Chapter 14 planning negotiations

When Hu Xueyan arrived in Shanghai, he still went straight to the Daxing Inn. Before the luggage was settled, he wrote a note to ask the inn to deliver it to Grandma Qigu's apartment, inviting Gu Yingchun to meet him. In less than an hour, Gu Yingchun personally drove his "Hensmey" to the Daxing Inn, and when they met, they greeted him, and without saying anything, they first looked at Hu Xueyan's luggage carefully. "What's going on, old man!" "Where's Miss Aqiao?" "Didn't come!" Hu Xueyan said, "Things have changed so much that you can't even think of it."

"how is it?" "It's a long story. We'll talk about it later when we have time. Hey," he asked, "Has Fifth Brother come back?" "Not yet." Gu Yingchun asked again, "Where is Sister Aqiao? Why did things change? You don't want to bother to say a few words." Hu Xueyan didn't know why he cared so much about Sister Aqiao, so he asked, "Did you send someone to Mudu to talk?" "Don't worry about that for now, just tell me how sister Aqiao is doing." "The famous flower has an owner, and I am the first-hand manager. Soon, she will be He Xuetai's concubine." Then, he talked about the process of transplanting this famous flower. Although Hu Xueyan was good at eloquence, the process was too tortuous and he couldn't finish it in a few words. It took a quarter of an hour to make it clear.

"That's fine!" Gu Yingchun tugged at his sleeve and said, "Let's go! I'm late, I know how impatient Seventh Sister is, and she's going to blame me again." "Come on, come on!" Hu Xueyan pressed his hand and said, "I told you what I said, you must have something to say, why didn't you tell me?" "Of course I'll tell you. We'll talk about it when we get home." After getting into the carriage, Gu Yingchun admitted that he had sent someone to Mudu to talk about Sister Aqiao's matter, but there was no result. Not sure.

"I know better than you. Sister Aqiao was frightened, so I made three friends, all of whom are wealthy young men from Suzhou. I have a large sum of money that I want to spend on their behalf." Hu Xueyan laughed. "Old Gu, my hard work was not in vain during my trip to Suzhou. I couldn't finish talking about the twists and turns during the three days and three nights." There were too many things, and Gu Yingchun couldn't hear clearly for a while. He only knew that his trip was very rewarding.They are closely related to each other in business, and Hu Xueyan has a way, so he is naturally excited.

In a blink of an eye, she arrived at Qigu's grandma's apartment. She heard the sound of horseshoes very well. She went downstairs to open the door herself, and she shouted from afar: "Uncle, you are back." "I'm back, I'm back!" Hu Xueyan said, "Let me tell you something happy first. You always say that the sweets in Suzhou are delicious. I brought you a big basket and put them in the 'lime jar'. You can't finish it for half a year." "Thank you, thank you!" Grandma Qigu was talking to Hu Xueyan, but her eyes were on Gu Yingchun.

"Sister Aqiao is not coming!" Gu Yingchun said softly to her, "Her surname will not be Hu either." "Why did you fall out?" "No, no. Don't make random guesses. I'll tell you later. All in all, you can rest assured!" "Hmm, um!" Grandma Qigu patted her chest happily. Hu Xueyan became more and more confused when he heard their conversation. "Old Gu," he asked in a low voice, "what's going on? What can you rest assured about?" "Now there will be no 'white board against evil'," Qi Gu's grandma said, "Everyone can rest assured. Uncle, come upstairs quickly and see which one is coming?"

Going upstairs and lifting the curtain, it was Furong who was staring at her with a smile on her face. Hu Xueyan was pleasantly surprised, and suddenly realized what the so-called "whiteboard is against evil spirits" meant. "How did you get here?" "I came with my third uncle." Fu Rong said, "I stayed at Seventh Sister's place as soon as we arrived. I was going to write to tell you, but Seventh Sister said no, and you will come back soon." "Then what about third uncle?" "He lives in an inn not far away." Gu Yingchun said with a smile, "This gentleman is really wonderful! Since he came, do you know which one is the happiest?"

"Which one is the happiest?" Hu Xueyan thought for a while and said, "In my opinion, he is the only one." Everyone laughed, "There is one more," Gu Yingchun pointed at Grandma Qigu, "She!" After saying this, Hu Xueyan was puzzled again, "Why is Seventh Sister the happiest?" "What do you think? Our aunt can't calm down for a moment. Now, after listening to your little uncle, she wants to learn to be a daughter of a thousand gold. She doesn't leave the door and doesn't walk in the second door. How can she sit still? Mr. Liu Once he saved her, he went around every day, saw strange patterns, and told her when he came back, it was like listening to a big book."

"Listening to the big book is not as funny as listening to Liu Sanshu's jokes." Grandma Qigu also smiled heartily, "This person is really interesting." "Come, come!" Gu Yingchun said, "His footsteps are special." Because of this sentence, Hu Xueyan first paid attention to the feet under the door curtain. It turned out that Liu Bucai was wearing a pair of black leather shoes only used by foreigners. They were oiled and polished so that they were shiny.He was only wearing a long gown, not a mandarin jacket. The gown was pure black, neither silk nor satin. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was woolen cloth used by foreigners to make dresses. Liu Bucai made a long gown with rhinestones The buckle looks quite chic, but also quite frivolous.

"Oh!" Liu Bucai said first, "You're finally back! The portrait is a little fatter." Hu Xueyan answered his question first, and held back a smile to see him from the beginning to the end, "Mr. Liu," he said mockingly and admiringly, "You are really fashionable!" "Third Master Liu is really enlightened." Gu Yingchun also said, "If you tell me, I won't dare to wear this strange outfit and show off in the market." "What's the point? People wear clothes, not clothes that wear people." Grandma Qigu helped Liu Bucai speak, "'Women should be pretty, and they should be filial, and men should be pretty, and they should be dressed in soap', Mr. Liu's outfit is really pretty. ! Looks a decade younger."

Everyone laughed at this statement, "Let's talk nonsense," Gu Yingchun asked, "Should we go to a restaurant or eat at home?" "Let's eat at home!" Hu Xueyan said, "I don't want to move anymore." So Grandma Qigu and Furong both went to the kitchen to instruct the aunt to prepare dinner. Hu Xueyan began to talk about the process of the trip. Because Liu Bucai was present, there was naturally some taboo about sister Aqiao's twists and turns. "From this point of view, Liu Bucai came at the right time," Gu Yingchun said excitedly after listening, "I will pick up Lu Zhixiang on the seventh day of May, and I will invite Mr. Liu to go." "Yes." Hu Xueyan nodded, "I think so too. It will be Mr. Liu's business to eat, drink and have fun with them in the future. When He Xueshi passes through Shanghai, he will also be received by Mr. Liu." "Okay!" Liu Bucai readily agreed, "Leave it all to me. I promise to serve them obediently." "Your clothes," Gu Yingchun said, "Maybe Lu Zhixiang doesn't care, but He Xueshi definitely doesn't like it." "I understand, I understand!" Liu Bucai said, "I know what clothes to wear with whomever I accompany." "I'm thinking," Hu Xueyan said, "in the future, Mr. Liu will have the opportunity to deal with people in the officialdom, and even go to his home. It will be much more convenient to have a reputation. I think, donate an official?" "It's best not to donate. Yipin ordinary people are the biggest." Hu Xueyan was very alert, and understood Liu Bucai's meaning. If you don't donate to an official, you're fine. If you want to donate, you have to donate decently. However, he is only a "state and county team" and cannot donate a "prefect" for Liu Bucai, so he said this : "We are doing business, not being an official. We don't care about size. It's just for the convenience of doing business. For example, if you want to ask for favors when you pass the card every time, you can put in a famous post with an official title. Brother, it is much easier to talk than ordinary people of the first rank." "Young uncle's words are good. I want to donate one too. Donate him as an eighth-rank county magistrate." "That's not necessary, it's all about the state and county teams, let's get a 'big master' to do it." Following Hu Xueyan's words, there was a smile on the other side.Grandma Qigu held a bottle of foreign wine in her hand and said loudly: "Everyone, 'Grand Masters', please come to the table!" "Ah!" Gu Yingchun said suddenly, "I forgot, a man should have invited him here." "Who is it?" Hu Xueyan asked. "Qiu Fengyan." "Oh, he's here too. This is really exciting." Hu Xueyan said this with a smile, but shook his head again, "But you don't need to look for him today. We still have a lot to talk about." There are many business secrets that only the two of them can know, and even Liu Bucai is not suitable to hear them, so there is no point in talking at the dinner table, only listening to Liu Bucai talking about the western circus that he saw that afternoon, and the blonde on horseback. Foreign beauty, how graceful and charming, revealing her appearance.Everyone else was fine. Furong was new to foreign affairs, and she was dumbfounded when she heard this, but she kept saying, "How can there be someone who doesn't care about face? I don't believe it!" "Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times." Hu Xueyan said, "You will know once you go to see it tomorrow." "That's right!" Grandma Qigu became more interested, "Let's go see one tomorrow, too." "Maybe a woman sees?" "Aren't women human? Why not!" "Is there any woman to see?" Fu Rong asked her third uncle. "Yes, yes. Not only did I, but I also sat with a man I didn't know—" "Third uncle is going to talk nonsense again." Furong accused honestly and bluntly, "I absolutely don't believe this." "I didn't finish my sentence, so you blame me!" Liu Bucai said, "I'm talking about Western women." Gu Yingchun held the cup in his mouth, couldn't help but spit out a sip of wine, his face turned so fast that he didn't spray it on the dining table, but he had already choked his throat, coughing and laughing for a long time before he calmed down. "Uncle!" Qigu's grandma also smiled and said to Hu Xueyan, "Our third master Liu and Mr. Qiu, who is 'wine confused', are really a 'treasure couple'. It almost breaks people's stomachs with laughter. I would rather prepare good wine and good food for them to eat every day, listen to their jokes, eliminate phlegm and gas, and prolong life." "You are really rich!" Gu Yingchun laughed, "Please ask the two elders of the state and county team to be the cleanup." "I remember now." Grandma Qigu asked, "Just now you were talking about whether Mr. Liu would also donate an official?" "Old Gu is too!" Hu Xueyan said, "Old Gu is proficient in Western affairs. Now that he is gaining popularity, maybe someone will take advantage of it in the future, and it will really be listed. It is really lacking. Seventh sister, you will be Mrs. Zhangyin at that time." "Thank you!" Grandma Qigu said with her mouth curled up, "I don't want to be an official's wife." "Old Gu!" Hu Xueyan said it as a joke at first, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not a joke, "Seriously! Old Gu, I think it's a good way for you to be an official. It's good for you, and it's also good for us all. benefit." Grandma Qigu spoke quickly, and then asked: "Is it good for Lao Gu, let alone talk about it, how can it be good for everyone?" "Naturally!" Hu Xueyan replied, "You only look at Wang Xuegong, he became an official, isn't it good for us?" "Oh, I get it. I rely on the authority to do business. If that's the case, since Lao Gu is a friend, I might as well make plans." "You!" Gu Yingchun said with a sigh, "Having the wind is like rain. Those who know it will say you are enthusiastic, but those who don't know will think you are crazy." After listening to Hu Xueyan's persuasion, Grandma Qigu's temper has improved a lot, and after Gu Yingchun's slapstick, she smiled silently. "Uncle!" Gu Yingchun turned his face and said again, "I admire you in everything, but I don't admire the words you persuaded me to become an official. Now that we have the head of Xingxing, why bother to serve the nobleman's color?" Hu Xueyan was very knowledgeable. Seeing that what was said above was not speculative, he refused to continue. He changed the subject and said, "From tomorrow onwards, we will be very busy again. Let's leave early today!" "Yes!" Grandma Qigu looked at Hu Xueyan and Fu Rong and said with a smile, "You are Xiao Biesheng's newlyweds, go to the reunion as soon as possible, and I won't keep you sitting longer. Just go after dinner." So stop drinking and eat.Gu Yingchun picked up a western leather horsewhip hanging behind the door, and waited there, as if preparing to drive them back to Daxing Inn by himself. "You live close, so you don't have to hurry! Just chat with Grandma Qigu here to relieve boredom." Hu Xueyan said to Liu Bucai. Although Grandma Qigu's temperament is a little off, there is no reason to meet male guests alone, so Liu Bucai is quite hesitant, but Gu Yingchun understands Hu Xueyan's intentions, because she is afraid that Liu Bucai will follow him to the Daxing Inn, and some words will be inconvenient talked about.So he echoed and said: "Master Liu, just sit down for a while." Since Gu Yingchun also said so, Liu Bucai reluctantly agreed.Gu Yingchun accompanied Hu Xueyan and Furong downstairs, the little groom Jin Fu wearing a western peaked cap had already harnessed the carriage, he handed over the whip, ordered Jin Fu to drive the carriage, and crossed the shaft by himself so that he could talk to Hu Xueyan . "Go to Silk Store first, and see if there is any letter?" First went to Yuji Silk Inn, the person in charge was not there, Gu Yingchun left a message, saying that Master Hu had returned to Shanghai from Suzhou, if there is a letter from him, send it directly to Daxing Inn, then board the car and leave. When they arrived at the inn, Fu Rong was the hostess, and after a while, she went to check the luggage that Hu Xueyan had brought back from Suzhou.Hu Xueyan asked Gu Yingchun about the silk business. Before we could talk for two or three words, I only heard Furong shouting: "Hey! Where did this come from?" Turning around, she saw that she was walking over holding a small embroidered bag of white satin. On the bag was a lock of hair and two clipped nails. "The hair still smells like pomade," Fu Rong picked up a lock of soft and black hair, smelled it, and said, "It's not long since it was cut off." Hu Xueyan asked calmly, "Where did you find it?" "In that purse of yours." Needless to say, this is the "personal token" intentionally left by Sister Aqiao when she packed his luggage for him. Hu Xueyan felt that there was no need to conceal or argue, so he nodded calmly and said, "I got it! I will tell you later. " Furong was naturally uncomfortable when she saw these two things, but she also deserved the words "gentle and virtuous". Seeing Hu Xueyan's indifference, she was willing to give him a chance to explain. She still kept the original things and continued. Pack other luggage. "The attitude of foreigners has changed recently." Gu Yingchun also continued to discuss unfinished business, "I heard that both the British and the Americans have visited Jiangning City and think that the tricks played by Hong Xiuquan and his group are not famous. , so I intend to sit down and talk with our officialdom. The bitterness is 'the land is not seen at the door'." "What's this called?" "I can't find an opponent for negotiation." Gu Yingchun said, "It has always been a rule that the imperial court does not deal directly with foreigners. All foreign affairs are handled by the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Therefore, the British and American envoys want to meet the governor of Liangjiang. When I arrived in Guangzhou, I refused to see him. In fact, he had good intentions." "How did you see that?" "There is a notice. The consuls of Britain, the United States, and France will issue notices to inform their expatriates that they are not allowed to help Liu Lichuan of the Knife Club." Gu Yingchun added, "I have another very reliable news. The American Minister Mai Lian, from Hong Kong to Shanghai, went to visit Jier Hang'a, the governor of Jiangsu, and declared in person that he had no intention of helping the thief. He just wanted to rectify business and taxation, and wanted to see Mr. Jiang Yi. In addition, he heard that Britain, the United States, and France Minister, you will send a note to lodge a protest for the newly established inland customs in Shanghai." "What does it mean?" "Set up one more customs and collect one more tax. Naturally, foreign businessmen don't want it." Hu Xueyan thought about it carefully for a while, and thought that the whole situation showed the intention of foreigners. They just wanted to do business in China, and China, from the imperial court to the local government, was only interested in stabilizing the situation. In fact, the two things can be done together. Yes, to do business, you naturally need to have a calm market, and of course you must win the war first. The envoys of Britain, the United States, and France forbade their expatriates to help Liu Lichuan, which is exactly what they mean.The best way today is to talk openly and honestly with foreigners about the terms of cooperation. When he stated his opinion, Gu Yingchun sighed and said: "Uncle, it would be great if you became the governor of Liangjiang, but the officialdom will not see this. Let me say that even if you become the governor of Liangjiang, it will not work. It's useless not to allow you to do this, we only talk about our own business." He reminded him, "New Silk is coming soon." Although the new silk will soon be on the market, it is not allowed to be shipped to Shanghai to trade with foreigners, but the existing stock is still a rare commodity.The question is, how long can this situation last?Once the ban is lifted, the price of silk will fall. The quality of Chensi is not as good as that of new silk. Foreigners must buy new silk if they want to buy it. The value of Chensi will drop even more.When Hu Xueyan realized this, he was startled and asked immediately: "Old Gu, according to your opinion, should we sell our goods or not?" Gu Yingchun remained silent.This decision was originally easy to make, but the discrepancy was too great, and I had to show a very serious attitude in order to convince Hu Xueyan, so his silence was tantamount to bending the bow, in fact, it was to attract Hu Xueyan's attention and attention . "Say something!" Hu Xueyan urged. "This is not something that can be said in one sentence. It is more important to calculate the whole situation and see the inevitable general direction. Only by following this direction will we be invincible." Hu Xueyan nodded while listening, "That's right." He said, "The so-called vision is to be used in this. According to my opinion, Hong Yang must fail, and he must cooperate with foreigners." "Yes! I also think the same way. Now that we see the general direction, how we should do business is naturally very clear." "Sooner or later, we need to cooperate. Why don't you show some friendship to foreigners and leave room for a meeting in the future." Hu Xueyan said clearly, "Old Gu, Si, I decided to sell! You can talk to foreigners. Of course, one more price is better. .” Gu Yingchun just nodded and didn't speak.Obviously, there must be a plan for how to talk about it. Gu Yingchun thought for a while and said: "This way, you don't have to hide it. It's easier to handle the matter. But the word 'manipulation' is out of the question." These words moved Hu Xueyan, he faintly felt that in terms of business, he seemed to be missing a mark in front of Gu Yingchun, but his competitive spirit was quickly suppressed.Doing business is not fighting spirit!He was thinking like this, seeing the opportunity is the most important thing. "Why don't I want to 'manipulate' the market? But when I was calculating, I didn't think of the most important thing. In this matter, foreigners take advantage and we suffer. So it is very difficult to manipulate, unless the strength is extremely strong. " "Which thing?" Gu Yingchun asked, "Foreigners took advantage of the fact that they set up warships to do business—" "Ah!" Hu Xueyan clapped his hands suddenly, "That's what I'm talking about. Foreigners do business, and the government and the business are integrated. Their officials are to protect the businessmen. When there are difficulties, the officials come out to block them. When there is trouble, the officials come out to take care of them. They When businessmen meet officials, they can tell the truth. Our situation is different. Officials don't care about business difficulties, and businessmen never dare to expect officials to come forward to argue for us. If this is the case, we will do what foreigners If you are in business, you are not sure. You can see that this way is going to work, but suddenly there is another trick in the officialdom, and all previous efforts have been wasted. For example, the establishment of customs in the interior is up to me. If there is a customs, it is inconvenient for foreign businessmen. Chinese merchants, we just want to come up with a way to find them this kind of 'inconvenient' cheap, now the foreign consuls are protesting, if the customs is cancelled, won't our plan be completely defeated?" Hu Xueyan knew that he was using his brain. This business cannot be done without a flexible mind. It is not easy to deal with foreigners, and there are still a group of silk merchants and retail investors to control.The idea was Hu Xueyan's idea to gather retail investors and join forces to deal with foreigners, and the most powerful group, Pang Er, has also formed a line because of Hu Xueyan's friendship and skills.But the responsibility of commanding this line fell on Gu Yingchun.In the past, in order to persuade everyone to act in unison, they used very sweet words, saying that as long as they are united and forced foreigners to submit, they will surely benefit greatly. Now this sentence must be fulfilled. If the price of silk is not as high as expected, everyone will definitely be blamed. .Some of them were borrowed money in advance. The price of silk was not good, and the money advanced could not be fully recovered, so they had to pay for it. After thinking about it for a while, I considered the bad aspects and the good aspects, and roughly decided on a course of action. "Uncle," he said, "I want to talk to the foreigners first, to be frank and honest. Let's all maintain the market together, and ask them to set a reserve price for me. This reserve price is not suitable for our peers to tell the truth, leaving an imaginary number as a room for bargaining. Do you think it is appropriate for me to do this?" "I'm not as familiar with you as foreigners." Hu Xueyan said, "However, our colleagues in this field also use the words 'open and honest'." "You mean, we will tell the truth as much as the foreigner asks for it?" "Yes, that's what I mean." Hu Xueyan said, "In this business, we make more money than we make. We must let our colleagues know that our approach is for everyone's benefit, and it is definitely not that we want to use small colleagues to make a fortune." "Uncle is far-sighted, and I agree with it. However," Gu Yingchun said, "the amount of money advanced in order to win over retail investors was very high. Now that the silk is sold, it will be fully deducted. , there are not many left, I'm afraid they will be wordy." "It doesn't matter!" Hu Xueyan said, "I've already calculated on the way. I have money from the Pang family and the Pan family from Suzhou. If I sell this ticket, I will have a very rich position. Borrow, let them borrow." "Slowly!" Gu Yingchun waved his hand and said, "Is it a loan, a deposit, or a deposit?" This sentence reminds you at the right time, if it is a credit loan, the mortgage is a commodity mortgage, and if you put a deposit, you have to "buy green"-buy the new silk of these retail investors this year.The same sum of money, the nature of release is not the same.Hu Xueyan thought for a while and said: "It depends on the situation you have discussed with foreigners. If foreigners think our approach is good and are willing to cooperate, then make a contract and we will sell another batch to them this year. Then, we will We have to put down deposits from retail investors to buy silk. Otherwise, we will switch to another business, I mean, the Fukang branch must be opened in Shanghai." "That's something that goes hand in hand. Having a bank of your own is only convenient for making silk." "Speaking like this, there is nothing to discuss. You do what you can, and if you think you can make the decision, it's up to you to make the decision." After thinking over Hu Xueyan's words from the beginning, Gu Yingchun found that the problem he was worried about suddenly disappeared completely.Tomorrow, I will talk to foreigners openly and honestly, and negotiate a price that does not suffer from each other. Then I invite all the online peers and retail investors, and ask everyone if they are willing to sell?Those who are willing to sell are the best, and those who are not willing to sell should be disposed of separately. Anyway, the loans are all mortgaged with warehouse receipts, so that they will not suffer bad debts.Business is not difficult to do. After thinking about it like this, his expression became relaxed. "Uncle," he said with a smile, "it's really refreshing to work with you." "You are also a straightforward person, so I don't need to go into details. All in all, I always look at the good in people. I don't believe that there are bad people in the world. Only those who have no ability do bad things, and those who have the ability will definitely do good things. Since people who do bad things If you don’t have the ability, you don’t have to be afraid of them.” What Gu Yingchun said to him, he couldn't tell whether it was right or wrong for a while on the way of reasoning, but fortunately it was gossip, so there was no need to bother him.Get up and say goodbye, you need to plan carefully by yourself, how will you negotiate with foreigners tomorrow?