hundred pounds, and the injured will be compensated with twenty pounds!"
"Just these three conditions! I didn't violate extraterritoriality, right? I let you judge by yourself, isn't it okay to say these things yourself?"
Bufur had no room for bargaining. After thinking about it carefully, his political future was the most important, and everything else could be discussed!
After reaching a verbal agreement, Sakamoto Ryoma walked back and said, "Suzuki Tai!"
Bang, Suzuki Tai of the Foreign Legion gave a military salute respectfully. You must know that Fuso officers of Suzuki Tai's level know the secret.
When the head of state is away, Sakamoto Ryoma can mobilize two divisions of foreign legion troops. In other words, Sakamoto Ryoma has military power in his hands and is the commander of the foreign legion after the head of state!
"Suzuki is too careful to follow the commander's orders!"
"Disperse the soldiers and let the British go... Soldiers should not get involved in diplomatic disputes!"
"Yes! Everyone disperse and let the British go back to the concession!"
The entire conflict was resolved. No matter how angry the people present were, the Chinese troops made a decision and no one else dared to refute it.
Immediately afterwards, Shanghai Road officials began to clean up the scene, and the statistics came out that night. The attack caused a total of 54 Chinese civilian casualties.
That night, old shopkeeper Fan Jian hosted a banquet in the bank building for the returning Suzuki Tai and other senior Chinese officials. Even Ryoma Sakamoto was present.
After a few glasses of wine, the old shopkeeper burst into tears, "I just found out today that it's not easy for my uncle! These French people are too difficult to deal with. They are really powerful enemies!"
Suzuki Taiya drank a few more drinks, describing the scenes he saw in France.
"It's scary. It's a country that has been completely brainwashed by nationalism. All the people are soldiers!"
