I can't die

Li Hongzhang knew that Pan Ren's visit this time would not be so easy to dismiss.Neither water transportation nor ticket salt is a trivial matter.Since the early days of the Qing Dynasty, more than half of the salt used was transported from the Jiangnan area, but since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied the southeast, it was inevitable that the Jiangnan salt goods fell into the hands of the Taiping Army.To be honest, although the Taiping army was arrogant, they did not take down these salt merchants like the GONG-production-party in the future. They just demanded that they all be kept safe with military pay, which squeezed a lot of these salt merchants.

Although these salt merchants were very helpless and unwilling after being hemorrhaged, it is also true that they collaborated with the enemy and funded the rebels.It has been half a year since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was pacified. Although most salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are still doing salt business, the salt coupons in their hands have expired for 30 to [-] years. Now almost all the salt circulating in the south of the Yangtze River can be regarded as "private salt". No one can stand the investigation, and once the inspection is done, it is accurate.

Li Hongzhang's heart tightened when he heard Pan Ren talk about the concerns of the salt merchants one by one.Not to mention, it's really a big deal. He's been busy with foreign envoys and Xi Ni recently, and he doesn't pay much attention to the internal situation in the country. Fortunately, Pan Ren has brought it up now. The governor of the south of the Yangtze River must bear the brunt of it.

"I can't make decisions on this matter without authorization. I will definitely report it to the imperial court. Brother Pan, please tell the merchants to wait for a while."

Li Hongzhang seemed to be easy to talk to, and he meant to help these salt merchants temporarily. After hearing Li Hongzhang's words, Pan Ren knew that he would go and explain to the salt merchants who had collected the money, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Salt is an important weapon of the country, and water transportation is related to the north-south transportation of the country. These two matters are not trivial. After Li Hongzhang invited his staff to discuss, he brought the matter to the court.Zai Chun was even more clueless about this kind of thing. Developing the military and maintaining people's livelihood are the foundation of the country.At the moment, Zeng Guofan was invited to discuss.

Zeng Guofan knew Li Hongzhang's difficulties. Water transport and salt tickets were the duties of the Governor of Water Transport and the Salt Envoy of Huaihe River and Huaihe River. However, these two official positions are now vacant. In the Jiangnan area, Li Hongzhang has the largest official position. If something happens, he will be the first He was questioned, but if he really sent people to fill these two official positions, it would not be good.These two official positions are from the second grade. After going to the south of the Yangtze River, they will definitely sit on an equal footing with Li Hongzhang, which will inevitably hinder Li Hongzhang's actions.

Zai Chun trusted Zeng Guofan, and he also trusted Li Hongzhang. After hearing Zeng Guofan's thinking, Zai Chun also felt that it would be better not to send people to block Li Hongzhang for the time being. The empress dowagers of the two palaces also had a good time. To Zai Chun's surprise, his mother Cixi seemed to have a good impression of Li Hongzhang, even though he was Zeng Guofan's disciple.

It took a long time for Zaichun to find out that Li Hongzhang had sent countless treasures to the two empress dowagers when he had just put down the Taiping Army, and even An Dehai and He Rong were not left behind. The old mother smiled happily, Li Hongzhang really has two skills when it comes to the way of being an official.

After Li Hongzhang got Zai Chun's will, he had the confidence in his heart. After thanking him in the direction of the capital, he began to gear up and plan to do something big.Li Hongzhang is who in history can make such a hard-hearted person like Cixi shed tears.

Immediately he called Pan Ren, and the two locked themselves in the study for some discussion, until the Moon Rabbit ascended to the east, and Pan Ren left the Li residence.As soon as Pan Ren walked out of Li's mansion, he felt his feet go limp, and after propping up against the wall for a long time, he finally stood up straight, and then he couldn't help sighing in his heart: It's strange, these officials are really more gangsters than them The heart is still strong, and it is true that the ancestors said that the people should not fight against officials, which is really a wise saying.

When Pan Ren returned to the Green Gang's residence, he summoned several of his senior disciples.Here I have to talk about some of the rules for joining the Youth Gang.Unlike the Hongmen who call each other brothers, the Qing Gang organizes apprentices to join the gang, and the members of the congregation are called masters and apprentices, advocating "teachers and apprentices are like father and son".The Green Gang has a tighter organization than the Hongmen, and its rules are more complicated, so it is also more secretive.Because of the composition of personnel and the way of membership, the development is limited, and the scale cannot be compared with Hongmen.Therefore, there is a saying: "One line of the Green Gang, a large area of ​​Hongmen".

However, it is precisely because of this way of master-apprentice membership that the Green Gang far surpasses the Hongmen in terms of cohesion and personal ability.Anyone who wants to enter the family must first pass a series of examinations. Generally speaking, to enter the family, students must first ask for a letter, and write in detail their family background, occupation and name in the letter, and then the three gangs Nine generations set up the Jimingxiangtang. After the baptism of the Xiangtang ceremony, it is still not a real insider of the Qing gang. At this time, it is called one foot inside the door and one foot outside the door. Assessment, this stage is called the three-year apprentice visit. After three years, the students must visit the master for three years to let the master assess whether they are really determined to enter the family. This stage is called the three-year apprentice visit teacher. After six years of testing After confirming the determination and character of the students, the master will start to teach them the basic etiquette, or entrust it to Shishian (organization taught by the Green Gang) to teach. After one year of study, after passing, the master will choose an auspicious date and report The household department (the personnel management department of the Qinggang), the household department began to prepare for the opening of the incense hall and notified the six departments of Si'an (the various departments of the Qinggang) and the three gangs and nine generations of students, so that the students were promoted to Xiaoxiang.At this time, Fang became an official descendant of the Pan family (the ancestor of the Qing Gang was named Pan, and those who joined the Qing Gang must be given the surname Pan).Xiaoxiang students can learn how to deal with others and how to deal with advances and retreats, as well as the basic courses taught in each nunnery.

After three years of assessment in the Xiaoxiang stage, the master will consider whether the student's learning direction is correct, whether he is loyal to the family, and whether it is appropriate to respond to advances and retreats. If everything meets the conditions, he will then report to the household department to open the Daxiangtang.When the master thinks that the disciple of Daxiang has enough ability to lead the group, he will follow the same procedure to open the Dharma Fragrance Hall and give the disciple three locks, three keys and six-character mantra. From then on, the disciple can be alone , Carrying on the incense of the patriarch, accepting apprentices to lead the gang, no matter what the class is, when you see the master of Kaifa, even the younger generation, you will no longer call him a younger brother or a disciple according to your seniority, but just call him "a certain master".This is the respect for those in the gang who can accept apprentices and lead the gang on their own, and continue the incense.

There are three direct disciples under Pan Ren's seat, Pan Qingli, Pan Qingqing, and Pan Qingze.The three of them are all in their 30s now, and each is a master on his own.

When Pan Ren saw the three personal disciples, he told the three disciples the news he got from Li Hongzhang's place. The three disciples listened quietly to Master's church, their hearts trembled, and then they glanced at each other and said at the same time: " The disciple knows that this matter is related to the survival of our Green Gang, and the disciple must do his best."