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At the beginning of the curtain, the governor's yamen suddenly became lively, the carriages and carriages came and went, these once prominent merchants in Guangzhou came to the governor's yamen with gifts, Wu Haoguan, Lu Maoguan, Pan Qiguan, these more than ten years ago were in the limelight, just like the old days to visit the new governor, the gifts are naturally thick, but now, such as foreign watches and other Western things are obviously not as fresh as in the past, this foreign clock is not to say other places, that is, Guangzhou produces tens of thousands of dollars a year, What could be rare. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After the trade of the five mouths, the foreign gadgets are not fresh, it does not mean that they have no gifts to give, Governor Li is a literati, then it is easy to do, what rare books and calligraphy and paintings are naturally ordinary gifts, this gift looks "thin", you can take out a random piece, it is worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In the hall behind the yamen, a few whale oil lamps were lit, the light was bright and soft, in the bright light, under the respect of the guests, this banquet was in full swing, in the praise of everyone, Li Ziyuan even had a sense of floating, although there were people in Wuchang who had been so touted, but the mood at this time was completely different, after a few glasses of wine, while there was still some drunkenness, Li Ziyuan looked at everyone and smiled.

"In previous years, the Guangdong Customs and the Thirteen Banks of Guangdong were known as the "Son of Heaven South Library", at the beginning I only thought it was a joke, but later, after learning that your thirteen families donated 2 million taels of military supplies, this official knew that this "Son of Heaven South Library" said that there is no need for it! ”

Li Ziyuan's words fell, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed, the smiles on the faces of these once prominent merchants were all stiff, and there were still the previous laughter, and even Pan Qiguan and others hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on their foreheads.

Although the winter in Guangzhou is not cold, but people will never sweat at this time, at this time their sweat is a false sweat, and it is also a cold sweat, and they have dealt with the government for many years, they know that the government is finally going to speak.

This time, how much do they want?

"My lord, more than ten years ago, the war broke out, and the merchants suffered heavy losses, with losses of no less than 10 million, and then the merchants were abolished, and the various businesses were turned to other businesses, even if the Wu family and the Wu family were just bleak operations, there was still yesterday's scenery......"

"What Ryosuke said, how can this official not know?"

Without waiting for Wu Chongyao to finish speaking, Li Ziyuan stretched out his hand to stop him and said.

"For businessmen, after the official came to Guangzhou, he also knew something, others don't say, it is the Wu family's Jardine and Jardine line, in the past 40 years, this gift, donation and service of the silver money is probably not less than 15 million taels!"

Fifteen million taels!

The governor's words only made Wu Chongyao's back cold, the smile that was barely squeezed out froze on his face, and even his legs were trembling, while the others all looked at this Lord Li with shocked expressions, could it be that this Lord Li wanted everyone to serve according to the old rules?

"Big, my lord, now the business has been abolished, we wait, we still have yesterday's wealth there, small, villainous wishes, willing to raise the tea to six yuan, and return, please forgive us for the sufferings of the adults......"

The tea in Wu Chongyao's mouth refers to the fact that since five years ago, in order to improve the relationship between officials and businessmen, the Wu family and the Wu family have prepared to rebuild the "public fund". Because of the restrictions of the treaty, of course, it is no longer possible to call the name "public fund", but to change the name to "tea". After consultation with the Guangdong authorities, the export of tea "two cents per 100 catties of cashiers", but that year it rose to five yuan, and last year alone, "more than 800,000 taels of silver", equivalent to 50 percent of the annual income of the Guangdong Customs, and later this money was part of Ye Mingchen's purchase of foreign cannons for the imperial court, and the remaining 1 million taels have been reported to the "governor's office". Now he took the initiative to mention "tea", nothing more than to bargain with Li Ziyuan, even if it is effective, there is always a limit.

"Tea, this tea is extremely unreasonable, it should be scrapped, why does Ryosuke say that it is improved? ……”

In everyone's surprise, Li Ziyuan looked surprised Wu Chongyao continued.

"When this official came to Guangzhou to take up his post, the Han Governor once said, now that trade is booming, our governor's office is "trade to establish the country", and there is no reason to extort national businessmen, this tea use should be abolished, not only this tea use should be abolished, but other bad rules such as reporting efficiency of the Guangdong Customs should also be abolished! ”

What the?

What is he saying?

Looking at Li Ziyuan in surprise, Wu Chongyao's eyes widened, his face was full of incredulity, but he was beating the drum in his heart, could it be that this, this person's mind is bigger? With just one million taels of tea, you can't convince him?

"My lord, this tea is equal to the filial piety of Han Du and Lord Yu, please don't give up again!"

Wu Tianheng hurriedly interjected on the side and said, now in his opinion, this tea is not just a matter of money, maybe the heads of the Wu family and the Wu family are tied to it.

"Unreasonable nature must be abolished!"

Facing the panic of Wu and Wu and the horror of the other eleven people, Li Ziyuan gave an order to the attaché on the side, and the man took out a wooden box.

"Half a month ago, Han Du had instructions for the two million taels of military supplies reported by the thirteen merchants, and Han Du had a deep understanding of everyone's heart, but Han Du raised troops to restore my Chinese rivers and mountains, not like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and extorted all kinds of money from our Chinese people.

Taking the wooden box and opening the wooden box, Li Ziyuan continued.

"However, this official considered that if the government does not accept this silver, I am afraid that you will not be at ease, so he took it upon himself to buy the two million taels of silver into Zhaoxin bonds, and the bonds in this box were purchased according to the amount donated by the thirteen families, and I invite you to come today just to return this bond to you!"

What the!

If it was said that they were panicked at first, then now everyone is shocked because of Li Ziyuan's words. Is there such a thing in this world? Take out the silver that was given to the government, and there is a reason to send it back?

If something goes wrong, there must be a demon, and Wu Chongyao, who was panicked, would instead think that this Lord Li and Na Han Du had great intentions, and he hurriedly knelt down in fear.

"My lord, my lord, don't torture us again, if the governor's mansion needs it, please give me a clear number, even if we are bankrupt, we will definitely make up the money......"

Wu Chongyao's kneeling only kneeled in the hearts of the people for a while, and everyone who was still eating and laughing got up and knelt down with him, although the thirteen lines were long gone, but now as a fat sheep, they are also a loss.

"This ......"

Looking at the businessmen who were still sitting on the seat, but had already knelt in a row, Li Ziyuan wanted to play a little bit of official power, but he couldn't!

When he left Wuchang, the governor of Dadu had specially told him to treat these merchants well, and never treat them as fat sheep, but as "cows". This was the biggest difference between the Han Governors and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, who were more common for merchants to kill chickens and eggs for their eggs, while Han Governors advocated treating merchants as "cows", providing the government with a steady stream of milk, and slaughtering and squeezing them like fat sheep.

Of course, even if there is no Han Du's advice, Li Ziyuan will not "slaughter" him at will, after all, the next few major things to be done, without their help, will never be possible.

As for these people's kneeling invitations, Li Ziyuan did not stop them, but just silently tasted the wine, sandwiched the dishes, after a few glasses of wine, and tasted the dishes, Li Ziyuan looked at the kneeling person on the ground and said.

"Are you on your knees?"

Although he has been dealing with officials all year round, Wu Chongyao has seen an official with such a strange temper as the one in front of him for the first time, and in the face of this question, he had to kowtow again, where he dared to say the slightest word.

"The Wu family is 485,000 taels ......"

Li Ziyuan, who had already stood up, took out the envelope from the wooden box, pulled out the bonds in the envelope, and put it in front of Wu Chongyao.

"Wu family, 367,000 taels ......"

"The Pan family ...... 230,000"

Every time he read out a household, he would put the corresponding bonds in front of him, and after distributing the thirteen bonds one by one, Li Ziyuan looked at the thirteen once famous former businessmen who knelt on the ground.

"You think that the Han Governor should prosper with industry and commerce, and establish a country by trade, just casually talking, do you think that this official invited you to come here just to squeeze some oil and water from you?"

Maybe these people stood up, and Li Ziyuan, who was sitting on the chair, looked coldly at these businessmen who were used to being slaves.

"If that's the case, why do you need such a nonsense, if others don't say it, it's you Wu Chongyao, even if you let Wu Chongyao take out the silver now? Not to mention whether this Jardine Shop sells opium or not, just because you helped clear the boat last year, this official will be able to copy your Wu family! Tell the ruler how much silver he will be able to copy when the time comes. ”

The governor's words, Wu Chongyao, who only said it, was as white as paper, trembling all over, but he didn't even have the courage to beg for mercy, he just knelt there trembling.

"You have collected these bonds, you have all seen the world, naturally you know what this bond is, and I won't hide it from you to tell the truth, this Zhaoxin public bond was issued for nothing else, that is, to build a railway, to build the Guangdong-Hanzhou railway from Guangzhou to Wuchang!"

What the!

Raised his head in surprise, although these thirteen lines are not as good as in the past, but these people are the first businessmen in China to contact foreigners, and they also have a certain understanding of European things, Wu Chongyao is no stranger to trains, and even as early as ten years ago, he had come into contact with model trains.

Now when he heard the governor say that he was going to build a railway, and it was a railway from Guangzhou to Wuchang, how could he not be surprised! In his astonishment, he even forgot his previous uneasiness and trepidation, and instead looked up at the governor and asked.

"Great, my lord, this Han Governor really wants to build the Guangdong-Han Railway!" (To be continued.) )