Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 13 Guarantee
"Why, sister, don't you know yet?" Qiu Ling said, "Recently, everyone has been saying that the people around the Third Young Master have all become very successful since he became the head of the family."
Shen Xiaoying said "oh", as if asking, but she didn't seem very interested.
"Sister, don't you know?" Qiu Ling said, "Even a hanger-on who was jealous of the Third Young Master has been spending money like water in Foshan recently. Young Master Chen told me that the Iron-headed Army Scar opened a night porridge place in Foshan, gathered seven or eight Hongquan masters, and recruited a hundred or so young men, and was determined to avenge the knife attack that year. And that Master Ci has been busy organizing a birthday banquet for Old Master Wu recently, and he has been spending money like water. I don't know how much he has made secretly."
Shen Xiaoying sneered, "The Third Young Master has always been a spendthrift. Who in Guangzhou doesn't know that? It's just that now that he's in charge, he's even more wasteful."
"If he is willing to ruin the family, that is a disaster for his Wu family, but a good thing for our Baihua line." Qiu Ling said with a smile, "Now in the Immortal Continent, there are so many girls and slaves who want to get close to the Third Young Master. They say that even if they can stay with the Third Young Master for three days, it is better than being busy in the Immortal Continent for ten years. But if the people in our Hua Line want to get close to the Third Young Master, they can't get around the Third Sister, right?"
Shen Xiaoying said lazily: "I don't want to get close to the Third Young Master, what does it have to do with me?"
"Sister, of course, doesn't need to cling to Third Young Master Wu, as Sister has Second Young Master Cai." Qiu Ling said with a smile, "But people's hearts are like this, and the momentum is still there. As for Third Sister, even if Sister feels unhappy about it, at least she should still do her best to save face."
Shen Xiaoying sneered: "The stove that is about to be dismantled is still thought to be a hot stove. How funny!"
Qiu Ling's heart was moved, so she asked, "What do you mean, sister? Why don't I understand?"
Shen Xiaoying's face turned cold: "This is not something you should know, so don't ask about it."
"Yes, yes." Qiu Ling's heart was hesitant, and she immediately said, "Sister, you are afraid that I will hear something untrue and make mistakes."
Shen Xiaoying said unhappily: "Why did I hear something that was not true? Who misled me?"
Qiu Ling smiled and said, "My sister heard that Mr. Cai got a good beating after he returned home that day, and she was afraid that Mr. Cai would be depressed for a while. When a person is depressed, his momentum will be low, and when his momentum is low, the news will not be effective."
"Whose momentum is low? Whose information is not good?" Shen Xiaoying couldn't bear the irritation and said angrily : "No matter how bad the Second Young Master's information is, it is better than those who will destroy their families."
Qiu Ling was shocked and asked, "What do you mean by family ruined?"
Shen Xiaoying hesitated to speak, and finally sneered: "I'm telling you, don't just follow others to get away with it, it's no good. That's all I have to say, figure it out yourself!"
Qiu Ling came out of Shen Xiaoying's room and went to Yinxing's room. Ruo Ruofei said something half-heartedly. Yinxing looked deep and whispered, "It seems... it is true."
Qiu Ling asked hurriedly: "Sister, what is it really like?"
Ginkgo smiled and said, "Don't ask about this. It won't benefit you."
Qiu Ling buried her head in Yin Xing's chest, rubbing her and making her laugh. She said, "Sister, just talk to me. Even if you don't give me 100%, 70 or 80 is fine. If 70 or 80 is not enough, then you can at least give me some advice, right?"
Ginkgo smiled and pushed her away, saying, "Okay, okay, I'll give you some pointers." She pointed to the south - probably the direction where the Huacha was moored - "Some people's backers may seem to be flourishing, but in fact, they are weak inside and are about to collapse. As for the rest, you can think about it yourself."
Ten days passed in a blink of an eye, and it was only half a month before Wu Guoying's 60th birthday.
By this time, the autumn trade was in full swing, and everyone from the shopkeeper to the clerks and even the coolies at the freight docks were all extremely busy.
The autumn trade season at this time was different from the Canton Fair after the reform and opening up. Not every merchant was qualified to do overseas business. All transactions with foreign countries had to go through a business insurance company.
Most of the small and medium-sized merchants who supplied goods to the Thirteen Hongs had already sold their goods by this time. Even among the Thirteen Hongs' guarantors, one or two began to count their harvests for the past year. Those who received the money naturally had to reward their colleagues and celebrate themselves. Those who had not received the money were all pointing at the guarantors eagerly.
Of course, for the "top four" like Pan, Cai, Xie and Lu, it is impossible for them to move that fast because of the huge amount of goods, the complex relationships involved and the huge amount of money flow.
Although Yihehang is not one of the "top four", it was close to it last year, and this year it has gone one step further than last year, with an astonishingly large scale of goods and amount of money flowing in. Thanks to the dedicated management of the shopkeeper Liu, there was no trouble at all - but he was also fully devoted to this big business, so he had no time to teach Wu Chengjian a lesson recently.
After the day's accounting came to an end, Manager Liu said to Manager Hou San, "We have almost sold all the groceries. The next step is tea."
The total shipment volume of Yihehang's goods is obviously inferior to that of the Pan family, not to mention that of Cai, Xie, and Lu, but it cannot stop the profits of their goods. However, in general, the speed of shipment is still much faster than the above four companies.
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "As for tea, except for the batch from our own tea plantation, we and the East India Company have counted it and it is ready to ship at any time. But Mr. Milton refused to pay, saying that it can be shipped, but the bill must be settled together with the tea from our own tea plantation."
For Yihehang, that batch of tea was the most important part of the entire transaction.
Manager Liu frowned all of a sudden: "What did Third Young Master say?"
Shopkeeper Hou San had a gloomy face. "He said... just load it on the ship. It doesn't matter if the money arrives earlier or later. We have to trust Lao Mi."
Manager Liu was stunned: "This... is this the original words?"
Although Hou San's tone was wrong, who else in Guangzhou could say that except that prodigal son?
"Then do you think... should we really let them load the ship?"
"No!" said the shopkeeper Liu. "Although the profits from the tea from our tea plantation are huge, the total value is only 45% to 60% of the total value of the tea from Yihe Bank. If we can get the money back from these few ships of tea, plus the money we have already gotten from the other goods, our Yihe Bank will be able to break even this year, which will be very helpful for people's peace of mind. But if we can't get it back, not only will people in the bank be uneasy, but the money will be held in the hands of the other party , and we will be very passive in the second half of the business. The foreigners are not trustworthy, who knows if they will do something weird again."
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "Then I'll go talk to him again."
He went to Shamian again, but the East India Company insisted on its original claim.
Logically speaking, the payments should be settled one by one. Since the ships of tea from Yihexing have arrived, the East India Company should pay, so it is reasonable for Manager Liu to ask for payment upon delivery. However, Milton had given a high advance payment for the Wu family's batch of tea last year, and it was agreed that if the tea could not be shipped in time, the Wu family would have to pay a huge amount of compensation. Moreover, the business of this tea was signed together with the business of other teas from other foreign families, so it was not completely unreasonable for Milton to ask for the settlement of all tea transactions together.
For the East India Company, that batch of native tea involved considerable interests. It had already started to be loaded at this time last year, but no goods had been seen so far this year. In addition, there were rumors that the head of the Wu family had been replaced, which was not good news. Milton naturally had to be cautious. And the shopkeeper Liu knew that something had happened to the batch of native tea, so he wanted to protect every bit of it.
Both sides have their own interests, calculations, and concealments, so the situation is at a stalemate.
Manager Liu said to Manager Hou San, "How about this? Let the Third Master set up a dinner party at the Huachai and invite Mr. Milton to have a chat. This matter will eventually be resolved."
Manager Hou San then went to find Wu Chengjian again and came back soon: "Young Master San said that we don't need to eat. He wrote a letter for me to give to Mr. Milton. He said that this matter can be resolved."
"Where's the letter?" asked Manager Liu.
Shopkeeper Hou San took out the letter, but the envelope was sealed with wax and stamped with Wu Chengjian's personal seal. Shopkeeper Liu Da was not comfortable opening it and asked, "What's in the letter?"
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "Young Master San said that instead of letting the situation remain deadlocked, it would be better for both sides to take a step back and let the East India Company pay for the goods. Instead of giving the money directly to Yihe Bank, we should find a third party to guarantee the money and save it. When the tea transaction is completed, we will withdraw the money."
Manager Liu was stunned for a while. "He is so smart. But will Mr. Milton agree? Who can guarantee it? Where can we keep the money?"
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "We asked Mr. Cai from the Thirteen Hongs to be the guarantor, and the money will be deposited in the Pan family first."
Manager Liu nodded and said, "Hao Guan's idea this time is reliable. If General Manager Cai is willing to guarantee it, that would be great. It would also be fine if we keep the money at the Pan family."
Foreigners come and go, and if something unexpected happens, it would be like catching the wind to settle with them. However, the Pan family is wealthy and powerful, and their reputation is even better than that of the Wu family. Besides, as the saying goes, the monk can run away but the temple cannot. As long as Pan Youjie is willing to take over, Manager Liu will not be afraid of losing the money - although the amount is huge, it is not worth it for the Pan family to sacrifice their reputation for greed.
Hou San said, "But since you are looking for a guarantor, why do you ask Mr. Cai to be the guarantor and ask the Pan family to deposit the money? Wouldn't it be better to just find someone directly?"
Manager Liu laughed and said, "Although the Pan family is the most prestigious, Pan Youjie is still young and lacks prestige. It is better to ask him to be a guarantor than Cai Zongshang. Although Cai Zongshang has high prestige, it is indeed not as safe to keep the money in the Cai family's warehouse as in the Pan family's warehouse. Although Haoguan is young, he is very shrewd in thinking about things. What a pity, this kid just refuses to put his heart into serious matters."
This time, Hou San went there and surprisingly everything went smoothly. He said, "Mr. Milton read the letter from Mr. San and said there was no problem."
Wu Guoying then wrote letters to Mr. Cai and Pan Youjie respectively. The old man had been rooted in the Guangzhou business world for more than 40 years, and Pan Youjie was his junior, so Mr. Cai had to give him face, and several parties agreed: Wu Chengjian promised that Mr. Milton would get the tea before the end of the autumn trade, otherwise he would not want the money; Milton promised to give the money, but the Wu family had to get his authorization to withdraw the money; Mr. Cai guaranteed the Wu family's promise; and the Pan family guaranteed the safety of the money during this period.
This matter was temporarily resolved. Manager Liu said, "But now, everything is dependent on that batch of our tea. The Third Young Master dared to do this. Could it be that there is news from Huizhou?"
