People of the same species flock together, and birds of a feather flock together! Foreigners living in Sijiu City also like to get together!
Since the Second Opium War, foreigners gained the right to build embassies, and Dongjiaomin Lane has gradually become the base camp of foreign devils in the capital.
Throughout the late Qing Dynasty, the foreign residential area in Dongjiaomin Lane was expanding year by year. At the beginning, only the embassies of the four countries, Britain, France, the United States and Russia, existed.
After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany was established. When Emperor Tongzhi was in Berlin, he had already sent a telegram to Beijing to quickly prepare to establish diplomatic relations with Germany. At present, the foundation of the German Embassy has been surveyed and the buildings are being repaired.
As for the embassies of Italy, Austria, Spain and other countries, they don’t even have foundations measured at the moment!
The British Embassy is the largest in area, but it is also surrounded by the imperial yamen. To the north of the embassy is the Hanlin Academy and Luan Jia Ku, to the west are the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry, to the east is Prince Su's Mansion across the Yuhe River, and to the south is an alley. It is the embassy of Tsarist Russia.
The embassy of Tsarist Russia is located to the west of Honglu Temple, Qintianjian and Taiyuan Hospital, to the east across the river is Zhanshifu, and to the south is adjacent to Dongjiaomin Lane.
The American Embassy is located south of Dongjiaomin Lane, adjacent to the Huitong Pavilion and the Fourth Interpretation Pavilion, and next to the city wall!
Gordon's house was gifted by Emperor Tongzhi. It is not big but the location is very good. It is in Taiji Factory, just north of the French Embassy and across the street from the Qing Customs Yamen. You can walk a few dozen meters to enter the south gate of the Customs Yamen. !
After leaving the Guaitai Foundation Factory, it only takes 20 minutes to walk at Gordon's pace from the Donghua Gate to the Forbidden City. This location is amazing!
If it were placed in Xiao Letian's previous life, if the house price of this place was less than 100,000 yuan per square meter, it would be the same as picking it up for free! And it’s a building, this is a proper courtyard house!
Gordon is very satisfied with this small courtyard. There are many European faces around, and the church is very close. It is very convenient for worship. Moreover, Da Sixi and the others have already selected the servants who have working experience in the embassy. Some of the natives of the capital are even Catholics!
The Holy Lord showed such kindness to Gordon, and Gordon's heart felt as warm as hot coals. Although it was just a courtyard that he just entered, it was more than enough for him to live alone in his family!
Yesterday, I had a private chat with Emperor Tongzhi for a long time and even gave him a banquet. In the evening, I packed my bags and settled in the small courtyard!
The next day, old friends from the embassies of various countries, including Hurd from the General Administration of Customs, came to visit. Everyone brought gifts to welcome the famous man in front of Emperor Tongzhi.
Gordon specially sent the banquets ordered by Quanjude to his home, and it was a lively party!
In the afternoon, Gordon took a short lunch break. In the evening, he placed the imperial chair in the yard, brewed a purple clay pot of strong tea, looked at the spring flowers blooming in the yard, and almost sang two Peking Operas.
When the servants saw that the master was really a master of China, they did not dare to deceive him and their hands and feet became much more agile!
But just when Gordon was enjoying life, a nasty guest came to the door, and suddenly there was a banging sound on the door from the concierge. Gordon frowned when he heard it!
"Who is that? That's so rude, go take a look..."
The concierge was also angry. Sijiucheng was a place of etiquette. There were rules for knocking on doors. The door knocker was placed there and could not be seen? Why do you dare to bang on the door?
"Hey, hey, who is he? His eyes are on his butt, so he can't see such a big brass door knocker, right?"
The door creaked open a crack, but before he could finish speaking, a strong force came from outside and pushed the disciple away.
"Hahaha... Where is Lord Gordon? If you have a visitor, you won't come to greet him... You... go and tell Gordon that Lord Chengbeile is here!"
Enguang glared from the door, "Boy! You can see, my eyes are on my face, not my butt! You can eat more, but don't talk too much..."
"You are just relying on the foreign master. If it were another family, I would slap all your back molars..."
Menzi didn't expect that it was Zai Cheng who was so vicious. He didn't dare to say anything back and hurriedly lowered his head and ran back, "Sir, Sir... Master Cheng Beile from Prince Gong's Mansion is here!"
Gordon didn't expect it to be him. Although he had never seen him before, he had heard the murderous name many times.
He didn't mean to see it, but after all, he still wanted to be an official in the Qing Dynasty. Prince Gong couldn't get around it, so he could only see him for now!
Zai Cheng didn't need anyone to greet him, he just walked around the screen wall and entered the courtyard without a care in the world!
"Sir Gordon...the first time we met, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Hello...Master Chengbeile...Actually, this is not our first meeting. I met you once when I was at the Prime Minister's Office in the capital seven years ago, but you were still young at that time!"
"Oh... I was really young at that time, so I can't remember it. Please bear with me..."
The two of them exchanged sarcastic and fake polite words in the yard, but in the end Gordon actually had no intention of letting Zai Cheng go to the hall. This made Cheng Beile very angry!
He was always welcome in the capital. He was not allowed to open the middle door to greet anyone he went to, and even a seat in the lobby had to be reserved for him!
Today when we arrived at Gordon's place, we ended up standing in the courtyard chatting. It was so disrespectful!
And Gordon thought more clearly. He and the emperor had made it clear yesterday, and the general strategy was clear. Sooner or later, the faction with Guiziliu would break up!
I am still a foreign devil, so why should I flatter you?
Zai Cheng sneered and said, "Is it possible that your lordship can't bear to part with a glass of wine? Just let the guests stand in the courtyard like this?"
"Sorry, this courtyard was just gifted to me by His Majesty yesterday. I don't have anything at home, and I didn't even have time to buy rice or noodles. I really can't entertain the distinguished guests!"
"In addition, according to our British tradition, the host must invite the host in advance for the banquet. A temporary banquet? I'm sorry, we don't have such rules..."
Hey... What a challenge, this foreigner has no right words at all, he is really disrespectful!
"Okay, okay... Oops... Okay! Tell me, I came all the way to give you a gift to celebrate Lord Gordon's return to the Qing Dynasty!"
"In the end, I couldn't even have a glass of wine... Haha, that's all, bring the gift up and show it to the lord!"
En Guang glared at this and angrily took the wooden box over and opened it in front of Gordon. "Sir, please close your eyes!"
Gordon saw that it was covered with red cloth and he didn't know what it was. Out of curiosity, he stretched out his hand to lift the red cloth and saw the gun at a glance!
"Ah! God! Where did you get it!"
Gordon grabbed the half-old revolver and searched carefully to find the English letters engraved on the handle. There was no mistake that it was the gun that his friend Bai Qiwen had used back then!
"You, you, you...where did you get this gun? Tell me..."
Zai Cheng looked at Gordon with a smile, "Now Sir, you have to reward me with a chair, right?"
