Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 66: Raising Money
Zhou Yijin was leaning against the door of the Guangdong Guild Hall in Taoyuan, and when he saw Wu Chengjian coming back, he asked, "Did you take the bait?"
"He's taken the bait." Wu Chengjian looked at the peach tree with all its petals falling: "We can prepare for the next step."
Just when Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin felt that things were going smoothly, Guangzhou was under tremendous pressure.
It has been several months since Hao Guan went upstairs, and he has not returned yet. The news that has reached Guangzhou is not good news. Some say that he has been detained by the Lord Zhongtang, some say that he has been detained awaiting trial, and some even say that he has been executed and the Wu family is waiting to have their property confiscated.
Various rumors and truths were mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish the truth from the false. However, the general trend was that no one was optimistic about Yihehang anymore.
Even on the Immortal Island, many people no longer had any scruples when talking about the Wu family's affairs - a few months ago, even if Wu Chengjian was not there, the spectators would always be tactful when speaking even if they were not optimistic about the Wu family in their hearts. But now, they would directly say things like "The Wu family is probably going to go bankrupt" and "Yihe Bank seems to be finished".
Pan Zhenghuan sat in Chunyuanzhi, looking down at the guests coming and going below. Occasionally, a word or two of conversation would drift in with the wind. He savored them in his heart. The more he savored, the more he felt that what his father said to him was meaningful.
"Shenxianzhou... is also a small place of fame and fortune!"
Now everyone in Shenxianzhou is speaking well of the Pan family, but Pan Zhenghuan has now developed a state of mind that will not be swayed by flattery. He knows very well that just as Shenxianzhou can vilify the Wu family today, it can do the same to the Pan family tomorrow - if something happens to the Pan family as well.
The new courtesan came forward and offered a glass of wine - this courtesan was not Yu Lian'er.
Since that time, Pan Zhenghuan's heart has slowly returned to the right path in the business world. Although he still visits Shenxianzhou occasionally, his mentality is completely different from before.
He has changed, but Yu Lian'er has not. She still uses those old methods to try to win over Pan Zhenghuan's heart. She even hopes that Pan Zhenghuan will favor her again. Even if he doesn't marry , at least he will give her a prestigious place like Huachahao, just like Haoguan treated Tan Sanniang.
This made Pan Zhenghuan jealous. He felt that the people in front of him were only flattering him for money and not sincerely. He gradually felt disgusted with Lian'er. He had felt that Lian'er's stuttering was different from others before, but now, listening to her stuttering and taking a long time to finish a sentence, he finally lost all his patience.
Finally, Yu Lian'er's maid couldn't help but stand up for her daughter and seek justice for her in front of everyone. This ruined the peace that was barely maintained and made Pan Zhenghuan lose face.
Pan Zhenghuan was furious and ordered someone to "find another place for Lian'er" - he just didn't want to see Lian'er again, but he didn't want her to be with someone else, so he asked someone to find a place to keep her captive. From then on, the stuttering courtesan was no longer seen in Shenxianzhou.
The atmosphere in Wuyuan was also very depressing.
In recent days, Cai Qiaozhu has instructed everyone not to disturb Third Grandma about anything, because Ye Youyu is about to give birth at any time.
But today, she had no choice but to take the letter and Wu Qi, who had just returned from Beijing, and entered Ritianju.
Chunrui, Xia Qing and the others were extremely surprised to see Wu Qi. They all wanted to ask about Haoguan and Beijing, but when they saw Grandma's expression, they dared not say a word.
Ye Youyu was lying down, and when he saw this situation he knew something was wrong, so he asked everyone except Dongxue to leave. As a result, Cai Qiaozhu sent Dongxue away as well, leaving only Wu Qi waiting outside the bead curtain.
Ye Youyu was frightened, and her eyes turned red: "Sister-in-law...did something bad happen?"
Cai Qiaozhu hurriedly said, "Don't overthink it. Hao Guan is fine. Wu Qi said he is doing fine now. He is living a good life with Mr. Zhou in Beijing."
Ye Youyu was stunned for a moment, then he felt a little relieved.
"He has everything he wants, but...he pushes all the troubles onto us." Cai Qiaozhu said, handing the letter to Ye Youyu: "Look, this is outrageous."
After Ye Youyu received the letter, she glanced at it quickly. Seeing that her husband was fine, she felt relieved at first, but then she felt heavy again. She felt that although Wu Chengjian's writing style was light, the content was unbearable!
"Sister-in-law, this..." Ye Youyu said, "Are you doubting that this is not written by Hao Guan himself?" There is actually no problem with the handwriting, but... the content of the letter is very problematic.
"When I read it just now, I almost thought it was fake." Cai Qiaozhu said, "But Wu Qi told me the contents of the letter, exactly. If Wu Qi hadn't come back, if he hadn't said it himself, how could I believe that the letter was real! Tea mountain... fleet... head office... warehouse... this is... this is trying to dig up the roots of our Wu family!"
Cai Qiaozhu had been telling herself to adjust her mood before she came in, but now she couldn't help choking up. She couldn't stand up anymore and sat on the stool at the head of the bed.
Last time, Wu Chengjian asked them to give the Pan family the assets they had deposited in Beijing. Although they were huge, they were all earned by Wu Chengjian in the past one or two years. But this time, they were all accumulated little by little by three generations of the family head, from Wu Guoying to Wu Chengjun and then to Wu Chengjian! If they handed over all of this, Yihe Bank would be left with only an empty shell.
Although Wu Chengjian did say before leaving Beijing that even if he lost all his family property, as long as his life was saved, when the time really came, Cai Qiaozhu felt that the pressure was unbearable when she thought about the family business of several generations of the Wu family being dispersed in her hands.
Because the matter was of great importance, even though Ye Youyu was about to give birth, she still had to come and tell her and let her see the letter.
Ye Youyu also understood her sister-in-law's feelings and asked, "Wu Qi, when Haoguan wrote this letter, did he say anything else?"
"No, I didn't say anything." Wu Qi also started crying outside: "When Hao Guan told me the contents of the letter, I knelt down on the spot and asked him to find another way. But, Hao Guan kicked me up, sealed the letter and told me to leave quickly, saying that if I missed the opportunity, my whole family would be killed, so I rushed back day and night."
Cai Qiaozhu and Ye Youyu felt nervous when they heard the words "If you make a mistake, the whole family will lose their lives". They guessed that Hao Guan must be under great pressure in Beijing, otherwise it would not be like this.
Cai Qiaozhu said, "Forget it, forget it. I said so at the beginning. Although I didn't expect that this day would really come, but... it is the most important thing! Third Aunt, if you have no objection, I will do as Hao Guan said."
Ye Youyu said, "Sister-in-law, this..." Although she was touched that Cai Qiaozhu was willing to give up the family fortune to save her husband, there was some guilt on her face - Guang'er had a share of this family fortune.
Cai Qiaozhu saw what she was thinking and said, "Don't let your imagination run wild. Didn't you hear what Hao Guan said? If we make a mistake, the whole family will lose their lives. We are a family, all in the same boat. If Hao Guan really can't hold on, we will all fall into the water. Although I don't quite understand his arrangement, we still have to support him to the end if we can."
The two sisters-in-law immediately made arrangements according to the instructions in Wu Chengjian's letter - roughly speaking, they mortgaged many of Yihe Bank's properties to the Pan, Lu, and Ye families in order to raise three million taels of money and wait for them to be checked.
This was a shocking event for the Thirteen Hongs. They all expected that no matter how secretive the news was, it would not be kept secret. Once it got out, the rumor of "the Wu family was going to fall" would become "the Wu family fell." Knowing that it could not be covered up, they sent people to find the three big managers Liu, Ou, and Yao to discuss how to hand over the matter.
The three shopkeepers were all shocked, but Cai Qiaozhu was very determined to act according to what Wu said in the letter. The three shopkeepers remembered what Haoguan had said before he went to Beijing, and they all thought: "So Haoguan's words at the beginning buried the foreshadowing here."
They no longer objected.
Shopkeeper Yao Si said, "This matter will get out sooner or later, but we still have to keep it secret as much as possible, at least before it gets out. Otherwise, some of Yihe Bank's properties will become even less valuable."
It's OK for tea mountains, the amount of tea produced and the quality of tea are there, and the value can't depreciate much. But there are some industries that are worth a lot of money when the Wu family is doing well, but when everyone is pessimistic, they can become worthless.
Shopkeeper Yao Si also suggested that the three shopkeepers go to the three families to discuss the matter: Shopkeeper Liu went to the Pan family, he went to the Lu family, and Ou Jiafu went to the Ye family.
Cai Qiaozhu thought this arrangement was very appropriate, and she acted in secret, with the three shopkeepers taking Wu Chengjian's letters to the three families to raise money.
The other two families were all doing well. Lu Guanhuan was very chivalrous. After reading the letter, he sighed and said, "The things that Hao Guan wants to mortgage to me are actually too cheap according to the market value. He only wants one million from me, which is too little. It's just that I haven't prepared them yet. There are only about a hundred silver coins in the warehouse, and some money has to be left for daily expenses. How about this, you go and reply to Grandma Wu, I will transport 800,000 taels for delivery first, and raise another 700,000 taels within half a month. These properties are taken care of by me for the Wu family, and I will return them when Hao Guan is satisfied."
Manager Yao Si was overjoyed and thanked him profusely. After the handover was completed, he returned to Wujiayuan. Manager Liu had also returned. The Pan family was even easier. Pan Youjie read the letter and without saying anything, he asked someone to order one million taels of gold and silver and returned directly with Manager Liu. He also reminded him, "If there is any problem with Lu and Ye, come and tell me."
Cai Qiaozhu counted the Pan family's gold and silver and put them into the warehouse. She also received a reply from Lu Guanhuan, and felt relieved. She thought that with 2.5 million taels in hand, things would be easy.
Just when I breathed a sigh of relief, something unexpectedly happened at the Ye family.
