Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 37: Reopening of the Business Insurance Conference
The guests and hosts enjoyed the meal very much. Before leaving, Wu Qi packed a big package and stuffed it into the hand of Hutabu who was half drunk.
After sending the Manchu servant away, Wu Qi came back and said, "Hao Guan, didn't you intend to fight with Qi Guan from the beginning? Why did you say this to Hutabu and give him so much silver for nothing?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I don't understand this. If you don't understand, go ask your military advisor."
Wu Qi said: "What military advisor? What military advisor do I have?"
Wu Chengjian said, "Whenever you have something to do recently, you go to Yi Jin, right? If he's not your military advisor, then who is he?"
Wu Qi laughed and said, "Although Master Zhou is good to me, what is our relationship? I have been following you since I was wearing open-crotch pants. When you lost your temper before, I was afraid of offending you, so I went to Master Zhou. Now you are not angry, why should I go to Master Zhou?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and didn't care. He and Wu Qiming were master and servant, but in reality they were almost like brothers. He said, "I really didn't plan to take this position from the beginning, but since I am qualified to compete for the throne, this qualification is also valuable. Instead of letting it go, I might as well sell it."
Wu Qi smiled and said, "Didn't we sell it to the Pan family? We got a Kunqu Opera troupe in return."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "This thing is not tea, of course you can sell it in multiple ways. Sell it to the Pan family first, and then sell it to Jishan and the people behind him."
Jishan and the people behind him may be powerful figures in the Imperial Household Department, or they may be Heshen.
Wu Chengjian said: "As for Hubuta, we will have to pay him for his errands sooner or later. This time we are just using this as an excuse to pretend that we have done him a favor."
Wu Qi said: "If we sell it to the Pan family, we will earn a Kunqu Opera troupe. But if we sell it to Jishan and his team, what can we get? The Ministry of Internal Affairs is like a Pixiu, who only eats and does not spit out. There is no way they will give us money."
Wu Chengjian pointed at his head.
Wu Qi was smart after all, and had a lot of experience in the Thirteenth Line, so he understood it immediately and said happily: "Congratulations, Hao Guan, congratulations, Hao Guan, haha, you will become a master in the future!"
Wu Chengjian said calmly: "What's there to congratulate? It's just to appease the people below. Do you really think a hat with a flower feather is of no use?"
Rumors have been flying around Xiguan for years. Before one rumor ends, another one arises.
The latest rumor is that in order to commend Wu Chengjian for his contribution in taking on the follow-up matters of the Yongding River disaster relief, the imperial court may reward him with a crown and a peacock feather.
As soon as this rumor spread, the entire Xiguan Street was in an uproar.
Now, in the entire Thirteen Hongs, there is only one person wearing a hat - that is Pan Youjie. If Wu Chengjian takes off another hat, the meaning it represents is enough to make many people imagine all kinds of things.
In the Qing Dynasty, being rich was nothing, as being an official might lead to hardship. But if a rich man could get a hat, he would be rich and have status, which was a great honor!
This time, the Wu family's market outlook is bullish again.
When the news reached the Ye family, Ma couldn't help but be moved, so she came to ask her head of the family. Ye Dalin said: "Although this is a rumor, there is no smoke without fire. Since Haoguan can hold the thigh of He Zhongtang, a mere crown is nothing."
Ma said: "If that's the case, then his legal wife... is a royal lady."
Ye Dalin said: "It may not be the case, but it is very likely to be the case."
Seeing his wife's dark face, Ye Dalin asked, "What's wrong?"
Ma said "It's okay" and turned away.
Before she returned, she heard Ye Haocai crying in the room. Ma sighed softly and came into the room. As expected, she saw Ye Haocai sitting on the ground wiping her face and crying. When she saw Ma come in, Ye Haocai cried even harder: "Mother, mother, I heard that Haoguan is going to be an official. Is it true? Is it true?"
Ma said: "I just asked your father, although it is still a rumor for now, it may be true."
Ye Haocai said: "Then his wife..."
Ma said: "Perhaps we can also ask for an imperial decree."
When Ye Haocai heard this, he burst into tears and howled loudly.
Others didn't know why she was crying, but Ma knew it, so she didn't ask.
Ye Haocai cried for a long time before he started talking to himself: "That's mine...that's mine! That's all mine!"
Ma couldn't help but feel a little depressed: " Why are you crying? It's already like this, what's there to cry about!"
Ye Haocai said: "But they are obviously all mine, why did that stinky fish take them away!"
Ma said, "Yours? You despised him at first."
"I despise him, don't you despise him too?" Ye Haocai said, "I despise him because of what you said."
Ma was so angry that she was speechless. But she really looked down on Wu Chengjian at the beginning, who knew that he would become so powerful and glorious.
Ye Haocai cried, "If you hadn't always said bad things about him in front of me, maybe I would have married him... Then I would be a royal lady now."
Ma had indeed said some bad things about Wu Chengjian, but Ye Haocai was also very active in breaking off the engagement. Now that she had put all the blame on herself, Ma almost wanted to beat her up. However, Ye Haocai was her flesh and blood after all, and seeing her so sad, she couldn't bear it and shouted, "Okay, okay, this matter is not completely hopeless."
Ye Haocai stopped crying all of a sudden, and stared at Ma: "Mother, what did you say?"
"Don't cry," Ma said, "I'll think of a solution."
Ye Haocai jumped up and hugged Ma: "Mother, mother, tell me quickly, is there any other way ?"
Ma shouted, "I can't tell you now! You have a lot of grass in your belly. If I tell you now, it will leak again by accident, and then my method won't work. Anyway, don't worry, I won't let you suffer. No matter what, at least I won't let that little slut have an easy time!"
"Yes, yes!" Ye Haocai said bitterly, "Even if I can't marry Hao Guan in the end... I can't let that little slut have an easy life!"
The love affairs, joys and sorrows on Xiguan Street cannot stop the steady rotation of commercial trends.
On a cold morning, less than three months later, the business protection meeting was held again.
This time, the Wu and Ye families jointly requested Guangdong Customs Supervisor Jishan to convene this meeting. Jishan agreed and set the date today.
Wu Chengjian put on the new cotton-padded jacket that Tan Sanniang had made for him, and came to the meeting place of the merchants in a good mood. The sedan chair of the Ye family was already waiting there. When Ye Dalin saw Wu Chengjian, he went into the gate with him.
As they stepped into the threshold of the meeting room, Pan Yiliang Ma stood up one after another, bowed and called out, "Hao Guan, Da Guan."
Although Lu Guanhuan did not stand up, he nodded in his chair.
Compared with the first meeting for the business protectors that Wu Chengjian attended, the meeting room today was even more deserted—after all, two chairs had been removed. With the Xie family gone, Wu Chengjian took over and sat in the second seat on the left side of the altar—this seating order was arranged by Hutabu, and the second seat on the left side of the altar was the third place for the business protectors, which actually allowed Wu Chengjian to directly surpass Lu Guanhuan.
Ye Dalin also moved up and sat in the third seat on the left side of the altar. The father-in-law and son-in-law sat together - Cai Shiwen sat just above Wu Chengjian.
Before Wu and Ye sat down, footsteps were heard outside the door and Hutabu came in with someone. Everyone looked up and saw who it was but Pan Youjie, the merchant head of the first family of the Thirteen Hongs.
Pan Yiliang's heart skipped a beat: Ever since Cai Shiwen took over as the chief merchant, the Pan family has been absent from every meeting with excuses. Today is the first time that Pan Youjie has set foot in the Baoshang meeting room since he took over as the chief merchant, and everyone knows that things will not be simple.
Pan Youjie was wearing a brand new official robe of a fifth-rank doctor today. When Pan Yiliangma saw him, he quickly kowtowed to him.
Pan Youjie hurried in, supported everyone and said with a smile: "Today is a meeting to protect business, we will only discuss business, not titles."
Liang Shangzhu and Ma Shangzhu thought to themselves, "If we are only talking about business, why are you here in your official robes?"
Pan Youjie was already bowing to all the merchants, and everyone hurriedly returned the greeting, calling out "Open your mouth, Master." Even Cai Shiwen and Lu Guanhuan stood up, but Cai Shiwen's face became even darker.
After everyone finished their greetings, Pan Youjie sat on the first chair to the right of the altar, which was the second chair in the meeting room. However, Pan Yiliangma thought in his heart: "After today, I'm afraid the first two chairs in this meeting room will have to be replaced."
Cai Shiwen looked over there and saw Lu Guanhuan with his eyes half closed, the father-in-law Wu and the son-in-law Ye were talking and laughing in a low voice, Pan Yi's eyes were flickering, and Liang Ma was only looking at Lu Guanhuan - thinking back to the time when he was allied with Xie Yuanli and was related to the Wu family, and the Wu family was involved with the Ye family, so as long as it did not affect their own interests, the Ye family would generally not oppose him, and the Pan and Yi families would only follow his lead.
Because of this, every time a meeting to protect merchants was held in recent years, Cai Shiwen knew it would succeed before the agenda was even proposed, because he already controlled most of the Thirteen Hongs. As soon as Xie Yuanli proposed it, Pan Yi immediately jumped out to support it, followed by the Wu family, and the Ye family acquiesced. Even if there was any noise, it would basically not affect the overall situation.
However, the situation has completely changed now. In the entire conference room, he could not find anyone who could agree with him. The Xie family was gone, the Wu family had become his enemy, and Pan Yi had not spoken to him for more than a month - this was the first time since he became the head merchant that he felt what it meant to be alone and powerless.
He lowered his head, but held it up again without admitting defeat. No matter how bad the situation was, he would hold on. This was a kind of stubbornness unique to people in western Guangdong. Regardless of the outcome, he would hold on just to save his breath!
