,.
Chapter 56 The importance of giving a bell
This sentence blocked the back tightly. The claim that they are so-called Australians is completely baseless. And he is not a Westerner with red eyebrows and green eyes. He is not one of my race at first glance. Master Jiang could not even say anything he wanted to say. He squeezed the fan in his hand hard.
This move didn't work, so I had to use my backhand. He used a big sign to bluff people. He coughed lightly:
"Second, it's a long story. I think it's better to open the skylight and speak frankly." He glanced at Pei Lixiu and said, "Master Futai's old lady will have her eightieth birthday in a few days."
Pei Lixiu nodded and said: "This has been officially registered in the dormitory. When the time comes, there will be no delay, and I will give you a generous gift. In order to seek protection."
Master Jiang smiled and said: "This is just a matter of congratulations to the class according to the regulations. How can we make the Master happy in the current situation? Don't you want Mr. Li Futai's old lady to come to you?" Congratulations"
The element of blackmail and begging in these words is already very clear. Pei Lixiu frowned secretly and could only say: "I have to ask Mr. Jiang to give me some advice."
Master Jiang then said: "Master Futai, I have long heard that there is a self-moving Australian hour clock in my house. I really want to borrow it so that I can enjoy it on my birthday and let the relatives and friends who come to congratulate me." Eye-opener."
Pei Lixiu suddenly realized that she had taken a fancy to the big mahogany clock in her room.
This thing doesn't sound very expensive. If Dr. Zhong Lishi hadn't wanted to wait until the self-produced clock technology was fully developed before putting it on the market, Guanglin Gao would have hundreds of sets of modern mechanical clock accessories in stock, allowing the skilled craftsmen of Zizhenzhai to assemble a good-looking case immediately. There is. If giving it to Li Fengjie can alleviate this crisis, the price is not high.
But what Su Ai had said to her came to mind again - "Rumors have been spreading everywhere recently. You must control yourself and don't make random choices. There are too many black-hearted beasts out there who eat people without spitting out their bones." She clearly remembered that the birthday of Li Fengjie's old lady was not "in the last few days" at all, and the amount of money to be given was already established, and no one would be sent to the door to urge her. I generally don’t come to ask for something by name.
She stared at this sanctimonious "official face", at his triumphant smile and the fan that kept opening and closing. Decided to give him a try.
"Since I am favored by the old lady, I will send someone to deliver the bell to Master Futai's house as soon as I return to the slave's house. I wish the old longevity star Hongfu, please appreciate me."
"No, no, I've already brought people here, and they will take them away. No need to send them away."
"That's not good. This gift should be given on a formal day, with red and colorful decorations and a lot of playing. Naturally, the slave family also wants to kowtow to the birthday star."
"no, I'm fine."
Pei Lixiu suddenly frowned and said softly: "Oh, it's not appropriate, it's not appropriate."
Master Jiang was originally preparing to argue that he didn't have to do anything for you, but suddenly he heard her say "it's inappropriate" and looked at her blankly.
"This thing in my house is called the Australian mahogany clock. You must know it, sir."
"Exactly, exactly."
"Since it is Mr. Futai's old lady congratulating her on her birthday, it would be extremely inappropriate to give her a clock as a gift." She changed her words.
When celebrating a birthday, "sending a bell" doesn't mean "sending a bell" has become a "send-off". This is simply bringing bad luck to the host's family. This Master Jiang is just using clever rhetoric to seek to seize this precious clock in the name of Mr. Futai's Taijun's birthday. He was not originally planning to make a birthday gift, so how could he have thought of this joint. Being shown off by Pei Li, she couldn't help but be stunned and completely speechless.
Master Jiang left in embarrassment angrily, and before leaving he couldn't help but utter a few harsh words with insinuations. Pei Lixiu was too lazy to answer. She had already figured out that Master Jiang was not following Li Futai's order at all, but came to blackmail him based on the recent invasion of Lingao.
Zheng Shangjie was a little worried when she found out - after all, the other party was someone close to the governor. What if he needed eye drops at the critical moment?
"Humph, he has no qualifications at all." Pei Lixiu said lazily, "On such a big matter, the governor's office has no chance to intervene. Besides, even the governor's office of Guangdong and Guangxi has not yet decided on the matter of suppressing Lingao. What role can he play as a clean-up guest of Futai Yamen? I'm afraid he is not qualified to participate in the secret. Don't be afraid of him. I would rather send this mahogany clock to Li Futai's house. Maybe it can do something. effect."
"Yeah, that's right. But should we discuss the matter of giving gifts with Dongzhu Guo?"
"I'm just talking. Now every move we make is a big deal, and of course he has to make the decision." Pei Lixiu bit her lip - she was surprised to realize that she didn't put on lipstick.
On Guo Yi's side, Sun Chang has returned. He reported that most people still accepted the tea, but only a few people met him and rewarded him with money for development. Most of them just replied to a post. Some people also say that it is inconvenient to receive gifts because the owner is away.
He watched Sun Chang make the gift lists one by one. See if there are any patterns among them.
It seems that although the dignitaries who interact with Guangzhou Station have begun to consciously distance themselves, they have not yet reached the point of decisiveness. It can be seen that the matter has not reached the final moment. There is still room for improvement in all aspects.
To sum it up: It is obvious that the Guangdong government intends to use troops against Lingao. But the jury is still out.
Guo Yi paid a special visit to Gao Ju, and the senior officials also received similar news. He could not hold his breath. Tell him directly: This matter is very strange.
"You don't have to be too panicked. This matter has the potential to prevent you from firing your arrows."
This somewhat coincides with my own guess. Guo Yi thought. He deliberately wanted to ask for details, so he pretended to be puzzled and asked Gao Zhi.
"If we want to attack Lingao, where will the soldiers and the pay come from?" Gao Ju said with a smile, "With no soldiers and no pay, do you want the adults in Guangzhou to fight in person?"
He told Guo Yi that the Guangdong vassal could not afford this large sum of money.
"He Zhen's soldiers have not been paid for almost a year. Unless Wang Zhitai has the ability to generate hundreds of thousands of pay and silver, the crusade against Lingao is just an empty talk."
"That's it. It's unfounded to say so."
"Not necessarily. At least Wang Zhitai has this idea." Gao Ju said, "Think about it, Xiong Futai in Fujian is so popular, how could he offend so many people in Guangdong if he didn't make any achievements? I’m afraid I won’t be able to explain it to the court at that time.”
"You should not be careless." Gao Ju said, "The current strategy is to find a solid backer early on."
Gao Zhou's intention was the same as Su Ai's, asking them to surrender to Eunuch Yang, so that they could calm down the greedy hands from all sides.
"My little brother can't make the decision on this matter——"
"Yes, you still need to ask shopkeeper Wen what he wants." Gao Ju said with great interest, "Old Wen hasn't been to Guangzhou for a long time. Could it be that Lingao's ghost place is better than Guangzhou? It's really disrespectful."
"Where, where." Guo Yi was about to excuse Wen Desi, and waved his hand: "Go and talk to Shopkeeper Wen. It is not a long-term plan for him to occupy Lingao like this, so he needs to make plans early."
Comparing these aspects, Guo Yi probably had a good idea. When reporting to Lingao, he said: The possibility of the Guangdong Ming Army dispatching in a short time is very small.
However, the spread of this news made the situation in Guangzhou Station difficult. Not only did Ziminglou's business volume drop sharply, but just as Su Ai predicted, the political climate in Guangzhou seemed to have changed in the following seven or eight days. The number of people coming to Ziminglou has dropped significantly, and appointments have almost disappeared. On Guo Yi and Pei Lixiu's side, various guests began to appear in a steady stream asking to see them.
Each of these guests had a well-established background: they were either the governor's purge guests or relatives of the governor. If not, the chief attendants of the guarding eunuchs came to visit one by one. They asked for money when they asked for money. "Australian Treasures" is interested in it and hopes to borrow it for viewing. The reasons for taking advantage of others are one after another. If there is any slight neglect, there will be threats in the vicious words.
Fortunately, Pei Lixiu had already gotten the answer from Su Ai, and Gao Zhang sent someone to secretly warn them: There is no need to be afraid of this group of people - they are just relying on the master's brand to extort some benefits, and even if it is given to them, it will be useless, and it will only attract people. These people kept coming in batches. Later, Guo Yi simply asked Sun Chang to see him, saying that he was not feeling well, and simply closed the door and thanked the guests.
But privately, he has been making various preparations to deal with various situations that he may encounter. He ordered Sun Kecheng to deploy more manpower to guard the vicinity of various brands to prevent anyone from inciting riots; he secretly mobilized cash from various channels to Delong's main bank, and was ready to deal with bank runs at any time and at any time. Externally, all stores are operating normally. Especially for those who request to withdraw their deposits in advance, all principal and interest will be calculated. Don't show any embarrassment.
To his slight relief, Sun Kecheng, Shen Fan and other local management personnel, although they had not been reviewed by Lingao, were loyal to Guangzhou Station. Instead of trying to shirk or evade, they took the initiative to offer advice. Shen Fan meant to talk to Liang Cunhou.
"Mr. Liang and his son are not only kind-hearted, but also fairly upright in their conduct. If the proprietor wants to donate, it would be better to donate Zizhenzhai to his family." Shen Fan is quite enthusiastic about the donation and thinks it is a solution to the current problem. the best way.
"The Liang family is a large local gentry family, and my grandfather was a member of the central government. The foundation is extremely deep. With their support, no one in Guangzhou dares to take the initiative to own the property."
Furthermore, Liang Cunhou cooperated with Guo Yi and others to run Cihuitang, and they had a very personal relationship. This kind of relationship was different from ordinary shop owners.
"If an ordinary shopkeeper wants to donate, people won't accept it." Shen Fan seems to mean that if people are willing to take your property for nothing, they are already giving you a huge favor. This made Guo Yi very unhappy.
Guo Yi stayed up almost all night in his room. The environment of this time and space is indeed a hundred times more complex than the old time and space. This is a collusion between officials and businessmen, and I have gone too far to rehabilitate the original one. I have given this group too many benefits of being an official. Unexpectedly, the benefits they received were not counted as they wanted to swallow them all in one gulp.
What worries him now is: How to resolve the crisis at Guangzhou Station.
Guo Yi was not afraid at all of what he heard about the crusade against Lingao - it was just self-destruction. Lingao will definitely be safe and sound. But Guangzhou Station is facing a huge crisis in this matter.
Dedicating a brand to Eunuch Yang or the Liang family would be a compromise. However, it could not be passed in the Senate and the Executive Committee.
He has now completely understood that Lu Yizhong's idea seemed to cater to Wang Zunde's eagerness to make achievements at sea, but in fact it contained evil intentions for various brands in Guangzhou Station.
He doesn't care at all whether the Australians can hold on to Lingao, but he wants to take advantage of this to win the Guangzhou Station.
However, for a retired prefect, the appetite is a bit too much.
Could it be that there was someone else behind him? Guo Yi became alert. Lu Yizhong was just a retired prefect, relying on Wang Zunde's trust to run rampant in Guangdong and Guangxi. I don't have much power. Even if Guangzhou Station really surrenders to him, he can't keep it at all. Thinking of this, he realized that the person who wanted to seize Guangzhou Station should be much higher in status, at least at the level of Eunuch Yang. A eunuch in the palace or a central official in the court.
It's just that this person hasn't revealed his true face yet.
He took a sip of the tea, which almost no longer felt warm, and stood tall at the window. The moon appears and disappears in the night sky. The north is still filled with impenetrable black clouds.
The telegram sent from Guangzhou about the Ming Dynasty showing signs of using force against Lingao used the most urgent call sign. The telegram from Guangzhou was sent to the confidential room of Lingao Telecom as soon as it arrived. Li Yunxing was stunned for a moment when he saw the full text of the telegram.
"Fuck, fuck." He excitedly tugged on the folder and started to walk.
"Chief, Chief, you haven't signed yet." The indigenous female telegraph operator in charge of translating and sending and receiving telegrams saw that he was about to leave after taking the telegram, so she quickly stopped him.
"Okay, okay." Li Yunxing took out his pen and signed his name on the mailing book with flying colors. Then he hurriedly came out of the confidential room and ran back to his office. Bei Jinyi, the newly assigned life secretary and office secretary, is packing up the documents on his desk.
Li Yunxing strode into the office and wiped the things on the table to the side. Bei Jinyi, who had just cleaned up, was surprised, thinking that he was dissatisfied with her. He was so scared that he stood aside and did not dare to speak.
"Quick, make a copy immediately and send it to the confidential room of the general office."
Li Yun said excitedly. This is great. The Ming army finally came and once the war started, the people who advocated Wuguiliu all day long had nothing to say anymore. Lingao Telecom is about to become Hainan Telecom, and maybe I will directly become the boss of Guangdong Telecom.
He rubbed his hands in excitement, knowing that once this matter reaches the executive committee, a general meeting will be held tomorrow at the latest - this is the first national war of the Time Travel Group.
Li Yunxing decided that at the subsequent senate meeting, he must make an impassioned speech and insist on expanding the war. He could not just be satisfied with repelling the Ming army's attack, but at least pursued it to Qiongshan County. Completely destroy the Ming Dynasty's notice in Hainan.
The telegram was quickly sent to the confidential room of the general office, and then printed into dozens of copies. According to the rules, this type of message is first sent to the Executive Committee, the Standing Committee of the Senate and the heads of relevant business departments.
An hour later, this message was posted on BBS and became a fixed announcement on the home page.
There are basically no people in the bbs that has lost its hot spots recently, except for a group of people from North America who are constantly talking about political system reform and people from the Ministry of Colonial Trade who are advocating Liaodong trade. The news of the Ming army's crusade immediately caused a commotion.
That night, a flood of posts flooded into the BBS. All kinds of ideas flooded the page, immediately creating a page-splitting situation.
Early the next morning, the Senate announced a general meeting.
In the Senate, more than 380 senators who are currently in Lingao and do not need to stick to their posts attended the meeting. Because this was the first national decision involving war and peace, all the elders who could leave their posts came to the venue.
There was a lively atmosphere at the venue. The elders were sitting or standing, with excitement on their faces. From time to time, phrases such as "Fuck the hell out of him", "Kill this old guy Wang Zunde's whole family", "Ten Days in Guangzhou", "Three Massacres in Dongguan" and the like flew out from the crowd.
"Mom, the war hasn't even started yet, and everyone wants to be a Tatar." Liu Zheng came to the Senate on behalf of most of the long-range exploration team, and couldn't help but curse when someone said this. Followed by Bai Guoshi's girlfriend Zhao Xue - after Bai Guoshi's tireless pursuit and vowing never to marry a concubine, Zhao Xue finally agreed to be his girlfriend. Originally, as a single woman, her range of choices was not too small, but when this group of single otakus all dreamed of seventy-two female slaves of all nationalities and colors, her choice was pitifully small.
"They seem to be talking about women." Zhao Xue thought, this group of men is really boring, "They want to cover all the women in Guangzhou and Dongguan, well, that one."
"Humph, I don't have any ambitions." Liu Zheng put his special wooden cushion on the masonry seat engraved with his number. There was a large area of empty space around, and almost all the people in the long-range exploration team went out.
Liu Zheng was not very excited about the news. Although he is not a celebrity, he is a royal man. Therefore, I would rather fight against the Tatars or other foreigners than against the Ming Dynasty's army - although this is inevitable.
While feeling depressed, he suddenly saw Ma Qianzhu sitting in his seat, signing an autograph for a sister wearing glasses. He also gave a few compliments by the way, but because of the loud crowd, no one heard what he said.
"Hmph, you Ma Qian——"
A sharp, high-pitched song echoed over the venue - Xiao Zishan, who was presiding over the meeting, banged the hammer dozens of times but no one paid attention to him. Finally, I had to turn up the volume of the loudspeaker and start playing Above the Moon. ,.
