With Zhang Baoshan secretly running and contacting in many ways, most of the silk merchants who were preparing to sell foreign villages in Yichang, Shanghai, nodded in agreement, expressing their willingness to cooperate with the Lin family to join forces against foreign merchants. This is also due to interests, in business, the price of raw silk is rising, silk merchants naturally have the idea of hoarding, waiting for the best time to shoot.

The Lin family also negotiated with those silk merchants, if someone insists on it but wants to get rid of it, it is okay, but it can only be sold to the Lin family, not to foreigners. This ensures that the silk merchants will not suffer losses, and of course the silk merchants who only make money and do not lose money have nothing to say, they all firmly hold the raw silk in their hands, sit firmly on the Diaoyu Tai, and wait for the final showdown with the foreigners.

However, the foreign companies that bought and sold raw silk in Shanghai Yichang, Britain, France, the United States and other countries were absolutely unwilling to compromise so easily, and were at the mercy of these Jiangnan silk merchants. They also asked people to inquire secretly, this time it was the Lin family who took the lead in the center, and most of the raw silk in the Jiangnan market was controlled by this family.

Foreigners buy a small amount of raw silk from some people at a high price to maintain a minimum of normal production. On the one hand, through their ministers, they put pressure on the imperial court, forcing the imperial court to retract its policy of changing mulberry and rejuvenating agriculture. After the price of raw silk falls, it can not only make up for the previous losses, but also make a lot of money.

The movements of the imperial court were originally favored by the foreigners, but after the foreign ministers said that he was the British minister, Ogne, they even lodged a solemn protest to the prime minister's national affairs yamen, accusing the imperial court of changing the strategy of rejuvenating agriculture and destroying the normal economic exchanges between Western countries and the Qing Dynasty. The Prime Minister, the Minister of State Affairs, Yixuan, is really on the road and participates in Yan Fu's excerpts.

The wind went to change abruptly, just because Guangxu said a sentence: I demolished my own house, and that was my own business.

All of a sudden, public opinion in the capital was boiling. The imperial history and Qingliu jointly signed a letter to the imperial court, asking the imperial court not to compromise and retreat, increase the ambition of foreigners, and lose the majesty of the heavenly court. Regardless of whether this change of Sangxingnong is good or bad for the time being, it can be said that there are a thousand things and ten thousand, after all, this is the court's own business, where is it the turn of foreigners to point fingers and say irresponsible things. These Qingliu scholars were also angry at the arrogance and unreasonableness of foreigners, and they had never been far behind in discussing the government and criticizing current affairs, but now they saw that the emperor's attitude was the same, and they were even more excited. Even the children of the banner people who have nothing to do in the end are talking about it, and the caliber is surprisingly unanimous.

Cixi asked about this matter, but after listening to it, she made a gesture and let Guangxu do it, thinking that it was not a big deal, so she didn't ask much.

Yi Xuan received the emperor's intention and talked to the ministers of various countries in private, saying that the imperial court would seriously consider the opinions of the ministers of various countries, but at present, public opinion inside and outside the government and the opposition is indignant, if the ministers of various countries forcibly exert pressure, this can be done or not, but in the end it has become a matter that has to be done. Going deeper, if this arouses public anger and causes something related to China's foreign affairs, it will not be easy to deal with the aftermath.

Therefore, after consultation, the ministers of various countries decided to take a step back for the time being and wait and see how the situation changed.

The indignation of the people in the capital, and the attitude of the ministers of various countries spread to Shanghai Shiliyichang, this time, the foreign businessmen were really anxious. In this raw silk war, the silk merchants in the south of the Yangtze River can't afford to lose, and the foreign merchants can't afford to lose either. This year, the production of raw silk in France and Italy is not very optimistic, and the futures price of raw silk in the world is rising. Originally, some people reported that they did not quarrel with foreigners, and sold raw silk in small quantities. But since Zhao Shulin, who has always been in good health and still keeps in touch with foreigners secretly, suddenly fell ill at home without warning, let the Jiangnan silk merchants see some outsider things. Since then, the foreigners who can no longer receive raw silk have also been in a hurry, and if they can't catch up again, they will really close their doors and stop production. However, the Jiangnan silk merchants led by the Lin family refused to let go of the price of raw silk, and the situation was in a state of stalemate, and they were waiting for each other to make a final desperate fight.

The foreign businessmen who had no choice also contacted the Lin family through Zhang Baoshan, the middleman, and expressed their willingness to go with the market and appropriately raise the price to buy the raw silk in the hands of the Lin family. However, the price offered by the Lin family surprised the foreign businessmen, which was higher than the futures price of the London Exchange in the United Kingdom during the same period, and the gap between the two sides was too big to be negotiated at all.

All of a sudden, the situation was deadlocked. But secretly, as time goes back, this raw silk war has gradually become white-hot.

What puzzled the foreign businessmen was that although the Lin family was born in a money bank and had more funds to mobilize, it was impossible to mobilize so much money in a short period of time to invest in the acquisition of raw silk. Where did Lin Qizhao's money come from? Foreign businessmen began to investigate the source of the Lin family's money.

In fact, the total amount of funds that the Lin family can mobilize does not exceed three million taels, and the emperor took two million taels from him, and it will be five million taels of silver when he is full. And the Lin family relied on the five million taels of silver to really play karate.

The Lin family first used the four million taels of silver to buy all the raw silk of the Zhang family in Nanxun, because they only paid eighty percent of the payment in advance, so aside from the factor of the continuous increase in the price of raw silk, the actual market value of these raw silk in his hand is more than six million taels of silver. He then used these raw silk stack orders, that is, bills of lading, as collateral, and the loan from the Shanxi ticket number and the loan to the foreigner bank through the Shanxi ticket number totaled 5 million taels, and the loan period was four months. In addition, he used the other businesses of the Lin family as collateral and borrowed 3 million taels from the foreigner bank. The loan term is also four months.

In order to prevent foreigners from knowing the details, they make a fuss about their own funds, stubbornly suppress the price and do not let go, and just wait for the loan to expire and force themselves to reduce the price. These loans were turned into several shares, and they were borrowed from foreigners' banks through the money banks in Jiangnan and the ticket numbers in Shanxi.

In fact, it is a one-way mortgage loan to the bank and the ticket number, and then the bank and the ticket number borrow funds from the foreigner's bank. The Lin family has a deep connection in the Qianzhuang industry, and it is not very difficult to do these things. It's just that raw silk can't last long, so the term of the loan is up to four months.

The Lin family then used these loans to purchase raw silk from silk merchants in Jiangnan, and the purchase method was similar to that of the Zhang family, and a part of the payment was paid in advance, and the balance was settled in the spring of next year. In this way, Lin Qizhao used five million funds to hoard raw silk worth about 12 million taels.

The foreign businessmen finally found some eyebrows, and the Lin family had a son, Lin Qizhao, as the president of the Daqing Bank. And during this period, the attitude of the Qing court seems to be very revealing. The helpless foreign businessmen thought of Hu Xueyan at this time and thought of the experience of the year.

"Don't crowd, don't crowd, line up and take your time, everyone has it, everyone has it." Since the end of October and the beginning of November, more and more people have come to Linjia Qian Zhuang to withdraw silver, which eventually led to a crazy run. All the silk merchants, ticket numbers, and banks seemed to see Hu Xueyan who was sorry, and while feeling sorry for the Lin family, they were looking for opportunities to sell the raw silk in their hands. And the foreign businessman was holding a red wine glass and waiting to be like Hu Xueyan back then, waiting for the Lin family to come to the door.

At this time, in the eyes of others, the Lin family did something incredible. Not only did they ignore the run, but they "crazy" bought raw silk again at the price before the raw silk skyrocketed. At this time, Lin Qizhao came to Shanghai secretly. Met with a person.

This person is the comprador of Jardine Matheson, a large household that bought raw silk, and Lin Qizhao made a friend Tang Jiechen.

"Zihua, what are you doing in the Lin family? Your funds are really so abundant, are you really not afraid of foreigners to carry it to death? Tang Jiechen was worried about his former friend.

Lin Qizhao said with a solemn expression, "I came here today to ask the two brothers for help, if I really carry it to death, my net worth and surname will turn into the Huangpu River, rolling eastward." ”

Tang Jiechen was shocked, with a puzzled face. Seeing this, Lin Qizhao explained the ins and outs of the matter to Tang Jiechen in detail. But there was no mention of the emperor.

"Now that the Lin family's money is being squeezed out like crazy, you are still taking the silver out to buy raw silk. How much silver did the emperor give to the Lin family? It's a sinister business that dances on the tip of a knife. If there is a slight difference, your old man's life's hard work will be gone, not to mention, your little life is estimated to be mysterious. Tang Jiechen looked at Lin Qizhao with great concern and said.

"I'm here to tell my brother about it. There is no money, so today I came to invite Brother Jiechen to come out and have a good talk with the senior class of your Jardine Matheson Foreign Company, you can't watch me die in the fire pit. ”

Tang Jiechen shook his head with a bitter face, "Impossible, the conditions you offered are too harsh, and the foreigners will definitely not agree." ”

"I naturally understand this truth, so let's take a step back and let Yicheng give Yicheng to Jardine at the original price, but the contract must indicate that it is traded according to the original price, as for the extra one percent, whether your Daipan of Jardine Matheson is in Jardine's account or into his own pocket, I don't ask." Lin Qizhao came up with his own plan.

"I'm afraid this is also difficult, foreigners don't don't eat kickbacks, but this matter is too big, too powerful, I guess foreigners may not agree. Unless foreigners see that next year's raw silk production will definitely drop sharply and the price will definitely rise, they will not be easy to comply. Besides, now the Lin family's money banks everywhere are crowding, which is difficult. Tang Jiechen frowned and thought for a while and said.

"Brother Jiechen, please rest assured, to do such a big deal, I naturally have other means. In only three days at most, the Lin family's money bank squeezed and disappeared, and it also broke the thoughts of foreigners and forced them back to the negotiation table. Lin Qizhao's eyes flashed, and then he continued, "It's just that Brother Jiechen still has to keep it secret for me, and the conditions of this and Jardine Matheson cannot be known to foreigners in other foreign firms, and my compromise with Jardine Matheson is not equivalent to compromising with other foreign firms, what I want is that Jardine Matheson can come forward to take the lead, and the affairs of other foreign firms will be easy to handle." ”

"I'll try my best, but I'm not completely sure, Zihua still has to plan for the worst, don't insist too much, doing business is to seek money, not vindictive." Tang Jiechen still felt extremely worried, and couldn't help but admonish Lin Qizhao again.

"Seeking money is secondary. What I ask for is an ambition and a thought. Lin Qizhao stood up as he spoke, pointed to the bustling area of Yichang outside the window and said, "Brother Jiechen, have you seen the scenery of Shili Yichang outside the window?" It's all piled up by foreigners with the money they earned us. ”

"For decades, foreigners have repeatedly bullied and oppressed me in the Qing Dynasty, making things difficult for me in every way, and I won't talk about him about the affairs of the imperial court, but in this business, I, Lin Qizhao, are categorically unconvinced. If this risky move and the foreigners gamble on this game, if it succeeds, from now on, the foreigners will also be afraid of my Lin family, and dare not bully at will, and the silk industry and textile industry in Jiangnan may also be able to breathe a sigh of relief and find a glimmer of life. Otherwise, after Hu Xueyan passed through the Lin family again, the silk industry and textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River would no longer have vitality. ”

"Brother Jiechen thinks that I have been rich in the Qing Dynasty since ancient times, since foreigners came in to set up factories. All walks of life in the Qing Dynasty have decayed to varying degrees. If my Lin family is defeated this time, then no one in the entire silk yarn industry in the Qing Dynasty will dare to compete with foreigners. Since then, the Daqing silk yarn industry can only be at the mercy of foreigners. ”

"What about the silk yarn industry? Brother Jiechen should also understand that foreigners have gained the upper hand. For a long time, the lifeblood of our economy in the Qing Dynasty was completely controlled by foreigners. Brother Jiechen also came back from abroad, and I believe that Brother Jiechen also understands what the consequences will be once the lifeline of the country's economy is in the hands of others. My beautiful China can only be reduced to a plaything in the hands of foreigners, at the mercy of foreigners. ”

"So I'm going to bet, so I'm going to fight once. Not for fame or profit, just for this magnificent China will no longer be bullied by foreigners. ”

"Brother Jiechen, I have met Zhang Baoshan before. He promised that if the Lin family could do this this time. The Silk Industry Association will be established in conjunction with Jiangnan silk merchants. In this way, as long as we are united, foreign merchants can only negotiate with us to do business. In this way, the silk yarn industry of the Qing Dynasty can really get vitality. ”

"Of course, there will be people who will contact foreign businessmen privately. I might as well tell you that Zhao Shulin's matter was done by our Lin family. ”

"So this time, it's not just a battle of raw silk, but also a battle of life and death!"

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