Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 357 The origin of Sihai Bank
Su Fu,

inside the hall,
Su Jinkai was sitting on the side, smiling and saying nice things. Duan Hong was not in a hurry, so he started eating pastries. After eating for a while, he felt full and burped.

He took another sip of tea and then said;
"President Su, forgive me, the pastries in your house are indeed delicious, sweet and soft. I am a rough man. I followed the Marquis in the north and south, and I was always hungry and full. Didn't I have a good meal?" Next meal, I have never seen such exquisite food, I couldn’t help but take a few more bites.”

"Where, where, General Duan has worked hard and achieved great results. He is a well-known and beloved general under the command of the Marquis. He is highly valued by the Marquis and makes me admire him in my heart. Some cakes are insignificant. General Duan is here today, but the Marquis is Got an explanation?"

Su Jinkai was as eloquent as a lotus flower. He said that General Duan was very excited. He was indeed the president of the Chamber of Commerce. He was eloquent and well-spoken. Duan Hong thought to himself that he was inevitably a little wary and said,

"There is an explanation, but I don't know what to do? So I came to your house to discuss it."

Su Jinkai hesitated slightly, took the teapot and gave Duan Hong a cup of tea, and continued to ask;

"General Duan, please tell me in detail. I'll see if I can do my best to satisfy the Marquis."

When Duan Hong saw that the atmosphere was almost over, he stopped playing casually, came over and whispered,

"President Su, Mr. Hou asked you to talk to the big shopkeeper of Sihai Bank. Mr. Hou has a lot of antique calligraphy and paintings on board, as well as pearl agate. Mr. Hou wants Sihai Bank to discount them all and exchange them for silver. Pull back.”

"Ah, that's it, General Duan. This shouldn't be difficult, right? Sihai Bank has a pawn shop and an antique shop."

Su Jinkai thought he was in trouble, but it turned out to be a pawn business. This is what Sihai Bank does. Don't they want to accept the Marquis's things? Or the Marquis has other ideas.

Duan Hong said nothing, picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and continued slowly;

"It's not difficult, but the Marquis said that he wants the big boss of Sihai Bank to buy it at more than twice the market price. President Su, what do you think?"

"hiss!"

Su Jinkai took a breath after hearing this. The Marquis's appetite is indeed very good. This matter is difficult to handle. Isn't this just a money grab?

Speaking of which, Sihai Bank has been a dominant one since the previous dynasty, and now it is spread all over the territory of Dawu. During the reign of Emperor Tianbao, Sihai Bank committed heinous crimes, but now it is still in peace. Why does the Marquis want to Sihai Bank is here to pawn its business.

Duan Hong thought it was a trivial matter, so he sat there eating pastries, waiting for President Su's reply.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Su Jinkai did not speak. He looked up and saw President Su with his head lowered and silent, as if he had encountered a huge difficulty.

Duan Hong put down the cake in his hand, wiped the oil on his hand, and asked,

"What's going on? Why doesn't President Su speak? Is there something wrong?"

Su Jinkai raised his head, his face was a little ugly, he hesitated and did not dare to hide it, so he told the inside story about Sihai Bank. The reason why Sihai Bank was called Sihai Bank was because the relatively large bank accounts in various places had united together. Then the aristocratic family divided the local shares, and finally they formed a giant company. The banknotes were universal across the country, and the banknotes were recognized but not the people. Therefore, they had an excellent reputation. In the early years, they were used by merchants. Later, the aristocratic family and the nobles even Ordinary people are also using it, and its influence is growing.

"General Duan, behind Jiangnan Sihai Bank, there are not only those aristocratic families and nobles who are involved, but also many officials who have invested in it. If you are taking money from the bank, you are not snatching money from the pockets of those people. ?, I must disagree."

Duan Hong sneered, stared at Su Jinkai and said;
"Then I have no control over it. I just obey the orders given by the Marquis. It is the Marquis who has the final say whether to rob or not. You just need to tell me, but I understand!"

"Don't get me wrong, General Duan. I must understand, but General Duan, please tell the matter to the Marquis again. During the Tianbao period, when Tang Zhen, the prefect of Jinling in the south of the Yangtze River, took office, it became known that the officials and merchants of Sihai Bank colluded and committed crimes. He committed countless crimes of corruption and even counterfeited copper coins privately. Seeing that his deeds had failed, Sihai Bank instigated his subordinates to murder Tang Zhen. Tang Zhen died in office, and the imperial court replaced him. Who knew that the prefect and his colleagues Zhi died one after another for no reason, which frightened Jinling to dare to come without officials. Later, the Supreme Emperor visited the south, and only then did he uncover the major fraud cases that endangered the imperial government's finances, and tracked down countless officials involved, and then corrected the imperial court. Does General Duan know who was investigated? ?”

Su Jinkai was afraid that General Duan would not understand what was going on behind Sihai Bank, so he brought out the events of the Emperor's Tianbao period in detail. Everyone knew that the Emperor had solved a major case in Jiangnan.

But the people didn't know who was involved in the case. The Supreme Emperor killed many people in Jinling back then, and it is still a taboo among civil servants until now. Fortunately, he had been a shopkeeper in Sihai Bank back then, so he knew all about it.

Duan Hong didn't speak, and he didn't expect that the situation inside was so complicated. He thought that the Marquis had found a good job for him, and it was just to pawn some antique calligraphy and paintings. Could it be that the Marquis had other ideas, but he was stupid and couldn't figure it out for the moment. Hard or soft, Mr. Hou didn't explain.

"Then tell me who is involved. Is it possible that the shopkeeper didn't catch him?"

"General Duan has a keen eye. It is true that the shopkeeper of Sihai Bank was not arrested, but all the civil servants in Jiangnan, from the Chief Secretary to the Imperial Envoy of Jiandu, as well as the prefect, Tongzhi, and Tongpan were all killed."

Su Jinkai was also wondering how General Duan knew that the shopkeepers of Sihai Bank were safe. After thinking about it, he stopped worrying about it. This matter still needs long-term consideration.

"Then what President Su wants to do, other generals don't ask, those things must be doubled if the Marquis said they should be doubled."

Duan Hong knew that Su Jinkai would not lie when he said what he said. The civil servants had already been rotten for a long time. This situation did not last for a day or two. There was no need to care so much. He came here just to get money.

Su Jinkai had no choice but to ask how much silver it was first, but thinking that the amount of money must be not a small amount due to the handiwork of the Marquis, he tried to ask in a low voice;

"General Duan, how much are those antique calligraphy and paintings, agates and jades worth?" Duan Hong stretched out his fingers and made some calculations. In addition to some good treasures and books, the Wang family also has more than 100 million taels of silver left, and the Bao family also has a lot. When he got more than 100 million pieces of antique calligraphy and painting, he rounded up the figures and calculated that he had 200 million pieces of silver. Double it and it would be 400 million pieces of silver. Then the brothers’ salary was obtained. Mr. Hou’s calculation was no doubt that Lao Duan was convinced. .

"It's not much. The Bao family and the Wang family add up to about 200 million taels of silver. Doubling it is 400 taels of silver. It's not much. Of course, the more silver you can sell, the better."

Su Jinkai was on the side. He just picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. When he heard what General Duan said, he spit the tea back into the bowl and looked over with wide eyes. Four million taels of silver were not for the Jiangnan civil servants. Fate, I wanted to speak several times, but I was trembling and dared not speak. I spit out a mouthful of saliva and murmured;
"General Duan should bring more soldiers. Let's just take the pawned things and talk to the big shopkeeper of Sihai Bank. We should be polite first and then send troops. The younger ones can find someone to send a message there first. If that doesn't work, go directly to the General Chamber of Commerce of Banks. , break in."

"Okay, let's do it like this. I'll bring a battalion of people to escort those things. They'll be there in a minute."

Seeing how generous General Duan was, Su Jinkai no longer wanted to negotiate. He wanted so much money and it was obviously a robbery. No matter how many good words he said, it was useless. It was better to talk straight to the point.

Just as he was thinking about how to speak, he never thought that there was a loud noise and chaos outside. Su Jinkai was unhappy in his heart. The people in the house were so unruly. He didn't know that there was a distinguished guest in the house, and he was causing trouble for himself.

"Butler, go out and see what's going on. He's so unruly and needs to be disciplined."

"Yes, sir, I will go and have a look right now."

The housekeeper also took the boy out with a bad look on his face.

Outside Jinling City,

At the pier of the Guards Camp, Zhang Jinyu had already prepared a carriage, as well as the accompanying guards from the old camp of the Pioneer Battalion.

After a while,
Mrs. Wang then came down from the boat with a few girls, followed by the Hou Mansion guard Wei Yong and others.

When they arrived at the door of the carriage, the women got on the carriage one by one. Lin Daiyu followed Mrs. Wang, holding the carved ebony tablet in her arms. She remained silent. The women knew that Miss Lin was sad and stopped making noise.

After everyone was seated, Zhang Jinyu and Ning Bian got on their horses.

Wei Yong was in the middle of the team and shouted,

"Let's go, drive."

"drive!"

They were escorted by cavalry all the way and went straight to Hanshan Temple outside the city.

In the early spring, Jiangnan was extremely beautiful. Mrs. Wang specially raised the curtains of her car to let the girls watch. The autumn scenery of the mountains and rivers of Jiangnan was panoramic. The green woods, clear springs, and neat paddy fields were quite a picture.

"Yu'er, be happy and settle down with your parents when you get to Hanshan Temple. You're here to enjoy the blessings, so you can't have a sad face."

When Mrs. Wang saw Lin Daiyu alone there, she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. After a long time, it hurt her. Seeing this, Qin Keqing leaned closer to Lin Daiyu. Her plump body touched the thin Lin Daiyu from time to time, but Daiyu was a little embarrassed. , Qin Keqing patted Lin Daiyu's back gently and comforted;

"That's right, sister, don't be sad. From now on, we sisters will talk more together. When we return to the capital, if that doesn't work, I will take you shopping. It will be lively."

"That's right, sister, don't be restrained. There are many temple fairs in the capital. Let's go there together disguised as men."

Speaking of playing, Lan Yue'er and Lan Shu'er's eyes shone with joy. Lin Daiyu smiled and nodded when she saw how concerned her sisters were.

"Well, listen to my sisters."

Seeing that Lin Daiyu finally spoke up, Mrs. Wang felt relieved.

It can be seen how miserable the Jia family is. After his daughter died, none of his close relatives showed up. He sent a nephew to pay homage. He was not so kind and asked his only daughter who had not left the government to bear the responsibility. I don’t know what the old lady thought about it. of.

It is true that the Jia family in the capital cannot hold up the wall, but the Jia family's remaining power in the border army and the capital camp is still there, so it is not easy to suppress it too much. However, the women of the Jia family are quite talented. In the capital, except for the ladies from the scholarly family, There is no one in Xungui who can help, and Jin Yu’s concubine has not yet been found. It seems that it is better to inquire carefully when returning to Beijing.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Wang smiled, as if she had a solution.

Lin Daiyu turned her gaze outside. The sun was rising high, and it was already warm. Breathing in the cool air, her spirit suddenly felt much better, as if all the illness in her body had been blown away.

She hasn't been out of town for a long time.

(End of this chapter)