Chapter 157 Return to Fuzhou

The generosity and generosity of Hu Chuyuan made Cen Yuying overjoyed and particularly surprised.

After a few words, he got the private money of 3 million taels of silver, and also received the private dredging money of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Cen Yuying couldn't help sighing in his heart.

He suddenly understood why Zuo Zongtang and Mei Qizhao let go of Hu Chuyuan.

This silver has a cramp in the hands and legs!

With so much silver, there is nothing in the world that can't be done.

Leaving from Liu Yongfu's camp, Cen Yuying returned to his home in a sedan chair, thinking about it.

He is not young, and the army in his hand is recruited by himself. His son Cen Chunxuan is still young, so he can only give it to his younger brother Cen Yubao. It is impossible to sit on the throne of Governor Yungui only by relying on Cen Yubao's ability, but if there is Hu Chuyuan's money and the network in the capital as a guarantee, it is another matter.

At this time, he suddenly felt a little vaguely... It was too hasty to refuse Hu Chuyuan's decision to repair the railway in Yunnan. Maybe, as soon as he refused at that time, Hu Chuyuan did not intend to cooperate with him for the time being.

At this time, Hu Chuyuan had already left Vietnam along the Red River and arrived in Hong Kong by relying on the pass of the French Marlboro.

He stayed in Hong Kong for more than ten days and finalized the matter of Nanyang Bank with Xu Run.

It is in these days that a turning point in the Sino-French War has arrived.

June 23, 1884.

The Beili Incident broke out. During the short armistice period, a small-scale conflict broke out between China and France at Guanyin Bridge in Langshan. More than 200 French people were killed and injured, and the Qing army was more killed and injured.

After Li Hongzhang signed the Li Fu Agreement, the French couldn't wait to take over the whole territory of Vietnam effortlessly before the dry season comes.

They were really too arrogant. They thought that the Qingzheng axe had completely succumbed. They unilaterally stipulated the "takeover" date and only notified Li Hongzhang. Only then did Li Hongzhang realize that the Li Fu Treaty he signed was another betrayal clause, and he did not dare to report the French notice to the Qing Zheng axe.

As a result, the French ran to Langshan to take over the defense area. The Huai army did not dare to fight, but they did not dare to let it. The two sides were in a dispute, and the French army arrogantly killed the representatives sent by the Qing army to negotiate and unilaterally shelled the positions of the Huai army.

In the past two years, the French have won a hundred battles in the battle with the Qing army. They have been in an infinite arrogance, and they immediately took the opportunity to open up more arrogant conditions for the Qing Dynasty.

In this way, a formal declaration of war is inevitable.

Sensing the development trend of the situation, Hu Chuyuan hurriedly left Hong Kong and secretly returned to Fuzhou by boat. The purpose of his trip was not only to deal with the upcoming Mawei naval battle, but also to deal with the upcoming financial turmoil in Shanghai.

The Vietnamese battlefield has fallen into the rainy season, and there will be no new moves in the next six months. The Hunan Army, the Jiangxi Army, the Black Flag Army, the Yunnan Army, the Gui Army and Feng Zicai are all training hard, busy getting familiar with new firearms and training more gunners.

These troops are still taking the opportunity to expand, especially the Jiangxi army, which is not short of money, has the strongest momentum, with the number of more than 30,000 people. The Hunan army, the Jiangxi army and the black flag army also have some military advisers from Germany, Britain and the United States to help them train.

The French did not know this. They were already crazy about everything. They focused on the Fujian sailors, defeated the Fujian sailors in one fell swoop, and occupied Fuzhou and Shanghai.

Hu Chuyuan continued to choose to live in Changle County, but his place of residence was changed to a large house with blue bricks and white walls.

That night, Yan Shizhang came secretly, along with the uneasy Qu Hongji.

It's very late. The stars are shining, and the moonlight is like a spring, gently sprinkled in this clean courtyard.

Hu Chuyuan had just had dinner and was about to go to the study. Yan Shizhang entered the yard with Qu Hongji... For Qu Hongji's coming, Hu Chuyuan did not expect it at all, which was a little strange.

He didn't say anything. He exchanged a few words with the two and invited them to go into the study together to talk about business.

But as soon as he entered the study and didn't sit down, Qu Hongji couldn't wait to sigh with Hu Chuyuan, "Your Excellency, you have to make a decision. At present, the French expeditionary fleet is out of Mawei Port and can rush in at any time."

Hu Chuyuan sneered again.

What can he say? He has done everything he can do and invested so much money. If Qu Hongji can't turn the situation around, it only shows that Qu Hongji is incompetent.

He also blocked Zhang Peilun from the outside. All the on-the-spot power was concentrated in the hands of Admiral Ye Zuyu, the acting governor of Fujian Mariners. What else is there to do?

Hu Chuyuan sighed silently and asked, "What are you panicking about?"

Qu Hongji sighed, "I'm just a scholar. Where did I go through such a scene?"

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Have I experienced it?"

"This...?"

Qu Hongji was speechless for a moment.

Hu Chuyuan said, "I told you, but believe Ye Fu in everything that is a big deal. What does Ye Fu say now?"

Qu Hongji said, "He said that he was 70% or 80% sure that success is in heaven."

Hu Chuyuan said, "That's very good. Who is fully sure of the battle between the two armies? You make a hard bet now. If you win, you are the governor. If you lose, you can come to my house as a guest. I won't treat you badly.

Qu Hongji was a little relieved and said, "What my lord said makes sense."

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly and couldn't help asking, "Has the French fleet entered Mawei Port?"

Qu Hongji said, "No for the time being. Ye Fu sent people to pull a thick chain at the mouth of the river to prevent the large ships of the French fleet from entering the port. Now they are all stationed in Tingjiang Port, but they still often send some small gunboats to break in to check the water conservancy terrain."

Hu Chuyuan thought for a moment and comforted, "Then wait. If the French are going to go to war, they will still send you a declaration of war. You just need to forward the letter to Ye Fu immediately and let Ye Fu make an idea for you. Don't worry, as long as you don't run away, even if you are defeated, the court will not blame you.

Qu Hongji couldn't help sighing, "That's hard to say. If I'm really defeated, the court will definitely take me as a scapegoat."

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Then replace it. By the way, you can't bear such a big blame. Maybe even Governor He will be abolished. He is not in a hurry. What's there to worry about?"

"Isn't he in a hurry?"

Qu Hongji was very surprised and said, "He was so anxious that he was about to hang himself. He asked me a countermeasure three times a day."

Hu Chuyuan could only sigh with a wry smile and said secretly: None of these so-called serious scholars are reliable. When encountering such a military event, in addition to being afraid, they are still afraid.

He didn't continue to say anything. He just asked Qu Hongji to go back early to wait for the change of the current situation. Everything, big and small, was entrusted to Ye Zukui, Ye Fu and others.

When Qu Hongji left, Yan Shizhang said, "Although he is very afraid of this matter, he will not escape. Even the suicide note has been written. He really has no experience in military training, and he has no confidence in his heart."

Hu Chuyuan hummed and didn't continue to ask more questions.

The ponytail naval battle is inevitable, but he has done everything he can do. He can't let him command the naval battle, can he?

He is not a god. If he really fights, he has to fight on the sidelines. How to fight, how to defend... and other problems are still for those professional admirals of the navy and army to find their own way.

This is not a business, and he has no confidence.

If you really want him to command, maybe everyone who could have won will lose.

Hu Chuyuan only had this account in his heart. The Sino-French war could have been won. He invested more than 40 million taels of silver before and after, and at least 30% of them were donated for nothing. He didn't believe that this could not be a big victory.

Even if it's not a big victory, at least it can win beautifully, right?

Of course, Yan Shizhang was very clear about the real purpose of Hu Chuyuan's return this time, and immediately took out a letter from his pocket and gave it to Hu Chuyuan.

This is Wu Shuzhen's handwriting.

Hu Chuyuan couldn't wait to tear it open and read it. He was half happy and half worried. He was happy to see his wife's pen and ink, as if he had met her. The advantage was that the scale of the Shanghai financial storm far exceeded his imagination, and even the CITIC department was deeply involved.

Speaking of which, everything is Zeng Guozun's fault.

Qing Zheng Axe officially declared war, but he still didn't have the courage to fight to the death with the French. Li Hongzhang proved impossible and could only continue to send Zeng Guoquan, who replaced Zuo Zongtang as the governor of Liangjiang, to negotiate.

Unfortunately, Qing Zhengxu chose the wrong person. He may not be willing to let Zeng Guoxuan go out to war, but he is absolutely unwilling to make peace talks.

His peace talks in Shanghai are basically provocative.

When the French claimed to occupy Shanghai, Zeng Guoqian arranged the forces of the Hunan army of six battalions around the Shanghai Concession, threatening that as long as the French dared to come in, he would dare to attack and let the French have no return.

From the end of 1883, the war between China and France officially began, and the land price of the Shanghai Concession began to fall gradually, from the peak average price of 120,000 yuan/mu to the average price of 70,000 yuan/mu.

When Hu Chuyuan arrived in Fuzhou, the average land price of the Shanghai Concession suddenly plummeted to 14,000 yuan/mu, and the Bund of the British and American Concession also fell to 20,000 yuan/mu.

At least 50 percent of the economy of the Shanghai Concession depends on the land industry. The collapse of land prices has directly led to a lot of serious losses and the closure of more than 40 ticket numbers, which has triggered a fierce run in Shanghai.

CITIC Bank and Citibank withdrew from the market relatively early, which should not be affected, but the economic proportion of CITIC in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is very large. Almost all national industries have CITIC's investment. Others have withdrawn their shares and recovered their financing, resulting in a series of reactions.

With the collapse of other money banks, Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang also began to run crazily on the money banks of CITIC, and the run immediately spread to CITIC Bank.

In addition, the scale of its own loan is too large, and CITIC is in an extremely dangerous period at this time.

(to be continued)