Chapter 5 back road

"Old Gu," Yang Fang expressed admiration in the car, "You really have a way. We will cooperate more in the future." "It's a fluke! Thanks to the advice of an expert." Gu Yingchun said, "It's also Hu Daotai's words: Please generals are not as good as aggressive generals. Sure enough, they succeeded in motivating Hua Er." "It turns out that Hu Daotai is also a good hand in foreign affairs." "He doesn't know much about Westernization, but he is very familiar with human relations!" "When will I see him?" Yang Fang said again, "Huaer's 'quartermaster' is also a Chinese, and I know him very well. I will ask him out for flower wine tomorrow night, everything is easy to talk about."

"That's great. I should be the host. Tomorrow morning, I will prepare the post and send it to you, please do it for me." "It's the same whether you are the host or I am the host. I won't talk about it here, but I have a question. I want to ask: Isn't Hangzhou besieged? How can the grain ship get into the city when it arrives there?" This sentence made Gu Yingchun stunned, "Ah," he seemed to wake up from a dream, "That's true! I haven't thought of it yet. I'll answer you when I go back and ask." "Can you give me a definite reply today?"

It's too early to tell about the matter of arriving in Hangzhou, and it has nothing to do with Yang Fang whether the rice can be transported into Hangzhou city. Why is he so eager to answer?It seems that it doesn't work, but I have to figure it out. Thinking like this, he immediately asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?" "I have another idea. If it can be transported into Hangzhou City, then there is no need to talk about it, otherwise—" Yang Fang suddenly asked, "Can you introduce me now, I want to talk to Hu Daotai face to face." "What's wrong with this?"

So the carriage turned around and drove straight to the Gu family.As soon as the car stopped, Xiao Jiaji rushed in first to notify.Hu Xueyan is very particular about etiquette, and has to get up in the living room to greet the meeting.Grandma Qigu firmly opposed it, but in the end she made a compromise and received the guests in the bedroom without going out of the room. The female relatives naturally avoided.When Gu Yingchun welcomed Yang Fang in, Hu Xueyan had already put on a long robe and jacket, and was waiting at the door, holding Xiao Jiaji's shoulders. Both of them have been famous for a long time, so after the meeting, they were very affectionate and admired each other, and the topic continued for a long time.Gu Yingchun found an opportunity, interrupted the conversation, and briefly explained the process of negotiating with Hua Er.Hu Xueyan had already learned the outline from Xiao Jiaji, so at this moment, he couldn't help but express his gratitude to Yang Fang.

"It's all about the affairs of my hometown, so I should contribute. However," Yang Fang turned to the topic in a hurry, "the grain ship has arrived in Hangzhou, how can I get it into Hangzhou?" At the mention of this level, Hu Xueyan's expression immediately turned to melancholy, and he sighed and said, "Oh! This matter was also a mistake. Before the city was closed, the officials in the provincial capital had different opinions. All the city gates were to be closed, and some said one or two should be left open. As a result, they were all closed. After closing here, Changmao immediately dug trenches outside the city and built wooden walls, and the siege was solid." He said Having said this in a breath, he took a breath and said, "At the beginning, someone proposed to build a slope from the city to the riverside as a grain road. This idea sounded strange, everyone laughed, and the project was huge, so there was no Do it. Actually, thinking about it now, it is really a good plan. If we can do this, although it will take a little effort, but the supply road will continue, and Hangzhou will be able to hold it!" Then, there was another long sigh.

Hearing such a statement, Gu Yingchun was very anxious first, "Uncle," he asked, "according to what you say, we are not working for nothing?" "That's not likely." Hu Xueyan said, "As soon as the grain ship arrives, the city will naturally fight desperately to open a bloody road to protect the grain and enter the city." Yang Fang nodded, looked at Gu Yingchun, hesitant to speak.Hu Xueyan observed the words and expressions, and knew there was something in them. "Brother Yang," he said, "You and I hit it off right away, so please speak up if you have anything to say."

"It's like this. Of course, I also hope that my fellow countrymen in Hangzhou will have a bite to eat. However, everything has to be prepared for the worst: in case of untold hardships to drive the grain ship to Hangzhou, the traffic in and out of the city Cut off, when the time comes, Mr. Hu, what will you do?" "Let me ask brother Yang, what do you think should be done?" "Business is business. This amount of rice can't be given to Changmao, let alone thrown in the river." Yang Fang said, "If it can't be transported into Hangzhou, can you ask Mr. Hu to transport it to Ningbo instead?"

It turned out that he was eager to see Hu Xueyan because of this sentence.Gu Yingchun thought to himself: This person is also a powerful character, the "threshold" is very fine, he should not be underestimated.Therefore, pay attention to how Hu Xueyan answers. "Brother Yang's words are very solid. If the rice shipment doesn't enter Hangzhou City, of course I will transfer it elsewhere. As long as it doesn't fall into Changmao's hands, it can be shipped anywhere." At this point, Hu Xueyan made a comment, "However, I can't agree to Brother Yang's words for a while. Why, because of the situation in Ningbo, I don't know yet. If I promise Brother Yang, if I can't do it, it won't mean that I will lose my promise."

"The situation in Ningbo is similar to that in Shanghai." Because Ningbo also has concessions.Rich families in Jiangsu fled to Shanghai, while big families in eastern Zhejiang took refuge in the Ningbo Concession.As early as summer, the gentry in Ningbo offered to the magistrates to raise 500,000 taels of silver and hire British and French soldiers to guard Ningbo on their behalf.When Xiao Shao fell, the Taiping Army headed eastward, attacking Yuyao, Xiacixi, and Fenghua, and Ningbo was in danger. Therefore, the consuls of Britain, France, and the United States decided to send people to Fenghua to meet with the Taiping Army guard. Fan Ruzeng advised him to delay attacking Ningbo.

Fan Ruzeng did not give a positive answer to this request, but agreed to protect foreigners.Therefore, the consuls of the three countries have already issued a notice to protect the concession.However, land transportation is almost cut off, business travel is limited, and there is also a food shortage.On the one hand, Yang Fang's plan is to do his best for his hometown, on the other hand, he also has the idea of ​​selling at a good price and taking advantage of this opportunity to make a deal. However, Yang Fang naturally refused to reveal his selfishness. "Mr. Hu," he said, "as far as I know, there are quite a few people from Hangzhou who have fled to Ningbo. So you are the only one who has no choice but to take food to Ningbo instead." way out."

"So, what about Ningbo? If you can't go ashore, what should you do?" "No. The consuls of Britain, France, and the United States can come forward to protect you. At that time, of course I will contact them." "In that case——" Hu Xueyan stood up—had an idea, was excited for a moment, forgot about his leg injury, and fell to the ground all of a sudden, the pain was so painful that beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on his forehead. Xiao Jiaji moved quickly, and quickly stepped forward to help him up.Gu Yingchun was also taken aback and inspected the injury for him.After a while of confusion, Hu Xueyan was able to continue his own words. "Brother Yang, since this is the case, let's make a deal. Hangzhou is short of food, and Ningbo is also short of food. Let's cooperate. Ningbo, I will be responsible for transporting a batch of rice. I will find a way to deal with the rice and the boat. In terms of Hangzhou, Can you ask foreigners to come forward and escort my batch of rice into the city in the name of doing good deeds?" "This method..." Yang Fang looked at Gu Yingchun with a rather embarrassed expression. "Uncle, you are Zhuge Liang when you do business and use your brain." Gu Yingchun said tactfully, "Unfortunately, in terms of foreign affairs, uncle, you are a bit of an amateur. This matter will not work." "how?" "Because foreign consuls intervene, they have to have a name. When transporting food to Ningbo, they can use the name of 'protecting overseas Chinese', because foreigners can't live without food. But the situation in Hangzhou is different. There are no nationals from Britain, France and the United States who need relief. .As for the relief of Chinese people, it depends on the locality. In the war zone, there is no distinction between civilian food and military rations." After Gu Yingchun finished explaining, Yang Fang went on to add: "In August, the British capital had an order to their envoy called 'strictly observe neutrality'. That is to say, neither side will help. So Mr. Hu's plan, It’s good, but it’s a pity that it doesn’t work.” Of course Hu Xueyan was disappointed, but he didn't want to show any color, so he turned the topic back to Yang Fang's request, and said with emotion: "Then it's a deal. If this batch of rice can't be transported into Hangzhou City, it will be transported to Ningbo. But , I have to explain this to Boss Yu first. When the time comes, Shachuan refuses to change the place to unload, and it will be a waste of time." "At this level, of course I will ask Brother Ying Chun to greet me. What I want to ask Mr. Hu to order is the price of food—" "It doesn't matter!" Hu Xueyan interrupted him forcefully, "You can say whatever you want. If it's a business, of course you have to figure it out. Now it's not a business." "Yes, yes!" Yang Fang couldn't help feeling ashamed, and said as if talking to himself, "It was a good deed." The conversation came to an end here, Gu Yingchun was afraid that Hu Xueyan would be too tired and his injury was unsuitable, so he invited Yang Fang to sit in the living room, together with Xiao Jiaji, discussed the details of contacting Hua Er, and they stayed until late at night.