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Chapter Seventy-Eight: Old Ministers of the Qing Court

"Ignorant students!" Looking at the backs of these students leaving, Xu Changqing let out a long sigh, turned around and took a sip of tea, and shook his head with a sneer.

"Changqing, your words seem to be a bit heavy, how can you say that they are also excellent students of the Beiyang Academy, if you say this, maybe a good seedling will be ruined like this!" At this moment, behind Xu Changqing, there were several footsteps, and an old and deep voice said.

Hearing this familiar voice, Xu Changqing was slightly stunned on his face, turned his head in surprise, and looked at the person behind him. I saw that the person behind him was wearing a long gown made of brocade, a wide-brimmed leather felt hat on his head, an egg-sized ruby inlaid in the middle of the hat, a pair of Western sunglasses on his white bearded face, and a string of peculiar Buddhist beads in his hand. The reason why this string of Buddha beads is peculiar is because it is a thick thread that looks like iron and tendons, stringing nine purple dragon beard Buddha beads the size of lychees together, and when turning, the Buddha beads naturally emit a stream of sandalwood, which is refreshing and refreshing.

Xu Changqing did not immediately recognize his identity from the old man's appearance, but after seeing the Buddha beads in his hand, he thought of who this person was, his expression was slightly startled, and then he immediately regained his calmness, but his face was a lot gloomy, he stood up, politely but not enthusiastically hugged his fist at the old man, and said: "Changqing, I have seen Sheng Lao!"

"Hehe, sit down, don't be so restrained, let's be the same as before!" The old man saw Xu Changqing treating him with such a courtesy that was polite on the surface but rejected thousands of miles away, and a trace of embarrassment flashed in his eyes, but he immediately regained his normal color and said with a smile.

"Elder Sheng, I am a member of the court, I am just a grass people, how dare I sit on an equal footing with Sheng Lao, I am a little tired from the road that has been rushing for a day, and I am out of company!" Xu Changqing said and then moved his body, said hello to Guan Zheng, who was looking over here, and prepared to go back to the bedroom together.

The old man saw that Xu Changqing was deliberately avoiding him, and knew what he was doing, so he hurriedly reached out and grabbed Xu Changqing's arm, and said, "Isn't Changqing still unwilling to forgive the old man?"

"How dare you!" Xu Changqing shook his robe, shook the old man's hand, and then said coldly: "The sky has eyes, who did what God knows." Back then, if you were willing to intercede for Mr. Zhuang Fei in front of Rong Lu and Cixi, why would he and several other righteous people be beheaded!"

"Changqing, do you think it was useful for the old man to open his mouth at that time?" Hearing Xu Changqing's words, the old man's face also had a touch of regret, and said: "Didn't you already calculate that the law change would fail back then? Even the death date of the resurrected brother you have calculated, and it is not the same that you can't stop it." ”

"Indeed, I calculated very clearly! But I at least intervened to stop it," Xu Changqing lost his usual indifference, and there was a hint of anger in his expression, and said: "Dare to ask Elder Sheng what you did at that time? Although you were not in a high position at that time, you had extremely heavy power, and you were in charge of the lifeblood of the entire Manchu treasury, as long as you opened your mouth, could Cixi not agree? Don't tell me, you didn't have the courage to speak in front of Cixi, but back then, you relied on a secret order to make more than a dozen governors in the Yangtze River valley not listen to the orders of the imperial court. Even such a rebellious thing has been done, but he doesn't dare to ask for mercy without pain, and no one will believe it when he says it. ”

"Indeed, it is not difficult for the old man to open his mouth to intercede? But have you thought about it, what they did when they were resurrected was not just to change the law, but to pull the old lady down, and whoever pleaded for this kind of thing died. The old man said with a solemn expression: "And how do you know that the old man is not ready to intercede, after the old man received the news, he rushed to the capital non-stop, but just arrived in Tianjin, he was stopped by Yuan Weiting's kid, and then he heard the news of being beheaded." Counting the resurrection, he is also half a student of the old man, do you think the old man is not sad?"

Xu Changqing didn't know the old man's difficulties, in fact, he had forgiven the old man a long time ago. But what he really blamed was himself, complaining that he had calculated the result but still couldn't do anything about it, and the appearance of the old man just exposed the scars he didn't want to uncover, and now he was more annoyed and angry at his incompetence.

"Master, is this your acquaintance?" At this time, Guan Zheng had already walked over, feeling that the atmosphere was not right, and asked.

Xu Changqing took a deep breath, and after dissipating the depression in his heart, his face returned to normal, and said: "Brother Guan, I will ask the waiter to arrange for you to go to another bedroom later, I have something to talk to this old gentleman alone today." ”

"It's okay, I'll take care of myself. Guan Zheng nodded and said with a smile.

Xu Changqing turned around and gave an order to the waiter who came over, apologized to Guan Zheng, and led the old man towards the back compartment. Because the quarrel between the two just now was really a bit loud, the people around heard it and looked over. Although the two of them used a southern dialect when they spoke, except for those foreigners, most of the wealthy merchants in the carriage vaguely understood a little, and some wealthy businessmen born in the south guessed the identity of the old man from the clues in the conversation between the two.

After the two left, these rich businessmen gathered together and whispered about what had just happened, and when the other people also knew the identity of the old man, they all felt inexplicably surprised. As a result, Xu Changqing, who was able to talk to the old man like this, felt even more curious, and speculated about the identity of this person, and some people thought that he was one of the righteous people who escaped the murder back then.

In Xu Changqing's carriage, he sat opposite the old man, the door was closed, and the door and wall had good soundproofing facilities, even outside the door, it was difficult to hear the movement inside.

"Alas!" Looking at the old man who was working hard for state affairs, Xu Changqing's cold face finally relaxed, sighed, and said: "Elder Sheng, we haven't seen each other for twelve years, right?

"Who said it wasn't?" The old man heard that Xu Changqing had let go of his heart knot and was no longer disgusted with him, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of joy in his heart, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to pretend to be a monk, if it weren't for your remarks to Li Hongzhang, I wouldn't have recognized you, you have changed a lot." ”

"Hasn't Elder Sheng changed a lot?" Xu Changqing touched his head, which had grown a little head, smiled indifferently, and said, "If it weren't for Elder Sheng still holding these nine Xuanling Beads in his hand, I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognized Elder Sheng." He paused again, as if thinking of some things from the past, and his expression was slightly tender, and he asked, "How is Mercy doing now?"

"This girl got married ten years ago! Now she has a son and a daughter, and her husband loves her very much. The old man sighed slightly and said, "If you hadn't hurt her too deeply, she wouldn't have married so quickly, and maybe you might have ......."

If I had to choose again, I would still choose the path I am taking. Xu Changqing's face was normal, but his eyes were still a little sad, and he said: "This is the best, when I was young and frivolous, I made some promises that could never be fulfilled, deceived her again and again, hurt her to the core, and finally abandoned her on such an occasion." It was very gratifying to hear that she had a happy family. ”

"The Great Dao is ruthless, but there are a few mortals who can really break their love!" the old man muttered a few words, then smiled playfully and said, "Do you know who she is married to?"

"Who is it?" Although Xu Changqing no longer wanted to mention this past, he couldn't help but ask.

The old man smiled and said, "It's the brother of the female student you scolded just now, Dong Zhenyu, the young owner of Huantong Commercial Bank." ”

"It's him!" Xu Changqing was stunned, with a slight hint of disdain, and said: "No wonder a student can take out so much money to take the train without caring about it, the family foundation is really rich." ”

"Their family recently cooperated with the Bank of Merquarie to open a rubber forest industry in Nanyang, and made a lot of money," the old man took off his sunglasses, revealing his fox-like eyes, and said: "Although its industry is far inferior to the Chen family, it is far from being compared to most wealthy businessmen in the north, and my niece and son-in-law are still specially studying in England and are proficient in foreign affairs. ”

"Elder Sheng, please speak up for what purpose you are saying so much!" Xu Changqing's face was flat, and even his eyes became indifferent, and he said: "Although we have become strangers to each other, we are not so strange that we want to use this kind of side-to-side method to talk about things, and you have already taught me this set, and I have already used it to be better than blue, and it will not work for me." ”

"Since you have said so, the old man will be blunt!" The old man smiled awkwardly, and then his face was solemn, and he said, "You should have heard that I have been promoted to the position of the right attendant of the postal department, right?"

"I've heard of it," Xu Changqing nodded slightly, and said, "It's not so easy to do things under Xu Shichang. ”

"Although that kid has outstanding ability, he is only in the big picture, and I still have to deal with those small things. Although it is a little uncomfortable to let a junior ride on his head, it is not bad to cooperate with him, after all, we are all Wenmen people. The old man's expression seemed indifferent, and after playing with the Buddha beads twice, he continued: "This time Yuan Weiting stepped down, Zaifeng asked me to replace the Bank of Communications under his control, saying that it was a promotion to hold power, but in fact, it was to wipe the ass of that Yuan head, and now the bank is full of bad debts, and merchants everywhere think that the Bank of Communications is not good when they see that there is no Beiyang New Army in charge, and they have asked to withdraw deposits. If it continues like this, it will inevitably cause a run, and at that time, the old man may become the second Hu Xueyan. ”

"You keep saying so much, it's nothing more than trying to get the Chen family to inject capital into the Bank of Communications, and give a signal to those merchants who look forward to the Chen family's horses, you will be fine, and help you tide over the difficulties. Xu Changqing, who knew the old man's thoughts well, looked at the old man and said indifferently: "But Old Sheng, you also know how chaotic the bank management of the Qing court is, from beginning to end, the prime ministers, assistants and assistants of those banks are all using their authority to make money in their own pockets, and whoever invests the money in it is a situation of a big meat bun." Do you think that the Chen family doesn't want to invest heavily in such a quagmire just by saying a word from me? If you keep thinking like this, you will look down on the Chen family too much, and they have been able to stand for so many years, and it is not just because of us ninth-rate idlers that they can achieve things. ”

"Of course the old man will not look down on the Chen family, the old man you said has already thought about it, so this time the Bank of Communications will come to a big purge, all the unqualified people will be cleared out, and Li Jingchu, Zhou Kechang, and Liang Shiyi will serve as the prime minister, assistant and assistant respectively, and I will personally serve as the supervisor. The old man said confidently: "This time I went to Baoding because I heard that Chen Zhangping, the fourth elder of the Chen family, was in the International Club in Baoding, so I wanted to come over to discuss this matter with him, but I didn't pounce." Even so, if I can meet you, I am not allowed to make this trip, at least it is much better than finding Chen Zhangping. ”

"Elder Sheng, you are still the same as before, good at climbing up the pole!" Xu Changqing chuckled twice, then sighed, thought for a while, and said: "If you can really reform as Elder Sheng said, maybe the Bank of Communications can still be saved, but Elder Sheng, you should also know the rules, let us ninth-rate idlers help do things must have a corresponding reward, otherwise ......"

"You don't even know this, the old man knows it, after all, it's not the first day to deal with people in your vein, so he naturally knows your rules. As he spoke, the old man carefully took out a pack of thin books wrapped in silk from his arms, and said, "Haven't you ninth-rate idlers been interested in my Sheng family's thirteenth qi gathering ** for a long time?

"Elder Sheng, can the Qing court really be worth your effort? Xu Changqing didn't reach out to take it, frowned slightly, and said.

"Everyone has their own aspirations, and I'm not doing this for the sake of the Qing court. The old man said with a stern expression: "Now the foreigners' banks are rampant and domineering in China, wantonly accumulating money, although the people have the intention to set up banks to resist the looting of foreigners, but after all, there is no leader, although the Bank of Communications is a government-run bank, but it is taking the road of government-business joint ventures." Now the eyes of the merchants all over the world are watching whether this first official and commercial bank can survive, and if it fails, the confidence of the merchants will also collapse, and you must know what a big blow it is to our Chinese business. ”

"Elder Sheng, your person still hasn't changed, and you're still so anxious for justice and righteousness. Xu Changqing nodded with satisfaction, and then pushed back the ** secret book in front of him, and said: "If Sheng Lao took out this secret book more than a year ago, Changqing would not hesitate to agree, but now Changqing has realized his own Taoism, and the induction of heaven and earth aura and the five elements aura is better than Sheng Lao's family heirloom, this thing is of no use to me, according to the rules of the Nine Streams of Idlers, I can't help you for this thing." ”