Because he stayed in Beijing as a hostage with Wu Yingxiong since he was a child, he delayed the opportunity to exercise martial arts and hone in the army, so although the three brothers of the Wu family were loyal, they did not play much role in protecting Wu Yuanming. But the three brothers have another advantage, that is, they are very experienced and competent in handling the trivial matters of life. No, Wu Yuanming just arranged for them to go to Zhangluo to open a money bank, and in less than a day, the three brothers took the two branch shops of the original Jufeng Silver together with the silver treasury that was smashed by the refugees, and smashed out thousands of taels of silver to redecorate the storefront and rebuild the silver storefront, and on the day of the 10th day of the first month of February, when the imperial court paid the military salary, the two stores took on a new look, and hired the shopkeeper, account and man who originally belonged to Jufeng Yinhao, and they could open for business at any time.

The process of delivery of military salaries was very smooth, Kangxi's internal affairs office already had a sea of gold and silver in preparation for the construction of the Qianqing Palace and the Chengde Summer Resort, and even the effort to raise cash everywhere was left, and the first batch of 8 million taels could be directly loaded and transported to Yunnan, Wu Yuanming also withheld 30% of the cash silver promised by his father on the grounds of buying horse material in the north and temporarily stored it in his own cellar, and the remaining 5.6 million taels of silver set off from Beijing on the afternoon of the 10th day of the second lunar month, and was escorted to Yunnan by the Green Battalion Army of Zhili. Accompanying those who were escorted to Yunnan were the family of seven of Wang Xu, the former head of the household department, and there were no accidents during the period.

At this point, the silver trumpet prepared by Wu Yuanming has everything in place, and it is scheduled to open on the twelfth day of the first month, and the only thing missing is the name of the silver trumpet. Originally, according to Wu Yuanming's meaning, this silver number name wanted to ask Yao Qisheng to personally inscribe it, but Yao Qisheng proposed that the silver number belonged to Wu Sangui's family, and the name of the store should be thought of by Wu Yuanming himself, so that Wu Yuanming, who did not have much ink in his stomach, really had a headache - it can't be called the People's Bank of China, right? After pondering and pondering, Wu Yuanming shamelessly gave his silver trumpet a name that will definitely be famous for future generations - Citigroup silver trumpet! Ruthlessly plagiarized the banking industry in later generations!

On the day of 11 February, Wu Yuanming's housekeeper Wu Fu and his family of four were commanded by Wu Yuanming to send invitations all over the capital, inviting Beijing officials and wealthy businessmen and princes and magnates in Beijing to attend a banquet in Dongxing Garden the next day. Of course, in view of the current situation in Beijing officialdom, Wu Yuanming is still very particular about entertaining, because he invited officials from the Aobai family, so Wu Yuanming, an official of the Kangxi department, did not invite any of them, and even Yao Qisheng's students Shi Lang and Suo Etu, two relatively close Kangxi officials, Wu Yuanming did not send anyone to the post, but Shi Lang's son Shi Shilun has been studying with Yao Qisheng these days, and when the time comes, he will be taken by Yao Qisheng to Dongxing Building to eat and drink for nothing.

It is convenient to have a good father to do things, and the invitations sent out by Wu Yuanming have basically not been returned, except for some officials and magnates who actually have important things to do or are sick, repeatedly refusing and some timid and fearful officials politely refused, about eighty percent of the invited guests said on the spot that they wanted to come to the banquet, and even Prince Kang Jieshu, Prince Jian Jidu and Prince An Yue Le, who were estimated to be afraid to come by Wu Yuanming and Yao Qisheng, all promised to come in person. However, when Wu Yuanming personally came to invite the most important guest, Aobai, encountered some small troubles - Aobai, who was still full of anger, did not want to get closer to Wu Sangui, but under the repeated persuasion of Bamburshan and Mulima, Aobai reluctantly agreed to Wu Yuanming's invitation, saying that he would definitely be present at that time.

The day passed quickly, just like a running account, on February 12, the two branches of Citibank Silver in Dashilar and outside the front gate were full of gongs and drums, colorful flags were flying, and there was a sea of people in front of the door, because Wu Yuanming ordered the opening of the store to scatter copper coins to the onlookers, and it was very lively. At three o'clock in the auspicious hour calculated by Yang Guangxian, the two branches lit eighteen firecrackers at the same time, and the loud sound of crackling and crackling almost deafened the ears of the onlookers, and the two branches each carried out three baskets of copper coins and threw them at the people, and in an instant, the chaos in front of the two branches could not be described, if it were not for the advance of the Shuntianfu and the Nine Cities patrol to maintain the order of the scene, I was afraid that the people who were vying for the copper coins would be able to trample to death dozens on the spot. However, the luxury of the newly opened silver account has also left a deep impression on the officials and businessmen in the capital, all inquiring about the background of this Citi silver number, under the deliberate spread of some people, the general background of the Citibank silver account is now the powerful Pingxi King Wu Sangui's news soon spread throughout the capital, plus Wu Sangui from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get a huge amount of military salary has long been a household name, to the capital after the Jufeng silver run after the stormy financial industry injected a shot in the arm, Other silver accounts in the capital all rushed to contact Wu Lu, the big shopkeeper of Citibank Silver, and asked for all the silver bills issued by Citibank to be deposited and exchanged, and the people and businessmen also dared to rest assured to charge the silver into this Citibank silver account that was extremely hard in the background. Almost overnight, Citigroup Silver indirectly monopolized the financial circulation of Beijing, and the good business and the rapid development not only surprised Wu Yuanming and Yao Qisheng, but also made Ao Bai and Kangxi and others regret their bowels - I knew that Beijing City needed a silver number to reassure the people, so I secretly started it, not to mention indirect control of financial circulation, but also to make up for a sum of pocket money.

Compared with Citigroup's business, Wu Yuanming, who had to abandon his family business and flee from Beijing sooner or later, was more concerned about the contact with Ao Bai and others in the evening, because for Wu Yuanming, only by easing the relationship with Ao Bai could he avoid the situation of being attacked on both sides, and could he continue to fan the flames and expand the internal strife of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was the result that Wu Yuanming hoped to see. Therefore, just over halfway through the time, Wu Yuanming, Yao Qisheng and others rushed to Dongxing Street, the largest and most luxurious street in Beijing, with a hundred Wu Sangui's personal soldiers.

When I arrived at the scene, the street where Dongxinglou was located had been blocked by Aobai's army, and several streets around it were also full of idle 'idlers', obviously, Aobai was unwilling to give Kangxi the opportunity to use the opportunity to go to the banquet to end his party and pot, Wu Yuanming also did not want to see such a situation, and secretly admired Aobai's carefulness, and hurriedly took the lead in entering the Dongxinglou layout that had been pre-contracted three days ago, waiting for those officials who came to the banquet. After a while, he was the first to arrive with the mud middle hall, and as soon as they met, he shouted to Wu Yuanming: "Big nephew, it's really strange that you invite guests, other official guests are all in your own home, how did you set up the place of the reception in this restaurant?" ”

"Uncle Ji, please go up quickly." Wu Yuanming played the role of running the hall, and while inviting Ji Bilong upstairs, he explained with a wry smile: "Uncle Ji doesn't know, the servants and maids in the little nephew's house suddenly resigned a few days ago, and the new maids and servants are not yet good, and they are clumsy for fear of sweeping the happiness of the adults, and a few cooks in the family can't do it, so there is no way, so I have to arrange the banquet outside." Speaking of this, Wu Yuanming whispered the reason why he really didn't want to hold a banquet in his own home, "Besides, the current situation of the little nephew is suppressed, uncle, you also know that if you invite so many officials to a banquet at home, a suspicion of forming a party for personal gain will not be able to escape, and if you invite guests in public, there will not be so much trouble." ”

"Clever." Kupilon had already guessed Wu Yuanming's true intentions, and gave Wu Yuanming a thumbs up in a low voice. At this time, downstairs in Dongxing, there was a sudden sound of horses neighing and shouting off the sedan chair, Wu Yuanming and Ji Bilong leaned out of the window to see, and saw that the green sedan chair of Aobai had fallen downstairs, and there were also Bambulshan, Sebende, Taibitu, Asha, Ge Yanha, Namo and Jishi and other cadres of Aobai, as well as a large number of Aobai relatives, and even Mulima, who had not yet healed from his injuries, came in a sedan chair. Wu Yuanming didn't expect Ao Bai to come so early, and hurriedly went downstairs with Yao Qisheng and Ji Bilong and others to greet him, and as soon as he arrived at the door of the restaurant, he saw Ao Bai wearing a silk robe coming out of the sedan chair with a gloomy face, Wu Yuanming hurriedly stepped forward to bow to Ao Bai's nephew, "Little nephew Wu Yingxiong, I have seen my uncle." ”

"Uh-huh." Ao Bai still remembered that Wu Yuanming refused to help him get the revenge of the defense of Jiucheng that day, and snorted to Wu Yuanming as a promise, turned to Ji Bilong and said: "Lao Ji likes to drink the Changchun dew of Dongxing Building so much? Arrived earlier than the old man? ”

Ji Bilong smiled and replied: "Hehe, Ao Zhongtang is smiling, the Changchun dew of this Dongxing Building comes from the Qianming Palace, and it is indeed the old man's favorite." However, the old man thinks that the lotus stamens, Hantan spring, and autumn dew white here are also good, especially the Hantan spring, the entrance is cold, but the aftertaste is warm and soft, which makes people feel like a spring breeze. ”

"No, listening to what Lao Ji said, the old man really wants to taste this wine." Ao Bai is quite a good wine, and he was a little itchy when he was boasted about it like this, and his face softened a lot. At this time, a cadre of party members in Aobai also got off the sedan chair and dismounted one after another, and were polite to Ji Bilong and Wu Yuanming in yin or yang, only Mu Lima was still righteous, and grabbed Wu Yuanming's hand affectionately and thanked: "Big nephew, I haven't thanked you for the last time, uncle, today I heard that the eldest nephew is holding a banquet in this Dongxing Building, and I am dragging the remaining half of my life to support you." ”

"Uncle is too polite, you are injured, please sit down and rest." Wu Yuanming knew that Aobai and the Mulima brothers had a good relationship, and pleasing Mulima was tantamount to currying favor with Aobai, so he hurriedly carried Mulima upstairs and said politely: "Uncle is not in good health and still comes here, it's really a little nephew's sin, I don't know if my uncle has worked the road?" Do you want to call a few Langzhong waiters? ”

"Lang Zhong doesn't have to, but it's really the way." mentioned what happened on the road to Dongxinglou, Mu Lima was furious and scolded: "Damn, I really don't know how many poor ghosts there are in this Beijing city? As soon as spring began, they came out like locusts, setting up stalls everywhere to sell things, blocking the road tightly, and my eldest brother's own soldiers couldn't catch up, if it wasn't for pulling out knives to scare them, our sedan chair and carriage would really be difficult to get here. ”

"Hehe, why didn't my uncle ask the chengguan to drive them away? The hawkers saw that the chengguan bag ran ...... than the rabbit. When Wu Yuanming found that he had lost his mouth and felt that he was shutting down, Mu Lima had already asked inexplicably: "Chengguan?" Big nephew, what is chengguan? Do we have such a yamen in the Qing Dynasty? Ao Bai also heard Wu Yuanming's new term, and he also cast a suspicious gaze on Wu Yuanming.

"What is chengguan?" Wu Yuanming had a headache and stammered to explain: "The chengguan is ...... It's a specialized ...... The tolerance for maintaining and governing the order of the city is a bit like the army, and it is like the officials of the Shuntianfu, stationed in the city, specializing in managing the streets and alleys of the city, such as environmental sanitation, occupying roads and setting up stalls, piling up sand and gravel and timber when building houses, the wells of the city, and the carriages and sedan drivers who indiscriminately solicit business. In short, their main task is to drive out the vendors who set up stalls on the streets, make the streets clean, make it easier for our officials to get around, and there are no more traffic jams...... Jammed carriages and sedan chairs. ”

"How many people are there? There are hundreds of streets in Beijing, and there are countless alleys, are the 100 or so officials in Shuntianfu enough? Mu Lima felt that what Wu Yuanming said was very ridiculous, and at this time, an official brought by Ao Bai also smiled and said: "What General Mu Lima said is that the more than 100 errand officers of the small mansion can't manage so many things, even if they insist on it, the small mansion can't support so many people with those fires and silver every year." It turned out that the official who spoke was the new Shuntian Mansion Yin Ma Yongcheng, and the current situation of law enforcement in Beijing City was naturally clearer than Wu Yuanming.

"The city management still needs the government to pay for it?" Wu Yuanming, who often dealt with chengguan when he was a traffic policeman, laughed, and just wanted to change the topic, Ao Bai suddenly said: "Virtuous nephew, you said that chengguan doesn't need the government to pay money to support him, what's going on?" Let's talk about it in detail for the old man. ”

It's been almost a month, Ao Bai finally called Wu Yuanming 'virtuous nephew' again, Wu Yuanming was overjoyed, and hurriedly explained humbly: "Uncle Hui, this is what the little nephew saw from an ancient book, which recorded that no matter how much the chengguan who maintain urban order, they don't need to pay a penny of silver to support, they want to manage the streets, they have to expel those vendors who set up stalls, what is the most effective way to expel the hawkers?" That is, of course, the confiscation of those hawkers, and as long as the hawkers are robbed once or twice, do they dare to set up stalls on the streets? As for those confiscated things, once they are sold into silver, aren't they the money of the city managers? In particular, those who drove carriages and carried sedan chairs indiscriminately to attract guests, confiscated a horse or a sedan chair and sold silver, which was enough to pay a dozen or twenty chengguan for a month. ”

"In addition to confiscating things, the chengguan can also collect law enforcement fees from the shops, and the owners of the stores are happy to pay, why?" Seeing that Ao Bai listened very attentively, Wu Yuanming said even more spittle: "Because the vendors who set up stalls and sold groceries on the street have been cleaned up, and the people have to enter the store if they want to buy things, and the business of the store has also risen, and they have made more money, and they are reluctant to pay that law enforcement fee?" In addition, there are many ways for the city management to make money, such as the shop signboard, which has always been customized by each family, not unified and standardized, and some large signboards and guins will also have an impact on road traffic. There is also garbage cleaning on the streets, and garbage removal fees can be charged to surrounding households and shops; Clean the garbage in the river, protect the water quality from pollution, and collect river cleaning fees from the people along the river; And also....... ”

"This is indeed a solution, so that it is not a problem for an ordinary street to feed a dozen chengguan at all, and if it is a bustling street, it will be even more." Ao Bai was thoughtful, his dark face was already a little happy, and Bamburshan leaned into Ao Bai's ear with a face full of ecstasy and muttered. In fact, the happy people were not only Ao Bai and Bambulshan, but even Yao Qisheng and Ji Bilong both smiled, and they all looked at Wu Yuanming with admiration, which made Wu Yuanming very inexplicable.

Finally waited for Bamburshan to finish muttering to Aobai, Aobai nodded, smiled and waved his hand to Wu Yuanming and said, "Virtuous nephew, go and greet other guests, uncle will rest here for a while, and then drink a few cups of Hantan Spring with you." ”

"Yes, uncle, sit down, little nephew, let's ask someone to serve you tea." Wu Yuanming hurriedly agreed to go out, and when he passed by Ji Bilong's side, Ji Bilong couldn't help but secretly give Wu Yuanming a thumbs up again, and said in a low voice: "Wonderful! ”

"What's wonderful? What's wonderful? Wu Yuanming became more and more confused, but when Wu Yuanming just walked out of the private room, Yao Qisheng, who had been following him, couldn't help but grab Wu Yuanming's arm and praised: "It's worthy of my godson, who is always called Hanako, to come up with such a wonderful idea!" In this way, there is another good show to watch. ”

"Father-in-law, what's there to watch?" Wu Yuanming asked in confusion. Yao Qisheng was stunned at first, but seeing that Wu Yuanming's shocked appearance did not look like a disguise, he whispered strangely: "What? Chengguan this idea, didn't you deliberately tell Aobai? Ao Bai wants to plant an army of his own in the city of Beijing, and in order to do this, he does not hesitate to risk his hand to Wu Liu, the commander of the Nine Gates, the idea you told the city management is not equivalent to sending him a way to plant an army? ”

"Boom!" This voice was not a loud noise in Wu Yuanming's head - but a real thunder in the sky, as if God really couldn't see that Wu Yuanming had come up with such a way to cut off his children and grandchildren, and wanted to use spring thunder to kill Wu Yuanming. Wu Yuanming, who opened his mouth wide and couldn't cry and laughed, didn't expect that the chengguan team he inadvertently proposed was really smashed out by Aobai with other intentions, because the existence of chengguan was too convenient for the travel of high-ranking officials and magnates, and soon spread to the plague in the large and medium-sized cities of the Qing Dynasty. But there are advantages and disadvantages, in the later rebellion of the three feudatories, the members of the chengguan team, who were hated by the people, were organized into an army by people with hearts, and became a terrifying army with combat effectiveness, and became the most troublesome opponent of Wu Yuanming's trump card army, the Tianxiong Army.