late Qing Dynasty arrest

Paisi Restaurant is located on the east side of Jingshan Mountain, where you can see the rippling blue lake, and there is a guild hall opened by foreign devils to entertain Chinese friends and foreign devils.You can also see the majestic Bauhinia City, where Western culture takes root right under the eyes of the imperial city.

This kind of guild is a membership system, and Li Guolou joined this guild long ago.But this morning he rushed and forgot to bring his membership card.When he came to the door, he was blocked by the Indian janitor. Fortunately, he was fluent in English, and as soon as he reprimanded him, he asked the Indian janitor to find his friend here, Du Xianyu.

Under the leadership of his friend Du Xianyu, Li Guolou entered the Pace Western Restaurant.Du Xianyu's attire is very similar to Li Guolou's, with a coat, leather boots, and trousers, but the hat is a top hat worn by Westerners.With a well-groomed mustache, he looks like a successful businessman.

After teasing Li Guolou a few words, Du Xianyu and Li Guolou walked into the restaurant inside. The sound in the exquisite restaurant was very soft, and even the sound of spoons and plates could be heard.You can see noble foreign gentlemen and breezy girls with corsets here.Although it is said here to entertain Chinese friends, the difference between foreigners and fake foreign devils can be seen from their respective seats.To the east is the gathering area of ​​fake foreign devils. Eleven fake foreign devils sit on both sides of the long table, waving gracefully, speaking Pidgin English, and exchanging greetings with Li Guolou.

Li Guolou knew their virtues, and some of them could only speak a few sentences in foreign language, and then they combined Chinese and Western English, but first of all, he praised their progress in English.

The English proficiency of Li Guolou who stayed in the British Empire is not at the same level as most of the fake foreign ghosts in it. Most of them are compradors. The English that businessmen come into contact with is used for business. If you talk to them about the most popular in the Western world The topic of Darwinian evolution, these people are all confused.

The fake foreign devils here are also seated in order of status, and Li Guolou sits at the bottom.But people here dare not underestimate Li Guolou, they all know that Li Guolou's family has a strong influence in the south.Some fake foreign devils still had business dealings with Li Guolou's family, knowing that he was a cynical youth, and like them, he was a bit out of tune with the Qing Empire.

Li Guolou snapped his fingers, and "Bo'er" in a bow tie walked over quickly with his chest out and his belly puffed up. Li Guolou reported a long list of dishes, letting everyone see his English level.

Huang Guang smiled and said, "Mister Lee, can you eat so much?"

Li Guolou said: "Mister Huang, I ran all morning, and now I can eat a cow. I ordered a bottle of aperitif, French champagne, please drink together."

Today is the day when the fake foreign devils gather, which is what foreigners call Friday.Usually, I pay for meals by myself, and talk about some interesting topics. In the afternoon, I play cards, chat, smoke cigars, or watch Westerners' singing and dancing performances in the clubhouse.Of course, some white-skinned foreign girls can be found here, but this kind of activity is played by one or several people, and there will not be so many people doing this kind of activity together.

Du Xian is the organizer here. You can see that he has shaved his hair as a Westerner when he took off his hat. He is no longer a member of the Qing Empire, but has become a British citizen. You can feel his aloofness here.

Du Xianyu began to talk at length, and today's topic is still when the Nian Army in the east and west will be wiped out.

Li Guolou knew why they were so interested in war. Now that the treasury has no money for war, the army of the Qing Empire was borrowed from foreign banks, domestic compradors, and bank accounts by the governors Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang.The Qing Empire fell to the point of relying on personal charm and strength to borrow money, and these people are creditors, and they have become the backbone of a country.If they refuse to serve the country, the country will go bankrupt and the army will mutiny.After all, these people love the Qing Empire in their hearts, and they don't want to see the Nian Army sweeping half of the Qing Empire like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Li Guolou also echoed a few words, saying that the war is about to end, and everyone should have a good life.He doesn't have much say here, these fake foreign ghosts invited him to join the club because of his fists, Du Xianyu was beaten by Li Guolou.The so-called bird of a feather flocks together and people are divided into groups. Li Guolou has a British atmosphere on him, which makes these fake foreign devils feel friendly.

After lunch, a group of people came to the box and sat on the sofa with a box of Cuban cigars. Some people like to smoke cigars, and some people like to smell the aroma.Drinking bitter coffee, smoking big cigars, and puffing clouds, these fake foreign devils feel like dragons among men.

Holding a cigar in his left hand, Li Guolou raised his voice and said, "Mr. Du, I heard that several of your ships have been robbed. Has the case been solved?"

Du Xianyu was poked at the sore spot and scolded: "It's really bad luck for eight lifetimes. This kind of thing will happen in the river. The Green Gang are really bastards. I even bought insurance, but now I don't accept it. I lost thousands of dollars." Two taels of silver, but only 200 taels of damages. I really wanted to go to the yamen to file a lawsuit, but when I thought about being dragged into the bottomless pit of litigation, I could only swallow my teeth."

Li Guolou said: "Mr. Du, I am working in the Yamen of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. I will solve your case for you. Don't think about it. I will return all the goods to you."

Du Xianyu was overjoyed at first, and then immediately changed his face, saying: "You are not a good person, you have given me such a big face, and you invited us to drink, talk! Who is going to pass the message for?"

Li Guolou smiled, looked around at the people around, and said loudly: "You live in a high-end area, and you don't know how chaotic the capital is now. There are endless incidents of murder and arson. The battle has been fought from the city to the outside, Mr. Du You are the victim of this gang fight. There are no rules in the world, and the cost of doing business will be even higher, and some people have gone crazy."

Everyone is interested in murder and arson, so Li Guolou picked up some of the recent cases and told them about it.Of course, the homicide case solved by him was highlighted to let the eleven fake foreign devils know that he is no longer just doing nothing, but has been transformed into a useful person to society.

Yu Hanbing, who is in the drug business, has a deep understanding of the chaos of gangsters, and he is also speaking for Li Guolou. He is also very worried about the current situation. There are no rules for his store to pay protection fees. can speak.

Yu Hanbing sighed and said: "The yamen is useless. A few people came to have a look, said a few innocuous words, and they didn't even arrest them. They mentioned the name of the backstage newspaper, but they said they had never heard of it. Mr. Li, why are you in the yamen? So weak."

Li Guolou said: "That's because they have people in the yamen, and they are covered by people. They go in and walk around and come out again, so those yamen servants don't even bother to catch them. Now the yamen has been penetrated by gangsters, and there are people from all kinds of gangs. Everyone has to show face. The people above don’t care, as long as they have money, they can accept it, anyway, they are not members of the gangsters, and they will pat their butts and leave after their term of office.”

Yu Hanbing sighed and said, "If it weren't for me, I still want to do business with foreigners, and I don't want people to know that I'm a member of the gang. I want to worship Master. Without Master, just paying protection fees is of no use."

Li Guolou rolled his eyes and said: "Mr. Yu, don't talk nonsense with your eyes open, you have already joined a gang, and I will find out which gang is which."

Yu Hanbing's eyes widened, and he said angrily, "Mr. Li, don't talk nonsense, I'm a legitimate businessman."

Li Guolou said: "Mr. Yu, in your line of work, you can't achieve such a high status without the support of the gang, but you have been hiding it. I think you should be from the gang in the south. You came to the north to gain a foothold. I was right."

Yu Hanbing's face turned pale, and he no longer had the habit of a businessman. He looked sideways at Li Guolou, with a fierce look on his face, and he really looked like a big brother. Li Guolou knew that he was a member of the elder brother's society.

The Hong Gang is based on anti-Qing and Fuming as the gang discipline, and it is a gang that was severely cracked down by the Qing Empire.In order to survive, the Hong Gang split into many small sects, concealing the purpose of anti-Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty. For example, the Gelaohui in Sichuan evolved from the Hong Gang.The Gelaohui has already extended its tentacles to the capital, how big is the picture?It is not allowed to tell others, how can it be said in public.

Li Guolou is the best at reading people's eyes, he laughed and said: "I'm sorry, brother, I made a mistake and made you angry. I rushed to the door to apologize to brother Ming, what an offense."

Fat Huang Guang caressed his big belly, giggled, and said, "Mr. Li, you'll be bluffing people when you enter the Yamen. This is the funniest joke I've heard today."

The other fake foreign devils also laughed together. They are all human beings, and they don't need to be taught the talent of deception.They have the current status, have sold their ancestors, and all have ulterior motives.Just laugh off the embarrassing things, and never mention Li Guolou's nonsense again, unless one day they will use Yu Hanbing, and this matter will be exposed by them.

Li Guolou showed off his cleverness for a while, but offended Yu Hanbing and put him in an embarrassing situation.Li Guolou stopped talking, annoyed in his heart that he had played a good game to death.

Du Xianyu saw that Li Guolou seemed to have forgotten what he wanted to say, and started talking about irrelevant gossip, instead he became interested in Li Guolou.Li Guolou gave him thousands of taels of silver as a meeting gift, but he was able to calm down and not make any more demands.Li Guolou exuded a mysterious aura, and was able to expose Yu Hanbing on the spot. Although he was a little reckless, it also showed that Li Guolou had some skills. He could see the deepest part of a person, and he was an excellent candidate for a spy.

Du Xianyu was very interested in Li Guolou, the two met strangely, Li Guolou's mysterious appearance in the capital, his strange actions in the six yamen, and he could speak fluent English.Li Guolou expected that Yu Hanbing was a member of the Gelaohui, so he expected that Li Guolou was a spy sent by the British Empire back to the Qing Empire. Li Guolou was a traitor. judgment.

By virtue of reading countless people, Du Xianyu recognized Li Guolou's old background. He has a family identity for the "British compatriots". This time, he will help Li Guolou as long as he can.