Chapter 87: Exposing the Scam (110 Asking for First Subscriptions)

"Wait!"

Yin Qi shouted, causing everyone to turn and look back.

He cupped his hands toward the surroundings and said with a smile, "Fellow villagers, I have studied abroad and am proficient in foreign languages. Since you don't recognize it, why don't you let me take a look, and I will translate it for you, how about that?"

One didn't need to think to know that this contract could not possibly be a loan contract.

Although the illiteracy rate in this era was extremely high, this was Hangzhou, which had been culturally prosperous since ancient times, so even among ordinary commoners, there were quite a few who were literate. The man in the suit naturally didn't dare to write the contract in Chinese characters.

But an English contract was different; in this era, those who could recognize it were elites, and ordinary commoners didn't understand it at all.

"This young master actually knows foreign language, then please take a look for us!"

A burly man holding a contract was overjoyed.

He handed over the contract and let everyone pass it to Yin Qi.

"Stop!"

The man in the suit on the platform was anxious. He scolded sternly, "What are you doing? This is a contract signed between us. Why are you letting an outsider see it? And you, who are you? Get lost before I lose my temper."

The commoners saw the man in the suit's performance.

Although everyone didn't recognize the foreign language, they weren't stupid. This man's anxious look clearly indicated there was a problem.

So everyone passed the contract quickly, and it soon reached Yin Qi's hands.

The English of this era was still quite different from that of later generations.

It wasn't as stable as the evolution of Chinese characters, but fortunately, he had specifically studied English in this life.

With his genius-level comprehension, he mastered it in less than a month.

Yin Qi just looked at the man in the suit faintly and read the contract: "Sales contract, Article 1: I voluntarily sell myself to Wang Fugui for the price of ten silver dollars. Article 2: The travel fee to America is ten silver dollars, and I voluntarily pay the ship fare with the proceeds from selling myself..."

Reading up to here, the whole scene was in an uproar.

"F*** your mother, you bastard, you actually dared to trick us into signing a sales contract!"

"I f*** your ancestors, using the money from selling ourselves to pay for the ship fare, you really can think of anything."

"Everyone, this person actually tricked us into signing a sales contract! Let's go, beat him to death!"

……

The commoners' anger was burning, and they were about to rush up to beat him.

The man in the suit was scared and jumped, saying hurriedly, "Fellow villagers, I am taking you to make a fortune, how could I trick you into signing a sales contract? This is my enemy; he is deliberately making trouble and translating it wrongly."

His words made the angry crowd slightly more rational.

Yin Qi smiled coldly and said, "Whether I translated it wrongly is very simple to verify. Find someone to report to the government and bring a teacher from the Tongwen Guan, and you will naturally know whether what I said is true or false."

The Tongwen Guan was equivalent to a foreign language school, a place specifically for cultivating translation talent.

The man in the suit could no longer pretend. He revealed a fierce look and said sternly, "Get lost, all of you. You bunch of lowly people, do you know who I am? I am from the Shahe Gang. If you make any more trouble, I will beat you to death."

Hearing this, everyone's faces changed drastically, and they soon scattered like birds and beasts.

It was clear that they were scared by the Shahe Gang.

Watching the commoners flee, a look of disdain flashed in the man in the suit's eyes.

He jumped off the high platform and walked toward Yin Qi aggressively, reaching out to grab him, and shouted sternly, "Get down here!"

The next moment, he was stunned.

He grabbed Yin Qi and found that Yin Qi was as steady as Mount Tai, remaining motionless no matter how he pulled.

"My turn!"

Yin Qi snorted coldly.

He grabbed the man in the suit and, as if throwing away trash, threw him out.

Bang!

The man in the suit hit the ground and didn't climb up for a long time.

The others from the Shahe Gang were anxious. They also had sharp eyes and didn't dare to step forward to deal with Yin Qi, so they turned and shouted in English, "Help, help!"

In the distance, more than a dozen foreigners with guns ran over here.

"Let's go!"

A cold glint flashed in Yin Qi's eyes. He shouted to Yan Zhendong and rode away.

This was a busy market; he shouldn't have a direct conflict with the foreigners.

What's more, they had more than a dozen guns, which also posed a great threat to him.

…………

Baiwei Building.

Second floor, private room.

Yin Qi and Yan Zhendong were eating heartily.

Both of them had big appetites, and the table full of good dishes was soon swept away.

After the meal, the two drank tea.

Yin Qi said, "Master Yan, I will go to the Provincial Commander's Yamen alone this afternoon. You go and check the lodging place of those foreign devils this afternoon. I suspect that quite a few people have already been tricked, and if possible, I want to save them all."

He had already decided that after returning, he would have the *Min Pao* publish a report exposing the trafficking of piglets.

Yan Zhendong nodded and said, "Good."

……

Provincial Commander's Yamen.

Yin Qi bowed and said, "Greetings, Sir."

Nalan Yuanshu smiled slightly and said, "No need for formalities. It was a rush to call you over; you've had a hard journey."

Yin Qi smiled slightly and said, "Shanyin is not far from Hangzhou; it only took an hour or two with a fast horse. I just don't know why you summoned me so hurriedly, Sir. Is there something important?"

Nalan Yuanshu put away his smile and said in a deep voice, "What is your opinion on the failure of the reform?"

Yin Qi pretended to be pained and sighed, "What opinion could I have? The reform touched the interests of too many people, and the conservative forces in the imperial court are still huge. Now we can only wait for another opportunity."

Nalan Yuanshu nodded silently and then said, "The imperial court has ordered my transfer to be the Guangzhou Provincial Commander."

Yin Qi's heart stirred, and he asked tentatively, "Sir, is it because of the reform, or because of the pressure from the British?"

Nalan Yuanshu said, "Both, but this was also my own request. Actually, I applied for it a month ago!"

Yin Qi was puzzled: "Why?"

Nalan Yuanshu's eyes became sharp, and he said in a deep voice, "Because I received news that Chen Yucheng, Shi Zhongkui, and other remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are active in Guangzhou, and there are many anti-Qing rebels making trouble in Guangzhou. That's why I applied to be transferred to Guangzhou, preparing to clean them all up."

Yin Qi was secretly shocked and pretended to be suddenly enlightened.

It seems that the next part is the content of *Once Upon a Time in China II*.

I just don't know if Nalan Yuanshu will still be killed by Huang Feihong as in the movie.

Nalan Yuanshu looked at Yin Qi and suddenly smiled, saying, "Do you know who I recommended to take over my position?"

Yin Qi widened his eyes: "Sir, you wouldn't have recommended me, would you?"

Nalan Yuanshu nodded and said appreciatively, "That's right, it's you. I've seen your performance over the past year. You are good at training troops, down-to-earth, and have wiped out the banditry in Shanyin Prefecture. I believe that if you take over the Hangzhou New Army, you will definitely be able to wipe out the banditry in Zhejiang province as well."

He had trained the Hangzhou New Army with great difficulty, and he didn't want to entrust it to the wrong person.

The successor not only needed to be shrewd and capable but also had to be on the same path as him.

Originally, the best choice was naturally to find someone from the Manchu Qing.

But he searched up and down and couldn't find a suitable candidate, so he could only look among the Han people.

And among the Han people, the only one who was capable and on the same path as him was Yin Qi.

Just as Yin Qi said, although this reform failed, they could wait for another opportunity, so this Hangzhou New Army must be controlled by their own people.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 88 =====