Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 41: Wealth-Keeping Dogs and Power-Keeping Dogs
On the top floor of Zhenhai Tower, there is a table, a chair, and a person.
The table was filled with Cantonese dim sum. As the sun was setting in the west, Liu Quan sat in the twilight and said with a smile, "It is said that the scenery in the north is large and majestic, while the scenery in the south is small and elegant. However, the scenery of Zhenhai Tower is both majestic and elegant. It is extraordinary."
Wu Chengjian waved his hand, and Wu Qi stopped and stepped back. He walked up to him, with a happy face, and said with a smile: "Mr. Quan, when did you come to Guangzhou? Why didn't you tell me in advance so that I could prepare."
Liu Quan smiled and said, "I've eaten several of your good meals, so today I'll treat you." As he said that, he waved his hand towards the snacks on the table. There was a table full of shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, rice dumplings, steamed buns, water chestnut cakes, century egg pastries, thousand-layer pastries, barbecued pork buns, lotus seed paste buns... countless.
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "Then I will have a great meal today."
Liu Quan laughed: "My snacks are not worthy of being served in a formal banquet. But I heard that the merchants of your Thirteen Hongs once held a Zhenhai Night Banquet in the Zhenhai Tower. It was an unprecedented grand occasion. It's a pity that I, a baldy, didn't make it."
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "If Lord Quan is in the mood, I will pass on the message and hold another Zhenhai Night Banquet for Lord Quan!"
Liu Quan laughed loudly: "That's thoughtful, that's thoughtful. But I'm destined to be a hard worker, so I dare not enjoy a feast that's too extravagant, lest I lose my fortune. I am very satisfied to be able to eat some world-famous Cantonese dim sum on the Zhenhai Tower and enjoy the beautiful view of the mountains and the sea alone."
The Zhenhai Tower is located on Yuexiu Mountain in Guangzhou. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was backed by Yuexiu and overlooked the sea, so it was called the Zhenhai Tower. However, with the movement of the coastline in later generations, a hundred years later the Zhenhai Tower was deep inland and could no longer see the sea.
Wu Chengjian then stood at the table opposite him with a smile, picked up the boiled Baiyun Mountain spring water on the clay stove, and made two cups of tea for each of them - when eating Cantonese dim sum, it is better to accompany it with tea rather than wine.
Liu Quan pinched a chicken claw and chewed it with tea, not really paying attention to manners. At this moment, he didn't look like a big shot who could decide life and death, but behaved like a vulgar servant.
Seeing that he was different from before, Wu Chengjian was prepared, but thinking that he had already made up his mind, he let it go.
Liu Quan noticed this subtle change in his expression and smiled, "Hao Guan is really very graceful. He is not in a hurry to see me today."
Wu Chengjian said, "Mr. Quan is my close friend regardless of age. There is no need to panic when having a snack with a close friend regardless of age."
Liu Quan smiled coldly: "Friendship is friendship, and official business is official business. On the night of the Zhenhai Night Banquet, it seems that the new and old guarantors of the Thirteen Hongs were not all present. Maybe there was one missing."
Wu Chengjian remained silent.
Of course, one family was missing—Cai Shiwen didn’t come! He committed suicide by taking opium at home that night.
"Bao Shang is good, blessed by heaven, the richest in the world." Liu Quan said, and sneered casually: "However, the word 'heaven' in 'heaven' does not mean heaven, but the heaven of the emperor - only with the favor of the emperor can we do this lucrative business. But since ancient times, wealth and honor are sought in danger, and wealth comes with risk. If you don't do the things entrusted by the emperor well, you will only lose money in other businesses, but in the Thirteen Hongs, you will not only lose money, but also your life!"
"We, the Thirteen Hongs, had already understood this when we got our licenses." Wu Chengjian said, "Fortunately, the Wu family did our best to handle everything the Heavenly Family had asked us to do, and there haven't been any mistakes so far."
"Really?" Liu Quan asked, "Then why did you refuse the title bestowed upon your nephew by the Emperor? Do you think the gift from the Emperor is not generous enough?"
At this moment, Wu Chengjian would not ask how Liu Quan knew about the resignation form that he had just sent to the Ministry of Personnel a few days ago and which probably had not yet arrived in Beijing.
He just continued to smile and said, "The grace of the Emperor and the Holy Son of Heaven is as great as a mountain. The Wu family is grateful to them. However, my nephew is still a minor and has not studied. He has no merits and no knowledge. He has suddenly risen to a high position just because of the little merits he made when my brother was alive. This is not in line with the court system. If the Wu family accepts this position, it will probably cause controversy. It doesn't matter if our Wu family is scolded by others, but if this matter is even slightly slandered by the Emperor and the Emperor, then our entire Wu family will be blamed for it."
Liu Quan shouted, "Who dares to criticize the grace of the Emperor and His Majesty! Or do you think the arrangement of the two masters is wrong?"
Wu Chengjian said, "How could the arrangement of the Emperor and His Majesty be wrong? I resigned on behalf of my nephew because I was afraid that the person in charge of the Ministry of Personnel might make a mistake."
He said that the person in charge of the Ministry of Personnel was wrong, which was naturally meant to be He Shen. Liu Quan was very sensitive and shouted angrily when he heard it: "Wu Chengjian! What did you say!"
If Wu Chengjian had heard this shout a year or two ago, he would not have been able to bear it.
However, Wu Chengjian had figured it out at this moment, so he responded calmly: "The emperor can't be wrong, and the emperor can't be wrong. If something goes wrong, it's naturally the people who are doing things under him who are either pretending to obey or not being considerate of the emperor's will. Isn't this right?"
The truth is naturally right, and no one can find fault with it...
Liu Quan stared at Wu Chengjian, threw the chicken feet that he had gnawed until only bones were left on the plate, and snorted coldly: "Okay, okay, Hao Guan, are you going to confront me?"
Wu Chengjian replied expressionlessly: "There are naturally people in Guangzhou who are making trouble about my nephew's appointment, but the people in charge of the Ministry of Personnel went along with it and got things done so quickly... Lord Quan, it's not me, Wu Chengjian, who wants to reveal my cards, but someone is forcing me to do so."
Liu Quan smiled: "No one is forcing you to show your loyalty. I just want you to show your loyalty. I didn't expect that when it comes time to show your loyalty, some people will lose their loyalty. "
"Loyalty?" Wu Chengjian asked, "What do you mean by loyalty...to the country, to the emperor, or to Heshen and you, my Lord?"
“Is there any difference?”
"Of course!" Wu Chengjian said, "Loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are the duties of a minister. But there is no such thing as loyalty between ministers. Even if there is a relationship between superiors and subordinates, everyone works for the country and does errands for the master. This is the truth. Even in the Forbidden City, Wu Chengjian still said this."
Since Wu Chengjian had resigned on behalf of his nephew, Liu Quan had expected Wu Chengjian to reveal his true colors when he arrived today. However, he was still a little surprised to see him reveal his true colors without any hesitation. He stared at Wu Chengjian, who also looked at him expressionlessly. The two stared at each other for a long time before Liu Quan smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, do you know what you are talking about?"
"I know." Wu Chengjian said, "Hasn't Duke Quan been waiting for these words for a long time?"
"Loyal to the Emperor and patriotic..." Liu Quan pointed at Wu Chengjian and cursed, "You are a merchant, you are not a commoner. Is it your turn to say the words 'loyal to the Emperor and patriotic'? Who do you think you are? Do you think you are Zhu Gui? Your Wu family thinks of itself as a wealthy family in Guangzhou, but in the eyes of the nobles in the city, it is just a bunch of dogs, a bunch of dogs that look after the treasury for the Emperor. You are just a money-guarding dog. If He Zhongtang wants to crush you to death, it is like crushing an ant."
When Wu Chengjian faced Cai Qiaozhu, he became uneasy when provoked. But he was not angry when Liu Quan pointed at him and scolded him. He did not respond to Liu Quan's words, but just said: "When Jishan was furious with me, it was Quan Gong who came out to settle the matter. His demeanor was really appropriate!"
He praised him, then changed the subject: "At that time, I thought that although Lord Quan was a servant, he was really a man. Today, it seems that all of you servants are the same! Jishan, Guangxing, and you Liu Quan, they just haven't reached that point yet . When they really can't control the situation, it's inevitable that they will get angry. People who are truly self-disciplined can keep their expressions and hearts unchanged even if the sky collapses and the earth breaks and they are about to die. It can be seen that some people's self-discipline is not real self-discipline, but just the prestige brought by power."
Liu Quan's face darkened.
Wu Chengjian added, "To He Zhongtang, our Wu family is really nothing. He just moves his little finger in the Ninth Heaven, and our family is in chaos and on the verge of breaking up. There is nothing we can do about it, otherwise how can we say that the prime minister is so powerful. But to say that killing me, Wu Chengjian, is like killing an ant is also an exaggeration ."
Liu Quan sneered, "Guangzhou is a fairyland, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Dogs have been here for a long time and they really think they are human beings. They don't even know that the words "imperial grace" are written like this."
"I, Wu Chengjian, am not a dog. Although I am not a person either, I have no power or position. In the eyes of He Zhongtang, I am naturally worthless." Wu Chengjian said, "But I have money in my hands. It's not just a few taels of silver, but a mountain of silver!"
"In this Qing Dynasty..." Liu Quan laughed: "Do you think that just having money can save your life?"
"It's impossible to guarantee it for a lifetime, but it's possible to guarantee it for a while." Wu Chengjian said, "Because this money is not mine, it belongs to the emperor. Before this money is safely secured, I will not die for the time being."
Liu Quan sneered and said, "So this is your confidence in confronting He Zhongtang?"
"Of course not," Wu Chengjian said, "I have more confidence to show my hand than this."
Liu Quan sneered, "Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."
Wu Chengjian said, "Just now, Lord Quan scolded me, saying that I was just a money-guarding dog for the Emperor and the Retired Emperor. In fact, how is he any different from me? He is just a dog. The only difference is that I guard money, while he guards power. Whether it is money or power, no matter how well you guard it, one day, it will be taken back by the higher-ups."
Liu Quan's expression changed slightly: "Wu Chengjian! What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Am I wrong? Now He Zhongtang still has power in his hands. Of course, he can take my money back on behalf of the Emperor and the Retired Emperor." Wu Chengjian suddenly lowered his voice: "But it seems... the power that He Zhongtang holds will probably be taken back as well. I wonder who will be taken back faster, me or him."
