Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 286 Liu Zheng's Miscellaneous Notes of Thirteen Lines ([-])

After entering October, all businessmen from other countries except Liu Zheng were ordered to leave Guangzhou by the Guangdong Customs.

Neighbors on both sides have left in watermelon boats, and now there are only janitor servants left in the commercial halls of various countries.And these servants are also fellows of various commercial firms, and outsiders are not allowed to come in at all.

This made Liu Zheng very depressed, and now even the quarrelsome British people are gone, leaving him with nothing to do.Besides going for a walk in the square in front of the gate every day, he would also sit in the office for a while.Not only him, but even the thirty or so people who came with him were bored to the core, so they 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 knows the inside story, hates and fears these dozens of people in Baixionghang.He wanted to take revenge, but he was also afraid that Zhao Ni would attack in the north after he found out, so he was so entangled until after Qiuhou, Sun Shiyi felt that I couldn't beat you, so it's okay to scare you, right?

Therefore, in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, Guangzhou's "Qiu Hou Wen Zhan" was arranged in October, and the location was chosen on the riverside outside the Shangguan District.According to Liu Zheng's habit of going out for a walk every day to digest food, he can see clearly when standing in the fence.

Originally, all beheaded criminals in Guangzhou city were selected in a narrow alley outside the city, and one end of the alley would be blocked with a brick wall.Now that it is changed to the riverside, the commotion will be big.

In the first two days, the inspectors of the Biaoying came to clear the field, and circled a rectangular area with ropes, and set up a mat shed inside, and also built a wooden frame more than two meters wide.Liu Zheng thought it was a gallows at first, but when the work was finally completed, the frame might not be three meters high, so it didn't look like a gallows.

On the day of the execution, there were crowds of people on both sides of the river, and there were still many spectators sitting on boats on the river to watch the excitement.And the Guangzhou prefect deliberately ordered people to vacate the location facing the east of the execution ground, and no one was allowed to stand around to watch, so that Liu Zheng and the others could see it.

Of course Liu Zheng saw it, he was idle and had nothing to do, so he didn't watch it for nothing.Although he was a little scared, his strong curiosity drove him to the fence.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, seven prisoners were transported out of the city in cages, surrounded by crowds of onlookers.When he was taken out of the execution ground, Liu Zheng saw that each prisoner's hands were tied behind his back, and a long and narrow piece of wood was inserted at the root of the braid behind his head.These people were divided into two rows and knelt down with their backs to the mat shed.

Liu Zhengxin said that he was deceived by the TV series again.In the costume dramas I watched before, a big sign was stuck behind the head of the condemned prisoner.

Not long after, with the sound of gongs clearing the way, the Manchu Qing officials who supervised the beheading arrived on horseback.The official rode on the horse and saw Liu Zheng and others not far away, and he was very satisfied.When he got off his horse and entered the mat shed to take a seat, the book office at the side handed him a file.

The official took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and began to read.What was different from the past was that this time there was a dedicated official outside the mat shed repeating the contents of the file aloud, and he was actually facing Liu Zheng and the others.

This really bored Liu Zheng and the others!

The seven condemned prisoners were actually bandits who blocked the road, robbed and murdered people, but when the official read out, he always said something like "rebellious, harassing and lawless, resisting officers and soldiers", which seemed to mean that you will end up like this in the future.

Let alone Liu Zheng, even the faces of the 32 subordinates became extremely ugly.Someone wanted to go back to get a pistol on the spot, but was stopped by Liu Zheng.

It's easy to make a fuss, so what should we do next?Man Qing made it clear that he wanted to kill chickens for monkeys to see.

While the official read the case file, the executioners began to take their positions.Behind each prisoner are two executioners, the one in front holds a broad knife, and his left hand rests on the prisoner's head; the other behind him holds a short knife.

When the officials read the file almost to the end, the executioner in front raised his sword and waited.
With a sound of "Pa!", the official finished reading the case file, slapped the gavel, and shouted "Kill!" The soldiers of the standard battalion who were on the scene to maintain order also shouted "Kill!"

At the same time, the tens of thousands of people around also shouted "Okay!"

This scene immediately shocked Liu Zheng.He saw the big knives of the three executioners falling on the necks of the first row of prisoners like lightning, and the executioner behind him was responsible for cutting off the heads that were not chopped off by the first knife.Then the three in the row behind, and finally the main culprit.The whole process was over in less than 1 minute.

Before the officials left the tent with their subordinates, the subordinates who were in charge of monitoring Liu Zheng and the others came to report, saying that the faces of those people in Baixiongxing were all pale with fright, especially the representative named Liu, who vomited in a mess. Flee back to the shop.The official was very satisfied with what he heard, so he hurried to report to Sun Shiyi with his subordinates.

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 can tell who they are for.

The first thing everyone in Beihai Town, who returned to Baixiong's Bank, did after entering the door was to take out their weapons and load their bullets.As long as the outside situation is not right, immediately guard Liu Zheng and kill him.

After two days of fear, Cai Shiwen came to visit and implicitly explained the intention of the execution, and everyone was so angry that they cursed.Although angry, the people in Beihai Town, who had been jittery before, finally understood that Man Qing just disgusted himself in different ways.

After more than ten days like this, Cai Zhaoping, Cai Shiwen's son, came suddenly and invited him to visit Haizhuan Temple.When Liu Zheng asked about the date, it turned out that it was the eighteenth day of every month again.

Since Sun Shiyi came to such a trick, he hasn't gone out for more than ten days in a row. Apart from eating and sleeping, he just reads in the house every day, which makes him very bored.

It is said that Dai Qing before the Opium War bullied foreign businessmen enough, and did not treat foreign devils as human beings at all.

Needless to say, get out of Guangzhou in winter; secondly, foreign women cannot come to Guangzhou; foreigners must live in the Thirteen Commercial Houses during their daily lives in Guangzhou, and they cannot take sedan chairs when going out, cannot learn Chinese, and are not allowed to buy Chinese books; no matter what needs foreign merchants have , must be transferred by the public office; the servants are limited to eight people, and must be hired by the thirteenth line, and there are no female servants.

The officials who lead the Qing Dynasty will announce these prohibitions to every family in the public office once a year, and teach the merchants to go back and enlighten the gang of ghosts and animals from all over the world who have no sense of propriety, justice and shame.

Various foreign businessmen were so depressed by being led to clean up, so they protested to the office a few years ago, demanding to expand the scope of activities.The Guangzhou government didn't dare to make decisions without authorization, so they played Qianlong.

Therefore, starting from the 49th year of Qianlong, the Qing government allowed foreign businessmen to travel across the river to Haizhuan Temple and Chenjia Garden on the south bank, accompanied by merchants, on the third and 18th of each month.

After being nervous for so long, it's always fun to go out and have fun, even if you have already been there, everyone doesn't care.Right now, there are 33 people in Baixiongxing including Liu Zheng. They got on the watermelon boat by the river and went down to the opposite bank accompanied by Young Master Cai.

The Haizhuan Temple in the Qing Dynasty was far larger than that of later generations. Although the size of the temple hall was not comparable to that of Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou, the garden area was four or five times that of Guangxiao Temple, making it very suitable for sightseeing.

The strangest thing about this monastery is that there are a group of pigs, about a dozen of them, which are so fat that they can't even walk.Liu Zheng estimates that each head weighs at least [-] jin.When he went there for the first time, he heard from monks that these pigs were rescued from butchers by some believers and sent here to be released.

However, since all the monks in the temple were "fat and strong", Liu Zheng was very suspicious of the existence of these dozen or so pigs.So after this guy went back, "to see them" and "to see the pigs" became synonymous with disrespect in his mouth, and this kind of joke spread quickly in Shisanxing.

For example, Liu Zheng would tell the Austrian taipan next door, "Come on, let's go to Henan to see pigs."

The chubby Austrian taipan would smile and nod and say, "Okay! Go and see the monk."

Because the Cai family knew the abbot of Haizhuan Temple very well, it is estimated that they often donated incense money. During lunch, Liu Zheng and his party had a very sumptuous vegetarian meal; after the meal, there were various fruits and refreshments.Vegetarian food, as long as you are willing to put sesame oil, the taste is still very good, and everyone eats it very happily.

When drinking tea after dinner, Liu Zheng noticed that Cai Zhaoping was not in a good mood, and seemed to have something on his mind.After thinking about it, he excused himself from the table and went to the outdoor garden.

Sure enough, not a while after he came out, Cai Zhaoping also came out with his personal servant.

"Mr. Liu, is today's meal still to your liking?"

Liu Zheng cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Cai is bothered. It's good to have a vegetarian meal once in a while."

"That's fine, that's fine."

The two chatted casually for a while, and Liu Zheng noticed that Cai Zhaoping always took out his pocket watch to check the time, so he asked, "Mr. Cai, is there something urgent?"

Cai Zhaoping quickly said: "Oh, it's nothing serious. I'm really sorry for disturbing Mr. Liu's mood."

Liu Zheng smiled and waved his hands and said: "Mr. Cai, we are not outsiders. During the days when I was in Guangzhou, thanks to the care of Wanhe Bank, all my meals and trips were arranged very well. Don't be offended by me, what's the matter?" If you need my help, please speak up, and I will do my best to help you.”

As the heir to the Cai family of Wanhehang, Cai Zhaoping knew that Liu Zheng was different from ordinary foreign businessmen, he was a group of rebels.Although the imperial court wanted to smash his corpse into thousands of pieces, but the boat was strong and the guns were so powerful that they could only knock down his teeth and swallow it in his stomach.The Guangzhou officialdom also pretended to turn a blind eye to people like Liu Zheng, as long as they stayed out of the scope of the thirteen lines, they could do whatever they liked.

Cai Zhaoping knew that many of the vendors who do small business outside Baixionghang every day are spies placed by the governor's yamen in Guangdong.

But right now, the Cai family, as the general merchant, has encountered a big problem. If they can't get over this threshold, let alone fail to become a general merchant, the Cai family might be confiscated and sent to the frontier.

Don't look at the merchants of the Thirteen Banks who are usually wealthy, wealthy, and enjoy the privilege of trading with foreign merchants. As long as something happens, they will be abandoned by the government without hesitation.For the Manchu court, merchants were just a tool to make money.

It is said that merchants have to kneel and salute when they see officials. Even if officials allow them to stand up, their eyes will never go beyond the ninth button of the opponent's official uniform.Once they make mistakes, the merchants will be beaten with sticks and have no status at all.

Since Qianlong ordered the purchase of Western-style sailing battleships, because the household department had no money, the burden of raising funds fell back to Sun Shiyi.Who asked you to submit an application?Figure it out yourself!

So Sun Shiyi focused on the money bags of the merchants, and he ordered eight merchants to donate 500 million taels of silver before the end of the year.Now the merchants are 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 generally will not be settled until they return next year; this is the case every year, rolling every year.If the foreign bank has insufficient funds, the merchants themselves have to pay in advance on their behalf.

Because of the risk of maritime trade, the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not open funds to hong merchants at all; therefore, when cash flow was tight, hong merchants had to resort to other sources of loans.

For example, peer lending, rich merchants get richer by lending money, while poor merchants become poorer because of borrowing.

Due to the lack of credit, some newly established or poorly managed hong merchants had difficulty getting loans even through internal borrowing, so the only way left was to borrow from foreign merchants.

Because of the recurring deficit in trade between the East and the West, loans became another channel for foreign businessmen to make money. All British businessmen, including the East India Company, rushed to lend to Guangzhou merchants, with interest rates as high as 20% to 40%. The "big earhole" in the book was born from this.

It is said that the biggest disadvantage of businessmen is that they like to gamble. Facing the temptation of cash provided by foreign businessmen, many businessmen who are struggling to operate have embarked on the road of usury with a desperate mentality.

Once the merchants were finally unable to repay due to the pressure of interest, the foreign merchants would collect debts from the Guangzhou government.The method of bringing the clearing is to search the house and use the proceeds from the sale of the property to pay back the money. If it is not paid, the general merchant will lead the repayment.Don't think it's over when the house is stolen, borrowing money from foreigners privately is a big matter that loses the dignity of the country 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 powerless to resist, and the Cai family, as the general merchant, even undertook the donation amount of 150 million taels.

This will kill Cai Shiwen!All the current liquidity of Wanhehang is only 50 taels of silver, which is far from Sun Shiyi's requirements.Cai Shiwen is like an ant on a hot pot these days, raising money everywhere, and even entrusting people to sell the land in the countryside.

Now that Cai Zhaoping heard Liu Zheng's words, his heart suddenly moved, and an idea popped up.So he pretended to be gloomy and gloomy, and said in a desolate tone: "Mr. Liu, we are indeed in trouble right now. Sigh!"

Liu Zheng, who has been working as a veterinarian, is just a baby in front of veterans like Cai Zhaoping in the business field. Hearing this, he quickly asked, "What's the problem? Tell me, maybe I can help."

Cai Zhaoping saw that there was a door, so he borrowed a secluded room from the abbot of the temple, and told Liu Zheng about the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi's yamen asking for donations from merchants.

In the past few months he has known Liu Zheng, he has also learned some of the strength of Beihai Town.These merchants are actually intermediaries between the Qing Dynasty and foreigners in trade. They are at the forefront of overseas trade and have a strong ability to accept new things.

However, the practice of killing chickens and taking eggs in the Manchu Dynasty made the merchants ignore patriotism and lofty morality at all. These people had neither the heart to help the poor nor the willingness to pity the common people.So Cai Zhaoping did not hesitate to tell about Sun Shiyi's purchase of warships from the British.

Liu Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and after spending the past few months, he finally found an important piece of information, so he 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 house was confiscated and distributed."

Liu Zheng pretended to be resentful and scolded: "It's really not a thing!"

As soon as Cai Zhaoping saw that Liu Zheng had "taken the bait", he roughly talked about peer loans and loans from foreign businessmen, and finally said: "Brother Liu's Baixiong Bank can also do this loan business with a monthly interest of two to three cents if the book is rich. We don’t need to worry about the principal and interest if our business does not fail, and it will be recovered within three to five years at the most.”

Liu Zheng did have a bank note of 10,000+ taels in hand, which was found from Wang's house in Yangzhou at the beginning, and Zhao Xin gave him activity funds before leaving.It's okay to borrow money from the Cai family, but Liu Zheng doesn't really care much about the interest. What he cares about is opening up the situation in Guangzhou. One is to obtain information, and the other is to expand the influence of Beihai Town in the business.

"I don't know how much brother Cai needs to borrow?"

Cai Zhaoping quickly said, "50 taels."

50? !Liu Zheng was taken aback, and said to himself that if he had 50 to [-], he could make the decision, and he could only report to Zhao Xin for [-].

Seeing Liu Zheng's expression, Cai Zhaoping hurriedly said, "Brother Liu, it's okay to have less."

Liu Zheng shook his head and explained: "Money and interest are not a problem, but I don't have so much at hand right now. Let me think about this matter, and I will give you an answer in a few days."

"Then I will wait for the good news of Brother Liu."

When he returned to Baixiongxing in the evening, Liu Zheng asked his messenger to send a telegram to Beihai Town.Two days later, news from Beihai Town arrived that Zhao Xin agreed to the loan, and he was going to go south to deliver the money in person. The time was set for the night of the third day of December, and the meeting place was Haizhuan Temple.

The Cai family was overjoyed when they heard the news, and the position of general merchant was finally preserved.

Speaking of which, apart from the silver in stock in Beihai Town that was seized on the battlefield in the past two years, and the 20 taels of cash that Zhao Xin seized from merchants in Wangyan, there are also many gold and silver associated mines on Solenji Island. Produce less.Because silver is really worthless in another time and space, in addition to minting silver coins, the stock of 500-gram thousand-pure silver bars has reached tens of thousands of ingots.

On the fifth day after Liu Zheng told the Cai family that he agreed to borrow money, Cai Zhaoping came to visit with a large number of gifts. In addition to brocades, lacquerware, antique calligraphy and paintings, and some daily necessities, he also brought three tables to express his gratitude.Although the gifts were rich and the dinner was full of delicacies from mountains and seas, but this amount of money was nothing compared to the money the Cai family wanted to borrow.

After drinking a few cups of cat urine, Liu Zheng made a request to Cai Zhaoping while he was drunk, that he wanted to go to the flower boat to see and see.

In other words, if it were another blond foreign businessman, he would not dare to agree to kill Cai Zhaoping.But Liu Zheng's appearance is different from that of foreign merchants after all, and he also speaks Mandarin, so there is room for manipulation.

Cai's family spent a few days, first they bribed the soldiers guarding the gate, and then arranged a flower boat and prostitutes, and then led Liu Zheng, who had shaved his head and put on fake braids, and two guards to pretend to be Cai Zhaoping. His attendant sneaked out of the shopping area in the dark and boarded the flower boat outside the Youlan Gate.

After this night, Liu Zheng, who knows the taste of the marrow, finally bid farewell to the company of the fifth girl.

　Sorry everyone, the elderly in my family are hospitalized recently, and I will have an operation next week, which really exhausts me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)