Chapter 5 Make friends with Ying Chun

The main person who will be meeting is surnamed Gu, a Cantonese, he is a "commoner", has made a lot of foreign friends, and is especially familiar with the British.As for the British in Shanghai, since Hong Xiuquan "founded the country" in Jiangning, there have been many tricks.They went to meet the man named Gu just to find out about these tricks. You Wu also had a wide range of contacts in Shanghai, and he found out that the British foreign firm had already started trading with Hong Jun.There used to be two British warships sailing from Shanghai to Xiaguan. At first, Hong Jun thought they were invited by the Qing army to help out, so he raised his guard.Unexpectedly, the British brought an agent ashore, and the moment he opened his mouth, he made it clear that he was here for business.The commodities were guns and gunpowder, and they were bartered in exchange for jewelry and antiques that Hong Jun plundered along the way from the east of the Yangtze River.That foreign firm made a lot of money, and the general manager it brought was this guy named Gu, whose name was Gu Yingchun.

So Hu Xueyan had a new idea. He discussed with You Wu that it would be best to make friends with Gu Yingchun, so that he could do business in treasures and firearms.You Wu was already obedient to Hu Xueyan's words, so he tried to ask someone to introduce him, and he introduced that he had met at the scene of eating flower wine the day before, and it was agreed at that time that this day was You Wu's invitation. In fact, there is only one guest, Gu Yingchun. The venue for the banquet is Yiqing Courtyard on Baoshan Street.You Wu is the benefactor of Yiqing's second son, who is in charge of the "Changsantangzi", so even Hu Xueyan feels at home.Arrived there, took a seat in the "big room", just took off the gown, heard the "Xiangbang" calling for guests, Yiqing's second child opened the curtain by herself, and saw Gu Yingchun stepping up the steps briskly.

"Young Master Gu, you are so friendly." Yiqing's second child smiled, "The first to arrive." "Fifth Brother You has to come early to treat guests." Gu Yingchun said again, "And it's at your place to treat guests, so I have to come early." "This is the honor of Fifth Young Master You, thank you, thank you!" "Thank you so much." You Wu also cupped his hands to express his thanks, then pointed inward, "Would you like to lie down inside for a while?" "I'm here because I'm addicted. But it's okay to lie down for a while."

Upon hearing this, Yiqing's second child shouted: "Light up the lamp!" Then she took Gu Yingchun's serge robe and led it into the room. Inside is the boudoir of Yiqing's second child, all mahogany furniture, but equipped with a large foreign copper bed, the snow-white pearl gauze curtains are hung high, and an extremely exquisite opium smoking set is placed on the bed.Gu Yingchun was a little polite, and first lay down on the front seat. In the empty seat opposite, You Wu gave way to Hu Xueyan, and Hu Xueyan gave way to You Wu. It's time for him to accompany you. "Xiang" passed two tubes of cigarettes, and after some gossip, Yiqing's second child was going to greet "Mesa", and You Wu also had other guests to accompany, so only Hu and Gu were left in the small room.Hu Xueyan has already seen that Gu Yingchun is also a very "outsider" character, and it is not difficult to deal with, so he asked for advice when he came up, "Brother Yingchun, I am lucky at last, I must have a knowledgeable old horse on the field. Advice, I will ask you to teach me more in the future.”

"Don't dare to be that." Gu Yingchun said with a smile, "Fifth Brother You is something I have admired for a long time, and he respects your brother very much. It can be seen from this that I must be a good friend, and we should get closer in the future." "Yes, yes! We are brothers all over the world, and the sea ban has been lifted. We are not close to ourselves, and it is even more difficult to deal with foreigners." "Come on!" Gu Yingchun patted the cigarette tray with his finger, "Brother Xueyan, you are really sensible. To be honest, we Chinese are just killing ourselves and taking advantage of foreigners for nothing."

These words are interesting, Hu Xueyan thought to himself, he should be cautious when speaking, so that his words can be set out. "Nowadays the word 'Westernization' is newly emerging. All beautiful people in the officialdom will 'talk about Westernization', and the most popular one is 'doing Westernization'. I have seen many of these beautiful people, like Brother Ying Chun and you just now. It’s the first time I’ve heard a word.” "Hmph!" Gu Yingchun sneered, and made a contemptuous expression towards the "beautiful person" Hu Xueyan said, "Those people are talking about foreign affairs behind closed doors, and one is talking about 'barbarian people', and they regard them as sluts and drink blood The other is to hear the word "foreigner" and wish to kneel down and call "Master Foreigner". Talking about foreign affairs and doing foreign affairs in this way is nothing but self-inflicted humiliation."

"These words are very thorough." Hu Xueyan turned back to the original words, "Whether it's too much or too late, it's just 'my own people kill my own people'." "That's right!" Gu Yingchun took a cigarette stick and gestured on the cigarette tray and said, "Those who hate foreigners are constrained in everything, those who are afraid of foreigners are blindly flattering each other, and they push each other out. Foreigners have quick brains and can take advantage of them. I will never let it go. This kind of person is especially hateful."

Seeing his indignant expression, Hu Xueyan knew that he must have been excluded, so he felt it. "It is a mediocrity not to be envied by others." Most of the people who are squeezed out are generally capable. Seeing him speak, he is orderly and has profound insights. You can imagine him.So Hu Xueyan thought, he is short of helpers, especially talents in this field, wouldn't it be great if Gu Yingchun could use it for himself? This idea was almost decided as soon as it appeared in his mind, but it was not advisable to act too hastily. After thinking about it, he brought up a topic that he was confident would definitely arouse Gu Yingchun's interest.

"Brother Ying Chun!" He got up in a daze, grabbed a few almonds from the fruit plate, chewed them in his mouth, moved his lips vigorously, and his words seemed to be particularly forceful, "I'm not convinced! We killed ourselves My own people let the foreigners take advantage of it, so why can't our own people work together and take the advantage back from the foreigners?" After hearing what he said, Gu Yingchun just rolled his eyes, and a cigarette stick kept poking at the cigarette tray. After a long time, he said: "Brother Xueyan, no one has ever told me this. The last time I fired two soldiers." It was Xiaguan's turn to sell arms, the price had already been negotiated, and a deal was about to be made. A bastard came to see the foreigner. He could speak foreign language and told the foreigner directly that Hong Jun was in urgent need of gunpowder for foreign guns, and most of them were gold, silver and jewelry. Saying this, the foreigner backed down and renegotiated the price, more than doubling it. This is the big advantage that the foreigner has taken! I have never been convinced. If I can take advantage of the foreigner, I will do it even if it does not benefit me. Today According to what you said, people on your own must be of one mind, how to achieve this, I want to ask for advice."

"This question really confused me." Hu Xueyan said, "Things have to be discussed. Now I don't know much about the situation of foreigners, so I can't explain why. But since we say that we are of one mind, there must be a beginning." For example, you, me, and Brother You, the three of us are together, we meet each other sincerely, we discuss when things happen, which idea is better, and which one to follow, just like an idea made by ourselves, step by step. If foreigners don’t deal with us, it’s fine if they don’t deal with us, but if they want to fight, they have to listen to us!”

"Okay!" Gu Yingchun also leaned back and sat up, "Three people are of the same heart, and their benefits can cut through gold. Let's start with you, me, and Fifth Brother You. I don't want to do that 'Kang Baidu' in my foreign firm. " The person in charge of the foreign firm is called "Kang Baidu", which is a transliteration of foreign language, and his status is not comparable to that of a general who is only responsible for interpreting.Hu Xueyan felt that he didn't need to do this. "Brother Ying Chun," Hu Xueyan declared first, "you might as well be honest when you talk to yourself. You still have to maintain your position in the foreign firm, otherwise it will be inconvenient to deal with foreigners, and this will also cut off the news from the foreigners." Gu Yingchun originally said a sentence without thinking about it, even if Hu Xueyan didn't point it out, he would change his mind after thinking about it.So of course he agreed repeatedly. "I'm thinking," Hu Xueyan said complacently, "what you said just now is 'three people with one heart, their strength can break gold'. This sentence is true. The three of us each occupy a branch. You are from the foreign firm, especially Fifth brother is in the world, and I still have some way in the officialdom. These three aspects come together, and you can get mixed up!" Gu Yingchun thought about it, sure enough!Encouraged by Hu Xueyan, he also said with great enthusiasm: "Really, it's a coincidence! To be honest, it's not easy to get these three aspects together. Let's have a good talk tomorrow and think of something unique to everyone. Come out with different tricks and greatly expand its market share.”