Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 68 Wu Chengjian's Theory of the Mother Chicken
When Ma heard that the Pan family had sent someone, she was a little surprised, so she went to the study room and happened to see Pan Haigen saying goodbye. She entered the study room and asked Ye Dalin, "Why did Qi Guan send someone here?"
Ye Dalin's face was full of suspicion and he didn't even hear what his wife was saying.
Ma walked up to him and asked again, "What exactly do you want to do?" She lowered her voice and asked, "Are you here to discuss the division of the Wu family?"
"If this is true, it's not surprising..." Ye Dalin thought about what Pan Haigen had said just now, and murmured: "Qi Guan...actually wants to protect the Wu family..."
The words of Pan Youjie relayed by Pan Haigen not only wanted to protect the Wu family, but also revealed a subtle threat - this seemed like he was willing to fall out with the Ye family in order to protect Yihehang - when did Pan Qiguan become a good guy?
"The Qi official wants to protect the Wu family?" Ma shouted, "Is he crazy?"
Ye Dalin said coldly: "Even if all the people in Xiguan have gone crazy, he, the official, will not go crazy."
Ma said, "So he has other plans? He wants to keep the Wu family intact, and he wants to take it all for himself?"
Ye Dalin thought about it and still shook his head: "Pan Haigen just said that the Pan family's one million taels of silver have been sent to Wujiayuan."
"Ah..." Ma said, "Why is that?"
"Why? You naturally have no idea..." Ye Dalin said slowly, "If all possibilities are unsatisfactory, then there is only one possibility left?"
"What?"
"Hao Guan hasn't failed in Beijing yet." Ye Dalin murmured in local dialect: "It's better for Qi Guan to help him than to hold him back. This is... the only explanation."
At this time, the servant came to report: "The two big managers Ou and Yao from Yihe Bank are here."
Ye Dalin's eyes flashed, and a smile appeared on his face: "Please come in, please come in." He drove Ma back to the back house.
The Wu family was in a turmoil, all of them were concerned about Ye Youyu's delivery. Only Ou Jiafu and Yao Si, the shopkeeper, were sent to the Ye family. Although Pan Youjie had spread the word that he had sent people to negotiate with the Ye family and that the Wu family could send people over, Ou and Yao were still a little worried - Pan Youjie was called the general merchant, but he did not have the power to directly control the merchants.
As a result, when he entered the Ye family's study, Ou Jiafu couldn't help but be stunned. Was Ye Dalin, the man in front of him with a smile that made people feel like spring breeze, really the same person he had just met last time?
Just as Ou Jiafu was about to speak, Ye Dalin spoke first, with a smile on his face: "Xiao Ou, after you went back, I immediately ordered someone to count the silver vault. Haha, guess what? It turns out there is still a payment for goods in the silver vault that I haven't settled yet."
Ou Jiafu was surprised and delighted—he was definitely more surprised than happy: "Then, then..."
Ye Dalin waved his hand: "I have already passed the message, you can withdraw the money today."
Ou Jiafu was overjoyed. This time he was more happy than surprised. Since Ye Dalincoln had lent him money, he took out the mortgage he had prepared.
Seeing the small box in his hand open, Ye Dalin's face darkened: "Xiao Ou, what are you doing!"
Ou Jiafu was stunned: "This is a mortgage." He was about to explain to Ye Dalin which properties they were, but he heard Ye Dalin angrily: "My Ye family and the Wu family are in-laws. We don't have the same surname, but we are one family! Just one million taels, what do you mean by mortgage! If you do this again in the future, I won't let you in!"
Ou Jiafu opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth, feeling as if he was dreaming.
Although Shopkeeper Yao Si didn't know what had happened to cause Ye Dalin to change like this, his reaction was faster than Ou Jiafu's. He secretly pulled Ou Jiafu's sleeve and said to Ye Dalin, "You are so kind! Let's go and count the money now."
Beijing and Guangzhou are thousands of miles apart, and it took a lot of effort to send news back and forth. After Wu Qi dealt with the affairs in Guangzhou, he set off north again. Since the people sent to Guangzhou by those nobles had received money - no less than 3.1 million taels, and they were in a good mood because they had completed their mission, when they wrote back to Beijing, they also asked the Wu family's letter to be sent on an express ride of 600 miles.
When Wu Chengjian received the letter, the seal had been opened. Apparently the person who opened it was rude and arrogant, and was not afraid that Wu Chengjian would know that the letter had been opened. Wu Chengjian did not mind, and still opened the letter, glanced through it quickly, and then he was so happy that he danced with joy.
Zhou Yijin was a little surprised: "What happened?" He thought that even if everything was going well in Guangzhou, it would not be like this.
He took the letter and read it. It was written by Cai Qiaozhu. Zhou Yijin had seen the handwritings of several important figures in the Wu family. He first talked about family matters. Qi Guan's reaction was normal. Mao Guan's extra money was also chivalrous. It was expected that Da Guan would be arrogant at first and respectful later. However, at the end of the letter, there was a sentence: "You Yu gave birth on a certain day of a certain month. Both mother and daughter are safe." Zhou Yijin knew why Wu Chengjian was so happy and smiled: "Congratulations, congratulations."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "As long as they can be safe and happy, all the suffering I have endured in Beijing will be worth it!"
Just then, Wu Xiaojiu came to report: "Sixth Master wants to see you."
Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin looked at each other and smiled: "Here they come."
Wu Chengjian said: "It seems that I have to go see my master too."
In Liuhe Teahouse, Master Liu occupied a private room alone, which was right opposite the small stage.
The artists on the stage were singing a folk song compiled by the descendants of the Eight Banners. Sixth Master was listening with his head nodding, so engrossed that he didn't even notice Wu Chengjian coming upstairs.
It was not until Wu Chengjian called out "Sixth Master" that he came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Hey, Hao Guan, you're here! Sit down!"
Time and time again, they used to not see each other at all, but now they still call each other "Hao Guan" when they meet. The Sixth Master's follower was so shocked that his eyes widened. However, this follower also knew a little bit about the situation. He thought that if I received hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from him, I would be fine if I called him grandpa a few times.
Sixth Master took a quick look and everyone around him went downstairs.
Master Liu looked up at the door— a thick curtain had been drawn over the door to block out the cold air outside.
"It looks like the weather is getting colder." Sixth Master said leisurely, "I don't know how many elderly people will not survive this winter."
Wu Chengjian listened to this but did not respond.
The one in the Forbidden City is also an old man.
The Sixth Master only sighed, then returned to the topic, smiling at Wu Chengjian: "Guangzhou has given a real letter! Very good, the money has been received. Hao Guan is indeed a trustworthy person!"
Wu Chengjian laughed along. As the saying goes, mountains of gold and silver are worth putting in pocket. Anyone would be happy to receive such a huge sum of money.
"Oh, even such a large sum of money is difficult to transport up here. The road is not safe. There is a White Lotus sect in Huguang and Sichuan. We must not let it affect the east. If it does, we won't be able to transport the money up here." Sixth Master said, "Hao Guan, how did you transport it up here?"
Wu Chengjian did not respond, but smiled: "Nothing special, I just walked all the way from the east. I was very nervous along the way, but fortunately, I received the great blessing of all the nobles and had a safe journey."
"How come we are so lucky?" Sixth Master looked puzzled.
Wu Chengjian said: "Because this money was originally prepared for you gentlemen. So once this money leaves Guangzhou, it will belong to you nobles, and naturally it will be covered by your great blessings."
The Sixth Master listened and laughed. Shanzi tapped Wu Chengjian on the shoulder and said, "You are very good. I like you more and more. Not only me, but also the other six nobles, all praise you highly."
Wu Chengjian asked: "Six?"
The Sixth Master smiled but did not answer: "We have received your money, just go ahead and do whatever you want!"
Wu Chengjian was overjoyed: "Thank you, Sixth Master, and thank you all!"
"But..." Sixth Master said again, "Remember this, don't get involved in anything that violates taboos, otherwise we can't risk the law to protect you."
Wu Chengjian said hurriedly: "Of course, of course."
The Sixth Master added, "If you hear anything these days, don't make a fuss. Just do what you need to do as usual."
Wu Chengjian quickly agreed: "Yes."
Seeing that the other party had nothing to say, Wu Chengjian stood up and said goodbye.
When he was about to leave, Sixth Master suddenly asked, "Hao Guan, is it true that your family only has six million ?"
This time, several nobles sent their trusted servants to Guangzhou to collect the money. At first, they estimated that this large sum of money would be mixed with various properties and industries. Unexpectedly, the servants wrote that the more than 3 million taels were all gold and silver, which surprised several nobles. Originally, they thought that the Wu family would definitely go bankrupt if they took another 9 million. However, seeing that Wu Chengjian was in Beijing, he only sent one person and sent a letter, and the family in Guangzhou could readily take out 3 million! They couldn't help but think too much!
Wu Chengjian had expected this and said with a smile, "It depends on how we calculate it."
"Oh?" Sixth Master's eyes flashed, and he thought there must be something behind this.
Wu Chengjian said, "For example, the pawnshop in the alley next door can usually collect 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver a year. If one day, the owner of the pawnshop falls on hard times and needs to sell the pawnshop, I'm afraid that even 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver won't be able to be sold, and maybe someone will take it for 50,000 taels. Sixth Master, how much do you think this pawnshop is actually worth?"
Sixth Master nodded but didn't respond.
Wu Chengjian said, "A pawnshop needs a trustworthy and accurate manager, a group of clean-handed assistants, some ways to get goods, and some channels for selling goods. If a new owner takes care of these things, it is hard to say whether it can still collect 70,000 or 80,000 taels a year. Our Wu family's business involves overseas, which is much more complicated than this pawnshop. The same tea mountain can produce 100,000 taels of silver a year in the hands of Yihehang, but if it is replaced by someone else, it may only produce 10,000 taels. The same business route can produce 100,000 a year in Yihehang, but if it is replaced by another owner, this business route may be useless and not worth a penny - that's the reason. So our Wu family is an old hen that can lay golden eggs. It can lay eggs every day. One egg weighs one tael, and ten eggs weigh one jin. In a year, there are dozens of jin. The eggs can hatch chickens, and the chickens can lay eggs. But if the chickens are killed, they are just a few jin of meat. Sixth Master, don't you think this is the truth?"
The Sixth Master listened, smiling, his eyes moved, and after a long while, he said, "No wonder Heshen didn't kill you!"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "He Zhongtang understands business. So he wanted to find someone who could take over our Wu family's tea plantation and business. Unfortunately, times have changed and no one in Guangzhou is willing to listen to his flute anymore."
The Sixth Master said, "So these few times, what you took out were all eggs."
"Yes." Wu Chengjian said, "In fact, after these large sums of money were taken out, our Wu family has been seriously injured. This chicken has been killed halfway. Even if the remaining family property is not sold, our Wu family will go bankrupt next year when the money is cut off."
The Sixth Master looked at Wu Chengjian's calm expression and said, "You knew that your family business was going to fail, yet you were still so calm."
Wu Chengjian sighed and said, "It's good that the person can be saved. Even if the money is gone, at least there is still life."
At this point, the Sixth Master stopped talking. Wu Chengjian knew what was going on and stood up to say goodbye. This time, the Sixth Master did not keep him. Before leaving the box, he suddenly said, "You are well-informed!"
Wu Chengjian didn't come back to his senses, and replied with a smile: "There's nothing I can do. As a businessman, you have to be more alert."
After leaving the teahouse and walking not far, he saw people gathering outside the pawnshop in the next alley. Wu Chengjian didn't even look at them, but just walked past.
He knew what was going on - the owner of the pawnshop had arrived, and the owner of the pawnshop was sitting right above Sixth Master in the big house that day.
There's nothing we can do about it. Good wine makes people's faces turn red and money makes people's hearts move.
Nine million taels, that prince can get 900,000 taels, plus the other prince, it's 1.8 million taels, 1.8 million taels divided between the two princes, each of them can get 900,000! The first-rank official of the Qing Dynasty only gets 180 taels of salary a year. If you don't count the gray income, it will take 5,000 years to get 900,000!
Wu Chengjian seemed to be unaware of these things and went straight to the Guangdong Guild Hall.
As soon as I arrived at the guild hall, I saw Wu Xiaojiu waiting there.
"Hao Guan!"
"Hmm?" Wu Chengjian asked, "Did Yi Jin meet Master Cai?"
After Zhu Gui arrived in Beijing, Wu Chengjian asked to see Cai Qinghua several times, but was rejected. However, it was different when Zhou Yijin came to see him. Even though Cai Qinghua decided not to agree to anything in the end, she still met him. Wu Chengjian was confident that as long as he could meet him, Yijin would definitely find a way to make Cai Qinghua change his mind.
Sure enough, Wu Xiaojiu said, "Master asked you to go with me to see Master Cai, so go now."
"Okay." Wu Chengjian said, "I'll go get something first."
