Chapter 55: Doorway
The three brands in Guangzhou Station have all attracted large amounts of deposits. [Full text reading] These deposits are actually stored in Delong Bank. If Guangdong wants to attack Lingao, the fate of several companies closely related to Lingao is obvious. Runs on depositors are expected.
Meng Xian shook his head repeatedly: "Where can I get so much cash now?"
Most of the deposits collected have been invested in the operation of Guangzhou Station - according to the instructions of the Director of Finance, deposits collected in Guangzhou are not used as payment for the purchase of raw materials required by Lingao. They are used in a variety of businesses and investments in Guangzhou Station: starting new industries; acquiring foreign goods - various goods of Lingao's Southeast Asia Company's foreign ships. In addition to Leizhou supplying sugar and wine, Lingao supplies some commodities. The rest are handled by the Guangzhou station; operating the lending industry: including dismantling between merchants, lending and small loans to individuals.
"How much cash do you have in hand now?" Guo Yi asked.
"There are less than 60,000 that can be used immediately. I kept it according to the reserve..."
A total of 400,000 taels are stored in Delong from the deposits taken by various brands and the deposits taken in by it itself. This is a huge number in this time and space.
"Don't talk about reserves, you have to take inventory as soon as possible. Each family should still have a part of the money's liquidity. When you go back, collect the money first and count it clearly. How much cash can be used must be reported daily. Accounts that can be chased should be chased as soon as possible. Chase. You can handle it—" Guo Yigang wanted to say, "Just delay as long as you can."
"In my opinion, you should pay what you should pay, and there must be no delay. Otherwise, if a rumor spreads about delaying payment, there will be an immediate outburst." Meng Xian said.
"That's right. Now there is just a rumor about this matter. If we make a fuss first, we will suffer the consequences." Guo Yi has been in Guangzhou for a long time and knows that business in this time and space depends on credit. Once unstable news comes out, no matter how big your empire is, it will fall like an iceberg in an instant.
After some further discussion, it was decided that Guo Yi and others would go back to their original places for the time being to handle business and socialize. Make some additional preparations secretly.
"Yan Maoda, when you manage Qiwei, you should pay more attention to the escort system. Sun Kecheng must have a firm grasp of it. If necessary, you can retreat through their network."
"There's no problem with that. Shopkeeper Sun is very reliable," Yan Maoda said, "but Qiwei has frequent contacts with us, so I'm afraid we can't hide this relationship from others."
"It doesn't matter if you can't hide it. Qiwei also has business dealings with many big companies. Self-protection shouldn't be a problem."
Before the meeting ended, Guo Yi paid attention to Zhang Yuchen: "You take the radio and the code book and retreat to Qiwei's backup contact point. All the modern equipment in the safe house must be packed and taken away - you handle it yourself. This issue."
"I'll do it when I get back." Zhang Yuchen agreed.
Guangzhou Station has set up multiple backup contact points in the city as a place to stay when necessary. It is guarded by a dedicated person and can receive evacuees at any time.
Early the next morning, Guo Yi got up early and his caregiver called Sun Chang over.
After Sun Chang came back from Lingao inspection, Guo Yi officially deregistered him. He is now the chief steward around Dongzhu Guo, and his status is very different from before. According to the standards of this time and space, he is a "big slave".
"You sit in my sedan, bring the Fujian spring tea that just arrived a few days ago and my post, and go to each family to send it off." He told Sun Chang, "If the other party sees you, go and sit in one and be polite. "It doesn't matter if you don't see me. Remember, write down the attitude of each family clearly."
Chang nodded, "Send it according to the gift book?"
"That's right. You can go to Zicheng Ji to get the tea, two pounds per house."
"Yes. The little one will go right away."
Favors are as thin as paper. This is the same regardless of time and space. If the news is true, this group of people will definitely avoid Sun Chang and his gifts like the god of plague.
The situation here in Ziming Tower is still unclear for a while. Although there are fewer appointments for important guests, business conditions are still as good as ever.
"The situation seems to be bad." Zheng Shangjie came to tell her, "No one came to make reservations for three of the six VIP rooms last night."
Pei Lixiu didn't need to look at the list to know who the six people who had reserved the VIP room for fun last night were, and she could roughly guess which ones didn't come. It seems that things are very serious.
"Prepare the sedan" Pei Lixiu suddenly called out.
"Where are you going?" Zheng Shangjie was very worried when he saw her face turning pale and pale.
"I'm going to Gaofu"
Gao Shunqin's concubine Su Ai was her handkerchief, and Gao Shunqin was the patrol commissioner of Guangdong. He had a respected position among the officials of the province. He would definitely not be unaware of the military action against Lingao.
The news from Su Ai is more accurate than the news from the masters and second masters of various governments.
Pei Lixiu's sedan chair is famous in Guangzhou. In order to prevent Su Ai from disappearing due to being too ostentatious, she just asked someone to carry the two-person sedan specially prepared for guests in the building and went to Gao's house.
Because of her status, she was a concubine, so naturally she couldn't go to the door to post like a lady from a wealthy family. She could only quietly go to the corner door to ask the servants to post.
The servant at the door saw only two people coming in a small sedan, and they were posting at the corner door. It was expected that they were not important people, let alone visiting the master or his wife. Without asking who he was looking for, he just replied coldly: "Not at home." Then he closed the door.
Chunliu was used to the world, so he immediately stuffed a bunch of money over and said, "Please send word to Aunt Su that the sisters from the Zi family are here."
Hearing that the person he wanted to see was Aunt Su, and that he had received another bunch of money, the servant's expression immediately changed and he returned to a respectful expression: "Please wait for a moment."
During the tea time, Su Ai sent someone to take her in.
The sedan landed on the middle gate, and the woman who led the way took her and Chunliu to the backyard.
She had been to Su Ai's place several times and knew that this concubine from a famous Jiangnan family lived in the garden.
The group of people walked along a path shaded by flowers and trees. After walking through the winding corridors and stone paths, we came to a small courtyard with a single door. Pei Lixiu has always been blind to the road, and she didn't know the way even after coming here several times. She just followed her mother-in-law in a daze, but she knew this place when she arrived - this was Su Ai's residence.
The flowers, trees, ponds and stones in the yard are all arranged in an orderly manner. A small building with three bays, hidden in the shadow of thick trees.
A maid had already taken her at the door, and shouted as she helped her move forward:
"Miss Pei is here"
Then there was the sound of soft footsteps. The curtain was lifted, and a maid came out first. She saluted her guests, turned away, and raised the curtain with both hands. After a while, a tall and beautiful lady came out.
This is Su Ai. Regardless of the standards of time and space, Su Ai is beautiful. However, the figure seems a little thinner. She is from Yangzhou. After arriving in Guangdong, she felt that she could not speak the Cantonese vernacular. The maids and women around her were all brought from Jiangnan. Even the layout of the yard, the furnishings of the house and even the food are the most fashionable "south style". Every time Pei Lixiu comes here, she enjoys the Jiangnan style of the Ming Dynasty, which is another feeling compared to the timeless luxury of Ziming Tower.
Originally, when the handkerchief sisters met, they had to have something to say, but now Pei Lixiu has no intention of being polite. Su Ai seemed to know the purpose of this sister's visit and directly welcomed her into the inner room to serve tea.
The maid brought refreshments. Su Ai asked the maid to close the courtyard door temporarily and not let anyone in. The two people just started talking.
Pei Lixiu was naturally inquiring about the recent developments of the Guangdong government.
"There is something that I originally wanted to tell my sister in person at Ziming Tower today. It's good that my sister is here." She whispered.
Su Ai told her: Gao Shunqin has been drafting manuscripts in the study every day recently, and seems to be writing memorials. He often talks with his staff in the study, and even specially asks people to go outside to look for books.
"What book are you looking for?"
"It seems to be a book about fighting Japanese invaders." Su Ai whispered in his room, "From the way he looks, the government may be unfavorable to you recently."
"What's going on? Sister Su, please let me know." Pei Lixiu was already begging.
"Don't be anxious." Su Ai got along very well with Pei Lixiu on weekdays, and got many benefits from her. Seeing that the owner of the Handkerchief Sisters was in trouble, she naturally had to do something.
"The person who caused this incident was the praise painting of the Governor's Mansion, named Lu or something like that."
"Lu Yizhong."
"Yes, that's him." Su Ai said, "This man had no idea what he had planned, and he gave Wang Zhitai such an idea. Wang Zhitai just listened to him out of confusion. Alas, it's really troublesome."
"Lu Zanhua?" Pei Lixiu felt like she was struck by thunder. Because this Lu Yizhong was the governor's complimentary painting, I flattered him wholeheartedly. Not only did he show favor in every aspect, but he also often came to Ziminglou to entertain and meet friends on weekdays without any expense. And this Lu Yizhong was very polite to Guo Yi and her on weekdays. If there was any difficult matter, Guo Yi would even use his own hand to solve it immediately. It should be said that both parties are ancient and modern models in fulfilling the traditional Chinese-style official*business*collusion.
She didn't expect that this old man, who usually looked upright and kind, would be so vicious. Pei Lixiu's shoulders trembled with anger when she thought that the huge empire that Guo Yi and her team had built up with so much hard work would be wiped out.
"In your opinion, sister, can this matter be undone?" Pei Lixiu asked nervously.
"It all depends on Wang Zhitai." Su Ai said, "However, Lu Yizhong is very useful to Wang Zhitai. If he can't change his mind, I'm afraid it won't be possible to save him."
"I wonder if my sister can invite Mr. Gao——"
Su Ai shook her head repeatedly: "Don't even think about it." She probably felt that she had refused too much, so she took a breath and said, "Sister knows my master's temper best. He hates people who know the world the most. A few days ago, he was still He said that he would cut off the water supply of the Francois and force them to evacuate Haojing. You Australians have been staying in Lingao, and he has heard about it. If the Portuguese can't tolerate it, how can they tolerate the Australians?"
Su Ai added: "I advise my sister to go back as soon as possible and talk to Guo Dongzhu, let all the Australians in Lingao renovate their savings, and then invite people to move to Guangzhou and register, so that they can avoid suffering in that miasma. With your experience, Yes, but are you afraid that you won’t be able to settle down here?”
"Thank you sister for planning."
Pei Lixiu thanked her and asked if she could give her advice to protect the three purple-branded companies.
"My sister probably knows that as soon as the news of the conquest of Lingao came out, there were already a lot of people snooping on Guo Dongzhu's properties. With the rumors, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble. I hope my sister can invite Master Gao to give me a picture." Posts, maintenance is-" She was already in tears as she spoke.
This was not because she was being pretentious on purpose, but it was actually because she was hit too hard. Especially Ziming Tower, which she had put a lot of effort into, how could she be willing to accept it if it was destroyed like this.
"Sister, please be at ease." Su Ai comforted, "You are very smart as an official, and you will definitely not have any idea of Ziming Tower for a while. But now that the news has spread, there must be a group of evil people who will take the opportunity to make trouble. It’s blackmail, and I don’t know who may be forcing you to donate.”
"Contribute?" Pei Lixiu certainly knew what this meant. It is not easy to do business in the Ming Dynasty. Businessmen without background are often blackmailed and made difficult by various local officials and evil forces. Some businessmen even lose their families because of this. Some people dedicated their property to the name of a certain gentry in exchange for protection. Of course, a large amount of money must be offered. From now on, there must be a certain amount of "filial piety" every year. This is just a commercial version of small landowners and farmers in the countryside donating their land.
"This won't work." Pei Lixiu said in a daze.
"When things are in crisis, there is a way out," Su Ai comforted, "Don't you have a very good relationship with the Gao family? The Gao family is the path of Eunuch Yang. If you surrender to Eunuch Yang, it will hinder the prestige of the eunuch. , no one in Guangdong dares to touch your brains."
Su Ai finally gave her a small worship box. Pei Lixiu opened it and saw a big red greeting card inside, which belonged to Gao Shunqin.
"I'll give you this greeting card. However, if there is any big boss who wants to seize your property, I'm afraid it won't be of much use." Su Ai reminded her.
"Thank you, sister. I will give you the money someday." Pei Lixiu knew that it would cost at least three to four hundred taels of silver to get this invitation - not counting the cost of getting through Gaofuli's joints. Su Ai gave it to her like this, which can be called the deepest sisterly love.
"What kind of money are we talking about between sisters?" Su Ai shook her head, "You haven't come here much recently. I won't give you money until you can get through this disaster safely." She hesitated, "I still exist for you. The money on the cabinet..."
Su Ai has two thousand taels of silver in Ziming Tower, which she has accumulated over the years. Nowadays, the Zi family name is in danger, and no matter how loyal you are, you cannot stand under the dangerous wall.
Pei Lixiu said quickly: "Sister, please give me the fold. I will send someone to deliver it to my sister later."
"The money cannot be sent." Su Ai said quickly, "There are many people here..."
"Yes, sister is confused." This is Su Ai's private money, how can it be sent to Gao Mansion openly, "Then where will sister save it? Sister will send the discount after finishing everything."
"I think it's better to just deposit Delong. My master now mostly uses this company for his remittances to the capital."
Pei Lixiu, who was originally worried, almost laughed out loud - the money was already in Delong Bank. Originally, she was worried that it would affect Delong's cash reserves, but now it's just a discount.
"Good sister, we'll do it when we get back." She answered simply.
Pei Lixiu came back from Gao's house. First, Xia He was sent to Delong, and a sum of money was transferred to the account, and a new certificate was issued in Delong's name and sent to Su Ai. He sat down and wrote a secret letter to Guo Yi - the letter was written with secret writing potion. It contained the exact contents of his conversation with Su Ai before and after he went to see her.
Needless to say, Guo Yi couldn't agree to this kind of thing, and it was not within his authority.
Just after she finished writing the letter and called the traffic officer to deliver it, Pei Lixiu just wanted to talk to Zheng Shangjie about the current situation. Someone came to report:
"Mr. Jiang is here before the Governor's case."
Master Jiang? Pei Lixiu thought for a while before she remembered that this person was a master of Li Fengjie, the governor of Guangdong. His status is not prominent, and he specializes in doing trivial matters for the Li family.
Such people used to be a commodity in Ziminglou. But there must be a reason for suddenly coming to pay homage at this time. Pei Lixiu pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Invite him to meet in the flower hall."
Pei Lixiu dressed up a little before getting up and going to the flower hall. This Mr. Jiang has been "waiting" inside for a long time.
This man is about fifty years old and looks like he is a scholar. The description of his appearance is quite dignified.
But when this person saw Pei Lixiu, his eyes were fixed on her. He probably felt that this was too rude, and immediately turned his attention to Chunliu.
The two parties met and Chunliu served tea. Pei Lixiu asked him why he came
Mr. Jiang coughed, pretended to be involved in official matters, and said solemnly:
"I came to visit you today. It is said that the official status is involuntary."
Pei Lixiu has been hanging out in Guangzhou for a long time and knows that this is a "mandarin saying", which basically means "I am here to do business, and business must be done with business." She was secretly shocked. Could it be that the Guangdong government was already preparing to take action?
She thought of Su Ai's reminder and Guo Yi's instruction to "calm down" during the meeting, and just nodded slightly and asked:
"Master Futai, do you have any advice? I will ask Mr. Jiang to inform me so that we can follow the instructions."
Master Jiang pondered for a moment and said:
"First, there have been quite a few rumors in the city recently..."
He looked at her as he spoke, hoping that she would speak out on her own, but Pei Lixiu had already made up her mind that it would be better to keep her mouth shut.
Seeing that the other party showed no expression, Master Jiang cursed secretly and had no choice but to speak clearly.
"There are rumors that Guidong is pretending to be from Guangzhou, but he is actually an overseas Australian."
"Although we are not natives of Guangzhou, we are still citizens of the Ming Dynasty." Pei Lixiu said slowly, "I don't know where to start talking about the so-called overseas Australians?" a! ~!
