Seeing that her elder Li Jingfang was already seated on the Grand Master's chair, Li Shuzhen let go of Chen Tianhua's arm, straightened her sleeves, walked forward a few steps, and knelt down facing Li Jingfang.

Upon seeing this, Chen Tianhua also knelt respectfully on Li Shuzhen's right hand side.

"Niece Qianhua and her fiancée Chen Tianhua come to see my uncle."

"Junior Chen Tianhua pays homage to my uncle."

Both of them kowtowed three times to the head of the Li clan, Li Jingfang.

"Everyone, get up." Li Jingfang raised his hands in return.

"Thank you, uncle."

Chen Tianhua helped Li Shuzhen to stand up together.

"After the clan ceremony, we don't have to be too formal. We are all new-school people. Let's sit on the sofa. I'm not used to sitting on hard wooden chairs."

Li Jingfang got down from the Grand Master's chair and walked straight to the soft imported calfskin sofa. After sitting down on the single sofa at the top, he raised his hand to signal.

When Li Shuzhen and Chen Tianhua saw their elders taking their seats, they nodded and sat down on the curved sofa at the bottom.

This is the first time Chen Tianhua has sat back on the sofa since time travel. Compared with a hardwood chair, the comfort is different. There is no obstruction under the buttocks and it is very soft and close to the skin.

No wonder Li Jingfang was reluctant to talk on a Chinese-style chair, because he had been abroad for a long time and was used to sitting on a soft sofa chair to discuss ancient scriptures.

"You are Chen Tianhua, also known as Huazhi." Li Jingfang glanced at Chen Tianhua up and down and said in a low voice.

As soon as he entered the door, he noticed that this young man was tall and straight, with a full head, and wisdom and courage between his brows.

"Junior, that's right." Chen Tianhua stood up and held his hands.

"Very good Huazhi, your father-in-law described you in detail in the letter, as well as your

We, the young couple, came to Shanghai this time to talk about something, so let’s not be formal and sit on the sofa to my left, that way we can talk more easily.”

Li Jingfang said with a smile, pointed to an empty single sofa on the left hand side, and motioned for Chen Tianhua to sit on it.

The sofa in Li Jingfang's living room is custom-made. The first one is a pair of large single sofas, with a small square mahogany coffee table in the middle and a pot of flowers on it.

The next one is a semi-curved five-seater couch, with a larger square coffee table in front of it.

There are about six or seven steps between the top and bottom positions.

Chen Tianhua sits at the bottom, which is in line with traditional Chinese ethics. However, if he goes up and sits on Li Jingfang's left hand side, he is equal to his elders, which is contrary to the customs and ethics of today's society.

But this is exactly in line with Western ethics.

Moreover, sitting next to each other makes communication easier for both parties.

Chen Tianhua thought for a while and returned the gift, "Thank you, uncle, for showing me your love. It is better for me, my junior Hua, to be respectful than obey my orders."

After saying that, he came forward and sat on the single sofa.

As soon as I sat down, a delicate young maid came in, served the best brewed West Lake Longjing and placed it on the coffee table. Then she bowed her head and exited, closing the door gently.

Li Jingfang spread his hands and said with a smile:

"Qianhua, Huazhi, you two, please have some tea. Didn't I just say, don't be too formal. It's too tiring to bend over and hold your hands. Let's relax and talk. You should call me uncle."

.”

"yes…"

"It's...uncle."

Chen Tianhua was actually the happiest. As a modern person, he was really not used to these complicated etiquettes. He would hold his hands and hang his clothes without saying a word, which made his nerves highly tense. He was afraid that he would not be polite enough and offend the elders in front of him inexplicably.

"Isn't this tea to your taste?" This question was like a light-hearted opening remark, and it was Li Jingfang's deliberate guidance and intention to relax.

The best West Lake Longjing tea, the tea soup is light in color, pleasantly tender green, has a quiet tea taste, is smooth in the mouth, is sweet after being replenished, and the leaves are tender and evenly formed into flowers.

Light and elegant fragrance, can refresh the mind.

Chen Tianhua picked up the cup, blew lightly, sipped the tea, nodded and said:

"The famous tea from my hometown has a refreshing fragrance and light color. No matter how you drink it, it is friendly and delicious. The younger generation is very fond of it."

I like the taste and never get tired of drinking it.”

"Oh, well, it seems that Hua Zhi is also a person with strong feelings for his family and country, so let's talk directly."

Chen Tianhua nodded and smiled, put down the teacup, and looked at each other levelly.

"Your father-in-law wrote in a letter that you are planning to build a coal mine in Guangde, Anhui. That is also my hometown. I wonder if you have any plans? How sure are you?"

Li Cunzhi had previously written a handwritten letter to Li Jingfang. Chen Tianhua was originally supposed to bring it to Shanghai personally, but the plan was later adjusted.

Instead, Sun Yong brought the letter to Li's house to pay homage. After asking for permission, he agreed on a time, and then Li Shuzhen accompanied Chen Tianhua there, so that it would not appear abrupt.

Li Jingfang has a lot of exposure to Western culture, and is not as cumbersome as Confucian culture. He likes to get to the point directly.

This kind of communication is exactly what Chen Tianhua likes.

"Okay, uncle, I will tell you the whole story of the incident and the plan."

"Okay...just tell me." Li Jingfang raised his hand to signal.

"Things started from the trip to Changxing more than twenty days ago..."

Chen Tianhua told the details of the incident one by one, as well as his whims and subsequent plans.

He particularly emphasized the Japanese conspiracy, including murder, tampering, robbery, and secret exploration of the Niutoushan area.

Li Jingfang listened attentively, asked questions from time to time, and discussed together. When Chen Tianhua said something subtle, he nodded in admiration.

Maybe Chen Tianhua is really lucky, but he may not have expected that this uncle Li Jingfang has great hatred for the people in power in the Japanese island country.

Li Jingfang served as the Qing Dynasty's minister to Japan for three years, during which he had close relations with the Japanese government and the public. He was very aware of the greedy ambitions of this Oriental island country.

After returning to China, he reminded his father Li Hongzhang many times to be more careful as the other side might launch a war against China at any time.

Sure enough, in the 20th year of Guangxu's reign, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out.

Due to the long-term corruption of the Qing government, the Beiyang Navy was eventually annihilated, and the Beiyang Army was even more vulnerable and defeated.

The Qing government was defeated and forced to negotiate peace with Japan.

In early March of the following year, Li Jingfang arrived in Shimonoseki, Japan, with his father Li Hongzhang to negotiate with Ito Hirobumi.

During this period, Japanese right-wing hardliners assassinated Li Hongzhang in an attempt to provoke an all-out war between the two sides and take the opportunity to annex China.

Fortunately, Li Hongzhang was only shot in the left bone and his brain was not damaged.

Li Jingfang clearly remembers that Japanese representative Ito Hirobumi and others used coercion and other means to force the Qing government to make its promise immediately.

In the end, on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, he signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki with the Japanese representative Ito Hirobumi, which was humiliating and humiliating the country.

Not only that, he was also appointed by the imperial court as the plenipotentiary ambassador to Taiwan, and went to Taiwan to handle relevant delivery procedures with the Japanese people, and suffered all the humiliation.

A weak country has no diplomacy!

He kept this humiliation and hatred of his family and country in his heart.
Chapter completed!