The new governor's name is Ma Shiying. He was originally the governor of Fengyang. In his early years, he relied on currying favor with the 9,000-year-old feudal officials. This time, transferring him to Shanghai as governor was a bit of a move, so Liu Ziguang did not consider this successor as his successor.
The reporter took it seriously. It had been three days since Ma Shiying arrived, and he still had not handed over the governor's seal to handle the handover of military and political money and food.
The reconstruction work of Shanghai Guard was in progress. Liu Ziguang fulfilled his promise and made Li Peng the commander of Shanghai Guard. He disrupted the people of Qianhu Institute in Suzhou and the soldiers of Shanghai Guard and gave him retraining. In fact, Li Peng still had some character.
Although he is capable of leading troops to charge into battle and win thousands of miles, he is very qualified to serve as a defender, suppress the people, and resist bandits. Moreover, he trains troops in a systematic way. The soldiers trained by him can at least reach the upper-middle level of Jiangnan guards. More importantly,
What is interesting is that this man is quite loyal to Liu Ziguang. With him in charge of the military power in Shanghai, Liu Ziguang can rest assured.
The Shanghai Navy now only has a skeleton, a few hundred remnant soldiers and a few warships converted from the cargo ship Fuyuan. But as long as the establishment is there, there is no need to worry about recruiting soldiers. If the recruitment flag is put up, there will be people to feed the new ones.
Navy Qianhu Wen Getao took a boat and walked along the coast for a few days to recruit hundreds of soldiers and horses, and successfully recruited the pirate Yang Nanzhen. This big bandit leader is a bold man who respects heroes the most. He has long since
Hearing about Liu Ziguang's name and the official position of Qianhu of the Navy promised by the imperial court, he agreed to recruit him without any hesitation.
Liu Ziguang hid behind the scenes and opened several businesses. The first was COSCO Cargo, which was founded by the sailors of the Fuyuan. This freight company with an official background undertook half of the ocean freight business on the market. The business was very prosperous, and
Compared with COSCO, the Meilin Canning Workshop seems a bit small. The canned meat and fruits produced by a bunch of old ladies and their young wives can’t make much money no matter how expensive they are sold. But Liu Ziguang has his own plans.
We all have to think about the long term. Now the sales of Merlin cans are very good, and the supply exceeds the demand. These cans are shipped to all parts of the world on merchant ships, and their reputation will become even more famous. One day, they will become one of the top big companies in Shanghai.
Liu Ziguang took a look at the huge profits in the tobacco industry and established a shop called Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Shop, which specialized in selling cigarettes. Paper cigarettes were smaller and shorter than cigars, easier to carry, and more fashionable. It is said that the tobacco leaves used in the cigarettes produced by this shop were all
It is the best variety imported from Nanyang, and the packaging is also very elegant. There are pictures printed on the wooden box, and the inside is lined with tin foil. Thirty snow-white straight cigarettes are neatly stacked inside. Each box costs five cents.
, Don’t be too expensive, because even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it in stock. Most of the products of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Shop were packaged by the current top leader of Shanghai Road, Acting Governor Liu, and all were sent to the capital as tribute.
According to people who have seen tribute cigarettes, this extremely luxurious cigarette is packaged in a golden nanmu box. The box is inlaid with a pure gold watch and two gold characters "China". The cigarette box is filled with gold foil.
Every ten packs of cigarettes are packed in a red velvet box, called a cigarette. These Chinese brand cigarettes are uniformly sent to the palace and distributed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is said that those at the prince level can receive one and a half cigarettes.
The Duke could only receive one box, and the other counts and marquises had to wait for the Emperor to reward him with kindness.
There is no trace of Zhonghua cigarettes in Shanghai. Only the most well-connected people can get some low-standard "Laodao" cigarettes through connections. The packaging of this kind of one-legged pirate with a machete is very exotic.
, the market price is five cents of silver per box, but in fact the black market has fetched a sky-high price of three taels of silver, and the supply is still in short supply. Every Shanghainese regards being able to get a box of Laodao brand cigarettes as their own glory, and holds them in their mouths.
A cigarette is regarded as a symbol of status, but the cigars that were popular in Song Dynasty have become a symbol of being outdated and old-fashioned. In fact, cigarettes were originally just substitutes rolled by dock workers out of cigarette butts and newspapers. Liu Ziguang made such a mysterious package
, has suddenly become the favorite of the upper class. The more limited the production, the more intense the desire to buy it arouses people's desire to buy. The cost of a box of cigarettes is almost pitiful, but the profit is astonishingly large. Money flows to Liu Ziguang's pocket.
It's faster than robbing money.
In addition, Liu Ziguang also bought land and houses on a large scale. A large number of corrupt officials in Shanghai Road were investigated and punished. The properties they left behind were purchased by Liu Ziguang at a low price and were hoarded for appreciation. He also bought a small shipyard by the river.
Named Jiangnan Shipyard, it recruited a large number of workers and technicians as its base for developing maritime power.
Finally, when it was time to leave Shanghai, Liu Ziguang handed Ma Shiying the Shanghai Road Seal, which symbolized power, and then Ma Shiying invited Liu Ziguang to his home for a banquet. After delivering the seal, Ma Shiying became the legitimate Governor of Shanghai, but he did not dare to do so at all.
Liu Ziguang was so arrogant in front of him, but instead he spoke one after another with a respectful look. Ma Shiying was very knowledgeable and talkative, chatting all over the place, and finally got involved in Liu Ziguang's marriage.
"The Huns are not exterminated, so why should we take care of our family? Your lord's high moral integrity is really admirable, but now that the Tatars will only be destroyed in an instant, it's time for your lord to consider this issue." By this time, the two sides were already intoxicated with wine.
There was no longer the strange feeling at the beginning of the dinner. Ma Shiying took advantage of being twenty years older than Liu Ziguang and acted like an old brother to help Liu Ziguang solve his personal problems.
Liu Ziguang hurriedly said that he was still young and should focus on the military and military affairs of the court and not worry about marriage. However, Ma Shiying reluctantly insisted on playing a role as a matchmaker to help Liu Ziguang arrange a wife. At this moment, a slender
The young woman walked out of the back hall with a gentle step, and softly asked the maid to help the master cook a bowl of sobering soup. Liu Ziguang naturally cast his eyes over and found that the girl's appearance was quite outstanding. Ma Shiying followed Liu Ziguang's gaze and glanced over.
, smiled and called the woman over: "Lian'er, come and give Uncle Liu a present."
Ma Lian'er shyly came over and gave Liu Ziguang a blessing and said: "I have met Uncle Liu at home." Liu Ziguang said quickly: "Please get up quickly." But he felt something was wrong in his heart. How could a lady from an official family come out to meet guests casually?
Yes, as expected, Ma Shiying started to secure a match after sending her daughter out: "My daughter is only twenty-eight years old, and it is the time when she should be married to someone else. However, she has admired heroes since she was a child and said she would never marry someone without a hand.
A scholar who has the power to tie a chicken, and a hero who can draw a sword and ride a horse. Hehe, the storyteller girl who defeated the Tatar horseback in the past has heard it countless times, and she can almost recite it like a fluent person."
Having said that, it was already clear that if Liu Ziguang was interested in the girl, he should bow down to her and call her father-in-law, or be more reserved and not say it in person, and then ask someone to be the matchmaker later. But to Ma Shiying's surprise, Liu Ziguang
Unmoved, he just nodded lightly and said, "I am definitely concerned about my niece's marriage. We have many young and promising generals in the Ming Dynasty. I will make a list for you later and think about it slowly."
Ma Shiying was slightly embarrassed, but he quickly pretended to be fine and warmly greeted Liu Ziguang to continue drinking. Liu Ziguang understood Ma Shiying's behavior very well. As a governor without a backer, he was always in danger.
, the people in the imperial court knew that Shanghai Road was now Liu Ziguang's sphere of influence, and pushed him to the front desk, probably because they wanted to use Liu Ziguang's hand to bring this man down.
Liu Ziguang had read Ma Shiying's files and found that although this man had been attached to the eunuch party in his early years, this was not an unforgivable crime. Even Qian Qianyi had been closely associated with the eunuch party's followers at the beginning, so he was trying to excuse himself.
What's more, a local governor. As a parent official, Ma Shiying still has some abilities. Now that he is trying his best to show favor to him, even giving away his daughter, Liu Ziguang feels that this person is getting closer to him. Anyway, he lacks middle-level and high-level civil servants, so it is better to
So I accepted this person.
"From now on, everything in Shanghai will be left to Brother Yaocao. Shanghai is the richest place in the south of the Yangtze River. Merchants from all over the world gather here. There are more than tens of millions of goods and passengers coming in and out every day. Our Ming Dynasty's taxes come from here, so we are here to serve as
Governor, your responsibilities are heavier than Mount Tai."
Liu Ziguang said seriously.
"What Brother Ziguang said is very true. I will bear it in my heart and will work hard to run Shanghai well for the imperial court. It's just that Xiaguan was recently transferred from Fengyang. I was very unfamiliar at the time, so I ask Brother Ziguang to give me some advice. It will be necessary in the future."
You should always ask for advice, and I hope Liu Ziguang will not hesitate to give me some advice when the time comes."
This is Ma Shiying's attitude: Shanghai Road is still your Shanghai Road, Liu Ziguang's. I'm just here to help you look after your house. At most, I'm just a housekeeper. It's you who make the decision when it comes to big things.
Liu Ziguang was very satisfied and said a few words of comfort. Even if the two parties reached a preliminary cooperation intention, there was no blood alliance or written oath. Just like the original alliance with Hu Yimin, it relied on mutual trust.
For him, I may be the best supporter. I have many military exploits and am an old minister from Conglong. My future is limitless. With me protecting him, there is no need to worry about being framed and attacked by someone in the court. Liu Ziguang thought so.
For him, I may be the best partner. Even though he has reached such a high official position at a young age, his shortcoming is that he rose too quickly. He does not have a reliable civil service group under him.
, this high position is as dangerous as a tower on the sand. It would be the best time to have an official veteran like me join his camp, Ma Shiying thought.