Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

For a while, the situation was deadlocked.But secretly, as time went by, the battle of raw silk has become increasingly fierce.

"Have you found out where Lin Qizhao's money came from?" French Dulan sat in his foreign firm in the Shanghai Concession, looking gloomy at the thin Li Xiaoyun opposite.

In the past few years, Li Xiaoyun has been following Du Lan in the raw silk business. Although Lin Qizhao has promised Lin Qizhao that he will never do raw silk business with foreigners alone, after all, Du Lan is a big buyer of raw silk in the south of the Yangtze River, so he can't afford to offend him easily. Duran gave him great benefits in private, so he still kept in touch with Duran secretly.

"I found some connections and checked it secretly. It seems that the money was borrowed from the bank and the bank, but this information is not accurate, because the Lin family itself started from the bank, and they are very well-versed in this line of work. Outsiders can't easily get it. Definite letter." Li Xiaoyun hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Tickets and banks?" Duran said to himself, with a strange expression on his face.

Du Lan had personally experienced the raw silk war with Hu Xueyan seven years ago.It was also after that time that he and the foreign businessmen in Shanghai had identified one of the dead spots of Chinese businessmen, that is, lack of strength and poor capital turnover, and they were determined not to have the strength to fight against foreign businessmen.

"Do you have any way to make Lin Qizhao's bank's capital turnover difficult?" Dulan asked after pondering for a while.

Li Xiaoyun smiled wryly and shook his head.He is not familiar with the bank and his party, and if the bank's capital turnover is not effective, unless there is a way to create a run, it will kill people, and Shanghai is the best example.Li Xiaoyun couldn't think of such an idea, and he didn't dare to think about it.

At this moment, seeing Du Lan frowning in disappointment, Li Xiaoyun suddenly thought of something, walked up to Du Lan and said softly, "I have an idea, but it's not from the bank. I think the reason why Lin Qizhao is confident is that It's nothing more than the imperial court's strategy of abolishing mulberry and promoting agriculture, which has caused the price of raw silk to soar. If there is no such thing, I'm afraid he won't be able to persist for long."

Du Lan had already thought of this meaning a long time ago, but at this moment when Li Xiaoyun suddenly mentioned it again, he raised his head unconsciously and looked at Li Xiaoyun with some puzzlement.

"The court will still listen to your foreigners' suggestions..." Li Xiaoyun said with a smile on his face.

Chinese court?Du Lan carefully pondered this sentence, and then saw Wang Zhaolin's strange smile, and suddenly understood.He frowned, smiled and clapped his hands and said, "I understand what you mean. I will contact the British and Americans later, and use our ministers to put pressure on the Chinese government to force your government to withdraw the policy of abolishing mulberry and promoting agriculture. In the Chinese language, this is called "drawing salary from the bottom of the pot", without this, the price of raw silk will inevitably fall, and if it continues to be consumed, this Lin Qizhao will be Hu Xueyan back then!"

When the Raw Silk War intensified, Guan Xuqing in the provincial yamen remained indifferent all day long. Every day he either summoned officials from all over the southern province to understand the local political situation, or tested the experience of these important officials as officials. Take a tour of the painted boats in the south of the Yangtze River and take a look at the scenery of the fish town.On the surface, she seemed very busy, but she never asked a question about Raw Silk.People began to speculate that the emperor had just recovered from a serious injury, so he came to Nan Province to relax?

But Guan Xuqing had another plan in his heart. Jiangnan's network had been fully deployed, and all he could do was to solve some troubles for Lin Qizhao.Which step he can really achieve depends on Lin Qizhao's ability and courage.

When he was free, Guan Xuqing changed his previous behavior of alienating those Qingliu, and had summoned some Confucian scholars from the south of the Yangtze River to the palace twice in a row, not talking about government affairs, but only about learning.In the words, it seems that the Wen Ting style, which was sent home a few months ago, also has the meaning of reactivating it.

Since the imperial court implemented the New Deal, these people have seldom received holy family members. They have always been unable to turn this corner in their hearts, and they have always been quite critical of the New Deal.Now that the emperor has brought the big guys closer again, apart from being flattered in their hearts, these people are even more careful to observe the holy will.

Guan Xuqing seemed to have a normal expression, and his words were gentle. He devoted himself to studying knowledge with everyone, and asked about the differences and similarities between Chinese and Western knowledge.When talking about the politics, military affairs and culture of Western countries, Guan Xuqing suddenly changed the subject and talked about the recent protests by the ministers of various countries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, accusing the imperial court of abolishing the strategy of abolishing mulberry and promoting agriculture, and destroying the normal economy of Western countries and China. Regarding the relationship, there was a lot of resentment and dissatisfaction with the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty who did not stand up and speak out.

In fact, before the tour, Guan Xuqing asked the courtiers to discuss the matter of abolishing mulberry and promoting agriculture. Most of the courtiers did not take it seriously. Everyone couldn't figure out what the emperor was thinking, so this note was written in a vague way, unlike the fierce rhetoric when the Imperial Savings Bank was established and issued banknotes.But now that the foreigner is involved, the situation is quite different.

Regardless of whether the reform of Sang Xingnong is good or bad, it can be said that it is a matter of ten thousand. After all, this is the court's own business, and it is not the turn of foreigners to point fingers and make irresponsible remarks.These Qingliu scholar-bureaucrats are also very angry at the tyrannical and unreasonable foreigners. They have never been far behind in discussing the government and criticizing current affairs. Now they have the same attitude when they see the emperor, and they are even more excited.

All of a sudden, not only in Beijing and Jiangning, but also in the whole country, there was a lot of public opinion.The Qingliu and others jointly submitted a letter to the imperial court, requesting that the imperial court must not compromise or give in, so as to boost the aspirations of the foreigners and lose the majesty of the heavenly kingdom.

Even the children of the Bannermen went to the common people in the market to talk about it, and the caliber was surprisingly consistent.Since the beginning of the Opium War, the imperial court has made concessions everywhere, ceding land and paying compensation. This foreigner wants the former Qing Dynasty to open the treaty ports, and wants money from the former Qing Dynasty.But now that the Chinese Empire is becoming more and more prosperous, and the army has gone to the hinterland of Europe, it is too unreasonable for foreigners to have a foot in the internal affairs of the empire.Both the ruling and opposition parties condemned, declaring that the imperial court must never back down.

However, several cabinet ministers in the imperial court discussed it for several days, but there was no clear charter.Sheng Xuanhuai, minister of the Ministry of Commerce, thought about it, and it was not an option to continue like this, so he took the risk of being scolded, and called the emperor to see what the emperor meant.Guan Xuqing didn't say too much, but said that the court must not back down on this matter, otherwise, what would the court's face be.But the emotions of foreigners must also be appeased, and the matter should not be made a big deal.

After some calculations, he asked Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang to talk to the ministers of various countries in private, saying that the imperial court would seriously consider the opinions of the ministers of various countries, but now the public opinion in the court and the opposition is raging, if the ministers of various countries exert pressure, this can be done or not In the end, it became something that had to be done.Going deeper, if this arouses public anger and something happens in China-foreign negotiations, it will not be easy to deal with the aftermath.

At this point in the matter, the ministers of various countries have no good solution. They did not care about this matter. Fundamentally speaking, it is not a foreign affairs between countries or a power struggle. If China really promotes abolition As a farmer, the annual income of nearly [-] million yuan from raw silk is in vain, and it is the Chinese themselves who suffer.

More importantly, it was mainly the ministers of Britain, France and the United States who came forward this time. The trade between Germany and China is mainly industrial products, and there are very few transactions on raw silk, so they did not come forward at all.Seeing that things are getting worse now, the German envoy put on a stance of mediating in the middle, but secretly fanned the flames on both sides, hoping that the things would get bigger and better.

The attitude of the Germans made Britain, France and the United States, especially the British, sharply alert. China and Germany are already very close, not to mention that Germany is the leader of the Allies and the opponent with the greatest interests in the Far East.Originally, in the World War, China finally stood on the side of the Germans. If China was angered again because of the raw silk trade, and a special trade agreement was reached with the Germans in private, it would be of great significance to Britain’s foreign affairs in the Far East. It was a very embarrassing and complete failure.

Therefore, after consultations with the ministers of the three countries, they decided to take a step back for the time being and wait and see the changes in the situation.

The anger in the capital, and the attitude of the ministers from various countries spread to Shanghai Shiliyichang. This time, the foreign businessmen were really anxious.The silk merchants in Jiangnan cannot afford to lose this raw silk war, and neither can foreign merchants.

The production of raw silk in France and Italy is not optimistic this year, and the futures price of raw silk in the world is constantly rising.The major silk reeling factories are also in a hurry. There is not much raw silk collected in summer, and they will really close their doors and stop production if they can't get enough air.However, those Jiangnan silk merchants headed by Lin Qizhao refused to let go of the price of raw silk.

Soaring Brilliance: The First World War Chapter 3 Jiangnan Gambling

In the famous Yuxianglou Restaurant in Nanxun, Lin Qizhao had just hosted a banquet for raw silk merchants in the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Jia area. The purchase and sale of raw silk had basically been negotiated, and the next step was to choose a date to sign the contract.Lin Qizhao didn't drink much, but today he was in a good mood and wanted to show his hospitality to the guests. When he left the Yuxiang Tower, the gentle night wind from the south of the Yangtze River blew, and he was already a little smoked.Once this deal is completed, they will be able to hold more than 7% of the raw silk in the south of the Yangtze River and negotiate terms with foreign businessmen confidently.He felt that this was the most beautiful and satisfying thing he had done since he started business.I was happy for a while, and couldn't help singing "Lost Street Pavilion", babbling, which attracted passers-by to stop and watch, and some good-natured people still shouted hello on the side of the road.

At this time, two young men suddenly came from the opposite side, they clasped their fists at Lin Qizhao and said with a smile, "May I ask if you are Mr. Lin Qizhao?"

Lin Qizhao stared at them with a pair of drunken eyes, only to find that the faces of these two people were very strange, so he nodded: "My surname is Lin, I want to ask you who are..."

Before he finished speaking, he felt that something had poked the back of his head hard, and then his eyes went dark, and he didn't know anything.

I don't know how long it took before Lin Qizhao woke up. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He rubbed his head and looked around. It turned out that this is a hall. prestige.He rubbed his eyes, the more he looked at it, the more familiar it became, and suddenly he let out a cry of surprise and fell to his knees: "Your Majesty, is it... is it you?"

Guan Xuqing nodded with a chuckle and said, "These days, you've made a lot of noise in Jiangnan, I'll come and take a look."

Lin Qizhao straightened his clothes, and respectfully bowed down to the emperor three times and nine times.Guan Xuqing waved his hand: "Forget it, there is no one else here, so you don't have to worry about these details. You have been wronged. Now is the critical period of the Raw Silk War, and I don't want to reveal this secret between us, so I ordered people That's how it brought you."

Lin Qizhao rubbed the back of his head and said with a smile: "The emperor is still thoughtful, it should be like this, it should be like this..."

"Okay, now how the plan is going, I want to hear from you in person."

"Yes." Lin Qizhao took a few steps forward, lowered his voice a lot, and gave the emperor a detailed introduction of all the things he had done since he made the move.Guan Xuqing listened quietly, kept nodding, and looked at the young man in front of him with approval.

After Lin Qizhao finished the introduction, Guan Xu smiled lightly: "Okay! It seems that you are born to be a genius in business warfare, and I really didn't misunderstand you at the beginning."

Lin Qizhao smiled embarrassedly: "It's all thanks to the great blessing of the emperor that this matter can go so smoothly."

"It seems that everything is ready at present, only the east wind is owed."

"The emperor means..."

"I want you to visit someone."

"Please make it clear to the emperor."

"Tang Jiechen!"

In the past, Jardine Matheson was a big purchaser of raw silk, but this year it has achieved very little.Tang Jiechen, who was the comprador of Jardine Matheson, was three-pointed and seven-pointed confused about the raw silk war.He never expected that his good friend Lin Qizhao would suddenly make such a move, and he couldn't have expected it with such a big move.

On one side is my employer, Jardine Matheson. From Tang Jiechen's uncle Tang Tingshu to his father Tang Tingzhi, and then to Tang Jiechen himself, he has successively served as the comprador of Jardine Matheson. Regardless of other things, he has had a friendship with Jardine Matheson over the years. inside.On the other hand, because of the vital interests of the Jiangnan silk merchants headed by his good friend Lin Qizhao, Tang Jiechen couldn't bear to make another tragedy like Hu Xueyan's ruined family.

Just when he was caught in a dilemma, Lin Qizhao suddenly came to visit, hoping to coordinate and mediate in his capacity as Tang Jiechen. After all, no one wants to see a situation where both sides suffer.

Tang Jiechen also had this intention a long time ago, but he just wanted to mediate, and he still had to come up with something. With Lin Qizhao's current proposal of doubling the price of raw silk, foreigners would definitely not be able to pass it.

"Brother Jiechen, don't forget that when you were in Jinmen that day, you lost a bet with me. The bank was not opened. You promised to do one thing for me. Today I came to collect the money." Lin Qizhao It was a smile, without Tang Jiechen's nervousness and uneasiness.

"Could it be possible that you would have thought of the situation today?" Tang Jiechen stared at Lin Qizhao for a long time, then shook his head and said, "Let's not mention this matter for now, just talk about it now, Zihua, what are you thinking in your heart?" Yes, you have to tell me which step you want to achieve, besides, your funds are really so abundant, aren't you afraid to carry it to the death with foreigners?"

Lin Qizhao suddenly showed an elusive smile, bowed his hands in a solemn expression and said, "I came here today to confess to brother Jiechen. I don't have any money. If I really carry on, my wealth and life will be turned into the Yangtze River." The water is flowing eastward."

Tang Jiechen was shocked, with a perplexed expression on his face.Seeing this, Lin Qizhao explained the ins and outs of the matter to Tang Jiechen in detail.

It turned out that Lin Qizhao actually took a huge risk in purchasing raw silk this time.On the surface, he looked relaxed, but deep down he was so nervous that he didn't even get a good night's sleep. He had to talk and laugh among the silk merchants and foreigners in the south of the Yangtze River, and he didn't dare to let others see what he was doing.

This time, the total amount of funds that Lin Qizhao mobilized did not exceed 1000 million, of which the Far East Co., Ltd. borrowed 300 million, the emperor took 500 million, plus the Lin family's own funds, it was only 1000 million.And Lin Qizhao actually played karate once with the 1000 million taels of silver.

He first used the 1000 million yuan to buy all the raw silk of the Zhang family in Nanxun, because he only paid 3000% of the purchase price in advance, so regardless of the factor of the continuous increase in the price of raw silk, the actual market value of the raw silk in his hand is about 3000 million yuan. .He then used the raw silk inventory, that is, the bill of lading, as collateral to obtain a loan of [-] million from HSBC and other foreign banks, with a loan period of four months.

In order to prevent foreigners from knowing the details of it, they made a fuss about their own funds, held down the price and did not let go, just waiting for the loan to expire to lower the price by themselves.These loans are turned into several shares, and loans are made to foreigners' banks through joint venture banks in Jiangnan and Shanxi respectively.

In fact, it is a one-way joint venture bank mortgage loan, and then the joint venture bank borrows funds from foreign banks.The Lin family has deep connections in the Qianzhuang industry, and it is not very difficult to do these things.Just because raw silk cannot be stored for a long time, the term of the loan is at most four months.