Chapter 286 Liu Zhengs Thirteen Lines of Miscellaneous Notes (2)
After October entered, all businessmen from various countries except Liu Zheng were ordered by Guangdong Customs to leave Guangzhou and either go back to China or go to Macau to stay until the tea trade season starts in May.
The neighbors on both sides got on the watermelon boats and left, and now only the servants at the door were left in the various merchants. And these servants were also clerks of various merchants, and outsiders were not allowed in at all.
This made Liu Zheng extremely depressed. Now even the quarreling and quarreling British people had left, leaving him with nothing to do. In addition to walking in the square in front of the door every day, he would also go to the office to sit for a while. Not only him, but also
The thirty or so people who came with him were also very annoyed, so they all thought about three meals a day in different ways every day, "eating, sleeping and eating" like pigs every day.
Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who knew the inside story of the dozens of people in Baixiongxing, hated and was afraid of them. He wanted to take revenge, but he was also afraid that Zhao Ni would take action in the north after knowing about it. After the autumn, Sun Shiyi felt that I couldn't beat him.
You, I can always scare you, right?
So in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, Guangzhou's "Autumn Queen Wenbei" was arranged in October, and the location was chosen on the riverside outside the commercial district. According to Liu Zheng's habit of going out for a walk every day, he could stand on the fence and
See clearly.
Originally, the execution of criminals in Guangzhou was in a narrow alley outside the city, and one end of the alley would be blocked with a brick wall. Now that the execution has been carried out by the river, the commotion has become even bigger.
In the first two days, people from the governor's Biao camp came to clear the place and circled a rectangular area with ropes. They set up a mat tent inside and a wooden frame more than two meters wide. Liu Zheng thought it was a gallows at first, but when it was finally completed, it was like a gallows.
I'm afraid the frame must be three meters high, so it doesn't look like a gallows.
On the day of the execution, both sides of the river were crowded with people, and there were many onlookers sitting on boats on the river to watch the excitement. The prefect of Guangzhou deliberately ordered people to leave the east-facing position of the execution ground vacant, and no one was allowed to stand and watch, for this reason.
Let Liu Zheng and the others see it.
Of course Liu Zheng saw it. He had nothing to do and didn't want to watch the excitement. Although he was a little scared, his strong curiosity still drove him to the fence.
At 11 o'clock in the morning, seven prisoners were put in cages and transported out of the city. There were crowds of onlookers along the way. When they arrived at the execution ground and were escorted out, Liu Zheng saw that each prisoner's hands were tied behind his back.
, a long and narrow piece of wood was stuck at the root of the braid on the back of the head. These people were divided into two rows and knelt down with their backs to the mat tent.
Liu Zhengxin said that he was deceived by TV dramas again. In the costume dramas he watched before, the death row prisoners had a big sign stuck on the back of their head.
Not long after, with the sound of the gong clearing the way, the Manchu official who was supervising the beheading arrived on horseback. The official was very satisfied when he saw Liu Zheng and others not far away from his horse. When he dismounted and entered the banquet tent, he took a seat.
The clerk on the side handed him a dossier.
The official took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and then began to read out. What was different from the past was that this time there was a special official outside the banquet tent who read out the contents of the case file loudly, and he actually faced Liu Zheng and others.
This really makes Liu Zheng and the others disgusted!
The seven death row inmates are actually bandits who blocked the road, robbed and killed people, but when the official read out the sentence, he always said something like "treason, causing lawlessness, resisting the officers and soldiers", which seemed to mean that you would end up like this in the future.
Not to mention Liu Zheng, even the faces of the thirty-two subordinates became extremely ugly. Some of them wanted to go back to get the pistol on the spot, but Liu Zheng stopped them.
It's easy to make trouble, but what should we do next? The Manchu Qing Dynasty made it clear that they wanted to kill the chicken and show it to the monkey.
When the official read out the case file, the executioners began to take their positions. Behind each prisoner were two executioners. The one in front held a large knife with his left hand on the prisoner's head; the other behind him held a short knife.
When the official had finished reading the case file, the executioner in front raised his sword and waited...
With a "pop!" sound, the official finished reading the case file, was stunned, and shouted "Kill!" The Biaoying soldiers who were present to maintain order also shouted "Kill!"
At the same time, tens of thousands of people watching around also shouted "Okay!"
This scene immediately frightened Liu Zheng. He saw the three executioners' swords falling on the necks of the first row of prisoners like lightning, while the executioner behind him was responsible for cutting off the heads that were not cut off by the first knife.
.Then the three in the row behind, and finally the main culprit. The whole process ended in less than a minute.
Before the officials left the banquet tent with their men, the men who were responsible for monitoring the movements of Liu Zheng and others came to report that the faces of those at White Bear were frightened, especially the representative surnamed Liu, who had vomited in a mess, and was now all speechless.
He fled back to the merchant house. The official was very satisfied with what he heard, so he led his men to report to Sun Shiyi.
After this beheading, all the heads were placed in cages made of iron bars and hung on the three-meter-high shelf for public display. Anyone with a discerning eye would know who they were for at a glance.
When everyone in Beihai Town returned to White Bear House, the first thing they did after entering was to take out their weapons and load bullets. As long as the situation outside was not right, they would immediately escort Liu Zheng and kill him.
After two days of fear, Cai Shiwen came to visit and implicitly explained the intention of the execution. Everyone was angry and cursed. Although they were angry, everyone in Beihai Town, who was originally in turmoil, finally understood that the Manchus were disgusting themselves in different ways.
After more than ten days, Cai Shiwen's son Cai Zhaoping suddenly came and invited him to visit Haizhuang Temple. When Liu Zheng asked about the date, it turned out that it was the 18th of each month.
Since Sun Shiyi came to do this, he hasn't gone out for more than ten days in a row. Apart from eating and sleeping every day, he just reads in the house, which makes him very depressed.
It is said that before the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty bullied foreign businessmen so much that they did not regard foreign devils as human beings at all.
Needless to say, get out of Guangzhou in winter; secondly, foreign women are not allowed to come to Guangzhou; foreigners must live in the Thirteenth Bank Commercial Building during their stay in Guangzhou. They are not allowed to ride in sedans when going out, cannot learn Chinese, and are not allowed to buy Chinese books; foreign businessmen no matter what their needs are
, must be forwarded by the office; servants are limited to eight people, and must be hired by the Thirteenth Bank, and there cannot be female servants.
The officials who led the Qing Dynasty would announce these prohibitions to every household in the government once a year, and instruct the merchants to go back and educate those evil beasts from all over the world who do not know etiquette, justice and integrity.
Various foreign merchants were frustrated by the purges, so they protested to the public office in the past few years and asked to expand the scope of their activities. The Guangzhou government did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so they reported to Qianlong.
So starting from the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing government allowed foreign merchants to go on outings across the river to Haizhuang Temple and Chen's Garden on the south bank, accompanied by merchants, on the third and eighteenth days of each month.
After being nervous for so long, it is always fun to go out and have fun. Even if you have already been there, no one cares. At present, there are thirty-three people in the White Bear Tour including Liu Zheng. Everyone got on the watermelon boat by the river and went to Cai's house.
The young master accompanied him to the opposite bank.
The Haizhuang Temple in the Qing Dynasty was much larger than that of later generations. Although the scale of the temple hall is not as large as that of the Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou, the garden area is four to five times that of the Guangxiao Temple, making it very suitable for sightseeing.
The strangest thing about this temple is that there are actually a group of pigs, about a dozen of them, which are so fat that they can't walk. Liu Zheng estimated that each pig weighs at least three hundred kilograms. He heard the monks introduce them to them when he first went there.
, these pigs were rescued by some believers from the hands of butchers and sent here to be released.
However, since all the monks in the temple were "fat and strong", Liu Zheng was very doubtful about the existence of these dozen pigs. So after the guys returned, "see them" and "see the pigs" became
He used a very disrespectful synonym, and the joke actually spread quickly within thirteen lines.
For example, Liu Zheng would say to the Austrian manager next door: "Let's go to Henan to look at pigs."
The chubby Austrian boss would smile and nod: "Okay! Let's go see the monk."
Because the Cai family and the abbot of Haizhuang Temple were very familiar with each other, they probably often gave away incense money. During lunch, Liu Zheng and his party had an extremely sumptuous vegetarian meal. After the meal, there were various fruits and refreshments. Vegetarian food
, as long as you are willing to add sesame oil, the taste is still very good, and everyone is very happy to eat it.
While drinking tea after the meal, Liu Zheng noticed that Cai Zhaoping was not in a high mood and seemed to have something on his mind. After thinking about it, he excused himself and left the table and went to the outdoor garden.
Sure enough, not long after he came out, Cai Zhaoping also came out with his personal servant.
"Mr. Liu, does today's meal taste good?"
Liu Zheng cupped his hands and said, "Let Mr. Cai worry about it. It's good to have vegetarian dishes once in a while."
"That's good, that's good."
The two chatted casually for a few words. Liu Zheng noticed that Cai Zhaoping always took out his pocket watch to check the time, so he asked, "Is there something urgent, Mr. Cai?"
Cai Zhaoping said quickly: "Oh, it's nothing serious. I'm really sorry for disturbing Mr. Liu's enjoyment."
Liu Zheng smiled and waved his hand and said: "Mr. Cai, we are not outsiders. During the days I was in Guangzhou, thanks to the care of Wanhe Bank, my food and travel arrangements were very appropriate. Don't be offended if I say something. What's the matter?
If you need my help, please ask and I will try my best to help you."
As the heir to the Cai family of Wanhe Xing, Cai Zhaoping knew that Liu Zheng was different from ordinary foreign businessmen. He was a group of rebels. Although the court wanted to cut him into pieces, the boats were strong and the guns were powerful, and they could only knock out his teeth and bury them in his stomach.
Tun. The Guangzhou officialdom also pretends to turn a blind eye to people like Liu Zheng. As long as they stay out of the scope of the Thirteen Lines, they can do whatever they want.
Cai Zhaoping knew that many of the vendors who did small business outside Baixiong Store every day were spies planted by the Guangdong Governor's Yamen.
But now, as the general merchant, the Cai family has encountered a big problem. If they cannot pass this threshold, not to mention failing to become the general merchant, the Cai family may even be confiscated and sent to the frontier.
Regardless of the fact that these merchants in the Thirteen Banks are usually wealthy, wealthy and enjoy the privilege of trading with foreign merchants, as long as something goes wrong, they will be abandoned by the government without hesitation. To the Manchu and Qing court, merchants were just tools to make money.
.
It is said that merchants must kneel down when meeting an official. Even if the official allows them to stand up, their eyes will never go beyond the ninth button of the opponent's official uniform. If they make a mistake, merchants will be beaten with sticks and have no status.
It can be said.
Since Qianlong issued an edict to purchase a Western-style sailing battleship, because the Ministry of Revenue had no money, the burden of raising funds fell back on Sun Shiyi. Who asked you to apply for it? Find a way on your own!
So Sun Shiyi set his sights on the money bags of the merchants, and he ordered eight merchants to donate five million taels of silver before the end of the year. This made the merchants very worried!
You must know that the tea trade season has just ended at this time, and the goods purchased by merchant ships from various countries will generally not be settled until they return next year; this is true every year, year after year. If the foreign companies have insufficient funds, the merchants themselves have to advance the payment on their behalf.
Because of the risks of maritime trade, the Ministry of Internal Affairs' loan funds were not open to merchants at all; therefore, merchants had to turn to other sources of loans when their cash flow was tight.
For example, in intra-peer lending, rich merchants become richer and richer by lending money, while poor merchants become poorer and poorer by borrowing money.
Due to lack of credit, some newly established or poorly managed merchants find it difficult to borrow money even through internal lending, so the only way left is to borrow money from foreign merchants.
Because of the recurring deficit in trade between the East and the West, loans became another channel for foreign merchants to make money. All British merchants, including the East India Company, rushed to lend money to merchants in Guangzhou, with interest rates as high as 20% to 40%; in later generations, Cantonese
The "big ear hole" in it was born from this.
It is said that the biggest shortcoming of businessmen is that they like to gamble. Faced with the temptation of cash provided by foreign businessmen, many businessmen with operating difficulties have embarked on the road of no return with a desperate mentality and usury.
Once the merchants are finally overwhelmed by the interest and unable to repay, the foreign merchants will ask the Guangzhou government to collect debts. The way to bring them out is to confiscate their homes and use the proceeds from the sale of their property to repay the money. If they can't repay the debt, the general merchant will take the lead in repaying it. Don't think that confiscating your home is just a matter of doing so.
That's it. Borrowing money from foreigners privately is a big breach of national integrity and will make foreigners laugh, so the whole family has to be exiled to a remote place.
Faced with the donation order from the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, the eight merchants were unable to resist, and the Cai family, as the general merchant, even assumed the donation amount of 1.5 million taels.
This could kill Cai Shiwen! All Wanhe Bank's current working capital combined is only 500,000 taels of silver, which is far from Sun Shiyi's requirements. Cai Shiwen is like an ant on a hot pot these days, everywhere
To raise money, even the property in the countryside is being sold by others.
After hearing Liu Zheng's words, Cai Zhaoping suddenly had an idea in his heart. So he pretended to be gloomy and said with a sad voice: "Mr. Liu, we are indeed encountering difficulties now. Alas!"
Liu Zheng, who has been working as a veterinarian, was just a newbie in front of business veterans like Cai Zhaoping. After hearing this, he quickly asked: "I wonder what's the problem? Tell me, maybe I can help."
As soon as Cai Zhaoping saw that there was a way, he borrowed a secluded room from the temple abbot and told Liu Zheng about the Yamen of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi requesting donations from merchants.
In the past few months that he had known Liu Zheng, he had learned something about the strength of Beihai Town. These merchants were actually intermediaries for trade between the Manchus and foreigners. They were at the forefront of overseas trade and had a strong ability to accept new things.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty's practice of killing chickens to obtain eggs made merchants pay no attention to their patriotic sentiments and noble morals. These people had neither the heart to help the poor nor the willingness to pity the common people. Therefore, Cai Zhaoping did not hesitate to buy Sun Shiyi from the British.
The warship incident was revealed.
Liu Zheng was overjoyed after hearing this. After spending the past few months, he finally got an important piece of information and had to send it back as soon as possible. He asked again: "Brother Cai, what will happen if the money is not paid on time?"
Cai Zhaoping replied sadly: "Alas! The whole house was confiscated and distributed."
Liu Zheng pretended to be angry and cursed: "What the hell!"
As soon as Cai Zhaoping saw that Liu Zheng had "taken the bait", he briefly talked about loans from peers and loans from foreign merchants. Finally, he said: "If Brother Liu's White Bear Bank has sufficient funds, they can also do this loan business, with a monthly interest of two to three cents. As long as
We don’t have to worry about our principal and interest if our business goes bankrupt, it will be recovered in three to five years at most.”
Liu Zheng actually had more than 100,000 taels of banknotes on hand, which he had found from Wang's family in Yangzhou. Zhao Xin gave him the funds for activities before leaving. It was okay to borrow money from the Cai family. Liu Zheng didn't really care about the interest.
The concern is to open up the situation in Guangzhou, one is to obtain information, and the other is to expand the influence of Beihai Town in the business world.
"I wonder how much Brother Cai needs to borrow?"
Cai Zhaoping quickly said: "Five hundred thousand taels."
Five hundred thousand?! Liu Zheng was shocked, thinking that if it was one hundred and eighty thousand, he could make the decision, but for half a million, he could only report to Zhao Xin.
Cai Zhaoping saw Liu Zheng's expression and said quickly: "Brother Liu, less is fine."
Liu Zheng shook his head and explained: "Money and interest are not a problem, but I don't have that much on hand right now. Let me think about it and give you an answer in a few days."
"Then I'll look forward to hearing the good news from Brother Liu."
When he returned to White Bear Bank in the evening, Liu Zheng asked his correspondent to send a telegram to Beihai Town. Two days later, news from Beihai Town arrived. Zhao Xin agreed to the loan and planned to go south to deliver the money in person. The time was set at 12
On the evening of the third day of the lunar month, the meeting place was at Haizhuang Temple.
The Cai family was overjoyed when they heard the news, and their position as general merchant was finally saved.
It is said that the current inventory of silver in Beihai Town is not only captured on the battlefield in the past two years, but also the 200,000 taels of silver that Zhao Xin looted from Wang Yan merchants. There is also some gold and silver associated mines on Lengji Island.
A lot of output. Because silver was really worthless in another time and space, in addition to minting silver coins, the inventory of 500-gram thousand-foot silver bars has reached tens of thousands.
On the fifth day after Liu Zheng told the Cai family that they agreed to borrow money, Cai Zhaoping came to visit with a large number of gifts. In addition to brocade, lacquerware, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and some daily necessities, he also brought three tables to express his gratitude. Although the gifts were rich
, the banquet is also full of delicacies from the mountains and the sea, but this little money is nothing compared to the money the Cai family wants to borrow.
After drinking a few cups of cat urine, Liu Zheng took advantage of the drunkenness to make a request to Cai Zhaoping, saying that he wanted to go on the flower boat to see something.
It is said that if it were another blond and blue-eyed foreign businessman, he would not dare to agree to kill Cai Zhaoping. But after all, Liu Zheng's appearance was different from that of the foreign businessman, and he spoke in Mandarin, which gave him room for maneuver.
The Cai family spent a few days, first bribing the soldiers guarding the gate, and then arranging a flower boat and female actors. Then they led Liu Zheng, who had shaved his head and put on fake braids, and two guards to dress up as Cai Zhaoping.
The follower took advantage of the night to sneak out of the shopping mall area and boarded the flower boat outside Youlan Gate.
After this night, Liu Zheng, who was familiar with the taste of food, finally said goodbye to the company of the fifth girl.