Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 50: Journey North to Beijing
Wu Qi was determined to go with them, and Wu Xiaojiu was the rare one. Although he was obviously very scared, he still volunteered to go to Beijing with them. When even Xia Qing wanted to go with them, Wu Chengjian said, "Why are you joining in the fun? It's a long way to go. As a girl, do you want to serve me or hold me back?" In the end, only Wu Qi, Wu Xiaojiu and Tietou Junba were selected, plus Tietou Junba's two apprentices, two horsemen who could move and carry, and an old guide named Qiu who was used to traveling to the capital. After the personnel were prepared, everything was kept simple.
Although Cai Qiaozhu and Ye Youyu had prepared themselves mentally, they still couldn't help crying when the time came to say goodbye.
"Don't cry! What are you crying for! Will it be bad if I go up there?" Wu Chengjian said, "The last two times, we were forced to fight, and everything turned out fine. This time, everything is within the plan of Yi Jin and I. I'm going up there for the right reason, and when I come back, our Wu family will make further progress. I tell you, all your tears now are in vain."
He threatened Ye Youyu again: "You have a baby in your belly, are you thinking of giving birth to a crybaby?"
According to local customs and rumors, if a pregnant woman laughs, her baby will laugh, and if a pregnant woman cries a lot, her baby will cry. When Ye Youyu was frightened by him, she actually stopped crying.
Cai Qiaozhu couldn't stop it and sent it all the way to the river.
As soon as the boat left the river, the Pan family's big boat came to see him off. Wu Chengjian drank a few cups with him from across the boat and wished him a safe journey. Pan Youjie sent him straight to the Pearl River.
As soon as the ship entered the Pearl River, Ye Dalin, Liu Sanye and others came one after another. The ships that came to see them off lined up against each other and raised their flags, filling up half of the Pearl River. This scene made the two officers secretly scared - they had previously thought that Wu Chengjian was just a businessman with some money, so ordered him around when they spoke to him for the first time. Only then did they realize that he was really a big shot in Guangdong!
As the ship was about to turn north, Cai Shiqun, Lu Guanhuan and others came to see them off and they had a few drinks. Ye Dalin escorted them directly to the border of Foshan, while Liu Sanye accompanied Wu Chengjian into Foshan. Chen from Foshan had already come to pick them up.
Wu Chengjian was drunk when he arrived at Shili Pavilion, and he lay down in the car. Chen from Foshan took him to Qingyuan.
This time they went to Beijing via the "Shajing Road", boarding a ship at Wujiayuan in the province, passing through Foshan, Qingyuan, Lianjiang, and Yingde, changing ships at Shaozhou Prefecture, crossing Taiping Pass, and disembarking at Nanxiong Prefecture - from Guangzhou to here was all the territory of Wu Chengjian and his allies, so they traveled quickly and worry-free along the way.
After landing in Nanxiong, the branch of Yihehang here had already arranged staff to send him to the mountain road by horse carriage - to get here, one had to take the mountain road and cross the Wuling Mountains. The branch manager had already hired porters to move things, and carried Wu Chengjian on a ivy carrier carried by four people, crossing Dayuling Mountain and taking the mountain road.
The Wuling Mountain area from northern Guangdong to southern Jiangxi, southern Hunan, and southwestern Fujian is the world of the Hakka people. Because Lu Guanhuan had made a call, the Hakka tyrants here protected Wu Chengjian and his party and allowed them to enter Jiangxi directly.
If you are going on mountain roads, you must be an experienced porter; if you are going on flat ground, you must use a horse-drawn carriage. There is no need to bargain between transfers, just leave when you arrive.
After entering Jiangxi, they changed boats again. They used the fastest boat along the way, took the Ganjiang River system, landed at Shajing and changed to a horse carriage, passed Jiujiang Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture, passed Fengyang Prefecture, and entered Xuzhou. From Jiangxi to Anhui, this route was arranged by the Ye family.
From Guangzhou all the way to southern Anhui, there were very few inns along the way. There were upstream cooperative merchants from the Thirteen Hongs everywhere. Because they had received the news half a month in advance, everyone treated the official Hao very well. If Wu Chengjian had not been trying hard to hurry on his journey, he would have gained a lot of weight from eating and drinking all the way.
The two officers who followed were also amazed and became more and more frightened as they walked along the way. They had never expected that the man they brought with them had such a great power!
After crossing the Yangtze River, the power of Guangdong merchants gradually declined. After passing Xuzhou Prefecture, there were no branches or direct partners of the Thirteen Hongs. They were able to stay in hotels along the way, but the most difficult roads had already been traveled, and from here to the capital was the flat North China Plain.
Along the way, the guide Lao Qiu kept popularizing what he saw along the way, saying, "From Guangdong to the capital, there are Shajing Road, Yangtze River Road, and Zhejiang River Road. These three roads all go east, through Jiangxi, Jiangsu or Anhui, and enter Shandong. Among them, Shajing Road is the fastest. In addition, there are two roads in the west, one is Hankou Road, and the other is Fancheng Road, which go through Hunan and Hubei. However, the two roads in the west are no longer passable now."
At this time, several people were riding donkeys. Wu Qi asked from the donkey: "Why?"
Lao Qiu said, "Why else? The White Lotus Sect! We Guangdong people are lucky that we were not affected by the White Lotus Sect. In Huguang and Sichuan, the White Lotus Sect is now in full swing. If you go there, you can't expect to be safe. You might even lose your life!"
As Wu Chengjian listened to the White Lotus Sect, he was thinking about the pending British invasion of Macau. He thought, "Heshen claims to be a capable official, but he messed up the country's internal affairs and foreign defense like this."
The group passed through Shandong and entered Zhuozhou, and soon they saw Guangning Gate.
Before entering Anhui, the two officers were very submissive to Wu Chengjian. After entering Shandong, they spoke gradually differently. When they saw the gate of Beijing, probably because they felt that they were in their own territory, they returned to their old ways and spoke less politely, and even mixed some threats in their words, implying that Wu Chengjian had better give more tributes, otherwise there would be no benefits after entering Beijing.
Wu Chengjian knew the truth that "it is easier to deal with the King of Hell than with the little devils", so he didn't bother with them and actually gave them some silver. The two officers were very happy. Although the trip to Guangzhou was hard, they also made a lot of money. They both thought that if such good things happened two or three more times, they could retire and enjoy their old age.
The two men then asked Wu Chengjian if he needed to stay in a hotel, and they could provide convenience and so on - this was certainly not out of kindness, but if Wu Chengjian stayed in the hotel they introduced, there would be endless benefits in the future.
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "Let's go to the Guangdong Guild Hall first. If we can't find a place to stay, we can ask the two officers for help."
The two officers then remembered that the man was a wealthy man from Guangdong, so he would naturally live in the Guangdong Guild Hall. That was enough. The officer with yellow teeth said, "Come find us when you have settled down. We will take you to the government office so that the prefect can question you."
Wu Chengjian said: "Okay."
After entering the city gate, the two sides separated and the guide Lao Qiu took them to the Guangdong Guild Hall. This was not the first time Wu Chengjian came to Beijing. The last time he came was less than ten years ago. Beijing during the Qianlong period had hardly changed in those few years, so Wu Chengjian was very familiar with the route.
However, this was Wu Qi's first time here, and he looked around for something new - Beijing was the largest city in China at that time, but compared with Guangzhou, it was only larger in total area, and the commercial prosperity of the city was almost the same, the only difference between the north and the south was the style. Relatively speaking, the supporting facilities in the Xiguan area were more complete, so after Wu Qi entered the city, he not only did not feel that his eyes had been opened, but he was disgusted by it. He said there was too much dirt here, and it smelled bad there, because the streets were covered with mud, and the ditches were indeed smelly. Some poor people even dumped all kinds of dirty things on the roadside, including feces and urine.
Wu Chengjian listened for a while, then stopped him and said, "Keep your voice down! It's not good if someone hears you."
Wu Qi said: "What are you afraid of? We can just speak Cantonese."
Wu Chengjian said, "No, speak Mandarin to me, and it would be better if you can learn a few words in Beijing dialect."
Guangdong is a big province with extremely developed commerce. There are more than one guild hall in Beijing. Wu Chengjian came to Beijing privately last time and did not stay in a guild hall. This time he went straight to the Guangdong Guild Hall. They had already given notice. When the manager Lao Su heard that Haoguan had arrived, he brought a group of employees to greet him.
Lao Qiu is a regular customer here. He waved his hand and said, "This is Haoguan."
Being the manager of the Guangdong Guild Hall, how could he not know the market situation in Guangdong? Although Old Su could speak Beijing dialect, he spoke in his hometown dialect at this time: "Hao Guan, you have worked hard on your journey."
Wu Chengjian heard his Dongguan accent, but he smiled and replied in Beijing dialect: "Okay, it's not hard!"
When Old Su heard this, he switched back to Mandarin: "Oh, Official Hao has been to the capital."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "I came here several years ago, but I didn't dare to live here because I was afraid of being beaten by the old man. Besides, I didn't have the right to live here at that time."
"What Hao Guan said! If this gets out, how can I, Old Su, live my life!" Old Su said, "Young Master Yihehang has arrived. Even if we don't have any rooms in Guangdong Guild Hall, we must have one!"
Everyone laughed, and Old Su led Wu Chengjian inside.
The Guangdong Guild Hall is very large, with its main body being a large courtyard. After the reconstruction, the gate is wide and the hall is gorgeous. Bricks, tiles and wood carvings were all shipped from Guangdong, and the interior is decorated according to the style of Lingnan gardens. Once you go in and close the gate, those who don't know would think you have arrived in Guangzhou.
Surrounding this main courtyard, there are many shops and houses, with a total of 200 to 300 rooms. There is also a garden to the south, with many peach trees planted, so it is called Taoyuan. The steward Lao Su cleared the Taoyuan half a month ago and left it for Wu Chengjian to live in.
"Haoguan, are you satisfied with this?" After showing Wu Chengjian around, Lao Su said with a smile, "We have prepared everything that should be prepared in the garden. I heard that Haoguan is used to eating Siamese rice, so we managed to get a few buckets of it here. We also got a lot of sheep from Dongshan, geese from Datang, dried scallops, etc. We also prepared a lot of fruits and vegetables from the south. The chefs are all masters from Shunde. Of course, it can't be compared with Guangzhou, but we have to make sure Haoguan can live there."
Wu Chengjian laughed and said, "If I can't live here, I won't be able to find a place to stay in Beijing."
After entering the Peach Garden, another row of maids stood in front of them. Lao Su said, "I heard that Hao Guan came here for important business and would be on the way quickly. I guess he might not bring maids with him, so I asked the pawnbroker to pick twelve maids to wait here. Why don't Hao Guan pick a few that he likes and use them as a makeshift?"
Wu Chengjian raised his chin towards Wu Qiyi, who said, "Go down first, I'll pick it later."
The twelve maids who were to be selected had all been trained. They bowed together and then left.
Next, Wu Qi and the others were busy moving luggage, putting things away, selecting maids, and discussing rules. Wu Chengjian ignored all this and asked Wu Xiaojiu to move the recliner under the peach tree, and then closed his eyes to rest.
