Chapter 101: Roasting Qiao Songnian

"This time when I went to Shanghai to purchase arms, I brought 890,000 taels of silver, two reinforced companies, a platoon of personal guards, and hired two 1,500-ton steam cargo ships. It was a huge undertaking and cost a lot of money."

Qiao Songnian listened with a smile, his eyes rolling around as he tried to figure out Shao Quanzhong's intentions.

"There are hundreds of big salt merchants and wealthy businessmen who have fled from Yangzhou living in our Hailing City. When they go to Shanghai to do business, they also have to carry a lot of silver. They don't have as many soldiers and guards as children. Isn't this troublesome and dangerous?"

"Sir, are you going to send soldiers to help with the protection, act as escorts, and earn money from these wealthy businessmen?"

The person who interjected was Zhu Baoshan, who was about to take up the post of magistrate of Chenghai County.

Qiao Songnian sighed and shook his head. Zhu Chucai was a man of outstanding literary talent, and he was favored by him and recommended him to be an official. But he was a traditional scholar, and his knowledge was far inferior to that of his adopted son who had never been to school.

Qiao Songnian looked at his godson with a smile, "My son, do you want to follow Wang Yingjiu's example and use Hu Xueyan, let the Wen family open a bank, gather funds from wealthy businessmen, and use them for the Huai Army?"

Shao Quanzhong bowed in admiration, "Father, you are wise. It is just as you expected."

Otherwise, how could he, who was not a Manchu, become a bondservant and occupy the lucrative post of Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner? Those who could pass the imperial examination were not stupid, it just depends on where they used their IQ.

Qiao Songnian didn't know that his godson was praising him with a condescending attitude in his heart, so he shook his head.

"Father has also thought of using this method. But the Huai Army urgently needs silver to arm itself and buy guns and warships, so there is no money to open a bank. In a hurry, you can't have both, so you can only take care of one. Where did you get the capital to open a bank?"

"I have discussed several ways to make money with Wen, and I have made the decision to approve them. Please review them, father."

Qiao Songnian took the stack of application documents and quickly glanced at them. "Opening a specialized pharmacy, helping silkworm farmers to collect silk for profit, and managing the grain transport? Yes, these are all old ideas of Hu Xueyan. They are feasible, but they are not businesses that can make profits in the short term. Instead, they require more capital."

"Godfather, do you agree with this?"

"Taizhou lacks local medicinal materials and there are no large pharmacies. We should give the Wen family the exclusive franchise to purchase medicinal materials from other places and ship them here. This will benefit the people. Helping farmers is also helping my father, the governor. As the governor of Taizhou, you can decide. I don't need to approve it."

Qiao Songnian narrowed his eyes. "The governor of the grain transport, Yuan Wuqiao, is now in charge of Anhui's military affairs. The grain transport has always been managed by my father. I can also approve the overall management of the grain transport. Just report it to Lord Yuan. But you still don't have the capital to open a bank."

Shao Quanzhong winked slyly and said, "Oh, I forgot to give you this last application because it fell into my arms."

Qiao Songnian pointed at Shao Quanzhong and laughed, "My son is cunning. There must be something wrong with this application. I will approve the ones that can be approved first, otherwise I will be unhappy after reading the last one and the rest will be ruined."

It is most convenient to work with smart people, as they can understand your little cleverness at a glance.

Qiao Songnian took the last document and said, "Let me see what big trouble my son has caused again. Let me see if I can bear it for you."

Qiao Songnian looked at the last document for a long time, his brows furrowed more and more, and suddenly he slammed the table.

"You borrowed three million taels of silver from the British Standard Chartered Bank? You also used the tax revenue guarantee of the Jiangning Provincial Government on behalf of the government and used the prefectural seal?"

Shao Quanzhong smiled and said, "I finally negotiated with the Acting Commissioner of Customs, Hart, for a loan with an annual interest rate of 4%, which is almost like giving it away for free." Qiao Songnian glared at Shao Quanzhong fiercely for a long time, "It's not about the interest rate, it's about the dignity of the Qing Dynasty."

Shao Quanzhong disagreed, "Godfather, how big of a deal is this? They're giving us money for free, isn't that a good thing? They're only considering that we've defeated the foreign rifle team and won the great victory in Zhenjiang, so it's worth the political investment. Otherwise, why would they be willing to spend money like that?"

Qiao Songnian pointed at Shao Quanzhong with a trembling index finger, "You also know that this is a political investment, right? After taking the British money, is the Huai Army still the armed forces of our Qing Dynasty? What will the court think? Such a big thing, do you dare to guarantee it as a small prefecture?"

"So I'm here to find my foster father, aren't I? You have broad shoulders and the court trusts you. Besides, Xue Huan has even hired a foreign rifle corps and a foreign fleet. Isn't that a bigger problem?"

"Humph, my father is just a provincial governor, while Xue Jintang is a provincial governor, yet he is repeatedly impeached by Zeng Bohan. Zeng Bohan is now my father's direct superior, and he hates connections with foreigners the most. You - you are putting my father on the spot!"

Shao Quanzhong bent down and replied, nodding his head, "Foster father, if you want to be a marquis or a prime minister, it is not Zeng Bohan who decides. It is useless to please him. Only the barrel of a gun can make you powerful. Don't you think so?"

The father and son were originally in harmony, talking about trivial matters like monopolizing the Taizhou medicinal materials market, and the celebrities attending the banquet did not mind.

Now it suddenly involves surrendering to foreigners and fighting against Zeng Guofan. Do we dare to listen to such things?
The celebrities looked at their noses with their mouths, and their hearts with their noses, trembling with fear. I heard nothing, I was a transparent person...

Qiao Songnian flicked his sleeves and said, "Today's banquet ends here, you all may go home now!"

The celebrities fled away one after another as if they had been pardoned.

A wonderful Peach Forest Banquet was ruined by Shao Quanzhong, and Qiao Songnian walked around several times with his hands behind his back.

"Yuting, Yuting, you really know how to give me a hard time. If I take all the guarantees, I will be impeached by Zeng Bohan. How many days have I been the governor of Jiangning? Can't you let me stay in Xiaoxiang Cliff for a few days?"

Shao Quanzhong sneered, "Father, are you imitating Liu Bei and starting to weave hats? It took only three or four years to wipe out the Guangdong bandits. If our Huai Army doesn't grow stronger quickly, how can we enter Nanjing and grab the credit?"

Qiao Songnian was so angry that he laughed, "You bastard son actually taught your father a lesson!"

Shao Quanzhong stood up and looked up at the sky. What's wrong with teaching me a lesson? You, as a father, can't just sit back and wait for me to conquer the world for you. I can shed blood and sacrifice, but you have to take the blame for me, right?
Qiao Songnian really didn't want to take the blame. "A few months won't make a difference, right? In three months, the local lijin, donations, and taxes will come in, and we'll have money. Can't we take it step by step?"

Shao Quanzhong started to act like a spoiled brat, "How can it be good? On the battlefield, a small mistake can lead to a huge difference. If we can't fight, when the time comes to use the Huai Army, we won't be able to stand up, and everything will be over."

He spread his hands and shrugged like Hurd, "Anyway, I only have three thousand taels of silver in my hand now. If there is no money in a month, the Huai Army will definitely mutiniate, or we will disband. It's up to you to decide."

Qiao Songnian sighed to the sky, closed his eyes for a long time, and slowly took out the small seal from his waist. His movements were surprisingly slow.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally stamped the letter of guarantee and threw it at Shao Quanzhong's face, his chest heaving.

Shao Quanzhong carefully put the guarantee letter into his arms, knelt down and kowtowed, "Thank you for your care, foster father."

Qiao Songnian kicked Shao Quanzhong on the butt, "Get lost! I don't want to see you again!"

(End of this chapter)

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