Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 28 Promotion
The four major merchants of the Thirteen Hongs reported the possible invasion of the British through four channels, and the Governor's Office, the Guangdong Customs, and the Banner City immediately became undercurrents. But as the tide surged, there was no news.
Wu Chengjian didn't believe that the advisers and supervisors of the Governor's Office and the general's servants would dare to conceal this matter, but after a few days, there was no movement from the three major government offices. Logically speaking , if the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and the General of Guangzhou attached importance to this matter, even if there was an immediate military and political response, they would at least call in a few guarantors to get more specific information about the matter. How come it is like this now, a big rock is thrown down, but there is not even a splash.
Wu Chengjian couldn't help getting annoyed when he thought that the British navy might arrive at the Guangdong Customs at any time. He went to inquire privately and only heard a little news from Lu Guanhuan. It turned out that the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ji Qing, was a little nervous at first when he heard that the foreigners might invade. However, when he heard that there were only a few hundred people, he sneered: "A tiny clown, just a few hundred people, what can they do!" He didn't react anymore.
Wu Chengjian felt depressed after hearing this reply.
Have the Qing Dynasty's high-ranking officials become so arrogant and ignorant that they can no longer distinguish between combat troops and so-called military forces?
Or is it that now, only a hundred years after the Battle of Yaxsa, the Manchus have already forgotten what it was like to fight the Russians? And the British are even more...
Suddenly Wu Chengjian was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that most of the officials of the Qing Dynasty did not understand the situation in Europe, had no idea about the comparison of military strength among European powers, and might not understand what the British navy meant to the world.
Of course, Wu Chengjian did not think that the 500 British navy had the possibility of conquering the Qing Empire. He guessed that it was just a test by the British side to open China's door. If the British side did not respond well to this test, there might be more troubles in the future.
Thinking of this, Wu Chengjian couldn't help but feel very disappointed with these senior officials placed in Guangdong by the Qing Dynasty. In the end, he could only place his hopes on Heshen, hoping that Heshen would take this matter seriously.
Just as Wu Chengjian was eagerly waiting, someone came to report that an imperial envoy had arrived from the capital.
Wu Chengjian was pleasantly surprised for a moment, thinking that Heshen's reaction was so quick. Moreover it was an imperial envoy who came instead of a member of Heshen's family, it meant that the top leaders in Beijing had made a higher-level decision on the matter.
He quickly changed into his official robes and went out to greet them. However, he saw that the person who came was not a Manchu guard, but a Han Chinese civil servant. He was stunned. A man dressed as a scholar came forward and said in Cantonese: "Hao Guan, let me introduce you." He first introduced himself in Cantonese as a clerk in the Guangzhou Prefecture's Lifang, and casually mentioned his friendship with the two officials in the Hufang and Xingfang (these two had a good relationship with the Wu family). Then he switched to Mandarin and introduced the official - a bookkeeper from the Hanlin Academy, who came from the capital to convey the imperial edict. After the Guangzhou Prefecture received him, it sent this bookkeeper to accompany him.
Although the Thirteen Hongs often dealt with officials from provincial capitals, prefectural capitals, and county towns, they mainly dealt with the Personnel Office, the Criminal Office, the Household Office, and even the Barracks and Workshops. They dealt most with the legal advisors and least with the Rites Office, so he did not recognize the Guangzhou Prefecture's Rites Secretary.
Wu Chengjian did not recognize this Li Shu, but that Li Shu recognized Wu Chengjian. His face was full of smiles as he spoke, and he was showing well-concealed flattery to Wu Chengjian. Wu Chengjian was very familiar with this expression: it was a hint of reporting good news or asking for reward - generally speaking, seeing this expression meant good things.
He glanced at the two attendants beside him and saw that one of them was holding a hat and the other was holding a set of official robes, both of which were new. Wu Chengjian's mind moved: "Is this a reward? Are they going to give me a promotion? But that's not right. This hat and official robe are similar to what I'm wearing now."
It was not convenient to ask at this time, so the clerk was first welcomed in and led into Yang'en Hall, which was a place specially used for formal reception of officials.
The clerk looked Wu Chengjian up and down, and recognized from his attire that he was a fifth-rank doctor. He sneered, "Guangzhou is really a paradise on earth. A businessman can get the highest rank one after another." His eyes were full of jealousy.
Wu Chengjian didn't know what the other party meant for a moment, and he hadn't figured out the other party's background, so he simply didn't respond.
Then he heard the clerk say, "Where is Wu Zhaoguang? Come out to receive the order."
"Wu? Wu what?" Wu Chengjian stood there in a daze for a moment, unable to remember who it was.
The clerk said angrily, "Why, isn't this Wu Zhaoguang's home?" He turned around and asked the Guangzhou Prefecture's etiquette official who had accompanied him, "What's going on? Did you take the wrong road?"
The Lishu stepped forward and coughed, saying, "Hao Guan, didn't your Wu family donate an official position to your nephew?"
Wu Chengjian was greatly surprised, and then he remembered that Wu Zhaoguang was Guang'er!
This was because he never thought of Guang'er as the cause of this incident, and secondly, the clerk was from Sichuan, and the Cantonese people were not used to his accent, so they did not realize it at first!
"Guang'er...I donated an official position to Guang'er?" Where did this come from?
The clerk was furious when he heard this: "What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean by donating an official position? The court recognized that Guangzhou businessman Wu Chengjun had contributed money and effort to the country and the people over the years, so it granted his son a promotion to the fifth rank of Yuwenlang. What do you mean by donating an official position!"
This clerk had a very awkward personality. He came to Lingnan for this assignment, and he knew there would be benefits, but he was reluctant in every way. He clearly looked down on those merchants who donated money to become officials, but he had to maintain the dignity of the official system for the sake of face, so he refused to hear others mention the word "donating money to become officials".
When Wu Chengjian heard the words "Wu Chengjun", he knew it was right this time. He was not surprised, but rather shocked and even worried. This kind of pie that suddenly fell out of nowhere might not be a good thing. However, seeing that the bookkeeper was already very impatient, he said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, Wu Zhaoguang is my nephew. I'll call him out now."
After all, he was a big merchant. After recovering from his surprise and confusion, he was very skilled in handling the matter. He winked at Master Chuan Longci who was standing beside him. Master Chuan Longci stepped forward to greet him. A thin Yangzhou horse with an extremely good figure came forward and knelt directly at the feet of the accountant. He held a cup of tea on his head and said in a delicate voice, "Master, you have worked hard. Please have some tea."
The cup is crystal clear, the tea fragrance is fragrant, and the person is extremely charming.
The cup of tea would have been fine, but the pretty girl came forward with her soft jade and warm fragrance, and called him "Master" twice, which made the clerk a little softened - local officials are rich while Beijing officials are poor, especially low-level officials like him in a low-income government office who are even poorer, with less wealth and spending than the gatekeeper of Wujiayuan. After experiencing such a beautiful woman's embrace, his heart was shaken.
Lord Chuan Longci also came forward. Seeing that this clerk was short-sighted, he knew that there was no need to be too obscure - he was afraid that being too obscure would have a negative effect. So he came forward, thanked the imperial envoy for his hard work, and secretly stuffed a big red envelope into the envoy's hand.
Suddenly, he felt something was stuffed in his sleeve. He touched it with his fingers and realized it was two silver ingots. This one must be worth fifty taels. He was secretly delighted, thinking that these Guangdong people are really rich. Then he heard Master Chuan Longci say, "Drink this cup of tea first to quench your thirst, and when the official business is done, our Wu family will serve you some ice later."
The clerk heard this and realized that there was a sequel. Once he got the money, his temper calmed down a bit, and when he saw the beautiful woman serving him good tea, his anxiety was mostly gone.
At the same time, Wu Chengjian asked Wu Qi to rush to Lirongyuan. He bumped into Wu Liu in the courtyard. Wu Liu grabbed him and said, "What are you doing? Why are you so flustered?"
Wu Qi asked, "Where is Guang Shao?"
Wu Liu said, "Why are you looking for Master Guang? He is in the east wing, and the eldest young lady is watching him study."
The two brothers walked to the door of the east wing, and saw Cai Qiaozhu sitting on the side, watching Guang'er practicing calligraphy. Wu Qi walked in and said, "Madam, please let Guang change his clothes and go to Yang'en Hall."
Cai Qiaozhu turned around and said, "What's wrong? You look out of breath after running."
Wu Qi said: "An imperial envoy came to Yang'en Hall and said that the court wanted to confer an official title on Young Master Guang because of his service to the country and the people."
Countless people in the room exclaimed at the same time, all of them were shocked.
Cai Qiaozhu and Wu Liu looked at each other and remembered that incident at the same time, then turned into surprise: "This... is this true?"
Wu Qi said: "If he dares to come to our Wu Garden, he can't be a liar. In any case, let Guang Shao change his clothes and go to the front. The imperial envoy has a bad temper."
Guang'er looked confused, but he still changed his clothes under Cai Qiaozhu's urging. Cai Qiaozhu also changed into a more formal coat, and then hurried to the main hall with Guang'er.
On the way, Wu Chengjian was waiting outside the hallway, waving to Cai Qiaozhu. Cai Qiaozhu led people over and asked, "Third Uncle, is that... is that imperial envoy real?"
Cai Shiqun did not tell Cai Qiaozhu the whole process of arranging an official position for Guang'er. He only said that the matter was being worked on, but he was somewhat skeptical whether the middleman could really get it done, and asked Cai Qiaozhu to wait for news. Therefore, Cai Qiaozhu was not completely sure about the matter.
Wu Chengjian saw that his sister-in-law was three parts surprised, but seven parts expectant, which was a little strange, but he didn't think much about it for a moment, and said: "The person was brought by Li Shu from Guangzhou Prefecture. Someone in the house recognized Li Shu. He is a distant relative of the fourth concubine of Liang Shangzhu's family. It's not without foundation. I also read the transfer documents, and it is indeed true."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "This... this is..." Her seven points of anticipation suddenly turned into joy.
Wu Chengjian said: "It's just that this matter is a little weird. If it was the imperial court that promoted me, no matter what the reason was, it would be reasonable. But we didn't do anything, how could they suddenly promote Guang'er, and even promoted him to the fifth rank!"
Wu Liu said from the side: "Hao Guan, is the position of Yuanwailang very big?"
Wu Chengjian said, "The county magistrate is only of the seventh rank, and the deputy minister is three ranks higher than the county magistrate. Do you think it is too high?"
Cai Qiaozhu and Wu Liu were even more overjoyed.
Wu Chengjian looked at their reactions and suddenly became suspicious, but this was not the time to talk, so he said, "Go in first and accept the official robe and hat first."
Cai Qiaozhu quickly said, "Yes, yes."
