The Qing court was very taboo about private meetings between governors and governors who did not have mutual jurisdiction.

There are always exceptions, Zuo Zongtang is recuperating in Hangzhou, and the governor of Liangjiang is temporarily acting by Rong Lu, the governor of Anhui - of course, Rong Lu has not been there, and that position is easy to die, especially for people who are not from the Hunan army.

Zuo Zongtang was recuperating in Hangzhou, and He Jing, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Mei Qizhao, the governor of Zhejiang, came to visit, which was very reasonable...... As for who the other senior official wearing a second-grade official uniform was, Hu Chuyuan didn't know, thin and tall, with shriveled cheeks, and about fifty years old, with a gray beard fluttering, and a bit of fairy wind and bones.

As soon as he came in, Zuo Zongtang said to the Dao Bone Officer: "Wen Qing, he is the eldest son of Hu Xueyan's family, and now he is a hereditary cloud captain, and I am intending to let him be the general office of Jiangnan Commercial Bank, responsible for sorting out the salt affairs of Liangjiang and Zhejiang." ”

"Oh, you're young, huh?" Dao Gu was a little skeptical.

Regardless of whether they were going to rebel or not, Hu Chuyuan stepped forward first and said, "My subordinates have seen Lord Zhongtang, my lords!" ”

Zuo Zongtang knew that he was not very familiar with these people, so he pointed to the Dao Bone Master who was wearing a second-grade official uniform and said: "This is Lord Tan Zhonglin Tan, who has just been transferred to the post of governor of Jiangsu by the imperial court, as for the other two, they have also been here when your father was mourning...... One is Lord He, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the other is Lord Mei, the governor of Zhejiang. ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded silently, and said to the other three: "I have seen the Governor He and the two Governors!" ”

He Jing is a jinshi in the Daoguang period, in his early years, he was in the Zeng State Domain, he has reached the age of sixty, his beard is white and black, his complexion is slightly dark, his face is dark red, not tall, and he is slightly thin.

This person now has great real power in Fujian and Zhejiang, because he also directly serves as the governor of Fujian, leading the general of Fuzhou, supervising the Fuzhou fleet and the coastal defense of Fujian and Zhejiang.

He smiled first: "Nephew Xian is polite, this is your home, no need to be polite, sit down first!" ”

Hu Chuyuan didn't speak, and laughed strangely in his heart: Where do I dare to sit, you are all governors and governors who eat people and do not spit out their skins, and they are all old men who control military power and financial power.

Mei Qizhao pretended not to be very familiar, and said to Hu Chuyuan: "Captain Hu, Lord He asked you to sit, you can sit." ”

It's all kind words, how can you sit down?

At least you have to go up to the third rank to be eligible to find a bench here, and you have to sit against the door.

Zuo Zongtang is not very hypocritical, he said directly to Hu Chuyuan: "I have already talked about the matter of Jiangnan Commercial Bank with all the adults, and everyone is very supportive. I discussed with Mr. He, this time to inspect the salt administration, to check a number of illegal salt merchants, Jiangsu deducted 820,000 taels, Zhejiang deducted 540,000 taels, these money will be used to count the shares into the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, where the insufficiency is insufficient, you will attract private shares of merchants. As for how to purchase the firm, you might as well talk to Mr. He today. ”

"Yes!" Hu Chuyuan received the order, and said to He Jing, Mei Qizhao, and Tan Zhonglin: "The Jiangnan Commercial Bank I want to run is headquartered in Shanghai, and most of the goods are in Shanghai as a transit port, radiating to the entire five provinces in Jiangnan. The headquarters has one general office, two deputy general offices, one general ledger and one chief engineer. Each province has a branch, a conference office, a deputy committee office, and a meeting account. When the business gradually stabilized and the profits were lucrative, I directly crossed the foreign banks and opened branches and agents overseas, bypassing the foreign banks and exporting my country's goods to Europe and the United States. Subsequently, I will also open a Western-style factory and a mining and construction bureau in China. ”

After listening to him, He Jing and the others were silent in thought.

This kind of thing is unprecedented, and it can be said that it is a direct enemy of the major oceans, and if we can defeat those foreign banks and control the trade in national goods in the hands of the trading houses, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement.

However, the stakes also seem to be very high.

If this matter is to be done, Hu Chuyuan's ability is on the one hand, the two governors Yamen and the governors of the five provinces must secretly help each other, of course, everyone will definitely have their own benefits.

Mei Qizhao and Hu Chuyuan had already secretly formed an alliance, and he was the first to say: "Zuo Lao Zhongtang, Lord He, since the opening of the Westernization Movement in this dynasty, the affairs handled by this dynasty have almost been extremely heavy, and the deficit and loss of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and Fuzhou Shipbuilding Administration alone are as high as more than one million taels every year, and the finances and taxes of the provinces in Jiangnan are overwhelmed. The lower officials thought that if they planned according to what Captain Hu said, and we would work together to help, even if there was some loss in the foreign affairs we handled, it would not be lost to the provincial finances. ”

He is an official, and he is the governor of Zhejiang from the second grade, and he is clear about what kind of benefits Zuo Zongtang and He Jing want, and he doesn't say much, but he hits the nail on the head.

Just hearing him say this, He Jing raised his eyebrows coldly and said, "Okay, this method is good." Zuo Zhongtang, this is to rely on merchants to make money to supplement foreign affairs, just wait for Jiangnan Commercial Bank to become a success, and the burden on you and me will be much smaller. ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded silently, and added: "If you seem to have money left, you can also invest in civil affairs and Chinese studies, and open another Western Academy to cultivate talents for the imperial court, which is really good!" ”

Speaking of this, he asked Tan Zhonglin, who had been silent, "Wen Qing, what do you think?" ”

Tan Zhonglin groaned a little and said, "Zhongtang, talents are rare!" ”

He Jing was also very satisfied and laughed loudly: "Yes, it is indeed a rare talent...... Zuo Zhongtang, I'm very satisfied, what you said is so decided! ”

Zuo Zongtang bowed slightly, and said to Hu Chuyuan: "Chu Yuan, this matter is so decided, when I return to Jiangning, I will officially let you start handling the affairs of Jiangnan Commercial Bank!" ”

Hu Chuyuan immediately said: "Thank you, Lord Zhongtang!" ”

At this moment, he was very excited, the salt administration of the five provinces was handed over to the Jiangnan Commercial Bank to take care of it, and it was normal to sell 400 million catties of salt every year, even if the price per catty was only 60 yuan, there would be an income of 8 million taels. You must know that the salt industry is a net profit of 20/23, and there is an annual income of 7 million silver.

That's more money than selling raw silk!

He Jing said: "Lao Zhongtang, there is no need to talk about this matter, we have already agreed, I mean what you told me at noon." ”

"Oh!"

Zuo Zongtang bowed slightly, and said to Hu Chuyuan: "Chu Yuan, I have heard your father and old man say that they want to give you a good family affair in the past two years, but you have all refused. Now you are not young, and you are a good talent with both ability and political integrity, but unfortunately your father is not here, and the old man and your father are also close friends for fifteen years, why don't you let the old man set the door for you? ”

"Huh?"

Hu Chuyuan suddenly fell into the ice cellar again, and the goosebumps from the cold rose.

Subconsciously, he glanced at Mei Qizhao, but Mei Qizhao tried to look at him with his eyes - don't agree, don't agree!