Before leaving, Wang Sirui did not forget to ask for the identity of a messenger for himself, responsible for rectifying the chaos of soaring prices in the capital.

Wang Sirui did not live in the palace, and Wang Sirui felt that he could not afford to live in a super luxury villa complex like this.

However, regarding the garrison of the palace, Wang Sirui did not relax at all.

As order in the inner and outer cities gradually restored, Wang Sirui transferred another regiment of troops to be stationed near the palace.

And there are not many people in the palace anymore, and those palace maids and eunuchs have also been imprisoned. The emperor and the empress dowager each had only one eunuch and one palace maid to serve them, and they were also responsible for monitoring.

In order to ensure that these two people will not be in the same stream, Wang Sirui even issued a notice to these people, once they find out that they do not report it, they will be executed Ling Chi, and their families will also die together.

Of course, these two people are only in charge of serving, and there are many soldiers outside who are responsible for monitoring, and as long as there is a slight change, it will cause death to themselves.

Outer City!

Many powerful businessmen will set up a semicolon here, and the most famous and powerful is the Jin Chamber of Commerce.

In this era, the Jin merchants represented one of the richest consortia in the country, and they were not a single businessman, but a group.

They have their own chamber of commerce, they have their own decisions, as long as the chamber of commerce makes a decision, the following members will work together, so over the years, Jin Shang has become one of the well-known consortia in China.

And the representative of Jin Shang must be Qiao Zhiyong, a legendary figure full of magic.

Now eighty-three years old, Mr. Qiao, with the support of his descendants, slowly entered the glass factory.

With the expansion of the urban area of the capital, various firing work is not suitable for continuing to stay in the city, so the glaze factory has been moved outside the city many years ago, but the name of the glaze factory has been retained.

During the Shunzhi period, the capital began to implement the 'Manchu and Han sub-city residence', and the glaze factory is just the west of the outer city, at that time most of the Han officials chose to live near the glaze factory, and later all over the country halls were also built here, officials, scholars who rushed to take the exam, also often gathered here.

The historical and cultural heritage of the glaze factory is inherited from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It's just that at this time, the Liulichang is not as noisy as before, and no scholar has entered Beijing to take the exam, and even the doors of some officials' homes are tightly closed, with a thick layer of dust falling on it.

"The prosperity of the past, the desperation of today! Success is also foreigners, defeat is also foreigners! Old Man Qiao looked at the street where only a few people were standing, which was in stark contrast to the prosperity of the past, and couldn't help sighing.

The branch of the Qiao family's firm was also built near the Liuli Factory, and Qiao Zhiyong, as the helmsman of the Qiao family, has been living in the capital all these years, so he knows the situation near the Liuli Factory very well.

Looking at this scene now, I can't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Why is Shopkeeper Joe so emotional?" An elderly man just heard Old Man Qiao's sigh and couldn't help asking.

"Didn't Shopkeeper Qiu have any other thoughts when he saw this scene?" Old Man Qiao looked at his old rival, his old friend.

"It's false to say that there is no idea, but this idea is not something we can think of, shopkeeper Qiao, listen to my advice, don't compare some things to the truth, today's capital has changed the sky, it's not something you and I can control." Shopkeeper Qiu said in a low voice.

The Qiu family and the Qiao family were rivals at the beginning, and they were the kind of people who lived and died. But Qiao Zhiyong later repaid his grievances with virtue, and as a result, the Qiu family also made up their minds that the two would never fight each other.

It is precisely with this foundation that the Qiao family's business will become bigger and bigger. Therefore, even if the two families have a life-and-death feud, they have long since calmed down, but they have become each other's assistants.

"Is there any news from Shopkeeper Qiu?" Qiao Zhiyong frowned slightly, obviously, he hadn't received any news about the change in the capital, but before that, Qiao Zhiyong had done a lot of foreshadowing.

"Do you know why the two palaces returned to the capital so quickly?" Shopkeeper Qiu asked.

"Didn't Wang Sirui lead the troops to defeat the foreigners and force the foreigners to sign an agreement?" Qiao Zhiyong said.

"That being said, there are actually a lot of heads in here. There are some things you know that I know. Shopkeeper Qiu pulled Qiao Zhiyong to the side, commanded in a low voice, and after Qiao Zhiyong nodded in agreement, he continued to speak:

"Actually, the treaty we saw, that was the second treaty."

"A second treaty?" Qiao Zhiyong was a little puzzled, he had never heard of this treaty being signed twice.

"Yes, do you know what this first treaty says? Let me tell you this, the first treaty is called a real treaty, but there is another clause on the treaty that is not visible. In this treaty, we only need to pay a total of 30 million taels of silver to the foreigners, and the last clause is to kill Wang Sirui, the commander of the king.

Later, the imperial court did this, but after the death of the king, the foreigners immediately turned their faces and refused to recognize the treaty, and forced the imperial court to sign a second treaty, which is the one we see so far.

Also, you probably heard the gunshots last night, right? And the soldiers on the street, I won't say much about where they came from, with the brains of the shopkeeper Joe, I don't think it's difficult to guess the true identities of these people. Shopkeeper Qiu said.

"Something's wrong! Something happened! A young man ran to the glass factory in a panic, muttering alone, and even almost knocked over passers-by.

"Second child, what's wrong? Panicked! Qiao Zhiyong looked at his second grandson, who was in his thirties, but people were always frizzy, which was not reassuring at all.

"Grandfather, the imperial court has just issued a holy decree to remove all positions in the ****** court, and order the ****** to live in the palace. Also, a military reform group was formed. The second child said.

Qiao Zhiyong's face changed slightly, and he stepped down, which was not good news for the Qiao family.

When the imperial court was hunting in the west, there was a shortage of money and food, and the Qiao family took the initiative to donate 100,000 taels of silver to the imperial court, which can be regarded as a tie with the imperial court. Originally, Qiao Zhiyong planned to let the two palaces go to Qiao's house to live for a short time, but he didn't expect the situation in the capital to change abruptly, and the imperial court did not continue to move westward, but stayed in the small place of Yulinbao for a few months and returned to the capital.

Yixiao's dismissal has not had an impact on the Qiao family, but it is not as serious as imagined, at most, there is one less person in the plan to help them speak.

"Military reform group? That's interesting! Qiao Zhiyong couldn't help but nodded, this time he learned from Western countries more thoroughly, and even copied the name.

However, although it is a bit hasty to carry out military reform at this stage, it is also a matter of time before it is done.

"Grandfather, this reform team is not ordinary, they can govern all the armies in the country, and even have the right to integrate and reorganize the two forces, or even forcibly disband them. And ......" Speaking of this, Qiao Lao Er was a little afraid to say it, he looked at Shopkeeper Qiu, and then at his grandfather, and then chose to keep it secret, if his grandfather intended to let Shopkeeper Qiu know, then he would naturally tell him later.

Qiao Lao Er attached himself to Qiao Zhiyong's ear and said in a low voice: "All the officials of this reform team are Wang Sirui's henchmen. ”

Qiao Zhiyong was slightly stunned, and then recovered.

Even if you, Wang Sirui, don't die, what can you do? What does the reorganization of the army have to do with us, the merchants? Moreover, the treaty has already been signed with the foreigners, and at the moment the imperial court is unable to return it, and can only be responsible through them, the merchants.

That's right, this is Qiao Zhiyong's plan, he intends to take Gengzi's indemnity signal.

And in history, Qiao Zhiyong really did this, and the payment of Gengzi's compensation was all carried out through Qiao Zhiyong's ticket number, and this also made the Qiao family make a lot of money.

Now more and more evidence is proving that Wang Sirui did not die, but controlled the capital.

And they, the representatives of businessmen from all over the world, were summoned here, I am afraid that it is also Wang Sirui's meaning, as for his real purpose, this Qiao Zhiyong can't guess it for the time being, but today's matter will definitely not be simple.

"Shopkeeper Qiu, do you have the guts to be crazy with me this time?" Qiao Zhiyong turned his head to look at the shopkeeper Qiu, and continued: "It's done, your family's treasury won't be able to hold it at that time, and if you lose, you may go bankrupt!" ”

"I have to know a thing or two about such a big thing, right?" Shopkeeper Qiu shook his head and responded with a smile.

To tell the truth, he is both heartfelt and indifferent.

Now that I'm old, I'm the kind of person who has gone into the soil from the neck down. The property in the family is not small, and it is enough to leave it to future generations, if there is no absolute certainty, Shopkeeper Qiu does not want to follow Qiao Zhiyong through this experience.

Shopkeeper Qiu did not dare to squander all the property he had accumulated in his life before he died.

"Hehe, you'll find out later."

With the arrival of more and more representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, Qiao Zhiyong and Shopkeeper Qiu were not suitable to continue to stand at the door, and besides, the soldiers guarding the door were also constantly paying attention to them.

The two of them entered the Liuli Factory according to the instructions of the previous soldiers, but there were many people participating in this meeting, so the conditions for the meeting were extremely simple, that is, in the courtyard of the Liuli Factory, there was not even a shelter to protect from the wind and rain.

"The Chin mission is here!" In the crowd, I don't know who roared, and then the whole scene fell silent in an instant, and everyone glanced at the entrance, where about a squad of soldiers opened the way in front of them, and kept observing the surroundings. (To be continued.) )