Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 39 Rejection
If someone else had come, they would either be overjoyed or flattered.
Wu Chengjian was silent for a while before asking, "What does the Grand Lord want me to do?"
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "In a few days, the merchants will discuss and decide whether to choose the Yang and Wu families. The Grand Duke hopes that you will not panic or despair, but also not resist. Just try your best to delay the payment date. Don't be like the Yang family, who waited for death before the last moment."
Wu Chengjian interrupted, "Is this the intention of the Grand Lord or Master Cai?"
Cai Qinghua said, "It was my idea, but the Grand Lord has already agreed. If you are still worried, I can secretly bring you to see the Grand Lord to strengthen your resolve. But this meeting cannot be known to others for the time being."
Wu Chengjian said: "What can we do if we delay until the end?"
Cai Qinghua said with a smile: "This plan of Mr. Cai is good in every way, but there is a flaw - he set the date for the completion too late. If there is any accident at that time, Jishan will not even have time to turn around."
"He has no other choice." Wu Chengjian said, "Unlike the big landlords in the north, the merchants in Guangzhou do not have the habit of burying silver in jars underground. The merchants here in Guangzhou have gold and silver flowing like water. In the second half of the year, the money supply of the Thirteen Hongs will gradually tighten. The debts and liabilities of each family are intertwined. Even Mr. Cai may find it difficult to calculate which family's money will be where on which day. If the operation is not done well, even if he uses force, he may only find an empty shell. That's why he chose to push this matter before the end of the autumn trade."
Things have come to this point, and many things that were previously difficult to understand are now completely clear.
Why did Duan Longjiang abandon the Wu family? Because Heshen was behind this. Why did the "robbers" mobilize so many manpower and even firearms? Because Heshen was behind this.
Why didn't the news of the Wu family's lost tea in Huizhou come out earlier or later, but just after the foreign tea and silver were put into the warehouse? Because the other party wanted to ensure that the silver flow other than the Wu family's own tea could arrive in the account.
Why was the first meeting to apportion the money to the merchants held yesterday? Because the transaction between the Yang family and the foreign merchants ended the day before, and the money that Maosheng Bank received was still being counted and not yet distributed to the small and medium-sized merchants who supplied the goods. At this time, the Yang family's silver pool was the fullest, and they blocked it in time and made the most profit.
Things gradually became clear one by one.
But what if it becomes clear?
The "enemy" had already made up its mind. Even if the Yang and Wu families understood the truth of the matter at this time, it was too late. Everything had already been decided.
The Yang family was already in a desperate situation - Jishan had already sent troops to "protect" the Yang family and Maoshengxing. He was the supervisor of the Guangdong Customs, so he had a legitimate reason to do so, and no one could do anything about it. If the Wu family wanted to break out of the situation, in addition to scheming, they had to find a backer who could stand up to Jishan - or even Heshen.
Wu Chengjian looked at Cai Qinghua and found that Cai Qinghua was smiling. Then he suddenly understood Cai Qinghua's intentions.
Cai Qinghua’s counter-plot yesterday evening was not “revenge”. In the name of “revenge”, the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor-General’s Office personally pushed the Wu family into the abyss, only to lay the groundwork for the subsequent political struggle.
Because the Wu family has been driven into an irretrievable situation, no matter what request Cai Qinghua makes next, the Wu family will find it difficult to refuse and will have no choice but to comply - a dying person who has been given the gift of life will naturally be more docile and more useful than a lackey obtained through the exchange of interests.
Because the Wu family was beaten to a desperate situation by Cai Qinghua, Jishan would think that the Wu family had been abandoned by the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and that Zhu Gui's goal was only to save the Lu family. He would relax his vigilance against the Wu family's next actions, and at the most critical moment, Zhu Gui would suddenly intervene and catch Jishan off guard.
Zhu Gui's attack was naturally not aimed at Jishan, but a decisive blow to Heshen by the upright literati represented by him - this was an "anti-He" operation, and the Wu family was the spearhead of this "anti-He" operation.
"Master Cai." Wu Chengjian said, "What exactly do you want our Wu family to do?"
"Drag it!" Cai Qinghua said, "What Heshen wants to do this time is a little bit against the rules. Jishan appears to be strong, but he is actually under pressure from all sides, so he dare not do some things too radically. In the meeting to protect merchants in a few days, you should first agree to donate, and then drag it out until ten days later, and then find a reason to firmly refuse the donation."
Wu Chengjian chuckled, "You promised first and then regretted it. Isn't this asking for our Wu family's death?"
"If you don't have the Grand Prefect behind you, you're just courting death." Master Cai said, "But if you have the Grand Prefect backing you up, what are you afraid of? This time, Jishan has no imperial edict, no imperial decree, and no official document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He is just relying on power and intimidation to force the merchants to donate, which gives you room for resistance. If you go back on your word, Jishan will be furious and threaten you, and you'll take the opportunity to make a scene. If he forces you harshly, you'll just pretend to be submissive. If he uses force, the Grand Prefect will rescue you. As long as you delay the matter until after the 15th, the overall situation will be settled."
Wu Chengjian asked, "The overall situation in Beijing?"
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "Smart!"
Wu Chengjian did not agree at the moment.
Seeing that he was still hesitating, Cai Qinghua said, "Lu Guanhuan has already told me about the loss of tea in Huizhou by Yihe Bank. Even if there was no forced donation in Yongding River, your Wu family's business and reputation would have plummeted. What's more, after losing the tea, you were forced to donate again? Now your Wu family is at the end of its rope. This is the last and only way. Looking at Guangdong, only the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi can suppress Jishan. Looking at the world, only our host, the teacher of the fifteenth son of the emperor, dares to fight against He Zhongtang for you. You are a smart person and know what to choose."
Even if there was no fourth person present at the moment, Cai Qinghua's words were very cautious. He did not directly bring in the fifteenth prince, but only pointed out Zhu Gui's identity as the "fifteenth prince's teacher."
Yes, behind Jishan is Heshen.
And behind Zhu Gui was Yongyan.
This was a game at the highest level of the Qing Empire, and the Wu family was "fortunate" to become a chess piece in this game due to fate.
The eleventh fu is inside the big house.
Young Master Wu said to his many relatives: "Isn't it that everyone has heard about the recent forced donations from the Thirteen Hongs?"
As soon as these words came out, the crowd in the room was in an uproar.
Fujianese people like to stick together. When the Wu family first arrived in Guangzhou, they naturally wanted to stick together for warmth. After they established themselves, they brought people from their hometown to Guangdong, bringing their relatives and cousins with them. A few decades ago, Xiguan was not as prosperous as it is today. It was a suburb outside the city, and some places became gathering places for outsiders. The Wu family from Fujian settled down outside the west gate of Guangzhou City, forming a pattern of mutual support.
When Wu Guoying left the Pan family and started his own business, he did receive a lot of help from his fellow villagers and clansmen. Apart from other things, the money borrowed from these people accounted for one-third of Wu Guoying's start-up capital. Moreover, when he wanted to settle the relationship between all parties, he also needed these fellow villagers and clansmen to come forward to create a momentum of strength in numbers.
Although the Wu family's dependence on fellow villagers and relatives gradually decreased as Yihehang's business gradually got on track, Wu Guoying was nostalgic and adhered to the principle of "keeping things within the family". As long as the business could be handed over to his clansmen and fellow villagers, he would give priority to them. This led to the prosperity of dozens of relatives and fellow villagers, and the Fujian accent was prevalent outside Xiguan.
The families that were able to come into this big house today, their businesses, big or small, were more or less related to Yihehang, so when they heard about what happened in the Thirteenth Hang, they were already extremely anxious.
Seven or eight people spoke at the same time, with many people talking at random, but all they asked were: "Second Young Master, is it true that they forced the donation ? Was the Wu family also forced to donate? Will Yihe Bank go bankrupt?"
Of course, there are more explicit words that are difficult to say at this time, such as "Will it implicate us?"
Wu Chenggou sighed and said, "I'm not really clear about this matter."
"What?!"
"How could you not know!"
"You are a well-known figure in Yihe Bank, and you are the second young master, how could you not know?"
"yes!"
Wu Chenggou said: "Everyone, please be quiet, be quiet!"
Everyone finally quieted down, and Wu Chenggou said, "I didn't intervene in this matter. I don't know what my father was thinking. Because my eldest brother was ill, he asked the third son to represent our family at the meeting that day. Do you think that with the character of the third son, what good results could he get if he went to the meeting? So, the situation became what it is today."
Everyone groaned, as if they had realized something. The Sixth Uncle said, "I knew it, I knew it! Our Wu family has such a prodigal son. Sooner or later, something bad will happen. It was okay before when Chengjun was in charge and suppressed him. Now Guoying, I don't know if he has eaten too much lard and has lost his mind, has actually handed the family over to this prodigal son. This is great! If Yihehang is in trouble, won't we all be unlucky as well?"
Wu Chengjian suddenly stood up, straightened his clothes, and bowed deeply to Cai Qinghua.
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "No need to be polite. I am helping you this time just because the situation is favorable."
Unexpectedly, Wu Chengjian said: "This gift is Wu Chengjian's apology."
Cai Qinghua was stunned: "Apologize?"
Wu Chengjian said, "The Grand Lord has given an order, and the Wu family dared not obey it, so we apologize. But please rest assured, Master Cai, I will not reveal a single word tonight before the forced donation is settled. If the Grand Lord has other plans, they will not be delayed because of the information leaked by me."
This time it was Cai Qinghua's turn to be surprised. He almost thought he had heard it wrongly. He was shocked and angry: "What did you say?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I said, the Wu family dare not obey orders."
Cai Qinghua looked Wu Chengjian up and down: "Brother Wu, do you know what the situation of your Wu family is now? Do you know the price of rejecting me?"
"Yes, of course I know." Wu Chengjian said, "The Wu family is now probably better off than a drowning dog. A drowning dog can survive as long as it gets on shore, but the Wu family is in the water, and swords are ready on the shore. If we don't get on shore, we will die. If we get on shore, we will also die. When the meeting to protect the merchants is held in a few days, the four words "family destruction" will be enough to describe it. My father and I will definitely be hung on a beam with a rope, and the other male members will be exiled to the frontier, and the female family members will be reduced to slavery. It's all possible."
Cai Qinghua said grimly: "Knowing this, how dare you reject me?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I didn't dare to do so, but I had to refuse!"
