Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 4: Re-opening of the Business Insurance Conference
Wu Chengjian didn't seem to care at all, and said with a smile: "As long as this matter can be accomplished, anyone can do it. Tonghehang has a bigger business, and Qi Guan is the general merchant. It would be better for Qi Guan to take over this matter. I have no objection."
Pan Youjie also smiled and said, "I rejected him."
Ye Dalin was even more surprised when he heard this.
Pan Youjie said, "Since you initiated this matter, you must finish it. Not only will I not do it myself, but even if someone else wants to take the credit from you, I will not agree. How could I not understand the intentions of the barbarians? They just want to sow discord between us, but what is the relationship between our two families? It is a friendship that has lasted for three generations! How can it be disturbed by outsiders!"
Ye Dalin cheered and praised: "What Qi Guan said is very kind and righteous! This is the breadth of mind and courage that we Chinese descendants should have."
Wu Chengjian said, "This is a tough job, but since Qi Guan has said so, I have no choice but to take it over. I will bring this up at the business protection meeting tomorrow. If the Supervisory Office and the Governor's Office have no objections, we will work together under Qi Guan's leadership to get this done. It will be a good thing for the livelihood of our colleagues in the Thirteen Hongs and for the prosperity of Guangzhou."
Ye Dalin said: "Not bad, not bad, that's how it should be!"
Pan Youjie said: "But there are still two things."
Wu Chengjian asked: "What?"
Pan Youjie said: "The nobles in the capital also have a lot of property in Guangzhou. They suffered heavy losses in this fire. We must find a way to compensate them."
Others could not understand the hidden meaning of this statement, but Ye Dalin knew it clearly: if the loan could be approved, the nobles in Beijing would want a share of the profits, and the so-called "compensation" was just an excuse.
Wu Chengjian pondered and said, "The doubled compensation will be waived, and the insured merchants will have a way to survive. If the loan can be approved, the insured merchants can pay for the goods and continue their business next year. Otherwise, the business chain will be broken, and then it will not only be Guangzhou that will cry, but merchants in at least seven or eight provinces, including Sichuan, Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, will cry. In addition, the post-disaster reconstruction of Baietan and Shamian next year... Even if the loan is in place, it will still be tight. I'm afraid there will be no more money left to lose to the north."
Pan Youjie said: "Although the matter of the red goods has been left unresolved, in the final analysis, it was Cai Shiwen who instigated it. The nobles in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have some complaints about him."
Ye Dalin understood immediately after hearing this. This meant that the higher-ups were going to destroy Cai Shiwen's family. If Cai Shiwen was destroyed, the share of Wanbaohang would be vacant, and the Cai family's property would have to be sold. At that time, the insurance merchants who received the money could divide up the profits, and even funds outside the Thirteen Hongs could take the opportunity to enter the market. In this new feast of sharing, the nobles would have leftover meat and rotten bones to gnaw on.
Seeing Wu Chengjian's hesitation, Ye Dalin coughed and said, "Official Hao, since this is what the nobles want, and Cai Shiwen really deserves his punishment, I think you don't have to be so hard on him."
This is a reminder to Wu Chengjian: Don't confront Pan Youjie on this issue.
Wu Chengjian sighed and said, "My elder brother is about to die! Half of his life was lost at the hands of Cai Shiwen. How can I be sorry for him? It's just that the rabbit dies and the fox mourns, and the animals of the same kind feel sorry for each other."
Pan Youjie nodded, "That's right." He also sighed softly, as if he was sighing, but he didn't sigh a second time. He said, "The second thing is related to the first thing. If Wanbaohang is also liquidated, the number of guarantors in the Thirteenth Hong will be too small. The Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to release three more pieces of paper."
The Xie family went bankrupt last year, and the Cai family went bankrupt this year. If we also count the Shi family that went bankrupt two years ago, three of the Thirteen Hongs have gone bankrupt in a row. From the original "Thirteen" Hongs, they are all going to become "Eight" Hongs.
Wu Chengjian felt that the successive collapse of the insurance companies made people feel that their future was in danger. However, Ye Dalin was very excited and released three pieces of paper, which meant that he wanted three more insurance companies - this was a huge benefit.
Pan Youjie said, "Of these three pieces of paper, one piece should be kept by the Supervisory Office and one by the Governor-General's Office. For the remaining piece, Officer Hao, do you have any candidate in mind?"
Wu Chengjian looked straight at Pan Youjie, and Pan Youjie also looked at him. Wu Chengjian understood that Pan Youjie had made concessions twice today, and the benefits he gave up were more than ten times greater than that of the Kunqu Opera troupe. It was obvious that he wanted to reconcile.
If the Wu family is willing to accept this good intention, it means they are willing to reconcile; otherwise, they are ready to go against it.
In his heart, Wu Chengjian actually didn't want to fall out with the Pan family. Firstly, the Pan family was well-established and it would be difficult to defeat them. If they really did fight, both sides would probably suffer losses. Secondly, after the fire, Wu Chengjian told Wu Guoying the truth, and Wu Guoying also meant that "it is better to resolve a feud than to create one" - after all, the old man was mindful of Pan Zhenchen's support for the Wu family.
After thinking for a while, Wu Chengjian said, "Wanbaohang is a big business. If it goes bankrupt, the impact will be too great. In my opinion, it is better to transfer some of its industries and set up a new business to minimize the impact of the Cai family's collapse."
Pan Youjie knew that Wu Chengjian was willing to accept the reconciliation, and smiled and said, "Do you have a candidate in mind?"
Wu Chengjian asked, "How is Cai Shiqun?"
Pan Youjie clapped his hands and smiled, "It's appropriate, it's appropriate!"
The three of them drank two more rounds of tea and then went their separate ways.
What the outside world didn't know yet was that the rise and fall of three or four families, involving the flow of millions of taels of gold and silver, had been decided under the osmanthus tree over a few rounds of tea.
The tea party lasted quite late, and it was almost midnight when Wu Chengjian got home. After washing up quickly, he lay down on the small bed outside the green gauze cabinet and fell asleep.
Ye Youyu was lying on the bed inside the green gauze cabinet. She was not actually asleep. She was just listening to Wu Chengjian's movements. When she heard his snoring, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Ye Youyu woke up early the next morning. When she asked outside, she found that Wu Chengjian had already gone out to work - this had been the case almost every day since he was released from prison.
Dongxue brought water for washing her face, and when no one was around, she couldn't help but ask, "Third Young Madam, is Hao Guan... still angry with you..."
Ye Youyu splashed the wet towel into the water and glared at Dongxue, "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Dongxue said hurriedly: "Yes, yes, I was wrong..."
Ye Youyu said, " Have you ever heard of any wealthy merchant in the Thirteen Lines who treats his wife as attentively and considerately as Hao Guan treats me?"
Dong Xue said anxiously, "I was wrong, I was wrong. Third Young Madam, please don't be angry. Please don't be angry. You are pregnant."
Another Thirteen Hongs Merchant Protection Conference was held under the attention of the whole city.
The four wealthy merchants Pan Yi, Liang and Ma arrived early. After arriving, they talked to each other in a low voice, but gained nothing. The anxiety in their eyes could not be concealed.
Not long after, Lu Guanhuan and Cai Shiwen also arrived, but they did not say a word after arriving.
It was almost noon, and even Hutabu, who was presiding over the meeting, had arrived. Then they heard singing outside: "The officials from the Tonghe line Qi have arrived, the officials from the Yihe line Hao have arrived, and the officials from the Xingcheng line Da have arrived."
Pan Yiliang Ma hurriedly stood up and went out to greet them. He saw Pan, Wu and Ye chatting and laughing, coming together. Behind each of them, there was a shopkeeper.
Pan Yiliang greeted him with a bow and called out, "Qi Guan, Hao Guan, Da Guan."
Pan Wuye bowed in return and walked into the room. Lu Guanhuan and Cai Shiwen stood up, and Hutabu also stood up to greet him.
"You're welcome." Pan Youjie said with a smile, "Please sit down ."
The nine major merchants took their seats one by one, and Hutabu said, "Today, the Supervisory Office convened this meeting at the request of the General Chamber of Commerce. If you have anything that needs to be discussed, you can raise it openly today."
After this routine opening statement, he sat down without saying a word.
Pan Youjie said, "I won't say any more nonsense. I convened this meeting today and invited you all to come here for one thing: to deal with the aftermath of the fire at the beginning of autumn."
As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a stone that caused a thousand ripples. Pan Yiliang and Ma Du made bitter faces and began to cry about the losses in the fire and their own difficulties. Of course they had difficulties, but at this time they had to cry about their poverty and difficulties, which inevitably exaggerated the difficulties and sufferings several times.
As they talked, they all glanced at Wu Chengjian - each of them wanted to know whether what Wu Chengjian had said before was true.
As Wu Chengjian listened, he suddenly sneered and said to Pan Youjie, "If it's so difficult and the hole is so big, then there's nothing we can do. Qi Guan, why don't we just let them go bankrupt? After they go bankrupt, they'll leave a mess, and we can help them clean it up."
Ye Dalin laughed and said, "That's fine. Although it's difficult for us to start a business, for the prosperity of Guangzhou and to relieve the worries of the emperor, we are willing to pay money to help fill the hole."
Pan Yiliangma's face suddenly turned ugly.
Pan Youjie waved the folding fan in his hand and said, "Alright, alright, Haoguan, please stop making things difficult for others. Everyone knows that you have many ways to deal with things, but if you dare to do so, others may not be able to withstand it."
Pan Yiliang Ma said quickly: "That's right, that's right."
Wu Chengjian said: "But according to what they just said, the hole is too big, and there is nothing I can do."
Pan Yiliang said hurriedly: "It's not very big, it's not very big either."
