Chapter 298 Boss Yang of Subei, Mr. Zhao of Guangdong (please order, please vote)
Shanghai Beach, Tongshun Building.
The afternoon sun shines into the living room of Tongshun Building, shining warmly on people's bodies. Prince Gong Yi? is sitting on the soft sofa, holding a copy of the "Shanghai Times" that still smells of ink in his hand. Looking over and over.
The Shanghai Times is nominally a newspaper funded by the Shanghai Governor's Office, but in fact it is controlled by the lecturers group of the God Worshipers Association behind the scenes. The reporting was very accurate, and it also provided timely updates on the policies of the Taiping Rebellion’s Prince Wu. Therefore, it became the best-selling newspaper in Shanghai soon after it was founded.
After leaving Yangzhou, it was difficult for Prince Gong to know the situation on the southeastern battlefield. He asked Wu Jianzhang two days ago, and the latter recommended him the Shanghai Times. Prince Gong asked Jin Aduo to buy it, and sure enough, There is a dedicated section above reporting the latest changes on the front lines.
At this moment, Prince Gong was spreading a map on the coffee table in front of him, and while reading the newspaper, he was writing and drawing on the map with a brush.
The changes in the battle lines on the map are of course very detrimental to the Qing Dynasty!
Needless to say, Southern Jiangsu suffered a huge defeat!
As soon as the capital city of Suzhou was lost, the main force of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Wu King Luo Yaoguo's army was liberated. He immediately divided his troops into two groups, marched north to capture the capital city of Changzhou, and went south to attack Jiaxing Prefecture in Zhejiang Province.
At the same time, the Changmao Puppet Court of Jiangning Prefecture also sent reinforcements to Zhenjiang. The leader was Changmao's Dingtianhou Qin Rigang. The Qing army in Zhenjiang was defeated in one fell swoop. It is estimated that Zhenjiang Prefecture will soon be defeated by Changmao. Capture.
Zuo Zongtang's tribe who crossed the river and entered southern Jiangsu was forced to go south along the west bank of Taihu Lake. After joining up with the remnants of Yiliang and Qiao Songnian, they were expected to withdraw to Zhejiang. It is not known how much Zhejiang they could save for the Qing Dynasty. territory?
The situation in northern Jiangsu is not much better. Zeng Guofan, Huang Shijie and Wei Yuan have abandoned Gaoyou Prefecture, did not set up defenses in Baoying County, and quickly retreated to Huai'an - now northern Jiangsu will also be Huai'an, Xuzhou, and Haizhou can still Just keep it safe. Yangzhou Mansion, Tongzhou, and Haimen Hall will definitely be lost!
Moreover, Prince Gong estimated that Huai'an would probably not be able to defend it for long, and the Xuzhou area north of the Huaihe River had dozens of large-scale conquests in the past, which determined the rise and fall of many dynasties. One rises and falls, the other falls. It is the so-called "quest to conquer the Central Plains". !
It is estimated that the war that will determine the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will also start in Xuzhou. As for the time, it may be in the next year or so!
When I think of the current power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, cold sweat breaks out on Prince Gong's forehead!
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty"
Guiliang's old face suddenly came over and shouted twice. Only then did Prince Gong realize that he was holding a brush, holding a newspaper, and staring at a map. He didn't know how long he had been distracted. Guiliang, Jin Aduo, Hong Daquan They were all standing bowed in the living room, as if waiting for his order?
Oh, by the way, Yi? I remembered, he is going to the newly opened HSBC Bank on the beach in Shanghai to deposit money today.
When he ran out of Yangzhou this time, he conveniently took away all the money deposited in the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy's Yamen, bringing a total of hundreds of thousands of taels to Shanghai. Such a large sum of money is now placed in Tongshun Building
I am remembered every day, and I have already lost a lot of them!
Prince Gong couldn't find the thieves around him, so he asked Wu Jianzhang, who recommended him to deposit his money in HSBC Bank, which has foreign shares - this is a foreign bank that "converts exports to domestic sales"!
According to the publicity in Shanghai, HSBC is a joint venture of big businessmen from Britain, the United States, France, and China. Ministers and consuls from Britain, the United States, and France have invested in it, including Jardine, Qichang, Baoshun, and Remy.
When all the foreign banks took shares, it was a credit-worthy bank with a backend as hard as steel.
Moreover, this bank also implements a strict "customer confidentiality system". Prince Gong can open an account under a pseudonym. As long as he keeps the withdrawal receipt and remembers the withdrawal password, he can withdraw it at any time in the future. There is no need to worry about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom tracking him down.
Don’t worry about the court either!
Wu Jianzhang also told Prince Gong that HSBC would open branches in all treaty ports in the future. The money Prince Gong saved in Shanghai could also be used in Tianjin in the future.
So Yi? and Guiliang decided to deposit the money they brought with them into HSBC Bank.
In addition, Wu Jianzhang also told Yi? that buying land and building a house in Shanghai is a good business with a sure profit and no loss. He also recommended a piece of land to Yi? located in the Xujiahui area. It is a bit desolate now, but it will definitely rise in value in a few years. Wu Jianzhang also told Yi?
Jianzhang suggested that Prince Gong spend more than ten thousand taels of silver to buy them all, and then invest tens of thousands more taels to build houses along several roads!
Well, there are houses on a few roads in Xujiahui, Shanghai!
Yi? From now on, if you don’t want to be Prince Gong, you might be able to become the charter king of Shanghai!
So he planned to go to HSBC Bank to deposit money first, and then go to look at the land with Wu Jianzhang
"Okay! Let's go out!"
Yi? Put down the newspaper and brush, stood up and followed Guiliang, Jin Aduo and Hong Daquan downstairs and out of the courtyard of Tongshun Building. As soon as he went out, Prince Gong found that he could not leave for the time being because of Tongshun Building.
On the main road outside, dozens of carriages were parked at this time, blocking the exit of Tongshun Building Courtyard!
These carriages were also fully loaded. Yi? became curious and took a few guards along with Guiliang and Jin Aduo to go out to watch.
When Jin Aduo saw it, he immediately realized something was wrong.
"Prince"
He leaned close to Prince Gong's ear, pointed to the heavy box on one of the carriages, and said, "That's the box containing official silver."
A box containing official silver?
Is he a corrupt official who escaped to Shanghai?
Prince Gong is a little annoyed. The Qing Dynasty is like this because of corrupt officials like you!
Thinking of this, he strode to a carriage and took a closer look. Sure enough, the carriage was filled with more than a dozen large boxes, many of which had seals on them!
Prince Gong looked carefully and saw the words "Hubei Fanku"!
This person was moved from the Hubei Chief Envoy Si Yamen. It turned out to be a corrupt official who escaped from Hubei! I don’t know if he is Chang Dachun?
Prince Gong secretly thought: "Xiancheng surnamed Chang surrendered to Changmao. I heard that he also became a high-ranking official of Changmao. The money in the Hubei vassal treasury was probably hacked by him!"
Thinking of this, he stared at the cart of money with something wrong in his eyes, as if he wanted to rush over and snatch it back. As a result, a strong man guarding the cart stared in front of him and said, "Hey, who are you?" What do you want to do by staring at your money?"
This person has a Hunan accent.
Prince Gong knew that there were many Hunanese in the Taiping Army, so his eyes immediately narrowed, and the look he looked at that man became even more unkind.
The man didn't hesitate and pulled out the sword with a clang.
When Prince Gong's guards saw that he was about to take action, they immediately rushed to protect their prince, and they all showed their weapons.
Seeing that both sides were about to take action, suddenly a Cantonese accent came: "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Master Yang, we met a group of people with evil intentions. They are suspected of being thieves!"
The Hunanese who just scolded Prince Gong immediately responded.
"Hey, when have I, Mr. Yang, ever been afraid of thieves?"
Prince Gong followed the voice and found that "Mr. Yang" was a short man with a pale complexion. One of his eyes seemed to be sick, very cloudy, and his beard was sparse. However, he was very imposing in his movements. Who knew where this big shot came from?
"I am Yang Silong, a salt merchant from Yangzhou! I wonder what I call this little brother?"
A Yangzhou salt merchant with a Cantonese accent?
Prince Gong thought to himself: "I have seen all the big salt merchants in Yangzhou, but you seem to be missing!"
"I'm Zhao Liu from Guangdong!"
Prince Gong clasped his fists and said a few words from a Beijing movie, but claimed to be from Cantonese.
When Yang Xiuqing heard that the other party said that she was from Cantonese, she was a little stunned, but she didn't go into details and asked with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, do you live here?"
Prince Gong nodded and said with a smile: "My younger brother lives in Wu Family Garden. My younger brother and Wu Daotai are family friends. This time I came from Guangdong to do business, so I stayed at his house."
"Oh," Yang Xiuqing said with a smile, "Then we are going to be neighbors. I live next door to you in the Huang Family Garden. The owner of the garden and I are relatives, and this time I came to Shanghai to do business with foreigners. We must get closer in the future. !」
"Easy to say, easy to say."
Prince Gong smiled and nodded. He had already seen Huang Xiqing at this time. Huang Xiqing had a surprised look on his face, as if he had been hit by a body-fixing spell.
At this time, the gate of the Huang Family Garden has been opened. Yang Xiuqing's motorcade can go into the garden and will not block the gate of the Wu Family Garden.
Seeing the motorcade moving, Yang Xiuqing cupped her hands towards Prince Gong and said with a smile: "Brother, we have some things to do, let's just say goodbye!"
"See you later, see you later." Prince Gong also returned the greeting, and then saw Yang Xiuqing entering the gate of the Huang Family Garden with the convoy.
Chapter completed!