Cao Jianqiu, Zheng Yizhi, and Liang Yanqing were all famous comprador businessmen in Tianjin, and before the traverser landed, they were all influential figures in Tianjin's business circles, and they were also the figures that Zhao Weizhong needed to look up to in the past. After many years of playing the role of intermediaries between local Chinese and foreign businessmen, the three of them have not only accumulated a lot of wealth, but also accumulated a large number of contacts between foreign businessmen and mainland China, from Hebei and Shanxi.

Although the East China government occupied Tianjin, it did not have much impact on the business operation of the three people, but because the East China government attached importance to the development of industry and economy, it needed a large number of raw materials and material supplies, and the three of them had many ways in this regard, so the East China government and the three people had close business contacts, because it was in the early days, and the amount of cooperation with the three people was very large, and because Zhao Weizhong and the three people knew each other, so Zhao Weizhong was mainly responsible for contacting and negotiating with the three people.

Later, with the expansion of the strength of the East China government, the proportion of business cooperation between the three people and the East China government is declining, but the absolute amount has increased significantly, and after the industrial development of the East China government, it also began to provide consumer goods to the Chinese society, and the three not only imported materials to the East China government, but also sold the industrial products produced by the East China government to Hebei, Shanxi and other places. In the past few years, we have cooperated well with each other. All three have seen a significant increase in their assets.

As the East China government prepared for the Far East War, the materials needed increased greatly, and the opportunity for the three of them came, so two years ago, the three of them united more than 30 businessmen from Hebei and Shanxi to establish the Changhe Chamber of Commerce, which could not only better cooperate with the East China government, but also improve their own level.

Originally, the two sides seemed to be able to cooperate for a long time and achieve a win-win situation, but after the breakdown of the Portsmouth negotiations, Britain and France decided to send troops to the war, and in order to weaken the strength of the East China government, they asked their merchants in China to fight the East China government from the economic level, and stop or reduce trade with the East China government.

The three of them had close contacts with British and French merchants, and also had large commercial contacts with the East China government, so they were also the key personnel of Britain and France. On the one hand, he threatened to cut off business contacts with the three people, and on the other hand, he promised some benefits and benefits, coerced and induced the three people, and promised to let the Changhe Chamber of Commerce be the general agent of Tianjin after defeating the East China government, and demanded that the Changhe Chamber of Commerce terminate trade with the East China government.

On the one hand, the three of them were under the coercive pressure of Britain and France, and on the other hand, because the three of them had a lot of contacts with British and French businessmen, they also had a certain understanding of the world and knew that Britain and France were strong. Japan and others did not have a sufficient understanding of the general situation in the world, so they also misjudged the current situation, believing that in the next war, due to the participation of Britain and France, the East China government would have very little chance of winning, and on the contrary, the possibility of losing was extremely great, and the probability of even extinction was not small.

Of course, before the naval battle in the Taiwan Strait, there were indeed many people who thought like Cao Jianqiu, Zheng Yizhi, and Liang Yanqing, after all, since the Opium War, there have been nearly 70 years, and the Qing court has almost no victories in foreign countries. Except for Russia, other countries basically sent troops from the colonies, while the Netherlands, a small country in Java that protected overseas Chinese, could boast but was not enough to strengthen itself; although the Far East War was fought in defeat between Japan and Russia, after all, it was not enough to serve the people by waiting for work at ease, so the East China Government really did not have any real achievements that could be achieved. Britain and France, on the other hand, are recognized as the first and second strongest countries in the world, and this time they have sent a huge fleet with great momentum, which under normal circumstances makes it difficult for people to be optimistic about the East China government. And what can make people choose to continue to support the East China government is not only that they have formed a community of interests with the East China government, but also the Chinese who hold a sense of family and country and a simple patriotic concept.

If Cao Jianqiu, Zheng Yizhi, and Liang Yanqing are not patriotic, they are not all right, but the three are obviously more of their own personal interests, and the conditions offered by Britain and France are indeed quite tempting, the three finally decided to manipulate the Chamber of Commerce, and the East China government to carry out a comprehensive cut, cut off all business contacts with the East China government, and several batches of materials have been received deposits, ready to be shipped, but the three not only deducted the goods, but also did not return the deposit.

And Zhao Weizhong also found the three of them to theorize twice, persuading the three of them not to do things too desperately, leaving a way back for themselves, it is best to only reduce the amount of trade with the East China government, but not to cut it all off, you might as well hide from the foreigners, and maintain a certain amount of trade with the East China government, so that the foreigners also have an explanation, and the East China government also leaves room for redemption, with the current energy of the three people, it is possible to operate like this in a short period of time.

But at this time, the three of them all believed that the East China government would be defeated, and they were also carried away by the promise of the general agent of Britain and France in Tianjin, and they were also dizzy for a while, so their attitudes were very resolute, and the three of them also had feelings of envy, jealousy and hatred for Zhao Weizhong, because before the Gengzi Kingdom changed, Zhao Weizhong was just an ant in the eyes of the three, and Zhao Weizhong took the line of overseas Chinese, and a few years of hard work was above the three of them, and the hearts of the three of them were of course unhappy, and now that they decided to cut it, the negative emotions suddenly broke out, and they naturally had nothing good to say about Zhao Weizhong, but they ridiculed Zhao Weizhong, saying that overseas Chinese could not last long, but Zhao Weizhong did not know it, I thought I could hug the thighs of overseas Chinese, so it was better to beg myself to say a few good words in front of foreigners, so as to save my life and so on.

In fact, at that time, Zhao Weizhong was not completely sure whether the East China government could defeat the expeditionary force, but after all, he had a close relationship with the East China government, and found that all overseas Chinese were very calm, and they seemed to be disdainful of the expeditionary force between words. As a result, the three of them broke up unhappily.

After the naval battle in the Taiwan Strait, the direction of the wind changed greatly, and at this time, anyone with a little brain will know that the East China government not only won the victory of this war completely, but also unified the world in the future, and established the country, that is, 10 years and 8 years, and those who were eager to cut off the East China government were also panicked, this is to offend the emperor who has not ended, so they have to find a way to repair the relationship with the East China government.

Cao Jianqiu, Zheng Yizhi, and Liang Yanqing also regretted that their intestines were green at this time, and after cutting off with the East China government, the three of them lost a lot of money, and now they are afraid that they can't even save their lives, and the three of them know each other in the East China government, and the only one who can speak can only be Zhao Weizhong, so they can only be cheeky, and prepared a generous gift to Zhao Weizhong, hoping that Zhao Weizhong can help them say good things in the East China government, and is willing to donate most of their family wealth to the East China government.

In fact, the East China government has also discussed this matter, and there is an attitude that it is not to blame for these people, because it was forced to cut off with the East China government at the beginning, after all, except for the traversers, no one is really optimistic about the East China government, and there is also pressure from the Qing court and foreign countries, and now the East China government needs to unite all the forces that can be united; but this attitude has been strongly opposed, and at the Senate Parliament, a member of the parliament said in fierce words: " If it is due to reasons that cannot be exonerated from responsibility or even guilt, then the murderer can also think that he is forced to kill by himself, and the traitor can also go abroad because he is forced to do anything. "Got a consistent drink.

In the end, the East China Government made a decision that, under the pressure of the Qing court and foreign countries, those who still had certain ties with the East China Government could be exempted from responsibility, but they were not allowed to be the targets of government support in the future; and it would not be forgiven for completely severing ties with the East China Government, which would even be harmful to the East China Government, and that the East China Government would sever all relations with it, and in the future propaganda, it would be branded as treason and traitor. For businessmen, it is forgivable that they only reduce the volume of trade with the East China government, but still maintain a certain amount of trade contacts, but they completely cut off the East China government's trade, and even withhold deposits and goods, or deliberately raise prices, and maliciously compete, they cannot be exempted from responsibility and will forever be hit on the pillar of shame.

From Zhao Weizhong's heart, it is not impossible to reconcile with the three of them, after all, Zhao Weizhong is a businessman, everything can be measured by interests, but it depends on whether the benefits offered by the three are enough, so instead of completely breaking off relations with the other party, it is better to maximize his own interests. However, after the East China Government's handling principles were determined, Zhao Weizhong also knew that he would definitely be able to reconcile with the three people, of course, Zhao Weizhong did not feel a pity, Bi Jing East China Government has become a general trend, and will establish the cause of the country in the future, and he is also a meritorious man from the dragon, so why should he care about this little profit? So he avoided the three people's requests to see each other, and all the gifts were refused, except for the deposit and goods that were withheld at the beginning, of course.

Cao Jianqiu, Zheng Yizhi, and Liang Yanqing are also able to bend and stretch, Zhao Weizhong is not seen, so he guards the door every day, or goes to the shop to leave a message, which makes Zhao Weizhong tireless, so he ordered all his shops not to interact with the three of them, and the shopkeepers of other shops naturally followed, only Han Jin didn't know the depths, took 500 silver dollars, and ran to Zhao Weizhong to intercede for the three of them.

After explaining the cause and effect clearly, Zhao Weizhong said: "You said, what Jin'er did is not annoying. ”

Although Han Yuping is a woman's family, after all, he is from an official family, and he still understands the stakes, so he couldn't help but change his face greatly, and said: "Foolish thing, is this kind of thing also done? Don't blame your uncle for being angry and complaining about you, if your father knows, he will have to break your leg." ”

Han Jin was also taken aback, he is also the son of an official eunuch, although he has a little bit of a gentleman's temperament, but he is not really unreasonable, he was just greedy for the 500 silver dollars before, and when he heard Zhao Weizhong explain the reason, he was also scared into a cold sweat, if this is left in the Qing court, it is a big crime of colluding in rebellion, and 10 heads are not enough to cut off, so he hurriedly knelt down and said: "Uncle, aunt, don't tell my father, I will go and return the money immediately, and I will not dare to do it in the future." ”