Chapter 72 Mei Qizhao's Achievements

After reading the letter, Hu Chuyuan's perception of He Jing changed immediately.

Only then did he understand that He Jing had almost no commendable achievements in his life. He could achieve the throne of the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang by relying on the word "mix", but his "mix" was not something that ordinary people could mix out.

No one can be the governor.

For officials and businessmen with too many assets, they can certainly be officials, such as Sheng Xuanhuai... But that's many years later. The highest position he can plot is the Fujian Shipping Minister, and he must have good opportunities and credit.

He obviously has to take care of the Fuzhou shipping administration, but he also understands that it is impossible for him to stay in Fuzhou for a long time, and he has to find a deputy to be in charge there.

Who is this person?

Zhang Lingpu?

I have little experience and I don't have enough qualifications.

After thinking about it, he could only find Xu Shou's son Xu Jianyin.

Poor.

He already has a lot of talents, but he can't find a few people who are proficient in mechanical ships. He can't find people who are both proficient in mechanical ships and management.

This is the current China.

Don't say he can't find it, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang can't find it either.

Sheng Xuanhuai... That's a half-baked man.

At least it's half-baked at the time.

Hu Chuyuan returned to Hangzhou directly by boat and bumped for more than ten hours before going ashore.

When he returned to the Hu family's compound, the family immediately became lively. The family had a happy reunion dinner and called Hu Yueqiao and his wife and his two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

Taking advantage of the family, Hu Chuyuan said that he would send his two younger brothers to the West Academy and the National Academy to study, and then send them abroad for further study. No one had any objection.

The old lady wants to donate a sum of money to repair the Baoguo Temple, which is not only to do good deeds and accumulate virtues, but also the incense around the Wangyiwang Hu Xueyan cemetery.

This is a good thing. Hu Chuyuan agreed to pay 100,000 taels of silver, which is enough to rebuild a Baoguo Temple.

After eating the New Year's Eve reunion dinner, which was more than a month late, Hu Chuyuan went back to his study and invited Hu Yueqiao and his two cousins.

Several people sat down, and Hu Chuyuan said to Hu Yueqiao, "Fourth uncle, do you want to join the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce?"

Hu Yueqiao was slightly surprised and asked, "Is this appropriate?"

Hu Chuyuan knew what he meant and said, "There is nothing inappropriate. I am now going to disperse the shares of Jiangnan Commercial Bank. I have at most quad-five shares in my hand, and the shares of the imperial court will be increased to fold to fold. In addition, I want to give 20% of the shares from Shanghai to Boss Xu. Where are you? I will keep 50% of the shares.

Hu Yueqiao smiled and said, "Jiangnan Commercial Bank is so big, and there are many shares of 5%. Its profits are so rich. Why don't I join? So how much does it cost to buy these five-cent shares?

Hu Chuyuan said, "Not much, 600,000 taels."

Hu Yueqiao was shocked and said, "The share capital of 5% is 600,000 taels, which is not much?"

Hu Chuyuan said, "Fourth uncle, the net profit of the firm in a year is at least seven million. Now if you invest 600,000 taels of silver, you can get 300,000 taels of dividends back at the end of the year, and you can earn it back in two years.

Hu Yueqiao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Well, I'll find a way to raise 600,000 taels of silver for you!"

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "If you have money, invest it in Qingyu Hall first. I will lend you the 600,000 taels of silver first. But I also have a request.

Hu Yueqiao said oh and asked, "What?"

Hu Chuyuan said, "Uncle, my business has developed very fast this year. It is not appropriate for others to do some things. The two younger brothers are young. Can you ask the eldest brother and the second brother to help me?"

He has observed for a long time that although Hu Yueqiao's business is not big, his two sons Hu Shiyuan and Hu Weiyuan have been trained very solidly, and they are both capable people in business.

Hu Yueqiao said, "Of course, but many things in Qingyu Hall are also taken care of by the boss. Let Wei Yuan help you!"

Hu Chuyuan thinks it's okay. The rule of Huizhou people is that the eldest son stays at home to guard the family business, and the youngest sons go out to fight for a living.

He immediately arched his hand to his second cousin Hu Weiyuan and said, "Second brother, please. It's the same way to do business. When you enter the business, I will let you follow Manager Tan to help and slowly touch the doorway of the salt industry and the silk industry.

Hu Weiyuan said, "Brother, don't worry, I will do my best."

After talking about these things, Hu Yueqiao left with his family, but Hu Chuyuan was not idle.

At present, there are so many things that he can't breathe. Fortunately, there are shopkeepers to help him share them.

It is estimated that he doesn't have time to worry about various industries at the moment. He wrote a few folds at night. He talked to Liu Chengxiang about the deployment and future of Jiangnan Silk Industry Cooperative, how to become Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative, how to start involving small loans, how to set up branches in townships and towns, and then through branches. The community controls the quality of raw silk, how to negotiate the price and buy silk through the branch;

He has to talk to Tan Yiyun about what Jiangnan Commercial Bank will do next, how to cooperate with Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative to revitalize the silk industry, and how to prepare for entering the tea industry and shipping industry. Of course, the problem of Yufeng Grain Society also has to find a way. This problem is a big mine. Once it explodes, it will be smashed to pieces;

He has to tell Chen Xiaobai when to open an additional CITIC ticket number in addition to the Fukang ticket number, and when to set up a CITIC Bank in Shanghai, Tianjin and Hong Kong, what to do;

He has to talk to Shen Furong about how to cooperate between Rongbaozhai and the pawnshop, when to organize an auction house, and who is more important between the three.

......

He didn't sleep all night. He drank a few cups of strong tea and kept writing and thinking.

When he finished writing the letter, it was already dawn. When he was about to take a nap for a while, Hu Rong hurried in and reported that it was Mei Qizhao, the governor of Zhejiang, who came to visit him.

Hu Chuyuan was very happy. The salt case was a great victory, and Mei Qizhao also contributed a lot. Without his secret deployment, the rich gentry of the Nanxun Business Gang in Huzhou would not have collapsed overnight.

Soon, Mei Qizhao walked into the courtyard of the Hu family with a smile, and Huo Hongji, the magistrate of Hangzhou, accompanied him. Both of them were full of joy.

As soon as they met, Huo Hongji arched his hand and said to Hu Chuyuan, "Congratulations on Hu Qiwei's victory and shocking the Jiangnan business community. From then on, Jiangnan Yanzheng should not have any more waves!"

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Same joy, same joy!"

Mei Qizhao also said, "Yes, for us Zhejiang officials, this is also a major event worth celebrating."

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Thank you for the care of the governor, Lord Mei."

Mei Qizhao said politely, and the three of them entered the flower hall of the Hundred Lions Building together.

After sitting down, Hu Chuyuan asked people to take two Mobao for both of them, both of whom were the same Kangxi Dibao.

Emperor Kangxi's calligraphy is a self-contained family and quite accomplished. He usually leaves manuscripts for calligraphy practice, and gives them to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty during the festival. However, all the books of officials who could achieve more than three ranks in the Kangxi Dynasty are treasured in the collections. The number is large and the price is not high.

However, the emperor's treasure is the emperor's treasure, and it is also the emperor's treasure of this dynasty.

At least Mei Qizhao and Huo Hongji don't have it at home.

The two couldn't help opening their eyes on the spot and appreciating it carefully.

Huo Hongji even said to Hu Chuyuan, "Hu Qiwei, you are so polite. Huo is very grateful and grateful!"

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "I have gained a lot in this salt case. There are several volumes of Emperor Kangxi's treasures. If Lord Huo likes it, I will send them all tomorrow."

There are many of Kangxi's calligraphy works in the world. Although the price is not high, it has a very special value in this era.

Huo Hongji really likes it and thanks him repeatedly.

Mei Qizhao smiled and said, "Chu Yuan, I come to you this time. In addition to congratulate you, I also want to discuss with you about the water conservancy and canal in Zhejiang. At present, the funds of Fukang Qianzhuang should be sufficient. I just want to withdraw it as soon as possible.

Hu Chuyuan thought for a few times and said, "Yes, not only with this, but I also want to toss a few big projects in Zhejiang."

"Oh?" Mei Qizhao was a little surprised and thought, isn't what we are doing now big enough?

According to the previous total between him and Hu Chuyuan, a total of 14 old canals should be dredged and four new canals with a total length of 620 kilometers should be excavated. The total cost is not less than 2.8 million taels of silver.

As far as the current Qing Dynasty is concerned, this can be regarded as the largest water conservancy project in the past two decades.

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly and said to Mei Qizhao, "The lake mulberry trees planted in the area of Taihu Lake need a large amount of irrigation to make the mulberry leaves fat and tender, so that both silkworms in spring and summer have enough delicious mulberry leaves to eat, and the raw silk produced are as silvery as snow. Although this kind of lake mulberry tree is also used in Zhejiang, it does not have the same good irrigation conditions as Taihu Lake. To improve the quality of Zhejiang silk, the key lies in water. Therefore, I want to build several large reservoirs in the Jinqu Basin and Hangzhou in our original canal project by using Western law. The reservoirs and canals are connected, and the role of regulating water conservancy can be stronger.

Mei Qizhao couldn't help but be a little surprised and said, "That's said, but the Zhejiang canal project has just passed the approval of the court, and it will be submitted for a larger-scale reservoir project. Not to mention that the court is unlikely to approve it. Even if it is approved, the capital is also a problem... Of course, I know that Chu Yuan, you must have a way to solve the funds, no Then he won't say it. It's just... If we continue to borrow from Fukang Qianzhuang, can Zhejiang pay off the tax in the future?

Hu Chuyuan was confident and said, "With ten percent of the reservoir, the quality of Zhejiang silk industry has not only greatly improved, but also has the ability to double the output. Coupled with the increase in rice production, we can rely on new taxes to return investment within ten years.

Mei Qizhao thought for a moment and asked, "How much will it cost?"

Hu Chuyuan said, "It's hard to say how much it will cost. It needs to be calculated after specific mapping, but our canal project revolves around these reservoirs. Let's first set the location of the reservoir, build the canal, report while building, and finally build the reservoir. I estimate that the construction of the reservoir and canal may cost four or five million taels of silver.

Mei Qizhao immediately asked, "Can it be lent from Fukang Qianzhuang, and Zhejiang can also pay it off?"

Hu Chuyuan took a look at Huo Hongji and believed that he was also his own, so he said directly to Mei Qizhao, "Your Excellency, don't worry, if Zhejiang can't pay it back, I will try my best to reduce the debt. This is of great benefit to our Zhejiang Province. It's worth no amount of money. As long as I can afford it, I won't frown.

As soon as she heard this, Mei Qizhao's doubts turned into smoke, and she immediately laughed and said, "Well, that's good. Chu Yuan, don't worry, as long as the governor of Zhejiang can afford it, I won't owe you a penny of money.

In other words, he said, where is it easy to pay off?

Huo Hongji was extremely surprised. Of course, he knew that the relationship between Mei Qizhao and Hu Chuyuan was not simple, which was beyond his expectations.

There is no doubt that Hu Chuyuan did not intend to recover the amount of money at all, but purely to give money to Mei Qizhao's political achievements.

According to the scale of the project, it has been the first time in the Qing Dynasty in the past 30 years, and there are great benefits for the country and the people. If Mei Qizhao is done, except for the throne of the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Zhili, the other governor positions are basically up to him.

There are continuous mountains around the whole Jin Qu Basin. According to Hu Chuyuan's plan, as long as the dam is manually piled up at dozens of openings, a number of natural reservoirs can be formed.

With the appropriate use of Western cement and machinery, the effect can be better. The reservoirs and canals are used to carry out a major transformation in the Jinqu Basin to form a spider web-like canal network, and then enter Yanzhou Prefecture and Hangzhou Prefecture. The whole Zhejiang can add at least 5 million mu of fertile land.

When the three-person discussed late at night, they decided to arrange personnel from Mei Qizhao to make a wooden model in proportion to the topography of the Jin Qu Basin and the western part of Hangzhou, and to investigate the geological situation in the whole area.

On the other hand, Hu Chuyuan tried to hire some foreign technicians to use Western law to build a dam.

After these things are done, the specific cost and expenses will be recalculated, but no matter how much it will cost, it will be handled by Hu Chuyuan's Fukang Qianzhuang, and the loan interest will be lighter.

If the money could not be paid off before Mei Qizhao left office, Hu Chuyuan would find a way to cancel half of the debt.

After talking about these things, the three people continued to talk about other things in Zhejiang silk industry, including Hu Chuyuan's plan to set up a silk reeling factory and a silk dyeing factory in Hangzhou.

Since it is an official commercial firm, he can certainly set up factories outside the concession. In addition, Hu Chuyuan also wants to invest in porcelain kilns in Ningbo and Shaoxing to rejuvenate the glory of Yueyao.

As long as he succeeds in these things he wants to do, they are all Mei Qizhao's political achievements. Naturally, Mei Qizhao is extremely supportive.

Most of the time, Huo Hongji only listened and didn't say anything, but he was thinking in his heart that Hu Chuyuan was powerful. With his support and dredging, it was easy for Mei Qizhao to be promoted to governor, and it may not be difficult to be promoted to a university scholar.

What about me?

Huo Hongji thought to himself, is my way forward also tied to this person?