Chapter 4 Eight jars and seven caps

Zuo Zongtang said the ugly words in front of him. Looking at Hu Xueyan's achievements and his friendship, he was willing to hand over Jianghuai's salt industry to the Hu family to take care of. The premise is that Hu Chuyuan must have at least half of Hu Xueyan's ability. Don't be a helpless A Dou.

Hu Chuyuan is a man with long ears. Zuo Zongtang's words were not very transparent, but he also revealed some traces to him - the Qiao family also got on the Xiangjun boat. If the Hu family really can't do it, they can only let the Qiao family handle it.

helpless.

The situation forced Hu Chuyuan to be an official businessman, and he had to be the most powerful official businessman in the world.

After a short time, Hu Chuyuan thought about it many times.

After ponding for a moment, he and Zuo Zongtang said, "Zhongtang, I have another way to solve the current difficulties!"

"Oh?" Zuo Zongtang quietly opened his eyes and asked, "What can I do?"

Hu Chuyuan said: "Issue public bonds of Liangjiang, with the finance and tax of Liangjiang as collateral, and issue public bonds of 10 million taels of flat silver, 10 taels per share for a period of five years, a total of one million shares, with an annual interest of 70%. The funds raised by these public debts are specially transferred by the governors of the two rivers for the military pay and internal affairs construction of Xinjiang Province and the two rivers!"

"Who will sell it and who will guarantee it?" Zuo Zongtang asked.

Hu Chuyuan said, "Fukang Qianzhuang specializes in these public bonds and sells them to the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and rich businessmen from all over the country. Whoever sells it will guarantee it, but it should withdraw 3% of the interest from it. If it can't be sold, it will be borne by the bank. In this way, the debt interest borne by Liangjiang can also be reduced by half"

Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly, but said, "You can come up with such a good method, which is enough to show that you are a smart person. Unfortunately, this method is good, but it will take three or four months to raise enough money for emergency. What's more, the symptoms of the rule of law do not treat the root causes. I have discussed with Prince Gong before I left. If your family still has spare time, you might as well bear the debt. I take Jianghuai salt business as a guarantee and hand it over to your family to take care of the salt business.

After a pause, he said, "Chu Yuan, if you want to do something big, there must be a risk, but if there is no risk, you can't do something big. In order to help the court calm down the civil strife, your family has carried so much debt. Of course, the court can't watch you go bankrupt. Otherwise, where is the face of the court? Which merchant dares to work for the court in the future?

As soon as he heard this, Hu Chuyuan also understood.

It turned out that Zuo Zongtang had already thought about it for a long time. Suo's surname had concentrated his debts on the Hu family, resulting in a situation where the Hu family was about to go bankrupt, and the court had no money to return to the Hu family, and could not sit idly by - Hu Chuyuan knew about the shamelessness of the Qing court, but at least when Zuo Zongtang was still alive, the court could not be If you ignore it, you can only hand over the Jianghuai salt business to the Hu family for management.

In this way, not only hit Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang also took Jianghuai salt government in his hands. All money and taxes can be used to support the military affairs of Xinjiang Province. When the war in Xinjiang is over, he can continue to use this income to repay debts.

In this case, Hu Chuyuan could only nod and decided to swallow all the debts.

Zuo Zongtang asked, "Does your family still have the ability to bear it?"

Hu Chuyuan replied, "It should be okay. Chunsi has been sold to various foreign banks, but there is still a large amount of money that has not been paid. It has to wait until the autumn and winter to settle with the foreign banks. First of all, I will find a way to raise 2.44 million taels of silver for the Qiao family. I can use other foreign banks to offset the silk debts owed by other foreign banks to my family. As for the amount of three million taels of silver to be given to Lord Liu, I can only borrow Xia Si's purchase money first.

Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly and seemed to be very satisfied, but he also said, "Your family started with raw silk business. The raw silk business in Jiangnan is nothing more than Chunsi and Xia Si. At present, it is time to buy Xia Si in half a month. You misappropriated the money for the acquisition of Xia Si, and you will not accept Xia Si this year. If you don't leave a deposit for Sang Nong, how can you collect spring silk next year?

Hu Chuyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Doing business is eight jars and seven covers. Everyone has debts, everyone has loans, not to mention that I still have money houses and pawnshops. As long as I can transfer the funds, even if the funds are less, I can transfer the whole business, but the risk is relatively high. In addition, as soon as my father left, the silk industry in the south of the Yangtze River will definitely surge, and everyone wants to replace it. If everyone is competing too much, I want to give in a little bit and watch the situation.

Zuo Zongtang knows that the Hu family has the ability to carry debts. After all, there is a Fukang Qianzhuang in 13 provinces across the country, which can completely treat these debts as loans. Anyway, even if he and the court do not have the ability to repay the money first, the interest of the loan will always be paid year by year.

Of course, Zuo Zongtang didn't know that Hu Xueyan later died on the interest of this loan... But he also blamed Hu Xueyan for withdrawing the money he used to the limit, and the loan interest of hundreds of thousands of taels became the straw that crushed him.

What is Zuo Zongtang worried about?

He was afraid that Hu Chuyuan would be young and prosperous. While carrying a huge debt, he speculated raw silk with other merchants.

If Hu Chuyuan can afford it and let it go as he said, Zuo Zongtang would not be so worried.

He said, "Well, for the sake of national affairs, you go to Shanghai to handle these things first and let your two brothers stay at home to guard the tomb!"

Hu Chuyuan thought for a moment and said, "Zhongtang, after all, I am young and have no fame and connections. I really want to come forward. On the one hand, I have no experience, and on the other hand, I am easy to be bullied by veterans and foreign banks in the market. I might as well stay at home and send all the shopkeepers who are familiar with the city to perform their respective duties, and I will respond in the middle!"

Zuo Zongtang pondered for a moment and said, "That's good, but these things have to be done properly. Don't miss it!"

Hu Chuyuan nodded silently and got up to leave.

As soon as he left, Hu Ruilan smiled with Zuo Zongtang and said, "Zhongtang, he is a suitable talent!"

Zuo Zongtang didn't say anything. After a while, he asked Yang Changjun, "What do you think?"

Yang Changjun didn't say anything at first. After a while, he said, "It's true that he is smart, and he is indeed a talent, but after all, he is too young to say that he can do it. Zhongtang, it's a big deal. Let's take a look first. If it really doesn't work, let Qiao Zhiyong go south.

After all, he is the former governor of Zhejiang. Although he was not good at chess, he was calculated by Xia Tongshan, the boss of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang officials. The blood transfusion was lost, but after all, he fought in the bloody storm of politics. Compared with Hu Ruilan, who is good at writing, he is more stable and tough, and his vision is also long-term.

Zuo Zongtang felt the same way when he said this.

Immediately, Zuo Zongtang finally asked the fourth person in the flower hall, the slightly depressed half-hundred old man, and said, "Shizhang, what do you think?"

The old man coughed and sighed, "Zhongtang, you are raising Master Hu too high!"

"Oh...?" Zuo Zongtang looked dissatisfied, his eyes contracted, and there was a faint murderous spirit.

The old man said, "Yes, I think this young man not only has the ability of Third Master Hu, but also may be better than Third Master. He just needs to be sharpened. Zhongtang, I have been wandering and poor all these years. You might as well give me a richer job!"

Zuo Zongtang raised his eyes coldly and hummed, "How can I have any rich errands for you?"

The old man said, "Yes, you asked me to stay at Master Hu's house as a master. Isn't that very rich? I'm also old, and I can still live for a few years. I hope Zhongtang allows me to earn some money for my children and grandchildren.

"Hmm, what you think is very beautiful!"

Zuo Zongtang sneered, but said, "You have indeed suffered a lot over the years. We know it, heaven and earth know it, you know me, and the old nine know it. Since you want to stay in the Hu family to ask for an errand, Ben Zhongtang will help you. After Chu Yuan was an old friend, he was indeed a little smart and talented. If you were around to give advice, I would be more relieved.

The old man hugged his fist and said, "Thank you for the reward!"

Zuo Zongtang nodded silently, but continued to pour a bag of cigarettes full of things, and smoked.