Soon after Chen Shanyuan left, Li Jingfang walked in in in a hurry.

As soon as I entered Hu Chuyuan's study, I saw that the layout here was so luxurious, Hu Chuyuan was not sick at all, and he was reading foreign books with the fake foreign devil wife who was like a flower, laughing while reading, I don't know how happy I was.

Li Jingfang's face sank, and he said, "General Manager Hu, your illness is fine, right?" ”

Hu Chuyuan continued to read, hummed, and said: "I was told that I had a heart disease, and I lost all my officials, and I felt very uncomfortable, I wanted to scold people during the day, and I wanted to vomit blood at night!" ”

Li Jingfang felt very embarrassed, his face was blue and white for a while, but he reluctantly laughed dryly, and said, "General Manager Hu is really good at laughing." My father, my father asked me to send you a handwritten letter, and please take a look at it! ”

As he said this, he took out the letter and presented it to Hu Chuyuan respectfully.

Hu Chuyuan thought for a while, put the letter on the desk, and said, "Li Gongzi, frankly speaking, the cooperation with Lord Zhongtang can be called Hu's biggest failure over the years. Cooperation and cooperation, the officials of the joint were lost, the family property was almost confiscated, and the people were almost beheaded, this is really fucking unheard of, unprecedented, that is, the Lord Zhongtang did it. ”

"This ......!"

Li Jingfang was also helpless, he had previously disagreed with his father and Hu Chuyuan to ask for help.

However, Prince Gong's grandson became a shrunken turtle, Cixi only looked at the results, not the process, the foreigners chased Li Hongzhang and fought many battles, and even moved the British fleet stationed in Hong Kong out, the Americans wanted to collect debts, and the French wanted to talk about Vietnam.

Li Hongzhang has indeed been talking about illness recently, and he is tired of it, since he defeated Hu Chuyuan and suppressed Zuo Zongtang, he didn't have time to digest the fruits of victory, and in turn he was dragged by Hu Chuyuan and fell into the mud pond together.

It's good now, Hu Chuyuan has lost his official position, but after all, he is under the protection of foreigners, and he is full of rat bogeys, so he doesn't dare to say anything nonsense like "borrowing money from foreigners to redeem the official shares of Jiangnan Commercial Bank".

Sheng Xuanhuai owed a lot of debts, and fled with the money that night, and Zheng Guanying also fled to Hong Kong...... Compared with Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, who also reuses businessmen, is even more humiliated.

Ridiculous.

China in this era was absurd enough, but since Zuo Zongtang supported Hu Chuyuan to open the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, it has become even more absurd.

In the past, the absurdity was the conservatism and rigidity of the Qing political axe, but now it is because of money.

Corruption [***] is a hundred times more absurd than conservative rigidity.

What can Li Jingfang do, he can only talk to Hu Chuyuan and say: "Actually, my father didn't intend to be an enemy of Mr. Hu's office, but he was dedicated to the public, but he was instigated by Sheng Xuanhuai and used by thieves, and now it's too late to regret it." My father was seriously ill, and his life was difficult to protect overnight, and he was no longer able to deal with foreigners, but there was no one available in the court, so he was not allowed to take a back seat. I also hope that General Manager Hu will come forward and turn the tide, and now there is only one person who can save the court and his father. ”

Hu Chuyuan sighed, sighed again, and scolded in his heart: Fart.

Li Hongzhang wanted to sign an agreement and end the matter quickly, but the problem was that the imperial court did not agree.

He still took out Li Hongzhang's letter and read it, the words were sincere, tear-jerking, and the preferential conditions were heartwarming.

It's a pity that Hu Chuyuan is not stupid.

He just put the letter down lightly, and Li Jingfang smiled: "Do you think I can still trust Lord Zhongtang?" Forget it, anyway, Lord Zhongtang wants to kill me, I am lucky not to die, so why should I get involved in this kind of thing? ”

Li Jingfang vomited three liters of blood.

He hurriedly persuaded him: "General Manager Hu can rest assured, this matter will never be repeated, as long as General Manager Hu is willing to come forward, my father will be grateful, what the letter says, every sentence is true, my father can draw a charge in person." ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled silently and said: "Painting is exempt, doing business, paying attention to credit, without credit, painting is not worth anything." ”

Li Jingfang vomited seven liters of blood.

He could only bite the bullet and say: "If the general office is still not satisfied, the conditions can still be discussed again, and everything is easy to say." ”

Hu Chuyuan sneered and said: "The imperial court is now eager to give me even the position of the general office of the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, and the Zhongtang wants to hand over the position of the general office of the Beiyang Commercial Bank to me, so wouldn't it be to bake me on the stove?" Besides, the matter of the concession is indeed irreparable, and the adults in the middle hall know it, but they can't convince the imperial court! ”

Li Jingfang said: "As long as Mr. is willing to come forward and can negotiate the conditions more tactfully, the area of the concession is not so large, step by step, and it has been slowly increasing in four or five years, and my father is grateful." ”

Hu Chuyuan still sneered and was speechless.

Li Jingfang hesitated for a moment, and then persuaded again: "General Manager Hu's office, it is related to the reputation of my father's life, although there are a few places where I can't live before, I also ask the general office to raise your noble hand and help mediate." If he can succeed, my father will definitely not break his promise this time, and the affairs of Beiyang Commercial Bank and Bank, as well as the affairs of China Merchants, will be entrusted to the General Office, and he will never ask too much. My father is inconvenient to draw a charge, so I can draw a charge on my behalf. ”

Hu Chuyuan was not polite, and immediately said: "Okay, then draw a charge, it is impossible for me to trust your father and son now, and drawing a charge is also a guarantee for me." ”

Li Jingfang sighed in his heart, he couldn't imagine that Hu Chuyuan really wanted him to draw a charge, and secretly said in his heart: My family's reputation has come to this point?

As a last resort, he really drew a bet with Hu Chuyuan.

After sending Li Jingfang to rest, Hu Chuyuan silently thought about it for an afternoon.

He chose to accept Li Hongzhang's conditions and come forward to mediate and mediate, not because of those conditions, but because he believed in one thing -- Li Hongzhang's traitorous treaties would be signed more and more, and there would be many places to blackmail Li Hongzhang in the future.

July 22, 1883.

Under the protection of Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong, the Qing court reappointed Hu Chuyuan as the Minister of Jiangnan Commerce, who belonged to the Prime Minister's Yamen for National Affairs, and was the third rank of assistant minister of Nanyang and Beiyang trade affairs.

The so-called associate is to assist, and the so-called Bing is to advise and perform.

The Manchurians are incompetent, and the knowledge of using words and appointing officials is still extremely proficient, Hu Chuyuan's official is restored, but the actual authority is far less than before, but this is already within the acceptable range of both sides.

At least for Hu Chuyuan, he once again stabilized his position, and his gamble with the Manchu Qing was still continuing.

The result did not disappoint everyone, Hu Chuyuan only invited Li Hongzhang and the envoys of the Three Kingdoms to renegotiate in the garden, and it only took one afternoon to reduce the area of Tianjin's new concession to 10,458 mu, and the Shanghai concession was not in a hurry to add it, and Xiamen did not set up a concession.

As a condition, the concession area was to use the Qing Dynasty silver yuan and the corresponding currency, and the United States, Britain and France agreed to open Tianjin University in the concession, all expenses were to be raised by the Leasing Committee, and the local security was to be the responsibility of the Patrol Bureau, and one Chinese representative must be among the three permanent members of the Patrol Bureau.

In addition, the US side agreed to accept a total of 60 trainees from various military academies for six years to study at the US schools.

No one could have imagined that this is how China's first university was born, and it was Tianjin University.

No one praised or objected to this thing, but in the hearts of those people in Jingshi, everyone understood a truth...... Regardless of whether Hu Chuyuan is a foreign devil or not, he is the only one who can deal with foreigners now, and he is the only one who can suppress foreigners, get benefits from foreigners, and maintain the dignity of the Manchu court.

As for Hu Chuyuan, he knew that the Minister of Jiangnan Trade was a fictitious position with no real power specially created for him by the Qing Zheng Axe, and when the Qing Zheng Axe needed to deal with foreigners one day, he would continue to summon the Jiangnan Minister of Trade and Trade to appear quickly.

He didn't care.

When the matter of the Tianjin concession was negotiated, he sent someone to Tianjin to talk to Li Hongzhang about the matter of the CITIC Bank and the Tianjin China Merchants Bureau; this time, Li Hongzhang really handled everything one by one according to the prior consultation, so that Hu Chuyuan was satisfied with the right to handle the Kaiping Coal Mine and the Rehe Gold Mine.

As for the Beiyang Commercial Bank, Hu Chuyuan did not get involved in it explicitly, on the surface, he recommended his cousin Hu Weiyuan to go to Tianjin to run the office, that is, Zhongrun Company held 70% of the equity of the Beiyang Commercial Bank, and appointed Yan Xinhou as the general office.

The Beiyang Agricultural Cooperative, which has not had any improvement and investment in Sheng Xuanhuai's hands, was split into two and divided into two cooperatives, Hebei and Tianjin, which were wholly owned and operated by the Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative.

Subsequently, Hu Chuyuan officially issued CITIC Qing Baht in Tianjin, entered the Zhili market, and used the real money arbitraged in the capital market to develop the new concession in Tianjin.

For all this he was doing, the Qing court was like a mad dog with a broken tooth, watching numbly, gritting his teeth with hatred in his heart, but he didn't dare to pounce.

In the words of Qing Beile, Maleg forced, this grandson is actually a foreigner.

In their opinion, Hu Chuyuan is a brute, a dog slave with no loyalty, righteousness and shame, a second minister, and a fake foreign devil, but he is not fucking easy to bully.

Hu Chuyuan didn't care.

He continued to do his big business.

In fact, the total amount of his funds far exceeds the estimate of Qing Zheng Axe, and his business acumen is by no means something that Qing Zheng Axe's gang or Sheng Xuanhuai can see through.

The total amount of funds he cashed out from the United States is very large, with $200 million in liquid capital in his hands, and the total amount of funds he has invested in the three major projects of Wanqi Chemical, Carnegie Steel, and San Francisco Bay in the United States is about $60 million.

He gradually cashed out the surplus funds into silver, which flowed into the CITIC Bank through Wanqi Foreign Bank, and issued additional CITIC Qing baht, preparing to make larger-scale investments in China's agriculture, including tea in Fujian and Zhejiang, silk and linen in the south of the Yangtze River, and cotton and oil in the north.

The problem is that the rate of return on agricultural investment is low and the payback period is too long.

As a supplement, he will also make a large-scale investment in the real estate of the Tianjin Concession, and it is estimated that within five years, he will invest 30 million yuan in exchange for a return of about 400 million yuan.

He has this faith and ability.

No matter what kind of attitude the Qing Zheng Axe had towards him, the Qing Zheng Axe would not be at odds with money, and in just three months, by November 1883, the printing tax paid by the CITIC Bank through the Daqing Bank Bureau had reached 14 million taels of silver.

Considering the huge issuance and exchange volume of Qing Baht copper coins, in fact, Qing Yuan and Qing Baht have become the mainstream monetary system of the Qing court in both the north and the south.

Inadvertently, before the Qing government itself was fully aware, China's financial system had initially completed the change to a simple silver standard.

The huge amount of money printing tax quickly resolved all kinds of unhappiness between Qing Zheng Axe, Zuo Zongtang and Hu Chuyuan, no matter what, Qing Zheng Axe and Zuo Zongtang were short of money, and Hu Chuyuan had an extremely magical power, which could conjure up countless funds for them to squander for no reason.

(To be continued)