"Shanxi businessman Qiao Zhiyong, knock to see Lord Futai, Lord Futai Wanfu Jin'an. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Diametrically opposed to the bold gesture of donating military salaries, Qiao Zhiyong, who is quite famous in history, appeared in front of Wu Chaoyue in a coarse cloth dress, about forty years old, with ordinary facial features, revealing a shrewd and capable temperament, and his actions were humble when he saluted Wu Chaoyue, and he showed a strength that was neither humble nor arrogant, as if he was not very afraid of the famous Wu Chaoyue.

"Qiao Dongjia doesn't have to be polite, please get up and sit down."

was brainwashed by the mite relict drama full of loopholes, and preconceived that Qiao Zhiyong was a loyal Manchu slave, Wu Chaoyue's attitude towards Qiao Zhiyong was naturally not particularly good, but symbolically beckoned Qiao Zhiyong to get up and sit down, and did not like to personally help any famous historical figure to get up as usual. Of course, Qiao Zhiyong didn't know that he was missing the preferential treatment he deserved, and he respectfully thanked Wu Chaoyue before sitting down.

"I have heard for a long time that Qiao's family is righteous and squandering money, and I can see it today, and it really deserves its reputation." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "As soon as I made a move, I was happy to lose 300,000 taels of silver, which really surprised the official." To be honest, although there are many rich and wealthy businessmen that this official has seen, he has really never seen someone as generous as Qiao Dongjia. ”

"Just do a little bit." Qiao Zhiyong replied respectfully: "The businessmen don't dare to deceive the Futai people, when they were in Shanxi, although the businessmen also donated money many times, but each time it was at most 350,000 taels of silver, and they donated 300,000 taels of silver at once. ”

"Oh? How could such a thing happen? What kind of virtue can this official have, can he be so wrongly loved by Qiao's family? Wu Chaoyue's face was full of disbelief, and he said in his heart, who are you kid? Chen Jianbin told me a long time ago that in order to help the Manchu wild boar skin suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, you will be 4 million taels of silver as soon as you make a move, and then donate another 1 million taels every year to deceive people to go elsewhere, I can't do this.

"Lord Futai forgives the sin, the reason why the merchants donated so much this time is because the merchants had the courage to inquire about the situation of the army under your command before."

Qiao Zhiyong's answer made Wu Chaoyue a little surprised, and said: "I know that the laws and regulations in the army are strict, and every time the salary is issued, it is issued in public, and the soldier's salary is never deducted from one or two dollars. No matter how much or how little the merchants donate, they will definitely be able to distribute it exactly to the soldiers who kill the thieves and quell the rebellion, and they don't have to worry about the fact that as in other places, more than half of the military salaries donated will fall into the hands of the officials, and the soldiers can only get three or four percent or even less, so the merchants are willing to donate more. ”

Wu Chaoyue was a little stunned, and after coming back to his senses, he couldn't help but curse the loyal Manchu dog slave in his stomach, and then Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "I didn't expect that Qiao Dongjia was so meticulous, and he had only been in Hankou for a few days, and even such trivial matters had been heard clearly. ”

"Back to Lord Futai, the businessmen dare to think that this is not a trivial matter." Qiao Zhiyong retorted neither humbly nor arrogantly, and said: "The most critical reason why my Qing army has been repeatedly defeated by foreigners and long-haired is that the ***** generals are afraid of death by drinking the blood of the soldiers, and the front-line soldiers cannot receive full military salaries, so they are naturally unwilling to work for the court and the people, and naturally they have to do things that disturb the people in order to make ends meet." The people of Futai are as honest as water, love soldiers like children, and the military law is strictly effective from the top to the bottom, and the businessmen are naturally willing to do their part. ”

After that, Qiao Zhiyong added, "Also, Lord Futai, the merchants dare not deceive, the merchants have been in Hankou for a month, but the merchants have always been low-key and do not like publicity, so even many merchants in Hankou do not know that the merchants have arrived in Hankou." ”

"What? You've been in Hankow for more than a month? Wu Chaoyue, who had previously identified Qiao Zhiyong as the pioneer of auspicious pioneers, asked suspiciously: "At that time, the imperial court had not decided to transfer the auspicious domain to Hubei?" So, Qiao Dongjia, didn't you come to fight for your Shanxi Ji Domain? ”

"Lord Huifutai, it's really not." Qiao Zhiyong guessed the reason for Wu Chaoyue's doubts, so he replied calmly: "The reason why the merchants came to Hankou was that the merchants' shops in Hankou reported that the commerce and trade in Hankou were developing rapidly, all industries were prosperous, and the ten prefectures and one prefecture in Hubei were stable and peaceful under the governance of Lord Futai, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and it was the only paradise in the Central Plains provinces. I never thought that I would catch up with Ji Fantai and be transferred to Hubei, so that the Futai adults had a misunderstanding, and the businessmen were guilty. ”

Estimating that Qiao Zhiyong didn't have the courage to lie, Wu Chaoyue also had a good impression of Qiao Zhiyong, so he asked again: "Then Qiao Dongjia, what are you here to visit this official for?" ”

"Lord Huifutai, it's fine." Qiao Zhiyong said respectfully: "The businessmen came to meet the Lord Futai this time, and the main purpose is two, one is to ask to see the Lord Futai and repay his long-cherished wishes for many years, and the other is to donate silver to help the salary, now the two purposes have been achieved, if the Lord Futai is busy with official business, the businessmen will leave." ”

"What?" Wu Chaoyue was a little dumbfounded, and couldn't help but think of the plot in the TV series, and said: "Could it be that Qiao Dongjia doesn't want to talk to the official about the exchange of your ticket number?" ”

"Ticket number exchange?" Qiao Zhiyong was even more surprised than Wu Chaoyue, and asked rhetorically: "Dare to ask Lord Futai, you are also interested in the exchange of ticket numbers?" ”

Wu Chaoyue was even more dumbfounded, because Wu Chaoyue thought that Qiao Zhiyong was going to hand over Hubei's tax silver to Qiao Zhiyong for exchange like in the TV series, but he never expected Qiao Zhiyong to send 300,000 taels of silver, just to kowtow to himself in person. Surprised by his own charm, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to say casually: "I have heard for a long time that Qiao Dongjia has the idea of connecting the world, and is determined to open the ticket number to the whole country, so as to facilitate the exchange of merchants and trade, and activate the trade of the Qing Dynasty. ”

Qiao Zhiyong's body began to tremble, looking at Wu Chaoyue's face full of disbelief, after a while, Qiao Zhiyong actually left his seat and knelt down again to Wu Chaoyue, kowtowed and said: "Lord Futai knows thousands of miles, and the businessmen have indeed accumulated the idea of connecting the world for a long time, but whether it is peers and even the shopkeepers of the merchants' shops, they all say that the idea of the businessmen is just a fool's dream, and the businessmen have never dared to ask for any official help. Repay the great kindness of Lord Futai! ”

After that, Qiao Zhiyong kowtowed again and again, and his sincerity was cut to the extreme, but Wu Chaoyue was dumbfounded again, and said secretly: "It's oolong again, it turns out that this Qiao Laoxi hasn't started to do anything to connect the world, and I said it early." ”

After the embarrassment, Wu Chaoyue said casually: "It's nothing to help you, but I'm just the governor of Hubei, and I can't help you much, at most, I can only ensure that your silver car is unimpeded in Huguang, and you can also send some troops to protect your silver car to and from safely, as well as several surrounding provinces, this official can also introduce you and help you establish a silver account in Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Yunnan-Guizhou, and first get Huitong Southwest." ”

"If this is the case, the merchants will definitely donate another 500,000 taels of silver to help pay to thank the Lord for his kindness!" Qiao Zhiyong replied excitedly.

"Then you let it go, sort out the charter first, and then I will ask Yan Jingming to discuss with you how to do it." Wu Chaoyue waved his hand casually, and said more casually: "Also, Qiao Dongjia, don't just keep your eyes on the ticket number, you have to learn more from the foreigner bank with a more perfect management system and more profitable methods, there is an agency of the Shanghai Oceanman Bank on the Hankou wharf, you can visit and learn more from them, if possible, don't do any ticket number, how good is it to build a bank directly?" ”

"Lord Huifutai, businessmen have visited it." Qiao Zhiyong replied honestly: "But the bank's agency does not allow businessmen to contact their internal secrets, and it is also very inconvenient to communicate with them in language." ”

"You go to the Hankou Trade Bureau to find Huang Sheng, just say that I mean, let him take you to visit and understand, he will have a way." Wu Chaoyue casually ordered again, Qiao Zhiyong was even more overjoyed when he heard it, and hurriedly thanked Wu Chaoyue for his kindness, and then kowtowed a lot before leaving.

After Qiao Zhiyong left, Wu Chaoyue also returned to the signing room to continue to calculate the military budget for the coming year with Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming and others, and also casually introduced the experience of his meeting with Qiao Zhiyong, and was surprised that Qiao Zhiyong was generous, Yan Jingming, who was known for his financial management in history, suddenly moved in his heart, and hurriedly said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, since the bank can not only make profits, but also facilitate businessmen, then why don't we start a Hubei bank ourselves?" ”

"Can you stand the greed of those officials?" Wu Chaoyue shrugged his shoulders and said, "Besides, let those jackals and hungry tigers in the household department know that we run our own bank, and they still have to reach out to us every day?" Knocking on the bone and sucking the marrow looking for us for silver? ”

"We can use our power to buy shares, let Qiao Zhiyong manage the bank, and let him run this bank with money." Yan Jingming suggested: "We use our power to buy shares to ensure that Qiao Zhiyong's bank and silver car are safe and unhindered in the southwestern provinces, let Qiao Zhiyong run a bank with money, and let him be responsible for operation and management." In this way, we have not only earned money, but also bypassed the household department, and avoided the impact of official corruption on the operation of the bank. ”

"Comfort Pavilion, that's a good idea." Zhao Liewen also encouraged on the side: "Not only do we not have to pay money for this matter, once it is done, it will definitely be extremely rewarding." Now the Central Plains is in turmoil, only Hubei is peaceful, and the rich merchants and giants from several surrounding provinces have poured into Hubei for refuge, and they definitely need a safe place to store gold and silver. ”

Instigated by Yan Jingming and Zhao Liewen, Wu Chaoyue inevitably had some heartbeats, and when he calculated in detail, Wu Chaoyue found that he had to establish such a bank, accumulate experience, cultivate technical talents, and also establish credit and facilitate trade, so as to prepare for the establishment of a national bank and the issuance of paper money in the future. So Wu Chaoyue didn't hesitate, and immediately instructed Yan Jingming: "Danchu, then I'll leave this matter to you, but don't be too harsh on Qiao Zhiyong, after all, we have to share it before we have a tael of silver, don't let outsiders think that we are too greedy and insatiable, and dare not be as well-behaved as Qiao Zhiyong." ”

Yan Jingming agreed, and at the same time, after immediately starting to handle this matter, Wu Chaoyue, who did not know much about finance, never paid attention to this matter again. Then a few days later, when the time entered the middle of the eighth year of Xianfeng, when Jixiang, who had already eaten enough in Shanxi, also happily stepped on the land of Hubei to continue to be greedy and bribe-taking, Wu Chaoyue suddenly received a letter from Li Hongzhang, and when he opened the letter to read the contents, Wu Chaoyue immediately smiled bitterly.

Li Hongzhang wrote a letter directly to his good brother in the vernacular, and the full text is as follows: "Weiting, you slaughter me!" I can't do my sister's business no matter what! I came to the door for you to ask for a kiss, and I was directly slapped by my sister, and Uncle Nine also drew a knife and pointed at me, saying that if I dare to mention marrying my sister to you as a concubine, they will kill me! I'm incompetent, I'm sorry for you, junior sister's business, you either ask another master, or find a way by yourself, I can't do it, and then kowtow to you to apologize when we meet! Your incompetent brother, Li Hongzhang. ”

"And." Li Hongzhang added at the end of the letter, "I heard from the descendants of the teacher's family that the junior sister once tried to escape from the Zeng family, but was stopped after being discovered, and is currently locked up at home, except for the people in the teacher's family, no one is allowed to see her, so I can't see the junior sister." ”

put down the letter sullenly, Wu Chaoyue could be regarded as having no way to take this matter, and wanted to ignore Zeng Jijing, but the residual conscience was to blame, and he really couldn't bear to let the beautiful junior sister be loved by a man for the rest of her life, and she ended up depressed. Wu Chaoyue didn't mind marrying a partial house, but the old Zeng family didn't agree to it, and he was in a dilemma, and Wu Chaoyue had no tricks at all.

At this time, just in time for Yan Jingming to bring Qiao Zhiyong to ask for a meeting, Wu Chaoyue knew that it must be about the bank, so he immediately nodded and agreed to meet regardless of his upset. As expected, when Yan Jingming led Qiao Zhiyong to Wu Chaoyue, he said to Wu Chaoyue with a smile: "Weiting, good news, I have negotiated with Qiao Dongjia, we will send troops to protect the safety of the bank and the silver car, and will not participate in the specific operation, Qiao Dongjia is responsible for contributing money and people to create and manage the bank, and we account for six into five shares, and Qiao Dongjia accounts for three into five." ”

"We're six out of five?" Wu Chaoyue was a little surprised, and hurriedly asked Qiao Zhiyong: "Qiao Dongjia, are you too much of a loss to distribute equity like this?" We haven't paid a tael of silver? ”

"Lord Futai is really public and selfless." Qiao Zhiyong replied respectfully: "Don't hide it from Lord Futai, in fact, the plan in the hearts of the businessmen is to ask the Lord Futai to account for seventy percent, and the businessmen to account for thirty percent, and now the businessmen can account for thirty percent of five, which is already an unexpected joy and is satisfied." ”

"Also, the merchants speculated." Qiao Zhiyong said truthfully: "If the businessmen are cooperating with other governors, I am afraid that seventy percent of the shares may not be able to satisfy their appetite, and they will definitely be able to open the conditions of twenty-eight and nineteen." Only when you meet a clean and honest official like Lord Futai, can the businessmen dare to dream of Sancheng shares. ”

"Weiting, Qiao Dongjia is really a sincere gentleman." Yan Jingming also said: "Actually, I also asked for half of each at the beginning, but it was the Qiao Dongjia who took the initiative to ask us to take sixty percent of the shares, considering that we still need to work in the officialdom and the huge cost of supporting the army. People like Qiao Dongjia who can think about others are really rare in the world. ”

Wu Chaoyue, who was not dark enough, had nothing to say, so he stood up after a while, bowed to Qiao Zhiyong, and said sincerely: "Qiao Dongjia, a gentleman in the shopping mall, I, Wu Chaoyue, have served." ”

"Merchants don't dare to do it." Qiao Zhiyong returned the salute and said more sincerely: "Wu Futai is the real officialdom gentleman, he only hates the businessman's hometown Shanxi is blessed, and he can't let Wu Futai govern you, otherwise, why would my Shanxi business community be notorious and ridiculed by the world as a mercenary?" Why is there such chaos in the shopping mall, where large and small businesses are trying to cheat and evade taxes? ”

It is true that he admires Qiao Zhiyong's personality very much, Wu Chaoyue of course immediately ordered a banquet to entertain Qiao Zhiyong, celebrated the conclusion of the contract to open Hubei Bank in partnership, and sent someone to invite Zhao Liewen and Guo Songtao and others to accompany him, and Qiao Zhiyong had a very happy conversation, and also learned a lot about the Shanxi business community and the upcoming new partner through Qiao Zhiyong.

After a while, Zhao Liewen and Guo Songtao and others were invited to the scene, and after getting to know each other, and then when it was time to exchange glasses, the atmosphere gradually became lively, and it was also at this time that Wu Chaoyue was surprised to find that the TV series really respected the historical facts - Qiao Zhiyong, who was rich in the world, was really forced to give up his studies to engage in business because of his eldest brother's illness, and he was really a well-educated person, and he had a lot of attainments in poetry and calligraphy.

Then, Wu Chaoyue was very helpless to find out how painful it was for him to study with a bunch of well-educated people without learning and skills, and basically couldn't understand it, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to sprinkle his depression on the wine glass, and then in the muffled drinking room, Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but think of Li Hongzhang's letter just now, and then remembered the poor junior sister Zeng Jijing, and his heart became more and more bored, and the wine gradually deepened.

“…… Sincerely, the gold and stone are open. ”

A sudden sentence pulled Wu Chaoyue out of homesickness, Wu Chaoyue raised his already somewhat hazy drunken eyes to look, but saw that Qiao Zhiyong was boasting to Zhao Liewen and others, "Zhiyong is in business, with faith and righteousness first, but only abide by a word of sincerity, treat people with sincerity, move people with sincerity, and act with sincerity, let him be hindered, I take sincerity first, and everything is ......broken." ”

"Sincerely? Golden stone for open? ”

After repeating this sentence in his heart, Wu Chaoyue suddenly found that this sentence was really not wrong, because of the misleading of the TV series, he didn't like Qiao Zhiyong from the beginning, but Qiao Zhiyong didn't fight or avoid it, and only repaid himself with a sincere heart, and he completely reversed his impression of Qiao Zhiyong.

And after thinking about it more carefully, thinking of Zeng Jijing's matter, Wu Chaoyue suddenly broke out in a cold sweat - because Wu Chaoyue suddenly found that he was actually insincere in Zeng Jijing's matter, and only wanted to cover up the ugliness, and never thought about how to make the Zeng family understand his sincerity of repentance, and even at the very least, he forced Li Hongzhang to be a substitute for the dead, and the Zeng family refused to marry Zeng Jijing to him, of course, it is not surprising.

Under the epiphany, Wu Chaoyue, who has always liked opportunism and cheating, felt very guilty, and quickly made up his mind in his heart............ (To be continued.) )