"Then what do you have to complain about? Didn't Governor Ruan do something wrong? The students cheated in the examination. The country has its own laws. If they want to be expelled from their honors, I think they deserve it!" Unexpectedly, Wu Bingjian was completely on the side this time.

Take Ruan Yuan's side.

"Dad, you have been dismissed by Governor Ruan, how can you still speak to him?" Wu Chongyao looked at his father's seemingly retreating and compromising attitude, and could not understand the deeper meaning for a moment.

"Son, from now on, my position as the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank will probably be yours. You should understand the affairs of the Thirteenth Bank, right?" Wu Bingjian also patiently taught his son: "You have to know that although the imperial court said

It is true that merchants and people from the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong can trade in the East and Southeast Asia, but all the bulk commodities recognized by the imperial court, such as tea and silk, can only be made by our Thirteenth Industry. It is precisely because our Thirteenth Industry has the authority to do so.

Thanks to the blessing, we can rely on trade with Westerners to make huge profits without even leaving the sea. Dad said this, do you still think that our Thirteenth Industry has earned this golden mountain purely by ourselves? What if?

All merchants in the world can trade with foreigners and sell tea and silk, so what does that have to do with you? Why does dad take the initiative to donate money every time he hears that the court has donations, regardless of war or river construction? You should understand, right? The court

I’ve given you so many ways to make money, but if you don’t provide money when the court needs it, why should the court continue to support you as the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank? So listen to me, don’t think about things outside the court’s laws.

There is no need to think about making money anymore, especially now that the governor before us is called Ruan Yuan! Dad has been dealing with him for five years and knows very well that if you dare to rely on the rich wealth of Yihe Bank in front of him, how dare you do illegal things?

He won't be merciful to you! This time, dad just lost his position and can continue to be the general manager. This is his last forgiveness. Ruan Yuan is quite lenient and can give it to you once.

Chance, but he will never give you a second chance!"

"This... the child knows." Wu Chongyao looked at his father's serious expression and naturally knew that he was not lying.

"Also, as for Perkins... you go tell him that I... can't invest in him for the time being. If he insists on ignoring the court's laws, then my cooperation with him will be cancelled." Wu Bingjian added.

"Dad, even if we can't offend Governor Ruan, you don't have to be so decisive, right? When people outside see this, don't they still say that dad is weak and incompetent?" Wu Chongyao saw that his father even wanted Gu Sheng's business.

I was afraid to accept the break.

"You have to understand that in this business, some money can be made, some money can't be made, and some money... we have to look at the current situation clearly to know whether we can make money." Wu Bingjian naturally knew that, and simply talked about moral matters with his son, and his son

Most of them didn't want to believe it, so they had to continue to explain: "I have worked with Ruan Yuan for five years, and I can understand some things. If you do business and make profits within the laws of the court, not only will he not interfere with you

, on the contrary, he will help you find a way. This man is also honest. Even if he asks us to donate money from river workers, he will send it to the Central Plains without leaving a penny in his family's private pocket. But he is very smart. Once you violate the law, he will soon be able to

You can see the clues, and he is actually a man who knows how to use troops, attack the heart, use time, and has many ways to target you. Don’t tell others, do you think I don’t know what Ye Hengshu thinks? He just thinks that I obey Ruan Yuan

, it’s because I’m a coward, but what about him now? Wasn’t he thrown into Xinjiang to eat sand, and could only keep company with wild camels every day? With such a result, do you want your father to do it again? On the foreign business side, even if not

After leaving Gu Sheng, dad will contact a few decent British businessmen, and there will be no worries about ways to make money, but Ruan Yuan...as long as he is still the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, you should stop having any evil thoughts."

"Dad, I understand." Wu Chongyao saw that his father was shrewd, but at this time he did not want to be an enemy of Ruan Yuan anymore. He thought that his talents were not as good as his father's, so he had to follow Wu Bingjian's advice. But even so,

After all, Wu Chongyao was young and energetic, but he was still a little dissatisfied. He couldn't help asking: "But dad, does Governor Ruan... have no weaknesses?"

"Yes, Governor Ruan's weakness may be... but I really want to see if he has done anything wrong or been in trouble?" Wu Bingjian recalled his interactions with Ruan Yuan and could not help but sigh.

Two years after Daoguang, the cooperative relationship between Wu Bingjian and Gu Sheng was terminated. But even so, the problem of opium smuggling could not be solved. Due to Ruan Yuan's strict ban on opium, the price of opium skyrocketed on the black market. And many British people were unscrupulous in order to make profits.

Instead, businessmen saw opportunities in the turmoil of the black market...

September 18th, the second year of Daoguang's reign, was originally a peaceful day for most people in Guangzhou. It was still like this until the evening of that day. If there was anything different from usual, it might be that the northwest wind was slightly stronger.

It was a bit bigger. Seeing that it was getting dark, many shops outside Taipingmen also closed their shops and prepared to take a rest. Among them was Lin Kee Shaobing Shop. However, some of the waiters at Lin Kee Shop seemed a little tired that day.

There were no more visitors, so he hurriedly put out the stove without taking a second look to see if there was still a flame in the stove.

But half an hour later, a ball of flames came out of the stove and beat mercilessly against the side wall of the stove. This stove was also many years old. It originally had a few cracks, but it gradually softened amidst the crackling sound of the flames.

, getting bigger and bigger. After another half an hour, the whole of Guangzhou was already enveloped in darkness, but several passers-by around Lin's Cake Shop only heard a "bang" sound, the stove had broken into pieces, and the entire bakery suddenly fell into darkness.

A sea of ​​fire!

"It's on fire, it's on fire!" Several passers-by shouted, looking for water from their neighbors, but within a moment, sparks from Lin's Cake Shop splashed into several houses in the southeast. People in the houses

Apparently he was already preparing to go to bed when the first watch was about to end, and ignored the sparks. As a result, only a quarter of an hour later, the eighth floor where Lin's Cake Shop was located was completely surrounded by flames!

"It's on fire quickly, everyone put out the fire quickly!"

Passers-by on the street were shouting, but at this moment, another gust of northwest wind blew over. The dozen pedestrians who came to put out the fire from the south of Shibafu were unaware that a strong wind carrying sparks blew past.

Flames were already rising on everyone's clothes, and soon, more and more sparks were blown to each person by the wind. Dozens of people were surrounded by flames one after another, lying on the ground and crying.

However, the increasingly fierce wind ignored these and only sent the sparks southward. At the second watch, from the eighth to the upper Jiufu, Yangrenxin Street, Lantern Lane, Baimi Street, every house was destroyed.

The fire was ignited, and the entire Taiping Street was covered in red flames. Even so, the strong wind and fire had no intention of stopping, sweeping countless sparks along the way, heading straight for the Thirteenth Line at the east end of Baimi Street!

"Quickly, go to the Taiping Gate and ask the patrol green battalion to open the door! Go and ask Commander Ruan to dispatch the green battalion to come and put out the fire!" Seeing that the Thirteenth Business Hall had been affected by the flames, many merchants also woke up from the haze, and many merchants also

Being smart, I immediately thought of Ruan Yuan. Soon, the Taiping Gate was opened by officers and soldiers in the night, and a dozen Green Camp soldiers took their fast horses and went straight to the Governor's Court!

At the third watch, Ruan Yuan finally received news of the fire in the west of the city.

"What, the thirteenth row is on fire? And, from the eighth to the thirteenth row, they are all on fire now?" Ruan Yuan was immediately surprised when he heard the soldiers from the green camp reporting the fire, thinking that if what the soldiers said was true,

Thinking that there was no time to delay the fire in the west city, he immediately said to a few soldiers: "Please send the order to our governor as soon as possible and ask all the generals in charge of fire prevention in the green camp to dispatch all the generals to go to the west of the city to put out the fire!" Several soldiers listened.

When Ruan Yuan gave the order, he immediately rushed to several fire prevention camps to report the news.

However, the fire in Guangzhou this time was far beyond Ruan Yuan's imagination. Until dawn on the 19th, no news came from the direction of Thirteenth Line.

"Houmin, Mei Sheng, you two go to the Taiping Gate and take a look. How is the fire situation now?" Seeing that Yan Jie and Xiao Lingyu had arrived at the Governor's Court, Ruan Yuan immediately asked them to go to the west of the city to understand the situation.

But less than half an hour later, Xiao Lingyu and Yan Jie hurried back on horseback, and at this time, their faces were full of panic.

"Teacher, over there at Thirteenth Line... the fire can't be stopped!" At this time, it was Yan Jie who spoke first and said to Ruan Yuan: "Lvying has been putting out the fire since the third shift yesterday, but the wind is too strong over there.

, this fire... this fire can't be stopped at all? Especially over the Eighth Gate, the fire in many places is so big that... the officers and soldiers can't get in at all! Teacher, why don't we let the nearby people evacuate first?

"

"What did you say?!" Ruan Yuan was immediately shocked when he heard Yan Jie's words.

"Yes, teacher, Luying has transferred all the usable buckets, but with the current intensity of the fire, watering is useless?" Xiao Lingyu also said to Ruan Yuan on the side: "The student is thinking, what Mr. Houmin said

It makes sense, but if we continue to put out fires like this, we won’t be able to save many houses, right?”

"This...then let's tell the other Green Camps who are still stationed to borrow some water guns and buckets from the people in the city, and try our best to stop the fire! Also, if the soldiers in the camp don't have water guns and buckets, just think

There is a way to go in and rescue the living people. If the houses are gone, they can be rebuilt. If the people are gone, they will never come back again!" Ruan Yuan listened to the words of the two people and had to prepare for the worst, but

Even so, Ruan Yuan still wanted to make one last attempt at putting out the fire.

"General Manager Ruan, General Manager Ruan!" Just as Ruan Yuan was giving instructions to Yan Xiao and Xiao, a fast horse suddenly rushed towards the Governor's Court from the west road. The man on the horse was General Manager Qian, and General Manager Qian saw Ruan Yuan.

, quickly dismounted and said to Ruan Yuan: "President, my subordinates have just contacted Mr. Wu from Yihe Bank. Mr. Wu said that the current plan is to demolish some of the houses in Xicheng and use the wood from these houses to block them."

If the wood is burned out in the area where the fire is strongest, the fire will be slowed down. In this way, the houses at the Pearl River Estuary may be saved! President, is this suggestion of Mr. Wu feasible?"

"Demolish a house to put out a fire? Tell Wu Dunyuan, I won't do that." Ruan Yuan thought for a moment and rejected the suggestion, saying: "Demolishing a house is easy, but whose house is demolished? Can you demolish Wu Dunyuan's house?"

?Aren’t those many poor people who will lose their houses by then? There are many poor people in the Pearl River Estuary. When did Wu Dunyuan ever care about the lives of those poor people? At this time, he still talks about demolishing houses to put out fires. Tell him, that’s not allowed.

!”

Seeing Ruan Yuan's resolute attitude, Mr. Qian knew that he was of low status and could not resist Ruan Yuan, so he had no choice but to remount his horse and head towards the west city.

Only this time, Ruan Yuan failed to stop the fire.

By noon on the 19th, even many of the Western trading houses south of Thirteenth Line had caught fire one after another due to their simplicity and disrepair. Although officers and soldiers came to rescue, they had little effect. Many of the silver hidden in the Western trading houses were

Under the scorching heat of the fire, Shi Ye gradually turned into silver water, slowly flowing out from the business building, gradually extending into the Pearl River, extending into the trenches near Thirteenth Line, and even into many drainage trenches.

At night, it was also filled with silver water, forming strips of "Milky Ways" on the ground. Countless officers and soldiers of the Green Camp running up and down the Taiping Gate couldn't help but sigh when they saw this huge "Milky Way".

The fire did not end until the second watch on the 19th. According to subsequent statistics, a total of 2,433 shops in the west of Guangzhou were destroyed by fire overnight, and 22 residents lost their lives in the fire.

, 187 poor houses in the west of the city were burned down, 175 small houses where Dan households lived were burned down, and 56 Dan people’s boats were burned down. This is what Ruan Yuanwai has encountered since he took office as governor.
Chapter completed!