Hu Guangyong, who was known as the "God of Wealth" during the Tongguang period, had a strange encounter with Wang Youling and Zuo Zongtang, which became the main theme of the first four volumes of my book.The last two volumes are about the ending of Hu Xueyan. The peak of Hu Xueyan's career was also Zuo Zongtang's "Western Expedition", the final settlement of Xinjiang, the second-class marquis of Jin, and the peak of his career in the spring of the fourth year of Guangxu. Drinking water and thinking about the source, Zuo Zongtang's "West Expedition" could not have achieved brilliant achievements without Hu Xueyan's contributions in raising wages and logistical support.Therefore, on April 14th of this year, Zuo Zongtang met with Tan Zhonglin, the governor of Shaanxi, to play a joint title, and invited Hu Guangyong, the narrator of the "Extraordinary Award", to list his contributions, including nine items.The first five paragraphs are the actual achievements of Hu Xueyan donating silver for relief of land and water disasters in various provinces over the years. As a result, Hu Xueyan won a genuine first-class seal for Mrs. Hu, which enabled Hu Xueyan to build a large house in Yuanbao Street in Hangzhou City. The governor of Zhejiang came to The Hu family must also get off the sedan chair outside the gate, because the rank of the governor is only the second rank.

The latter four are Hu Xueyan's real achievements.One is that Hu Xueyan set up a shop in Hangzhou, "Huqingyutang", which is large in scale and as famous as the pharmacy of Tongrentang in Beijing. Hu Xueyan donated such patented medicines as "Plasters for bruises, Jinchuang medicines, and medicinal materials used in the military. Secondly, according to Zuo Zongtang's order, a mining and transportation bureau was established in Shanghai, and there would be no delay in transshipment.The third is to buy foreign firearms with high quality and low price.The countries of Thailand and the West have new weapons, which can be purchased at any time and transported to the front of the army. Zuo Zongtang believes that "Xinjiang is fast-fixed. Although it is said to be a good soldier, it is also based on its weaponry."

The last and most important thing is to raise salaries for Zuo Zongtang. In addition to borrowing foreign and commercial debts, which totaled more than 16 million taels before and after, Hu Xueyan also managed the "associated salaries" of the provinces.When the co-payment has not yet arrived, and the front line has to close the payment, Hu Xueyan usually pays for it.The Hunan Army and the Huai Army had many mutiny incidents of asking for payment, but only the soldiers of the Western Expedition never "aroused about payment". Zuo Zongtang believed that this credit for maintaining the morale of the Western Expedition was "no different from the generals of the former enemy". He had asked Hu Xueyan in advance what reward he planned to get?The answer was "I want to get a yellow mandarin jacket to wear", so in the memorial, please give the "excellent award, reward for wearing a yellow mandarin jacket", and it is ordered to do as requested.Hu Xueyan is a Taoist member of the donated class. He is rewarded with the rank of minister with military merits, and he is crowned with corals from the second-rank civil servants.Among the salt merchants in the Qianlong period, there were those who wore red caps and yellow jackets. There was only one Hu Xueyan.

In November of the sixth year of Guangxu, Zuo Zongtang was ordered to enter the pilgrimage, and the "imperial envoy to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang" and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu were replaced by his generals Liu Jintang and Yang Changjun respectively.Zuo Zongtang arrived in Beijing at the end of the first month of the next year. He was ordered to manage the Ministry of War with Dongge University Scholars, appointed as Minister of Military Aircraft, and walked in the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs.When he set off from Gansu, he wrote to Hu Xueyan and asked him to meet him in Beijing after the Lantern Festival, but——