It was already late at night, Hu Chuyuan hadn't slept for two nights, he was very sleepy, and the matter was settled, so he asked people to send Mei Qizhao and Huo Hongji away.

The next time, as soon as he woke up, Huo Hongji came again.

This time, Huo Hongji also brought a thin gift, saying that he wanted to thank Hu Chuyuan for giving him Emperor Kangxi Treasure yesterday.

It's clear that there is something to ask for!

Hu Chuyuan understood in his heart, so he invited him to have breakfast in the lake pavilion in the West Garden.

casually talked about a few interesting things, Huo Hongji lost no time in saying to Hu Chuyuan: "Speaking of yesterday, I think that Captain Hu's talent is not only far better than me, but also the governor is not as good as you!" ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "Lord Huo has won the award, but it is only because you see my strengths, not my weaknesses." ”

Huo Hongji said with a smile: "If a person can have such a long time, his life is enough to achieve a great cause, Huo has a reluctant request, I hope that Hu Qiwei can remind me so that I can better serve the imperial court." ”

Hu Chuyuan thought for a while and said, "My lord, you might as well learn a foreign language and take a look at the original books in foreign languages." Although the translated book is easy to understand, if the translator does not understand it himself, the translated book loses its original value. I have discussed Western studies and middle schools with the people of Zhongtang, and they all feel that 'middle school is the body, Western learning is for use' is outdated, and if adults want to achieve something, it is better to put aside the dispute between China and the West and learn from the strengths of others. ”

Huo Hongji was slightly surprised.

Not to mention anything else, he is still considering the words "middle school is the body, and Western learning is for use".

But anyone who can achieve a career in this era, especially the Han people, is basically not simple, and they all have their own set of ideas, and Huo Hongji, who is the last minister of military aircraft of the Qing Dynasty in the Qing court, is not simple.

Even when he was young, he was also a person who "said less and did it simply".

Say less, see more, and do things concisely.

If it weren't for such a person, it would be impossible to rank first in the Hanlin Academy examination, which is undoubtedly another kind of champion, and it is more practical than the champion, which is the symbol of the most official talent.

A person like him is very smart, and he also has his own ideas and reading power, so he won't feel anything just because Hu Chuyuan said, "Lord Zhongtang thinks".

After waiting for a while, he and Hu Chuyuan asked, "Captain Hu, can you tell me about these words in detail?" ”

Hu Chuyuan is not a very restrained person, so he and Huo Hongji carefully discussed some useful points in Western studies, and also discussed some rigid and pedantic points in the middle school together, and verified each other.

The two chatted until noon, Huo Hongji still did not fully accept the idea of "it is advisable to put aside the dispute between China and the West and learn from the strengths of others", but he gradually understood and realized his own experience.

During the chat, Hu Chuyuan gradually discovered that Tan Zhonglin, Huo Hongji, and Liu Kun are generally the same kind of thinking, that is, they are relatively conservative, not biased towards foreign affairs, and have some rejection and sober self-awareness of foreign affairs.

The three Hunan people had almost the same idea, and they hoped to restore some of the policies of the Kangqian period, reduce the taxes on gold and miscellaneous taxes, and avoid the large amount of expenditure caused by the Westernization Movement in various provinces, as well as the accompanying taxes on gold and miscellaneous taxes, so as to recuperate with the people.

Liu Kunyi had certain changes during his tenure as governor of Liangguang, and there were some changes at the beginning, but he was still quite opposed.

For example, Liu Kunyi has long opposed the construction of railways, arguing that it would leave a large number of trafficked traffickers in China unemployed.

Tan Zhonglin now opposes Hu Chuyuan's preparation of a silk factory in Suzhou, and said to Zuo Zongtang that "most of the craft equipment used in the silk factory is foreign methods, and everything depends on foreigners, and if they can't get through, they will be subject to foreign and prolific ones, and the local art of the Su people will be affected by the pond fish" -- that is to say, the silk mills use all foreign crafts, and if foreign technicians are hired, they will definitely be controlled by foreigners, and if the output is too large, it will be very unfavorable to the local people in Suzhou who reel silk, and it will further affect others.

Huo Hongji thought that it was okay to open a silk factory in Hangzhou, at least it could be opened first, and we would talk about it later.

With such an understanding, Hu Chuyuan went around in a circle, starting directly from the silk industry and tea industry in China, although Huo Hongji's idea is conservative, but to a certain extent, it coincides with Hu Chuyuan.

When it comes to these things, the two have the same idea.

The more he talked about it, the more Hu Chuyuan found that Huo Hongji was not a simple person, and he was not necessarily worse than Tan Zhonglin, but Huo Hong's body also had a characteristic of Mei Qizhao - self-cherishment.

Hu Chuyuan now generally has a prediction, most of the people who cherish themselves are within the scope of the Qing school, or in other words, Huo Hongji belongs to the Hunan family in the Qing school, while Tan Zhonglin belongs to the conservative group in the Hunan school, everyone's position seems to be the same, but in fact it is very different.

Mei Qizhao belongs to the line of Wan Qing Quinoa, that is, the Qing School, but unlike Wan Qing Quinoa, Mei Qizhao's own political thought belongs to the relatively small number of Westernists in the Qing School.

The political arena of the late Qing Dynasty was like this, the people who could really be called famous, and the people who could have a status in the imperial court had their own ideas, which seemed to be the same as others, but they were different, and it was difficult for them to form a faction.

It is very difficult to reverse Huo Hongji's thoughts, but Hu Chuyuan attaches great importance to this person, so he is very willing to spend energy and time and talk slowly with Huo Hongji.

Sometimes, two people have too different opinions, and they don't argue with each other much, it's almost like I talk about mine and you talk about yours.

But in the evening, Huo Hongji finally woke up more and more, and realized that Hu Chuyuan's set of ideas was really reasonable, and the rest of the Qing school, Westernists, and conservatives were not as effective as his ideas, and they ...... Hu Chuyuan looked too far.

Hu Chuyuan can not only see the competitive situation of the silk industry and the tea industry in the entire international environment, but also analyze the situation in China after the decline of these two industries, analyze the future affairs of Britain, France, Germany, the United States, and Russia, and analyze the changing trend of domestic politics...... Wait-and-see can postpone the future for a hundred years.

Talking about the dark sky and lighting the kerosene lamp, Huo Hongjicai and Hu Chuyuan sighed: "The talent of the cavalry captain, there is no one who can be better than you in a hundred years, and it is more than a hundred times stronger than me. ”

In order to hear this, Hu Chuyuan almost said his mouth crookedly.

But he just laughed very plainly, and said: "Cultivation can't be talked about, the prefect has high ambitions, let's work together slowly." We are not in a hurry, everything in the world has its laws and numbers, and only by taking advantage of the trend can we get twice the result with half the effort. ”

Huo Hongji nodded slightly, but his heart was happy and worried.

The good thing is that he finally saw through the situation, has the law of coping, and can still stand with Hu Chuyuan and work together, with such a foundation and Hu Chuyuan's help, his future career will be smooth sailing.

Worry, that's the same.

He couldn't help but ask in his heart, what does a genius like Hu Chuyuan want to do?

Before leaving, Huo Hongji chose another piece of Kangxi's imperial treasure calligraphy from Hu Chuyuan, and then left the Hu family's compound with a thousand thanks, satisfied, and his heart seemed to be infused with a magical power, but it seemed to be a little swollen.

When he left, Hu Chuyuan was also thinking in his heart.

He's not the kind of person who would easily invest in someone else's politics.

Helping a few editors of the Hanlin Academy to serve as prefects and prefects is not a real investment, for him, it is just a gesture.

When he was very young, he once found two beautiful kittens in the field and brought them home for adoption, but his parents did not agree, so he had to build a small hole for them outside the yard and send a little milk and porridge every day.

After raising it like this for half a month, I watched the two golden kittens grow up, but they were bitten to death by a weasel.

This incident was a great stimulus to Hu Chuyuan, who was still in elementary school at the time, not only did he feel sad and blame himself for many days...... Growing up, this trauma also tormented him, making him understand that once he decided to take care of something, he had to really take care of it.

The same is true for doing business, if you decide to invest in a project, you must stick to the end, give the best support and care to the project, and put an end to all possible accidents and blows.

Investing in politicians is a business.

Tan Zhonglin, Mei Qizhao, and Yang Changjun are all people he can invest in, but he only wants to invest in Mei Qizhao for the time being, because he has identified this project and believes that Mei Qizhao is the most suitable candidate.

What about Huo Hongji?

Hu Chuyuan thought, of course he has the ability to take care of Huo Hongji, and Huo Hongji is indeed a person worth taking care of, so why not take care of it?

It's just that...... Huo Hongji's characteristics and surname still need him to figure out.

This person is not simple, and if he adds fuel to the fire, it will be unlimited...... It is precisely for this reason that it seems necessary to be a little cautious as well.

In the afternoon, Liu Chengxiang also came to Hu Chuyuan to talk about the Hangzhou Silk Factory, and the Xijin Club sent three more technicians, all of whom have arrived in Hangzhou, and the factory site has been selected.

The investment in this factory is not high, counting machines, labor, and workshops, Hu Chuyuan has invested a total of 200,000 foreign yuan, and with Liu Chengxiang in charge of checking, Hu Chuyuan is estimated to not lose money.

felt that this was an opportunity to train people, so Hu Chuyuan discussed with Liu Chengxiang, left Pan Limei as a translator, and followed Liu Chengxiang to run the factory by the way, so that she could learn more real skills.

At this time, Pan Limei was not very helpful to him, but he believed that the potential of this girl could be cultivated slowly, and he could afford to wait.

Hu Chuyuan took out the book fold he wrote yesterday, handed it to Liu Chengxiang, and said: "Uncle Liu, the matter of the Jiangnan Silk Industry Cooperative will be handed over to you, and you can send Lu Sanyuan to handle the specific things, and take the time to keep an eye on the reeling and dyeing factory." As for what to do with the cooperative, I have already written it all in this excerpt. ”

Liu Chengxiang snorted and said, "Boss, don't worry, I will do my best to get these things done." ”

Hu Chuyuan said again: "There is another thing, I want to set up a company in Shanghai, you will set up another tea house under the name of this company, and go to Qimen, Huizhou to buy tea fields in the name of tea houses. ”

"Oh?" Liu Chengxiang was secretly surprised, and said in his heart: The scale of such an investment is not small, and the owner may have other ideas.

He thought about it for a while and said: "Today's tea prices are not as good as day by day, Qimen County is a large tea-producing county, and the impact is the greatest, and the price of land is decreasing every year, and the current price should be less than one mu and twenty taels." We are going to harvest the tea fields now, and as long as the price is moderate, we should be able to buy a lot of high-quality tea fields. ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "Then step up the handling, first temporarily register a Qi black tea company in Shanghai, and the following branches have a number of tea estates, and separately hold the tea fields in each town in Qimen County." In short, there is as much as there is to collect, 300,000 mu is not too much, for retail investors can sign a contract in advance, free of land rent for three years, as long as they sell tea to us at a price. ”

Hearing this, Liu Chengxiang, who was accustomed to seeing big scenes, couldn't help but gasp, and said: "The investment in this way is not small, and it may not be able to return to its original cost in ten years!" ”

Hu Chuyuan was very calm, and said: "It's not much at all, I have a way in my heart, you go and do this thing first...... My cousin Hu Weiyuan is a very good person, I originally wanted him to follow the shopkeeper Tan to do things, so it is better to put it with you first, and let him help me manage the affairs of the tea house. ”

Liu Chengxiang said: "That's okay." ”

After letting Liu Chengxiang take Pan Limei to see the factory first, Hu Chuyuan pondered alone in the study.

Keemun black tea is one of the four major black teas in the world in the future, and it is as famous as Ceylon black tea.

In the final analysis, it is not the lack of traditional craftsmanship of black tea such as Zhenghe Gongfu and Tieguanyin, nor is it the reason for the tea tree, but the lack of modern agriculture and tea management concepts.

In addition, the bad business methods of Chinese tea merchants, such as shoddy and old and new, are also one of the reasons for the decline of Chinese tea, and the various harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes levied by the imperial court are a major disadvantage.

Hu Chuyuan could not tolerate the continuation of such a thing, and he decided to start officially setting foot in China's tea industry now, he wanted to do a good job of Chinese tea, restore the dignity of the tea kingdom in the past, ensure the export share of tea, and continue to maintain the inflow of silver.

The decline of the porcelain market is already a well-known thing, if even the market for tea and raw silk is ceded to Britain and Yuben, what other things in China are good at for Chinese, can compete with others in the international market, and can be exchanged for real money?

The answer is no.

If we want to maintain the scale of China's economy and maintain China's status, the tea and raw silk industries must be preserved, not only to be preserved, but also to develop rapidly and revive the glory of the past.

That's what Hu Chuyuan is going to do.

It's just that in what way to enter the Chinese tea industry, and if the Chinese tea industry is changed and upgraded, what kind of way will it be operated...... There are many details that he hasn't figured out yet.