1850 American Gold Baron

"The Russians are extremely ambitious and greedy. How could I not know that any contract is just a temporary measure," Liang Yao said.

"Why do you force Telaviyov to sign a useless contract when you know it is useless?" Deng Yan asked in confusion.

"For the sake of fun, I just saw Telaviyov's deflated appearance, which made me feel very happy." Liang Yao said with a smile.

"You don't look like a person who is driven by impulse." Deng Yan didn't believe what Liang Yao said.

Asking Muravyov to sign a useless contract just for fun? This is not like Liang Yao's style of conduct.

"It's just a matter of time." Liang Yao said with his hands behind his back, "As long as we have this black and white contract in hand, if the Russians try to get involved in Ezo in the future, we can justifiably send troops, and Britain and France have no excuse to interfere."

"So, I believe it," Deng Yan said.

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A middle-aged white man of medium build with a high hairline, a thick beard and a bad face walked into a Hong Kong opium den called Mianyunge.

The middle-aged white man was followed by two men wearing black putty coats and beaver fur bowler hats.

The three of them wore leather boots with steel nails, and the leather boots made a clear and powerful sound when they stepped on the stone slabs.

Mid- to low-end opium dens like to be named with auspicious characters such as Ping, An, Fu, Long, Xing, Wang, Xiang, Rui, etc.

"We are not here to smoke, we are here to pick up people on the orders of the Governor." Pinkerton said expressionlessly.

"What do you want from me?"

The waiter at the counter looked up and down at Pinkerton and the others. Seeing that the three of them were wearing expensive clothes and that they were foreigners, he immediately greeted them warmly.

Liu Jing was Liu Shoushan's pseudonym. After he came to Hong Kong, although Hong Kong Governor Wen Xian saw that he was still valuable, he accepted Liu Shoushan and promised to provide him with protection.

"Can you bear the responsibility for delaying the Governor's affairs?"

Liu Shoushan, who gradually came to his senses, replied subconsciously.

Pinkerton didn't give the waiter time to react. While the waiter was still dazed, he pressed the question in a tone that would not allow him to refuse.

"Are these three new customers? If the new customer does not bring a bong, the store can provide a bong for the new customer."

The difference between the two can already be seen from their names.

The other party is a foreigner, or a foreigner working for the Hong Kong Governor in the Hong Kong Governor's Office. If these foreigners are offended, their boss may not be able to continue to operate even if there is someone behind him.

Now, the only fugitive senior leader of Lanfang Company is Liu Shoushan, who is hiding in Hong Kong.

"Small shops have small shop rules. We can't reveal the guest's private room without the guest's consent." The waiter said very awkwardly.

The clerk at the counter was stunned and stood there at a loss.

The store clerk didn't dare to say anything more and retreated.

"Rules? This is Hong Kong! Which rule is greater for you, a shabby opium den, or for the Governor?" Pinkerton was furious. He lifted up his coat, revealing the revolver holster on his waist.

Pinkerton lifted the bead curtain and entered the private room.

Liu Shoushan smoked a little too much and was still immersed in his imaginary world. In his imaginary world, he was still the chief executive of Lanfang Company, still reaping the profits of the gold mine in Dongwanlu, living a life of luxury.

life.

This is not the case with high-end opium houses. Like teahouses, high-end opium houses were high-end social places for the people of the Qing Dynasty.

After the signing of the Treaty of Pontianak, the Dutch and Indian authorities handed over Ye Tingfan who was hiding in Batavia.

This was the first time that people from the Governor's Palace came directly to their opium shop to pick someone up.

"Which private room is Mr. Liu Jingliu in? Take us there."

The waiter led Pinkerton and others to the door of "Liu Jing's" private room. Just as he was about to lift the bead curtain of the private room, Pinkerton stopped him.

"It's none of your business, just go down."

Low-end opium dens that mainly provide services to traffickers are naturally dark, noisy, dirty, smelly, and smoky places. Even the environment in the private rooms is unbearable.

The main customers of these opium dens are wealthy businessmen, gentry, officials and other powerful people. High-end opium dens are often more sophisticated.

"Liu Jing" is a frequent visitor to Mianyun Pavilion. He always stays in the same private room every time he comes. The waiter knows which private room "Liu Jing" is in without looking at the registration form.

The private room of Mianyun Pavilion is quite spacious. There are four people in the private room, one is "Liu Jing", one is Liu Jing's retinue, and the remaining two are prostitutes who accompany and play with him.

Liu Shoushan was much more cunning than Ye Tingfan. If Hong Kong businessmen had not provided them with Liu Shoushan's information, Pinkerton would have estimated that it would have taken some time to find Liu Shoushan's traces.

"Liu Shoushan!" Pinkerton waved his hand to fan the smoke in front of his eyes and shouted Liu Shoushan's name loudly.

One of the two prostitutes accompanied "Liu Jing" to burn cigarettes, while the other knelt on the couch and pinched "Liu Jing's" legs.

As he said that, the waiter took out three cigarettes and three small cans of tobacco cream from the counter, and continued: "As usual, the three of you need to pay a deposit of 9 shillings for each cigarette. When you leave the store,

Return the bong and we will refund the deposit.

The white man who came to the opium den was none other than Pinkerton, but Pinkerton came to Mianyun Pavilion not to smoke cigarettes, but to complete the task assigned to him by Liang Yao, to bring Liu, the former chief producer of Lanfang Company, to

Shoushan took him back to Pontianak for trial.

The three of you are new and rare customers. It is your first time to visit our store. We are very honored. These three cans of high-quality Bangladeshi cigarette cream are our meeting gifts for you."

However, Liu Shoushan was not accustomed to living in hiding, which was almost like imprisonment. He still often went out to have fun, but he was afraid of being recognized by others, so he used the identity of Liu Jing, a Cantonese businessman, to hide his identity from others.

Seeing the other party's attitude, the store clerk didn't dare to say anything more.

"Liu Shoushan!" Pinkerton raised his voice.

There are also three, six or nine levels of opium dens.

High-end smokehouses often disdain to use these more clichéd words to name their smokehouses. They prefer more elegant names to attract smokers.

But soon, Liu Shoushan seemed to realize something, and immediately changed his words: "You have found the wrong person, I am Liu Jing! Not Liu Shoushan."

"Oh, really? The Governor asked us to invite Mr. Liu Shoushan to come to the house immediately to discuss matters. It seems that we have found the wrong person." With that, Pinkerton made a show of exiting Liu Shoushan's private room.

"Stop! You mean the Governor is looking for me?" When Liu Shoushan heard that the Governor was looking for him, he immediately called out to Pinkerton and patted his somewhat confused and numb head with his hand to make himself sober.

"Why is your Excellency the Governor looking for me?"

"That's not something I can ask about. I only vaguely heard about Borneo, and I don't know anything else about it," Pinkerton said.