Chapter 44 Bleak foreign field (7-3)

These words were very sincere, and Mrs. Snail deeply sympathized; the topic naturally changed from Ruixiang to the new silk reeling factory. "Didn't it be well planned at the beginning?" she asked; "Why did you hit a snag everywhere? What kind of snag did you hit?" "It's hard to explain in one word." Gu Yingchun shook his head, unwilling to talk deeply. Mrs. Luosi made indirect remarks, but she still couldn't let Gu Yingchun reveal his unspeakable secrets.As a result, Mrs. Snail became a little angry.But just when he was about to say a few words of complaint, he thought of a radical method.

"Brother-in-law, just tell me that I will never tell stories when I go back; I will only speak for you in front of Mr. Da." Hearing this, Gu Yingchun was very disturbed.If she still refuses to say anything, it means that she is really afraid that she will go back and "speak the truth".At the same time, listening to her tone, it seemed that she suspected that he had mishandled him, or even had selfishness, so that "nothing was accomplished".This unprovoked misunderstanding is not willing to accept it silently. Therefore, Gu Yingchun suppressed his excitement, thought for a while and replied: "Fourth sister, I was originally 'knocking out teeth and swallowing blood', and I have to accept the grievances. Now it seems that I have to say it! But, fourth sister , I have a word, I must first declare that I have absolutely no doubts that Fourth Sister will tell stories in front of my uncle."

"I know, I know." Mrs. Snail smiled triumphantly: "I'm not pushing like this, how could I force your words out?" Hearing this, Gu Yingchun knew he had been duped: "I mean it. But," he said, "now it seems that I am telling the story." "Brother-in-law," Mrs. Snail said solemnly, "I'm not a person who doesn't know the importance. If you tell me, what can be said and what can't be said, of course I will think about it. To avoid suspicion, if you refuse to tell the truth, you are not yourself people." The last sentence implicitly had the meaning of reproach, which made Gu Yingchun even more feel that he should tell the truth: "I can't blame Lao Mi, he has his difficulties—" "It's him!" Mrs. Luoshi stepped in and said , "I was a little suspicious just now. I'm afraid it's him who is the gossip. How is he in Fukang?" "I don't know what happened to him in Fukang. I only talk about myself. I don't know whether I offended Lao Mi somewhere, and it feels like I'm making things difficult for me."

It turned out that the failure to buy the new silk reeling factory was due to Mi Ben's constant obstruction and destruction in the dark.He let the wind out, saying that Hu Xueyan had no intention of setting up a new-style silk reeling factory, and that Gu Yingchun had made a big hole in the real estate business, so he bought short and sold short, hoping to make something out of nothing to make up for his shortfall.If there is a silk reeling factory that wants to sell it, it is best to find another customer; This remark makes people half-believing, what they believe is that Gu Yingchun is not unknown in Shanghai shopping malls, and his credit is also very good.Just seeing that he failed to cooperate with Xu Yuzhai, but he was safe and sound, it can be seen that he is not someone to wait for.

What is suspicious is that Gu Yingchun's situation is indeed not good; what is even more incredible is that Hu Xueyan has always opposed the new style of silk reeling, so why did he suddenly change course?Everyone knows that Hu Xueyan values ​​one thing: keep what you say.Everyone couldn't remember what he had done that contradicted his promise. Because of this, it was very difficult for Gu Yingchun to negotiate with others, because the other party had an attitude of hypocrisy and obedience.Of course, as long as there is no obvious reason for breaking up, even though the negotiation is difficult, the negotiation will continue and a preliminary result will be reached sooner or later.

At that time, the target of Gu Yingchun's negotiation was Huang Zuoqing, the proprietor of Gongheyong.He, Jardine Matheson and Ping Ping Foreign Firms built factories at the same time, with similar scales, and they all had hundreds of silk cars, and the ones they bought were from Italy and France. As for the engineer, Huang Zuoqing agreed, and Liu Hefu handled it. He hired an Italian, Maddens, to guide the factory and train the workers.It turns out that most of the workers at that time were female workers, who were called "Sister Husi".In order to help the family, Xiaojiabiyu mostly uses domestic servants; the work is done at home with the materials, such as embroidery and pasting tin foil in the old style; paste matchboxes in the new style, and sew military uniforms.But to be a "Sister Husi", when the siren sounded, groups of people swaggered past, which was unprecedented. Therefore, seeing the sisters of Husi go to work and leave work has become a scene.These young women are used to showing their faces, so they are naturally more open-minded in their actions and words; and the difference between debauchery and open-mindedness is just a difference between getting in and out of bed, and as time goes by, there will often be cases of prostitution and leisure; , especially "Little Widow", many people got involved.Of course, this is "reciprocity". Female workers will not be bullied if they have a male job backer; if the backer is a foreman, the benefits are even greater, at least they can be transferred to a department where the work is easy.On the contrary, if the foreman fails to achieve what he wants, he can take revenge on public welfare and transfer it to the most bitter silk reeling room, where the boiling water and steam are like hot summer all year round; After a meal, the whole body will be soaked. Male workers can be shirtless and wear shorts, but female workers can only wear a "wet cloth shirt". Once the machine is turned on for twelve hours, this fiery "wet cloth shirt" Just have to wear it all day.It’s okay in summer, but casual workers in winter, when the cold wind blows, the “wet cloth shirt” turns into “iron clothes”, and it’s not surprising that people get sick, so a foreign reporter visited the silk reeling room and called it “a veritable living hell.” ".

The foreman is like this, and the engineer is naturally more domineering. Maddens regards ravaging Miss Husi as his right, and uses the unscrupulous foreman to get whatever he wants. Huang Zuoqing often receives complaints and asks Liu Hefu to warn Maddens, which is better After a few days, he quickly returned to his old ways. After a few times, Huang Zuoqing couldn't bear it anymore and planned to fire Maddens. Unexpectedly, Liu Hefu signed a very disadvantageous contract with him, and if he was fired, he would have to pay huge compensation.For this reason, Huang Zuoqing was very frustrated, and it was difficult to do business, so he decided to give up Gonghe Yongpan to Gu Yingchun.

The conditions were all negotiated, and the factory building, wealth production, and inventory of 80,000 silver were "kicked off".Gu Yingchun informed Mi Benchang to draw out the bank notes according to the number, but the answer he got was: "It's not convenient to call." "What?" Gu Yingchun was surprised, "Isn't there a 'money' there?" Of the 500,000 silver that HSBC lent at the beginning, except for the 200,000 that Zuo Zongtang borrowed, the rest was specified by Hu Xueyan, and was lent to the cocoon company run by You Wu in order to buy a new-style silk reeling factory. Ben Chang didn't deny it, but he had his own opinion.

"Brother Ying Chun, Mr. Da has a saying like that, 'Dead shops are opened by living people', but if I am a coworker, if I only listen to him, it is like an abacus. He dials and I move. I'm not a living person, but I'm more breathless than a dead person. Don't you think so?" Gu Yingchun gasped, and stammered, "Your words are good, Mr. Da's words must be counted." "I'm not saying it doesn't count. I don't have money now. If I do, the money doesn't belong to me. Why don't I give it to you?" "Why is there no money? It was specified for this purpose."

"That's right, I specified the purpose. But, Brother Ying Chun, you have to think for me, and you have to think for Mr. Da. Several times when you talked about the silk reeling factory, you always said 'difficult, difficult' , I don’t know when it will be successful?’ If you say: the negotiation is successful, and the payment will be made in ten days and half a month, I will naturally keep your money. You didn’t hold it yourself, so how can you blame me? " "You don't have to worry about whether I'm sure or not. If you point it out to me, you will stay."

This is very impolite; Mi Benchang sneered and said: "If you asked Mr. Da to explain it immediately, allocate it to you according to the amount, and set up a booklet to count it as your deposit, I would not be qualified to use your joke money. Before it came under your name, the money belonged to Fukang. Fukang’s money belonged to Mr. Da; but Fukang’s money belonged to me, Mi. I don’t want to be so tight when it comes to being rewarded and loyal. Use this money flexibly; just because of a word from Mr. Da who is far away in Hangzhou, hold on to this money until you don’t know when it will be used, do you think it makes sense?” These words are really He refuted Gu Yingchun so badly that he couldn't argue with him, and he didn't want to argue with him anymore. But Mi Benchang still has something to say: "You know, Mr. Da's business is getting bigger and bigger, because one dollar makes a business of eight or ten dollars. Mr. Da often says: "Eight jars and seven jars. Cover, cover and cover without wearing clothes, just know how to do business. 'Based on the current cash on the market, there are more than eight jars and seven lids?At most, it's only half. I want to make him unclothed, which is not an easy task.Brother, let me ask you, someone came to withdraw money today, and there are only two hundred thousand silver in the warehouse, and I don’t use it to deal with it. Could it be that I told the customer: The money can’t be moved, it’s for Mr. Gu to buy the silk reeling factory there use?Mr. Gu, Mr. Gu, I, Lao Mi and you, at that time, let alone Fukang's money, even if it is the official money from Liangjiang Governor's Yamen, I will use it tomorrow to pay my brothers.If the customer can't get through this hurdle, there will be a wave of runs immediately, and Mr. Da will be done. "Fourth sister, as long as what Lao Mi said is true, even if he refuses to help me, I have nothing to say.Because although they are all doing things for my uncle, each has its own authority and each has its own difficulties, I can't blame him. " "Then," Mrs. Snail immediately said, "Are you blaming him now?" Gu Yingchun replied honestly, "Yes. A little bit." "In this way, Lao Mi didn't tell the truth! Otherwise, you wouldn't blame him." Mrs. Snail asked, "Was his words true?" "It's not a position yet." At this point, Gu Yingchun was on the verge of making a move, "He can adjust his position, and he has designated the money to buy the silk reeling factory, and it has not been moved at all. At HSBC." Upon hearing this, Mrs. Luozhi was moved. "Brother-in-law," she asked, "how do you know he hasn't moved?" "I've heard people say it." "which one?" "This—" Gu Yingchun replied, "Fourth sister, you don't need to ask. My news is very reliable." Mrs. Snail understood a little bit that Zhou Xiaotang, who was in charge of the general account in Fukang, was not on good terms with Mi Benchang, maybe he had leaked the news. "My brother-in-law wants me not to ask, so I won't ask. But I want to ask my brother-in-law, what should I do now?" "There is no need to talk about buying the silk reeling factory. Now I have 80,000 silver, but I can't buy it. Huang Zuoqing saw that I couldn't get the silver, so I found another account and sold it for 95,000 silver." When Gu Yingchun said this, he shook his head, with a very ugly expression on his face, "Fourth sister, what makes me most sad is that I have been living on the beach for decades, and I heard a sentence that made people vomit blood." "Oh!" Mrs. Snail was very sympathetic, "You said it, and I will vent your anger for you." "Vent?" Gu Yingchun shook his head again and again, "Then it will become a 'rebellion in the nest', no good' no it is good." "Even if I don't ring, you have to say it; if you feel wronged in your heart, it will be comfortable to say it." Gu Yingchun pondered and said: "Okay, let me say. That day——" That day—two days before Mrs. Luoshi arrived in Shanghai, Huang Zuoqing posted a post asking Gu Yingchun to have flower wine.The business failed, but friends are still friends, Gu Yingchun went to the appointment on time; the scene was very lively, Huang Zuoqing invited nearly 20 guests, two tables of mahjong, one table of Pai Gow, hitting thousands of Dayang's heads.Next, we ate flower wine, and the "Shuangshuangtai" was set up; there were no fewer than 50 people in the game called by the guests, and the three large rooms in the whole building had to be opened up to accommodate four tables of wine. The host and guest were Chen Hesen, the "opium king" of the Chaozhou gang who bought Gong Heyong; Gu Yingchun was also invited to sit at this table.While the singing and singing were noisy, Huang Zuoqing raised his glass to Gu Yingchun and said, "Brother Yingchun, I would like to toast you a glass of wine; if it weren't for your inconvenience ten days ago, I wouldn't have negotiated peace with 'Da Wang' Yong, that’s 15,000 taels less. Speaking of the 15,000 taels, your elder brother picked me to earn it, so I should toast you.” After speaking, he laughed and let himself do his own thing. liquor.After finishing this passage, Gu Yingchun said again: "Fourth sister, do you think that he deliberately embarrassed me? At that time, I really burst into tears." "Does Mr. Da know about this?" She asked. "How can I tell Mr. Da about this? But buying Gonghe will never make it. I have already written to Mr. Da." "I haven't heard of it in Hangzhou." Gu Yingchun thought for a while and said, "Actually, when you left Hangzhou, my letter hadn't arrived yet." "Okay! I won't talk about it in this chapter. As for Lao Mi holding back Yin and deliberately going against you, I must ask him about it." "No!" Gu Yingchun said: "Please Fourth Sister, you must consider the overall situation. The current situation is not very good. It all depends on everyone's concerted efforts. If you ask him, there will be right and wrong. No matter what, please keep it in your heart." "You know, I am the same as Seventh Sister. I have grievances, and I can't afford to eat." Mrs. Snail said: "As long as I don't 'sell the plaintiff', how will he know where the news about me comes from?" of. Seeing that her attitude was very firm, Gu Yingchun knew that she could not dispel her intention; after thinking for a while, he said: "Fourth sister, you think that if you don't mention my name, he won't be suspicious of me, you are lying to yourself. You always You need to have a reasonable statement to hide it from him." "Tell me, what should I say?" "Do you know anyone at HSBC?" Mrs. Snail thought for a while and said, "There is Zhang Jitong, who seems to belong to HSBC Bank." "That's right, Zhang Jitong is the 'Second Writer' of HSBC." Gu Yingchun asked, "Is Fourth Sister familiar with him?" "His wife, we used to be little sisters. Last year, he came to Hangzhou to see me." "Okay! Then there is an explanation. Fourth sister, if you must ask about this matter, when you see Lao Mi, you will say: You said, Gu Yingchun told me that Fukang's position is extremely tight; but, I I heard Zhang Zhengtong's wife say: Fukang has more than 200,000 silver, which has been stored in HSBC and has not been touched. Let's see what he says?" "I understand. I will not show my feet at all. I will go to see Mrs. Zhang tomorrow morning, and she will act as if she is real. I think he must have nothing to say; then I will blame him a few more words to vent your anger for you." .” "There is no need to talk about the word venting." "Okay, let's not talk about venting, let's talk about your consummation." Mrs. Luosi turned sharply and said: "Even if this matter is not for you, it is not for Ruixiang, but for Seventh Sister, you still have to treat me to this wedding wine while I am here." Gu Yingchun finally agreed.So Mrs. Luoshi explained the plans discussed with Grandma Qigu one by one; up to now, Gu Yingchun has nothing to say except to say yes. After breakfast the next day, Mrs. Luoshi urged Ruixiangrui to go out.This was agreed the night before; but because Ruixiang had to go out for a whole day, she had to arrange a lot of trivial housework, so she wasted time, Qigu's grandma kept urging her again and again, and when she was getting impatient, she just started We boarded the car together, and it was already eleven o'clock on the watch. "Just now in front of Grandma Qigu, I can't tell. It's reasonable for me to urge you. I have to go to Mrs. Zhang's house first, and take a short ride to Fukang to issue bank notes. Now, the time is not right, and the lunch When the time comes, we must keep it; when we go to Fukang in the second half of the day, we won’t be able to do anything. Don’t be impatient to look at the jewelry; otherwise, you will regret it in all likelihood. Now, there is no other way, the Zhang family has no choice but to not go.” "It's all my fault." Ruixiang said with a smile, "Madam, why didn't you tell me earlier." "I didn't know you were so good at grinding! Feeling east and west, forgetting to lose the time. Oh!" Mrs. Luosi took special care: "I told Mr. Mi later that we are from Zhang's house. Don't say anything, so as not to expose Xiyang. mirror." Ruixiang agreed, and went to Fukang in a sedan chair with Mrs. Luosi; Mi Benchang naturally treated him as a guest of honor, and his courtesy was very thoughtful, starting from Mrs. Hu, the whole Hu family,—asked.Then he was perfunctory to Ruixiang, and asked with a smile: "Miss Rui, when will you treat us to a wedding?" Ruixiang blushed and didn't answer; Mrs. Luoshi said, "Come on, come on!" She said, "That's why I came to the bank today. I want to pay two thousand silver. Grandma Qigu also has a book here." I took out Grandma Qigu's booklet and looked at it. She deposited more than 4,500 taels of silver, and Mrs. Luoshi decided to withdraw 2,000 taels. The total was 4,000 taels of silver. , make it clear, we're going to talk about Gu Yingchun. "Mr. Mi," she asked leisurely, "how is the market in Shanghai these days?" "No, no! Money is getting tighter and tighter." "Where is our Fukang?" "Of course it's tight." "Since it's tight," Mrs. Snail put on a puzzled expression, "Why do we have more than 200,000 silver in HSBC and don't move?" Hearing this, Mi Benchang's heart skipped a beat; when he was having difficulty answering, Mrs. Budao Luosi added another sentence, which made Mi feel relieved. "Is this money loaned out by HSBC?" "yes." "The money lent by HSBC must pay interest; although there is interest in HSBC, the interest on lending must be high and the interest on deposits must be low, right?" "Yes." "The money borrowed from him is deposited with him, and the difference in interest is paid for nothing. Mr. Mi, I don't quite understand how this calculation is done." At this time, Mi Benchang had already thought of a very clever reason to evade, so he replied in a leisurely manner: "Mrs. It was discovered in the first year. Let’s have dinner first, and I will slowly tell Mrs. Luo Si.” It's already lunch time, and Mi Benchang has already prepared, so Mrs. Luosi is not welcome.However, there are no diners to accompany him, and Ruixiang's status is different, so he refuses to sit at the same table with Mrs. Luoshi, but it takes a lot of time to arrange; in the end, he divides two dishes for Ruixiang to eat at another place, and Miben often eats with Mrs. Luoshi and eats together. interview. "Mrs. Luo Si, Fukang has money deposited in HSBC, presumably Ying Chun told you?" "No." Mrs. Snail replied calmly, "I went to see Mrs. Zhang today. Their master is also in HSBC. She told me." "Uh, is Gong Zhang Zhang, or Li Zao Zhang?" "The bow is long." "Then it's Zhang Jitong?" "Yes, their master's name is Zhang Jitong." Mi Ben often thought that Mrs. Snail was obviously lying.Zhang Jitong and him were also friends, and they were playing cards together the day before; when the game reached one o'clock in the middle of the night, Zhang Jitong was a big loser, and he had to play four more laps to "pull the car bar". At that time, someone said: "Old Zhang, you always have to go back when twelve o'clock comes. If you don't return to the camp tonight, you may be punished by Mrs. Zhang to kneel and count beads and push the toilet lid." It turned out that Zhang Jitong was afraid of guilt, so he teased him like this; but he patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, don't worry, the tigress went back to her natal family in Changshu the day before yesterday to eat her nephew's wedding wine." This is the so-called "disguise", and it is increasingly confirmed that the news of HSBC's deposits was leaked by Gu Yingchun.But he never said anything, on the contrary, he showed an expression of apology to Gu Yingchun on his face. "Mrs. Luosi, Fukang's deposits and loans have accounts to check. Of course, the money deposited in HSBC also has accounts; but the interest paid back every month can't be seen as a loss in the accounts. What's the point? This The difference in interest is one and a half centimeters, so it costs about 400 taels of silver per month, I just opened the booklet and counted it as a legitimate expenditure." At this point he stopped and looked at Mrs. Snail's expression. Of course she looked surprised, "Is it a legitimate expense?" She asked, as if she had heard it wrong. "If she remained calm, Mi Benchang would not be sure whether she had listened to his words; but it was normal to be surprised, and he would be more sure of dispelling her doubts. "That's right, it's legitimate expenses. It's an indispensable legitimate expense just like socializing with officialdom during festivals and festivals." He said, "Mrs. Snail, as you know, Fukang relies entirely on deposits from the public and big households. Lower than others, why do you want to save Fukang? It’s because of its reliability. There's only one way to go." "Oh! Which way?" "Dead end. It's either a rope or three-dollar opium." Mi Ben often said, "I only have the next life to repay Mr. Da." No matter how shrewd Mrs. Luosi was, she couldn't help but be moved by Mi Benchang's deliberate expression of loyalty and responsibility, "Mr. Mi, don't say that! As long as you have solid strength, there will be good results." She said: "Your loyalty Mr. Da knows." "It's worth offending people just because of Mr. Da." Mi Benchang immediately pulled the conversation back, "Mrs. Luoshi, with Fukang's famous brand, I don't need to solicit the deposit, it will be given away Come to my door. My method is to polish our golden signboard so that it is not a little dirty. The money is deposited in HSBC and interest is paid, which is my way to protect the golden signboard. " "Hmm! Hmm!" Mrs. Snail thought for a while and said, "You mean that Fukang has more than 200,000 silver in HSBC. If you don't touch it, it seems that Fukang's position is very rich, so people don't worry about withdrawing it. " "That's right. Mrs. Snail, you are really an expert." Mi Ben often raised his glass, and took a big sip by himself, his complacency was beyond words. "It turns out that there is such a trick in it. It is a last resort." "It was a last resort at first, and then I realized the trick. It is really the right thing to do. Even if the money is not tight, it should be done like this. My aunt came to withdraw money, and I said: Do you want to transfer to HSBC? If you want to deposit in HSBC, I will give you HSBC notes. The transfer is not only convenient, but there is no need for "discounts" in and out, which is more cost-effective. Mrs. Snail, what do you think? What did she say when she heard me?" "I can't guess. What did she say?" "She said: Forget it, forget it. Our master said that money is tight in the market now, and Fukang is afraid that there will be no cash in the time of emergency. It is better to deposit it in a foreign bank. Now that you say it like this, I am afraid. I'm sorry. It's better to keep it with you. Mrs. Snail, I figured out a trick at that time. Our golden signboard needs to be wiped with foreign copper rubbing oil. What is foreign copper rubbing oil? For bank transactions, I have to go to all foreign banks to open accounts, like when I met the fifth aunt of the Zhou family who came to deposit and withdraw accounts, I asked her which foreign bank notes she wanted, and she said which one was the one; this time Fukang The signboard is not louder." Because Mrs. Luozhi listened to what he said, she was able to go deep. At this time, she heard a question: "The method is very good, but this time, there is a large position placed there?" "Where, where!" Mi Benchang shook his hands, "Isn't that stupid?" "What if you're not stupid?" "There is another trick here. Open an account in each bank and deposit three or two thousand silver; when the bill is issued, I will transfer the full amount of the position first, so that I won't be in trouble." "Can you make it?" "In time, in time. Well, this is the benefit of Telefunken. Pick up the microphone and shake it over, saying that there is such a thing, and the pilots there will take care of it for us." Mrs. Luosi learned a lot from his discussions; she had heard Hu Xueyan talk about the key points of Chinese bank management several times, and she was not an outsider, but she didn't know the details about the situation of foreign banks. , she is careful when things happen, so she naturally refuses to give up the opportunity, so she asked next, how to deal with it?And why did they deal with it for Fukang?