Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 27 Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi
Old Gu did not respond to Wu Guoying's words, but in fact he agreed.
"I have thought about this, and I have heard some rumors before." Wu Guoying briefly told Cai Qiaozhu's visit, "But from then until now, I have thought about it over and over again, but I can't think of anyone our Wu family has offended, and who has such a great hatred against us, who wants to wipe out our entire Wu family!"
Old Gu stared at Wu Guoying without saying anything.
"Old Gu, what's wrong? Why do you look like this?"
Lao Gu said, "Brother, are you really confused or are you pretending to be confused? You still say you can't think of any enemies."
"Old Gu, do you know something?" Wu Guoying went over it in his mind and said, "I still can't think of anyone who could have such a great hatred for our Wu family."
"Brother... Sigh, maybe it's not that you are confused, but that you are in the middle of the situation." Lao Gu said, "It's me, who has stepped aside in the past two years, but has seen through it. Brother, your Wu family has indeed offended someone and made enemies with him - big enemies!"
"Ah? Why didn't I know anything about it?"
Old Gu smiled and said, "Brother, Yihe Bank has grown too fast in the past few years. Let's not talk about anything else. Just the way Hao Guan flaunted his wealth in Baietan has blinded many eyes in Xiguan. In the past two years, people all over Xiguan have secretly said that Yihe Bank's profits must be ten times more than those of ordinary insurance companies. The Wu family is not one of the four major families, but its wealth is no less than that of the four major families. If it weren't for this, those people wouldn't be so confident in giving money to the Wu family."
Wu Guoying frowned when he heard this. The situation that Lao Gu described was deliberately created by the three of them. Most of the children of the Baoshang lived a luxurious life. However, no matter how luxurious they were, there was a limit. This limit was their status in the family and the wealth that the family allowed children of this status to control. Conversely, the onlookers in Shenxianzhou could often infer the family background of a Baoshang by the degree of a child's ostentation and his status in the family.
It is true that Wu Chengjian likes to enjoy life, but in recent years he has been showing off his wealth to no end. That is the result of Wu Chengjun's deliberate indulgence. Although Wu Guoying did not ask for the details, he also knew the purpose.
But who did he make a great enemy with? Wu Guoying said, "Could it be that Hao Guan showed off his wealth too much and accidentally offended someone? It is inevitable that people will be jealous, but this will not become a life-and-death feud."
"Brother!" Old Gu looked at himself with a face that didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What offended people wasn't Hao Guan's flaunting of wealth, but the fact that Yihehang was thriving! Among the Thirteen Hongs, those who ranked behind you were blocked from rising by Yihehang, and those who ranked ahead of you were driven back by Chengjun. Haven't you heard the saying: To cut off someone's wealth is like killing their parents? Isn't this a big grudge?"
Wu Guoying was not confused, but was confused by the authorities. When Lao Gu pointed it out , he suddenly realized: "So that's it, so that's it!" He suddenly laughed, and his laughter was three parts of enlightenment, but also seven parts of sadness: "Funny, funny! It's funny that I didn't know the root cause of this disaster until now."
Old Gu said, "Now that you have figured it out, do you have any clues?"
Wu Guoying lowered his head, thought for a long while, sighed deeply, and said, "That's about it. Probably... it won't be the Cai, Xie, or Ye families."
Business Council Meeting Hall.
When no one else was paying attention, Wu Chengjian looked at Ye Dalin sitting across from him, then glanced at Xie Yuanli sitting next to him, and then turned his gaze to Cai Shiwen sitting at the front, thinking: "Who are these three families? Or are all three families involved?"
The backyard of the Wu family mansion in Xiguan.
Wu Guoying said: "Silk and tea are the largest businesses in the Thirteen Hongs. Silk is taken up by Tonghe Hong, and as for tea, it is our four families that take the lion's share."
Old Gu also nodded: "In the tea business, Yihe Bank is not the largest yet, but the one with the best reputation, the best products, and the biggest profits is the Wu family. With such goodwill, products, and profits, only the Pan family can be compared among the Thirteen Banks. Yuehai Jinao spent half his life to establish the unshakable kingdom of Tonghe. If Pan Youjie had not been too young at the time, how could Cai Shiwen have been the chief merchant? It would be fine if there was only one Tonghe Bank. His Pan family alone could not swallow up the entire Baietan. But if Yihe Bank continues to develop like this, within ten years, a mountain comparable to the Pan family will rise. By then, the two heroes will confront each other, and the Cai, Xie, and Lu in the front will certainly be squeezed out. I am afraid that the families behind them can only share some soup and water under the shadow of you Pan and Wu heroes."
"Chengjun is good at making overt moves but not good at making shady moves. He was careless and ended up like this... Alas!" Wu Guoying looked up and sighed, "The Xie family and the Cai family are tied together. If it's related to the Xie family, then it's related to the Cai family. The Cai family and our Wu family are old relatives. Ye Dalin and I have also known each other for 30 years, and his daughter is currently discussing marriage with Hao Guan. No matter who these three families are... I, Wu Guoying, would never want to see this."
Old Gu said: "But if we are not close to the Wu family, this matter will not be accomplished, so the closer the person is, the greater the suspicion will be."
Wu Guoying sighed deeply again. He had suffered a serious illness that damaged his vitality and aged prematurely. He retired from the front line early, but he often refused to admit his old age. However, at this moment, for the first time in his life, he felt that not only was he physically unable to do it, but even his mental strength was unable to bear it. All of a sudden, he finally realized that he was old after all.
After a period of silence, the Thirteen Hongs General Merchant Cai Shiwen coughed and said, "I have invited you all here today because I have three things to discuss with you."
All the business owners said, "Please speak, General Manager."
Mr. Cai said: "First, the ninth concubine of Master Jishan of the Guangdong Customs will celebrate her birthday soon. Thanks to Manager Galiu..."
He moved his hand to Ga Liu: "... you gave me a reminder, and I discussed it with Mr. Xie. We want to hold a banquet at Sipailou. Of course, it is not convenient for us to attend, so we let the wives take care of it and make it lively, so that Master Jishan and the Ninth Concubine will be happy - what do you think?"
If there were any upright scholars here, they would have cursed loudly after hearing this. Is the birthday of an official's concubine worth holding such a high-profile meeting?
But everyone present nodded like chickens pecking at rice. No one objected, and no one was too enthusiastic. They just said, "This is what we should do. We will share the cost in equal parts."
Wu Chengjian was also among them and nodded twice.
Gailu crossed his legs and ate some melon seeds. He felt that the merchants were giving face to his master, which was also giving face to him, and nodded with satisfaction.
Merchant Cai continued, "The second is that the autumn trade is about to end, and the newly appointed Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Master Zhu, has issued an order that the closer we get to the end of the trade, the more we must prevent any accidents. The Governor-General wants us to ensure that Chinese and foreigners are separated before the end of the autumn trade, and that we must sell at the price, not short sell, not bully the market, not force buying and selling, not smuggling opium, and not causing foreign-related incidents, otherwise we will be severely punished."
When everyone heard this, they all said, "Of course, of course. We will do our job well, sell the goods well, and distinguish between Chinese and foreign goods."
Wu Chengjian also followed with a few words, "Of course, of course."
Mr. Cai continued, "The third is that the capital has issued an order to the Supervisor, and the Supervisor asked me to convey it to you."
When everyone heard this, they were all shocked: "Here it comes!" They knew that the previous two things were just introductions, and the third thing should be the focus of this meeting.
Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office.
Cai Qinghua walked into the study holding a letter.
An old man in his sixties with white hair and beard was sitting on a Luohan bed, holding a history book in his hand, looking out the window, leaning on the railing and listening to the sound of bamboo in a trance. This old man was Zhu Gui, the teacher of the fifteenth son of the emperor and the newly appointed Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.
Zhu Gui turned around when he heard footsteps. Cai Qinghua presented him a letter. Zhu Gui opened it and read it. He looked up and said, "Everything in the capital is as expected."
He placed the volume of "History of Ming Dynasty" compiled by Zhang Tingyu on the table and said, "Things in Guangzhou are more difficult than expected. In terms of military affairs, the Banner Army is one, the Green Camp is one, the various town commanders are one, the remnants of the chieftains in the border areas of Guangxi are another, England and other Western countries are another, Annan and other southwestern countries are another, and the island countries in Southeast Asia are another. They are mixed together and entangled. In terms of government affairs, the Bannermen and the Han are separated. The Bannermen are few and in the upper positions, while the Han people are many and in the lower positions. In fact, all the common affairs have been controlled by the Han officials, and the Bannermen hold the lifeline... Oh, it's difficult, difficult!"
Cai Qinghua said: "Although there are many things to do, as long as you grasp the key, you can be competent, just like a tangled mess, as long as you find the thread, you can sort it out."
Zhu Gui said: "This is a very difficult matter. The Guangzhou General and the Guangdong Customs Supervisor have reservations about me. I understand that they are bannermen after all and have a gap with me. But the Han officials have not told me the truth. Even the Guangdong Governor has been pretending to obey recently."
Cai Qinghua said: "The owner has just taken office, and it is normal for the officials to have doubts. But the owner has a strong foundation, and he will be able to win them over in time."
"But some things cannot be delayed." Zhu Gui placed one hand on the volume of "History of Ming Dynasty".
Cai Qinghua took a quick glance. With his good eyesight, he spotted the names of Yan Song, Xu Jie, etc. He knew that Zhu Gui was reading "The Biography of Yan Song". He took two steps closer and whispered, "The officials of the capital, are you ready to reconcile?"
Zhu Gui raised his hand to stop him and lowered his voice: "How easy is that! Without solid evidence, we will definitely not be able to bring him down. We will not be able to kill the tiger, but will be injured by it instead." His voice became lower and lower: "It doesn't matter if we get hurt. What I'm afraid of is that the Fifteenth Prince will be implicated, and then..."
Having said this, he stopped, and Cai Qinghua also took two steps back, as he had already understood.
Zhu Gui said, "The businessman did a great job on the matter I entrusted to him a few days ago. What was his name?"
Cai Qinghua said: "Lu Guanhuan, this person can do practical work and is very steady in doing things."
Zhu Gui was new, and there were people who offered to join him, but most of them were frivolous and lucky. Those who were truly capable and talented were still waiting and watching. A few days ago, a thankless task was assigned to him, and it happened to be taken over by Lu Guanhuan, who handled the task securely and beautifully, so Zhu Gui remembered this name.
Cai Qinghua said: "There are two keys to Guangdong's government affairs, one is foreigners and the other is money. These two words are all in the Thirteen Lines. The wealth of Xiguan Street is enough to rival that of a country. And recently Heshen..."
He lowered his voice, "…What Heshen did and what he worried about were also related to money. The wealth of the world is in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers in the east and in the Guangdong Sea in the south. Since the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers were closed to the sea, their power has been inward-looking. Their financial resources all depend on silk and salt, which have been increasingly dwindling in recent years. However, the silver flow in the Guangdong Sea is ever-flowing. Heshen will probably start from here, so the 'disaster' of the government affairs in the north and south may be solved here."
Zhu Gui pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the relationship between Lu Guanhuan and Jishan?"
