Section 66 Dedication

He specially went to the political envoy department to check, and it turned out that this Lingao Wu county commander was still a well-known capable member in the province recently, and he was very popular in the political envoy department. On several occasions, he reported the great victory of the bandits, and he also sent the heads of many pirates and bandits to the prefecture -- among them, many of them were important criminals named and pursued by the prefecture and province. Moreover, the last time he reported a typhoon, he did not ask the government or province for money and grain, but he gave relief to the people himself, and did not make trouble for the displaced people -- the number of households in the county has increased. Last year's money and grain taxes were also paid in full.

Wu County Ling has been "Zhuo Wei" for two consecutive years, and if he continues to do this, it is already expected that he will be promoted to the prefect.

On the one hand, thieves occupy the shop, and on the other hand, Lingao County has become an unprecedented "capable member" -- this is indispensable for the collusion of officials and officials. At the very least, it is to maintain a tacit understanding.

Thinking about it, Wu County Ling has gained a lot of benefits from thieves in the past few years. Lu Yizhong thought to himself, if he wanted to come this time, he could have a good talk with him. If Wu Mingjin is a knowledgeable and understanding person, not only can the black yarn of the Lingao County Order continue to be worn, but also go to the next level.

When the staff were planning the strategy, Li Xijue asked:

"Why don't you arrest Guo Yi, Pei Lixiu and others immediately? They're at least a wig. The inside story of the real man will be known in the first instance. If they are not arrested now, they will inevitably flee when they hear the rumors, and they will also leak the military plane. ”

"No, no." Lu Yizhong shook his head again and again, "Several industries of the purple brand are in full view of the city of Guangzhou. I don't know how many people are staring. Once sealed, it is extremely difficult to dispose of. It's better not to stay still for a while. As for Guo Yi and others, they are just fish swimming at the bottom of the kettle. With Nanhai County and Guangzhou Prefecture sending more guards to guard the public, he won't be able to run away - he has such a big family business in Guangzhou, how can he easily abandon and escape? ”

It is precisely because the three industries of the purple brand are the big fat meat that everyone covets, so they can't start now. Once Guo Yi and others are arrested and imprisoned, of course, the trade name will be seized as a reverse property. How to deal with it at that time has become a difficult matter, not to mention, there are some big guys in Guangzhou who want to eat a piece of meat. They were either local gentry, or celebrities in the officialdom, or eunuchs, lords, and relatives who could stretch their hands far away.

When these people come together, the matter of "dealing with adverse birth" will become a hot potato. Li Xijue couldn't help but admire the caution of his colleague when he thought of this.

Anyway, Guo Yi didn't have the word thief written on his head. It makes sense not to arrest him. Trying to catch him is just a matter of effort. "Lu Yizhong already regards Guo Yi and others as the meat of the world.

Guo Yi was now whirling in the core whirlpool of a conspiracy. He is well aware that there are not many days left in the life of Guangzhou Station. No matter how many useless struggles you make, it is inevitable that the fate of Guangzhou Station will be decided by the upcoming war on Hainan Island.

Although he had thought many times that this day would eventually come, he was still a little sad to think about what he was about to face. Everything that you built with your own hands.

The storm at the Guangzhou station was getting closer and closer, and even in the back room on Huifu Street, he could feel a chill coming. Many people are reaching out here: the little fish and shrimp are gone, and now the real predators are appearing. While cruising around the target, he stared at the fat of the three stores in the purple number, ready to swallow it in one bite.

There was no longer the calmness of the past in this safe house—a large mass of ashes in the brazier on the ground. This was left behind by burning the manuscript and materials of the telegram when Zhang Yuchen hurriedly withdrew with the radio. Now he has retreated to a secret location in the city of Guangzhou, and continues to maintain contact with Lingao.

Guo Yi was holding the telegram from the Ministry of Colonial Trade sent from Lingao, and although Skaide recognized the Foreign Intelligence Bureau's idea of "evacuating and protecting mines" from the Guangzhou and Leizhou stations, he still had a glimmer of hope for keeping the Guangzhou station. In his telegram, he again demanded that while preparations for retreat be made, the possibility of a continued presence in Canton should be sought. In the telegram, the Ministry of Colonial Trade agreed that if there was no other choice, the mode of treatment of the contribution could be considered - Gao Ju or Liang Cunhou were the preferred candidates

"Hmph, it's too late to think about it now." Guo Yi already knows who is spying on the big fish of Guangzhou Station - they are all heavyweight predators. Liang Cunhou has such a background, not to mention it, even Yang Gonggong behind him, I am afraid that he will not dare to provoke them at all.

I was in a daze, and suddenly the bell in the room rang. He quickly struck a match and threw it into the brazier, and only then opened the door and walked out.

The courtyard where the safe house is located is accessible only to the most attentive servants, all of whom are heavily vetted Aboriginal staff. The others could only ring the bell and ask to see the guard outside the moon cave gate in the courtyard after registering with the gatekeeper.

According to the discipline of the Canton station, the patriarch could not be called out of the safe house without something urgent.

The person who came to see him was Sun Chang, which was a very unusual thing. As Sun Chang, he has to deal with many things, and he will never suddenly ask to see him for no reason.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone came to see me."

"Didn't you say that all acquaintances were gone?" Guo Yi knew that the person who would come here was by no means a good person. Seeing that there are many entanglements, it is better to simply avoid them.

"It's a big sign." Sun Chang stepped forward and whispered, "It's the family of Emperor Tian's family." ”

"What?" Guo Yi didn't understand it.

"Tian Huangqin, it is Tian Guifei's father." Sun Chang knew that Guo Yi was an overseas person, and he knew very little about the characters of the Ming Dynasty, "Tian Guimai is the favorite concubine of the emperor......"

"So that's the country?" Guo Yi immediately thought of the "national zhang" in film and television operas, who are generally not good people. Generally speaking, the feelings of the common people are relatively accurate.

"Yes, it's Qi Wan." Sun Chang said a special term at that time, Qi Wan was also a maiden relative of the royal family. Tian Guozhang is the Qi Wan of this generation, and his daughter is being favored, so she is different from others in terms of fame and prestige, "Tian Guozhang's momentum is second only to Lord Jiadingbo." "Jiadingbo is the father of Empress Zhou.

"Why did he come to Guangzhou?" Guo Yi felt strange, this Tian Guozhang should not be in Beijing. I won't come to Guangzhou for no reason.

"Where is he himself, he is a slave of his family, who specializes in helping him." Sun Chang said, "I'm afraid this person's intentions are not good." ”

"It's nothing more than coveting our property." Guo Yi originally wanted to say no, let Sun Chang deal with a few words and let him leave, and after thinking about it, it was better to see him. Now that several parties have revealed their ambitions for the purple name, it is not a way to delay time by letting them contain each other.

Walking in Zuihou is a round-faced man in his forties. He wears a ** hat, a parrot green silk robe, and three silk official shoes under his feet. A dress that is neither expensive nor cheap. When he came to the courtyard, he was zhanzhu - seeing that Guo Yi did not descend to greet him, he spread his legs, put his hands behind his back, and turned his little eyes gloomily and glared at Sun Chang fiercely.

"A trickster dares to hold on to it like this," he scolded in a low voice, and then came up from the main steps.

Guo Yi met him and knew that the person who came was called Tian Da, a "family member" in Tian Hongyu's mansion. According to the Ming Dynasty system, royal spouses such as queens, concubines, and concubines were selected from among the commoners' "good families". This kind of family is generally not a giant family. The so-called "family members" are basically from their own investment after they are developed, and there are many local "wicked people" who rely on the shili of the imperial family to do evil outside, even for the imperial family and for their own benefits.

At first glance, this Tian Da does not look like a slave, but rather a local "live haunter" and "hit the six cities" and other characters.

"Master Guo," Tian Da's gaze on the maid who brought the tea did not retract until the other party withdrew from the room, "You are worthy of being the richest man in Guangzhou, and you are very arrogant."

"Where, Guo is just a foreign businessman, and it is true that he made a fortune by selling a little foreign goods, but the word richest man is still far behind." Guo Yi smiled.

Tian Da did not hide his intentions, and bluntly proposed that Guangzhou Station would dedicate the three brands of the Zi family to the Tian family.

According to him, Guo Yi wanted to "honor" 40,000 taels of silver for the national abbot at a time, and 60,000 taels of silver every year in the future.

“…… As long as it becomes the industry of Tian Guozhang's family, no official in the world will dare to embarrass you. Tian Da spat and said, "No one dares to say that you are a pirate." ”

This number made Guo Yi gasp - this is really a lion's mouth. Don't say that he doesn't have this intention at all, even if he does, he will be criticized in the Senate if he agrees to this condition.

"This is a very important matter, and I can think about it for a few days."

"Think or not. It's just that if you think about it again, you'll have to think about it and go to prison. Why is Boss Guo so closed? Tian Da unceremoniously pointed at his nose with a fan, "The imperial court is going to send troops to suppress your Australian nest, and when the time comes, your family will all be sold in the official ranks, and even the grass under your feet will not be surnamed Guo." Now I have donated my lord, a mere 100,000 pieces of silver, to ensure the safety of your people and money - the accounting is very good."

finally sent this Tian Da away, and Guo Yi went on to meet several messengers who either explicitly or implicitly asked him to surrender. Even the exaltation sent his chief butler to come twice. Tell him that Xiao Yang Gongcheng wants to come to Guangdong to buy ivory. If you want to dedicate it to the name of Yang Gonggong, it is a good opportunity.

"Grandpa Yang is very fond of your Australian goods. If you surrender to his disciples this time, Yang Gonggong will look at you differently. ”

Guo Yi had no choice but to say one case at a time, "I have to think about it for a few days", and first make a plan to delay the army.

This is despite the fact that the Ministry of Colonial Trade has agreed that "contributions" may be considered as a measure of property preservation during a state of emergency. But he was well aware that if it had been done, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the Senate*.

On the good side, it is a good way out to surrender to Tian Guozhang or Yang Gonggong, which can not only provide a strong protective umbrella, but also establish a very extensive relationship between the government and the opposition.

However, he knew very well that there was no such thing as a free lunch. How much appetite Yang Gonggong and Tian Guozhang have, and what their temperament is, are all unknown. Now it's said that it's 60,000 taels a year, and what if it will increase in the future? How can they deal with the personnel and management of the three purple brands that they want to directly intervene? Or the worst-case scenario: as the proprietor in the legal sense, he can sweep Guo Yi and others out of the house at any time and directly occupy these three purple enterprises. He has seen this kind of thing many times in Guangzhou, how many small and medium-sized shops that originally wanted to take refuge in the gentry, because the owner of the donation suddenly turned his face and did not recognize people, and ended up bankrupt and ruined.

"It's a matter of principle." He muttered. In his hesitation, he suddenly understood: the destruction of Guangzhou Station was inevitable, and the sound of Lingao's cannons would also announce the rebirth of Guangzhou Station. Allowing it to exist now will only add to the trouble in the future.

This will suddenly open his mind. Zicheng Ji, Ziming Building, Zizhen Zhai, the existence of Australian goods without Australians is an empty shell without a soul, and whoever wants it will let whoever takes it.

He hurried back to the safe house and quickly drafted a telegram informing him of his specific plans.

In his telegram he explicitly opposed the contribution. This will add to the complexity of their return to Guangzhou in the future. Once the trade name is owned by someone else, it will be very difficult to take it back, and continuing to operate will cause problems that are difficult to control.

Guo Yi reported in the telegram his response plan: he was going to start a retreat from now on, and evacuate most of the vetted indigenous staff - not all of them to Lingao, but to the counties under the Guangzhou Prefecture to live temporarily. The local craftsmen developed a half-year settling-in allowance and were temporarily sent home.

Guo Yi believes that the Guangzhou station will be closed for a few months at most, and a year at most. As the battle situation in Lingao becomes clearer, it will be reopened. He is confident in that.

Once you've set a policy, it's much easier to get things done. Guo Yi immediately summoned the people of Guangzhou Station to hold a secret meeting. It was decided that Delong Bank would settle the accounts with the purple number on the same day, and all the outstanding deposits would be written off and cleared, so as to avoid the official going to Delong to recover the deposits once the purple number was sealed.

For the goods in stock, he has sent Sun Chang to the Gao family to negotiate and sell all the inventory goods of Zichengji to the Gao family on credit. The Gao family will definitely laugh at it now.

"The collection date of the Dragon Boat Festival in May has arrived, and we owe the Gao family, and the Gao family owes us, and we have to settle the accounts." Zhang Xin said.

"Try to flush out the accounts." Guo Yi said, "The surplus silver was brought back for later use. ”

"What is it for?"

"Withdrawals payable." Guo Yi said. Many people who have deposited money in the purple number have now heard the news and are asking for withdrawals one after another. Many people don't even ask for interest, they just want to withdraw the principal.

The money was actually deposited in Delong, Guangzhou, but now for the sake of safety, Guo Yi didn't want to have too much money with Delong, so he decided to only offset the accounts with Delong, and the repayment of the deposit was directly executed by Zizihao.

As for the payment owed by other merchants to Guangzhou Station, it will be collected immediately when it is due. Originally, Zhang Xin considered trying to transport the silver back to Lingao or buying goods to ship back. But now I am afraid that it will be difficult to do so - according to the reports of my subordinates, there have been a lot of public eyeliners in the vicinity recently, and I am afraid that the transportation and trading of large quantities of silver will not be able to be transported at all, and even if they are carried out, they will not be able to hide. Guo Yi instructed him to simply use all the money he got back to clean up the accounts.

"What people owe us, need not be hurried to pay it back - they will not dare not pay it later; We owe to others and pay them all. The silver remained in his hands, and it was also cheapened for the corrupt officials in Guangzhou. Guo Yi said, "If we want to leave, we must also leave a reputation for Australians who keep their promises." ”

"Understood." Zhang Xin nodded, "Originally, I was worried that it would not be easy to deal with the situation of squeezing out the deposits, but now this batch of money collected should be enough." ”

As for books, title deeds, house deeds, deeds, IOUs, receipts...... All kinds of credentials, he has long taken care of all the people to pack and prepare to transfer out, and he has secretly destroyed all the ledgers that deal with Delong, and most of the people here do not know Delong's true face, and it is very likely that he can be preserved.

"That's our 'change of day.'" Guo Yi said to Zhang Xin, "When we come back in the future, this is the proof of recovering the capital." ”

Zhang Xin asked: "How to transport these dozens of boxes of ledgers?" ”

Guo Yi said; "Transfer out in batches. It is best that this batch of ledgers can be transported back to Lingao, if it cannot be done for a while, it will be stored in a secret base for the time being. ”

While he was talking, a servant came; Shen Fan is here.

"Ask him to come in." Guo Yi was originally going to talk to Shen Fan about the disposal of Zizhen Zhai.

The "proprietor" Shen Fan was in a hurry, and even the usual etiquette was waived, "The government really wants to seize Zizhen Zhai?" ”

"How can this be" Shen Fan was so anxious that he wiped his sweat, "Didn't the villain suggest that he surrender to the Liang family?" ”

"Even if it is dedicated to the Liang family now, the Liang family may not dare to ask for it." Guo Yi told him about Tian Da's visit.

"What? Tian Guozhang also intended to ......"

"Yes, with him reaching out, who else dares to ask for it?" Guo Yi shook his head and said, "I have made up my mind, I'd rather be broken than broken." There is no room for us in this Guangzhou city, so we can just go......"

"You're going back to Australia?" Shen Fan said urgently. He has been working for Guo Yi for more than two years, and the guests and hosts complement each other, and he is also very happy that he can still be such a prosperous shopkeeper in his old age.

Now it is suddenly said that the government is going to seal it, and Guo Dongzhu has to return to China. Shen Fan couldn't help but have a thought in his heart: How can this Ming world not allow people to do business and live.

"I've got to get out and hide." Guo Yi whispered, "If you stay here, I'm afraid you will have to suffer a lawsuit for no reason." ”

"Is it so serious?"

"Exactly, I also wanted to talk to you about the disposition of Zizhen Zhai......

"Yes......" Shen Fan saw that his face was solemn, and he knew that it was not a lie. Thinking that this young man has a life-saving grace for his grandson, he treats himself well. Seeing that such a thriving industry with flowers and brocades was about to collapse, I couldn't help but feel sad and sighed heavily.

"How much more goods are there in Zizhenzhai?"

"Not much." He pulled a booklet out of his bosom, "This is the stock book." He hurriedly said, "In the past few days, there have been more people who have come to the counter to withdraw deposits......