The Sihai Hotel is the Hangzhou headquarters of the CIA, and Yan Fu's words and deeds quickly reached the emperor's eyes. Guangxu put down the fold and opened his mouth to scold: "Li Enfu is like this, Yan Fu is also like this, a black-bellied literati." None of them are good. But I like it. ”

Yan Fu's matter soon spread, and even Cixi was ready to see Guangxu's jokes. Yan Fu was personally chosen by your emperor, as long as he accepted the gift, he would wait to listen to the ginseng, and then see how you Guangxu can come to the stage.

But Guangxu was very happy for Yan Fu's move. Guangxu naturally knew the rules of officialdom, and presumably these wealthy businessmen had also listened to some people's greetings in advance and took out a gift list of one million taels. This has never happened, and it is generally good to have three or five hundred thousand taels. must have thought that Yan Fu would turn over the resignation and then accept a little symbolic surname, it must be a gift list of more than one million taels, as long as Yan Fu collects it, the excerpt of the participation will come up immediately. At that time, Guangxu's face was also dull. If Yan Fu does not accept it, then Yan Fu will definitely be restrained everywhere in the future, and political affairs will be ineffective. At that time, Guangxu will also be embarrassed.

But Yan Fu accepted the gift list but did not accept the gifts, firstly, to block the mouths of the participants, secondly, to have a good relationship with the local gentry, at least there would be no intentional difficulties, and thirdly, to get a start-up fund for the future development of Jiangnan industry. If the industrial office is smashed, there is no loss to the rich businessmen, and they will all be sent out anyway. If this is done, it will attract more private investment, reduce the pressure on local finances, and increase tax revenue. Even Tang Shaoyi thought that Yan Fu's move was an opportunity for the emperor to take advantage of, but Guangxu didn't expect Yan Fu to have such a high political consciousness.

After a month of field investigations, Yan Fu once again visited the rich businessmen from all over the country, but they did not ask about the business they are engaged in now, but repeatedly emphasized that the government treasury is not abundant and asked the rich businessmen to pay taxes in full, in addition, Yan Fu coordinated with the rich businessmen, and finally circled a land of about 800 acres in the north of Hangzhou in the name of Hangzhou Prefecture, and established an industrial park according to the meaning of Guangxu to concentrate industry as much as possible. And under the persuasion of Yan Fu, the "investment" of the Zhang family, the Huang family, etc. was in place, and ash factories and steel bars were established one after another. At this time, the seven students brought by Yan Fu were finally useful, and they were busy with various factories to guide production management and other matters. During this period, Yan Fu actually took the time to visit his top boss, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang. In the eyes of everyone, Yan Fu, who has many gifts, is so good.

The factory was in a hurry, but Yan Fu unexpectedly went on the road.

At the beginning of October of the 19th year of Guangxu, the prefect of Hangzhou, Yan Fu, asked the imperial court to change the Sangxing agriculture, which undoubtedly thundered on a sunny day and quickly spread all over the south of the Yangtze River. Different from the calm and calm of the capital, the entire Jiangnan suddenly stirred up a thousand waves with one stone, and the officialdom and the people were in an uproar. There are no mulberry trees in the capital, so everyone is not in a hurry. But Jiangnan is different, which is related to the livelihood of thousands of silkworm farmers in Jiangnan and the tax revenue of the two rivers. The attitude of the imperial court was ambiguous, and the relevant officials of Liangjiang's feudal platform and Zhentai approached Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, one after another, but his unusual silence made people feel that this matter was evolving into a fact.

Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan is the center of the textile industry in the country, the so-called "out of a thousand silk, clothes are the world", describing the prosperity of the textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River. However, with the outbreak of the industrial revolution in the modern West, since the Opium War, the handmade textile industry in Jiangnan has ceased to be prosperous and has begun to face a major crisis. The technological innovation of the Western Industrial Revolution began with the textile industry, and its production efficiency and quality were far from being able to compete with traditional Chinese handmade textiles.

After 1860, Britain and the United States opened machine silk reeling factories in Shanghai, and the silk reeling industry flourished, but the original handmade silk reeling industry in Jiangnan declined rapidly. On the other hand, the price of raw silk has fallen repeatedly, from 517 taels of silver per quintal in 1868 to less than 200 taels per quintal.

Others, however, want to salvage the situation. Hu Xueyan, a red-roofed businessman, has invested nearly 10 million taels of capital with his own strength, contacted his peers in the silk industry to collect raw silk from all over the country, and forced foreign merchants to buy it at a high price. An unusually tragic war of raw silk broke out.

However, Hu Xueyan is strong, but his luck is really bad, and the foreigners have actually compromised and are willing to invest 10 million taels to buy the raw silk in Hu Xueyan's hands. But Hu Xueyan wanted to sell it at a price of 12 million taels. When foreigners hesitated to agree, the Sino-French War broke out. When the French ship arrived at Wusongkou in Shanghai, the situation was tense, foreign banks and Shanxi bills withdrew short-term loans one after another, and citizens also lined up to withdraw money, and the run on the Fukang money bank on which Hu Xueyan relied and more than 20 money banks with it closed down one after another. On the other hand, because he belonged to Zuo Zongtang's lineage, he was suppressed by Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai and others, and took the opportunity to press Hu Xueyan for the official salary of his money bank agent at a critical moment. Hu Xueyan's funds were unsustainable and he was forced to sell raw silk, and the raw silk war finally fell short.

This is a rare time in China's modern history, the game between Chinese merchants and foreign businessmen, not only did not get the support of the imperial court, but instead encountered a downfall, almost crazy gambling-like adventure, and lack of luck, which eventually led to this tragic fiasco.

This matter, Guangxu who came through the time knew it, Lin Qizhao who was in the capital knew, and the Lin family outside the Shanghai Shiliyi field naturally knew it.

Yan Fu's "Reform of Mulberry and Rejuvenating Agriculture", coupled with the attitude of the imperial court and the Liangjiang Governor's Palace, shrouded the officialdom and the people in an inexplicable panic in an instant, especially the big classes of foreign companies in Shanghai Shiliyichang were even more nervous. Mulberry trees were cut down, and there were no mulberry leaves, and the raw silk was naturally gone. The compradors, street runners, and brokers of foreign foreign firms became unprecedentedly busy, and instead of buying a large amount of raw silk until the end of the year in previous years, they began to buy raw silk from merchants in various parts of the southern part of the Yangtze River.

Overnight, the price of raw silk skyrocketed. However, at this time, all the talents suddenly discovered that it was almost impossible to buy raw silk in the entire Jiangnan market.

Because most of the raw silk is concentrated in the hands of one family, that is, the Lin family.

Nanxun is located around Taihu Lake, with a warm and humid climate and excellent water quality, and has always been the land of fish and rice. Families have planted mulberry and raised silkworms for generations, and mulberry leaves grow particularly luxuriantly, giving birth to a kind of high-quality silk that can only be produced on this soil - Jili silk. Speaking of Jirisi, it is inseparable from the Nanxun Zhang family, which became famous later.

In the year of the opening of Shanghai, a young man, from the silk line in front of his house, rocked a boat full of silk into the Grand Canal, and in a dusk after the sunset, a boat full of raw silk also carried the ambition of a young man, and shook into Shanghai Tang. Zhang Songxian was 26 years old that year. From the low price of silkworm farmers in the countryside to buy silk, the price is increased and sold to the comprador of the foreign bank who came to Nanxun to collect silk, from which to earn the difference. He entered Shanghai Tang by himself and set up his first silk store in the area of Pidgin Bridge in Shanghai. By cooperating with the compradors in the foreign bank, the upper and lower levels joined hands to do business, and the Zhang family was more well-informed, and the Zhang family gradually monopolized the sales of raw silk from Nanxun to Shanghai. So far, the Nanxun Zhang family started from the silk industry, and then set foot in the salt industry, real estate industry, in just a few decades has accumulated tens of millions of wealth, becoming a famous maritime family in modern Chinese history. Perhaps not many people know about Zhang Songxian, but Zhang Songxian's grandson, Zhang Jingjiang, is a well-known legend in modern Chinese history. One of the "four elders" of the Kuomintang, Sun Yat-sen called him "the second brother" and "the first strange man in China". Zeng Qian family funded revolutionary funds and provided advice for Sun Yat-sen's anti-Qing struggle. He also provided a large amount of funds to Chiang Kai-shek, and gave Chiang many times guidance, and personally went to Guangzhou to intercede with Sun Yat-sen, so that Chiang was awarded the post of principal of the Huangpu Military Academy. After the death of Sun Yat-sen, he turned the tide and supported the crisis, and during his tenure as chairman of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and acting chairman of the Central Executive Committee, he spared no effort to help Chiang Kai-shek obtain the highest power in the party, government and army, and gave advice, and was called "revolutionary mentor" by Chiang Kai-shek.

can raise a son like Zhang Jingjiang, Zhang Jingjiang's father Zhang Baoshan, who is naturally not far behind. However, the current sales of raw silk have been incomparable, although the sales volume is gradually increasing, but the price has fallen repeatedly, and it is difficult to sell at a good price under the pressure of foreign merchants. Nowadays, the foreign firms are becoming more and more savvy, and the raw silk is listed in May every year, at this time, except for the purchase of a very small part of the raw silk to maintain the operation of the silk reeling factory, the major foreign companies are in the wait-and-see stage, and there are few large business deliveries. Moreover, over the years, foreigners have also learned the threshold, know the rules of Chinese shopping malls, check out in three sections, and return to the total under the year, and need a large position, and intentionally want to "kill the pig". It will not be until the end of the year that the major foreign companies will take action to buy the raw silk in the hands of Chinese businessmen at a low price. Because raw silk cannot be stored for a long time, it will turn yellow and rotten after a long time, and the merchants in Jiangnan have no choice but to accept the price of foreigners at this time.

But a month ago, someone from the Lin family came to Zhang Baoshan and proposed to buy all the raw silk underwritten by the Zhang family at a price higher than the market price. This is a price that makes Zhang Baoshan very excited and even a little unbelievable.

Of course, it is not without conditions for the Lin family to come up with such a generous price, that is, the Lin family only pays half of the funds, and the rest will be paid in the spring of next year. With the Lin family's money as collateral.

Zhang Baoshan has been dealing with the Lin family for many years, and knows that the Lin family started with money, and the foundation is quite solid, and he has no doubts about the strength and credit of the Lin family. But after all, the amount is too huge, even half of it is as high as more than three million taels of silver, and even the Zhang family is difficult to raise so many funds for turnover for a while.

After several bargains, Zhang Baoshan and the Lin family finally reached an agreement, and the Lin family bought the raw silk in Zhang Baoshan's hands at a price half percent higher than the market price, and the raw silk payment was eighty percent, and the remaining twenty percent waited until the beginning of spring next year to pay, and the Lin family's money was also used as collateral. In addition, the Zhang family also used their position in the raw silk industry to help the Lin family buy raw silk with all their might. The raw silk purchased by the Zhang family will also be the same in accordance with the agreement. In this way, although the price is a little lower, it is much higher than the price of foreigners, and the Zhang family does not need to pay too much money in advance, and the corresponding risk is much smaller.

The agreement was reached, and both parties signed and pledged. In this way, not only did all the raw silk in the Zhang family's Shanghai warehouse belong to the Lin family, but Zhang Baoshan also bought a lot of raw silk and sold it to the Lin family. This was originally a bargain for Zhang Baoshan, and it was much more profitable than doing business with foreign businessmen. But at this time, the unique mentality of the Chinese appeared, that is, one word - goodness. Zhang Baoshan is still a little reluctant in his heart, according to the market in previous years, these raw silk in the hands of the Lin family, the further back the price will be, Zhang Baoshan really doesn't understand, so, he also found the head of the Lin family to remind him politely, and he Zhang Baoshan is also willing to fight for some losses to buy back some appropriately. But the Lin family looked like they didn't care.

But a month later, the price of raw silk in the entire Jiangnan suddenly skyrocketed. The reason is very simple, the new prefect of Hangzhou saw that the grain production in the whole country was reduced, but the good fields in the south of the Yangtze River were only used to grow mulberry, so he asked for a request to turn the mulberry fields into rice fields. However, the imperial court finally agreed, and Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, seemed to have no choice but to prepare to try to implement it in one or two counties.

When the news came, Zhang Baoshan was so surprised that he almost dropped his jaw on the ground, could this Lin family have immortals, can they predict the prophet? It's not terrible to be able to predict the prophet, but the terrible thing is that this Lin family can make such a determination. According to the news obtained by Zhang Baoshan, about seventy percent of the raw silk in the entire Jiangnan is now concentrated in the hands of the Lin family. This is simply shocking, although the Lin family is also a Jiangnan Wang clan and also runs a money bank, but it is also very difficult to mobilize such a huge amount of money in a short period of time, that is at least 15 million taels of silver, how did the Lin family do it?

Moreover, the Lin family put on such a posture, that is, it is clear that they want to compete with foreigners. Hu Xueyan, a red-roofed businessman, did the same back then, but in the end, he was ruined and his family was ruined. It's only been less than 7 years, and everyone in the Lin family has forgotten it? If the wind direction of the imperial court suddenly turns around, and if there is no strategy to change the Sangxing Nong, the price of raw silk will definitely plummet, and the raw silk in Lin Qizhao's hands alone is enough to destroy the Lin family overnight. How could he, the Lin family, dare to do this regardless of life and death?

But at least for the moment, the Lin family is betting right, the price of silk has skyrocketed and there is no way to buy raw silk on the market, so foreigners can only come to the Lin family. The crux of the matter now is how high the price will be for foreigners, and what price the Lin family wants.

However, before Zhang Baoshan could ask, Lin Qizhao from the capital was stunned by his words, and he could only look at Lin Qizhao, who was leisurely and complacent opposite him, and he was speechless for a while.

"With Brother Dingfu's experience, I believe Brother Dingfu can also see that this change will not last long. I'll be honest, it's just a game. ”

"It is to let foreign businessmen not be able to buy a pound or tael of raw silk in the market in my Jiangnan, and force them to compromise. I know that the Zhang family has always had a good relationship with those big compradors in the foreign bank over the years, so when I set up this bureau, I thought of your Zhang family. We want to ask Brother Dingfu to mediate when things are at an impasse, and one of us sings with a red face and the other with a white face, coaxing foreigners into this trap. If you really force foreign businessmen to be in a hurry, delay it until the spring of next year, and wait for the new silk to go on the market, which will be a loss. ”

"Of course, the Lin family will not let Zhang Jiabai do this, and after the matter is completed, thirty percent of the profits will be owned by the Zhang family."

"Brother Dingfu's father started as a silk merchant, and naturally knew that since the foreigners opened a yarn factory in Jiangnan, although the sales of raw silk have gradually increased, the price has fallen repeatedly. The reason for this is that foreign merchants continue to suppress the price of raw silk and raise the price of factory silk, while the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are fighting their own battles, which are like scattered sand, and finally the price power is controlled by foreign businessmen. ”

"If the foreigners control the price power, the profits can only be looted by the foreigners. I work all night in the south of the Yangtze River, and the silk merchants work hard but become the beauty of foreigners. However, the foreigners used the silver taels earned from the Qing Dynasty to further destroy our own system in the Qing Dynasty. Eventually make us their slaves. ”

"This time, my Lin family came forward to repeat Hu Xueyan's actions back then. The difference is that Hu Xueyan is only on his own, but now the Lin family has the support of the imperial court. Brother Dingfu didn't see that Lord Liu of Liangjiang was also preparing to implement the reform of mulberry and agriculture. ”

In addition, after the matter is completed, the Lin family will invite the silk merchants in Jiangnan to set up a silk industry association, and propose that the Zhang family be the president, in order to hope that the silk merchants in Jiangnan will join forces against foreign merchants. to revitalize my China. ”

The name is given to you, the profit is given to you, and the righteousness is given to you. But Zhang Baoshan is a businessman after all, and he said quietly: "Why did Hu Xueyan lose back then, Zihua didn't forget?" ”

Lin Qizhao laughed: "I know that Brother Dingfu has this worry, which is why I am here." Brother Dingfu has forgotten that I am now an official of the imperial court, and I have 80 million taels of tax silver guaranteed every year in my hand. ”

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