After reading the letter, Hu Chuyuan's perception of He Jing changed suddenly.

Only then did he understand that He Jing had almost no commendable achievements in his life, and he was able to achieve the throne of the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, completely relying on the word "mixed", but his "mixed" was not something that ordinary people could mix.

The person who can be the governor is not so simple.

For an official businessman with too many assets like him, he can certainly be an official, such as Sheng Xuanhuai...... But that was many years later, and the highest position he could aspire to was the Minister of Shipping of Fujian, and he had to have good opportunities and merits.

He obviously has to take care of the affairs of the Fuzhou Shipyard, but he also understands that he can't sit in Fuzhou for a long time, and he has to find a deputy to take charge there.

Who is this candidate?

Zhang Lingpu?

The experience is shallow, and the qualifications are insufficient.

Thinking about it, he could only find Xu Jianyin, the son of Xu Shou.

Poor thing.

He already has a lot of talents in his hands, but he can't find a few people who are proficient in mechanical ships, let alone people who are proficient in both mechanical ships and operations.

This is China today.

Not to mention that he couldn't find it, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang couldn't find it either.

Sheng Xuanhuai...... That's a half-ass.

At least for now, it's half-.

Hu Chuyuan returned to Hangzhou directly by boat, and it took more than ten hours to get ashore.

When he returned to the Hu family's compound, the family immediately became lively, and the family happily had a reunion dinner, and called Hu Yueqiao and his wife and his two sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren over.

Taking advantage of the fact that the family was there, Hu Chuyuan said that he would send his two younger brothers to study in the Western Academy and the Chinese Academy of Studies, and then send them abroad for further study, and no one had any opinion.

The old lady wanted to donate a sum of money to repair the Baoguo Temple, which was not only to do good deeds and accumulate virtues, but also to burn incense around the cemetery of Hu Xueyan in Wangyiwang.

This is a good thing, Hu Chuyuan agreed to give 100,000 taels of silver, enough to rebuild a Baoguo Temple.

After eating this Chinese New Year's Eve reunion dinner, which was more than a month late, Hu Chuyuan went back to his study and invited Hu Yueqiao and two cousins over.

A few people sat down, and Hu Chuyuan said to Hu Yueqiao: "Fourth uncle, do you want to buy a share in Jiangnan Commercial Bank?" ”

Hu Yueqiao was slightly surprised and asked, "Is this appropriate?" ”

Hu Chuyuan knew what he meant, and said, "There is nothing inappropriate. I now want to disperse the shares of the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, and at most keep four or five of the shares in my hands, and increase the shares of the imperial court to two or five. In addition, I want to give 20% of the shares to Boss Xu from Shanghai, and you here, I will leave 5% of the shares. ”

Hu Yueqiao said with a smile: "Jiangnan Commercial Bank is so big, there are a lot of shares in Wuli, and its profits are so rich, why don't I enter?" How much does it cost to buy these 5% shares? ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "Not much, 600,000 taels." ”

Hu Yueqiao was taken aback and said, "5% of the share capital costs 600,000 taels, which is not much?" ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "Fourth uncle, the net profit of the firm is at least seven million a year. Now invest 600,000 taels of silver, and you can get back 300,000 taels of dividends at the end of the year, and you can earn it back in two years. ”

Hu Yueqiao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's okay, I'll find a way to raise 600,000 taels of silver for you!" ”

Hu Chuyuan said with a smile: "If you have money, then invest it in Qingyutang first, and I will lend you the 600,000 taels of silver first." But I also have a request. ”

Hu Yueqiao sighed and asked, "What?" ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "Fourth uncle, my business has developed very fast this year, some things are not suitable for others to do, and the two younger brothers are young, can you let the eldest brother and the second brother help me?" ”

He has long observed that although Hu Yueqiao's business is not big, his two sons, Hu Shiyuan and Hu Weiyuan, have cultivated very solidly, and they are both capable people in business.

Hu Yueqiao said: "Of course it's okay, but many things in Qingyutang are also taken care of by the boss, let Wei Yuan help you!" ”

Hu Chuyuan thinks it's okay, the rule of Huizhou people is that the eldest son stays at home to guard the family business, and the younger sons go out to work hard and make a living.

He immediately bowed hands to his second cousin Hu Weiyuan and said, "Second brother, then please leave it to you." Doing business is a reason, and when you enter the firm, I will let you follow the Tan shopkeeper to help you first, and slowly touch the door of the salt industry and the silk industry. ”

Hu Weiyuan said: "Brother, don't worry, I will do my best." ”

After talking about these things, Hu Yueqiao left with his family, but Hu Chuyuan was not idle.

There are too many things at the moment, and everything is overwhelming him, but fortunately, there are all the shopkeepers to help share it.

It is estimated that he does not have time to worry about the affairs of various industries at the moment, so he wrote a few excerpts at night, and talked to Liu Chengxiang about the deployment and future of the Jiangnan Silk Industry Cooperative, how to become a Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative, how to start involving small loans, how to set up branches in various townships and towns, and then control the quality of raw silk through the branch, and how to negotiate and buy silk through the branch;

He had to talk to Tan Yiyun about what Jiangnan Commercial Bank was going to do next, how to cooperate with Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperatives to revitalize the silk industry, how to prepare to enter the tea industry and the steamship industry, of course, the problem of Yufeng Grain Cooperatives also had to think of a way, this problem is a big landmine, once it explodes, it will be shattered;

He had to talk to Chen Xiaobai about when he would open another CITIC ticket number in addition to the Fukang ticket number, and when he would set up CITIC Bank in Shanghai, Tianjin, and Hong Kong, and what to do;

He had to talk to Shen Furong about how Rong Baozhai and the pawnshop cooperated, when to prepare for the auction house, and who was more important between the three.

……

All night, he didn't sleep, drank a few cups of strong tea, kept writing, kept thinking.

When he finished writing the letter, it was already dawn, and he was about to take a nap when Hu Rong hurriedly came in to tell him that Mei Qizhao, the governor of Zhejiang, had come to pay a visit.

Hu Chuyuan is very happy, Mei Qizhao also contributed a lot in this big victory in the salt case, if it were not for his secret deployment, the rich gentry of the Huzhou Nanxun Merchant Gang would not have collapsed overnight.

Soon, Mei Qizhao walked into the Hu family's compound with a smile, and Huo Hongji, the prefect of Hangzhou, accompanied him, both of them were full of joy.

As soon as they met, Huo Hongji congratulated Hu Chuyuan and said: "Congratulations to Hu Caiwei for his victory and shocking the Jiangnan business community, from now on, there should be no more waves in Jiangnan Yanzheng!" ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Tongxi, Tongxi!" ”

Mei Qizhao also said: "Yes, for us Zhejiang officials, this is also a major event worth congratulating." ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled: "Thank you for your care." ”

Mei Qizhao politely said a few times, and the three of them entered the flower hall of Baishi Tower together.

After sitting down, Hu Chuyuan asked people to take two ink treasures and give them to the two, both of which were the same Kangxi Emperor treasures.

Emperor Kangxi's calligraphy is a family of its own, quite attained, he usually practices the manuscript will be left, and it will be given to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty during the festival, but all the ancestors in the Kangxi Dynasty can do more than three rank officials in the scholarly door have treasures, a large number, the price is not high.

However, the emperor treasure is the emperor treasure, and it is the emperor treasure of this dynasty.

At least Mei Qizhao and Huo Hongji don't have it at home.

The two couldn't help but open their eyes on the spot and appreciate it carefully.

Huo Hongji even said to Hu Chuyuan: "Captain Hu, you are so polite, Huo is grateful, grateful!" ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "I have gained a lot in this salt case, Kangxi Ye's imperial treasure has several volumes, if Lord Huo likes it, I will have people send them over tomorrow." ”

Kangxi's calligraphy works have survived a lot, and although the price is not high, they have a very special value in this era.

Huo Hongji really liked it and thanked him again and again.

Mei Qizhao said with a smile: "Chu Yuan, I came to you this time, in addition to congratulating you, I also want to discuss with you about the water conservancy canal in Zhejiang." At the moment, the funds of Fukang Qianzhuang should be quite abundant, so I want to withdraw them as soon as possible. ”

Hu Chuyuan thought for a while and said, "Yes, not only with this, but I also want to toss a few big projects in Zhejiang." ”

"Oh?" Mei Qizhao couldn't help but be a little surprised, thinking, isn't what we are doing at the moment big enough?

According to the total amount he and Hu Chuyuan had before, a total of 14 old canals had to be dredged, and four new canals with a total length of 620 kilometers had to be excavated, and the total cost was not less than 2.8 million taels of silver.

As far as the current Qing Dynasty is concerned, this can be regarded as the largest water conservancy project in the past two decades.

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, and Mei Qizhao said: "The mulberry trees planted in the Taihu Lake area need a lot of irrigation to make the mulberry leaves fat and tender, so that both silkworms have enough delicious mulberry leaves to eat in spring and summer, and the raw silk produced is as white as snow. Although this kind of lake mulberry tree is also used in Zhejiang, it does not have the same good irrigation conditions as Taihu Lake. If you want to improve the quality of Zhejiang silk, the key lies in water. Therefore, I think that in our original canal project, we can use Western methods to build several large reservoirs in the Jinqu Basin and Hangzhou, so that the reservoirs and canals are connected, and the role of regulating water conservancy will be stronger. ”

Mei Qizhao couldn't help but be a little surprised, and said: "That being said, but the Zhejiang canal project has just passed the approval of the imperial court, and this will have to be reported to a larger reservoir project...... Of course, I know Chu Yuan, you must have a way to solve the funds, otherwise you wouldn't have said it. It's just that...... If you continue to borrow money from Fukang Qianzhuang, can Zhejiang pay off the tax after paying it? ”

Hu Chuyuan was confident and said: "As soon as the reservoir is completed, Zhejiang Silk Industry not only greatly improves the quality, but also has the ability to double the output. Combined with the increase in rice production, it will be possible to reinvest in the new tax revenue within 10 years. ”

Mei Qizhao thought for a while, and then asked, "How much does it cost?" ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "It is difficult to say how much it will cost in total, and it needs to be calculated after specific mapping, but our canal project is around these reservoirs, let's first determine the location of the reservoir, and then build the canal, report while building, and finally build the reservoir." I estimate that the construction of the reservoir and the canal will probably cost four or five million taels of silver. ”

Mei Qizhao immediately asked: "Can you borrow it from Fukang Qianzhuang, and Zhejiang can also pay it off?" ”

Hu Chuyuan glanced at Huo Hongji, believing that he was also his own person, so he said to Mei Qizhao very straightforwardly: "Lord Governor, you can rest assured, if Zhejiang can't pay it back, I will reduce the debt as much as possible." This is of great benefit to our Zhejiang Province, it is worth it no matter how much money is spent, as long as I can afford it, I will not frown. ”

As soon as he heard this, all Mei Qizhao's doubts turned into clouds of smoke, and he immediately laughed and said, "That's good, that's good." Chu Yuan, don't worry, as long as the governor of Zhejiang can afford it, I won't owe you a debt of a penny of silver. ”

These words, he said, where is it easy to pay off?

Huo Hongji was extremely surprised when he heard it, of course he knew that the relationship between Mei Qizhao and Hu Chuyuan was not simple, and it was beyond his expectations to be so iron.

There is no doubt that Hu Chuyuan does not intend to recover much money at all, and is purely taking money to Mei Qizhao's political achievements.

According to the scale of such a project, it is the first time in the Qing Dynasty in the past 30 years, and it will be of great benefit to the country and the people. If Mei Qizhao is allowed to do it, except for the throne of the Governor of Liangjiang and the Governor of Zhili, the other governor's positions are basically at his disposal.

There are continuous mountains around the entire Jinqu Basin, and according to Hu Chuyuan's plan, as long as the dams are artificially built at dozens of openings, multiple natural reservoirs can be formed.

The proper use of Western cement and machinery can be even better, the use of reservoirs and canals in the Jinqu Basin to carry out major transformation, the formation of a spider web-like network of canals, and then into Yanzhou and Hangzhou, the whole of Zhejiang can add at least 5 million acres of fertile land.

The three of them talked late at night and decided that Mei Qizhao would arrange personnel to make woodblock models of the terrain of the Jinqu Basin and the western part of Hangzhou Prefecture in proportion, and to survey the geological conditions of the entire area.

On the other hand, Hu Chuyuan tried to hire some foreign technicians and used Western methods to build dams.

When these things are done, the specific cost and expenses will be recalculated, but no matter how much money it costs, it will be handled by Hu Chuyuan's Fukang Money Village, and the loan interest will be lighter.

If the money cannot be repaid before Mei Qizhao leaves office, Hu Chuyuan will find a way to erase half of the debt.

After talking about these things, the three of them continued to talk about other things in the Zhejiang silk industry, including Hu Chuyuan's preparations for a silk reeling factory and a silk dyeing factory in Hangzhou.

Since it is a government-run commercial firm, of course he can set up factories outside the concession, and in addition, Hu Chuyuan also wants to invest in porcelain kilns in Ningbo and Shaoxing to revive the glory of Yue kilns.

The things he wants to do, as long as they are successful, they are all Mei Qizhao's political achievements, and Mei Qizhao is naturally extremely supportive.

Most of the time, Huo Hongji only listened to it and didn't say anything, but he was thinking in his heart - Hu Chuyuan is amazing, with his support and dredging, it is easy for Mei Qizhao to be promoted to governor, and it may not be difficult to be promoted to a university scholar.

What about me?

Huo Hongji wondered in his heart, is my future also tied to this person?