"It's a pity that the emperor is not here. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info" Empress Dowager Cixi sat on the throne of the "Yongqing" yacht, looked at the huge fleet that was read, and sighed, "This kind of magnificent scenery on the sea can raise the mighty qi in people's chests, and it is rare to see it in a hundred years, and it is a pity to miss it." ”

Hearing the sigh of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Ci'an understood her intentions and comforted her: "Sister, don't be anxious, the emperor is just unwell for a while, and it doesn't matter if he misses it, after all, this parade is not just going to be held this time." ”

After listening to the words of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, the Empress Dowager Cixi thought of her son, who was still sick, and her worries about her son overweighed the unhappiness caused by his absence from the parade.

Emperor Tongzhi was also going to participate in this parade, but he never thought that the day before the parade was held, Emperor Tongzhi suddenly fainted, although he was rescued by the imperial doctor and woke up, but "weak and weak", "unable to walk", unable to participate in the parade, was temporarily changed to Prince Gong and Prince Alcohol to participate.

"Among our sailors, the largest one is the ironclad ship?" Empress Dowager Cixi pointed to a very tall and conspicuous black warship in the Chinese naval array, and turned to Prince Gong and asked.

"If you go back to the Queen Mother, this ship is an ironclad ship." Prince Gong replied, "This ship is one of the Japanese war ships captured by our sailors, and its name is 'Longxiang', which is the largest ship in Japan and the first in East Asia. ”

"No. 1 in East Asia?" Empress Dowager Cixi frowned and turned her gaze to the foreign fleet under review.

"Compared to the big ships of foreigners, it's still too bad, right?" The Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the French ironclad ship "Normandy" that came to visit, as if she was talking to herself, and as if she was asking Prince Gong.

"Empress Dowager Shengming, if this ship is based on the sailors of the Western Kingdom, it will be a third-class ironclad ship." Prince Gong replied, "In the Western Naval Division, the volume of first-class ironclad ships is about 10,000 tons, the volume of second-class ironclad ships is more than five or six thousand tons, and the volume of third-class ironclad ships is about three or four thousand tons. For example, the 'Normandy' ironclad ship of the French National Navy is a second-class ironclad ship. ”

"Oh." The Empress Dowager Cixi nodded quietly, did not say anything, but continued to stare at the battleships on the sea.

At this moment, Prince Gong clearly felt the feeling of Ling Ran's coercion emanating from her, which actually made him feel breathless.

Perhaps, the first time she saw the steel battleship with her own eyes, from today onwards, she should have a different feeling about this foreign affairs, right?

Thinking that the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces might pay more attention to foreign affairs in the future, Prince Gong couldn't help but praise Lin Yizhe's clever methods in his heart.

Taking the parade ship as a birthday gift, it really has a great effect!

This Lin Yizhe, his knowledge is really extraordinary!

The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces read the news of Chinese and foreign sailors at the mouth of Dagu in Tianjin, and soon spread the news through various newspapers and media in various places, and all the treaty ports knew the news at the first time, but in the hinterland, there were many places where the news was learned at about the same time as the treaty ports, but the channels for obtaining the news were not the same.

Shanghai, Fengyang Road, Xi's Manor.

In the back garden of the village, a man of about 35 or 6 years old is sitting in an octagonal pavilion, enjoying this rare snow scene while sipping tea.

This man is Xi Zhengfu.

Xi Zhengfu was born in 1838 in a large family in Dongting Dongshan, Suzhou. After the death of his father, Xi Pinfang, the family's fortune declined. In 1857, when the Taiping Army rose up, Xi Zhengfu came to Shanghai from Suzhou to escape the war, and worked as an apprentice in a small money bank set up by his fellow villagers. He was studious and soon mastered a great deal of the business of the bank, so in 1860 he opened his own bank, and in 1866 he became a street runner for the British merchant HSBC. By 1874, Xi Zhengfu was already a comprador at HSBC. At that time, in order to obtain working capital, Shanghai money banks often borrowed from foreign banks, and then used this part of the money to lend usury, lending to large and small firms to obtain profits, because Xi Zhengfu was in charge of the signing and sealing power of HSBC bank loans, he became a hot celebrity in the banking and money industry at that time, and almost all money banks asked him to join the share capital, or hired people he introduced as assistants. At the same time, Xi Zhengfu has extensively invested in the money industry, silver building, pawn shop, and gold account that are related to the banking business, and can be described as a wide range of assets.

The reason why Xi Zhengfu was able to make a fortune in just a few years is not only because he was born in a money bank and is good at managing financial management, but also because he is shrewd and able to accurately grasp opportunities for speculation and drilling, which is also an important reason for his development.

Xi Zhengfu was drinking tea and appreciating the snow, when a servant hurriedly walked in and reported: "Master, Master Hu Xueyan Hu came to visit." ”

"Hurry up and invite Master Hu to come here and enjoy the snow with tea." Xi Zhengfu smiled slightly, as if he knew that Hu Xueyan would come, and immediately ordered.

The servant took the order and left, and after a short time, he led Hu Xueyan to the back garden.

"Brother Xueyan is here, please sit down, please take a seat." Xi Zhengfu saw Hu Xueyan enter the pavilion, and got up to greet him with a smile, "It's just a cup of tea and snow, come and come, Brother Xueyan will taste my 'West Lake Longjing' first." ”

"Brother Sugui is so Yaxing, hehe."

Hu Xueyan saw that he came to visit in the snow, and Xi Zhengfu did not greet him in person, but waited in the garden, he was full of unhappiness, but because he was asking for the other party this time, he was forbearing, but greeted Xi Zhengfu with a smile.

After the two sat down, Xi Zhengfu poured Hu Xueyan a cup of tea with his own hands, and the servant sent exquisite snacks, Xi Zhengfu seemed to know that Hu Xueyan had private things to talk to him, so he waved his hand, and the servant bowed and retreated.

"I haven't seen Brother Hu for many days, I don't know where I have made a fortune recently?" Xi Zhengfu asked with a smile.

"Hehe, it's just a busy job, what kind of fortune do you make?" Hu Xueyan said with a smile, "It's more expensive than Su, in Shanghai, a land of treasures, calling for wind and rain." ”

"Where did Brother Hu come from?" Xi Zhengfu said with a smile, "I heard that Brother Hu is in charge of the Northwest Military Quartermaster, which is the envy of everyone." ”

"What kind of beauty, if you want to do it, I will recommend it to Zuo Gong." Hu Xueyan smiled, "I don't know if Su Gui is willing?" ”

"I have more than enough heart but not enough strength, I'm just a small comprador for foreigners, I don't have the courage of Brother Hu, where can I do such a big thing." Xi Zhengfu seemed to hear the subtext in Hu Xueyan's words, and immediately blocked it with a smile.

After listening to Xi Zhengfu's answer, Hu Xueyan secretly scolded "traitor" in his heart, but he still had a smile on his face, "I heard that this time the Queen Mother's longevity celebration, Su Gui served 100,000 taels of silver as soon as she made a move, and she was a big deal." ”

"Hehe, a mere 100,000 taels of silver, it's nothing to you and me, right?" Xi Zhengfu smiled quietly, "By the way, this time the Queen Mother has a long life, why don't you see Brother Hu repay the silver?" ”

"Where do I have such wealth as Su Gui, I don't hide Su Gui, I still have a bad debt of 500,000 taels of silver." Hu Xueyan sighed and said, "Where is there any spare money to serve." ”

Listening to Hu Xueyan's words, Xi Zhengfu couldn't help but laugh in his heart that Hu Xueyan was narrow-minded and short-sighted.

In Xi Zhengfu's view, even if the position turnover is difficult, the queen mother's reward silver must be offered!

As long as there is the favor of the Queen Mother, even if there is a big leak, there is also the royal umbrella!

As the boss of the "Hui Gang", Hu Xueyan didn't understand this truth, isn't it strange!

In fact, it was this amount of money that was not very much that made Xi Zhengfu register in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and also made Xi Zhengfu gain power from then on, not only becoming a comprador of HSBC, but also appreciated by the court and ministers of the Qing Dynasty. After that, in order to obtain a huge loan, they vied with each other to win over Xi Zhengfu, Li Hongzhang also deliberately wrote to the imperial court to sponsor the official position for him, Xi Zhengfu accepted the second-rank red-topped flower feather, and donated the post of Taotai. But he became an official only to raise his value, and did not go to Beijing to take up a substantive position, and in the future, he used his relationship with the Qing court and his status as a comprador of HSBC to bring all kinds of benefits to him.

And Hu Xueyan only gave up such a God-given opportunity in the name of "position turnover difficulties", which is really incomprehensible!

From this point of view, this Hu Xueyan is afraid that it is in vain!

"A bad debt of 500,000 taels? Where does this come from? Xi Zhengfu secretly laughed at Hu Xueyan's petty family spirit in his heart, but on the surface, he asked with a look of concern.

"This silver was originally the western expedition of Fujian Province, stored in the small Fuzhou branch, and then transported north by ship, but I didn't want to run into the Japanese sailor ship halfway, and the silver was swept away! Alas! Hu Xueyan sighed, "It's really a disaster!" ”

"I heard that Master Pei Jinquan, the commander of the shipmaster and sailor, is an old friend of Brother Hu, why don't you ask him to send a sailor to chase down the Japanese ship and recapture the silver taels?" Xi Zhengfu asked.

Hearing that Xi Zhengfu actually knew about Pei Jinquan's recommendation to enter the shipyard back then, Hu Xueyan couldn't help but secretly admire Xi Zhengfu in his heart for being well-informed.

"Later, I heard that the Japanese sailors were defeated by the shipmaster's warship, and their warships were either sunk or captured, and none of them escaped, and it is said that the shipmaster and sailors had seized a large number of robbed silver taels from the Japanese ships, so I sent a letter to Commander Pei, asking him for help, but there was no reply, and then I inquired in many ways, only to learn that Commander Bei led his troops to garrison the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the letter was forwarded by the shipmaster's yamen, and I don't know whether he received it." Hu Xueyan said with a sad face.

"Since it has been obtained by the Harbour Master, Commander Pei is not here, so you can ask for it from his superiors." Xi Zhengfu said, "Lord Shen, Minister of Shipping, and Lord Lin, Minister of Taiwan Affairs, are also old acquaintances of Brother Hu, and I think I will help with this." ”

"I also wrote to both of them, but they replied that they had not recovered any silver taels from the ship." Hu Xueyan thought of Lin Yizhe and Shen Baozhen's reply to him, and couldn't help but be angry for a while.

Regarding Hu Xueyan's letter to ask for silver taels, Shen Baozhen only replied briefly: "The captured Japanese ships have not seen any silver taels." And Lin Yizhe's reply not only denied the matter, but instead beat him Hu Xueyan rake: "The people who were seized by the Japanese ships were all Japanese foreign silver, which was their military salary, and the amount was about 200,000 yuan, which was not a Chinese silver ingot, and the Japanese ships were short and short, and the horsepower was small, 500,000 taels of silver ingots, which could not be tolerated." Your Excellency's statement that the silver ship was hijacked is probably false. …… Your Excellency is good at business, and you should know that a gentleman makes money and takes it in a good way. Hearsay is the basis for asking for money, and stealing is not taken by you......"

Seeing this satirical and sarcastic reply, Hu Xueyan almost blew his lungs and liver. He fell seriously ill and lay in bed for half a month.

And it was precisely because of the loss of these 500,000 taels of silver, coupled with the leakage of news, that his Fukang Qianzhuang experienced another run, and the actual loss was about one million taels of silver.

It is precisely because of such a huge loss, coupled with the fact that a while ago Beijing confiscated the family property of the "Tongwa" Yanguan, and seized a number of silver tickets issued by Fukang Qianzhuang, which caused the reputation of Fukang Qianzhuang to be greatly damaged. Hu Xueyan originally bribed the speech officials to impeach Lin Yizhe through the Fukang Qianzhuang Beijing Branch, but at this time, he was entangled in the matter of the "communication with the Japanese" of the speech officials, and he couldn't distinguish it for a while, and the Criminal Department and Shuntianfu did not give him face, so he went to the Beijing branch for interrogation again and again.

Hu Xueyan had already decided in his heart at this time that his 500,000 taels of silver must have been swallowed by Lin Yizhe, and his current plan was to take the 500,000 taels of silver out of Lin Yizhe, and he didn't think about what kind of impact he would have on himself in the future if he didn't report the silver this time.

"These 500,000 taels of silver, could it be that they gave birth to wings and flew off by themselves?" Xi Zhengfu noticed that Hu Xueyan's face unconsciously showed a gritted teeth, and he had already guessed in his heart that Hu Xueyan must be at odds with Shen Baozhen and Lin Yizhe, but he didn't say anything, but asked again inducingly.

"How could all this amount of silver be lost?" Hu Xueyan sneered, "I think eighty percent of it was swallowed by the two of them!" ”

"If this is the case, I am afraid that it will be difficult to succeed if I pull teeth from the tiger's mouth." Xi Zhengfu had the intention to give Hu Xueyan a bad idea, and said, "If Brother Hu thinks that this silver is full of corruption, it is better to ask Zuo Gong to come forward and help you ask for it." ”

"Please ask Zuo Gong for help?" Hu Xueyan was stunned,

"Yes! Brother Hu is the arm of Zuo Gong, and he is also responsible for raising money, and Zuo Gong will be able to help in this matter. Shen Lin and the others were not afraid of Brother Hu, and when they saw Zuo Gong coming forward, they would inevitably spit out the silver obediently. Xi Zhengfu said.

"Exactly!" When Hu Xueyan heard Xi Zhengfu's words, he suddenly changed his mind, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, "Thank you Sugui for your advice!" ”

"I don't dare to instruct, in fact, Brother Hu should be able to think of it, but if you care, you can't think of this layer immediately, hehe." Xi Zhengfu said with a smile.

"Su Gui's sentence has helped me a lot." When Hu Xueyan heard Xi Zhengfu say the word "fundraising", he immediately followed, and made his intention for today's visit clear, "I still have one more matter, and I want to ask Su Chen for help." ”

"Brother Hu's words don't matter, as long as I can help, I will definitely serve." Xi Zhengfu said with a smile.

"Zuo Gong wants to use troops in Xinjiang to drive out the Hui bandits, and now it is difficult to deal with military salaries, no, this is urging me again." Hu Xueyan said, "I have recently suffered losses and a shortage of positions, can Su Gui help me raise one or two to solve the current dilemma?" ”

Listening to Hu Xueyan's request, Xi Zhengfu pondered for a while and did not answer immediately.

"This loan is to serve the country and recover the territory, if Su Gui can work with me to help Zuo Gong achieve this great achievement, it will be immeasurable in the future." Hu Xueyan saw that Xi Zhengfu was hesitant, and said, "Zuo Gong is in a hurry, even if the interest rate is a little higher, it doesn't matter." ”

Hearing Hu Xueyan throw out the temptation of high interest, Xi Zhengfu couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

He knew the weight of Zuo Zongtang's promise very clearly.

The last time Zuo Zongtang wanted to raise funds in Shanghai, he entrusted Hu Xueyan to handle it, and few businessmen in Shanghai bought it, not because they didn't believe in his credibility Hu Xueyan, but they were actually worried about Zuo Zongtang!

Now, Hu Xueyan has hit himself with the idea again!

Of course, Xi Zhengfu understands the risks involved in dealing with people like Zuo Zongtang, he doesn't want to take this business, but he also understands that if he refuses, he is afraid that he will not only offend Hu Xueyan, but also offend Zuo Zongtang!

Although he now has a foreigner as a backer, but after all, the foundation is still shallow, and he is looking for a big backer in Beijing, if he offends Zuo Zongtang, he is afraid that there will still be trouble in the future!

Xi Zhengfu thought about it, and suddenly had an idea in his heart.

"Brother Hu invited, the brother should have complied, but recently, the stall of the brother's business has been a little bigger, and the salary of the Western Expedition is often in the millions, and the brother's strength is not caught, and the matter is big, and it needs to be considered in the long run." Xi Zhengfu politely refused.

Hearing that Xi Zhengfu was unwilling to cooperate with him, Hu Xueyan was dissatisfied and was about to be persuaded, but unexpectedly, Xi Zhengfu changed his words and said something that surprised him inexplicably.

"But Brother Hu is serving the country, no matter what, my brother is still willing to contribute." Xi Zhengfu said, "Brother himself is only a little learned, and his financial resources are thin, but in Shanghai Ocean Business, there is still a little thin face, Brother Hu wants to raise a huge amount of money, you might as well try the British Commercial HSBC, the bank has sufficient money, it will definitely be able to solve Brother Hu's urgency." If Brother Hu is willing, I will repair a letter to introduce Brother Hu to the past, and Brother Hu can negotiate with the bank on his own at that time. ”

Hearing that Xi Zhengfu was going to introduce himself to HSBC to borrow money, Hu Xueyan was overjoyed for a while, and couldn't help but thank him again and again: "Thank you Sugui for your help, I am grateful for my brother!" ”

For HSBC, Hu Xueyan is no stranger, he has also dealt with HSBC before, but the amount is not very large, this time for Zuo Zongtang to raise the salary of the Western Expedition, he also played the idea of a foreigner bank, but after all, the door is not wide, this time there is no reason to have a comprador like Xi Zhengfu come forward as an introducer!

In this way, as long as you do something about the interest, you can get back the silver you have lost!

Thinking of this, Hu Xueyan's heart was full of excitement.

Even so, it can't be cheaper than Lin Yizhe's bastard boy! Hu Xueyan thought to herself.

He had already made up his mind at this time, and after he went back, he wrote a letter to Zuo Zongtang, asking Zuo Zongtang to come forward and ask Shen Baozhen and Lin Yizhe for the 500,000 taels of silver!