The fourth year of Guangxu, 1878.

July.

On a hot midsummer evening, the slanting sun was shining, the crimson glow was smeared all over the sky, and the Hu family compound on Yuanbao Street in Hangzhou was closed with a strict vermilion lacquer gate, and a sad cry came from time to time in the courtyard.

Hu Xueyan died.

It seems that the reliance of Optimus Prime is dying, making everyone in the Hu family have a feeling that the sky is about to collapse, and everyone's hearts are full of fear, not knowing where the future is.

The East Garden of the Courtyard is a residential area, Qingyatang is located in the center of the East Garden, which is a seven-room open double-storey mansion, the first floor is the hall, the flower hall, the side hall, etc., and the second floor is the bedroom, where Hu Xueyan's three sons and one daughter, as well as three aunts and wives who are not very favored.

Hu Chuyuan, who is the eldest son of Hu Xueyan, lives in the easternmost side, and at this time, he is sitting in his study, wearing a sackcloth and white filial piety, and his thoughts are messy.

He is still very young, only eighteen years old, not too tall, but by no means short, and Hu Xueyan has a resemblance of six or seven points, with long pointed cheeks, slender eyes, a high nose bridge, slightly upturned eyebrows, wide hands and feet, looking both shrewd and generous.

For him, this era is a little strange.

He only came to this world suddenly two years ago, at that time, "he" was still called Hu Chusan, only sixteen years old, just won Xiucai, and almost died of a serious illness.

always felt that the name "Hu Chusan" was very peculiar, and there was only one word difference between him and Hu Hansan, so he was a little difficult to accept, so he used the word "Yuan" to imply a new life, and changed his name to Hu Chuyuan.

In order to avoid a lot of embarrassment, he also went to Shanghai Yinghua Academy to study, and only returned home in September last year with a very good grade, and began to help Hu Xueyan manage his business. Because his talent and vision are very peculiar, both shrewd and pragmatic, Hu Xueyan was soon amazed, trusted and relied on him, and handed over many things to him.

But...... Hu Chuyuan never thought that Hu Xueyan would die this year, which really disrupted all his plans.

He originally thought that he had at least six or seven years left before he could slowly step into the mall and take over the family business.

The red-topped businessman Hu Xueyan actually died in the fourth year of Guangxu?

How so?

Hu Chuyuan couldn't figure it out 10,000!!

It is precisely because of the existence of Hu Xueyan that even if he came to such a cheating era, he has rarely suffered and feuded.

In his mind, as long as Hu Xueyan was given some help and reminders at the critical moment, he could not only avoid Hu Xueyan's bankruptcy, but also let Hu Xueyan's legend continue.

With Hu Xueyan's ability and wealth, it is not difficult for him to change the course and outcome of the Sino-French War, and it is even less difficult to change the Sino-Japanese War.

If everything goes well, before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Hu family can have at least 100 million pounds in assets, enough to buy 285 Zhenyuan ships, and a little effort in the war between the two can change the final result.

These are the next ...... Hu Chuyuan happens to have a very special knowledge structure and background, so he knows very well where the real cause of death of the late Qing economy is, and these happen to be Hu Xueyan's best trades - raw silk and tea.

From the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, between 1868 and 1872, the average annual total output of raw silk was 1,026 tons, and the average annual export volume was 646 tons, that is, 1.08 million catties in the late Qing Dynasty, which was less than 1/5 of the total export volume of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and less than 1/7 of the total national export volume of the late Qing Dynasty.

Around 1910, the total annual export of raw silk was 9,462 tons, an increase of 14.6 times, and the total output of raw silk reached 12,460 tons, an increase of 12 times.

During this period, it was already the world's largest exporter of raw silk, accounting for 3/4 of the world's total exports, as a traditional raw silk exporter, China's raw silk exports can only occupy less than 1/10 of the market.

In the past 40 years, the quality of raw silk has also improved rapidly, and around 1890, the average quality of raw silk has surpassed that of Chinese raw silk.

On the other hand, since 1850, Britain began to vigorously support Indian tea, not only providing British capitalists and tea plantation owners with a large amount of cheap land in India, but also exempting Indian tea from all agricultural taxes, export duties, and import duties, and carrying out a comprehensive attack on Chinese tea in the domestic market, coupled with the many problems in the Chinese tea industry itself, gradually made Indian tea develop.

By 1903, Indian tea had surpassed China in the world's total tea exports, and by 1921, India, Ceylon, and Java accounted for 75% of the world's total tea exports, while China fell from 77.29% in 1881 to 8.79%.

Since then, China's traditional three major industries of raw silk, tea, and porcelain have declined to a low point, and they have to face huge war reparations, a large outflow of silver, and no silver inflow, and the entire Chinese economy has also gone to the final collapse.

This is an era of real money and silver, without gold and silver, there is no currency, where there is no currency, where there is consumption, where there is no consumption, where there is no market, what kind of Westernization movement, industrial salvation is a tragic dream that will only completely fail.

It can be said that if the raw silk and tea industries cannot be maintained, China's economy and China as a whole will have no future to speak of, and China in the future will only be the world's first-class poor countries, even India, the Philippines, and Indonesia...... It's not as good as it, you can only let others bully.

This point is not subject to the will of the people, still less can it be changed by a little guns, a little modern factory, or a little political reform.

No economy, no money, everything is a.

But in the past few years, Hu Chuyuan has not been frightened, and he has not had too much bitterness and hatred.

He has always firmly believed that with Hu Xueyan's financial resources, ability, manpower and market appeal as the foundation, coupled with his knowledge and judgment of the future situation, there is every chance to reverse this situation and trend, protect the future of China's economy, and protect the overall market of China's economy.

As long as the market is preserved, it is easy to do anything, it is easy to fight Ben and Tsarist Russia, if you can mobilize the power of the whole country, it may not be impossible to fight Britain!

What now?

What now?

Suddenly losing Hu Xueyan as a backer, Hu Chuyuan inevitably felt a little worried in his heart!

What can he do on his own?

Is this fate?

He couldn't help but think like this, otherwise, how could Hu Xueyan die in this year, seven years ahead of schedule?

"Big young master!"

Hu Chuyuan was thinking so confusedly, and a person quietly walked in outside the door, forty-seven or eighteen years old, short in stature, with refined eyes, and also wearing a filial piety suit.

This person is Wang Baotian, the big housekeeper of the Hu family, and Hu Xueyan's first partner when he first started the rice market business was him, and he worked hard with the Hu family for 25 years.

Hu Chuyuan raised his eyes slightly and asked Wang Baotian: "What's wrong?" ”

Wang Baotian looked sad and said, "Young Master, the eldest lady asked you to come over, there are some things to discuss at home!" ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded, got up solemnly, and followed Wang Baotian to the Hundred Lions Tower.

The Hu family compound is located in the most prosperous drum tower area of Hangzhou City, behind the compound is Niu Yangsi Street, the east side is Yuanbao Street, the front door is Wangxian Bridge and Hangzhou River, because it is the old land site of Song Huizong's residence in his later years, this land is very expensive, 300,000 taels of silver also bought more than ten acres of land.

Among the ten acres of land, the West Garden is a private garden covering an area of four acres, and the East Garden is the living area.

The middle garden is the central axis, with the front gate, the second gate, the hundred lion building, the viewing stage, and the back main gate in a vertical row. On the west side of the viewing stage is the Yinglian Courtyard, and on the east side is the Cold Incense Courtyard, which is symmetrical on both sides.

Baishi Building is located in the center of the whole compound, living the old lady and the eldest lady, the hall downstairs, the flower hall and the side hall are all Hu Xueyan to entertain guests, the place to discuss things, to the east is the family living area of the East Garden, first of all, and the music hall, and the music hall in the front, the Qing Ya Tang in the back.

Hele Hall is inhabited by the main seven aunts, and Qingyatang is inhabited by Hu Xueyan's children and unimportant aunts.

To the east, these two halls are Suochun Courtyard, Yixia Courtyard, Lengqiu Courtyard, and Rongdong Courtyard, which is the largest and most luxurious and is specially used to receive dignitaries.

The hall of the Baishi Tower has been set up with a spiritual platform, and Bai Lian is full, but Hu Xueyan's coffin is not here.

The old lady fainted from crying, and she hadn't fully woken up yet, and was sent upstairs to lie down, in the hall, the eldest lady, Mrs. Luo, Mrs. Seven, and Mrs. Nine, as well as Hu Chuyuan's two younger brothers Hu Pinyuan and Hu Yuanyuan, and the younger sister Hu Yulan were also sitting in the hall, clinging to their respective biological mothers.

Hu Xueyan only began to make a career at the age of thirty, and in his early years, he only had the eldest lady by his side, and only one eldest daughter under his knees.

When he was thirty-seven years old, his second aunt Taihu Peng added him an eldest son, that is, Hu Chuyuan.

After that, the third aunt Tailuo and the fourth lady added the second son Hu Pinyuan, the seventh aunt Taihu Yang added the third son Hu Xuanyuan, and the ninth aunt Taihu Liu added a younger daughter Hu Yulan.

The so-called statement that Hu Xueyan has ten sons and ten daughters is just a folk rumor, not true, and he only has two daughters and three sons under his knees.

As soon as Hu Chuyuan entered the door, the eldest lady Hu Jin asked him to sit down and said, "Chu Yuan, your father died and his son inherited, your father left in a hurry, your two younger brothers are still young, and your Sanniang and I are both women's families, so the affairs of the family can only be handed over to you for the time being." ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly.

The Hu family is not an ordinary family background.

Now at the peak of Hu Xueyan's career, there are at least 20 million taels of silver under his account, and all aspects involved by Hu Xueyan are not simple, the governors and governors of various places come and go, managing the military salary of the Hunan army, and responsible for procuring arms for the Hunan army, these things are not so easy to deal with.

If something goes wrong, no one can afford it.

However, Hu Chuyuan couldn't retreat, and at the critical moment, he had to hold on.

Fourth Madam Luo asked him coldly: "Chu Yuan, what should I do about the current matter, the master has been walking all day, and he can't stay in the ice cellar all the time, right?" ”

Probably because she also has a son under her knees, Mrs. Luo Si has never liked Hu Chuyuan, the eldest son, very much, but she can't wait for him to die early.

Hu Chuyuan thought quietly for a moment, and said: "It's better to do things according to my father's last words, wait for the news of the shopkeeper Tan first, and rent a steamer from Hangzhou to go to Beijing, as long as the speed is fast enough, it will only take seven or eight days to come and go." For now, let's continue to lock the news, only saying that my father is seriously ill, closing the door and refusing guests. ”

Mrs. Luo Si hated: "What kind of truth is this, where is the truth that a dead person is not allowed to do things?" ”

Hu Chuyuan has already begun to contact the Hu family's business, he understands it in his heart, so he replied: "Dad borrowed 12 million taels of military salaries for Xiangjun and Standard Chartered Bank, he is the guarantor, the bank only needs to ask him for money, once the news of his first step spreads, in case the bank comes to force the debt, what money will we pay back?" If we can't afford it, it will affect the reputation of the imperial court and the Hunan army, and affect the westward expedition of the Zhongtang Lord, even if we all have ten heads, it will not be enough to cut off. Therefore, it was this matter that Dad had been relieved about before leaving, so we let us inform Lord Zhongtang first. ”

"This ......!" Mrs. Luo Si seemed to understand this truth, but she felt that she was a woman who couldn't care about these things.

Now that her husband is dead, she wants to do a funeral hall for her husband, so that he can be buried and buried as soon as possible.

After thinking about it, she was very unhappy and asked Hu Chuyuan: "If Zuo Zongtang is not in Beijing and has already returned to Xinjiang Province, is it possible that we will have to wait for two or three months." Hu Chuyuan, you have to think clearly, this family is not so easy to be, it is easy to go to Beijing, if you want to chase from Jingshi to Xinjiang Province, it will take at least a month, and it will take two months to go back and forth, we can't afford to wait, if your father's body is ......! ”

"Sanniang!"

Hu Chuyuan suddenly interrupted her words and replied coldly: "I'm not a seven-year-old child, I know it in my heart. Before the treasurer left, I told him that if Lord Zhongtang was in Beijing, he would have to come back within ten days. If the shopkeeper Tan can't return within ten days, it means that Zhongtang is not in Beijing, and the shopkeeper Tan has also gone to Xinjiang Province. Therefore, if I can't see Tan Da's shopkeeper within ten days, I will arrange for someone to go to Jiangning and inform Lord Shen Baozhen, the governor of Liangjiang. Lord Shen is an old official promoted by Lord Zhongtang, and he understands the seriousness of this matter in his heart, so he will naturally give us an explanation! ”

"This ......!" Mrs. Luo hesitated for a moment, and couldn't find fault for a while.

Although it was the height of summer, Hu Xueyan's body was placed in the ice cellar in the basement of his home, and it was covered with salt sand and spices, and there would be no problems within half a month.

Besides, this is Hu Xueyan's order when he was dying.

Hu Xueyan died of a stroke, in the words of traditional Chinese medicine, this is an evil and poisonous hot wind, he died very quickly, and when he was dying, he confessed two things, first, his funeral could not be urgent, and Zuo Zongtang should be notified first; Second, if he really leaves, the affairs of the family will be handed over to the eldest lady, and the family business will be taken care of by Hu Chuyuan.

Mrs. Luo Si was very angry in her heart, without her mother's help, how could Hu Xueyan be where she is today?

This is good, it's really gone, it's still important for the eldest lady and eldest son, and Nuoda's family business doesn't have her share!

The Hu family is not an ordinary family, and now it is the peak of Hu Xueyan's career, and he has a net worth of at least 20 million taels of silver, which is equivalent to 23.7 billion RMB 130 years later according to the price of gold.

At this time, there was a sound in the courtyard, and more than a dozen family members ran in with a thin old rich gentleman who was over half a hundred years old.

As soon as he entered the hall and saw the mourning hall and those white filial piety cloths, the old rich gentleman screamed with a sad face, "My third brother! Immediately fainted, and everyone hurriedly stepped forward to rescue.

Hu Chuyuan also followed the big guy over and helped the old rich gentleman to sit in the hall.

After a while, the old rich gentleman gradually came back to his senses, and then wept again, beating his chest, I don't know how sad it was.

He is Hu Xueyan's younger brother Hu Yueqiao.

The fourth child of the Hu family.

Hu Xueyan has four brothers in his family, he is the third, the eldest and the second are not good at learning, after Hu Xueyan made a fortune, the two of them teamed up to deceive him of thousands of taels of silver to gamble, and since then there has been no contact, and in the midst of war, life and death are unknown.

Hu Yueqiao was a buddy in a pharmacy in his early years, he was shrewd and reliable, after Hu Xueyan set up Fukang Qianzhuang, he lent him a sum of money to do a medicinal material business, and now he has opened a Fuchang ginseng store, and is a well-known medicinal material merchant in Hangzhou.

The brothers often come and go, and they have a good relationship.

Hu Yueqiao is two years younger than Hu Xueyan and fifty-three years old, with slightly white temples, and has experienced too much wind and frost, his face is full of wrinkles, and his gray beard is also long, looking older than Hu Xueyan.

Everyone hurriedly came up and persuaded them: "Fourth master, don't be in a hurry...... Waiting for you to come up with an idea? ”

Hu Yueqiao was already heartbroken, tears in her eyes, and the eldest lady and Mrs. Luo, who had already relieved her sadness for a while...... They all began to cry, and the whole hall was full of wailing, pain, fear, and sadness...... All kinds of emotions were entangled together, tumbling in this hall covered with white cloth.

What about Hu Chuyuan?

His heart was filled with a sense of worry.

The Qing Dynasty was relatively lenient and protective of merchants, at least much better than the warlord period and the Republic of China period, so the peak period of Jin merchants, Hui merchants, Guangdong merchants, and Ningbo merchants almost all appeared in the late Qing Dynasty, and Qiao Zhiyong and Liu Yong were all rich and rivaled the country.

However, those were ordinary businessmen who kept a good distance from the political struggle.

It's a different story for officials and businessmen.

But there is no official or businessman who does not get involved in political struggles.

The four major officials and businessmen of the late Qing Dynasty were Hu Xueyan, Sheng Xuanhuai, Tang Yanshu, and Xu Run, all of whom were worth no less than 10 million taels of silver, but their children and grandchildren did not end well, and the tens of millions of family wealth were either blackmailed by Qing Dynasty officials or occupied by the political axe of the Republic of China.

Before them, there were more brilliant Guangdong Thirteen Lines, the dead died, the scattered scattered, either exiled overseas, or took refuge in the South Seas.

Officials and businessmen, officials and businessmen, when they are alive, they are beautiful, and when they are dead, they are poor.

Hu Xueyan asked Hu Chuyuan to take over the family business, but Hu Chuyuan was not completely sure to keep this huge family business.

Since the case of "Yang Naiwu and Little Cabbage", Zuo Zongtang's Hunan faction officials who remained in Zhejiang have lost everything, and the entire Zhejiang Province is full of officials from other factions, and everyone is also eyeing the Hu family's family business.

Once there is no Hu Xueyan, these coveted corrupt officials will inevitably show their sharp minions...... It's just a matter of time.

Hu Chuyuan knew very well in his heart that the top priority was to find a political backer again, at least for a few years, and give him enough time to transfer assets.

He knew that he was the eldest son in this family, and Hu Xueyan died, so he had to support the family.

He had to find a way to keep the family first.

Only then will he have the opportunity to do more!!

(Addendum, this book is not a rebellion against farming, but a chaebol novel and stealing the line, friends who don't like it, please don't do too many personal attacks.) ）

(Second, I didn't design a protagonist who knew exactly what he should do, in terms of setting, Hu Xueyan's death completely disrupted his plans, and the protagonist at this time could only take one step at a time, first keep the family business for the time being, and then think about more things.) ）

(In addition, it's not constitutional, royalist and the like, and the rest don't want to explain, tired!!) ）