Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 6 Serious Illness
After the efforts of two generations of Wu Guoying and Wu Chengjun, not only did the quality of Yihexing's tea continue to improve, but it also established a famous brand effect, so much so that people in the market started to say:
As long as the stamp of Yihe was stamped on it, the price of tea would increase several times. Even in the European market thousands of miles away, tea with the stamp of Yihe would be snapped up as soon as it was put on the market.
It was precisely because of the successful establishment of the tea brand that Yihehang's business was able to catch up among the entire Thirteen Hongs. In recent years, Wu Chengjun used this goodwill to expand substantially. He signed an order agreement with the East India Company for an astonishing amount, requiring British merchants to pay a high advance payment first, and Yihehang would then pay the amount in tea of equal value the following year.
In this way, the limit of the goods that the Wu family can purchase is no longer their own working capital, but the advance payment they can receive plus the Wu family's own cash flow plus some usury. Due to the long-term reputation accumulated over more than 20 years, since four years ago, the amount of gold and silver that the Wu family has advanced from foreign merchants has always far exceeded the reserves of Yihe Bank.
There were actually quite a few risks in this process, but Wu Chengjun was smart and capable, and he made careful calculations. He was able to circulate money and goods in a timely manner several times in a row, thus gaining the trust of more foreign merchants and tea farmers. It was this dangerous but highly profitable model that allowed the business scale of Yihehang to more than double almost every year in the past three years, and this year's advance payment for tea reached the peak in the history of Yihehang. Many old masters of the industry secretly calculated that as long as Yihehang could make more business this year, the Wu family's reputation would surely rise to a higher level, and by then, it would squeeze out Lu or Xie and have a great chance of becoming one of the "top four" of the Thirteen Hongs.
Wu Chengjun himself also plans to change his strategy after getting through this year, from risky expansion to steady operation.
But something happened at this time - the most important batch of tea disappeared in Huizhou. Although this batch of tea accounted for less than one-third of the total, it was the best quality batch in the entire Yihe Company and also the most profitable batch. If this batch of tea could not be delivered in time, it was difficult to predict what the East India Company would do.
Although Wu Chengjian loves to have fun, he knows everything about the family affairs. Knowing what the disappearance of this batch of tea means to the Wu family, one can imagine how anxious his eldest brother will be - this matter could be a minor injury or even ruin the family!
"Why did you tell me this only today?"
Wu Erliang cried as he spoke, "I didn't mean to not tell the Third Young Master. The First Young Master took me out right away after he got the news. We left in a hurry, and before we left, he only told me not to tell anyone about it. So not only the Third Young Master, but also the Master and the First Young Madam didn't know about this until we came back."
"Of course, this matter must be kept secret," said the quick-talking Wu Qi. "There are hungry wolves everywhere in and around Guangzhou. If this matter gets out, our Wu family will become fat meat in the eyes of those tigers and wolves tomorrow."
Wu Chengjian's eyes flashed, and he looked at Chuanlong Ciye, who was so scared that he quickly said, "Don't worry, Third Master, no matter how loose my mouth is, I dare not leak a single word about this matter. I don't have a mouth like Chuanlong."
Wu Chengjian said: "It seems that big brother is not suffering from heat stroke, but from an acute illness. He will fall ill, and then this batch of tea will be lost."
Wu Erliang didn't say anything, but the bitter look on his face made everyone know that Wu Chengjian was right.
Tietou Junba had been silent the whole time, but suddenly interrupted: "Third Young Master, I will take people to Huizhou right now. Even if we have to turn over all the land along the way, we must find this batch of tea."
Wu Chengjian shook his head: "If you can still find it after such a long time, with my brother's ability, this time he would not have come back sick."
In order to ensure the tea transportation route, the Wu family had connections with both the black and white circles along the route: the Wu family moved from Fujian and had roots in the province, so matters in Fujian were handled by the Wu family's relatives; after moving to Guangdong, they paid tributes and made connections every year to everyone from the Nan'ao General of Chaozhou Prefecture, the Jieshi General of Huizhou Prefecture, to the third shifts of runners in Guangzhou Prefecture and Nanhai County.
Wu Chengjun was in charge of the tea route in the east, so when he got the news, his first reaction was to rush over to deal with it himself. Wu Chengjun always planned things before taking action. He did not rush to make it public before going to Huizhou, and he also felt that he could solve the matter by going there himself. However, things always happen unexpectedly.
The master and his five servants traveled by land and sea, but they did not arrive at Xiguan until dawn.
Xiguan is a place where traveling merchants gathered. Although it became a very famous area in Guangzhou in later generations, it was not located in Guangzhou city in the Qing Dynasty. Instead, it was located outside the west gate of Guangzhou, so it was called Xiguan, and its public security was under the jurisdiction of Nanhai County.
At this time, the Wu family was in chaos. When Wu Chengjian was angry with Tan Sanniang, he said that the Wu family was "merchants of lowly business". This was half right and half wrong - to the high and mighty officials, the Wu family was naturally merchants of lowly business, but the Cantonese people valued business and the citizens loved money. To ordinary people, these top wealthy people in the Thirteen Hongs were still out of their reach, so their families were large and their businesses were powerful, and their gates were strictly guarded.
The head maid Chunrui and two little maids were guarding the side door with spare clothes. Wu always wore jewels and precious stones when he went out, which made Wu Guoying, who advocated simple household living, very dissatisfied. So every time he came back, he would change into a simpler gown.
Wu Chengjian walked quickly and asked, "How is the young master?"
Chun Rui handed him clothes to change into while whispering, "Liu Liangke of Fu'an Hall is the chief doctor now. Someone has been sent to Xichi Hall in Nanhai to invite Mr. Er He. The master said that if he still doesn't wake up by dawn, he will send someone to Shamian to find a foreign doctor. In short, we have to use any method!"
Wu Chengjian stood still for a moment: "Is it so serious?!"
Liu Liangke of Fu'antang was a famous doctor in Xiguan. The fact that he was able to gain a foothold in Xiguan, where many wealthy businessmen gathered, showed his superb medical skills. With him as the chief diagnoser, Wu Guoying had to send people to Nanhai and the foreign company to find someone. It is conceivable how serious Wu Chengjun's illness was.
He then glanced at Short-legged Charlie, who said, "Ok, I'll go right away! I will definitely find the best doctor."
Wu Chengjian then continued to run towards the inner house. Except for Wu Qichunrui, all the servants stayed outside. Outside Wu Chengjun's room, Wu Guoying was sitting at the door with frowned brows and dull eyes. Wu Chengjian rushed over and shouted, "Dad! Why are you sitting here!"
Wu Guoying seemed to be awakened by the call. He grabbed his youngest son's hand and shouted, "Haoguan! Go in and see your boss! I'll be guarding the door and won't let any unclean things in!"
The so-called "unclean" things are the ghosts from the underworld. Guarding the gate is to prevent the ghosts from taking souls. Wu Guoying, who has always been shrewd and built the Wu family business, actually said such weird and superstitious words, which shows that his mind has been in chaos for a long time.
When Wu Chengjian saw his old father trembling, tears almost came out of his eyes, but he immediately held them back.
"Don't worry, Dad, the boss will be fine."
He patted his father's wrinkled hands in a soothing manner and pushed the door open. Standing in the hall was his second brother, Wu Chenggou. Upon seeing Wu Chengjian, the second young master Wu started to scold him, "Third brother, why did you come just now? Where have you been to have fun again?"
A child of about seven or eight years old rushed over and cried, "Third Uncle, Daddy, Daddy..."
Wu Chengjian didn't have time to argue with his second brother at the moment. He patted his nephew's head and said, "It's okay. Third uncle is here." Then he lifted the velvet gauze that separated the inner room.
A sickly aura filled the room. An old doctor sat at the head of the bed, pressing the patient's hand. A young woman, whose light makeup was smudged by tears but still couldn't hide her beauty, stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the patient, unable to take her eyes off him for a moment, until she noticed Wu Chengjian coming in. Then she covered her mouth and sobbed, "Third Uncle..."
This young woman is Cai Qiaozhu, the head lady of Yihehang and the wife of Wu Chengjun.
She married into the Wu family when she was fifteen, and it has been twelve years now. When she first entered the family, Wu Chengjian was still a teenager, and there was no taboo between the uncle and the sister-in-law. Wu Chengjian often visited the family and was always polite to his brother and sister-in-law. Wu Chengjun doted on his younger brother, and Cai Qiaozhu followed her husband in doting on her younger brother-in-law. They lived under the same roof for twelve years, from being teenagers to adults, and the relationship between the uncle and the sister-in-law was different from others.
At this moment, she had been taking care of the patient for half the night. She was in a trance, and her frail body was shaking, like a pear blossom trembling in the wind. The beauty was in tears, which made Wu Chengjian feel pity for her.
Yesterday afternoon, the uncle and his wife were still arguing about the monthly allowance, but at this moment, Cai Qiaozhu treated him as if he was relying on her. Wu Chengjian pushed his nephew out, softened his voice, and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I'm here."
Now that there were outsiders present, Mrs. Wu restrained herself, covered her face, held the edge of the bed with one hand, and choked up, "Look at your boss quickly."
Wu Chengjian then approached and took a look at the patient on the bed. He saw that his elder brother's face was pale and almost bloodless, and there were still traces of blood on his dry lips. He guessed that Wu Chengjun might have vomited blood and couldn't drink water or rice. He didn't know any medical skills, so he just looked at Liu Liangke, and Liu Liangke followed him out. The two walked outside the house under the pear tree, and Wu Chengjian said, "Please make it short, Doctor Liu."
Liu Liangke said: "Young Master's body was already ill from overwork, and the fatigue from running around was enough to trigger the root of the disease , and now he has been injured to the core because of his anger."
These words, one after another, were not good words. Wu Chengjian was used to the world of romance, so how could he not hear it? He bit his tongue, letting himself calm down because of the pain, and then asked again: "May I ask how to treat it?"
Liu Liangke sighed, "I didn't even dare to give you acupuncture just now. Now I can only prescribe a prescription to try. Whether it works or not depends on luck. If you want to cure this disease... it's difficult, difficult, difficult!"
Suddenly, a suppressed sobbing sound came from inside the house. It turned out to be Cai Qiaozhu standing behind the window eavesdropping. Wu Guoying jumped up at once, pointed his cane at Liu Liangke and shouted, "Kick him out, kick him out! Hao Guan, kick this quack out! Where is Mr. Er He? Where is Mr. Er He? Why hasn't Mr. Er He come yet?"
Wu Chengjian was about to pull the extremely embarrassed Liu Liangke to the outer room to apologize, but Wu Guoying suddenly twitched and was about to collapse. Wu Chengjian was so scared that he hurried to help his father up and shouted to Liu Liangke, "Doctor Liu, my father just spoke without thinking because he was so sad and anxious. Please have some understanding and save my father first."
Liu Liangke was able to survive among the rich because he not only had good medical skills but also had an amazingly good temper. He stepped forward to check the patient's pulse and said, "I understand, I understand."
It was not difficult to diagnose the old man's illness. It was just old age and sadness. Although it was not as serious as Wu Chengjun's, he was old and could not stand the torment. Everyone quickly moved the old man back to the room, and Liu Liangke gave him acupuncture and prescribed medicine, and quickly prepared the medicine.
Since the old man of the Wu family fell ill, the Wu family has been in chaos and has no peace.
