After meeting with Qiao Zhiyong and Hu Xueyan, Li Zhen began to prepare to meet with the businessmen who had arrived in Beijing.

According to the news from Mu Zhongyuan and Fan Kai, nearly fifteen big businessmen from all over the country have arrived in Beijing. More people are likely to arrive in the coming days, with at least twenty-five or more expected. With such a total, Li Zhen has confidence in fundraising. After all, just Qiao Zhiyong and Hu Xueyan have raised 4.5 million taels of silver, and the remaining dozens of people can make up nearly 7 million taels of silver even if they are 100,000 taels per person, which is enough to make the bank run again.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Fan Kai and Mu Zhongyuan came to the presidential palace.

Both of them are sad.

When Li Zhen saw this scene, he was confused and asked, "What's wrong with you?" The situation is very good! The Qiao family invested 3 million, and Hu Xueyan invested 1.5 million, which was nearly 5 million taels of silver. Coupled with Wu Shaorong and others, as well as the rest of the businessmen, the difficulties faced by the Bank of Great China will soon be contacted, and it will be able to operate at a high speed. ”

Mu Zhongyuan looked at Fan Kai and said, "Brother, you say!" ”

Fan Kai sighed and said: "President, Wu Shaorong, this guy slipped away, rolled up his family wealth and fled to the United States. ”

"Wu Shaorong ran away?"

Li Zhen suddenly didn't understand, and asked, "Okay, how could Wu Shaorong escape?" I just invited him to come to Beijing to discuss things, and it wasn't a matter of killing his head and stealing his family. No, donate some money, and he will go to the United States quietly. ”

Fan Kai said: "According to the news from Guangzhou, Wu Shaorong should have been afraid that you would punish him for the crime of colluding with foreigners to sell opium, so he rolled up his family wealth and left Guangzhou. Now, already on the way to the United States, it is impossible to recover it. ”

"Punishment? I'm afraid not! ”

Li Zhen denied this statement and resolutely did not believe it.

Fan Kai said affirmatively: "The news from Guangzhou is the reason! ”

Li Zhen shook his head and said: "I have been in charge of Guangzhou for many years, and all along, Wu Shaorong has stayed in Guangzhou without incident. If Wu Shaorong was afraid that I would punish him and ran away, why didn't he run away when I entered Guangzhou? Now, on what basis did he conclude that I was going to do something to him? It is undeniable that this guy once colluded with foreigners to sell opium, forced Lin Zexu to step down, and committed a serious crime. But it's all before, and I haven't gotten to the bottom of it. ”

After a pause, Li Zhen said affirmatively: "I believe that it is impossible for Wu Shaorong to leave at will, there must be a deeper reason." ”

Li Zhen knows Wu Shaorong.

Wu Shaorong's original name was Wu Chongyao, and he was the son of Wu Bingjian, the chief merchant of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou. Wu Shaorong is Wu Chongyao's business name, and more people are familiar with his business name, rather than his real name. Wu Shaorong participated in the opium trafficking and made huge profits from it. During Li Zhen's reign in Guangzhou, Wu Chongyao restrained his behavior and did not continue to engage in opium business, at least no longer selling it domestically.

Therefore, Li Zhen did not pursue it.

So far, Li Zhen has not had the idea of holding him accountable.

Wu Shaorong's sudden departure, Li Zhen did not believe that he escaped because of criminal responsibility. Li Zhen looked at Fan Kai and said in a deep voice: "Send a message to Wang Xiaoyang in Guangzhou, and ask him to investigate this matter thoroughly." When I went south to Guangzhou, I had to get a clear explanation. ”

"Yes!" Fan Kai agreed to come down.

Li Zhen said: "Mr. Fan, you and Mr. Mu are preparing to meet the businessman together. On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, I met with all the businessmen at the Presidential Palace. At that time, those who arrive late will not wait. ”

"Understood!"

Fan Kai and Mu Zhongyuan answered at the same time, and then said goodbye and left.

Li Zhen sat alone in the study, still thinking about Wu Shaorong's departure. Li Zhen thought that the country that Wu Shaorong fled to was the United States, so would this matter have anything to do with the United States? However, Li Zhen is only speculating, and everything will not be determined until Wang Xiaoyang carefully investigates it.

……

Beijing, Inn!

Ruan Lele and Nguyen Minh Duc live here, and Ye Cheng Cheng also stays here.

During the Chinese New Year, Ruan Lele had a lot of fun in Beijing, saw countless strange things, and opened his eyes. The same is true for Nguyen Minh Duc. Ruan Mingde, as the crown prince of the Ruan Dynasty, has been staying in the palace, except for reading and learning characters, he has very little time to play. Now that I have seen everything in Beijing, I am attracted by new things, and I have a tendency to never forget about it.

However, Nguyen Lele is different.

She had fun, but she didn't forget to get down to business.

She came to Beijing to ask for help.

Ruan Lele invited Ye Chengxin into the room and said, "Brother Ye, what I said at the beginning was that I would go south to defeat Brother Xi Yinglong after the New Year. Now, the New Year has passed, but there has been no movement. I'm just a princess of a dead country, and I don't matter in my heart. Now, the only thing I can rely on is Brother Ye, please go to the Presidential Palace and ask me when I can go south. ”

Ye Cheng said sincerely: "Lele, I'm afraid I won't be able to go south for the time being." ”

"Why?" Ruan Lelexiu's eyebrows furrowed into a Sichuan character, looking very melancholy.

Ye Chengxin said: "At present, there is a problem with the banks in Guangzhou, and there is a serious lack of cash turnover. The President summoned the country's businessmen and was busy dealing with the matter. If you want to go south, you must wait for this matter to be dealt with before you can go south. ”

Ruan Lele said: "If you wait like this, I don't know what year or month!" ”

Ye Chengxin continued: "I can't wait long, I heard from Mr. Fan of the bank that the president summoned all the businessmen on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month. After this matter is dealt with, it should be almost the same. ”

"Okay, we'll look for the president after eighteen!" Ruan Lele said.

Ye Cheng thought for a while and said, "Maybe, there is another thing that needs to be dealt with before going south!" ”

"Ahh

Ruan Lele exclaimed, with an expression of almost crying.

She walked up to Ye Chengxin's side and said, "Brother Ye, you are a person who is valued by the president, and you will definitely be able to convince him." My country is dead, I can only rely on you to help, you can help me! She hugged Ye Chengxin's shoulders and kept shaking, this situation was not so much a call for help as a coquette, which made Ye Chengxin's heart sway.

I can't stand this situation!

Finished! Finished!

Ye Cheng stopped again and again and said, "Stop!" Stop! I'll help you talk about it, and there's no guarantee that you'll get a reply. ”

"I know that Brother Ye is the best." Ruan Lele took Ye Chengxin's hand and said, "Okay, now that the big matter is solved, let's go out and play." I haven't had enough of such a big Beijing city. Well, I guess Mingde also wants to go out. ”

"Auntie, I'm here early, just waiting for you to go out."

Ruan Mingde's little head poked out of the doorway and smiled.

Ye Chengxin looked at Ruan Mingde and Ruan Lele, sighed lightly, and left the post house with the two.

ps: the second shift;