The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Chapter 280 Reclaiming Customs

"Yes! Mr. Gu has spent a long time in the West, so naturally he understands them!" Shen Lian nodded. Whether in terms of diplomatic skills or eloquence, he was no match for him.

"I won't go into detail about firearms and ammunition; we'll sell them as many as they want. Rifles can't be less than thirty taels each, and we need at least fifty thousand of them."

"General-purpose machine guns shall not be sold for less than 1,500 taels, with a minimum purchase of 1,000 guns."

"At least two hundred armored vehicles and tanks are needed. Each one will cost more than one hundred thousand taels."

"As for the most important warship observation and aiming system, the price of one set should not be less than 100,000 taels!"

Upon hearing the price, everyone gasped. A quick calculation showed it was over thirty million taels of silver. The arms trade was incredibly profitable! This single deal was equivalent to a third of the imperial court's annual revenue.

"The Germans are begging us to buy this, so don't worry about them refusing! Let's set the delivery time for a year for now!" Shen Lian instructed again.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we understand!"

"Alright! That's settled then! You leave them hanging for two days, then send in some capable people to negotiate with them. Remember to keep it a secret!"

"Yes!" The group took their leave.

"Phew!" Shen Lian exhaled a puff of smoke. He had invested so much silver, and he was finally about to see a return on his investment.

These arsenals are currently still under Shen Lian's name, but they will soon be handed over to the imperial court. Until then, they'll try to make as much profit as possible.

The news of the German ambassador's audience naturally didn't escape the notice of the other envoys, who also requested an audience. Shen Lian, of course, welcomed all of them, as he happened to be free these past few days.

"British Minister to China, Sir David Satow, pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Mr. Minister, there's no need for such formalities!" Shen Lian waved his hand.

"I wonder what brings the Minister to see me today?" Shen Lian was too lazy to argue with him. Anyway, he wasn't buying any more warships. No need to be too polite to the British.

Those British are such troublemakers; they're the ones who start most of the world's conflicts. We haven't even settled accounts with them yet regarding the situation in southern Xinjiang!

"Your Majesty, I have come here to discuss with you the possibility of importing your country's new weapons."

"Buy weapons? Are you going to buy them to use against us?" Shen Lian sneered.

“Your Majesty, what makes you say such a thing? My Great British Empire has no hostility towards China at present!” Sadao quickly explained.

"No hostility? You dare say that the unrest in southern Xinjiang and the restless movements in western Tibet are not supported by you British?" Shen Lian asked sharply.

“Your Majesty has misunderstood! This is absolutely slander. How could we British do such a thing!” Sadoy denied it outright. Of course, he would not admit to such a thing.

"Is that so? That's for the best. I thought Britain was going to interfere in our internal affairs!" Shen Lian smirked.

"Our Great British Empire has always cherished peace and would never interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Your Majesty, please rest assured!" Sadaoyi said with a dry laugh.

"Damn it, do you even believe what you're saying?!" Shen Lian couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You're blatantly lying!"

"Minister, we may not be able to export those new weapons for the time being. Because production is currently limited, my army has not yet been equipped with them! We will inform you as soon as we have a surplus."

Selling is definitely an option, but Shen Lian doesn't want the British to get it so easily, nor does he want them to get it so soon.

"There's one more thing, Your Excellency, your arrival is timely. Please go back and inform Hart to make preparations. Our country intends to reclaim customs jurisdiction!"

It's quite bizarre that the mighty Qing Empire had its own customs controlled by foreigners.

Back in 1853, the Shanghai Small Swords Society uprising occurred, and the Jianghai Customs was damaged.

Customs officials of the Qing government fled to the foreign concessions to hide. The British and American consuls in Shanghai arbitrarily announced provisional regulations for ship clearance, but unfortunately, they were opposed by a large number of foreign merchants and could not be implemented.

However, the British did not give up their evil intentions and proposed a plan for Sino-foreign cooperation in managing the customs to the Qing court the following year.

The weak and incompetent Qing government dared not refuse and could only agree. Foreign commissioners of customs began to manage the Chinese customs service.