Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2743 The Capital (96)

The most exquisite meals in the capital are not found in restaurants. Except for the imperial kitchens and the chefs of dignitaries, the first-class banquets are held in the courtyards.

In a hall in the best courtyard of the capital, the candles are burning brightly and the Xiang curtains are rolled up at dusk.There is a sharp cold wind outside, but the four white copper braziers in the house are burning brightly, and the interior is as warm as spring.There are three Eight Immortals tables, with eight candied dried fruits in high decorations, inlaid with auspicious words such as happiness, fortune, longevity, and happiness. In the middle is a foot-high Lion Immortal candy.There are "Buddha's hands" from the south placed high on large porcelain plates on the four walls, and more than ten pots of Zhangzhou daffodils with fragrant pistils.The air is filled with light and elegant aroma.

Today is the first banquet of the New Year for the Capital Qianye Guild. Fifteen members of the guild, large and small, will gather here to have a banquet and discuss business for the new year.

It's just after noon now, and only the "great colleagues" are here to discuss matters.According to the "hidden rules" of the guild, the "little colleagues" will not arrive until nightfall.Important matters were discussed and decided by the senior colleagues in the afternoon, and they only informed the younger colleagues at night.Naturally, the interests of the younger peers were not taken into consideration, so the younger peers complained but were helpless.

All my colleagues are "Shanxi Houses".At that time, Shanxi House had not really evolved into a purely commercial financial institution like the later Qianzhuang, but was an integrated trade and finance enterprise that did everything.As the name suggests, Shanxi House is a shop opened by Shanxi merchants in the capital.The goods sold are mainly "Shanxi goods" and "Mongolian goods", including common agricultural and sideline products and daily necessities, as well as salt, tea, horses and other government-monopolized or controlled goods.Money exchange is just an accessory to these businesses.

It's just that Shanxi businessmen have realized the huge benefits of money exchange and deposit interest a long time ago.In addition, their business operation costs are huge and their liquidity is strong.It itself requires support from the financial industry.Therefore, Shanxi Fangfang gradually started the financial industry without any guidance.Later it even became their main business project.

The most important issue today is naturally how to deal with Delong and the aftermath.

The leader of the Capital Money Industry Guild is named Cao. Although Shanxi merchants are famous all over the world, in terms of money industry, almost all their money owners, shopkeepers, and clerks come from more than a dozen counties in central Shanxi.Mr. Cao is no exception. He is originally from Taigu.Born as a bank clerk, he worked in the capital for more than 30 years and reached the position of shopkeeper.

Although he is just a shopkeeper, he has great power and is equivalent to half the boss in the bank.He controls all management, personnel, and property rights, and is only responsible to his employer.Not only are the rewards generous, but there are also shares that can be used to distribute dividends.It's a gold-collar job

But the return required by the owner is also high.After three years of service, you will make a profit that satisfies your boss. A single dividend can earn an ordinary person several lifetimes of money. However, if you fail to make a profit or suffer a loss, no one will ask for advice in the future.

Therefore, those who can get to the position of shopkeeper and continue to work for decades are all old foxes in the industry.And the person who serves as the leader of the Qianye Office is a vixen who has become a spirit through cultivation.

The Shanxi house where Shopkeeper Cao works is simply called "Changji" - this is also a characteristic of each house. There is no font size, only the surname of the owner.Among the eight Shanxi shops in the capital, he only occupied the position of fifth and sixth.This is also a kind of check and balance among their peers to prevent one company from becoming dominant.Therefore, as usual, the first three companies are not responsible for the meeting.

Shanxi House has been operating in the capital for more than a hundred years and is a complete local snake.When Delong, a powerful dragon, first arrived, even though there was a threshold and dignity, it still took a lot of effort to gain a firm foothold.During this period, they also worked together to give Delong a stumbling block, but because Delong had access to the palace, he didn't use force.

Later, when Delong became bigger and stronger with his wire transfer business and Zi's boutiques, the world no longer allowed them to stab him in the back, so he began to contact Delong and resumed normal courtesy exchanges.Although Delong has grown bigger, it is still far behind the strength and deposit and loan scale behind Shanxi Shop.Strictly speaking, Delong is still a "little peer".

Originally, Leng Ningyun had no intention of challenging the financial order of the capital and intensifying conflicts.But since then, the secret weapon of wire transfer has emerged.The remote exchange business, especially the exchange in Jiangnan, Guangdong and other places with generous discounts, basically has nothing to do with the Shanxi house.Moreover, because Delong had the secret weapon of the telegraph, he knew the banking situation in various places very well, and he could mobilize funds at his fingertips, making huge profits every time.This makes colleagues in Shanxi House feel jealous and resentful.

When the Kun thieves invaded and Guangdong fell, the Shanxi house was very excited for a while.I thought Delong would be destroyed soon.Unexpectedly, Delong came over again quietly.The power behind this really makes businessmen speechless.So during these days, everyone was calm.

Before the end of the year, I heard that Leng Ningyun had been kidnapped by thieves, which once again made the shopkeepers in Shanxi celebrate.If he is kidnapped by thieves these days, even if he does not die, Delong will definitely be severely injured.On the day they heard the news, several shopkeepers joined together, preparing to spread rumors and run money to take down Delong in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, the series of changes that followed were dazzling. Not only was Delong sealed and prevented from bankruptcies, but Leng Ningyun miraculously returned a year ago.

"It doesn't matter whether Leng Ningyun comes back or not. Delong's vitality is severely damaged now. I'm afraid it will be closed down." Qiao Wannian, the leader of Qiao Ji's house, said with a smile while sniffing Western snuff.

"Mr. Qiao, you are really closed to the news!" Qin Shengyu, the shopkeeper of He Ji, sneered, "There has been news in Shuntian Mansion that Mr. Zhong released Delong's seal as soon as he returned to the office on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. If he closes down, Why bother to close the lockdown? As soon as the lockdown is lifted, don’t we just have to open?”

"It's not necessarily that we're about to open." Shopkeeper Yuan of Shenji is the youngest of the eight shopkeepers, only in his early forties. "Until the seal is lifted, the money and account books in his treasury cannot be used. We can't just leave it like this. Just leave? There are at least tens of thousands of silver in this bank."

"My Yuan brother, you are such a kind person." Shopkeeper Xia Jishen, who was leaning on Concubine Xiang's couch and openly puffing away his breath, sneered, "This Leng Ningyun is not a good person, he is probably Kun himself. Thief. If you want to run away, it doesn't matter what the imperial seal is. It's just a piece of waste paper to him." "Yes, since it's just a piece of waste paper to him, why bother asking Mr. Fu Yin to unblock it? Just run away. That’s it.”

Shopkeeper Shen was stunned for a moment, with a rather uneasy expression on his face, and said: "We have to fight to the death."

Among all the shopkeepers in Shanxi House, Shopkeeper Shen was the one who firmly believed that Delong was going to die and Leng Ningyun was going to run away.Everyone knows that he is so actively slandering Delong, probably because Xia Ji is likely to be involved in this matter.

Although all the shopkeepers hate Delong very much, they hope that this alien who has an affair with the Kun thief will disappear from the capital as soon as possible.However, the complicated environment in the capital has developed the habit of not expressing their opinions easily.

"I think Delong will definitely open." Shopkeeper Cao said, "Yesterday, Wu Kaidi went to six small businesses in order, probably to adjust positions and prepare for emergencies when the business opens."

"They dare!" Shopkeeper Shen's eyes widened, "These barbarians don't want to eat this bowl of rice in the capital?!"

"It doesn't matter whether they dare or not." Shopkeeper Qin looked disdainful, "Each of these families has only thirty to forty thousand silver, and the largest family only has sixty thousand taels. Can they raise tens of thousands of silver for Delong? We still follow the old plan: as long as Delong dares to open the door, we will crush him in one go!"

"It's easy to squeeze out Delong, but what to do with the mess that Delong left behind?" Liu Shuhuan, the boss of Wangji, who had been silent until now, spoke up.Wang Ji is the largest room in Shanxi and the most powerful.It is said that the funds that can be mobilized exceed one million, and the principal is as much as 40 million.

"Delong's votes outside are estimated to be at least 20." Shopkeeper Yuan calculated, "The maximum amount of silver in his hand is [-]. As long as you squeeze him, he will definitely fail. After he fails, the market in the capital will be afraid It’s very ugly.”

"It's just a few more people jumping into the well and hanging themselves." Shopkeeper Shen dismissed it.

"But we ourselves have suffered a lot." Storekeeper Yuan said, "It's different now. In the past, his family had less money and less contact with us. In the past few years, the business has increased sharply. Which store in our hands does not have Delong's money? If Delong falls, this note will become useless paper."

Shopkeeper Shen sneered and said: "Look, it's only a few thousand taels, so I'm still hesitant. If you want to do a big business, why bother with this? If you drive away Delong, don't all his depositors belong to us?"

Shopkeeper Yuan sneered: "Shopkeeper Shen! The store has limited financial resources, and it is no richer than your old Xia family's wealthy owner! How can you fool around with a net loss of several thousand taels of silver and say 'make a big deal' when calculating the big account?" ?”

His words caused thousands of waves, because each family had a lot of Delong's notes, ranging from tens of thousands to thousands.

"It would be fine if Delong's notes can be redeemed in full before he goes bankrupt. If he can't, it's really hard to explain!"

"How can I think of a way to cash in the money and crush Delong at the same time?"

……

All the shopkeepers were whispering, except for shopkeeper Qin, who was not very enthusiastic about the run.

Shopkeeper Shen was very worried. Why did the situation suddenly change?Seeing that the shopkeepers were still pretending, he sneered: "Don't pretend, everyone! Who doesn't know that after Leng Ningyun was kidnapped last month, each of you redeemed a lot of Delong's banknotes at a [-]% or [-]% discount?" Prepare for a run. Now Delong is about to open, are everyone shrinking? "

"Shopkeeper Shen, please be patient." Shopkeeper Cao said to smooth things over, "Delong Bank, of course we can't tolerate it, but we'd better discuss how to do it specifically."

(End of this chapter)