The hosts of the Cai family and Haizhuang Temple are very familiar with each other and donated a sum of incense money every time they come. So Liu Zheng and his group ate a very rich vegetarian vegetarian food, and there were various fruits and refreshments after the meal. As long as you are willing to add sesame oil, the taste is still very good, and everyone was very happy to eat it.

When I met Cai Zhaoping today, Liu Zheng noticed that the other party was not in a good mood, and even forced a smile. Thinking that the other party had helped him a lot in the past few months, he took advantage of the time of walking in the garden of the two and asked Cai Zhaoping: "I see Brother Wen Fang's heart is full of worries today, don't you know what is difficult for me?"

"I did encounter some difficulties, thank you Brother Tieqing for your concern."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! Speaking of which, after Liu Zheng came to Guangzhou, Cai Zhaoping always called him "Master Liu". Liu Zheng was awkward and thought of typing a word for himself.

He remembered that his father once said that his name originated from a sentence in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Liu Penzi", which is the so-called righteous person among the iron. Later, he asked Cai Zhaoping, who was famous for his scholars, and finally named himself "Tieqing".

Liu Zheng said: "Brother Wen Fang, I have been in Guangzhou for more than a few months and we have formed a good relationship. If you have any difficulties, you might as well tell me."

"This..." Cai Zhaoping hesitated a little, not knowing whether he should say it.

Speaking of the huge "killing chickens to warn monkeys" on the Pearl River not long ago, it scared Cai Zhaoping very much, otherwise he would not have been to Xiaoxi Pavilion for more than ten days. If his father Cai Shiwen wanted to establish good interpersonal relationships with Liu Zheng and open up the supply channels for ginseng and fur outside the pass, after seeing Sun Shiyi's methods, he would not dare to have any ideas.

However, the Cai family is facing a big problem now, and urgently needs hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to turn over. If you can't get over this threshold, everything will be over.

Having been called by Guangdong Customs Supervision half a month ago, when he learned that the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Sun Shiyi asked the Thirteen companies to donate one million taels of silver before the end of the year, Cai Shiwen was like an ant on a hot pan, raising funds everywhere.

He even contacted the Bath businessman in Macau, but the interest offered by the other party was as high as 36%. The reason was that Tongwenxing had borrowed more than 200,000 taels from them and could not repay them on time. He was a high-risk customer.

Cai Shiwen also understood that borrowing this kind of money is to quench thirst. Even if he can pass the current threshold, he cannot repay the money in time at the beginning of the May tea trade season. The Bass merchants will file a complaint to Guangdong Customs. At that time, bankruptcy is not the end, and it is perfect for raiding homes and exiling to the border.

In the more than 20 years since the reorganization of the public service in 1760, nine of the Thirteen Businesses have gone bankrupt one after another. Except for three companies whose heads died and whose successors have no successors, the other six companies have gone bankrupt due to high debts, with a total accumulated debt of nearly 6 million taels, and most of them are loans that cannot be repaid.

In fact, before opium smuggling led to a large amount of silver outflow, due to the one-sided and regular deficits in trade, lending to traders became one of the businesses that foreign merchants made money. The Bass businessman, who was called "Baibo Moro" by the people of Guangzhou, even regarded it as his main business. The "loan shark" in later generations first referred to these people.

Thirty years ago, Bass merchants living in Mumbai and Surat came to Guangzhou under the name of the British East India Company by virtue of their good relationship with British colonists. In addition to trafficking cotton and jewelry, they also lend money to merchants.

The method of lending by Bath merchants is very simple. They borrow from the British East India Company at 6%-12% interest, and then lend to the merchants at 20%-40% interest, and embezzle the interest spread from it.

Due to the risk of maritime trade, the Qing Dynasty's Internal Affairs Office, who was determined to seek stability, did not open up funds to the Thirteen Merchants' merchants at all. When the cash flow was tight, the merchants could only seek help from foreign merchants. Once the merchants failed to pay back the arrears for a long time, the foreign merchants could only file a complaint with Guangdong Customs.

In the eyes of foreigners, since the Thirteen Trade Association monopolizes foreign trade and has a license issued by the government, they represent the country. If individuals cannot pay back the money, the state will naturally compensate them on their behalf.

However, what they didn't know was that for the Qing Dynasty, merchants were just tools to manage foreign trade on their behalf and the domestic slaves they took. The slaves owed debts to chase the owner and asked for debts, which made the owner embarrassed. They still wanted the owner to pay back the money for him? What a waste of money!

Seven years ago, that is, the 45th year of Qianlong's reign, four merchants led by Taihe Yan Shiying and Yuyuan Xingzhang Zhang Tianqiu filed for bankruptcy due to owing foreign debts of 3.8 million yuan. Unexpectedly, Qianlong was worried that the arrears of silver would be ridiculed by foreigners, which would damage the face of the Celestial Empire, so he ordered the four merchants to sell their property and repay them twice the amount of the debt. The insufficient part would be paid back in ten years by other merchants.

When the news came back to Guangzhou, the merchants were filled with whine, and the Bass merchants were so happy. The Qing court handled this way, undoubtedly instigating them to lend usury! If anyone dared to default on the arrears, he would sue and he would still get double back then!

After thinking about it, Cai Shiwen, who was desperate, put his ideas on Liu Zheng. Although he knew very well who was behind this "Great Ainu Kingdom" team stationed in Guangzhou, he couldn't care about it even when things came to an end.

If you borrow money from a merchant in Bath, you will die if you lose news from Beihai Town. But if the law is not passed on to Liu Er, will you know the heaven and earth know you know me?

Through the information obtained in the past few months of interaction between Cai Zhaoping and Liu Zheng, and the inquiry from the master of Guangdong Governor Tusab, Cai Shiwen came to a conclusion that Zhao Xin and his "rebels" were very different from those in the past.

Not only could they defeat tens of thousands of troops of the court on land, but they could make the former Governor Fu Kang'an of Guangdong and Guangxi a fifteen, but they could even cross the sea. When the imperial navy saw them, they would turn around and run away.

If anyone doesn't believe it, then go find Sun Maidai, who can steal chickens and lose rice, and ask how the more than 800 people from the Xiangshan Association were destroyed.

Cai Shiwen borrowed money from Beihai Town, in addition to solving the urgent problem, actually had another purpose, which was to find a big backer for the sailing trade he invested in.

Speaking of which, Zhao Xin and his friends shelled Hengqin Island and Macau last year, and after defeating the Guangdong Navy, they patted their butts and left, but the reputation of "Thor" quickly spread across the Pearl River. Now, whether it is foreigners or pirates, they know that as long as they encounter a big white ship, they must not be provoked, and they can hide as far as they can.

Like other big merchants in the Thirteenth League, Cai Shiwen not only engaged in the shore trade of Guangzhou Port, but also involved in the sailing trade in Southeast Asia. Since twenty years ago, he has invested in ten Guangzhou ships of different tonnages and regularly traveled to Annan, Cambodia, Siam, Luzon and Batavia for trade.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! In addition to wind and waves, pirates are also a headache. If you can borrow the tiger skin of "Thor", Wanhexing's ship will be much safer at sea in the future.

It was precisely because of this that he instructed Cai Zhaoping to find Liu Zheng and seek help by taking advantage of the opportunity to visit Haizhuang Temple.

The reason why Cai Shiwen himself did not take action himself is mainly because Cai Zhaoping has had a good relationship with Liu Zheng in the past few months, and because he has a habit of smoking big smoke, he always has a faint smell of urine. Although he doesn't think so, Liu Zheng, who has an extremely sensitive nose, can't stand it.

You should know that on the first day of Dr. Liu’s visit to Guangzhou, he knew that Cai Shiwen smoked big cigarettes, which made him feel so fed.

Not long after, Cai Shiwen noticed it, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with this. However, this kind of thing is important today. If Liu Zheng hadn't said a few words and used the excuse of urinating, it would be unsightly.

"What do I say..."

Seeing Cai Zhaoping talking hesitantly, Liu Zheng felt a little impatient. He was thinking of finding an excuse to go back for tea when Cai Zhaoping said, "Everyone in the world thinks that our businessmen are all rich and wealthy, but they don't know that those flowers are just for the decency of the court, and are for outsiders to see them so as not to be looked down upon by the barbarians. Alas, nowadays, even the wealthy people of the Pan family are still plagued by debts. If you are not careful, your family will be destroyed."

"If I want to say, the key is that there is a problem with the 'guarantor system'. Such a court is really weird!"

"Brother Tieqing, be careful!" If this were normal, Cai Zhaoping would definitely turn around and leave. But today he shouldered the heavy responsibility of the family and had to endure it if he didn't want to listen.

Liu Zheng smiled and said softly: "What are you afraid of? I won't hide the truth from you. It won't take a few years to change the masters of the world! In our eyes, the Qing Dynasty was just a paper tiger! All the bullshit emperors will be defeated!"

“…”

The other party's naked intimidation and unscrupulous words changed Cai Zhaoping's face, and a layer of white sweat appeared on his bare forehead. He kept turning around, afraid that there would be outsiders nearby.

However, he also knew that the "guarantee system" of the court was indeed problematic. You should know that most of the debts borne by the Cai family were because of it.

After the "four-port trading" policy began in the Kangxi era, more and more foreign ships came to China for trade, and followed by a large number of problems in food, clothing, housing and transportation, and goods transactions. After Qianlong ascended the throne, with more and more disputes arising from trade, how to properly manage foreign merchants was put on the agenda.

The arrogant and arrogant Guangdong customs officials were not only disdainful of dealing with barbarians, but also cared about the rare goods and silver they brought, so they came up with the bad idea of ​​"using merchants to control barbarians".

In the tenth year of Qianlong's reign, with Qianlong's approval, Guangdong Customs introduced the "guarantee system". Its main content includes two aspects: external security and internal security. To put it bluntly, it is to transform the baojia system and the joint seat system in the feudal era and apply it between merchants and foreign merchants.

The so-called "foreign warranty" requires that foreign merchants must choose one of the 13-tier merchants after arriving in Guangzhou - that is, provide guarantees. Foreign merchants are not allowed to sell goods on the ship privately and subsequent purchases, and must be handed over to the insurer for underwriting; at the same time, the insurer must also be responsible for all activities of the crew members on the foreign ship during their stay in Guangzhou, and any disputes will be resolved by the insurer.

"Domestic Security" requires all merchants to guarantee each other. One party owes debts, and the other companies bear unlimited joint and several liability, and pay the debts in installments. Among them, those who serve as general merchants must bear more share than others.

"Brother Tieqing knows Pan Ronggu?"

"I know, the fourth son of the Pan family, you took me to Tongwenxing to recognize the family that time."

"He once told me that it would be a dog rather than a merchant. Now it is my turn to be the chief merchant. In less than half a year, my father was already breathless in the money matters."

"Since that's the case, then just resign from the Guangdong Customs Supervisor! Whoever wants to be the one who is."

Although Liu Zheng's tone was careless, it was all intentional. He had already understood. After chatting for so long, Cai Zhaoping had a "difficulty" on the left and a "silver money" on the right. The real purpose was probably two words, borrowing money.

"It's great if you really want to be as Brother Tieqing said." Seeing that Liu Zheng was not in response, Cai Zhaoping secretly complained in his heart. He sighed and continued, "If my father really resigns, he will offend the supervisor, and even the barbarians will look down on Wanhexing."

"It makes sense! As the saying goes, once you enter the rivers and lakes, it is very difficult to wash your hands with golden basins. In fact, there is a couplet in my hometown that says this."

"Oh? What couplet?" Cai Zhaoping didn't have the heart to listen to any couplets, but he still pretended to be curious about his baby.

Liu Zheng blinked and smiled and said, "You can do it if you say you can, it's okay if you can't do it; if you can't do it, it's okay if you can't do it. If you can't do it, it's okay if you can. Is it a horizontal sign... I can't accept it."

“…”

Seeing Liu Zheng's playful expression, Cai Zhaoping understood that his thoughts had been seen through by the other party. So he brushed his sleeves, bowed to Liu Zheng, and said softly with a trembling voice: "You can't hide anything from Brother Tieqing. Please help Brother Liu to save my Cai family! I, Cai Wenfang, will be willing to work hard in the future! The Cai family will not forget Brother Liu's great kindness!"

"Brother Wen Fang, we have known each other for a long time. You don't understand who I am? Why do you think you are in such a big circle?"

After hearing Liu Zheng's words, Cai Zhaoping smiled bitterly: "Anyway, it's all my fault. Please forgive me, Brother Tieqing!"

"Tell me, are there any difficulties in capital turnover? How much is it necessary?"

"It's very difficult to not have 400,000 or 500,000."

Although the three generations of the Cai family have been engaged in business operations for more than 50 years, Cai Shiwen has also become the general manager of business this year. However, due to debt issues, Tongwenxing's business scale has always been at the middle and lower level among business operations, and he will die every year by more than 100,000 taels.

Twenty years ago, when Cai Shiwen took over the family business, he also carried the huge debt left by his father Cai Zhongguan. In order to repay the debt, Cai Shiwen not only worked hard to expand his business, but also kept borrowing money from foreign merchants.

In another time and space history, Cai Shiwen finally committed suicide by swallowing opium late in the spring of the first year of Jiaqing because he owed a huge debt of 500,000 taels. Wan Hexing also went bankrupt in the third year of Jiaqing.

Forty or five hundred thousand?! Liu Zhengxin said that if it was tens of thousands of taels, he would still have it. Before coming to Guangzhou, Zhao Xin gave him a 100,000 taels of money as activity funds. In the past few months, he paid rent, eat, socialize, and had a relationship with other foreign companies. He bought some luxury goods such as watches and spent more than 20,000 taels.

It seems that we can only send a telegram to discuss this matter with Boss Zhao.

When Cai Zhaoping saw Liu Zheng pondering and said, "I know that such a large sum of money has made Brother Liu embarrassed. My father said it, the interest is easy to say."

Liu Zheng shook his head and explained: "Money and interest are not a problem, but I don't have that much on hand. I have to think about this and I will give you a reply in two days."

"No problem. Brother Tieqing, there is another thing. The supervisor called his father half a month ago, saying that he was ordered by Sun Jiantai and asked the Thirteen companies to donate their wages, and that the court wanted to buy gunboats from the Englishmen..."

"What?" Liu Zheng's eyes immediately opened, he grabbed Cai Zhaoping's wrist and said anxiously: "Tell me again!"

“That’s it…”

When he returned to Baixiongxing in the evening, Liu Zheng asked his correspondent to send a telegram to Beihai Town. The next afternoon, Zhao Xin's call came back. He agreed to the loan, and the interest was collected at 12%. He was planning to go south in person to send the silver. The time was set on the evening of the third day of December, and the reception location was at Haizhuang Temple.

Speaking of which, in addition to the seizures of silver in Beihai Town on the battlefield in the past two years, and the 200,000 taels of silver that Zhao Xin plundered from Wang Yan merchants, there is also a lot of output in the gold and silver companion mines on Solenji Island. Because silver is really worthless in another time and space, in addition to minting silver coins, the inventory of fifty taels and one thousand-legged silver bars has reached tens of thousands of ingots.

On the third day after Liu Zheng told Cai Zhaoping the news, Cai Shiwen came to visit the door with gifts and brought three tables of tables. After a few cups of cat peeing, Liu Zheng took advantage of the time of drinking and asked Cai Shiwen to go to the flower boat to see him.

By the way, if it were replaced by other blond and blue-eyed foreign merchants, Cai Shiwen would not dare to agree to death. But if it was replaced by Liu Zheng, it would be different.

The Cai family took a few days to bribe the soldiers guarding the gate, and then arranged a flower boat and a female technician. Then, Liu Zheng, who had shaved his head and had a fake braid, and two guards, dressed as Cai Zhaoping's followers, took advantage of the night to get out of the mall and board the flower boat outside Youlan Gate.
Chapter completed!