Chapter 42 Section 42: Trading people for factories

After finishing Hurd's work, Li Hongzhang asked Ding Richang to invite Americans to the Yamen to talk about the iron factory. The Americans soon came to see Li Hongzhang with Tongshi.At that time, many lands in Shanghai were rented out to foreigners for them to open factories and build foreign firms.The so-called concessions refer to these places, and the same is true of the American Flag Kee Iron Works.The factory is eager to sell, not because the factory is bad, but because the owner of the factory has recently acquired a fortune, and he wants to return to China for development. After greeting each other, Li Hongzhang was the first to say: "Master Ding has already told the headquarters about the situation in the iron factory. The headquarters invites you to come here now, just to discuss the conditions. You can talk about it."

The owner of the factory said: "Master Li, I am a businessman, and now I want to go back to China to develop. This iron factory, I spent 400,000 taels of silver when it was built, and now I give you half the price, how about it?" The owner of the factory took out a list of existing equipment in the iron factory and said: "Here are all the details of the iron factory. You can go and see for yourself. If you order these machines from abroad, you can't buy them without one hundred thousand taels of silver. And A factory house needs a lot of silver to build.” Li Hongzhang took the list of machines and saw that it was full of foreign characters, so he handed it to Tong Shi and said: "You translate it and give it to Ding Dao." He smiled and said to the factory owner: "You probably already know that my governor once Your Excellency, as early as a year ago, I sent Rong Wing to your country to purchase machines. The headquarters has received a letter from Yung Wing, saying that the machines have been purchased and are in the process of renting a ship. These machines purchased by Rong Wing , but only used a few hundred thousand taels of silver. The American Qiji Iron Works has been in operation for many years, and the headquarters knows it. Is the machine still in use? Your asking price is two hundred thousand taels of silver. Sincerely. This department is telling you the truth today. You may or may not buy your iron factory and the governor’s office. It mainly depends on the price. This department thinks that you might as well go back first and draw up a new price. We How about meeting at any time?"

The factory owner frowned and shrugged repeatedly, expressing his incomprehension to Li Hongzhang's words, claiming that he was already very low, and if he gave in, he would jump off the building. Li Hongzhang knew that this was a usual method used by businessmen, so he just smiled and didn't say anything.The factory owner waited for a long time, but seeing no response from Li Hongzhang, obviously dissatisfied with the quotation, he had to leave. After sending the Americans away, Li Hongzhang made an appointment with the Russian Consul in Shanghai to discuss the salary of the Russian language teacher, and the decision was made soon.Since then, the Cantonese Dialect Center has added a Russian language class.

Li Hongzhang finished the matter of the Cantonese Dialect Center, but seeing that Qiji Iron Works had not given a definite answer, he decided to return to Suzhou first. During this period, he received a letter from Guo Songtao, saying that he had been promoted to the governor of Guangdong, and had gone to Guangzhou to accept the seal, etc.; he also received a letter from Qiao Songnian, informing him that he had been awarded the governor of Anhui by the imperial court. Li Hongzhang sent congratulatory letters to them respectively overnight, and specifically told Qiao Songnian that if he felt discomfort in his waist, he should get rid of it immediately.Li Hongzhang found that Qiao Songnian always bent over every time he saw him, and because of his affection, he never asked him face to face.Li Hongzhang suspected that Qiao Songnian suffered a back injury.

Li Hongzhang told Ding Richang about the affairs of Shanghai one by one, and then took a sedan chair to the pier, ready to go back to Suzhou by boat.When Li Hongzhang was about to board the ship, Ding Richang rushed over in a sedan chair, and before he could get off the sedan chair, he yelled, "Master Futai, take a step! Master Futai, take a step! There is something to report!" Li Hongzhang was taken aback, so he had to stop on the shore, and when Ding Richang ran up to him out of breath, he asked, "Ding Dao came in a hurry, could something serious happen?" Ding Richang saluted and said: "The career path came all the way to report one matter to Lord Futai. Because this matter is related to the Qiji Iron Works, the career path is afraid that it will change over time, so I should report it to the adults very early. Ming is the most appropriate."

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Yu Sheng, what do you want to say to the headquarters when you go around?" "My lord, do you still remember those three criminals who were handed over by the Taxation Department's office that were imprisoned by the Shou County's office a few days ago?" "Are you talking about the three people who were handed over by the Chief Taxation Department Hurd? The Headquarters heard Wang Zonglian from Shou County say that it seems to be a matter of selling joints for personal gain. How is this matter related to the Qiji Iron Works?" ?”

Ding Richang said: "Your Excellency, I don't know something, and I just learned about my career. The American big nose who opened the iron factory has known the officer who committed the crime for a long time. It is said that the mother of the expert and the big nose There are also some business contacts. Tong Shi’s mother introduced Big Nose to open an iron factory here. Tong Shi’s mother asked someone to send a message to Zhi Dao. She is willing to pay some money to buy this iron factory for the governor’s office. Come to atone for my son, I wonder if the governor's office will agree."

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he smiled and said, "There is such a good thing in the world! It seems that the governor's office in the headquarters can't go back today. Let's go back to the city first, and we will ask the matter clearly." Let’s do the math.” Back at the commercial office, Li Hongzhang immediately sent someone to send Wang Zonglian, the magistrate of Shanghai County, and asked in detail about the situation of the officer in custody, and checked the case file, and the matter gradually became clear. The officer in custody, surnamed Tang Ming Guohua, was born in Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province. He traveled to study English, France and other countries in his early years. After returning to China, he worked as an officer in a foreign company in Fuzhou.

Tang Guohua was convenient for his work, and in the ninth year of Xianfeng (AD 1859), he donated the title of prefecture Tongzhi in Fujian.In the first year of Tongzhi (AD 1862), he went to the Yamen of the Shanghai General Tax Department to act as a general officer and translate foreign-language official documents, and the Prime Minister's import and export tax bills.In addition to Tang Guohua, two other criminals were taken into prison at the same time. One was Zhang Can, a native of Yin County, Zhejiang, and the other was Qin Ji, a native of Shanghai.In the first year of Tongzhi, they were both introduced by Tang Guohua to a company affiliated with the General Taxation Department to specialize in the inspection of import and export goods.

At that time, merchants in Shanghai, whenever foreign ships loaded goods, the contracts discussed, the general bill of water and foot and the insurance certificates of foreign companies were all in foreign languages, which could not be recognized, so they asked Tang Guohua to translate each item.Every time Tang Guohua translated a text, he always asked for compensation, and this alone greatly filled his pockets. Zhang Can and Qin Ji saw that Tang Guohua's money came easily, so they also joined in.Whenever Chinese merchants loaded foreign goods, the two of them offered to translate the foreign language. After negotiating the price, they would transfer it to Tang Guohua to earn the difference.The days were not long, and the pockets of the two began to bulge.

Before Hurd took office, he had already detected some inside stories about the company that the Chief Taxation Director had taken over. After he took office, he decided to clean it up. Hurd first imprisoned Tang Guohua and the others in the General Tax Department, and then notified the Zongli Yamen and Ding Richang of Shanghai Jiangguan Road. When Tang Guohua committed the crime, Li Hongzhang was discussing with Zeng Guofan about the Liangjiang provincial examination in Jinling.After Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai, Ding Richang mentioned this matter to him, but Li Hongzhang didn't ask much because it was Ding Richang's job.On the day Tang Guohua was sent to the prison in the first county, he was taken off his hat, and Wang Zonglian was still hesitant about how to interrogate him. After closing the case file, Li Hongzhang said to Ding Richang and Wang Zonglian in deep thought: "Speaking of which, Tang Guohua just made a few extra taels of silver. Zhang Can and Qin Ji just wanted to earn more. Like this Since I cleared the customs in the Qing Dynasty, I have made many mistakes, and when I seriously investigate, few of them are clean. Wang Ling, Tang Guohua has been dismissed from his post and imprisoned, what do you want to do with him?" Wang Zonglian replied: "Go back to Mr. Zhongcheng for questioning. Hurd has sent letters to the Yamen twice, and he must make the three criminals of Tang Guohua a capital crime. The officials don't know whether the crime committed by Tang Guohua should be killed or not, so There have been no convictions yet." Ding Richang said at this time: "Heard also approached Zhidao to ask about Tang Guohua. Zhidao has not given him an answer because there is no official letter from the Prime Minister's Office." Li Hongzhang stood up and took two steps, and said: "We can't listen to foreigners for some things in the Qing Dynasty. We must have our own opinions. For example, if we listen to foreigners about the dispatch of the ever-victorious army, we can now Will it be done? The Ministry believes that the crime Tang Guohua committed is different from murder and robbery, but that he used his convenience to get some money, not to mention that the money was voluntarily given by the businessman. If Tang Guohua did not do these things, he would have Zhang Guohua and Zhao Guohua came to do this. If Chinese businessmen don’t translate the foreign language contract, how can they know the truth inside? What should they do if the goods are sent away ignorantly, and the foreigners cheat? Although Hurd did this in his job, he did it in Changing ways to deceive businessmen in our country. Ding Dao, the Ministry believes that if Tang Guohua’s mother can really buy the American Qiji Iron Works to atone for her son, Tang Guohua will not only be exonerated, but can also go to the iron factory to work. Iron After the factory reopens, many foreign craftsmen will need to be hired, and at that time, many generals will be needed to spread the word. Tang Guohua has been abroad for many years, and he is proficient in Spanish, isn't it a pity that it doesn't matter?" Wang Zonglian said at this time: "Zhongcheng Rongrong, what Zhongcheng just said is very reasonable, but the lower officials are just worried. If Tang Guohua is not asked to be a capital crime, can Hurd agree?" Li Hongzhang sat down and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter whether Hurd agrees or not. Whether Tang Guohua's mother can buy an iron factory is the key. The department is thinking, Americans just ask for 200,000 taels of silver. Where can the Tang family go?" To get so much money?" Ding Richang said: "Your Excellency, let me tell you that the American officer specially made an appointment two days ago for a meeting. According to the officer, as long as the governor's yamen can pay one hundred thousand taels of silver, he can persuade him Dong Weng. Obviously, Big Nose really wants to sell the factory and go back to the United States." Li Hongzhang said: "Ding Dao, it's up to you to take care of this matter. You, after you go down, go to Tang's house, and try to get this matter done in a few days. Also, the one next to Big Nose How about the coordinator? What will he do after Big Nose returns to the country? Now that there is a shortage of counselors in the Qing Dynasty, can he stay? You can handle all of these by the way." Ding Richang hurriedly said: "My lord, please rest assured, I will try my best to do my job." Li Hongzhang said: "Wang Ling." Wang Zonglian hurriedly responded, "I'm here." Li Hongzhang went on to say: "If the Tang family can really buy the iron factory and hand it over to the governor's office, you should release Tang Guohua. Now is the time for employing people. Tang Guohua has been abroad for many years and has a deep knowledge of Western learning. It is a pity that such a person will be ruined." .” Wang Zonglian replied: "I must do what my lord ordered, but I still have some concerns, so I have to ask my lord for advice. After Tang Guohua is released, what will Hurd do if he makes trouble? It's a third-rank title, and the lower official is only the top of the seventh rank, how can he stop him!" Li Hongzhang pondered for a while and said: "After Ding Dao has finished the matter, the headquarters will tell his superiors. You just need to do the things that should be done well! With the headquarters here, why are you afraid of him?" The two quickly retreated.Ding Richang went to the Tang mansion in a sedan chair, and Wang Zonglian went back to his yamen. More than ten days later, the Tang family, together with the Zhang family and the Qin family who were also involved in the case, got together and negotiated repeatedly with the factory owner. They actually bought the entire iron factory for only 40,000 taels of silver. After the delivery was over, Big Nose took the silver and returned to China by boat. Tang Guohua's mother handed over the documents and the contract to Ding Richang, and Ding Richang handed them over to Wang Dajing, the inspector of Jiangsu Province. Tang Guohua, Zhang Can, and Qin Ji were brought to the court by Wang Zonglian on the same day, the case was concluded in court, and they were released home.Soon, Ding Richang invited Tang Guohua back to the Iron Works to serve as the general manager according to Li Hongzhang's instructions.