Chapter 8 Chapter 4 (1-2)

Not long after Liu Bucai left, Wu Xu sent someone to send a letter to Zhu Daqi, saying that he had "urgent business negotiations" and asked him to "come and talk to him" immediately. The letter came unexpectedly.Because although Zhu Daqi and Wu Xu are small fellows from the same village, they only have personal acquaintances and have never negotiated on official matters, let alone "urgent official matters"!I wondered if it was related to what Sun Ziqing and Yang Fang talked about?If the guess is right, it is best to wait for Sun Ziqing to come back and talk about it first, so as not to be caught up.

Therefore, he didn't show up himself, and asked Aunt Zhu to send someone to answer the messenger, saying that he was not at the Sun's house at the moment, and would probably return in the evening, and he would hand Wu Xu's letter to him as soon as he came back. He feinted like this, and at dusk, Sun Ziqing came back.The negotiation did not go well, mainly because Yang Fang was timid and afraid of getting into trouble, and the situation would change, so he refused to meddle in his own business. "What's the change in the situation?" Zhu Daqi asked puzzledly, "What situation are you referring to?"

"Of course it's the officialdom in Jiangsu." Sun Ziqing said, "Negotiations have never been successful. I met a fellow villager who was doing foreign affairs with Xue Zhongcheng, and I heard a lot of inside stories." The so-called change in the situation is that when Li Hongzhang arrived, Xue Huan and Wu Xu were quite uneasy. The monthly income from tariffs and lijin is no less than five or six hundred thousand silver. Now that they are handed over to others, they are naturally unwilling, so they are discussing how to deal with Li Hongzhang. "The solution is to borrow heavily from foreigners. With heavy rewards, there must be brave men who are ready to use heavy salaries to mobilize the admirals of Britain and France to take over Jiading and Qingpu counties on their behalf. When the agent Li Zhongcheng arrives, he will hand over these two counties to him and divide the troops. Defense. Look, how about this plan?"

Zhu Daqi thought for a while and replied: "This plan is not bad! It is to trap Li Zhongcheng and let him do nothing, so that the power can still be held in their hands. However, I am afraid it will not work." "How did you see that?" "First, how can the admirals of Britain and France protect the overseas Chinese under the orders of other countries to make military exploits for you?" "That's not necessarily the case. They have a saying that if Jiading and Qingpu counties are not recovered, Shanghai will not be easy to defend. Therefore, attacking these two counties is to protect the overseas Chinese in Shanghai."

"Okay! Even if this level works, then, secondly, will Li Zhongcheng be fooled by him? He was born in the Imperial Academy, and he was made a special guarantee for him to be the governor of Jiangsu. Naturally, he is a capable person. Can't understand at all?" "That's true." Sun Ziqing nodded: "Xue and Wu, with five or six hundred thousand tax per month in their hands, can't do anything. I'm afraid it's because they think they are smart and take others' money. For being a fool." Speaking of this, Zhu Daqi suddenly realized that the "urgent business" Wu Xu mentioned must have something to do with the fact that Li Hongzhang led the new talents to the east and threatened their status.So I briefly described the process of Wu Xu's letter invitation, and discussed with Sun Ziqing how to deal with it?

Obviously, if his speculation is correct, then Wu Xu must be asking him for help to resist Li Hongzhang's "invasion"-this is what Zhu Daqi wants to discuss with Sun Ziqing, because although Li Hongzhang is just a newcomer, the two factions will definitely fight against each other. The situation of open and covert fighting has already been laid out.The old faction is naturally headed by Xue Huan, the former governor of Jiangsu, who was transferred to the minister of trade and commerce, but in fact it is Wu Xu and Yang Fang who are in control.According to Zhu Daqi, this faction is bound to decline, and he has no connection with them. At this time, it is useless to get involved in the vortex as an outsider for no reason, and it may offend Li Hongzhang's faction, which is unwise.

"Little uncle sees it very clearly." After hearing what he said, Sun Ziqing replied: "However, there is still a faction that seeks from the old, and the new faction may not be able to take full power immediately. Therefore, we still have to Be perfunctory." ＊＊＊ Zhu Daqi guessed right, Wu Xu hoped that he would lend a helping hand, and it turned out to be an enemy of Li Hongzhang. "Li Zhongcheng's recruits have reached more than 3,000 people, and they are all stationed in the south of the city. They are rustic and useless." Wu Xu took out an official letter: "I have been ordered to act as the feudal secretary. I heard that Li Zhongcheng is preparing to Playing, I still have to pay."

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Zhu Daqi stood up and bowed respectfully, "It is the feudal official's responsibility to raise the salary. The court has such a meaning, and Li Zhongcheng is happy to make a ready-made favor." This is Zhu Daqi's hint to him that Li Hongzhang just complied with the court's will and did not intend to entrust him with the responsibility of raising wages, but Wu Xu couldn't understand his subtext, and said triumphantly: "Shanghai is full of foreign affairs, Hong Kong is full of chaos, and customs duties are handled." How can a country bumpkin with dark eyes figure out how to deal with likin? Of course I have to do it. But, "

He changed his demeanor, frowned slightly, and seemed a little troubled, "Speaking of which, he is always the king of a province, stationed in Shanghai, getting in the way, and very annoying. Xue Weng, how do you think about diverting the tiger away from the mountain? " "What does it mean to tune the tiger away from the mountain?" "The imperial court now has a decree, saying that the city of Zhenjiang is the key to the north and south of the river, and urges Li Zhongcheng to lead troops to station there, to communicate with the officials and troops in Yangzhou, and to plan for Suzhou. What I call "tuning the tiger away from the mountain" is how to think of a way to urge him to leave as soon as possible?"

This plan is not bad, but Zhu Daqi is surprised that Wu Xu "secreted" Li Hongzhang like this, and he can only discuss secretly with his "insiders", so why did he easily leak it to outsiders?Could it be that there are some tricks in it? Thinking of this, he became wary and refused to say anything more, only nodded slightly to show that he had heard what he said. "Xue Weng," Wu Xu asked suddenly, "the other day you talked about instigating against that long-haired leader of Jinshanwei, please tell me the truth, how sure are you?" This question has to be answered, but it is also very difficult to answer. Zhu Daqi thought for a while, and replied very tactfully: "It depends on man's effort. When the time comes, he will naturally be sure."

It was originally an ambiguous phrase, but Wu Xu thought it was very reasonable, "Xue Weng," he said, "this is a deal, you get what you pay for. You have nothing to say about your talent. I have to ask you a lot about this matter. Please take care and proceed as soon as possible, the sooner the better. Whatever conditions you have in the future, as long as you can do it, you can agree." With such a sudden turn of events, even Zhu Daqi, who is so clever, was a little taken aback, "I," he said hesitantly, "I still don't understand the meaning of respect." "Didn't you say that Chen Shifa is coming over? It's this floor, I hope he will come over quickly. As long as he says a word, I will arrange the details. One more thing, I only want this line, Xue Weng, are you willing to take this?" Give me a line?" This is more clear, the most important thing is that he will arrange this sentence for all the details.If Chen Shifa just nodded and agreed to come over, it would be easier to handle, but the difficulty lies in the arrangement of the details. So Zhu Daqi replied: "Everyone is doing business. I don't mean to make contributions. Of course, this line can be handed over to you. But this line has been released now, and I can't catch it for a while—" "So," Wu Xu rushed to ask, "When can I come back?" "Ten days later." "Ten days?" Wu Xu hesitated and said, "Okay! Just ten days. Please go on." "What I originally meant was not only to pull this person over, but also to play a role in him. For example, using a thread to lead a large group of people over; A big victory; or just inquiring about news and being a scout. This is not something that can be achieved in three or two days." Even though he said so far, he definitely didn't understand what Wu Xu meant, but it was inconvenient to say it out. Wu Xu's intention was to just pull a bunch of long-haired people over to repay the merits. As for the small number of long-haired gangs, the position of the leader is not high, and they can't play a big role, it doesn't matter to Wu Xu. This is to see through Wu Xu's guts.He was honest, but he didn't think that Zhu Daqi understood his thoughts, so he shook his head and said: "It's not urgent! I hope he will come here quickly. Of course, it will be useful for this person to come. Jinshanwei is an important place. Foreigners are most concerned about this hole when they help in the war. If you bring this person over, you can interrogate everything." "This is also a statement." Zhu Daqi thought about it and said: "Our words today must have a destination. I will do as you say, connect that line as soon as possible, and pass the word on. However, what are the conditions for the future? You said 'as long as it can be done, you can agree', the three words 'can do' must also have a 'handicap', maybe I think it can't be done, you think it's easy, like this, intermediary connection, it doesn't work It's up." "That's right!" Wu Xu nodded deeply: "I'll make a handicap, count according to the head, ten taels of silver a piece; in addition, nod the head to protect his official position. If there are many people, the official will be high, and if there are few people, the official will be small. What do you think? " "It's a fair deal." Zhu Daqi said, "He has three hundred people and that's three thousand taels of silver." "Yes! I'll pay one thousand first." As he spoke, Wu Xu looked around, as if looking for someone to take the money. "Slow down!" Zhu Daqi waved his hand to stop him and said, "I can still afford a thousand pieces of silver, you don't have to pay me first." He paused for a while, and gave a clear answer: "I will do my best to deal with the matter. I was the one who made the connection, and if it’s done successfully, it will be regarded as doing things for your brother. If things don’t go well, please don’t blame me.” "of course." "As long as my brother knows my sincerity." Zhu Daqi asked: "There is a Sun Ziqing, have you always heard of it?" "I know, I know. I met him at the dinner party, and he is a generous enough friend. Isn't he a joint venture with you in business?" "Yes. We are good friends. I entrust him to do some things. In the future, when he comes to see the old man, if he has anything to say, he will come here by himself." "Okay, I got it. Xue Weng," Wu Xu asked suddenly, "There is still something I need to ask you to take care of. She Qin has an account. You are an old senior at the bank, and I need your support in everything." Hearing this, Zhu Daqi was a little surprised. He almost went to the tea party of the silver and money industry almost every day, and he hadn't heard that there would be a new colleague appearing, so before expressing his attitude, he asked, "What is your family name?" "It's also Wu." "Then, what is the name of your relative's treasure name?" "It hasn't been decided yet. When it opens, I will post a post." According to this, the so-called "horizontal horoscope is invisible", and there is no clue yet, Zhu Daqi readily agreed: "Since it is a colleague, and it is your brother's face, I will definitely support it." ＊＊＊ Zhu Daqi returned to his new home, thinking about what Wu Xu said.The recruiting of Chen Shifa is ongoing, there is nothing to worry about, but if his clan wants to open a bank, Zhu Daqi has to be concerned, because everyone is from the same town, and the business path may be the same as that of the client, so there will inevitably be competition. Shouldn't you worry about it? Zhu Daqi couldn't let go of this matter, and felt that he had to find out as soon as possible.After thinking for a while, I remembered a person: Fatty Zhang. Fatty Zhang left Hangzhou a long time ago, and he also left the bank business; the reason was that he suffered a bad debt, and the owner turned his back on him ruthlessly and asked him to pay all the money with interest.Fatty Zhang begged for help from Zhu Daqi. He came forward with a one-year fellowship qualification and a piece of official influence, saying "speaking of the weight", and paid half of it. Fatty Zhang is fond of gambling and has no savings, so the other half will cost thousands of silver, which is still Zhu Daqi helped him, so he had to make up enough. After being stimulated by this, Fatty Zhang was deeply discouraged by the Qianzhuang business, and decided not to eat this bowl of rice.I left the pier and went to Shanghai, where I opened a small grocery store.After several years of operation, it is now quite large.However, Fatty Zhang is out of the bank business, has no friends in the bank, and is naturally nosy, and Wu Xu is from the same village. Who is his clan who wants to open the bank, and how does the bank operate?Fatty Zhang might know. Even if you don't know, you can ask him to find out. After making up his mind, he decided to ask Fatty Zhang to have dinner with him.A girl and a small follower in the family have been sent out, and the aunt who cooks has to look after the house and cannot be dispatched.Fortunately, Fatty Zhang's store is not far away, so why not visit him yourself. I left a message with Aunt Cooking Rice, walked in the car, and walked there in a while.Fatty Zhang was drinking at the counter, when he saw Zhu Daqi, he hurriedly got up to greet him, and said with a smile: "It's rare that you are here, my store is about to be delivered." "The nobleman is in trouble, it's better for you to lose your stomach." Zhu Daqi went to the counter and sat down, and saw that his appetizers were a plate of red and shiny Lu Gaojian sauced meat, a plate of phoenix chicken, and another plate of Pinghu bad eggs. There was a large pile of oily peanuts, and he smiled and said: "You will enjoy the blessings, so I swallowed." "Come, come! Set up a bowl." Fatty Zhang said happily, "I still have a vase of old flower carvings, let's open it and eat it." "Forget it! I'm telling you a joke. The Huadiao in Shaoxing is now closed. You can save it until the Dragon Boat Festival. Don't eat your wine. I invite you, as well as Songjiang Boss and Ziqing .” "Okay! If it's good, I won't eat it. Where is it?" "It hasn't been decided yet, someone will inform you right away, or, after you get dressed, come and sit with me first." Zhu Daqi said, "I have something to ask you to ask." "It's all up to you." Fatty Zhang wiped his mouth, picked up a mandarin jacket hanging on the wall, asked the clerk to take care of him, and accompanied Zhu Daqi out. We started talking on the road, and Zhu Daqi asked, "Are you familiar with Wu Daotai?" "You mean Shanghai Dao Wu Daotai? I'm not familiar with it. What's the matter?" Fatty Zhang said, "There is a fellow from his hometown who knows his family very well. Can I ask Zhu Daotai for something?" "I didn't entrust him, but he entrusted me. He said that a member of his clan wants to open a bank and entrusted me to take care of it. I don't understand it. Why didn't I hear it at the tea party?" "That's easy! I'll run for you." Fatty Zhang was about to turn around after saying that. "Not busy, not busy!" Zhu Daqi stopped him and said, "After drinking, it's early, so I'll go there, otherwise it doesn't matter if I go early tomorrow morning." "He went out early in the morning, and I have to do business, so I'd better go there now, finish my 'official business', and I'm sure it's good to have a drink." Seeing that he was so enthusiastic, there was no need to stop him, as it would ruin his interest, so Zhu Daqi just said: "Then, I will wait for you in the dormitory." "Okay. There will be an answer in half an hour at most." So the two broke up halfway, Zhang Fatty went north, Zhu Daqi went south to go home, walked to the alley, and met A Xiang—he was going to Zhang Fatty's shop to inform Yes, Sun Ziqing and Songjiang Boss did not agree on the location or time, and decided to go to Zhu's house first. As soon as the conversation was over, I heard the horseshoes and the wheels rumbling. In a blink of an eye, Sun Ziqing drove his "Hensmey" and came lightly. "Fifth brother!" Zhu Daqi didn't see the boss of Songjiang for a few days, and he was very affectionate, and shouted loudly: "Why didn't you come back until today?" Sun Ziqing had already pulled the reins at this time, and when the car stopped, Songjiang Boss jumped out, "I heard that Uncle Liu is leaving today!" he said. "Yes! I just left this afternoon." "What a pity! I'm one step late." "How is it?" Zhu Daqi couldn't help being concerned when he heard his tone, fearing that he had missed some opportunity that would be beneficial to Liu Bucai's trip. "Go in and talk!" After Sun Ziqing got out of the car, he handed over the reins to the groom who was sitting on the reverse seat at the back of the car. The three of them went upstairs together and discussed where to eat first.Zhu Daqi also made an appointment with Fatty Zhang. He didn’t know when he would come, and he needed to sit and watch at home. He felt that it was better to be quiet than to move, so he accepted Sun Ziqing’s opinion and asked Ah Xiang to go to the nearby Huiguan to order a table of "hecai" ——The tricks that the restaurant came up with to adapt to the increasingly prosperous market, four plates and four bowls, you can eat it as soon as it is delivered, and you don’t need to cook it again. It is most suitable for people who play cards. Shanghai people call it "playing cards" and "penghe", so It's called "He Cai". Now it's time to talk about business, Zhu Daqi asked Song Jiang's boss, "How can it be a pity that I didn't meet Uncle Liu a little later?" "As far as Songjiang is concerned, I have newly installed a 'pile'. If Uncle Liu can meet with me, it will be more convenient for me to tell him a few words." "Actually, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if our sandship goes straight to Jinshanwei and doesn't pass through Songjiang." Sun Ziqing then asked Zhu Daqi: "See you? What do you say?" This refers to Wu Xu.Zhu Daqi then told the story of the meeting in detail, and mentioned that Wu Xu's people were going to open a bank, and told them by the way that Fatty Zhang would come later. Sun Ziqing understood this matter as soon as he heard it, but Song Jiang's boss didn't understand it very well, and blurted out: "Little uncle, you must be careful about making friends with Chang Mao." "of course." "No!" Boss Songjiang knew from his tone that he didn't understand what he said, "It's not that we want to guard against long hair, but we want to guard against our own people." "My own people!" Zhu Daqi was puzzled, "Which people are you referring to?" "It's not the group of people in the yamen. Don't get accused of being a 'bandit'. It's not easy to clean up by jumping into the Huangpu River." Hearing this, Zhu Daqi and Sun Ziqing unexpectedly had the same question in their hearts: Wu Xu had a different idea, Zhu Daqi felt that Wu Xu had no need to harm him, while Sun Ziqing had a deeper understanding and believed that Wu Xu If Xu wants to harm someone, he has to think about it first, Zhu Daqi is not easy to provoke, he dare not! Having said that, there is some vigilance, "Fifth brother's words are good." Zhu Daqi said, "Everyone should be careful in their actions." At this moment, Sun Ziqing had to ask a question. According to his original thinking, Yang Fang was timid and would not take responsibility for Sha Chuan, so let him not do it. He made an agreement with Boss Yu at noon tomorrow, and sent the boat out without hesitation.Such an approach is quite bold and completely inconsistent with the "careful" warning. "I'm sorry!" Songjiang boss shook his head and said, "It's better to ask for help than to ask for yourself. I will go to Songjiang in person, take Xiao Wang with me, and make an appointment with Liu Sanshu to re-arrange. The ammunition Chen Shifa wants is in my bag." I will definitely deliver it to him." The boss of Songjiang has always done things in a down-to-earth way, and he must be 80% sure of volunteering like this, but Zhu Daqi still said: "If Brother Wu can do it himself, things will be done. It's just that I'm a little worried!" "It doesn't matter." Boss Songjiang replied, "I said it doesn't matter, it definitely doesn't matter. Now we discuss, when to leave? " "Come on, there's something wrong with this. Uncle Liu can go to Jinshanwei today. Naturally, he has already agreed with Chen Shifa to replace him with a shachuan ammunition, and he must have gone to Jiaxing to meet his family. Now he suddenly changed his mind, and Uncle Liu You are still kept in the dark, and if you don't talk to each other like this, it will ruin things!" "That's easy. When we arrive in Songjiang, I'll send someone to send Xiao Wang to Jiaxing immediately." The boss of Songjiang asked, "Can Xiao Wang find Uncle Liu in Jiaxing?" "Just find Mrs. Sun Xiang." Zhu Daqi said. "Yes! I was going to join forces with Sun Xiangtai on this matter. When I go to Songjiang to see the situation, maybe I will go to Jiaxing in person. Chen Shifa's work is going well, it's best. If there is anything trivial, just ignore him and we will Let's do our own thing. Anyway, little uncle," Songjiang boss said firmly, "I will definitely bring the old lady back together with everyone in the house!" This is a great comfort to Zhu Daqi.He was thinking in his heart that the Songjiang boss's trip to Takahashi must be due to their youth gang "opening the incense hall" or something. There was an extremely important meeting, and they agreed on a proper plan to "merge the ship with the old wharf" , That's why he has such a great deal of confidence. Although they are close friends, Zhu Daqi is much deeper and more sophisticated than Liu Bucai. He feels that there is an "openness" outside the door, and it is better not to ask about the things in their "threshold".In fact, he was not allowed to ask any more questions, because Fatty Zhang had arrived. He was acquainted with Boss Songjiang and Sun Ziqing, but they hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they had to exchange some pleasantries. Then, after the dishes were delivered, and they had a drink at the table, he began to talk about the results of his inquiries. "The name of this money store is 'Xinsheng' Guan." Speaking of this, Fatty Zhang drinks and eats vegetables, which seems to be a secret.Sun Ziqing thought he was hateful and wanted to play tricks on him, "Don't worry about whether you believe in Sheng or not. Uncle," he said, "I have an important matter in mind. " What Sun Ziqing was talking about was not only unimportant, but also irrelevant. It was about the use of foreign general Huaer, which was offered by a scholar named Wang Tao in Suzhou.Both Zhu Daqi and Songjiang Boss were surprised at first, why did he suddenly insert this gossip?When Fatty Zhang saw that he couldn't find a chance to say something, and his throat seemed unbearably itchy, he realized that Sun Ziqing was playing a prank on purpose, so he looked at each other and kept his mouth shut, trying to hold back the laughter. Sun Ziqing, on the other hand, was very serious, and after finishing his speech, he looked at Fatty Zhang and said, "Now it's your turn to talk about Xinsheng." Fatty Zhang was very frustrated, so he kept his words simple.It turned out that Wu Xu set up this account to speculate.Because the donations are so open, and the wealthy households in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces who have taken refuge in the barracks do not know how many people there are. Some want to be officials; Entering Beijing to take the Beiwei Township Examination, so the donation was exchanged, and "business is booming".Wu Xu, acting as the governor of the Jiangsu feudal clan, is in charge of this matter. He intends to absorb the cash to do business, and specially set up Xinsheng;This is the origin of Fatty Zhang's saying "If you believe in him, he will be promoted". "This method is too obscene!" Zhu Daqi said disdainfully, "It is true that you can rely on official power to do business, but you must not use power to bully others. If you follow Xinsheng's approach, you will offend all colleagues. Only your Xinsheng notes are valuable and can be donated. Officer, the bank notes of other companies are not bank notes? Think about it, what is this called? In my opinion, Xinsheng will not last long! Wu Jian is in office, and everyone has nothing to do with it. Will Xinsheng be accepted?" "Not only can Xinsheng not do it for long, I'm afraid Wu Guan can't do it for long!" Sun Ziqing also shook his head, "I've never heard of it. There is a rule to designate the bank note when reporting donations. Beijing Li'Master Du' got wind of it, and read him a copy, for fear that he would run away if he can't eat. Little uncle, this Wu Jian is not a colleague, I think it's better to have less dealings with him." This refers to the instigation against Chen Shifa.The matter was confidential, and Fatty Zhang was present, so it was inconvenient for Zhu Daqi to say so, so he just nodded his head to express his understanding. Because of Fatty Zhang, we could only talk about Fengyue during the dinner.A meal lasted until eleven o'clock, and the host and guest broke up happily. The next afternoon, Sun Ziqing rushed to Zhu's house excitedly and told Zhu Daqi that he had talked with Songjiang boss all morning, and everything was ready, and he borrowed two sand boats from Yu boss to transport the arms to Songjiang. As soon as Chen Shifa saw the arms , of course I believed everything.Then, Xiao Wang made a special trip to Jiaxing, met Liu Bucai, and explained what happened, and everything "closed". "Okay!" Zhu Daqi asked: "There is one thing that I still don't quite understand. Why did Fifth Brother go to Pudong and suddenly become energetic, as if everything can be enjoyed?" "I don't know much about what happened at their threshold. Generally speaking, there is a road in Pudong. It can also be said that there is a very capable brother who opened up the waterway of Songjiang." Sun Ziqing said again: "Little uncle, I also want to tell you a piece of news. The Huai army is coming, and it has hired five ships from the Taikoo Shipping Company. They will be sent directly to Shanghai, and they will be able to dock tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The situation here is about to change." gone." Zhu Daqi nodded and remained silent; he pondered for a while and said: "'A strong dragon can't beat a snake', the Huai army has just arrived, and it may not be easy to set up camp smoothly. Let's see when they come. If they are really able to fight and are willing to fight, I will help him.Of course, Chen Shifa's line does not have to be drawn to Wu Daotai. " "Little uncle's idea is very stable. We do it ourselves. We will see what we can do in the future, and then add our strength to it. All in all, the most important thing is to have our own strength."