Gaochang Temple used to be just a tidal wasteland by the river, surrounded by rivers, reeds are thick, only "a few fishermen hang nets horizontally", it is a real and sufficient rural place.

In the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the arsenal was relocated here, and the construction was carried out here, and the Gaochang Temple became lively overnight. A large number of troops and civilians gathered here, smelting steel, making cannons, building ships, and constantly expanding the land, and now there are many chimneys, ports, docks, military camps, water companies, electric light companies, and coal stacks all gather here, supporting all the prosperity in the city. There is the South Railway Station not far away, there are no less than hundreds of shops nearby, the shops are lined up one after another, the merchants are bustling, the stream is endless, a prosperous scene.

It is only seven or eight miles from the small east gate to the Gaochang Temple, and a road to the car has been built on the muddy ground, and the rickshaw soon pulled Li Shanren to the Gaochang Temple and stopped in front of the cast iron railing outside the gate of the arsenal. Li Shanren got out of the car, walked to the unique street-crossing gate, showed the shareholder certificate to the guards, and said that he was looking for General Manager Zhang's office.

The guards instructed him that the third floor of a castle-like building in front of him was the general office. Li Shanren walked up the spiral staircase to the door of the general office, knocked lightly on the door, and there was a sound of "please come in" from inside, Li Shanren pushed the door in, and saw a clear face of the chief sitting behind a huge mahogany desk under the vertical window, he was Zhang Chubao of the general office.

Zhang Chubao motioned for Li Shanren to sit down, the guards handed over the hot tea, Li Shanren took it, exchanged a few words, offered a generous gift with both hands, and handed over the shareholder documents and red deeds, saying that he needed funds, and asked Mr. Zhang to return the original investment after settlement. The general office of the arsenal has changed several terms, and now the general office Zhang Chubao is also from Huizhou, and he works together under the command of Lord Li, Li Shanren thinks that his fellow villagers are easy to talk to, who knows that Zhang Chubao glanced at the shareholder documents, and said impatiently: "At the beginning, the arsenal was Su Song Taidao was raised by the imperial court to raise the official office, and it turned out that Su Song Taidao was raised like this, and the official office was thrown away, and it was completely raised into a private equity arsenal, isn't this the foot of the national wall!" It's no wonder that there has been no cost accounting in these years, no one is responsible, and nothing can be done on such a large scale, and you officials and businessmen have hollowed out the foundation. How many times have you gotten back your original investment so far, there are accounts to check, and I estimate that the seller *** does not have such a high return. Do you know that in order to fill the financial void and strengthen the military industry, Lord Yuan has borrowed 25 million taels of silver from the bank group of the four countries. ”

Li Shanren was reprimanded by Zhang Chubao, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and he strengthened his determination to withdraw the funds. He pretended to have a sad face, recounting that the Li family had suffered misfortune and owed a large amount of money for the construction of the family house a few years ago, and asked the general office to raise his noble hand and approve the withdrawal. Zhang Chubao saw that Li Shanren had a nose and an eye, so he believed it, and said: "Yuan Gong has an order, the arsenal should be expanded, and Hanyang should also increase production, all of which require funds." For the sake of fellow villagers, if you insist on withdrawing your investment, you must settle it according to the interest rate of the official bank and deduct the dividend funds, if you agree, sign the red deed, otherwise there is no need to talk. ”

Li Shanren didn't expect that this fellow township general office was selfless and spoke nicely, but he didn't remember the feelings of his colleagues and township party at all, and he was also good at calculation. I thought that when I raised funds, I said that I could withdraw my shares at any time, but this matter was clearly written on the red deed, how could it be said that it would be overturned? However, General Manager Zhang's office is a representative of the military, and although he has a red deed in his hand, he holds the power in the hands of others. Li Shanren was afraid of long nights and dreams, so he settled according to the current principal interest rate, and then took back the principal first, so he signed and drew a pledge, and agreed to get the silver ticket three days later.

Li Shanren put away the red deed and was about to leave, when he suddenly heard the phone ringing on the desk ringing urgently, General Manager Zhang grabbed the phone to answer it, and suddenly his face changed greatly. Li Shanren was interested, quietly left, and when he walked out of the gate, he suddenly saw that the factory was heavily guarded, and the soldiers of the Beiyang Army were fully armed, with three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry, as if facing a great enemy.

It turned out that General Manager Zhang received a secret report that the Yuan army was quietly assembling and seemed to have a major action.

Lee Sun-in went downstairs to the gate, which was already closed. This is a gate made of two layers of steel plates sandalwood, weighing a thousand pounds, two guards one with a gun and one with a knife, reopen the gate, and close it again after Li Shanren went out. Li Shanren walked out of the factory gate, sighing that he was once a son of heaven and a courtier, and now he does not recognize the people of the previous dynasty, so he no longer has any extravagant hopes, and expects to get back the principal after three days and keep the original funds. He walked into a noodle restaurant dejectedly, sat down to eat noodles, stared at the street with his eyes, saw a rickshaw coming, and only half of the noodles were eaten, so he hurriedly put down his chopsticks and jumped on the rickshaw to return to the Shen house on Huayi Street.