Chapter 20 Lighting Tower (2-2)

Xu Yongyi didn't know why he suddenly asked this question, and replied with a smile: "It's a famous joke, and many people know it." "It's not a joke." Baojun Jinzhengse said: "If I were a court official, I would look at a few tattered clothes and let him be five thousand silver, how could I be worthy of my boss? There must be gossip outside, I don't know how much I have benefited from him. He only Take a hard bet and don't let me reveal his hole cards. I can't do anything about him. The same is true for Zuo Shuai's debts. Raw rice is cooked and cooked. The court sees his old face and doesn't care about him. Do you understand what I mean? "

How could Xu Yongyi not understand?But he was also very tactful, he didn't give a direct answer, he just said: "I believe Mr. Zuo will be able to understand Zhongtang's kindness." "Okay, but," Bao Junjin said with a serious face, "Ding Zhihuang is very good, almost every month; Zuo Shuai’s borrowing of foreign debt is only for this one time, and it will not be an example in the next one. Please make it clear.” "yes." It is another matter to say yes or no to say yes.After Xu Yongyi retired, he went to visit Hu Xueyan first, told him Bao Junjin's words, and discussed the last sentence, should he say it?

"Of course it doesn't need to be said." Hu Xueyan replied: "The matter is obvious. The Western Expedition is successful, and we will never borrow foreign money in the future. As for the coastal defense, it is not the business of Mr. Zuo and me. In this case, Why do you have to say this again to make Mr. Zuo unhappy?" Xu Yongyi followed his advice, went to Xianliang Temple, and conveyed Bao Junjin's opinion.Zuo Zongtang originally wanted to do this, but he didn't expect Bao Junjin to be so "generous"; relieved, Cheng Xing wrote and drafted the manuscript himself.

The first paragraph, of course, states the importance of border affairs, as well as the difficulty that the provincial co-pays cannot be paid in time, and the arrears are being delayed year after year, accumulating more and more difficulties.Next, I will describe the origin of this borrowing of foreign funds: it is said that there is a German businessman, Fokker, who heard about it at the Lanzhou Weaving Bureau, claiming that the country has a huge amount of money to borrow, and the interest rate is light, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu can issue a ticket, because On the third day of the twelfth lunar month of last year, I received a reply from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although the amount of the loan was stated to be 4 million, the time limit, interest, and source of repayment should be supplemented.

But at that time, Zuo Zongtang had already received the order of Jinjing, and he was no longer in his position. It seems that he should no longer seek his own government, so here is an explanation: "When the minister unloaded his seal script and went north, he met with Liu Jintang and Yang Changjun. It was difficult to raise salary for the succession, so the subordinates borrowed chopsticks on their behalf. Although the minister was about to leave the post, he didn't want to burden others, so he hurriedly dealt with Hu Guangyong, a Taoist member of the Shanghai Mining and Transportation Bureau, and quickly negotiated a loan of 4 million silver from foreign countries for emergency needs. After arriving in the capital, I sent letters from Yang Changjun and Liu Jintang, saying that the source of salary has dried up, and it is difficult to continue at the turn of spring and summer, so I sincerely report it according to the situation, and the love words are extremely urgent."

The following is according to "Hu Guangyong, together with Falk, a partner of the German Tailai Bank, and Cameron, a partner of the British HSBC Bank", the issuance method: The amount of the loan: Kuping Zuse Baoyin 4 million taels. Term: six years to pay off. Interest rate: annual interest of 9% 75 cents. Interest payment method: one payment every six months, a total of twelve installments in six years. Method of principal repayment: No repayment of principal in the first and second two years, and repayment of one million taels per year from the third year onwards.Interest is reduced.

Guarantee method: Please ask the Ministry of Households to urge the provincial customs to hand over the new and old copays to the Shanghai Mining Bureau, and pay the principal back with interest.If the co-payment is not paid, the Shanghai Mining and Transportation Bureau has no money to allocate, and foreign merchants should be allowed to redeem it from the Ministry of Households on schedule based on the stamp issued by the Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Compared with the past, these conditions have three advantages: first, there is no need for the customs and the governors of the relevant provinces to issue invoices, which can avoid setbacks; It was not repaying the principal for the first two years, so that the provinces could clear up the old debts. Heavenly Grace issued an order to the Prime Minister's Yamen, ordered Daoist Hu Guangyong and the British envoy to transfer to HSBC Bank, and all complied with it, so that Shaanxi and Gansu can issue invoices and withdraw money."

The date of the performance was the first day of April, and the official reply was received on the same day: "The government office knows about it." That is to say, the filing was approved, and "the government office" refers to the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs.This yamen and the Military Aircraft Office are the exterior and interior of each other. The officer in charge, also known as Zhang Jing, has a generous salary, which is also the same as the Military Aircraft Zhangjing. The difference in regulations is that the Military Aircraft Zhangjing is divided into the first shift and the second shift.Shifts are on duty, but the things they do are the same; Governor Zhang Jing has his own department, the case is under the control of the "UK Stock" and the "German Stock", and Xu Yongyi is the connector on his behalf; When Lun Tong came, the British Legation approved the procedures for HSBC to borrow the loan, and it went smoothly, but within three days, everything was ready.But the endowment is yet to come.There are many reasons. The first is that Nangui decided to take a steamer. The schedule is fixed, and the "dinner room" on the latest boat has been reserved. Wait for another class, it will be ten days later.

The next day, Hu Xueyan wanted to order a batch of plasters to take back.From the management of the West Grain Collection Platform and the establishment of a transshipment bureau in Shanghai, Hu Xueyan has been successful in everything, often overnight, and how to make huge profits overnight, even he himself is not very clear.But the spirit gradually deteriorated, the diet gradually decreased, and the nights were restless, and people lost weight day by day. They were so anxious that Mrs. Hu was below, and the whole family and women were burning incense and making wishes everywhere, doing good deeds, and praying for God's blessing, but it was of no use. .

Once in a social gathering, I met a county magistrate named Zhou Litang who was a candidate in Hubei and came to Shanghai on a business trip. He was good at reading faces; The year's Universiade is better than today, and there will be the title of "God of Wealth" in the future. "To tell the truth from Li Weng, my spirit is very bad; things must be done with spirit, and without spirit, I will only be transported to the tomb treasury. There will be no great luck." "This is because Xue Weng can't think about it. Once you think about it, you will be full of energy."

Hearing this, Hu Xueyan cheered up first, "Li Weng, I want to ask for advice, why can't I think about it." He asked: "How can I think about it?" "The reason here can't be discussed in a hurry. Thorough. Where is Xue Weng’s mansion, after I have a business, I will take a little leisure time, visit the door, and calmly teach me.” Hu Xueyan thought to himself, there are only those in the officialdom who read a book of "Maixiangfa" and talk nonsense. , The purpose is to flatter the boss, win favor, and seek to find a half-decent alternate state and county team.Looking at Zhou Litang's speech, it doesn't look like that first-class person immediately replied, "I dare not ask Li Weng Laobu." Then he said: "Excuse me, what is Li Weng's business?" "This year, the emperor is getting married. I was ordered by Fuxian to come to Shanghai to buy tributes. I am looking forward to everything, but the amount of money that should be remitted from Hubei is wrong. I have been working on this matter for days, and it will take four or five days. It will be clear from beginning to end.” "Oh! Leon said that the public funds are not enough." "yes." "How much difference?" "More than 13,000 taels." "Oh, oh," Hu Xueyan asked, "Is it almost here?" "yes." "Well." The next morning, Hu Xueyan visited the Xianghe Inn where Zhou Litang lived; he heard someone negotiating in his room, the voice was very familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was.When they met each other by chance, they recognized that it was Fang Jiuxia Yinlou's back-hand Lao Xiao. "Mr. Hu Da." Old Xiao threw away Zhou Litang and ran out, and asked a thousand questions with a smile: "Why are you here?" "It's strange for you to ask that!" Hu Xueyan purposely said with a stern face because he saw the scene just now and Lao Xiao was not very polite to Zhou Litang: "You are allowed to come, but I am not allowed?" "It's not like that, it's not like that!" Old Xiao hurriedly argued: "I have a business to meet with Mr. Zhou." "Joint business? Could it be that you don't know how to make money with harmony? What's the matter?" After the reprimand, he turned around and talked to Zhou Litang politely and affectionately; he put the old Xiao Qian aside and ignored him. On the contrary, Zhou Litang was a little bit sorry, "Xue Weng, please sit down a moment." He said, "I'll have a deal with Shopkeeper Xiao first." "Please." With Hu Xueyan present, that old Xiao was not as arrogant as before, but he still spoke firmly.It turned out that Zhou Litang had ordered Ruyi with jade inlaid with gold from Fang Jiuxia. The total cost of work and materials was 9,000 silver, and he only paid 2,000 as a deposit.If you want to make it, Zhou Litang has no response when he comes to urge the delivery.At this time, the governor of Guangxi also sent people to buy tributes, because time was short and he was quite anxious; Lao Xiao heard about this and came to solicit business.Said that the jade inlaid with gold ordered by the governor of Hubei is wishful, and he is willing to transfer it at the original price.The words "Tianbao Jiuru" chiseled on Ruyi, as well as the previous paragraph, can be used without changing the name of the province and name, without any trouble. The officials in Guangxi were very straightforward and shrewd. They estimated that nine thousand silver was not expensive, and they were willing to buy them at the price, but they had to be able to prove that the officials in Hubei really gave up before they could make a deal. For this reason, Lao Xiao came to force Zhou Litang to pick up the package within a time limit, otherwise the deposit would be confiscated as compensation for the loss.Zhou Litang didn't have a hard hand, so he couldn't be soft in his words. When he was getting upset, Hu Xueyan came. After figuring out what was going on, Hu Xueyan said, "Old Xiao," he asked, "What are your plans?" As soon as Hu Xueyan came out, Lao Xiao knew that his wishful thinking had come to nothing, "Mr. Hu Da knows that the price of gold has risen again in the past two days." He said: "The Ruyi deal with Mr. Zhou has already lost money to be honest; The cost is very heavy, if it drags on, there will be a loss in interest, and I can't explain it to our boss." "Then what?" "I think, three more days." "No need." Hu Xueyan turned to Zhou Litang and said: "Li Weng, this is a small number, why didn't you tell me a long time ago, you would rather be angry with them!" Then, he took out an envelope from the pocket of his jacket and handed it over to Zhou Litang. past. I took it out and saw that it was a silver note worth fourteen thousand taels. My heart was so sweet and sour that I almost shed tears. Hu Xueyan was afraid that he would say something too humble and lose face in front of Lao Xiao, so he quickly said: "Old Xiao, go back quickly and send Jin Ruyi here; Mr. Zhou's acceptance is good, so naturally you will pay for it." Quite a few of yours." "Yes, yes!" Old Xiao Nuonuo repeated, "Send it right away, right away." "Slowly!" Hu Xueyan called Old Xiao to stop him; turned around and said, "Li Weng, I want to send It’s not a good idea, because on the one hand, you have to take risks, and on the other hand, you’re afraid of publicity. Why don’t I accompany Li Weng to inspect Fang Jiuxia’s goods? Wouldn't it be easy to send it directly to the ship when we set off?" "That's right. But I don't dare to ask Xueweng to accompany me. I'll send someone to do it." Immediately, he found a steward who was with him, handed over Hu Xueyan's banknote to him, and explained clearly.After the secretary left with Lao Xiao, he began to thank him. "Small matter, small matter!" Hu Xueyan asked: "What else is there for Li Weng?" "Thank you, thank you. No more." Zhou Litang immediately asked: "How to return this money?" "It's all yours." Hu Xueyan continued, "If Li Weng has nothing urgent to do, I would like to ask Li Weng for advice and guidance. Why can't I think about it? I don't think there is anything on my mind." "With Xueweng's wisdom, I feel that I won't be too overwhelmed. It is because the thought is hidden and hidden, so it is always depressed." Zhou Litang said again: "There is nothing surprising about the matter of looking at the face; Looking at the heart from above, one needs some experience. There is a thief in Xue Weng's heart, if the thief is not eliminated, the spirit will not recover." "Oh!" Hu Xueyan had also heard the idiom "It's easy to go to the mountain, but it's hard to go to the heart", and immediately asked, "What does the thief in my heart mean?" "Money, a word for money." Zhou Litang asked: "Does Xue Weng think of it often?" "I run a bank." Hu Xueyan smiled and said: "In our business, we call it 'coin money'. Thinking about money, what do you think about?" "Isn't it? I said that Xue Weng has a thief in his heart! Xue Weng is a great hero, why is he also trapped by brother Kong Fang and cannot escape?" Hearing this, Hu Xueyan couldn't help feeling ashamed. After thinking for a while, he said, "I can hear something in Li Weng's words. I don't know how to get out of it. If I don't think of the word money, I'm afraid I won't know it." It’s easy; it’s what I learned in elementary school, it’s deeply rooted, it’s the same as my nature, how can I not think about it.” "You can think about it. As long as you don't want to make money, but want to spend money, you will jump out." "The reason is very simple." Zhou Litang said: "For example, Xue Weng wants to build a garden, which costs money; but what he thinks about is how to build buildings, how to collect flowers and trees, how to introduce springs into the garden, and how to invite character questions. These It's very interesting to think about it, so naturally I forgot the word 'money'. Of course, this is not something everyone can do. If you don't have enough strength, if you want to worry about money, you are looking for trouble; Xue Weng doesn't have to worry about money at all. Of course there will be no worries." This reminded Hu Xueyan of the words of a person; his surname is Lei, from Jiangxi. His family has worked as servants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for generations since the reign of Emperor Kangxi. Whenever there is a palace to be built, he first asks his family to design it, and then according to the size ratio , Iron out the look with a cardboard plate.The well-known "Looking Thunder", but the name of the ear is unknown.One year when Hu Xueyan came to Beijing, he met "Zizi Lei" in the entertainment venue. He heard him talk about his ancestors, saying that his family's heyday was after the 16th year of Qianlong. Look, if something is wrong, it will be demolished and rebuilt immediately. If it is not satisfactory, it will be demolished again. I don’t know how many times it has been built and demolished. middle. During the Qianlong period, the national treasury was full. As long as the emperor felt that something would make him happy, he could do it without worrying about money. This may be the reason why he could enjoy his life.After listening to Zhou Litang's words, which confirmed the actions of Emperor Qianlong, Hu Xueyan's behavior changed drastically. Although he still did not forget how to make money, he thought more about how to spend money?Open up the garden and indulge in sensuality; the previous problems of restless sleep and eating, and depression have disappeared, but another disease has been added: kidney deficiency. It's so good that it opened the largest pharmacy in the country; it also got to know countless famous doctors, secret prescriptions and precious medicines, and strengthened the foundation and cultivated talents, so that the poor can make up for it.Among the tonics, what Hu Xueyan pays most attention to is a kind of plaster, which has an ugly name, called "dog skin plaster", but its effect is amazing; with it, it doesn't matter if Hu Xueyan marries more concubines. This dog skin ointment can only be found in an ancestral medicine shop in Beijing.Hu Xueyan spared no expense to hire the owner of this pharmacy to go south to Huqingyutang to manufacture dog skin ointment, but he failed; it was even more delusional to buy his secret recipe.Therefore, every spring, Hu Xueyan had to send a special person to Beijing to purchase dog skin ointment; this year he went to Beijing by himself, so there was no need to send another person.As soon as he arrived, he asked Wang Weixian to order three hundred pieces of dog skin ointment, but one important medicinal material was out of stock and hadn't been prepared yet, but Hu Xueyan insisted on bringing the medicine with him and returning south, so he had to wait. When the medicine arrived, Hu Xueyan decided to stay in Beijing for a while because of a news brought by Xu Yongyi, to see how great a person's supernatural powers are. "You take the foreigner to accompany Mr. Mori first. I want to see if he can pass this test or not?" Hu Xueyan said: "Only I know his tricks, maybe Mr. Zuo will ask me , and maybe there will be other opportunities.” What other opportunities will there be?Gu Yingchun understood that if "he" collapsed, not only would Hu Xueyan become a rival in the shopping mall, but he might also take over China Merchants.The "he" in Hu Xueyan's mouth is a Changzhou native, named Sheng Xuanhuai, and his style name is Xingsun.His father's single name is Kang, and his courtesy name is Xuren. Sheng Kang was a Jinshi in the 24th year of Daoguang. He started from prefectures and counties. , Dealing with him in Jiangsu officialdom. Sheng Xuanhuai is a scholar who studied medicine from the famous "Meng Hefei family" when he was young; doctors must have the heart to cut shares, and Sheng Xuanhuai will take advantage of others whenever he has the opportunity. Beijing has donated a principal and is preparing to become an official.At the end of the Tongzhi period, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, and the minister of Beiyang, were vigorously promoting foreign affairs; Sheng Xuanhuai had a particularly quick brain in this area, a good memory, and better eloquence. Then he donated "Flowers" and transferred Li Hongzhang to Beiyang as an alternate Taoist priest. Soon he was assigned as the office of the China Merchants Bureau. . The China Merchants Bureau was founded in the 11th year of Tongzhi. Based on Li Hongzhang's suggestion, in order to boycott foreign ships, "it is planned to allow officials to build merchant ships, be hired by Chinese merchants, and allow them to also transport grain so that they can have specialized business instead of being owned by foreign merchants. Crowding out." According to the decree, the trial operation was approved, that is, Beiyang borrowed funds, and another investment company was sent to Zhu Qiang, the alternate prefect of the Zhejiang Maritime Committee, to organize it. It was named China Shipping Merchants, bought a ship from the UK, and started operating; due to poor management, it took only half a year. In time, all my capital was lost.Hu Xueyan is one of the shareholders, and also sent tens of thousands of silver in it. In the summer of the twelfth year of Tongzhi, Chen Qin of Tianjin Customs Road suggested that Li Hongzhang send Lin Cha, an alternate magistrate, to Shanghai for sorting out.Chen and Lin are both Cantonese, and Lin Cha naturally sought out fellow Cantonese in Shanghai. One was Tang Tingshu, a comprador of Jardine Bank;However, there is an official copy, and the official money is used as the freight, so it is still supervised by the government and controlled by Beiyang; therefore, Sheng Xuanhuai was sent by Li Hongzhang to manage it. After the reorganization, China Merchants' business has improved day by day; Xu Run formed another insurance company to underwrite the ship insurance of this bureau, and benefited the market by cheating public officials.The foreign merchant steamship company encountered a formidable rival, and its business was not as good as before; the stock of American Merchant Qichang International Co., Ltd., which had nearly doubled its face value of one hundred taels, ended up falling to fifty taels, and there was a tendency to continue to decline. So Xu Run decided to buy Qichang, but under Sheng Xuanhuai's plan, it turned into a scam.Who are you kidding?To deceive Shen Baozhen, the governor of Jiangxi and the minister of shipping in Fujian, who was once the governor of Jiangxi and the minister of shipping in Fujian, was actually defrauding money from the public. Sheng Xuanhuai's design is ingenious.The first step is to use the official funds of China Merchants to secretly buy Qichang's stock. When it is quite sure that Qichang can be taken over, Sheng Xuanhuai, Tang Tingshu and Xu Run go to Nanjing. There are two vassals in Jiangsu, one is called the Jiangsu vassal and is stationed in Suzhou with the governor of Jiangsu;Mei Qixu's joints were opened, and Fang Shi submitted a petition to the governor's office, saying that Qichang Foreign Firm was willing to merge, and the asking price was more than 2.5 million; Shen Baozhen was also a person who had the courage to do things. Although he was ill at the time, he did not want the court to let him go because of his great interests. He summoned Sheng Xuanhuai, Xu Run and others on the sickbed to listen to the explanation.This day is November 13th in the second year of Guangxu. Sheng Xuanhuai was good at playing with numbers, and he spoke logically and with supporting evidence. Shen Baozhen was delighted to hear it.However, although China Merchants Nanyang is also in charge, it has always focused on Beiyang, so Shen Baozhen said that this matter should be discussed with the Minister of Beiyang to jointly play a role. "Don't miss this opportunity!" Sheng Xuanhuai explained to Shen Baozhen that foreigners regard the ten days after the winter solstice as the end of the year, and in this year it will be four days later on November 17.The director of the company replaces the current director once every three years, and the term of office ends on that day.After November 17th, when the new supervisor arrived and renegotiated, he couldn't get this bargain.Or if the new manager raises huge sums of money to reorganize, China Merchants will be threatened. Only by taking the opportunity to merge Qichang can China Merchants be invincible. Within the scope, adults not only do their part, but also must act decisively." Under Shen Baozhen's calculations, there is also Gu Xu. Although Qichang of American merchants has been merged, what will happen to Swire and Jardine of British merchants? "Swire and Jardine have few ships, so it's nothing to worry about; after the merger of Qichang, China Merchants has as many ships as No. 27, and its power has greatly increased. Foreigners have always been doing business with big ones and small ones. Swire and Jardine can only follow China Merchants. Let’s go. The disadvantage of China Merchants in the past is that they did not have docks and warehouses, and sometimes they had to accommodate Taikoo and Yihe. Now that they have Qichang’s docks and warehouses, they no longer need to accommodate others. The situation of host and guest is naturally different. Also, Once there are more ships, you can take out insurance yourself, and the rights and interests will not overflow, which is equivalent to opening up another source of income.” Shen Baozhen was completely convinced, and ordered Sheng Xuanhuai to return to Shanghai on the same day to negotiate with Qichang, try to keep the "acceptance" price as low as possible, and finalize the deal first.As for the acquisition of Qichang's capital, the original proposal proposed a government-business partnership, ordering Sheng Xuanhuai to try his best to attract investment shares first, and make up the shortfall with "official capital". How to plan it is another plan.With such authorization, the deception is bound to come true.As soon as Sheng Xuanhuai arrived in Shanghai, he mobilized government funds to buy Qichang's stock, and after obtaining 51% of the shares, he entrusted a foreign lawyer to carry out the formalities for the takeover; he rushed to Nanjing to report to Shen Baozhen, It's a foregone conclusion. According to Sheng Xuanhuai's written report, it is said that "it is agreed that wharves, ships, warehouses, docks, iron works, and all floating materials and utensils are included, and the current silver is two million taels. The rest of Hankou, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang, and Ningbo , various wharves, foreign-style buildings, and warehouses in Tianjin are priced at 220,000 taels." The total is 2.22 million taels, which is a decrease of 300,000 taels from the original asking price. As for the method of payment, 200,000 taels of fixed silver have been paid in advance on November 19; it is agreed to continue to pay 200,000 taels on December 18; another 300,000 taels will be paid on the 17th of the first month of next year, and the order will be delivered immediately.How to pay the balance in installments has also been agreed. As for commercial stocks, Sheng Xuanhuai said that he had recruited 1.22 million taels; there was a shortage of 1 million taels of "official capital", and Sheng Xuanhuai had also borrowed chopsticks to raise funds on his behalf. Mei Qixu made an agreement. When the discussion is over, a performance must be made. For such a case, if it is the main manuscript of Beiyang, it must be awarded the title of Nanyang Club;Sheng Xuanhuai tried his best to claim that the timing was urgent and he had to go back and forth to negotiate. He missed the deadline for the second batch of payment, and the 200,000 Dingyang he paid would be confiscated. Good things, only in favor of, not against.It was not bad for Shen Baozhen to think about it, and agreed to play with a single title; at the end of the fold, he declared: "The time is freezing, and it is not as good as the Beiyang Minister of Letters and Merchants." The fate road is frozen, but the land route is still passable. Obviously, this is a very far-fetched reason.Shen Baozhen never dreamed that this was a special trap set by Sheng Xuanhuai. First, he used the "seventeenth period" to "do his part" to Shen Baozhen; All these designs are designed to get rid of Li Hongzhang, so that when the scam is exposed in the future, Li Hongzhang can easily defend himself as an outsider who has not worked with Wen. Sure enough, four years later the deception was exposed.The one who made the attack was Wang Xianqian, a famous scholar from Hunan, Wang Xianqian, who sacrificed wine to the Imperial College, and severely impeached Sheng Xuanhuai, a member of the China Merchants Bureau, for blind manipulation, selfishness and fraud.At that time, the way of speaking was very powerful, and the imperial court attached great importance to the comments and propositions of a group of "Qingliu", and immediately ordered the governor of Liangjiang to "rectify and strictly investigate each one." At that time, the governor of Liangjiang was named Liu Kunyi, a native of Xinning, Hunan, who had been dissatisfied with Li Hongzhang for a long time.It turns out that since Li Hongzhang "used Huping Wu", he has always regarded Liangjiang as his territory. The official worshiped the governor of Zhili, the Beiyang Minister, but he was able to skillfully use foreigners and his relationship with the actual Westernization affairs to place private individuals in Liangjiang and direct command; What Liu Kunyi couldn't bear the most was Li Hongzhang's wife-in-law Zhao Jiyuan's misbehavior in Liangjiang. Zhao Jiyuan was from Taihu Lake, Anhui. His grandfather was Zhao Wenkai, who was the number one scholar in the Bingchen Division in the first year of Jiaqing. Zhao Jiyuan himself ordered Hanlin, but his stomach was full of thatch. How he was lucky enough to be cleared has always been a mystery.However, he himself was self-aware, knowing that with his pen, he would never be a Beijing official, so he used the Hanlin donated class as a Taoist to walk in the official department and distribute candidates in the south of the Yangtze River.At that time, the governor of Liangjiang was Zeng Guofan. When Hong Yang was in his early years, he was afraid of his achievements, so he decided to retreat bravely, dismiss the Hunan army, and foster Li Hongzhang's Huai army to replace him; so as soon as Zhao Jiyuan "reported" to Jiangning, he sent He has a very important and very fat job: Liangjiang Military Supplies General Administration takes charge.Zhao Jiyuan pretended to be smart in everything, relying on his brother-in-law Li Hongzhang as his backer. After Zeng Guofan, Ma Xinyi, Li Zongxi, and Shen Baozhen, the governors of Liangjiang, were not able to command him; eyes. Except for Zhao Jiyuan who was in Nanyang but obeyed Beiyang's order and Sheng Xuanhuai and others, Liu Kunyi also had a grudge and wanted to do something for a long time.Therefore, as soon as the imperial decree was received, Liu Ruifen, the director of Shanghai, and Li Xingrui, the general manager of the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau, were immediately sent to "check the accounts of the bureau and strictly check each item." Liu Ruifen is a native of Guichi, Anhui. He was born as a scholar. In the first year of Tongzhi, he was aided by Li Hongzhang in Shanghai. He was in charge of the purchase and transfer of ordnance. A very important civil servant in the system. Liu Ruifen has a very close relationship with Li Hongzhang, but he was very serious when he was ordered to investigate the case, because he was a decent person and looked down on Sheng Xuanhuai's treacherous and tricky villainous behavior; Liu Kunyi was shrewd and found him before he was ordered. Straightforward warning: If the investigation is inaccurate, he will send another person to investigate again, "Brother didn't look good at that time, don't blame me." In fact, many people knew about Sheng Xuanhuai's tricks, and Liu Ruifen couldn't cover it up for him even if he wanted to;For the sake of prudence, Liu Ruifen specially found a few expert friends to study, one of them is Gu Yingchun. "The account book says that there are only more than 40,000 taels of silver in the commercial shares, but Sheng Xingsun reported to Liangjiang at the time, saying that 'it was agreed on November 18, that is, 200,000 taels of silver will be paid on the 19th'. Where did the one hundred thousand taels of silver come from?" "There is no such thing at all." Gu Yingchun said, "As long as you count the days, you will know that he is lying." On November 17th of the second year of Guangxu, which is New Year's Day in 1877 according to the Western calendar, Sheng Xuanhuai said to Shen Baozhen at the beginning: "If it exceeds the seventeenth period, it will be replaced by someone else, and there is no way to change it." for the beginning of the year.However, the 18th and 19th of November in the Chinese calendar is the first and second day of the first lunar month in the Western calendar. The so-called "payment of 200,000 taels of fixed silver" is all nonsense. The second is the official funds allocated by the provinces, a total of one million taels, which will be transferred to Qichang Bank according to the amount. I was full of 440,000 taels. "Where is the evidence?" The official funds of the provinces are real, and they are all remitted by Fukang. The China Merchants Bureau sent people to withdraw the white money and transfer it to foreign banks.However, what was paid to Qichang was not cash, but Qichang's stock. "Gu Yingchun has the "Declaration" as evidence, which stated that the market price of Qichang's stock at that time was 100 taels of face value and 56 taels of actual value. That is to say, Sheng Xuanhuai only needs to spend 560,000 taels of silver to buy Qichang's stock, and he can offset the account of one million silver.With these two points alone, the evidence of fraud is very solid. As a result of the thorough investigation, the whole inside story was revealed. The tricks played by Sheng Xuanhuai, Xu Run and others were: First, make a draft agreement with Qichang for 25,000 taels of fixed silver. Second, misappropriating official funds from China Merchants to purchase Qichang shares that have been devalued to fifty-six taels per hundred. Third, on the grounds of fighting against the foreign merchant shipping company and recovering the rights and interests, they used the pretext of collecting 1.22 million business shares, and persuaded Shen Baozhen to allocate it to the official. Fourth, falsely claiming that 200,000 taels of fixed silver had been paid, which created a fait accompli, and forced Shen Baozhen to take sole responsibility under the pretext that the fate was frozen and there was no need to consult Beiyang. Fifth, obtain more than 51% of Qichang's equity, entrust a British lawyer to take over the paperwork, and take over Qichang according to law. Sixth, after remitting one million taels of official capital to China Merchants, Sheng Xuanhuai and others exchanged Qichang stocks for cash at full face value. Seventh, for the remaining balance due to Qichang, more than 400,000 taels will be paid in advance from China Merchants' official funds, which is still short of 690,000 yuan, and the "official interest deferment", commercial stock interest deposits, and insurance premium surplus will be successively paid. Benefits. In fact, there is still a large gap between cash and stocks, which is filled into private pockets. The so-called "government interest suspension" refers to more than 1.9 million taels of official funds allocated to China Merchants from the Jiangnan provinces, and the interest payable is temporarily suspended. .This continued one after another, moving here and there and being involved unclearly, it was a mess at all. Unexpectedly, before Liu Kunyi played the performance, Sheng Xuanhuai and others preemptively listed 18 reasons for the defense, which were reported to Beiyang.In addition to Sheng Xuanhuai's wanton activities, Liu Kunyi's replay really "stayed in China". Li Hongzhang's replay was copied to Nanyang as usual; Liu Kun saw it one by one, and it was really "eighteen fallacies".His pen is very good, and he personally drafted the manuscript to refute Li Hongzhang.First of all, let me explain: Li Hongzhang believes that Liu Ruifen and others did not make mistakes in the investigation of the case, and tried his best to defend Sheng Xuanhuai, so please excuse me;However, Sheng Xuanhuai's corruption reported by Liu Ruifen and others is quite clear, "There are those who dare not stop being in front of the Holy Lord." The first thing I want to refute is that Li Hongzhang said that when Qichang was bought, please allocate 1 million yuan of official money, and order the two quasi-salt transport envoys to persuade the salt merchants to allocate shares for "Yin Yin", and it is estimated that the silver can be 800,000 yuan Two, to order the vassals and customs roads of all provinces and customs in Nanyang, and to persuade wealthy businessmen to take shares at any time. There is no saying that 1.22 million taels of business shares have been collected.Liu Kunyi first quoted Shen Baozhen's performance in the past, "The minister heard Sheng Xuanhuai and others from his sick bed. According to the report, all merchants tried their best to collect together, but they could only collect 1.22 million taels of silver. The short amount is proposed to invite the provinces of Nanyang , trying to raise one million taels" and questioned Li Hongzhang: "If Sheng Xuanhuai didn't say that he raised 1.21 million taels, what is Shen Baozhen's basis? Wanliang is the original request to the customs to persuade merchants to take shares, and the matter has been approved by officials, so why didn't Shen Baozhen clearly state it in the document; why didn't he order all the officials to check and handle it?" Li Hongzhang also said that the vassals, transport envoys, and Guan Dao did not "help their colleagues to persuade them, and the merchants did not immediately attach copies, and only collected more than 40,000 taels of shares."Although there are items such as "government-based interest relief", which can make up for part of the 1.22 million taels, there is still a lot of shortfalls. Therefore, Sheng Xuanhuai and others had to temporarily borrow money from the bank to pay Qichang. This is the interest burden of China Merchants. Very important reason. Regarding this point, Liu Kun refuted it from two aspects. One is from Shen Baozhen's point of view, if Sheng Xuanhuai did not indicate that he had already collected 1.22 million taels of commercial shares, and he wanted to use official power to persuade the merchant to attach the copy, then A matter of slimness; can Shen Baozhen "throw away millions of treasury money"? From Sheng Xuanhuai's point of view, if the business shares are collected according to the method he said, what about the distribution of shares on "Yanyin"?How many feudal officials have persuaded wealthy businessmen to attach shares?Is it reasonable to ask for a reminder, but there is no word of it, and you are willing to pay a heavy interest for the loan? Based on this analysis, Liu Kun made a conclusion: "Sheng Xuanhuai first said that he had collected 1.22 million taels, so he didn't dare to ask for it again; but Shen Baozhen believed it to be true, so he didn't wait for other plans." He also said: "This is the case. For important events such as these, discussions are often repeated. As for the number, it must be carefully considered. Afterwards, it seems that Sheng Xuanhuai and other epithets should not be used to discredit Shen Baozhen's memorial. Playing the matter of payment, discussing the appropriation of funds from the China Merchants Bureau, and regretting Meng Lang, is inherently unspeakable." Then he said: "The reason why I played Shen Sheng Xuanhuai is not only because of these two ends," but because there are other things that are even more unbearable. The disadvantage of tolerance, Qichang Company was on the verge of bankruptcy at that time, and if it wanted to buy it, it should follow the example of Western "depreciation", why bear it at the original price.Liu Kunyi's most powerful accusation is: "Sheng Xuanhuai and others bought the Qichang steamship. It was said that they could get rid of a strong enemy and recover their rights. But the wider the situation, the greater the waste. Last year was the fifth session, and the loss reached 240,000 yuan. Six thousand is a miracle, and the state funds are high, and it is bound to be paid for. The candidate Taoist Ye Tingchun joined the bureau as the manager. He is the sixth term, and the remaining silver is 290,000. Five hundred and thirty-two thousand taels of silver, the effect of which is so huge and quick, and it comes from striving to save, it is not appalling that Sheng Xuanhuai and others have abused and spent hundreds of thousands of taels within a year. It is not an exaggeration to ask the law, just ask for dismissal, which is extra lenient." It turned out that after the success of this scam, the cost of the game increased greatly, the interest increased day by day, and the management of the old ships, docks, and warehouses also required a large amount of expenses, and it became an unmanageable mess. Sheng Xuanhuai and Tang Tingshu discussed that it is better to find someone to take over so as to escape.After searching in many ways, I found an alternate Taoist from Jiangsu, Ye Tingchun, and agreed to take over. It was the summer of the fourth year of Guangxu; according to the calculation of the Western accounting year, it is called "one session", and this year is the sixth session. 叶廷春接办后，实事求是，办求节流，至年底盈余二十九万两；到第二年会计年度届满，实盈五十三万余两，即是刘坤一所说的“短长并计”。 盛宣怀等人的原意是，金蝉脱壳，将叶廷春当作“替死鬼”，不过叶廷春居然能将这个烂摊子经理得有声有色，贪念一动，便又设计排挤；叶廷春一看不是路，知道盛宣怀心狠手辣，又有北洋的奥援，说不定会惹祸上身，因而急流勇通，招商局便又归盛宣怀等人把持了。 刘坤一此奏，事实俱在，理由充足，盛宣怀本万无可免，哪知奏报到京，适逢慈安太后暴崩，这件案子便压了下来，胡雪岩原以为慈安的“大事”一过，会有结果，盛宣怀等人撤职，招商局或者会派他接办。可是他没有想到，盛宣怀另外走了一条路子；同时李鸿章亦正有用他之处，两人一凑，竟得化险为夷。 盛宣怀新走的一条路子，便是慈禧太后的亲信、长春宫的总管太监李莲英。此人本学的皮毛行生意，京师称之为“毛毛匠”；又以制皮需用硝，所以李莲英的外号叫做“皮硝李”。他是二十几时赌输了为债主所逼，无可奈何，“净身入宫”。作为逃避。原是“半路出家”，早先的许多同行、朋友，仍有往来，所以盛宣怀得以找到关系，大事结纳。 至于李鸿章有重用盛宣怀之处是，正在开办电报。早在同治三年，俄国要求自恰克图铺设陆线，直达北京，朝廷断然拒绝，俄国改变计划，采取迂回的办法，先将西伯利亚陆线延伸至海参崴，然后与丹麦大北公司合作，先在公海上敷设单心水线三条，一条是海参崴至长崎，一条是长崎至吴淞口外的大戢山岛，又一条是香港至大戢山岛。先后在同治十年完工。大戢山岛已在中国领海之内，但朝廷认为无足轻重，置之不问。 于是大北公司得寸进尺，由大戢山岛沿长江伸一条水线进来，直通上海，在黄浦滩登陆，而且公然设局营业。这一来，俄国经海参崴、长崎而达上海；对于中国的政情、商务、瞬息之间便能传到圣彼得堡。当然欧洲各国，也能经由圣彼得堡的转运，获得同样的便利。 这条名为北钱。大北公司另有一条南钱，由大戢山岛经厦门鼓浪屿而达香港，长九百五十海里，再由香港通新加坡、槟榔屿以达欧洲。南北两线的电报最初只用洋文，后来发明四个阿拉伯字编组的中文吗，一共七千字，印刷成书，普遍发售，于是，不识洋文的中国人，也能分享电报的便利了。 其次英国亦不甘让大北公司独擅利薮，同治九年由英国公使威妥玛策动英商东方电报公司，自英国设海线经大西洋、红海及印度洋而达印度；再另组大东电报公司，由印度南境，延伸这条海线经新加坡、越南西贡等处至香港”及至正式向中国申请自香港铺钱经汕头、厦门、福州、宁波至上海时，却一直未获成议。到同治十二年大北公司既在黄埔设局营业，大东公司毫不客气地自香港经福州，设海线至上海宝山，再转接至英租界，开张营业。 盛宣怀是早已看出电报这项万里一瞬，恍同晤对的通信利器，必有前途；但在内地架设陆线，颇为不易，最大的障碍是，破坏了人家的风水，一定会发生冲突，即令勉强架设好了，亦会遭人拔杆剪线，所以对此事的进行，一直心有余而力不足。 这样到了光绪五年，机会终于来了。当时因为伊犁交涉，中俄关系大为紧张，除西北以外，东北及朝鲜的情势亦颇为不稳。李鸿章统筹军务全局，看人家有电报之利，掌握军情，占尽先机，未战已先输一着，因而接纳盛宣怀的建议，延聘大北公司的技术人员，架设自大沽口北塘海口炮台起，到天津北洋公所的陆线，试办军报，效果良好。这一来，盛宣怀自然要进一步建议，创设由天津至上海的陆线电报。光绪六年七月，李鸿章上奏：“用兵之道，必以神速为贵，是以泰西各国于讲求枪炮之外，水路则有快轮，陆路则有火轮车，飞行绝迹数万里。海洋欲通军信，则又有电报之法，于是和则玉帛相亲，战则兵戎相见，海围如户庭焉。近来俄罗斯、日本均效而行之，故由各国以至上海，莫不设立电报，瞬息之间，可以互相问答，独中国文书尚恃驿递，虽日行六百里加紧，亦以迟速悬殊，望尘莫及。” 最明显的实例是，曾纪泽从俄国打回来的电报，到上海只须一天；而上海至北京，由轮船传递，要六、七天，如果海道不通，由陆路驿递，最快也得十天，“是上海至京仅二千数百里，较之俄国至上海数万里反迟十倍。”电报的灵捷，真令人梦想不到。 至于军务上的用途，李鸿章举大沽北塘海口炮台至天津的军报为例，说是“号如各营，顷刻响应”。这两句话对醇亲王来说，真有莫大的魅力，全力支持李鸿章的要求，亦即是接纳了盛宣怀的策划，决定建设天津至上海的陆路电线，当然是委任盛宣怀负责筹备。 其时他在招商局舞弊的案子，已将发作，盛宣怀看得很清楚，筹办内陆电报一事办成功，可以将功折罪；但必须从速进行，而且要诸端并举，头绪搞得非常复杂，非由他一手经理，换'个人就无从措手不可，因为那一来即令有了处分，亦不能马上执行。只要一拖下来，等大功告成，李鸿章奏请奖叙，自然可以抵消原有的处分。 因此，盛宣怀首先在天津设立电报总局，奉到总办的差委外，立刻到上海聘请丹麦教习，在天津开办电报学堂；同时向外洋采买机器，三天一个禀帖；五天一个条陈，把场面搞得非常热闹，至于最要紧的勘察线路，却不妨慢慢进行，他知道这件事很麻烦，不愿一上来便遭遇一片反对的声浪，且等机器买到了，人也训练好了，诸事就绪，就差架线，那时用一道上谕，责成沿路各省督抚实力奉行，自然畅能无阻。 胡雪岩料事，一向总有七八分把握；在他以为盛宣怀这一关就算能过得去，“电报总局总办”这个差使，一定不保。哪知这一回的预料，完全落空。 依然是徐用仪那里来的消息，刘坤一的奏折，让慈禧太后塞在抽斗里了。凡是外省的奏折，由各省驻京的“提塘官。，直接送交内奏事处，用黄匣呈送御前——目前是送到长春宫由慈禧太后先看，在软而厚的折子上，用指甲掐出记号，内奏事处的太监看掐痕用朱笔代批，不外乎“知道了”、“该部知道”、“交议”，以及请安折子上批一个“安”字之类。凡是重要事件，一定“交议”亦就是交军机，名为处议奏；在第二天一清早发交值班的军机章京，名为“早事”，奏折留中，“早事”不下，军机处根本不知有此一折，自然也就无从催问，当然也可以假作不知，故意不问；盛宣怀在军机都打点到了，所以绝无人谈论刘坤一有这么一个复奏。 能使得慈禧太后作此釜底抽薪的措施，有人说是李莲英的功劳；但据徐用仪说，却得力于醇王的庇护；而醇王的肯出大力，主要还是盛宣怀那三寸不烂之舌厉害。 由于李莲英的保荐，醇王特地在宣武门内太平湖的府邸接见盛宣怀，原来从光绪皇帝接位以后，醇王是“皇帝本生父”的身分，大家怕他以“太上皇”自居，所以近支亲贵及朝中重臣，都认为他不宜过问政务，投闲置散，只管着神机营，六七年下来，不免静极思动；如今慈安太后驾崩，慈禧太后大权独揽，而恭王当政二十年，已有倦勤的模样，看样子起而代之的日子已不会远。一旦接了军机处，必定同时也接总理衙门，当今政事，最要紧的是洋务，听说盛宣怀在这方面是个难得的人才；又听说电报是最得力的“耳目”，究竟如何得力？却还茫然不解，因而听得李鸿章谈起盛宣怀的能干，以及筹办电报总局如何尽心尽力，当即欣然表示：“我很想找他来谈一谈。” 盛宣怀以前虽没有见过醇王，但醇王信任的一个门客“张师爷”，却早为盛宣怀所结纳，逢年过节，必有礼物；不一定贵重，但样数很多，而且常常有新奇之物，显得情意殷勤，张师爷对盛宣怀颇有好感，所以在他未见醇王以前，特别关照两点：第一、醇王跟恭王不同，恭王认为中国要跟西洋学，醇王不以为中国人不如洋人。第二、醇王虽然好武，但自己觉得书也读得很好，诗文都不差，所以说话时要当心，千万不能让他觉得人家以为他但明武略，并无文采。 盛宣怀心领神会，想起素有往来的工部尚书翁同齸，身为帝师，与醇王走得很近，常常吟诗唱和，便去抄了些醇王的诗稿来，念熟了好几首，以备“不时之需”。 在府中抚松草堂大礼谒见了醇王，自然是站着回话；略略报了履历，静听醇王发问。 “那电报到底是怎么回事？” “回王爷的话，电报本身并没有什么了不起，全靠活用；所谓'运用之妙，存乎一心'如此而已。” 醇王听他能引用岳武穆的话，不免另眼相看，便即问说：“你也读过兵书？” “在王爷面前，怎么敢说读过兵书？不过英法内犯，文宗显皇帝西狩，忧国忧民，竟致于驾崩。那时如果不是王爷神武，力擒三凶，大局真不堪设想了。”盛宣怀略停一下又说：“那时有血气的人，谁不想湔雪国耻；宣怀也就是在那时候，自不量力，看过一两部兵书。” 所谓“力擒三凶”，是指“辛酉政变”时，醇王受密命在热河回銮途中，夜擒肃顺；到京以后，又主持逮捕怡亲王载垣、郑亲王端华。那是醇王早年很得意的事，听盛宣怀提到，不由得就面露笑容了。 “宣怀在想，当年英法内犯时，如果也象去年那样，由大沽口到天津架设了电线，大局就完全不同了。” “喔，”醇王很注意地问：“你倒说说其中的道理。”“有了电报，就是敌暗我明了。兵贵神速；制胜的要诀在'出其不意，攻其不备'，洋人刚刚上岸，两眼漆黑，全靠他的器械精良，往前硬闯。可是他的耳目不灵，就可以智取；譬如他们有多少人？枪炮有多少？打算往哪一路进攻？我们打听好了，发电报过来，就可以在险要之处，部署埋伏，杀他个片甲不回。” “啊，啊！”醇王不断握拳，仿佛不胜扼腕似的。“僧忠亲王的神武，天上闻名，八里桥那一仗，非战之罪；当时如果有电报，洋人决不能侥幸。” “我想想。”醇王闭上眼，过了好一会才睁开来，“照你的说法，洋人的兵轮来了，如果炮台挡不住，一上了岸，行踪就完全在我掌握之中，简直是寸步难行了？” “是！王爷真是明见万里。有了电报，不但洋人内犯，寸步难行，就是海口的炮台也挡得住。譬如说，登州到大沽口，沿线如果有电报，就可以把洋人兵轮的方向、大小，还有天气好坏，逐段报了过来，以逸待劳，有备无患，哪里会有挡不住的道理？” “嗯，嗯。这道理也通。”醇王问道：“电报还有什么用处？”“用处要自己想，中国人的脑筋比洋人好，所以想得到的用处比洋人多，不过利用电报也可以做坏事，所以请王爷千万记住，将来管电报的人，一定要是王爷信得过的亲信。” “喔，”醇王问道：“怎么能用电报做坏事？。“要防到捏造消息。 ”盛宣怀说，“打仗的时候，谎报军情，是件不得了的事？ " “说得不错，这一层倒真要当心。”醇王又问：“用电报还能做什么坏事？” “有。”盛宣怀想了一下，“我说个笑话给王爷听。” 在他人看是笑话，身历其境的人却是欲哭无泪——数年前有个姓候补道，被派到外国去当参赞，无意间得罪了同僚；一个姓吕的庶务，在使馆经手采买，营私舞弊，为胡参赞在不经意中所揭发，于是公使以此人“水土不服”为理由，奏请调遣回国，仍回原省候补。京中照准的公事一到，吕庶务方知其事，私下打听，才知道是吃了胡参赞的亏，自然恨之入骨。 这姓吕的城府极深，表面声色不动，对胡参赞的态度，一如平时，仿佛根本就不知道他之回国，是由于胡参赞多嘴的缘故，临行之时，问胡参赞是否要带家信？万里重洋，难得有便人回国，使馆同事都托他带家信、带物品；胡参赞如果独成例外，显得彼此倒象有什么芥蒂似的，所以也写了家信，另外还买了两个表，托他顺便带回国去转寄。 姓吕的是捐班知县，原在江苏候补；胡参赞家住吴江，密迩苏州，因此，信上虽写了吴江的地址，并且关照只顺托民信局转递即可，而姓吕的情意殷勤，特为跑了一趟吴江，拜见胡参赞的封翁，大谈异国风光。胡封翁心系远人，得到这些亲切珍贵的信息，自然很高兴，也很感激，写给胡参赞的家信中，对这位“吕公”盛赞不已。姓吕的得暇便去看胡封翁，走动得很勤。胡参赞也常跟姓吕的通信，竟结成了至好。 此人之谋报复，是一开头就打定了主意的，但采取什么手段，却顺看情况，视机会而定。不过他也深知情况愈了解，机会就愈容易找的道理；认为只要常去胡家，熟悉了全家上下，就一定会有机会。果然，机会来了。 这机会其实也就是利用他所了解的情况，胡封翁在家具有绝对的权威地位，全家亦无不重视“老太爷”的一言一动，有一次胡封翁“发痧”，这不是什么大不了的事，但已闹得天翻地覆。姓吕的看在眼里，不由得在肚子里做功夫。几经考虑，定下了一计，只是要等，等胡封翁生病。 两年前的夏天，天时不正，疫疠流行，胡家病倒了好几个人，胡封翁并未感染时疫，只是年纪大了，看家有病人，且不只一个，内心不免抑郁，因而眠食不安精神大不如前。姓吕的便写了一封极恳切的信给胡参赞，细述胡封翁的颓唐老境，却又劝慰胡参赞，“为国宣劳，自有天助”；全家孝顺，对老人照顾得极周到，何况还有朋友在，缓急之济，必当全力相助；胡参赞大可放心。 估量这封信已寄到了胡参赞手里，同时判断胡参赞亦已接到家信，所述胡封翁的情形，跟他的话绝无矛盾时，他发了一个电报，只有八个字：“老伯病故，速定行止。”胡参赞自然深信不疑，所谓“速定行止”，意思是催他回来奔丧。胡参赞便向公使陈明；公使电奏：参赞丁忧，请予开缺；并声明派何人代理参赞的职务。哪知电奏到达上海之日，姓吕的又发了一个电报，更正前电。 可是已经奏了丁忧开缺，却无法更正。胡参赞吃了一个哑巴亏，只有请公使备文呈报总理衙门，转咨吏部备案，否则将来到了胡封翁寿终正寝时，胡参赞连发丧守制都不能，那才真的成了空前绝后的笑话。 醇王由于这个笑话的启发，想到了许多事该敬惕，“水能载舟，亦能覆舟，电报亦是如此，非得托付给很妥当的人不可；否则机密容易外泄。”他说：“疆臣窥探朝廷意旨，尚且不可，何况廷寄未到，已先有所知，得以事先弥缝，那一来朝廷的号令不行，国将不国，太可怕了。” 听得这话，盛宣怀以言多必失自警；同时觉得有消除醇王的恐惧，只让他想到电报的好处的必要。 于是他略想一想答说：“王爷想得深、想得透，不是我们知识浅薄的人所能及。不过由王爷的开示，宣怀倒想起西洋的一个法子，不知道有用没有用？” “什么法子？” “就是密码。”盛宣怀答说：“现在汉字的电报，每个字四码，有现成的书，照码泽字，那是明码，如果事先约定，码子怎么拿它变化一下，譬如加多少码，或者减多少码，只有彼此知道，机密就不容易外泄了。” 原来还有这个法子，醇王问道：“这个加码、减码的法子，是不是跟'套格'差不多了？” “比'套格'方便得多了。” 所谓“套格”是挖出若干空格的一张厚纸。使用的方法是，通信双方预先约定，用多大的纸、每页几行、每行几字；其次是看用那种套格，挖空的位置在何处？然后就要花心思了，犹如科场考试的“关节”那样，把要说的一两句话，嵌在一大篇不相干的废话之中。收信的人，将套格在原信上一覆，空格中露出来的字，连缀成文，就是对方要说的话。“套格”确有保密的功效，但用起来很不方便，第一，必得肚里有墨水，嵌字贵乎嵌得很自然，不用套格绝不知其中的奥妙；第二，是不能畅所欲言，数百言的一封长函中，也许只说得五六句话。 “比较起来，加码、减吗就方便得太多了。”盛宣怀又说“还有一层，套格一定要预先做知好，送交对方；加码减码，只要先有一句话的约定，可以做成好多密码本，当然头两个字要用明码，不然对方就不知道要用哪一个密码本了。” “这话我不大懂。”盛宣怀字杏荪，醇王很客气地称他“杏翁，请你说清楚一点儿。” “是，譬如说吧，王爷交代我'天地玄黄'四个密码本——实际上是交代一句话，'天'字减一百二；'地'字减三百三；到得王爷给我密码时，头两个明码是'地密'，我就知道，下面所有的数码都要减三百三十，原码一千五百八十九。其实是一千二百五十九；找到这个码字的字，才是王爷要用的字。”“那么，旁人只要知道了加减多少，密码不就不密了吗？”“是，是！王爷一语破的。”盛宣怀答说：“所以最保密的办法，就是自己编一本密码本；不按部首，随意乱编。这个密码本一样也可以加减数码，密上加密，就更保险了。 接着盛宣怀又讲了许多使用电报的方法与诀窍，譬如象“洪状元”——洪钧发明的韵目代日，