Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 29 Who is this noble person?
This Manchu lord was the immediate superior of the Thirteen Hongs’ merchants, the actual manager of the Emperor’s Southern Treasury, and the Supervisor of the Guangdong Customs, Jishan.
"Lu Guanhuan took the risk of offending others and took on the task without waiting for Governor Zhu to speak. Not only did he do it, he also did it beautifully and neatly." Jishan smiled kindly, and the servant's legs went weak: "In the words of the Han people, this is called giving a peach--"
He drew the word "桃" so long that even his servants began to tremble.
"After he finished the job, the governor's advisor met with him. Not only did he meet with him, but he also gave him another troublesome matter to handle. Lu Guanhuan also succeeded, so the advisor summoned him again. These two summons, in the words of the Han people, are called "Bao Li--"
The word "Li" was drawn out again, and the servant was so scared that he knelt down, not daring to look at his master's face again.
"Hehe, Mr. Lu is now a man who has eaten the plums of the Governor's Mansion. How dare you, a slave from the Guangdong Customs, beat him to death? How many heads do you have?"
Business Council Meeting Hall.
At this time, in addition to Wu Chengjian, many business owners also looked at him with scrutiny. Lu Guanhuan pressed Cai Shiwen step by step and asked him who the "superior" he mentioned was. Cai Shiwen could not give a direct answer. Xie Yuanli was about to beat around the bush, but Ga Liu interrupted him and said, "Mr. Lu, what do you mean? Do you dare to doubt what Master Jishan told you?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Cai Shiwen and Xie Yuanli cursed him in their hearts. They had been evasive and hinting since they opened their mouths, hoping to make the merchants suspicious and fearful. When people are suspicious, they will be afraid. In the context of the government's absolute power and the merchants' lifeline being controlled by others, once they are afraid, they will not dare to ask some questions that should be asked clearly.
Unexpectedly, Lu Guanhuan pursued him relentlessly today as if he had taken the wrong medicine, and what was even more unexpected was that Ga Liu interrupted him at random and pushed Ji Shan to the forefront, leaving Xie Yuanli with no chance to help Mr. Cai turn the situation around again.
Lu Guanhuan said, "Could it be that the superiors here refer to the Supervisor? If the Supervisor gives the order, we dare not disobey. But please give the Supervisor the official order, so that we can follow the rules."
Galau was stunned for a moment, and glanced at Cai and Xie. Seeing that both of them had angry and blaming looks in their eyes, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have said something wrong. Jishan had instructed that this matter must be handled without any written records. If he could produce an order in black and white, why would Cai Shiwen have gone around in circles just now?
Ga Liu was embarrassed for a moment, then became angry and jumped up and shouted: "With me here, what else do you need to give orders and follow rules? Mr. Cai's opinion is my opinion, and my opinion is the master's opinion !"
He had just gained power recently and was bossing several merchants around in Shisanhang Street. In just half a month, his tyranny had become a habit.
It seemed that Lu Guanhuan did not dare to confront him. He said with an "oh", "But this matter has no imperial decree, no royal instruction, and no supervisory order. That's fine. As long as it is the supervisor's intention, we will do our best to follow it and dare not disobey." After he said that, he sat back.
Ga Liu thought that Lu Guanhuan had given up, and sat back triumphantly, but he saw that Cai Shiwen and Xie Yuanli both had dark faces and didn't say anything, so he couldn't help but say, "Why are you still standing there? Talk and work."
Cai Shiwen and Xie Yuanli's faces looked as if they were covered with ink, and their mouths could not be opened for a moment.
Xiajiu, a tree-lined alley, leads to a remote courtyard.
An old man was sitting there, humming a little tune.
The Kunqu tunes Wu Chengjian brought from Jiangnan have been mixed with Cantonese music in the past two years and have spread widely without anyone noticing. The older people in Xiguan all cursed this prodigal son in public, but they could enjoy the good things he brought back.
Wu Chenggou pushed the door open and walked into the yard, smiling: "Sixth Uncle, you seem to be in a good mood."
The old man sighed and quickly stood up: "Who is it? It's the Second Young Master! What wind brought you here today?"
Wu Chenggou raised the things in his hand and said with a smile: "Sixth Uncle, you are two generations older than me. Even my father has to call you Sixth Uncle. You still call me Second Young Master, and you are not afraid of shortening your grandson's life."
Business Council Meeting Hall.
Originally, according to the strategy agreed upon by Cai Shiwen and Xie Yuanli, the situation was completely different. However, Galiou was instigated by Lu Guanhuan and started to make a lot of unreasonable demands. Lu Guanhuan actually pointed out the nine words "no imperial edict, no imperial instruction, no supervisory order", which exposed the fake story that Cai and Xie tried so hard to put on.
Although as Lu Guanhuan said, even without an imperial edict, an imperial decree, or an order from the supervisor, the Guangdong Customs Supervisor could still force the Thirteen Hongs to pay up with the official authority he had accumulated over the years, but the two were completely different.
If there was an imperial edict or a formal document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there was almost no limit to what Jishan could do to the Thirteen Hongs. He could even force all Thirteen Hongs to go bankrupt, as long as His Majesty acquiesced, he would dare to do it.
However, if there is no imperial edict or official document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the money Jishan got by coercing officials would be greatly discounted. After all, in Guangzhou, this fairyland, there is the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Governor of Guangdong, and the General of Guangzhou... The bureaucrats and dignitaries of all sizes are intertwined, and the demands of each Bodhisattva are inconsistent. Behind each Bodhisattva, there are mountains behind mountains, and Jishan cannot cover the sky with one hand.
If this were not the case, why did Cai Shiwen go to such lengths to thank Yuan Li just now? He could just take out the imperial edict and read it out.
Wu Chengjian watched with a cold smile, thinking: "It's better to team up with a pig than to team up with this Galiu, who will only hold back. I used to think Hutabu was stupid, but now it seems that Galiu's level is much worse than Hutabu's."
Hutabu was another servant of Jishan. He was the one who sat in the position where Galu was now in the past few years.
A month ago, a fire broke out in the backyard of Jishan, the supervisor of Guangdong Customs. The seventh and ninth concubines had a fight in the house and the winner was decided. This has been a big news in Xiguan in recent months. This matter seems not worth mentioning, but the ninth concubine was in favor and the seventh concubine was out of favor. As a result of this fight, the steward of Jishan's family was promoted or demoted. It was this Galau who gained power in this fight and replaced Hutabu. He was ordered to help Jishan supervise the affairs of the Thirteen Hongs.
Among the Thirteen Hongs, the five families of Cai, Xie, Ye, Wu and Yang were able to become merchants, all of which had connections with Jishan. The Pan family also had connections with Jishan's family, but their connections were wider and not just this single-plank bridge.
As the supervisor of Guangdong Customs, Jishan wanted to make money from the merchants of the Thirteen Hongs, but he also despised these merchants as despicable people. Therefore, he would not contact these merchants on normal days and only let his servants pass on messages. Until a month ago, the person in charge of dealings with these five companies had always been Galu's predecessor Hutabu.
In this house fight, Ye Dalin's attitude was always ambiguous, while Cai and Xie suddenly "defected" at the beginning of the house fight and joined Galu, while the Yang family was still working for Hutabu until the last moment of the house fight.
As for Wu Chengjun, the business creed he has always believed in is "quality and reputation are the foundation."
Wu Chengjun believed that businessmen should regard goods as their bones and muscles, and reputation as their lifeblood: as long as the goods are genuine and the products are made properly, this will naturally guarantee that customers will flock to them, this is called "regarding goods as their bones and muscles"; as long as the business is fair, there is credit and repayment, and the promises are fulfilled and the actions are fulfilled, then "teeth are used as gold" and money can be borrowed like water based on reputation, this is called "regarding business reputation as their lifeblood".
This is what Wu Chengjun thought and did. Because of this understanding, he looked down on those who made their fortunes purely by connections, and did not want to get involved in these harem struggles. In Wu Chengjun's mind, he had to make friends with the supervisor's servants. He also looked down on these servants in his heart, but the reason he still resisted giving them money and gifts was that the world was in such a state that he had no choice.
Therefore, in his mind, Hutabu and Galu were just a channel of communication with the Guangdong Customs Supervisor. Therefore, he did not intervene in the palace fight a month ago. He would just wait for the inner house to decide the winner. If Hutabu won, then affairs would remain the same. If Hutabu lost, then he would just interact with the new servants.
Wu Chengjian only half agreed with Wu Chengjun's view: he thought that goods were the bones and reputation was the blood, but he still believed that power and trickery must be used to show the surface. Whether it was the Guangdong Customs, the Governor's Office, or even the capital and Jiangnan, people who should be made friends should still be made friends.
But at this moment, seeing the ugly appearance of Galiu, he couldn't help but think: "Brother's idea still makes sense. If possible, who would be willing to humble themselves and deal with such a person?"
The hall fell into a strange silence for a while. Garu couldn't help but urge Cai Shiwen a few more times before he stood up again and said, "After a major disaster, there will be a major epidemic. We need to be careful. This is the first thing. The Yongding River embankment collapsed. The collapsed part was repaired last year, but there is no guarantee that it will collapse somewhere else next year. If we can raise relief funds to fill the gaps, wouldn't it increase our saintly virtue? This is the second thing."
He paused here, then bowed to the north and said, "When the nobleman from the capital comforted the victims by the river, he was commanding the relief workers with confidence, while at the same time he was sad for the displaced victims. The nobleman later wrote a letter about the situation and sent it to the Supervisor. The Supervisor was deeply moved after reading the nobleman's letter. He tossed and turned for several nights in a row. He felt that the people above cared so much about the country and the people. We are far away in Guangdong and can't do other things, but we can help with the money matters. That's why he summoned me to the Supervisor's Mansion and explained the matter, which led to today's meeting."
As Cai Shiwen spoke, his dark face was filled with emotion.
After hearing these words, Wu Chengjian couldn't help but . It only took a blink of an eye for General Cai to make up such a nonsense, which sounded reasonable - that's fine, but what was even more rare was that there was something else behind his words. He hid the threatening beheading knife in his compassionate words without revealing any anger. He was truly a talented person, and even Wu Chengjian couldn't help but admire him.
He looked at Lu Guanhuan and saw that after hearing these words, Lu Guanhuan returned to his previous hunched state. Wu Chengjian couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Old Lu can't bear it after all."
Wu, Ye and the other five merchants were like quails, and dared not make any rash moves.
Everyone knew that Cai Shiwen was making up stories, but no one dared to expose him.
Cai Shiwen mentioned a "noble person" in his words. Who is this noble person?
When he was providing disaster relief, he was "commanding the people with confidence". A letter from him could keep Jishan awake for several nights. How powerful he must be! In connection with what Lu Guanhuan said just now, the word "Heshen" is almost coming out.
