"Mr. Li Taitai is an outstanding tax officer of the British Empire, and my country has a very high opinion of his work, and I believe that the cabinet and the Empress Dowager in Beijing should also be satisfied with his work," Hurd replied to Li Hongzhang's question in a diplomatic tone. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Really?" Li Hongzhang took a sip of tea with great interest, his eyes stared directly at this harmless Englishman with a harmless appearance, playing tricks in front of me, you are still a little tender, the desire in your eyes has already betrayed you, and your ambition is far from being satisfied by this consul counselor in Guangzhou today.

Li Hongzhang didn't answer, so the scene cooled down, Hurd saw that Li Hongzhang didn't answer, so he had to continue, at this time his tone changed, "Of course, I think it is extremely inappropriate for him to use the rights given to him by your country without authorization to wantonly destroy the relationship between the two countries, for this, I will feel that he and our country's Her Majesty and the Prime Minister are contrary to the meaning, which is also not in line with the thriving Sino-British trade today." ”

Hurd actually used an idiom to describe the relationship between the two countries, and understood Hurd's attitude, Li Hongzhang nodded with satisfaction, "What Mr. Hurd said is reasonable, don't say anything else, the gunpowder muskets that Ningbo Mansion buys every year are all bought with real money, and the British and French fleets that are now parked outside Wusongkou, no, it should be the fleet of the Qing Dynasty, which is all bought with silver, but now Mr. Aspen and Mr. Li Taitai have made such a move, which is really ugly." Mr. Hurd. How do you think this crisis can be resolved? ”

"There is a saying in your country that if you are not in your position, you will not be in charge," Hurd smiled, "and it is not convenient for me to make any comments. ”

"Mr. Hurd is modest," Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "You are now the Department of Taxation of the Jiangxi Customs, and all the treaty ports on the Yangtze River are under your control, and you are also an official of my Qing Dynasty, how can you not mention it?" Besides, you are British, and your position is similar to Li Taitai, so you should help the Qing Dynasty and the British to give advice and turn anger into peace. ”

After resigning from the post of consular counsellor in Guangzhou, Hurd was appointed as the deputy tax department of Guangzhou Xinguan, and soon after, Li Taitai, the chief tax officer, was officially appointed as the deputy tax department of Guangzhou Customs. According to Wei Tuma's assessment of the situation of the Qing Dynasty, Li Taitai believed that the Qing Dynasty would soon fall, and he did not want to suffer for no reason, so he took a year off under the pretext of taking a year off. In the eleventh year of Qing Xianfeng, Li Taitai left China in a hurry. He recommended to Xue Huan, the acting Minister of International Trade and Commerce, Fei Shilai, the tax secretary of Jianghai Xinguan, and Hurd, the deputy tax secretary of Yuexinguan, to take up the post of acting chief tax department. When he arrived in Peking, the British minister Bruce recommended him to Prince Gong. When Hurd was summoned to Beijing, he presented seven lists and two submissions, expounding his views on customs and customs abuses, and proposing solutions. In the name of "Prime Minister of the Prime Minister", Prince Gong issued an edict reappointing Fei Shilai and Hurd as acting chief of the General Department of Taxation. Hurd and the U.S. Minister had a close relationship with Prime Minister Yamen, and actually held the power of the General Taxation Department; Although Fei Shilai was more senior in the British side than Hurd, he did not understand Chinese and could not have direct contact with the prime minister and minister, so he was forced to occupy a subordinate position. The Prime Minister's Yamen became more and more favorable to Hurd than Li Tai, and Hurd tried his best to win the trust of the Prime Minister's Yamen, who was in charge of the customs, such as Prince Gong and Wen Xiang. He often took the initiative to provide advice on taxation, foreign affairs, and especially foreign affairs, and made suggestions for them, and in the minds of the prime minister, he clearly replaced Li Taitai. Hurd's self-control, composure, and familiarity with the etiquette of officialdom and the habits of Chinese scholars and doctors won the praise of the ministers. Li Tai returned to Shanghai from England after his leave of absence, and Hurd terminated his duties as acting chief tax officer. However, the Qing government tried every means to promote Hurd, and Prince Gong set up a post with greater authority than the general port tax department, that is, Hurd was appointed as the director of the Jiangxi Customs and Excise Department, and was also responsible for the customs affairs of the Yangtze River ports.

Hurd heard Li Hongzhang's words, also nodded, and stopped going around in circles, "I'm going to contact the British ambassador and then determine the meaning of the country, I believe that this incident is not the mainstream of the country, millions of arms purchases every year can feed I don't know how many upstream and downstream industries, as long as the prime minister still has an IQ, he will not allow this business to be ruined, besides, Mr. Aspen is not very suitable for the transportation task of this fleet, because, after all," Hurd said without shame," He has participated in two military operations against China, and there is a problem with his position, so I will automatically ask you to go to Beijing to have a look and see if I can help your country. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded approvingly, "It's so hard for you, you have been in Beijing before, presumably Prince Gong is also happy to see you go north to handle this matter, Mr. Hurd, although I don't know what the opinion of the Prime Minister Yamen of the Military Aircraft Department in Beijing is, but I know that Li Tai is this person, his errand will not last long, Mr. Hurd, I am waving the flag for you in the south, you have to seize this opportunity." (To be continued.) )