When Mr. Qiao came, Fang Linyan was able to purchase goods so accurately this time. It must be Laurent's credit. He continued:
"To be honest, after you left last night, I felt that there was something fishy in this matter. Then after communicating with my brother on the phone, Qiao's Warehouse decided to spend tens of thousands of taels of spare money (I deliberately said less) to follow the two of you to buy up.
, eating foreign goods on a large scale.”
"So by noon today, the price of foreign goods on the market has increased by 40% due to our consumption, so this time the Qiao family also got a share of the pie."
After hearing this, Fang Linyan realized that no wonder he was treated as a guest of honor after coming to Qiao's house this time. It turned out to be because of such an incident behind his back!
As for Mr. Qiao's claim that he only followed the offer of tens of thousands taels, Fang Linyan just thought he was farting. Would a wealthy businessman who could pay himself 280,000 taels of silver without even frowning come out and follow the offer with only tens of thousands taels of silver?
Under this situation, Fang Linyan felt sincere admiration in his heart.
The Qiao family's ability to seize business opportunities and make instant decisions is truly amazing. They are worthy of being ranked among the top three powerful businessmen in China at this time.
Fang Linyan made the mistake in advance, knowing that China and Japan were about to go to war, so he was very powerful to outsiders. But the Qiao family relied on some clues and decisively spent a large amount of money to follow. This is called courage.
Moreover, the connections of the Qiao family are so vast. With this money invested as a deposit, the amount of foreign goods that can be purchased is so huge that it would take several ships to describe it!
The third master of the Qiao family wrote lightly that he got a piece of the pie, but Fang Linyan felt that it was actually more than just a piece of the pie, it was probably a vast ocean...
At this time, I heard the third master of the Qiao family continue:
"What my brother means is that although the money in our cabinet is tight now, since you have spoken, you must give your full support. However, my brother is a little curious. I am afraid that these five hundred thousand taels of silver are too much to hand over to Mr. Song."
"If my brother wants to be an official, we can also talk to Eunuch Li (Lianying) here. A governor (equivalent to a high-ranking official) in the northwestern provinces is safe. Why sacrifice the near for the distant?"
When Fang Linyan heard what Mr. Qiao said, he actually understood the meaning of his words. The Qiao family had made a lot of money by purchasing foreign goods with him before, but now they felt that there should be some inside story about the five hundred thousand silver.
News, so I want to get a share of the pie.
However, in business, this is also human nature. There is no love without reason, and there is no hatred without reason. The Qiao family are not parents, so it is normal for them to seek to maximize their own interests.
After figuring out the cause and effect, Fang Linyan pondered for a while and said:
"Master Qiao, your request is actually not too much. It is only human nature to want to know the truth. However, this matter is indeed quite important. It is related to the prosperity of my country, so it is up to Mr. Song to deal with you.
Say, and Mr. Qiao, you cannot leak it out."
The third master of the Qiao family said:
"Okay! This matter came from your mouth and reached my ears, but this matter was ordered by my elder brother. I will definitely relay what you said to him."
Fang Linyan nodded and went to invite Wang Wu and Song Yuren to come in. The protagonist this time was Mr. Song.
***
Twenty minutes later,
Mr. Qiao looked at Song Yuren in shock. He never expected that the official in front of him actually had such a big chess game in mind! The key is that every step of his plan seems unbelievable, but it is reasonable.
"How could we miss such a genius before?" Mr. Qiao thought to himself.
Then he couldn't help but fall in love with Fang Linyan again:
"Does the Hu family really have the legendary art of fortune-telling? Mr. Zuo Zongtang was also spotted by Hu Xueyan's wise eyes back then. Now this seemingly dandy Hu Zhiyun can actually find such a great talent!"
Mr. Qiao pondered in his heart for a while before he said in admiration:
"It turns out that Mr. Song judged that China and Japan were already at war. I thought Mr. Laurent had obtained some confidential information."
Song Yuren said seriously:
"When I heard many years ago that the Japanese emperor was working hard to govern and even donated money from his private treasury to purchase armaments, I knew that there would be a war between China and Japan. The difference was only a matter of time."
"As a result, in the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), the Japanese invaded our vassal country of Ryukyu, annexed it, established Okinawa County, and extorted 500,000 taels of silver from me! They also coveted Taiwan."
"In May of this year, the situation in Korea deteriorated. Although newspapers published many times that Ye Zhichao, the governor of Zhili, fought bravely and severely defeated the Japanese invaders, they did not mention the number of gains and enemy kills at all. I knew that the war ahead was unfavorable, so I struggled
Think about ways to organize the day.”
"I met Mr. Hu a few days ago, and I realized that I am not the only one who is unreasonably worried. Even Mr. Hu has already realized the seriousness of the future. As the saying goes, think about defeat before thinking about victory! If the Beiyang Fleet is really defeated by the Japanese
If we are defeated, I am afraid it will be the darkest moment for our country!"
Listening to Song Yuren's analysis and words, the face of the third master of the Qiao family became more and more serious. Then he stood up and bowed deeply to Song Yuren and Fang Linyan:
"I really didn't expect that the two of them would do such a big thing to defend their homeland! Compared with my previous thoughts compared to these two, it would make people laugh out loud!!"
"Master Song is here to do big things. For the initial payment of 500,000 yuan, the Qiao family can repay an additional 300,000 yuan! We will discuss future payments with my brother, but we will never let Mr. Hu Liu be the only one who specializes in beauty."
In front!"
"After all, we brothers are a generation older than you. You, a junior, care about your family and your country. How can we old guys still be suppressed by you?"
When talking about the excitement later, the voice of the third master of the Qiao family became louder, his face turned red, and he seemed quite excited.
What else is there to say at this time? Song Yuren’s face was serious and he bowed his head deeply to the ground!
"Thank you for your trust in me. Song will not dare to sacrifice his life when he goes to the ocean. As long as he can protect China from foreign aggression, Song will do his best, even if he is broken into pieces! It is nothing more than death!
"
Fang Linyan walked towards Wang Wu at this time, and found that the body of this late Qing hero was trembling slightly, breathing heavily, and his face was red. He was obviously infected by the desolation and solemnity unique to men like this!
For Wang Wu, the code of conduct in this life is brotherly loyalty, chivalry and righteousness, a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold, and being righteous. Every time more dogs are slaughtered, Wang Wu is the standard person.
But now, after witnessing such big figures as the third master of the Qiao family and Song Yuren paying homage to each other solemnly, saying a few words, and pouring millions of silver into it without any return or request, Wang Wu only felt that something was going on in his mind.
The "buzz" sound went blank, and my whole scalp was numb.
This scene had such a great impact on him that it even subverted his outlook on life. This rough man from Hebei with little education felt at this moment the most primitive, simple, yet profound feelings of family and country!!!
At this moment, Wang Wu seemed to be enlightened, and instantly understood what the "great righteousness" that the storyteller talked about so much was, that is, for the great China, for the Chinese nation to not be invaded by foreign aggression, even though there are thousands of people, I am going alone, even though there are thousands of people, I am going alone. Nine deaths without regrets!
Fang Linyan did not feel the changes in Wang Wu. He was also a little surprised at this time. He did not expect that he could find an ally, and the ally Shanxi Qiao family came to him himself. In any case, this is a good thing.
About an hour later, the 800,000 taels of leading banknotes (the banknotes jointly issued by the four largest banks in the country at that time were the most reliable banknotes) were directly handed over to Song Yuren's hands.
Song Yuren could exchange this amount into pounds at the HSBC Bank in Shanghai and deposit it in the bank to facilitate his travel overseas in the future.
Not only that, after the third master of the Qiao family contacted his eldest brother by emergency telegram (newspaper), he decided to start all-out fundraising for Song Yuren. This time, the profit from hoarding foreign goods was earned from the news that the Japanese were going to war. The Qiao family did not want a penny. , all spent on Mr. Song.
At this time, Fang Linyan calmed down and realized that the third master of the Qiao family should still be a hot-blooded man, but the uncle of the Qiao family was quite scheming.
From ancient times to the present, all businessmen who have accumulated wealth to a certain extent have invested in it.
Just like Lu Buwei, who directly invested in the imperial family, and if he won, he would have all the power in the world. Of course, the negative example is Shen Wansan, who invested in Zhu Yuanzhang, and then was confiscated by the whole family.
The next-level businessmen are investors, generals, and ministers, and officials and businessmen are the backbone of each other. There are also many such businessmen.
The most typical one is the Hu family, which declined just a few years ago.
Twenty years ago, the several wealthy businessmen in the country were like the masters of swordsmanship in Huashan. Each of the five great masters in the world had its own strengths, and no one had an overwhelming advantage.
However, only Duke Xueyan assisted Zuo Zongtang. The two sides supported each other and their status rose rapidly. Zuo Zongtang carried the coffin and fought against the enemy. Hu Xueyan broke his family to help pay for the army and became a national hero by defeating a powerful enemy like Tsarist Russia. He can leave his name in history. It is said that he has both fame and fortune.
Not to mention the reputation of others, the other major businessmen themselves feel that they are inferior to others and can silence you with just one word!
At this time, after Uncle Qiao heard about this incident, he initially thought it was an opportunity, but to be able to reach this position, he was also one of the best in the world. After thinking about it twice, he suddenly felt a "thump" in his heart. !
Suddenly, I realized that in this matter, there was hidden the opportunity that Hu Xueyan faced back then. He was also resisting foreign aggression, and he was also a capable minister trapped in a shoal, suffering from money!
Not only that, what Tsarist Russia occupied at that time was XJ, which was tens of thousands of miles away from the capital, so people didn't feel strongly, and at most they just cursed. Japan and China were separated by a water, not to mention that there were conflicts between the two sides. The place where the war took place was only a few hundred miles away from the capital.
Therefore, if the opportunity of Zuo/Hu can be replicated, then the Qiao family will skyrocket! Even if the Qiao family is ruined by this, it can still be remembered in history. Even if this transaction only has a 10% chance of winning, It’s also worth a try.
Not only that, the two of them also knew very well that the investment in officials at this time was not considered a loss, because according to Song Yuren's thinking, as long as they could successfully land in Japan through a sneak attack, no matter whether the outcome was victory or defeat, the Qiao family would definitely make a profit. .
To be honest, they didn't have much confidence in the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, but Song Yuren's plan was to hire two thousand sailors from Australia. These soldiers belonged to foreigners, which undoubtedly gave the two of them a better chance of winning... ..
The two brothers chatted excitedly at that time, and the telegram at that time was divided into the official electricity bureau and the commercial electricity bureau. The former did not charge any money, but had to queue up and come up with the corresponding documents, so it must have gone to the commercial electricity bureau... .When checking out, the money was calculated on a per-word basis, and it actually cost a total of 1,780 taels of silver...
At that time, the salary of a small official in the yamen was eighty taels of silver a month, and the two brothers discussed the salary of two hundred officials in excitement!
Although the Qiao family didn't care about their great career, it can still be seen that they were excited at that time.
At this time, Fang Linyan suddenly felt his heartbeat, turned up the war progress bar, and immediately smiled. It turned out that he realized that at this time, China's winning rate finally seemed to have bottomed out, and it skyrocketed.
Faced with such good news, Fang Linyan couldn't help but secretly clenched his fists and shouted "YES" in a low voice!
Then he felt that there seemed to be eyes staring at him from the side, it was Wang Wu.
However, Fang Linyan clearly felt that Wang Wuzuo's own gaze had changed a lot. If it was just friendly but still a little reserved and distant before, now it carries a certain kind of recognition! It's like he is a brother who once lived and died together!
If he went to the battlefield at this time, Fang Linyan felt that Wang Wu would entrust his back to him without reservation.
At this time, Song Yuren walked up to Fang Linyan and bowed deeply to him. This was the most important etiquette at that time!
Fang Linyan also bowed in the same way. The two looked at each other deeply, neither of them spoke, but they felt the resonance of like-mindedness, but everything was unspoken.
Then Song Yuren turned around and left, and Wang Wu must have been following him. His duty was to lead the bodyguard to deliver Song Yuren, who was carrying a huge sum of money, to the official residence. Song Yuren would then mobilize guards to escort him.
But before leaving, Wang Wu patted Fang Linyan on the shoulder happily:
"Brother Hu, Mr. Song's house is only an hour away from here. You are busy here first. After I have done something good, we will go directly to Tongheju. The taste of imperial concubine chicken there is one of the best in the capital. Let's not get drunk tonight. Come back!"
Fang Linyan laughed and said:
"Okay! Fifth Brother, please do your work first!"
Next, Fang Linyan will definitely have to make some deliveries with the Qiao family, because the remaining goods in his hands will definitely not be held for a long time. Don’t forget that the previous 60,000 taels of silver were just a deposit. Strictly speaking, the balance payment must be paid It's his goods only after you pay.
It doesn't matter if the Qiao family doesn't cooperate. Anyway, the goods are in the warehouse and nominally belong to Fang Linyan, so just bring the goods directly and sell them at a price 10% lower than the market price.