Hidden Dragon in Qing Dynasty

The atmosphere in the hall immediately dropped to the freezing point, the servants in the gardens at the back of Letian Firm were all looking at each other in fear, who would have thought that Zhang Xiaowen would make a move?

Xiao Letian's finger gently tapped on the table for a long time before he finally smiled and said to Zhang Xiaowen: You're Zhang Xiaowen? You are quite bold, you know that the law of the Ryukyu is followed by the Great Light Law, even if you win, the Public Prosecutor will still be exiled … Even more so, is it not a crime to take bribes? After all, you were the one who gave the money to him? "

"Prime Minister!" Zhang Xiaowen's face was filled with grief and indignation as he said, "We are only merchants, merchants with no power or influence. If I am expelled from Fukang Trading Company's business in Ryukyu and it is not easy to manage it, how would I be able to face the head storekeeper? "

"People say that the Prime Minister is fair and honest. Could it be that all of that is false? Could it be that Ryukyu is also like the Great Qing, with a bed full of silk that's covered with filth … "

"Enough!" Hu Xueyan slapped the table and said, "Zhang Xiaowen, get out of here, I, Hu Xueyan, do not have such a disobedient Second Manager like you. Leave Ryukyu immediately …"

With that, Hu Xueyan bowed to Xiao Letian and said, "Prime Minister, calm your anger. I did not control this well, I will give the prime minister and Lord Lin an explanation. old shopkeeper, please speak a few words for me! "

At the table, Fan Lian's face also darkened, but they did not persuade Xiao Letian. Instead, they raised their cups and drank a mouthful of flower carving before speaking faintly, "I have never told you these words, Young Master. You are already tired from being busy with military affairs, I do not want to distract you further … However, the local officials of the Ryukyu are about to manage the situation.

"Oh? Your father-in-law knew about this a long time ago? " Xiao Letian asked.

"It's not just Xue Yan's Fukang Trading Company. Ever since you made a name for yourself, even Western Merchant Group has become much more low-key. Every single one of them dared to cause trouble in the Ryukyu, this group of dirty officials did not even let go of the foreigners and immediately asked for money …"

"You don't even have to say. Those overweeningly arrogant foreigners actually gave out money. What a group of bastards …"

Xiao Letian laughed, but this time his smile was not too good to look at, those who were familiar with her would know that this was a sign of anger, "Where is my soldier? "Since no one is not greedy, does that mean my officers have made a fortune as well?"

The Dragon Lord stuck out his chest and continued, "The proud new army does not care about that dirty money. The Prime Minister has already paid us enough soldiers, whoever dares to touch this dirty silver, they will only have one outcome.

"Alright, with your Dragon Lord's guarantee, I'll feel more at ease. No matter what, the army cannot be thrown into chaos, nor can I let my heart be dirty …" After he finished speaking, Xiao Letian personally helped Zhang Xiaowen up.

"I have already heard your grievances. Give me a few days time to thoroughly investigate it, I am not a person who gets fired up with a single smack of my head, if I were really that reckless, you would not believe me, right? "Come, come, drink …"

"This is just a small episode. It won't affect the party this time. Come, let us drink to our heart's content …" After drinking a cup of wine, Hu Xueyan, who still had lingering fear in his heart, laughed, "On a cool summer night, not only are there butterflies and bees, there are also flies and mosquitoes. This world is not perfect, if you discover a problem, you can solve it for me! "

"Prime Minister, I admire you from the bottom of my heart. To be honest, I've actually prepared a gift for you. However, after what happened, I feel embarrassed to bring it out …" Hu Xueyan laughed.

"Hahaha, take it out and take a look. As long as it's an open and open deal, why wouldn't I dare to accept it?" Looking at the piece of paper that Hu Xueyan had placed on the table, Xiao Letian asked suspiciously, "Looks like a land deed?"

"That's right, this is the land deed from Yuanbao Lane, at the foot of Wu Mountain in Hangzhou. A total of twelve acres is still empty …" "It's said that the land of Su Hang and the two land masses are paradise on earth. For a dignified Prime Minister Xiao of the East China Sea to have such a good land, no matter what …"

"As long as the Prime Minister likes it, I will take care of the matter of the garden!"

How could he not know the great name of Yuanbao Lane? The later generation, at Hu Xueyan's most glorious time, built it around eleven years ago, and it took three years of time to build it with three million silver taels.

Good boy, Hu Xueyan is bringing the foundations of his future garden here as a gift, this is too heavy.

"A gentleman does not seize another's love. This gift is too heavy …" Xiao Letian pushed the land deed away, but did not expect Hu Xueyan to be the mega-merchant.

"Prime Minister, this property is not for you, but for the forces under you. One must know that Jiangnan is the lifeblood of the Chinese economy, if the prime minister does not have an office here, then it would be unsightly. I know that the prime minister of Shanghai has already bought a piece of land beside the Huangpu River to build a building, but it is still the territory of the foreigners …"

"I heard that the Prime Minister and the Great Marshal Zeng have a good relationship. In the future, you will have your own property in Hangzhou, so it's convenient for you to be closer to the marshal. Hahaha …"

This was the highest level of bribery. It was fair and square, making everyone speechless.

"Fine, I'll do as you say, but I won't take such a big gift for nothing. I have a big business deal that I want to share with Xue Yan, do you think I'll be interested?"

"Oh? "Tell me about it …" Hu Xueyan's eyes immediately lit up. A deal that Xiao Letian needed to complete together with the company must be very big.

A huge map of East Asia hung on the wall, with the Ryukyu as the center line with two black lines, one leading to Shanghai and the other to Fuzhou.

"Ryukyu is 820 kilometers away from Shanghai, Ryukyu is 840 kilometers away from Fuzhou, and under these two water channels, I want to build two submarine cables. What I want to do is sell telegrams …"

"Now that the cables from Ryukyu to Japan's Jiuzhou have been successfully constructed, the summer will definitely be completed. Later, I will also be building telegraph line to North Korea, Jinzhou, Jiaodong and Tanggu …"

"Not only that, we only have a distance of 660 kilometers from Fuzhou to Hong Kong. It is not difficult to lay down the telegraph line at all... If we were to successfully build this information network, we would have to pay an annual telegraph fee and die in the future! "

"Not only that, since then, the fluctuation of commodity prices in East Asia is completely in our hands. The price of rice in Japan is so high that the price of land in Hong Kong has increased by several folds. When will the wood outside Hong Kong arrive?" "Aiyaya, that is when the real goods are going through the sky!"

Hu Xueyan had a close relationship with the foreigners in Shanghai, he obviously knew the benefits of telegrams. It was a military weapon that could also be used in business, who could compete with him if they took over the business in this world?

When that time comes, even foreigners would have to lower their heads and give in, not to mention the treasure pots that the telegraph line s would make money from, it wouldn't be too much to send a telegram asking you for three or four oceans, right? At first, he could just ask for ten pieces of ocean water, one word for one gold coin.

"Prime Minister!" Hu Xueyan bowed and bowed, "I am extremely grateful for the Prime Minister's kindness, may I ask how much funds the Prime Minister needs? "I broke my house to do this as well …"

"Very good, the entire seabed cable network budget is 5 million gold, you and my family will have half of it, but I want to control the shares. This is not because I, Xiao Letian, am unreasonable, that is because telegraph line can also be converted into military, so I have to consider the issue of national security …"

"Half in a family, I own 51% of the shares. What do you think?"

"No problem, Prime Minister, give me half a year. I will gather the funds in three batches, is there enough time?"

"Haha, as for the specifics, I would like to discuss with my father-in-law. I do not care about the details, in any case, the sooner the better … "Drink, drink, drink!"

The atmosphere in the hall immediately became passionate, even Zhang Xiaowen was in awe, he had just given the prime minister face, but the prime minister was not angry, and even gave him such a big deal.

In Xiao Letian's heart, he was still willing to help him. Although he was a very traditional kind of Chinese businessman, at that time, he dared to fight a war with the British businessman. This showed that he was a patriotic national businessman.

These kinds of people would not just simply move abroad after earning money. Their main goal was to start a war with foreign merchants and earn money in their own country. It was not the same for those who earned money.

When he shouted, Xiao Letian held Hu Xueyan's hand and said, "Don't forget our identities. When you are a merchant, don't forget our race. "No matter how good it is, it is still a part of the country, you can't lose the place that has the bloodline of your ancestors …"

Hu Xueyan didn't know why the Prime Minister had reminded him of this, but he would remember it well. "Prime minister, don't worry.

Hu Xueyan was truly grateful to Xiao Letian, because he was very clear that such a huge business deal was impossible to do without the protection of the army. The foreign people were not idiots, the telegraph line was invented by them, they must know how high the profit rate is.

This kind of business could only be done by the imperial government and Xiao Letian. If ordinary merchants could amass several million silver for this kind of project, forget about the fact that the imperial government could not agree to it, even those foreigners would cause trouble.

Without the protection of powerful military forces, the foreign devils would not have allowed the Chinese to monopolize such important military-to-civilian projects. Would the rich not have made money?

Sneakily cutting off your cables, putting pressure on the imperial government, finding the government to pressure you. In any case, they would definitely interfere with this kind of military power.

Hu Xueyan wanted to, but he didn't have any power. His protective umbrella was part of the, and it was even a part of a force within the Xiang Army. He had some influence in Jiangnan, but if he really wanted to reach out to the ocean, then he was nothing.

Today, Xiao Letian's olive branch was no different from a long drought full of rain. Hu Xueyan was so excited that he was about to cry.

Just as the atmosphere of the feast was boiling, the internal inspections of Ryukyu Xiao Letian had already begun. Xiao Hexin wielded his walking stick and became the commander, while countless of Squad Leaders, Queue length s and Company Commander s waited for his orders.

In the dark of the night, teams of new army politely invited the frightened officials of Ryukyu until finally Luo Huo personally led a team to surround the residence of the Minister of Revenue, Lin Yuanmiao.