Chapter 15 Two governors and two governors
The Qing court is very taboo for private meetings of governors and governors without mutual jurisdiction.
There are always exceptions. Zuo Zongtang was recuperating in Hangzhou, and the governor of Liangjiang was temporarily acted by Ronglu, the governor of Anhui - of course, Ronglu has never been there. That position is easy to die, especially for people who are not from the Hunan army.
Zuo Zongtang was recuperating in Hangzhou. He Jing, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Mei Qi, the governor of Zhejiang, came to visit him. It was very reasonable... As for who was another senior in a second-grade official uniform, Hu Chuyuan didn't know who he was. He was thin, tall, his cheeks were dry, and he was about 50 years old. His white beard was fluttering, and he was very fairy. The brilliance of Taoist bones.
As soon as he came in, Zuo Zongtang said to the Taoist member, "Wenqing, he is the eldest son of Hu Xueyan's family. Now he is a hereditary cloud lieutenant. I am deliberately asking him to be the head office of Jiangnan Commercial Bank, responsible for sorting out the salt affairs of Liangjiang and Zhejiang."
"Oh, very young?" The Taoist bone member is a little skeptical.
Whether they are going to rebel or not, Hu Chuyuan came forward first and said, "I have met Lord Zhongtang, my lords!"
Zuo Zongtang knew that he was not very familiar with these people, so he pointed to the Taoist bone member in the second-grade official uniform and said, "This is Lord Tan Zhonglin, who has just been transferred to the position of Jiangsu governor of the court. As for the other two, when your father was at the funeral, they have also been here... One is Lord He, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the other is the governor of Zhejiang. Lord Mei."
Hu Chuyuan nodded silently and said to the other three people: "I have met the governor, Lord He and the two governors!"
He Jing was a scholar in the Daoguang period. In his early years, he entered the vassal of Zeng. He was over sixty years old. He had to be white and black, with a slightly dark complexion and a dark red face. He was not tall and slightly thin.
This person has great real power in Fujian and Zhejiang at present, because he also directly served as the governor of Fujian, leading the general of Fuzhou and supervising the Fuzhou fleet and the coastal defense of Fujian and Zhejiang.
He smiled first and said, "You're welcome. This is your home. Don't be polite. Sit down first!"
Hu Chuyuan didn't say anything and smiled strangely in his heart: How dare I sit down? You are all governors and governors who eat people, and they are all old men who control the power of military power and finance.
Mei Qizhao pretended not to be very familiar with Hu Chuyuan and said, "Hu Qiwei, Lord He asked you to sit down, just sit down."
It's all polite. How can you sit down?
At least you have to be promoted to the third grade to be qualified to find a bench here, and you have to sit against the door.
Zuo Zongtang is not very hypocritical. He said directly to Hu Chuyuan, "I have talked to you about the matter of Jiangnan Business, and everyone is very supportive. I have a consultation with Lord He. This inspection of the salt administration has investigated a number of illegal salt merchants. Jiangsu deducted 820,000 taels of dirty money and Zhejiang deducted 540,000 taels of dirty money. This money is used to calculate shares and enter Jiangnan Commercial Bank. Where it is insufficient, you can attract private shares. As for how to deal with the firm, you might as well talk to Mr. He today.
"Yes!" Hu Chuyuan took the order and said to He Jing, Mei Qizhao and Tan Zhonglin: "The Jiangnan Commercial Firm I want to run is headquartered in Shanghai. Most of the goods take Shanghai as the transit port and radiate to the whole five provinces of Jiangnan. The headquarters has one head office, two vice head office, one head accountant and one head worker. Each province has branches, with a club, a deputy club, and a club account. When the business gradually stabilized and the profits were rich, I directly crossed the foreign banks, opened branch offices overseas, bypassed the foreign banks, and exported China's goods to Europe and the United States. Later, I will also open a foreign affairs factory and a mining construction bureau in China.
After listening to him, He Jing and others were all meditative and speechless.
Such a thing is unprecedented. It can be said that it is directly hostile to the major oceans. If it can defeat those foreign banks and control the trade of state and goods in the hands of commercial banks, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement.
However, the risk of this matter also seems to be very high.
If this matter is to be done, Hu Chuyuan's ability is on the one hand. The two governors and the governors of the five provinces have to secretly help each other. Of course, everyone will definitely have their own benefits.
Mei Qizhao and Hu Chuyuan have secretly formed an alliance for a long time. He was the first to say, "Mr. Zuo Lao Zhongtang, Lord He, since the opening of the foreign affairs movement, the affairs of this dynasty has been almost a heavy loss. Every year, the loss of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and Fuzhou Shipping Administration alone is as high as more than one million taels, and the finances and taxes of the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are overwhelmed. The lower official thought that if we plan according to what Lieutenant Hu said, we will work together to help, and even if there is some loss in the foreign affairs, it will not be lost to the province's finance.
He is an official and the governor of Zhejiang from the second grade. It is clear what kind of benefits Zuo Zongtang and He Jing want. He doesn't say much, but he hit the point.
After hearing what he said, He Jing raised his eyebrows coldly and said, "Okay, this is a good way. Zuo Zhongtang, this is to rely on merchants to make money to supplement foreign affairs. Just wait for Jiangnan merchants to get a lot of money, and the burden on you and me will be much smaller.
Zuo Zongtang nodded silently and added, "If there seems to be more money left, you can also invest in civil affairs and Sinology. It is really good to open a Western Academy to train talents for the imperial court!"
At this point, he asked Tan Zhonglin, who had been silent, "Wenqing, what do you think?"
Tan Zhonglin pondered a little and said, "Zhongtang, talents are rare!"
He Jing also laughed loudly with satisfaction, "Yes, it's really a rare talent... Zuo Zhongtang, I'm very satisfied. That's what you said!"
Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly and said to Hu Chuyuan, "Chu Yuan, this matter will be settled like this. When I return to Jiangning, I will officially let you take care of the matter of Jiangnan Business!"
Hu Chuyuan immediately said, "Thank you, Lord Zhongtang!"
At this moment, he is very excited. The salt administration of the five provinces is handed over to Jiangnan Commercial Bank to take care of it. It is normal to sell 400 million catties of salt every year. Even if the price is only 60 cents per catty, there will be an income of 8 million taels. You should know that the salt industry has a net profit of 20/23, with an annual income of 7 million silver.
This is much more profitable than selling raw silk!
He Jing said, "Lao Zhongtang, there is no need to talk about this matter. We have all agreed. I mean what you told me at noon."
"Oh!"
Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly and said to Hu Chuyuan, "Chu Yuan, I once heard your father and my husband say that they wanted to make a good marriage for you in the past two years, but you all refused. Now you are not young, and you are a good talent with both morality and talent. Unfortunately, your father is no longer there, and I and your father have been friends for 15 years. Why don't you let me, the uncle, set up a marriage for you?
"Ah?"
Hu Chuyuan suddenly fell into the ice cellar again, and the cold goose bumps got up.
Subconsciously, he looked at Mei Qizhao, but Mei Qizhao tried to look at him with his eyes - don't agree, don't agree!