Robert Hart gratefully accepted the advice, and, sitting on the edge of his bunk, listened to the rebels talking in the saloon outside, till, with a sigh of relief, he heard them leave the ship and allow her to proceed on her way.  That the danger had been real enough the deserted river proved; terror of these same revolutionaries had swept the usually busy waterway clean of craft, and nothing further disturbed the quiet but the hoarse honk of wild geese and the whirring of ducks’ wings.

At Hankow the Viceroy, Kwan Wen, was as friendly personally as he was obstinate officially.  He did not desire to see the new system enforced.  Again and again he politely told Robert Hart that he was wasting his time—­that it was quite useless his remaining longer.

But as Robert Hart listened with equal politeness and remained, the Viceroy’s patience finally began to wear thin.  He then sent a subordinate official to make one last effort to persuade the Officiating Inspector-General to go.  This failed, just as the other attempts at persuasion had failed.  Hart simply told the man that he was acting under orders, and further hinted that when he reported to Peking and the Emperor Tung Chih heard that difficulties had been made about the establishment of the Customs at Hankow, it would not look well.  “But the Emperor’s name is not Tung Chih,” remarked the Taotai scornfully.  “You should know that as well as I.”  “To me,” retorted Robert Hart calmly, “it seems equally strange that you as a Chinese official do not know the name of your own Emperor.”

He thereupon went to a drawer, took out a new Peking Gazette announcing the famous coup d’etat of November 2nd, 1861, when Prince Soo Sun’s party was absolutely overthrown by the party of Prince Kung and the Emperor’s official style altered from Chi Hsiang ("Lucky”) to Tung Chih ("Pull Together"), and handed it to him.  The man was utterly surprised.  This was the very first news of the important event to reach Hankow, and as soon as it became generally known all the officials who had hitherto shaped their actions to please Prince Soo were quick to change their attitude.  Even the Viceroy promptly sent for Hart and begged him, with every expression of cordiality, to do just as he pleased about everything; above all, to proceed with his business immediately.

A few weeks later, all being in working order, the Officiating Inspector-General was on his way down the river again.  He had a message for the other Yangtsze Viceroy, Tseun Kuo Fan, and accordingly paid five hundred taels (L70) to stop the little steamer Poyang for two hours at Nanking in order to deliver it.  This message was comparatively prosaic, concerning as it did nothing more interesting than the Viceroy’s views relative to some unimportant trade matters.