Yuan Su walked into the lobby door with his head held high. The lobby was very spacious, and the guests consciously gave way to a path leading to the chairman. On the way to the chairman who was located in the front of the auditorium, the passing guests, whether they knew him or not, were all enthusiastic.
Say hello and say hello. It was naturally impossible for Yuan Su to be polite to so many people. He just nodded and smiled in return. He only stopped to shake hands and ask for greetings when he met a few acquaintances like Zhang Juren.
Arriving in front of the chairman, several gentry who were arranged to sit at the same table gathered around and exchanged greetings. Those who were qualified to sit on the chairman were naturally the leading figures in each county. In order to win over these gentry to donate money, at
The previous arrangements did not even allow foreigners to sit here.
Of course, the seating arrangements were arranged by Wang Li. Among these people, except for a few local big names in Luanzhou who were known to Yuan Su, the other people from Changli, Tanghai, and Leting counties were only familiar at best.
Those who can be called by name. Fortunately, several county magistrates are also here. They are on the side to introduce or smooth things over, which finally avoids a lot of embarrassment and harmonizes the atmosphere very well. At a glance, whether it is a big landowner or a wealthy person,
The capitalists are all smiling.
In fact, although many people are unhappy with Yuan Su's fundraising event, they still feel that Yuan Su is a capable person from the bottom of their hearts. [ ] Especially after taking office, he has provided tax cuts, encouragement, support and great guarantees to many industries.
They serve the interests of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, these people will never be reluctant to give up the face they deserve.
After chatting with the people around him for a while and saying something like "Today many people will be killed, I will rely on you". Soon He Qigong came over wearing a straight new officer's uniform, stood slightly behind Yuan Su and asked in a low voice: "Guard Army"
Sir, may we begin?"
Yuan Su nodded slightly, smiled and asked humbly to everyone around him: "Then let's start?"
"Everything is subject to the arrangements of the guardian army."
"Yes, let's start. I can't wait."
…
Everyone hurriedly echoed, with expressions of utmost sincerity on their faces.
Then Yuan Su turned around and signaled to He Qigong: "Go and announce."
He Qigong is the most educated person in the First Mixed Brigade. Since today's banquet is hosted by the brigade, he will naturally be responsible for the master of ceremonies. After receiving Yuan Su's approval, he immediately turned around and boarded the banquet that was just built this morning.
A nice little podium.
A wine glass half full of red wine and a metal spoon were prepared on the podium. He Qigong picked up the spoon and gently tapped the wine glass. The light sound gradually spread in the lobby. [ ] Everyone knew this.
It meant that someone on the podium wanted to speak, so the whole scene became quiet again.
Just like the opening of all banquets, Mr. He Qigong said some high-sounding words in an official tone, which naturally included mention of the current situation in Shanhaiguan and the tens of thousands of refugees outside the customs struggling to die, and then expressed his sincere gratitude to the guests present.
Express gratitude for being able to contribute to disaster relief.
There was a burst of applause naturally from the audience, which was considered to give He Qigong face, and also to himself.
After these opening remarks, He Qigong immediately invited Yuan Su to come on stage to say a few words.
Yuan Su had no intention of speaking originally, but he also knew very well that this was an inevitable rule, so he stepped onto the podium to be greeted by even warmer applause. Since he did not have much preparation for speaking in advance, he improvised an improvised speech.
He said some words of thanks and also announced in advance that a charity auction would be held after the banquet, and all funds raised from the auction would be used to provide relief to victims outside the customs.
No matter what Yuan Su said on the podium, whenever there was a break between words, there would be a burst of applause from the audience.
In fact, Yuan Su didn't really have much to say, so he casually explained a few words and officially announced the banquet.
This banquet still follows the traditional Chinese banquet format. After all, the banquet is just a formality and a pretext. The real purpose is to auction and raise funds. If it is like a Westerner, it is also a dance, a buffet, and red wine.
It takes two or three hours of work.
The situation in Shanhaiguan is critical, and one more person will die if he waits a moment longer. Unless he has no choice, Yuan Su will not do such a troublesome thing at all. After all, the money belongs to others, and it will naturally take some effort to get others to pay.
After coming down from the podium, the guests took their seats one after another under the greetings of several foremen and attendants. Yuan Su personally greeted the chairman's guests to sit down. The kitchen of the guild hall could not prepare such a large banquet, so most of the dishes were prepared from nearby restaurants.
The dishes were served very quickly, with more than a dozen waiters passing through the hall like an assembly line, and the dishes on each table were soon complete.
During the entire banquet, Yuan Su would occasionally get up and walk to a nearby table to toast the guests, and everyone stood up and responded politely. Wang Litong and Mr. Xiao Wang were very knowledgeable, so naturally they couldn't leave Yuan Su alone.
They went to toast, so the two of them followed Yuan Su when he got up. Only in this way could Yuan Su's status be highlighted, and by the way, they could introduce people they didn't know.
However, just when Yuan Su was walking towards the foreign banquet set up by the window, Du Yu, who had been waiting not far away, rushed over in three steps and two steps at a time. Du Yu pointed to a man in black with his back to him.
The foreigner in the formal dress lowered his voice and said, "Sir, you see, it's that foreigner."
Wang Lantong quickly waved his hand to Du Yu, as if to shoo away flies, and he said in a coquettish way: "Don't be unreasonable."
Du Yu looked helpless and obediently retreated to the previous place and stood still.
Yuan Su asked Wang Litong: "How did Tianjin know about the charity banquet we held?"
Wang Liantong sighed, shook his head and said, "I have no clue."
At this time, Wang Zhongyuan stepped forward and interjected: "I just inquired about it. One of the two foreigners from Tianjin, named Hannagan, is limited to working for the Kaiping Mining Bureau as the deputy general manager."
Yuan Su frowned slightly, thought for a while, and then said: "When I was in Baoding, I heard that the Kaiping Mining Bureau was discussing a merger with the Luanzhou Mining Bureau. Is this possible?"
Although the Luanzhou Mining Bureau and the Kaiping Mining Bureau are both located around Luanzhou, the companies responsible for operating minerals on both sides are located in Tianjin. The Kaiping Mining Bureau was forced to cede the land after the Gengzi National Disaster and the signing of the Xinchou Treaty.
It was managed by the British. The Luanzhou Mining Bureau was another company later established to counterbalance the Kaiping Mining Bureau controlled by British businessmen. It is now jointly run by the government and businessmen in Tianjin. This is also because the two are so close to each other.
Yuan Su could only watch the coal resources and could not interfere with them.
Later, the Kailuan Mining Administration, the largest coal mining company in the north, was formed from the merger of Kaiping and Luanzhou companies.
Just a few years ago, in order to suppress Kaiping Mining Company, Luanzhou Mining Company broke out into a crazy bidding war. As a result, the two companies suffered losses one after another and eventually had to change the competition to merge.