When Fang Linyan said this, the curiosity of the people in the escort agency opposite was really aroused. Then Fang Linyan knew the art of conversation and the principle of talking without surprising people, and he shocked the three people in front of him:
"The reason why I came to the capital this time is to raise five million taels of silver! Then I won't spend a penny of this money. I will leave it all to Mr. Song to strategize and do a good job to the Japanese brats!"
Keywords such as "five million taels of silver", "without spending a penny", "fuck an Oriental brat with a ruthless vote" were thrown out directly, and even a big tycoon in the capital like Da Dao Wang Wu was shocked.
I was speechless for a long while.
It must be admitted that what Fang Linyan expressed in these words was something that these hard-working men in the world had never even dreamed of, and this head start was exactly what Fang Linyan wanted.
Just when a group of people were waiting for Fang Linyan to continue speaking, Fang Linyan changed the topic, stood up, pointed at himself, and then picked up a glass of wine:
"Excuse me, Hu Zhiyun, here's a toast to you all."
Faced with such a solemn self-introduction, the other three people would definitely stand up and return the favor.
Then Fang Linyan said:
"My name is unknown, and none of you have heard of my name. This is not surprising, but Zuo Zongtang, Mr. Zuo, you should have heard of me."
Zuo Zongtang passed away in 1885, several years ago. However, he made many achievements in his life, was extremely famous, was a high-ranking official and well-paid, and was very prominent.
Whether it was the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the establishment of Westernization, the pacification of Shaanxi and Gansu, the recovery of Xinjiang, the construction of the northwest, etc., to name just one, it is a lifetime achievement that an ordinary minister can brag about.
Of course, his greatest achievement was to put down the Soviet Union and block Russia's ambitions. This is a serious national hero!
Wang Wu and three others nodded and said:
"Zuo Gong is a famous minister in the world. Even children know his name."
Fang Linyan said simply:
"When Zuo Gong established the Western Territory, the imperial court's military expenditure was insufficient, and the gap once exceeded tens of millions. My uncle worked as a mediator, first raising two million taels for Zuo Gong from the Standard Chartered Bank in the UK, and then four times in succession
HSBC, Citibank, etc. raised 15.5 million taels.”
After hearing Fang Linyan's words, Wang Wu was extremely shocked, while a man next to him was speechless and extremely surprised:
"Master Hu, your uncle, could it be that Mr. Hu Xueyan, the King of Medicine in Jiangnan, is Mr. Hu!"
Fang Linyan now understood that having a good background is useful. He finally met someone who knew the business. Otherwise, it would be funny to use tiger skin as a banner and others would not understand. He sighed and said:
"What is Jiangnan Medicine King? The current Hu family can no longer afford this term, but Hu Xueyan is indeed my second uncle."
Sure enough, after Fang Linyan revealed his family background, no one thought that what he said before was just a boast.
Wang Wu was silent for a while and said simply:
"I never thought that after you became a loyal minister, Brother Hu, you would do great things to benefit the country and the people when you came to the capital! Although I, Wang Wu, cannot be of much help, I will never do anything to hold you back.
"
"I have no friendship with Tie Butterfly Duan Fei. I just owe his senior brother a favor, so I was entrusted to come to you to cause trouble, but I will never come again from now on."
"But you have to be careful. Duan Fei's senior brother is the senior brother of the Qianzi Sect in the Xiang Sect. His methods are very good. This person will retaliate and will never give up."
Fang Linyan nodded and said with a smile:
"Thank you, Master Wu, for showing mercy. I will be careful."
Wang Wu shook his head:
"In front of you, Brother Hu, I can't bear the title of father! If I don't mind it, for the sake of my age, just call me Fifth Brother! Come on, let's have a drink."
At this time, the group of people at the dinner table were chatting rather speculatively. Later, Fang Linyan learned that such an atmosphere was mostly due to Laurent who was following him next to him.
After all, a tycoon like Wang Wu, who traveled all over the country and met countless people, how could he believe him based on his words?
But Wang Wu saw Laurent's attitude towards Fang Linyan, as if he were a servant. He was a foreigner!
Combined with the Hu family's reputation as the richest man in China at that time, and the momentum revealed in Fang Linyan's words and deeds, it is obvious that it cannot be imitated by any liar.
The heavy drinking lasted until the store closed. After Wang Wu paid the bill, Fang Linyan said that he had left beforehand. Wang Wu was a little surprised and didn't say much. After walking a few steps, the man next to him The middle-aged man Ma Kui said with a wry smile:
"Fifth Master, I just took on a big job."
Wang Wuqi said:
"It's just a short time, where can you get a big job?"
Ma Kui pursed his lips in the direction Fang Linyan was walking:
"This man gave it to me."
Wang Wu was stunned, obviously he still hadn't reacted:
"Big job?"
Another escort next to him couldn't help but said:
"The bathhouse is on the third floor? Is it free to drink alcohol?"
Ma Kui gave him a hard look:
"You drank two glasses of horse urine, what are you doing here? Master Wu, this is really a big job for an escort agency."
Wang Wu said in a deep voice:
"How to say?"
Ma Kui, who usually also works as the accountant of the escort agency, said directly:
"According to this man, there will be 800,000 taels of red goods in the next few days. They will be delivered to Mr. Song from the Chongwenmen shopping market. Please give us a gift and give us three out of a hundred. Divide.”
Wang Wu was immediately shocked! He immediately said loudly:
"Three out of a hundred? That's twenty-four thousand taels? And doesn't Mr. Song usually stay at the Sichuan Guild Hall? How much do you charge for a place that's just a peeing distance away?"
"No, no, that's not how the rules work. Besides, his money is used to do important things for Mr. Song. We can forget about it if we can't help him. How can we hold him back!"
Ma Kui smiled bitterly and said:
"I think so too, but I guess why Master Hu didn't say anything when you were here. Even though I know you probably won't agree, I can only discuss it with you."
Wang Wu said decisively:
"What's there to discuss? Our escort agency will accept this trip, but we won't charge you any money. If you accept the money, you'll have to be stabbed in the back even if you die."
***
Three days later,
That is, at six o'clock in the afternoon on July 25, 1894,
Fang Linyan has already collected a small part of the goods at the Hengli Market in Chongwenmen. The credit of Qiao's Warehouse is still very good, and a large number of goods are being shipped from outside.
Suddenly, Fang Linyan saw a somewhat familiar old man walking over in a hurry. The person accompanying him was none other than the shopkeeper of the Qiao Family Warehouse here.
The old man also saw him, and immediately walked over quickly, saying with an angry face:
"Xiao Liu! What are you doing?"
Fang Linyan was stunned for a moment. He already remembered that this old man was an elder in the clan, named Hu Xueming. He was the seventh in the clan. He had been quite opposed to doing things by himself in the clan before, so he said casually:
"Uncle Qi, why are you here?"
Hu Xueming said sadly:
"Why am I here? I came to Beijing to take the exam years ago. Besides, if I don't come! You will destroy all this family property! I ask you, if your family squeezes out ten thousand taels of silver, let you go
Please give me a good handover, Mr. Li Mengli! You actually went directly to the capital, a land of fireworks, to squander your money!"
Fang Linyan immediately retorted:
"Uncle Qi, don't be slanderous. I'm obviously hoarding a batch of goods here. How can I start talking about squandering?"
Hu Xueming said angrily:
"You dare to be so stubborn, you evildoer. I've eaten more salt than you've ever seen rice. You took the money from your clan and came to this place to stock up on unsalable goods. The key is that you only paid a deposit. In the end,
If we lose our capital, why don’t we have to support the family members, and then it won’t be the members of the public who will be defeated?”
As soon as Fang Linyan heard Hu Xueming's words of relying on his elders, he knew that this disgusting thing was his elder after all. If he argued with him, it would be too many words and many mistakes, so he ignored him and immediately looked at the shopkeeper of the Qiao family next to him.
Said loudly:
"I've long heard that the Qiao family is meticulous in everything they do and is based on integrity. It turns out that's how they do things. It's really eye-opening."
When Fang Linyan said this, he deliberately raised his voice, almost shouting, and this was a large-scale trade market, which immediately attracted the attention of the shopkeepers and customers next to him.
Chinese people like to join in the fun the most. There is also a saying that fellow travelers are enemies. This is obviously someone who is looking for trouble with the Qiao family. Of course, a group of people soon gathered around.
Faced with Fang Linyan's accusation, the face of the shopkeeper Qiao's family changed and he said:
"Brother Hu, please don't slander anyone, otherwise I will lose my trust."
Fang Linyan saw many people around him and immediately said:
"Our deal was negotiated seven or eight days ago. We agreed to pay a deposit in advance and pay the balance within ten days after the goods arrive, right?"
At this time, Hu Xueming roared from the side:
"Nie Zhan, you still want to be embarrassed, right?"
Fang Linyan ignored him and asked the shopkeeper of the Qiao family:
"dont you agree?"
The shopkeeper of the Qiao family said:
"That's right!"
Fang Linyan said:
"Then what do you mean by telling him the details of our transaction?"
The man Fang Linyan mentioned was obviously Hu Xueming.
The shopkeeper of the Qiao family said disdainfully:
"This is none other than the seventh uncle of your Hu family! He knows that you have a loose and dissolute personality, so he has been paying attention to you and asked me to help keep an eye on your movements. The money you use is the hard-earned money of your Hu family. I will
Is there anything wrong with telling him this?"
"Youdao is the master of heaven and earth. There is no better relationship in the world than this. Can't you let your relatives and superiors know about what you do? What you say is nothing more than the truth of a saint."
After everyone heard this, they felt that what the shopkeeper said really made sense.
But at this time, Fang Linyan laughed loudly, and then said to the big shopkeeper:
"I think the shopkeeper may have made a mistake. I didn't buy these goods! I just acted as an interpreter and go-between. The owner of these goods is Mr. Laurent from Europe!"
The big shopkeeper's face suddenly changed, and then he saw Laurent walking in from the outside. At this time, Fang Linyan said sharply:
"What else is there to say! You Shanxi Qiao family are really shameless. Under the guise of being loyal, you are selling client secrets behind your back! You have lost all your shame in front of foreigners. State-owned and national laws,
There are rules in the industry, what should we say about this today?"
The Qiao family in Shanxi has a huge business and a very famous reputation, so it will definitely attract the hatred of many people because of its big tree. Some of these people are jealous, and some are because they are blocked by the Qiao family. They are enemies in the same industry.
Now Fang Linyan was afraid that this matter would not cause a big fuss, so he started shouting. Among the onlookers, they were also watching the excitement and did not think it was a big deal, and seven or eight out of ten people were supporting him.
If we are ordinary people, the Qiao family's business is so big and the officialdom is well managed. There is a green battalion stationed outside Chongwen Gate. The guards here should come out to be evil and directly give Fang Linyan a "pick a fight."
He was arrested on the charge of "provoking trouble" and settled the matter first.
Today's defense was rewarded by his subordinates, who immediately came out aggressively. The reason for being so active was to do something for the Qiao family, and the gifts he received after that would definitely be quite large.
As a result, when I walked thirty steps away, I saw that a blond foreigner was involved. I immediately frowned, then turned around and walked away, looking as if I had seen a ghost.
When his subordinates asked him why he turned around, he immediately kicked him over and cursed:
"These days, when it comes to things involving foreigners, even the late emperor's grandfather didn't do well. He went to Chengde with oil on his feet, his concubine (Chang Concubine) was raped, and even the Old Summer Palace was burned down. For the sake of the Qiao family,
Two pieces of silver, grandpa, can I take such a risk?"
The big shopkeeper saw that more and more people were surrounding him, but the "reinforcements" from Green Camp were still not coming. He panicked and hurriedly asked the boy next to him to rush him, but where could he rush him? At the moment, he could only watch Hu Xueming complaining.
road:
"Hu Weng, this is something your family did!"
Hu Xueming was also a little dumbfounded at this time. He did not expect that this nephew would finally blame the foreigner for this matter. After much deliberation, he did not dare to get involved with this matter. He could only pull Fang Linyan and curse:
"Damn it! Where's the money given to you by the clan? If you don't take it out quickly, will it all be lost in food, drink, prostitution and gambling?"
Who is Fang Linyan? If he was suddenly attacked, he would probably hesitate for a few seconds. But now when facing this old man, he smiled and said:
"Uncle Qi, please don't talk nonsense. I lent all my money to Mr. Laurent, and I will get a 10% profit for thirty days. Can I be called a prodigal?"
The profit of 10% for thirty days, converted into an annual interest rate, even reaches a terrifying 120%. If you borrow 10,000 taels, you will have to pay back 22,000 taels. Most of the people present are businessmen. A simple calculation seems to be
A good deal.
This Hu Xueming is not a clever and clever person. Otherwise, Hu Xueyan was hidden as the richest man in the world. To put it bluntly, under such a general trend, it is not just talk for one person to achieve the goal of chickens and dogs ascending to heaven. However, Hu Xueming only became a local squire.
It can be seen that his abilities and character are really limited.