Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 14 Water of Yongding River
However, Manager Liu was wrong. In fact, there was still no clue about the batch of tea from Shizhou, and the news that Old Gu sent back home was not ideal.
Just after the East India Company's silver was deposited into the Pan family's warehouse, the wealthy people in Xiguan, the officials in Guangzhou, and the foreign companies in Shamian all suddenly heard the news that the Yihehang company had lost tea in Huizhou.
On the Huachai, Tan Sanniang's spies in Shenxian Island reported the situation.
Zhou Yijin said: "What a coincidence!"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "Do you think this is a coincidence?"
Zhou Yijin wrinkled his fair nose, snorted softly, and said, "Although the Wu family had kept it a secret before, if there really was an 'enemy' who wanted to mess with Yihe Bank, then this 'enemy' must have known about it. It would be understandable if he had kept it a secret, but the more secrets a thief has, the better. But he leaked the news... Of course, leaking the news was to mess up Yihe Bank, but if you want to mess up Yihe Bank, you should do it as early as possible. If the news was released at the beginning, Yihe Bank would have difficulty even doing business with that batch of foreign tea, or Milton would have severely reduced the price, and then countless domestic merchants who shipped goods to Yihe Bank would come to collect debts. Yihe Bank would not be able to collect the money from outside, and would be squeezed by upstream merchants. Maybe the Wu family would have collapsed without waiting for the result of the lost tea in Huizhou. But that 'enemy' didn't do that. He kept it to himself and waited until now to release the news. It's just like..."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "It's like he's waiting for us to complete the transaction with Milton other than our tea. Hehe, if this person really exists, he must have some feelings for our Wu family. He robbed our tea, but still tried every means to help our Wu family keep our capital."
Zhou Yijin said: "The money is still in the Pan family's warehouse."
Wu Chengjian said: "Since I dare to come up with this idea, I am sure I can get the money back."
Zhou Yijin said: "You are sure, but the other party doesn't know you are sure."
Wu Chengjian said: "That means the other party is confident that they can take out the money."
"Haha!" Zhou Yijin laughed and said, "There are only a handful of people who can accomplish this. If this is the case, we can identify this 'enemy' by just stretching out our hands."
"It's also possible that this person doesn't exist at all." Wu Chengjian said: "It's all a coincidence, we are just imagining things."
Zhou Yijin said: "Haha."
Under normal circumstances, such a big thing as the Wu family losing tea would definitely cause a sensation among the people even if it was just a rumor. Fortunately, a bigger incident happened in Guangzhou recently, which attracted everyone's attention - the new Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhu Gui, arrived in the provincial capital.
Unlike his predecessors, Zhu Gui, the Grand Prefect of Zhu, was not a Manchu but a Han official. Although he was a Han official, he had a great background. He had been working in the Shangshufang since the 41st year of Qianlong's reign and had been close to the Emperor for more than ten years. He had also presided over the Henan provincial examinations and supervised the education administration in Fujian. He had students all over the world. Before being sent out, he served as the Minister of Rites, and was extremely noble.
However, all of the above experiences combined are not as good as his other identity - he was the teacher of the fifteenth prince Yongyan (the future Emperor Jiaqing).
The current emperor has been on the throne for nearly sixty years, which is a rare old age for emperors in ancient and modern times. Seeing his advanced age, although the edict of succession is hidden behind the plaque of "Zhengda Guangming" and has never been made public, people in the court and the public have guessed that the name on the edict behind the plaque is most likely the fifteenth prince. In other words, there is no telling when someone will sit on the dragon throne, and this Grand Marquis Zhu will be the emperor's teacher.
Therefore, when Zhu Gui took office this time, all the officials in Guangdong, big and small, were very respectful to him and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.
Unexpectedly, the day after Zhu Gui took office, Cai Qinghua suddenly came to Zhou Yijin for a drink, which surprised Zhou Yijin. He said, "Master, the Grand Marquis has just arrived in Guangdong, and the Governor's Office must be busy. How can you have the leisure to come out for a drink?"
Cai Qinghua laughed and said, "I am not in charge of money and grain, but of criminal law. The assistants who are in charge of money and grain have been busy settling accounts these past two days. How much can I, who is in charge of criminal law, do when the Grand Marquis has just taken office?"
Zhou Yijin said, "You're not so idle that you can come out to drink and have fun. I heard that this Grand Marquis Zhu is quite strict with his subordinates. Master, you should not offend the host by being so dissolute."
"No problem." Cai Qinghua said with a smile: "I invited Yi Jin to drink, half for personal reasons and half for public reasons."
Zhou Yijin knew that Cai Qinghua was determined to recruit him. Although he wanted to refuse, the other party was now the adviser of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Even if they did not consider their many years of friendship, he had to take this identity into consideration and his attitude could not be too tough.
"It's impolite not to reciprocate." Cai Qinghua said, "This time, you have to let me be the host."
He chartered a small pleasure boat. There was not even a singing girl on the boat. There was only a handsome boy serving Cai Qinghua, and a half-deaf old boatman at the helm. The bamboo curtain was drawn, and some snacks were placed in the cabin.
When the handsome boy saw Zhou Yijin for the first time, his eyes seemed to be on fire.
Cai Qinghua glanced at him, slapped him lightly, and said with a smile: "If you want to find someone to be jealous of, find someone who is not much different from you. Yi Jin's face is like the clouds in the sky and the jade from Kunlun, pure and ethereal, yet high and unattainable. Since he is unattainable, there is no need to be jealous. Although you are handsome, if you compare yourself with him, you are just asking for trouble."
The boy looked at Zhou Yijin again, and suddenly became discouraged and no longer felt jealous.
The pleasure boat drifted out of Baietan, and Cai Qinghua pointed to the vast water outside the bamboo curtain and said, "Beyond the Qiantang River in Zhejiang Province, there is also a large body of water, but it pales in comparison to the confluence of the Pearl River that leads directly to the South China Sea."
Baietan is where the river meets the sea. Henan was considered land two hundred years later, but at this time it was considered an island. Therefore, Baietan at this time can be said to be the surface of the river, and can also be regarded as the near sea.
Zhou Yijin said: "This is just the river mouth. If we go south out of the bay and enter the South China Sea, it will be vast and boundless."
Cai Qinghua asked: "Have you seen it?"
Zhou Yijin suddenly realized that he had said something wrong. Zhou Qinghua laughed and said, "Why, what else do I need to hide from Master? I know a lot of your secrets. If I really want to harm you, I can kill you thirty times."
Zhou Yijin thought about it and after Cai Qinghua used this as an excuse to chase the boy away for a few steps, he whispered, "Chengjian is fun. He once drove a British ship out to sea. I went with him twice."
Cai Qinghua said: "Guangzhou people always say that the emperor is far away and the mountains are high, and it is indeed true."
The Wu family was not an ordinary family. They were merchants from the Thirteen Hongs and were registered with the government. If the news of Wu Chengjian going out to sea without permission were to get out, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Zhou Yijin said, "When Chengjian is playful, he often does not know the seriousness of the matter. This matter came from me. If anything goes wrong, I will be implicated together with the Third Young Master. Master, if you still care about the relationship between master and disciple, please do not harm me."
He thought Cai Qinghua would not harm him, so he deliberately implicated himself to make Cai Qinghua afraid to act rashly. As long as Cai Qinghua did not want to harm himself, he would not use this matter to harm Wu Chengjian.
"Why would we waste time talking about this?" Cai Qinghua said with a smile, "If I had used your careless words to harm you, you wouldn't have confessed to me just now. That night, I wouldn't have dared to accept your request to stay overnight on the Huacha."
Having said this, he suddenly let out another long sigh.
Zhou Yijin asked, "Master, what are you sighing about?"
Cai Qinghua said: "You confessed such a serious matter to me, which means you still trust me. But in the past, you would not have said the last two sentences. It shows that in your heart, Wu Chengjian is more important than your teacher. How hateful and lamentable!"
As he spoke, he picked up the wine jug, poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.
Zhou Yijin remained silent, but he also raised his glass and took a sip, then changed the subject and said, "Master followed the owner to take up his new post, and even brought some good wine from his hometown to Guangdong."
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "How could I possibly do that? This was left in my guest room by an unexpected guest the day I arrived in Guangzhou. I saw that it was just half a jar of opened wine. It would be a pity to throw it away, so I didn't refuse it."
Zhou Yijin said: "Master is in Guangzhou City today, and he is indeed very popular."
"Oh?" Cai Qinghua asked, "Why do you think so?"
Zhou Yijin raised the wine glass in his hand and said, "The pot is an ordinary pot, and the cup is also an ordinary cup, but the thing in the cup is thirty-year-old Zhuangyuanhong. It is not a knock-off wine from Guangdong Province, but Huadiao brewed by people in Shaoxing. This thing is rare in Zhejiang, and it is even more precious in other provinces."
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "Yes, but your tongue is more precious and worth a thousand gold."
Zhou Yijin continued, "In Guangzhou, only two families have this vintage of Zhuangyuanhong: the Guangdong Customs Supervisor has a few jars at home, but given Jishan's background and temper, he can only be perfunctory with you, Master. Apart from Jishan, the only family that has this precious wine is the Pan family. As the head of the Thirteen Hongs, the Pan family took the risk of being suspected by Jishan and carefully considered Master's preferences, taking the risk of being suspected by Jishan, and half-secretly bringing out such a precious wine to please Master. This move shows how much Pan Youjie has worked hard, and since Pan Youjie is so attentive, it is natural to imagine how popular Master is in Guangzhou now."
After hearing this, Cai Qinghua neither denied nor laughed, but stared at Zhou Yijin with shining eyes.
"Master, why are you looking at me like that? If it were ten years ago, I would have thought that Master had some feelings for me!" Zhou Yijin's alcohol tolerance was actually quite good, but his physique was that of a "pseudo-alcoholic" - that is, his face would react after drinking a little, so a faint blush had appeared on his cheeks.
Cai Qinghua said with a smile: "It's not just interesting, it's absolutely necessary to have you! Just a sip of wine can reveal countless secrets behind. If the Grand Lord can get Yi Jin as his guest, the Grand Lord will know everything about Guangzhou city, both inside and outside."
Zhou Yijin said: "I have already told Master that I, your disciple, have no intention of pursuing a career now. I just want to enjoy my old age under the protection of the Third Young Master."
"How old are you? You're already talking about retirement!" Cai Qinghua said with a smile, "Besides, if you continue to follow Wu Chengjian, I'm afraid you won't be able to enjoy that happiness for many days. Once the big house collapses, my good disciple, you won't be able to think about retirement, and you might even be affected."
"News spreads really fast." Zhou Yijin said, "Even Master knows about Huizhou's situation."
"What happened in Huizhou?" Cai Qinghua narrowed his eyes and said, "What happened in Huizhou?"
Zhou Yijin didn't expect that he didn't know about it, but he thought that many people inside and outside Guangzhou had heard about this matter. With Cai Qinghua's current reputation, as long as he was willing to inquire, there would be nothing he couldn't find out. So he briefly told him about the incident of losing tea in Huizhou.
"I see." Cai Qinghua pondered for a moment and said, "That's even more correct. The fall of the Wu family is just a matter of months."
Zhou Yijin asked: "Master, do you know something that I don't know?"
"It doesn't matter if I tell you. Anyway, you can't turn the tables now." Cai Qinghua nodded: "It's about the Yongding River."
"Yongding River?" This time it was Zhou Yijin's turn to be stunned - because this answer was totally incoherent: "What's wrong with the Yongding River?"
As a result, Cai Qinghua said something even more "incomprehensible": "The Yongding River flooded again last year."
