Li Boyang, who was doing his morning lessons, was unaware that a major event was taking place in Baozhilin. The brothers from the martial arts school had already surrounded Baozhilin, and Pork Rong was pulling a steel fork from the weapon rack and roaring in a voice that could be heard across the next street.
"Are we even going to survive? We don't need to rely on the Manchurian dogs."
"The Manchus have occupied our Central Plains, and now they are colluding with foreign devils to sell out our beautiful land."
"Brothers from the martial arts school, grab your weapons, let's go dismantle this foreign ship."
"Grab your weapons and come with me to dismantle this foreign ship! This is outrageous!"
"Enough, Shirong, stop talking nonsense and being so impulsive. You're not allowed to get involved in this matter."
Wong Fei-hung, who was removing a bullet from a wounded patient, issued a reprimand.
It turns out that a deliveryman was delivering food to the warships of the great powers at the dock but couldn't recognize the national flag. The food, which was meant for the American warship, was delivered to the British warship instead. As a result, the British mistook him for a soldier and shot him.
This only illustrates the plight of farmers in this era. Even if it were a different vegetable farmer, the same thing could happen if they were unlucky. Under the Qing Dynasty's policy of keeping the people ignorant, how could farmers who couldn't even read properly distinguish between national flags?
“This is a matter of life and death. We need to go to the government and clarify this matter with the foreigners, otherwise how will we Chinese people continue to live in Foshan?”
At this time, Li Boyang was unaware that Huang Feihong had already taken Toothbrush Su to confront the British at the consulate. When he arrived at Po Chi Lam, he discovered that there were only a few medical apprentices minding the shop.
"Oops."
Sensing something was amiss, Li Boyang asked one of his apprentices for details. After learning the whole story, his expression changed, and he rushed out of Baozhilin, heading straight for the militia's headquarters.
If I remember correctly, in the movie, Wong Fei-hung went to the yamen's admiral to ask him to confront the British Navy's Admiral Wissgren, but the admiral turned out to be a coward and completely sided with the foreigners to suppress Wong Fei-hung.
If that were all, it would have been fine, but the Shahe Gang, who came from Tianhe District in Guangzhou to seize territory in Foshan, just happened to run into Liang Kuan, which eventually dragged the militia members into the mess. Under the leadership of Pork Rong, some of the militia members and the Shahe Gang started fighting.
The Shahe Gang had a large and powerful force. All Pork Wing had to do was lead his militia to fight and retreat while trying to find Wong Fei-hung. As a result, they caused a scene inside the consulate, and the admiral took advantage of the situation to directly incorporate the militia into his own forces.
This vegetable vendor incident could be a catalyst for Huang Feihong's illustrious career to fall apart. Once the militia is incorporated into the local militia, Huang Feihong will directly lose ninety percent of his control.
Moreover, for Li Boyang, the militia absolutely could not be disbanded. Knowing that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, he knew that if the militia were disbanded, his plan to overthrow the Qing Dynasty would suffer a major setback.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Li Boyang did not rush to the consulate. A step behind means a step behind, and even if he went to the consulate now, the same thing would probably happen anyway. The only way now was to force the other party to back down. Huang Feihong was still too naive. Going to reason with someone alone was destined to be a thankless task.
"Have all the militia brothers stationed in the area assemble at the drill ground."
He went straight to the militia, found a few in charge, and without explaining, gave them orders.
Recognizing that the visitor was Li Boyang, the managers, knowing he was Huang Feihong's disciple, didn't ask any further questions and went to attend to their own men.
Li Boyang's status as Huang Feihong's third disciple played a crucial role. More importantly, he was a member of the militia. Although he visited the militia relatively infrequently, the fact that the militia's leader had become Huang Feihong's disciple was widely known within the militia, making Li Boyang quite famous.
Before long, more than a thousand people had arrived at the drill ground and quickly lined up under the wise leadership of the officers. However, the militia members were whispering among themselves, unaware of what had happened.
"Quiet."
Li Boyang stepped onto the platform, shouted, and seeing that all the thousand or so people in the training ground were looking up at him, he said excitedly:
"Brothers, the foreigners have carved out concessions in our territory, set up restricted areas, and even indiscriminately injured our people. Are you willing to accept this?"
"I don't want to."
A roar erupted from the training ground.
“Alright, my master Wong Fei-hung thinks the same way as you, so he went alone to the British consulate to argue with those foreign devils.”
"How could Coach Huang go and argue with them all by himself?"
"Foreigners are all bullies who rely on their power."
"Coach Huang is in danger."
"Why didn't Coach Huang take us with him?"
A murmur of discussion immediately arose within the training ground.
Seeing that the atmosphere had been set sufficiently, Li Boyang then spoke:
"Brothers, what do you think we should do now?"
"Go to the consulate and demand an explanation from the foreigners."
The militia members inside the drill ground responded in unison.
"Alright, all the leaders, the brothers of the militia, follow me."
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Chapter 12 Consulate Turmoil (Part 2)
The British Consulate is located in the central area of Foshan. Its snow-white Western-style building stands out in stark contrast to the surrounding wooden Chinese-style buildings.
Inside the consulate's restaurant, the atmosphere was somewhat somber. Five people sat at the central table, two of whom were Huang Feihong and Toothpick Su. The other two were foreigners: one dressed in a British naval officer's uniform, and the other in a Western suit who looked arrogant. In addition to the two foreigners, there was another person dressed in a Qing Dynasty official's robe embroidered with a carp, who was none other than the governor of Foshan.
After a brief standoff at the table, the admiral, dressed in his official robes, spoke up:
"Huang Feihong, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Wissgren of the British Navy, and this is Mr. Jackson of the American Merchant Marine. They are both very magnanimous and have decided not to pursue the vegetable vendor any further. So you don't need to insist on getting compensation for that vegetable vendor anymore."
Huang Feihong's face turned ugly, and he said in a deep voice, "This is unfair to the vegetable vendors. Can it quell public anger?"
"Public outrage? Hmph, Huang Feihong, which government department sent you? You're just a commoner, what right do you have to discuss policy decisions with the government?"
The admiral curled his lip and said disdainfully, "The capital is currently engaged in the Westernization Movement. The best approach to our relationship with foreigners is to be patient and let things go smoothly, and to take a step back and things will be much better."
The attitude of the government can be seen from the admiral's words. The government's weakness is not a one-off occurrence, but a recurring pattern. It is fierce as a tiger internally, but as weak as a sheep externally.