"You can use these goods to deal with the sales." Guo Yi instructed. "Check the gold and silver stored in the warehouse for making jewelry. If there are any deposits, use these to pay out first. I will also allocate silver. You do not have to worry about."
"Yes." Hearing that Boss Guo had prepared money to deal with bank runs, Shen Fan felt a lot calmer. Many of Zizhenzhai's money-depositing customers were obtained by him. If they were seized, people in the government would always take advantage of them. As a person with strong bones, there is no need to think about taking it back. The old face you have gained over the years will be completely lost.
"Artisans everywhere, do you want them to go home?"
"You have to maintain the situation here first." Guo Yi thought for a moment. If he started to dismiss people on a large scale now, it would definitely make the government suspicious, and they might arrest people in advance. We must maintain normal operations. Just try it out.
These local craftsmen are just working hard to get paid. Although they are very grateful to Guo Yi, a generous employer, after all, they are in the periphery of the periphery and know very little about the secrets of Guangzhou Station. Even if it is seized, the government will not take it. How are they? There is no need to rush to dismiss them.
In order to prevent others from seeing that he was about to leave, Guo Yi went to visit clients in the city in a sedan chair the next day. However, few people were willing to see him. Guo Yi also looked at the door and posted a message. Forget it. He was just doing this to announce his existence.
After walking around, his luxurious sedan was carried to Ziming Tower. The place was still brightly lit. However, this Guangzhou Ecstasy, which was once a prosperous and prosperous place, was now deserted, leaving only an empty hall.
Zheng Shangjie and other people who rarely appeared in public have withdrawn one after another. Only Pei Lixiu showed up here every day out of boredom. At this moment, she was leaning on Concubine Xiang's couch in the Ming Pavilion on the second floor, drinking wine alone.
She is a very lively person who loves prosperity. On weekdays, she sits in the pavilion in the middle of the second floor, watching the people coming and going in the lobby downstairs through the thin bamboo curtain, and hears the sound of laughter, silk and bamboo... This is all so pleasing to the eye.
Now the lobby is empty, even the ticking sound of the fountain is clear.
Seeing Guo Yi arriving, Pei Lixiu greeted him with a big yawn.
"How is it? No guests?"
"There is no one." Pei Lixiu took a sip of kvass, "Only people with money came to the door."
"Can you handle it?"
"No problem. The big households have already withdrawn," she said. "The small households can't spend a few taels of silver, and they don't charge interest." She also poured a glass for Guo Yi, "You can drink too. , you can’t take the kvass away, and if you keep it, it will be an advantage for others, so just drink it all.”
"Although it's like soda, it still has a bit of alcohol, so you'd better drink less." Guo Yi took a sip and found that it was mixed with rum, "We are ready to escape at any time. How can we get away when we are drunk?" "
"Do you think we can come back?" she asked suddenly.
"As little as three months, as much as half a year, this is still your territory."
"It's been so hard these past six months..." She looked at her red nails,
"Why don't you go back to Lingao? I heard that a Lingao version of Ziming Tower will be opened there..."
Pei Lixiu laughed: "Xiao Guo-" She seemed a little unfamiliar with such a title, "Can we go back? My boxes full of jewelry, dozens of boxes of clothes; your little wife, maid...
We are already incompatible with Lingao."
Guo Yi's heart tightened. This was something he had always been worried about. He took a sip of kvass and said, "There's no need to think about it this way: at best, we can be regarded as a group of people who got rich first. The executive committee will not understand.
What we did in Guangzhou..."
"You have been in the agency for too long, and you are talking in an official tone." Pei Lixiu was a little tipsy, "I don't want to go back to Lingao at all..."
"Stop talking nonsense." Guo Yi glanced around nervously. There was no one in the cabinet. "Without Lingao, there would be nothing in Guangzhou. You don't understand this? Guangzhou is currently surrounded by crises. Do you want to be
Caught in a cell, eating boards, wearing shackles, kneeling with chains?"
Pei Lixiu flinched when she mentioned this. She hesitated and said, "No way... I think the officials of the Ming Dynasty are quite graceful, and they are all very considerate."
"If you fall into the hands of the government, you will know how the jailers 'love the beauty and cherish the jade'." Guo Yi sneered in his heart, let alone the 17th century, it is the 21st century. A walk around the prison is enough to have a cup of tea.
You can bear it. Pepi is so busy all day long that I forget what era it is.
Guo Yi knew that there was no point in talking to her anymore, but since she was still here and persisted, she could attract the attention of many people and achieve her goal. He paid some more attention to Pepi, got up and went to the safe house at the back.
In the safe house, Xia He was burning documents. He knew that this girl was actually a graduate of the confidential class of the General Administration of Political Security. She had received professional training and was very reliable in her work. He immediately gave her a few more instructions.
At this time, one of his servants who specialized in handling secret matters came and whispered to him: everything was ready. He just arrived in Pei Lixiu's boudoir - several sets of servants' clothes, shoes and hats had been prepared here for him to change.
He went up to the house, smeared some putty on his face, and then quietly opened the secret door in the room and went down a secret staircase to the backyard. There were already two security guards sent by Zhang Xin waiting here.
The security personnel of the Guangzhou Station are young people selected from the Qiwei Escort Bureau. After an inspection, they secretly went to Lingao for training. They have their own style of organization and system and have little relationship with the Qiwei Escort Bureau.
The three of them quietly left Ziminglou among a group of waiters and cooks, walked along the back alley to the street, and turned around until they reached an uninhabited place. After confirming that no one was with them, Guo Yicai sat on a car that had already been waiting for him.
The sedan is waiting.
In this way, everyone knew that he went to Ziming Tower and spent the night with his concubine. In the past, there was no need to go to such trouble, but now he had to be very cautious.
The sedan walked along the small street for a long time and was carried into a dark small courtyard. This was a courtyard he had originally built. When he had confidential matters to deal with, he would have secret interviews with people here.
He has an appointment with Sun Kecheng today - Sun Kecheng's Qiwei Escort Agency is one of the pillars of Guangzhou Station. However, Qiwei's semi-entity status makes Guo Yi greatly worried about their attitude. Although Qiwei's entire finances have been
Guangzhou Station was in control of it, but most of the people inside had not gone through Lingao's screening and political review. He had to guard against Sun Kecheng or his disciples and grandchildren suddenly rebelling and turning to the government - the Escort Bureau always claimed to be doing "serious business"
", he obeyed the government's instructions.
He must find out what Sun Kecheng's attitude is today. This is related to future cooperation - on the national layout plan, Qiwei Escort Bureau is also an important part.
Sun Kecheng was already waiting for him in the house. When he saw him coming in disguise, he was suddenly shocked.
"Dongzhu Guo, has the matter become so urgent?" Sun Kecheng couldn't care less about being polite. The news that the government was going to take action against the Australians had spread.
"We will definitely see the outcome within ten days and a half!" Guo Yi did not shy away from what might happen, "I naturally want to avoid the limelight, but the Qiwei Escort Agency has always had a lot of dealings with us, so I'm afraid it will be implicated.
you……"
"This doesn't matter. I have my own way." Sun Kecheng waved his hand, "What should you do?"
Seeing that he looked quite sincere, Guo Yi said deliberately: "We are going to hide here for a while."
"Proprietor, don't say such rude things." Sun Kecheng shook his head, "How many people can live in this small courtyard? You have a lot of people. Why not live with me? I have bought a few houses in the countryside earlier.
It’s a farm house, it doesn’t matter how many of you live there.”
Guo Yi was noncommittal, saying that there were still many things to take care of, and he might hide here for a while. He would make plans after the matter was settled.
"That aside, once the government goes against us, how will you respond?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter. Our escorts in the nursing home are just dealing with rich and powerful people. We always have a little bit of thin face, so we won't have a stalemate. When they took office, the woman collected the money and pointed at us to escort them back home." Sun Ke
Chengdao said, "What's the benefit of investigating Qiwei and them? The money and property in the escort agency belong to other people. Do the adults want to go out as escorts and deliver goods and open an inn?"
"That's right." Guo Yi nodded, "But I'm afraid it won't be so easy to get through the challenge."
"Proprietor, you can rest assured about Qiwei." Sun Kecheng nodded, "Without you, proprietor, you helped us out at that time. Qiwei was just a small situation where the family was precarious, and now it has become a big name in Guangzhou.
Hundreds of people live by eating, and Qiwei is always grateful. Although Qiwei dare not violate the king's laws, he is not a fool who only knows how to kowtow - we all know what is right and wrong in the world.
It seems like..."
Although he understood Sun Kecheng's attitude, and he was quite confident about Sun Kecheng's character, Guo Yi still did not dare to leave the most important part to him for safekeeping - just because he was reliable did not mean that everyone under him could rely on him.
After much consideration, he decided to let Sun Kecheng take care of the local craftsmen, and at the same time hide some of the staff and heavy goods transferred from Lingao.
He also asked Sun Kecheng to prepare a secret escape route. The two parties agreed on a secret code so that they could communicate with each other in case they needed to escape.
But when he really had to run away, he still didn't dare to trust them completely. The Foreign Intelligence Service had already called and was preparing to send a response team composed of a mixture of special reconnaissance teams and intelligence personnel to Guangzhou, ready to directly use force to help them if necessary.
get away.
However, there was no sign of the seizure of the Guangzhou Station. The Guangzhou government seemed to intend to give Guo Yi and others sufficient time to consider the objects of donation. They simply ignored the three purple-branded industries. At the same time, various parties
There was an endless stream of people coming to discuss their contributions. Tian Da came to the house almost every day to urge them, while Guo Yi simply avoided seeing them.
"Master Tian has come to pay his respects." The man at the door reported to him.
Lu Yizhong was about to go out, but he had to sit down again. He sighed:
"Please quickly!"
He has been busy these days with dispatching the army, and he is very busy every day.
After the meeting decided on the strategy for dispatching troops, He Rubin meant to be "cautious". He had worked in Guangdong for many years and knew a little bit about the climate and geography of Hainan. He knew that summer was about to start and we would face the problem of the rainy season, and there would be typhoons in early autumn.
Therefore, it is recommended to simply wait until October before setting off. At this time, autumn grain has already appeared, and it is convenient to raise food and grass along the way. The autumn air is crisp, and diseases are not easy to occur when troops are marching and stationed.
But Wang Zunde meant to "fight quickly". At this time, the food and wages for departure were ready, and He Rubin could no longer shirk, so he had to decide to leave some troops in early June.
People outside Guangzhou were shouting, armies from all walks of life were gathering, and there were many military affairs to be handled. Lu Yizhong was already very busy, and he also had to deal with Tian Da who came every three to five days and asked him to "quickly move the Ziming Tower
"The matter is done," he couldn't help but complain in his heart - regretting that he should not have gone into this business. Originally, he was more than 90% sure, but Guo Yi would be frightened as soon as he heard the news that the imperial court was going to send troops to Lingao.
He was so distraught that he obediently offered his property to Tian Da. Not only did he please Tian Guozhang, but he could also get a benefit from it - Tian Da had originally promised him three thousand taels of silver if he succeeded.
Unexpectedly, Guo Yi refused to take the hard way, and looked like he would fight to the end. Not only did the three stores open for business as usual, but even Tian Da and others saw him once and never saw him again.
Tian Da then came to him from time to time and made noise, asking him to arrest Guo Yi and others immediately and force him to donate his property.
Idiot! Lu Yizhong cursed secretly after hearing his "high opinion". But he was also helpless - this "idiot" was telling him what to do, and he had to keep smiling.
It's easy to arrest people - he just needs to notify Nanhai County. But if a person is arrested, his property will be sold to the government, and a lot of money will be given to him. As for who will win after the sale is another matter.
After all, Tian Guozhang is far away in *** city. Not everyone can buy it.
No matter what Lu Yizhong's explanation was, Tian Da kept forcing him to let go - after all, he was just a slave, relying on the power of the father-in-law and pretending to be powerful. He had no influence at all in Guangzhou. Officials only had to shirk and perfunctory.
It would be difficult to do things.
Lu Yizhong originally wanted to continue to deal with him, but unexpectedly this person actually made another request:
"I have heard for a long time that Pei Lixiu from Ziminglou is a stunning woman from Australia. In addition to the property surnamed Guo, this woman will also be dedicated to the father-in-law."
Lu Yizhong couldn't laugh or cry, why did he fall in love with someone else's concubine again? He had seen this Pei Lixiu many times. She was already a woman in her mid-twenties. Although she looked delicate, she was a bit stout. She was taller than the average man.
There were so many. How could Tian Guozhang be interested in such a barbarian woman? It couldn't be that Tian Da wanted it himself.
Thinking that he was advising on military affairs these days, and actually had to make suggestions for a slave to steal a woman, Lu Yizhong felt a great sense of disgust in his heart.
How ridiculous!
He originally wanted to coax him back after some perfunctory talk. Suddenly he thought: arresting Guo Yi is of course not possible - once he is arrested, he will lose his property and his official position, but it doesn't matter if he arrests his concubine. No matter what the crime is, he will be arrested and brought back.
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey forced Guo Yi to sacrifice himself.
As for whether Pei Lixiu will return the property to its original owner in the end, that is none of his business.
"This is easy, it's all on me." Lu Yizhong agreed.
"Seriously?" Tian Da had been coaxed by him many times recently and was very worried about his credibility.
"Seriously." Lu Yizhong nodded, "After three days, I will naturally hand over the person to you. You have this little beauty, and you are afraid that the troubled son Guo Yi will not obediently offer his property? This is his heart and soul."
"Okay! I'll trust you this time." Tian Da slapped the table, "I'll come here in three days to pick up someone." He sneered, "Lu Zanhua, don't break your promise."
Lu Yizhong sent Tian Da away and immediately wrote a note in the study:
"We are about to get Pei's Lixiu from Ziminglou Guomen, Nanhai County will know about it!" The monogram was handwritten below.
When the ink was a little dry, he called a servant and ordered him to take it to the Nanhai County Yamen.
That night, Chunliu was taking care of the back door - now the manpower of Ziming Building has been greatly reduced, she had to take care of the back door herself, waiting for information from the traffic officer. Yan Maoda, Zhang Xin and others have all moved underground.
However, the communication between them has not been interrupted for a day. All news is sent by traffic officers.
The traffic officer is disguised as a hawker carrying a load selling snacks. He never enters the door. Chunliu knows that this hawker passes by here every night, but whether there is any message to send depends on the windmill on his load. If it is inserted on the left, there will be no message.
, if it was inserted to the right, she would go buy some food and bring back the secret message to Pei Lixiu.
The hawker had just passed by. Chunliu was about to close the door and go to sleep, when suddenly a dark shadow hid himself from the wall. Chunliu had been trained to do this, so he immediately jumped behind the door and called out a coded signal.
"The sky is dry and everything is dry!"
The secret signal is a signal to identify the incoming person, and also alerts the security personnel behind the door and in the backyard to be aware of someone approaching.
The person who came didn't respond to the signal, but rushed straight to the door. He didn't care that the door was about to close, and directly stretched his feet in.
"Don't close the door!" the visitor shouted urgently.
"Who is it?" Chunliu asked.
"I am - Wu -" The visitor quickly took off the gauze on his face.
"It's you?!" Chunliu almost shouted - isn't this Wu Zhixiang? She quickly gave a coded signal to the security personnel not to dispatch.
This Wu Zhixiang is a frequent customer of Ziminglou. He often comes to Pei Lixiu to show his courtesy, and he also deposits a large sum of money on the counter of Ziminglou to collect interest. But since half a month ago, he suddenly brought someone to withdraw the deposit.
I haven't been here for more than a month since then.
"What's wrong with you?" Chunliu was in shock: This son of a noble family and a scholar, why is he visiting secretly in such clothes in the middle of the night?
"Is Miss Pei here?" he asked without even taking a breath.