The three brands in Guangzhou Station have all absorbed large amounts of deposits. These deposits are actually deposited in Delong Bank. If Guangdong wants to attack Lingao, the fate of several companies closely related to Lingao is obvious.
The run on depositors is expected.
Meng Xian shook his head repeatedly: "Where can I get so much cash now?"
Most of the deposits collected have been invested in the operation of the Guangzhou Station. According to the instructions of the Director of Finance, the deposits collected in Guangzhou are not used as payment for the purchase of raw materials required by Lingao. They are used in Guangzhou.
On the various businesses and investments of the station: starting new industries; acquiring foreign goods - the various goods of Lingao's Southeast Asian company's foreign ships except Leizhou supplies sugar and wine, and Lingao supplies some commodities.
It is hosted by Guangzhou Station; it operates the lending industry: including dismantling between merchants, lending and small-amount lending to individuals.
"How much cash do you have in hand now?" Guo Yi asked.
"There are less than 60,000 that can be used immediately. I reserve it according to a 12.5% reserve..."
In Delong, there are deposits taken by various brands and deposits taken by itself, totaling 400,000 taels. This is a large number in this time and space.
"Don't talk about reserves. You need to take inventory as soon as possible. Each family should still have some cash liquidity. When you go back, collect the money first and count it clearly. How much cash can be used must be reported daily. Accounts that can be pursued should be chased as soon as possible.
Chasing and dealing with it—" Guo Yigang wanted to say, "Put it off as long as you can."
"In my opinion, you should pay what is due, and there must be no delay. Otherwise, if the news of delayed payment spreads, there will be a run-in immediately," Meng Xian said.
"That's right. There is just a rumor about this matter now. We will suffer the consequences if we make a fuss first." Guo Yi has been in Guangzhou for a long time and knows that business in this time and space relies on credit. Once unstable news comes out, no matter how big you are,
The country will fall like an iceberg in an instant.
After some further discussion, it was decided that Guo Yi and others would go back to their original places for the time being to handle business and socialize, while secretly making some other preparations.
"Yan Maoda, when you manage Qiwei, you should pay more attention to the escort system. Sun Kecheng must have a firm grasp of it. If necessary, you can retreat through their network."
"There's no problem with that. Shopkeeper Sun is very reliable," Yan Maoda said, "but Qiwei has frequent contacts with us, so I'm afraid we can't hide this relationship from others."
"It doesn't matter if you can't hide it. Qiwei also has business dealings with many large companies. Self-protection should not be a problem."
Before the meeting ended, Guo Yi told Zhang Yuchen: "You take the radio and the code book and retreat to Qiwei's backup contact point. All the modern equipment in the safe house must be packed and taken away - you handle it yourself.
This issue."
"I'll do it when I get back." Zhang Yuchen agreed.
Guangzhou Station has set up multiple backup contact points in the city as a place to stay when necessary. They are guarded by dedicated personnel and can receive evacuated personnel at any time.
Early the next morning, Guo Yi got up early and called Sun Chang over.
After Sun Chang came back from the Lingao inspection, Guo Yi officially deregistered him. He is now the chief steward around Guo Dongzhu, and his status is very different from before. According to the standards of this time and space, he is a "rich slave".
"You sit in my sedan, take the Fujian spring tea that just arrived a few days ago and my post, and go to each family to send it off." He told Sun Chang, "If the other party sees you, go and sit in one and be polite.
"If you don't see me, it doesn't matter. Remember, remember each family's attitude clearly!"
"Yes." Sun Chang nodded, "Send it according to the gift book?"
"That's right. You can go to Zicheng Ji to get the tea, two pounds per house."
"Yes. The little one will go right away."
Human relationships are as thin as paper. This is the same regardless of time and space. If the news is true, this group of people will definitely avoid Sun Chang and his gifts like the god of plague.
The situation here in Ziminglou is still unclear for a while. Although there are a lot fewer appointments for important guests, the business situation is still as good as ever.
"The situation seems to be bad." Zheng Shangjie came to tell her, "No one came to three of the six VIP room reservations last night! It's time to let go!"
Pei Lixiu didn't need to look at the list to know who the six people who had reserved the VIP room for fun last night were, and she could roughly guess which ones didn't come. It seemed that things were almost certain!
"Prepare the sedan!" Pei Lixiu suddenly called out.
"Where are you going?" Zheng Shangjie was very worried when he saw her face turning pale and pale.
"I'm going to Gaofu!"
Gao Shunqin's concubine Su Ai was her handkerchief, and Gao Shunqin was the patrol commissioner of Guangdong. He had a respected position among the officials of the province. He would definitely not be unaware of the military action against Lingao.
The news from Su Ai is more accurate than the news from the masters and second masters of various government offices.
Pei Lixiu's sedan was famous in Guangzhou. In order to prevent Su Ai from disappearing due to being too ostentatious, she just asked someone to carry the two-person sedan specially prepared for guests in the building and went to Gao's house.
Because of her status and status as a concubine, she naturally couldn't go to the door to post like a lady from a wealthy family. She could only quietly go to the corner door to ask the servants to post.
The servant at the door saw only two people coming in a small sedan, and they were posting at the corner door. It was expected that he was not a big shot, let alone an official visiting the master or his wife. He didn't ask who he was looking for, and just replied coldly.
He said: "Not at home." Then he closed the door.
Chunliu was used to the world, so he immediately stuffed a bunch of money over and said, "Please send word to Aunt Su that the sisters from the Zi family are here."
When he heard that the person he wanted to see was Aunt Su, and that he had received another bunch of money, the servant's expression immediately changed and he returned to a respectful expression: "Please wait for a moment!"
During the tea time, Su Ai sent someone to take her in.
The sedan landed on the middle gate, and the woman who led the way took her and Chunliu to the backyard.
Su Ai had been here several times and knew that this concubine of a high court who was a famous prostitute in the south of the Yangtze River lived in the garden.
The group of people walked forward along a path shaded by flowers and trees. After walking through the winding corridors and stone paths, they came to a small courtyard with a single door. Pei Lixiu has always been blind, and she has been here several times.
She didn't know the way, so she just followed the mother-in-law in a daze, but she knew this place when she arrived - this was Su Ai's residence.
The flowers, trees, ponds and stones in the yard are all arranged in an orderly manner. A small building with three bays is hidden in the shadow of dense trees.
A maid had already taken her at the door, and while helping her move forward, she called out:
"Miss Pei is here!"
Then there was the sound of soft footsteps. The curtain was lifted, and a maid came out first. She saluted the guests, turned around, and raised the curtain with both hands. After a while, a tall and beautiful lady came out.
walked out.
This is Su Ai. Regardless of the standards of time and space, Su Ai is beautiful. However, her figure is a bit thin. She is from Yangzhou. After arriving in Guangdong, she felt that she could not speak Cantonese vernacular. The maids and women around her were all
It was brought from the south of the Yangtze River. Even the layout of the yard, the furnishings of the house and even the food are the most fashionable "south style". Every time Pei Lixiu comes here, she enjoys the Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan style, and the timeless luxury and modernity of Ziming Tower.
It's a different feeling.
Originally, when the handkerchief sisters met, they had to have something to say, but now Pei Lixiu had no intention of being polite. Su Ai seemed to know the purpose of this sister's visit, and directly welcomed her into the inner room to serve tea.
The maid brought tea and snacks. Su Ai asked the maid to close the courtyard door temporarily and not let anyone in. The two of them started talking.
Pei Lixiu was naturally inquiring about the recent developments of the Guangdong government.
"There is something that I originally wanted to tell my sister in person at Ziminglou today. It's good that my sister is here." She whispered.
Su Ai told her: Gao Shunqin has been drafting manuscripts in the study every day recently, and seems to be writing memorials. He often talks with his staff in the study, and even asks people to go outside.
"What book are you looking for?"
"It seems to be a book about the imperial concubine." Su Ai whispered in his room, "I think from his appearance, the government may be unfavorable to you recently."
"What's going on? Sister Su, please tell me Wan Wang." Pei Lixiu was already begging.
"Don't be anxious!" Su Ai got along very well with Pei Lixiu on weekdays, and received many benefits from her. Seeing that the owner of the Handkerchief Sisters was in trouble, she naturally had to do something.
"The person who caused this incident was the praise painting of the Governor's Mansion, someone named Lu."
"Lu Yizhong."
"Yes, that's him." Su Ai said, "This man didn't know what he had planned, and he gave Wang Zhitai such an idea. Wang Zhitai listened to him in a moment of confusion. Oh, what a troublesome thing!"
"Lv praised the painting?!" Pei Lixiu felt quite shocked. Because this Lu Yizhong was the governor's praised painting, she was flattering to him. Not only did he respect him three times, he also often came to Ziminglou to entertain friends.
It costs nothing. And this Lu Yizhong is also very polite to Guo Yi and her on weekdays. If there is any difficult matter, Guo Yi will even send a hand of his own and it will be solved immediately. It should be said that both parties are fulfilling the Chinese style
The traditional collusion between officials and businessmen can be regarded as a model in ancient and modern times.
I didn't expect that this old man who usually looked upright and kind would be so vicious! Thinking that the great fortune Guo Yi and his team had built up through their hard work would be wiped out, Pei Lixiu's shoulders trembled with anger.
"In my opinion, sister, can this matter be undone?" Pei Lixiu asked nervously.
"It all depends on Wang Zhitai." Su Ai said, "However, Lu Yizhong is very useful to Wang Zhitai. If he can't change his mind, I'm afraid it won't be possible to save him."
"I wonder if my sister can invite Mr. Gao——"
Su Ai shook her head repeatedly: "You can't even think about it." She probably felt that she had refused too much, so she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My elder sister knows best about my master's temper.
He said that he would cut off the water supply to the Francois and force them to evacuate Haojing. You Australians have been staying in Lingao, and he has heard about it. If the Portuguese can't tolerate it, how can they tolerate the Australians!"
Su Ai added: "I advise my sister to go back as soon as possible and talk to Guo Dongzhu, let all the Australians in Lingao change their hair, and then invite people to go to Guangzhou to register, so that they will not have to suffer in that miasma. With you
With all your abilities, are you still afraid that you won’t be able to settle down here?”
"Thank you sister for planning."
Pei Lixiu thanked her and asked her if she could give her advice to protect the three purple-branded companies.
"My sister probably knows that as soon as the news about the conquest of Lingao came out, there were already many people who were looking at Guo Dongzhu's properties. With the rumors, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble! I hope my sister can invite one of Master Gao's people.
Just post it and maintain it—" She was already in tears as she spoke.
This was not because she was being pretentious on purpose, but in fact she was hit too hard. Especially Ziming Tower, which she had put a lot of effort into, how could she be willing to accept it if it was destroyed like this.
"Sister, please be at ease." Su Ai consoled her, "You are very smart as an official, so you won't have any idea of Ziminglou for a while. But now that the rumor has spread, there must be a group of evil people who will take the opportunity to make trouble.
It’s blackmail, and I don’t know who may be forcing you to donate.”
"Contribute?" Pei Lixiu certainly knows what this means. It is not easy to do business in the Ming Dynasty. Businessmen without background are often blackmailed and made difficult by various local officials and evil forces. Some businessmen even lose their families because of this.
Some people dedicate their property to the name of a certain gentry in exchange for protection. Of course, they have to contribute a large amount of money. From now on, they must also pay a certain amount of "filial piety" every year. This is just a small landowner in the countryside, a farmer who invests his land.
It is a commercial version only.
"This is not possible." Pei Lixiu said in a daze.
"When things are in crisis, there is a way out!" Su Ai comforted, "Don't you have a very good relationship with the Gao family? The Gao family is the path of Eunuch Yang. If you surrender to Eunuch Yang, it will hinder the eunuchs.
Awesome, no one in Guangdong dares to touch your brains."
Su Ai finally gave her a small prayer box. Pei Lixiu opened it and saw a big red greeting card inside, which belonged to Gao Shunqin.
"I'll give you this greeting card. However, if there is any big boss who wants to seize your property, I'm afraid it won't be of much use." Su Ai reminded her.
"Thank you, sister. I will give you the money someday!" Pei Lixiu knew that it would cost at least three to four hundred taels of silver to get this greeting card - not counting the cost of opening up the joints in Gaofuli. Su Ai was like this
Giving it to myself can be called a deep sisterly love.
"What kind of money are we talking about between sisters?" Su Ai shook her head, "You haven't come here much lately. I won't give you money until you can get through this disaster safely." She hesitated, "I still exist.
The money on your cabinet..."
Su Ai has two thousand taels of silver in Ziming Tower, which she has accumulated over the years. Now the Zi family name is in danger, and no matter how loyal you are, you cannot stand under a dangerous wall.
Pei Lixiu said quickly: "Sister, please give me the fold. I will send someone to deliver it to my sister later."
"The money can't be sent." Su Ai said quickly, "There are many people here..."
"Yes, sister is confused." This is Su Ai's private money, how can it be sent to the Gao Mansion openly, "Then where does sister want to deposit it? Sister will send the discount after finishing everything."
"I think it's better to deposit money with Delong. My husband now mostly uses this company for remittances to the capital."
Pei Lixiu, who was originally worried, almost laughed out loud - the money was already in Delong Bank. Originally, she was worried that it would affect Delong's cash reserves, but now it is just a discount.
"Okay! My sister will do it when she gets back." She answered simply.
Pei Lixiu came back from the Gao family. She first sent Xia He to Delong, made an allocation on the account, and then opened a new book in Delong's name and sent it to Su Ai. She then sat down and wrote a note for Guo Yi.
Secret letter - the letter can be written with secret writing potion, and it contains the exact contents of the conversation between him and Su Ai before and after he went to see her.
It goes without saying that Guo Yi cannot agree to such a thing as making a donation, and it is not within his scope of authority.
Just after she finished writing the letter and sent it to the traffic officer, Pei Lixiu just wanted to talk to Zheng Shangjie about the current situation. Someone at the door came to report:
"Master Jiang is here before the Governor's case."
Mr. Jiang? Pei Lixiu thought about it for a while before she remembered that this man was a master of Li Fengjie, the governor of Guangdong. His status was not prominent and he specialized in doing trivial matters for the Li family.
Such people used to be a commodity in Ziminglou. But there must be a reason for his sudden visit. Pei Lixiu pondered for a moment and said: "Invite him to meet in the flower hall."
Pei Lixiu dressed up a little, then got up and went to the flower hall. Mr. Jiang had been waiting inside for a long time.
This man is about fifty years old. Judging from his clothes, he should be a scholar. His appearance is quite dignified.
But as soon as this person saw Pei Lixiu, his eyes were fixed on her. He probably felt that this was too rude, and immediately turned his attention to Chunliu.
The two parties met and Chunliu served tea. Pei Lixiu asked about his purpose of coming.
Mr. Jiang coughed, pretended to be involved in official matters, and said solemnly:
"I came to visit you today. It is said that the official status is involuntary."
Pei Lixiu has been hanging out in Guangzhou for a long time and knows that this is an "official saying", which basically means "I am here to do business, and business must be done business." She was secretly surprised. Could it be that the Guangdong government is already preparing to take action?
She thought of Su Ai's reminder and Guo Yi's instruction to "calm down" during the meeting, and just nodded slightly and asked:
"Master Futai, do you have any advice? I would like to ask Mr. Jiang to inform me so that we can follow the instructions."
Master Jiang pondered for a moment and said:
"First, there have been quite a few rumors in the city recently..."
He looked at her as he spoke, hoping that she would speak out on her own, but Pei Lixiu had already made up her mind that it would be better to keep her mouth shut.
Seeing that the other party showed no expression, Master Jiang cursed secretly and had no choice but to speak clearly.
"There are rumors that Guidong is pretending to be from Guangzhou, but he is actually an overseas Australian."
"Although we are not natives of Guangzhou, we are still citizens of the Ming Dynasty." Pei Lixiu said slowly, "The so-called overseas Australians, I don't know where to start?"