[91] Initial installation fee

Of course, Yao Fan only needs silver, and he only dares to ask for silver. As an outsider, any unwanted thoughts will arouse the suspicion of others. And the most helpless thing is that even if you suspect Yao Fan with the greatest malice, you can't wronged this grandson. The biggest malice in these years is undoubtedly that you want to rebel, but Yao Fan really wants to rebel, and the paste in the crotch of his pants is indeed not yellow mud, it is really.

Ding Baozhen saw that Yao Fan was silent, and knew that he had no intention of being an official. In this regard, Ding Baozhen has already opened his mind, and being an official for Yao Fan is a means to recruit him, but if this form of solicitation will weaken Yao Fan's own overseas procurement ability and block the channel for the Qing Dynasty to purchase advanced machines, it would be too stupid.

Ding Baozhen said slowly: "Since you have no intention of being an official, just do business well, with me, I will always keep you safe." ”

Yao Fan didn't expect that a person like Ding Baozhen, who was invisible, could say such kind words, and he was really moved in his heart.

"Adult's love, Yao Fanming feels five!"

Hu Zhen, the political envoy and envoy who was invited to participate in tonight's celebration banquet, also looked at Yao Fan with a smile, and said in his heart, "This son has Ding Baozhen's words, who will dare to touch him in Shandong in the future, I am afraid that he can go sideways." ”

For a while, the banquet was staggered, and everyone was full of "Congratulations for me!" "Congratulations to the emperor!" "The machine must show its talents!" Such nonsense.

Lao Ding still didn't eat to the end, his habit was to leave when he was full, so he got up and left the table in the middle of the day, confessed and left, and left a sentence to Yao Fan before leaving: "Yao Fan, you prepare, Master Li will go to Jinan in the next two days, and I want to see you by name." ”

Yao Fan stood there and sent Ding Baozhen away from the table with everyone, he was already a little drunk, and when he heard this, he wondered, "Which Lord Li?" I don't know any Lord Li? ”

As soon as Ding Baozhen left, after everyone sat down, Li Yuanhua, the river political envoy, raised his glass and said to Yao Fan: "Congratulations to Brother Yao, it turns out that he has been favored by Lord Li!" In the future, your Tengda will not only be in Shandong. ”

Yao Fan drank this glass of wine before he came to his senses, guessing that Li Hongzhang wanted to see him, and couldn't help but be a little worried.

Yao Fan remembered that Li Yuanhua in front of him was about to take over the position of Hu Zhen's concurrently serving as the political envoy, and in the future, Hu Zhen would be in charge of the Yamen of the Imperial Palace. And once Ding Baozhen was transferred out of Shandong, Li Yuanhua would be the acting governor of Shandong, and before Wenge, the governor of Yunnan who was ordered to be transferred to Shandong, came to Shandong, he Li Yuanhua was the real leader of Shandong, and it was not until July 1877 that Wenge arrived from Yunnan Shanshan with countless boxes of family members.

"Lord Li is the governor of Zhili, what do you do when you see me as a trader? I'd rather be as close as possible to you, Lord Li, in front of me. Yao Fan was very flattering.

"Hahaha." Li Yuanhua likes Yao Fan's humility and tactfulness very much.

"In this case, it is better to be respectful than to obey fate, then I will be close to the Yao Dong family in the future. Yao Dongjia, all kinds of foreign goods sold in your business, whether it is a folding umbrella, a foreign fire, or a thermos flask, they are all very flattering, and my family has bought a lot of them. ”

"Junior, thank you for taking care of you." Yao Fan said with a smile.

But he was thinking in his heart, "When I finish dinner tonight, I have to prepare a big gift to send to this mansion." ”

When everyone learned that Li Hongzhang wanted to see Yao Fan by name, they couldn't help but look down on this young businessman even more. Invitations to drink are frequent, if it weren't for Yao Fan's good amount of wine, he would have been drunk a long time ago.

Then Yao Fan was busy for two more days, leading the workers of the Machinery Bureau and his own team of villagers to pull wires and connect electric lights everywhere in the city of Jinan. He also ordered Luo Guanqun to send 10,000 taels of silver to Li Yuanhua's mansion.

Li Yuanhua was taken aback, he had no friendship with Yao Fan before, and he really didn't understand how he was worthy of Yao Fan's stammering as a river political envoy. Could it be that Yao Fan wants to contract the project of the river administration yamen in the future? Although Li Yuanhua was puzzled, he didn't have trouble with the silver, so he accepted it calmly, and deliberately praised Yao Fan in front of Luo Guanqun, and asked Luo Guanqun to tell Yao Fan that he felt that he was very close to Yao Fan, and asked him to say something in the future, and he didn't need to beat around the bush, just come to him directly.

"See? Pull down the switch, and the power will be on, and the neon bubble in this electric pen will light up. Once the power is on, never touch any exposed copper wires again, otherwise you will be electrocuted and deserve to be electrocuted. ”

Training electricians is a troublesome matter, Yao Fan doesn't dare to teach these people who don't even understand the law of the left and right hands to operate with electricity, all the teaching content is the most basic, and all require the power connection. In addition, more than a dozen pairs of insulated gloves and electrician's shoes were also delivered, and they were required to wear gloves and shoes no matter how hot the weather was.

With the electric lights connected in several major yamen in Jinan Mansion, the wealthy families in Jinan City were gradually alarmed, and the electric lights that illuminated the major yamen were as translucent as a fire, which was rumored to be miraculous.

"You saw it last night, right? The yamen are as bright as day! Treasure to the sky! "In the teahouse in the city of Jinan, a tea guest spits and flies down.

"What kind of treasure, I think it looks like a demonic spirit, it's really day and night upside down, it's really abnormal. Nowadays, there are more and more foreign goods, which is really demonic. The other tea guest shook his head and sighed as he looked at the crickets in the basin in front of him.

……………………

"Foreign electric lamps, it's really rare, no fire, no smoke, bright, how happy." Even children's rhymes for street play were made up.

The Electric Light Bureau under the Bureau of Machinery and Lighting has just opened an office in Jinan City, and a notice of "appointment for the installation of electric lights" was posted at the door, and major wealthy businessmen came to inquire.

Many shops even have the intention of attracting customers, and in line with the idea of installing one in the store if they don't have it at home, so as to attract customers, they agree to the initial installation fee of 5o taels proposed by the Electric Light Bureau.

The first civilian project in Jinan to be equipped with electric lights was Wanhualou in Qianyan Hutong, a large-scale brothel.

Don't say it, the businessman's vision is indeed clever, Wanhualou has just been installed with electric lights during the day, and the business is booming immediately at night, and the guests are reluctant to leave, in order to enjoy the dignity of this bright hall.

As a result, several high-end brothels around the neighborhood immediately fell into the cold, so they also ran to the Electric Light Bureau, gritting their teeth and saying: "No matter how much money you have, you have to pretend!" ”

"Three meters of wire for a tael of silver? No problem! Wanhualou pulled a few meters, and you pulled double that wire for me! Cui Yantang bustard said loudly in the office of the Electric Light Bureau.

"A light bulb for 5 taels of silver? No problem! Didn't Wanhualou only have a total of 6 light bulbs? You put 12 lamps for me! Isn't each lamp three taels of silver a month? I'll give the money now! Please put it on me today! They are all good looks, you can't be partial! The old bustard of Yuehong Pavilion jumped to his feet and said indignantly.

Ding Baozhen was really moved by Yao Fan's words, and his third eldest Ding Tihe was arranged to be the general office of the Electric Light Bureau.

But in the face of the real money that people took out on the spot, and the clerks around him, "a good start, good luck...... Dali City is good...... Let's not get along with the silver......" and other remarks, Ding Tihe could only endure it.

The Electric Light Bureau opened for three days, and the number of households that made an appointment and paid a deposit alone has reached 571 households, and the net income is 2855o taels of silver according to the initial installation fee of 5o taels per household.

this night.

Jinan Fuqian Avenue.

Brightly lit Happy Building.

"Brother Yao! Your idea of an initial installation fee is amazing! This money comes like flowing water! I didn't know that there were so many rich people in Jinan Mansion, just to make an appointment for the first outfit, I could get 5o taels of silver for nothing. I salute you with this glass of wine! "Ding Ti and Dao.

Ding Tihe invited Yao Fan to a banquet in Kuaiyi Building that night, and also found his eldest brother Ding Ti to accompany him.

Yao Fan raised his glass and said with a smile: "A few years ago, the Taiping Army made a mess and made a mess, so that the rich people of Shandong moved to Jinan. When it comes to credit, you are the first. ”

Yao Fan thought to himself, not to mention the initial installation fee of 5o taels, even if it is a special 5oo taels, for your father, the governor and secretary of the provincial party committee and the commander of the provincial military district, someone will come to you to install it. People don't do anything, just to get acquainted with faces, do you believe it or not? As long as I can see you, you put a blank paper filial piety lantern on his house, and he will admit it!

Ding Ti often said: "Third child, is this silver on the account?" ”

Yao Fan immediately interjected: "This can't be accounted for, this is the hard-earned money of the Electric Light Bureau in the past few days, not the construction cost, this money should be divided by the bureau itself, the wire cost and the light bulb cost in the process of electric light installation are charged separately, what is the matter with the initial installation fee?" The big guy paid this silver in order to install the electric lights as soon as possible, and spend the silver to occupy a first-come, first-served order. ”

Ding Tihe very much agrees with Yao Fan's opinion: "Brother Yao is right, in the past three days, I have been tired up and down the Electric Light Bureau, and I have been busy from morning to night, and some people have specially looked for me, willing to spend a few hundred taels of silver more in order to install the electric lights as soon as possible." Of course, I couldn't ruin my reputation, so I had to push it off. This money will definitely not be credited! ”

Ding Tichang persuaded: "You better ask your father, if your father agrees, your electric light bureau will keep the expenses for yourself." ”

Ding Tihe hurriedly said: "What to ask!" Why do you ask Daddy! Big brother, you want Brother Yao to tell me, why is this money in the account! This money is not available if you don't collect it! It was Brother Yao who came up with a brilliant idea! Besides, this is not forced, it is willing to be handed over! Take it in order!

This is not a hard apportionment in the yamen! I didn't force anyone at all! I'm not afraid of this lawsuit in front of the emperor! ”

Yao Fan said: "I don't think it's better not to ask." Lord Ding is loyal to the country, if he makes a mistake for a while, and treats this silver as a public account, won't he let the colleagues of the Electric Light Bureau work in vain these days? At that time, there will definitely be complaints below, and in the end, don't you want to scold the third brother and not be considerate of the people in the bureau? ”

When Ding Tichang heard this, he hurriedly said: "That's right!" What Brother Yao said is to the point! Big brother, you don't have to take care of this matter anymore, if Daddy asks, tell him to find my third child! I'll carry it all! ”

Ding Ti often saw the battle of the third child of his family, and knew that if he said it again, he would hurt the feelings of the third room of the big house, so he had to give up.

Yao Fan diverted the topic and said: "Brother Tichang, I heard that Li Hongzhang has arrived in Jinan yesterday and is going to see me tomorrow, do you have any news to remind my brother?" ”

Ding Tichang took a pair of chopsticks and shredded radish, chewed and said: "Last year, Li Hongzhang advocated the establishment of a navy in his court debate, and he said that although he felt that the navy was not as important as the Sixth Army, the security of the coastal areas and the interests of the DPRK would never be possible without the navy.

This year, the new emperor ascended the throne and promised him 4oo taels of funds. With the willingness of Lafayette above, this thing will be easy to do. In April this year, Li Hongzhang approached Hurd, the director of the General Taxation Department of the Customs and the adviser to the Prime Minister's Yamen of various countries, and the Briton with the rank of political envoy, and asked him to help buy 4 gunboats, which should be to start building the Beiyang Naval Division. ”

Yao Fan was overjoyed and thought, "That's really the case." ”

"I heard my father say that Li Hongzhang came to him this time to pick some young ones from Shangzhi Academy run by his father to make up for the lack of young children studying in the United States this year. However, those with good family backgrounds are not willing to cross the ocean to study in the West, and those with poor family backgrounds often do not read much, and their qualifications are not good, which is really difficult to do. There are a few young people in our Jinan Shangzhi Academy, and their families are rich, but none of them are willing to stay in the United States. "Ding Ti is often the eldest son, and he really knows the most insiders.

"The Japanese just shelled Ganghwa Island in Korea this month and destroyed the fort, what does Lord Lee think about this?" Yao Fan inquired.

"The Japanese are making noise about this matter and creating public opinion, saying that North Korea provoked first, and wanted to force Concubine Min to sign a contract for trade.

Yao Fan sighed secretly, his butterfly wings still failed to affect history, and the Qing government was still the same, insensitive, and blindly compromised.

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