Back to the Republic of China as a commander

However, all of this was based on debts. In order to set up a factory, Cheng Zufu first borrowed 1908 taels of silver from the Hubei Official Bank for three consecutive times in February, August, and October 2 with the approval of the Huguang Governor's Mansion; Then he borrowed 8 taels from the Jilin Guanyin Bank with the company stock and his own real estate in Shanghai as collateral; and borrowed from the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan twice in 10 and 13 with the machinery, factory buildings, and land of the Hubei Cement Factory as collateral. Get 68 yen.The above loans amounted to 1910 million taels.In addition to the 1911 taels raised by Cheng Zufu, by 72 the company invested nearly 150 million taels, of which loans accounted for more than three-quarters.In the first two years after the completion of the Hubei plant, the company was still able to pay the debt interest.

According to Cheng Zufu's vision, in a few years, the company's debt is expected to be reduced to less than half of its capital.

However, the outbreak of the Revolution of 1912 shattered Cheng Zufu's dream. At that time, due to the fierce fighting around Wuhan and the market depression caused by the turmoil of the current situation.Under such circumstances, the Hubei Cement Plant cannot operate normally.By 40, due to "the financial standstill, the factory in danger, the goods were unsalable, and the cost increased", the company's apparent loss and hidden loss exceeded [-] yuan, and it was unable to repay the principal and interest of the debt.

At this time, the factory attracted the interest of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and Qixin Cement Company under the name of the new Minister of Finance Zhou Xuexi.

Cheng Zufu was unwilling to hand over his hard-earned foundation to others. After deliberation, he decided to seek help from Ye Zuwen, the already famous Hankou "West Ye".Because of Liu Hongsheng's relationship, Ye Zuwen has already earned a reputation in the business circle as a man of urgency and righteousness.

Ye Zuwen's current thoughts are all spent on the preparation of the shipping company, and he is naturally a little surprised at the sudden visit of Cheng Zufu, who is well-known in the three towns of Wuhan.It turned out that the eldest son Ye Guoxuan paid more attention to the information of the business world, knew Cheng Zufu's current situation very well, and roughly guessed the other party's intentions.

After hearing the eldest son's analysis, Ye Zuwen still decided to meet the industrialist. Although he didn't answer on the spot, he agreed to consider it, and then brought his eldest son to Jingzhou.

"Wenzheng, you don't know something. Mr. Cheng is a real person. It's just that Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan has registered with the Hubei Provincial Government, saying that it is going to seal up the factory. What should you do about this?"

Cement plant, that is a good thing, Wang Zhenyu was tempted after hearing it.

In fact, the manufacture of cement is not difficult, and the raw materials are mainly limestone and sand.Wang Zhenyu, who came from later generations, knew that Jingzhou had these two things, and they had sufficient reserves. In his later generations, a distant relative set up a cement factory in Jingzhou and made a fortune.

Wang Zhenyu immediately became interested, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Mr. Ye, this factory is good, but it has too much debt. You just said how much, right 150 million. As far as I know, this amount It’s enough for us to build a new cement factory with a larger scale.”

Ye Zuwen nodded and said, "That's true, but Wenzheng, skilled workers and technicians can't be bought with money, they take time to cultivate."

Wang Zhenyu smiled: "Mr. Ye, what's so difficult about this! Let's get in touch with Mr. Cheng, and we'll end up with the golden cicada."

Ye Guoxuan, who was sitting beside him without saying a word, was stunned for a moment, but saw his father showing an expression of appreciation: "Wenzheng, you, it's really a pity not to do business, so, I will write a letter tonight, please How about Cheng Gong coming over for an interview?" Wang Zhenyu held Ye Zuwen's hand and said, "Ye Gong, I'm not inviting you for an interview, but asking him to take a look at the resources here. Here we set up a joint venture factory. Anyway, 50.00% The shares will be given, as long as he can get workers and technicians, I am willing to pay for the introduction of a batch of new equipment..."

Ye Zuwen looked at the confident Wang Zhenyu and said, "Wen Zheng is bold and bold, I can't match it."

After saying this, Ye Zuwen suddenly patted the armrest and said, "By the way, look at my memory, I still have a letter that Mr. Hongjiang Zhu asked me to forward. Guoxuan, get it out and give it to Wenzheng to have a look."

Ye Guoxuan bowed and took the order, leaving behind a confused Wang Zhenyu, Mr. Hongjiang Zhu?Letter to yourself?

Wang Zhenyu took the letter from Ye Guoxuan, and did not rush to open it, but carefully looked at the envelope.

At this time, Song Haomin came over with a pot of tea and continued to serve everyone one by one. Ye Zuwen took a sip leisurely, then leaned against the chair and rubbed his hands without speaking.

Wang Zhenyu asked while unpacking it: "But that descendant is stronger than me, what he wants money to do, and his descendant is not as good as me, Zhu Zhida Zhu, who wants money to do what he does."

Ye Zuwen nodded lightly: "It is this person. On the waterway of the Yangtze River, this is an old man who is known to everyone."

Wang Zhenyu also agreed: "The first time I heard President Chen mention this person, I was also very impressed. I was inexplicably surprised. Well, by the way, Ye Weng, what is the history of this Hongjiang business gang?"

Ye Zuwen has traveled all over the world for many years, so he naturally knows something about Hong Jiang's story, and if his future son-in-law is willing to ask, he is naturally happy to tell it.

As a result, Wang Zhenyu even forgot to read the letter.

Chapter 081

Hongjiang is located in the Xuefeng Mountains of the Wuling Mountains in western Hunan, surrounded by mountains. Although it is a small place, it was once the birthplace of prosperous and brilliant ancient Hunan merchants in the history of commercial development in ancient China, creating a Support a strong and active Hongjiang business gang.

The Hongjiang Merchant Gang started in the Spring and Autumn Period, matured in the late Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

But success is not accidental, the right time, place and people are very important.First of all, the Hongjiang River is an important throat of the golden waterway of the "Water Silk Road", that is, from Chengdu in the southwest, detour to Youyang in Chongqing, enter the Yuanshui River through the Youshui River in Xiushan, and then go south to Guizhou and Yunnan and extend to Myanmar and India Hongjiang is located at the "bottleneck" of this large channel from Yuanshui to Guizhou.Otherwise, Southwest materials cannot be exported to Myanmar, India and other countries.In addition, Hongjiang is also a land passage for the "Five Dragons Gathering". "Five Dragons" refer to five ancient land roads, among which the Hunan-Guizhou ancient road is the most.It can go directly from Hongjiang to the frontiers of Yunnan and Guizhou. Therefore, Hongjiang is known as a geomantic treasure land that connects Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hubei, Shu, Shanghai and Hunan "the thoroughfare of seven provinces".

Let me say a side note here, the so-called five dragons, specifically, are the five ancient business roads:

The first ancient road starts from Dawantang and passes through Xindian to Qiancheng (formerly Longbiao County).With a total length of 30 kilometers, it is mainly a dirt road, and some road sections are paved with bluestone slabs. It can extend through Qiandongnan, Guizhou, Kunming, and even Myanmar and India.

The second ancient road also starts from Dawantang, passes through Wangjiatingzi, Xiaojia, Dongyuesi and Yanjiao to Huitong County.The total length is 60 kilometers.It can also extend through Southeast Guizhou, Kunming, to Myanmar and India.

The third ancient road starts from Changzhai, passes through Longchuantang, Yanyingjie, Liangshanjie, Baomu Pass, Caozhai, passes through Maotang to Dongkou, and can be extended to Baoqing, Changsha and Hankou.The total length is 152.5 kilometers, and part of the bluestone road is paved.

The fourth ancient road starts from Luobowan and passes through Shawan to Anjiang.The total length is 30 kilometers, and part of the bluestone road is paved.

The fifth ancient road starts from Old Street, passes Dongqingping Yuliang Bay to Huangmao, Masuipo, Ruoshui, Tuanhe to Huitong and Jingzhou.

The second is Renhe, the Hongjiang merchant gang, which formed the "Five Mansions and Eighteen Gangs" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1796-1820), it was the leader in the timber market. Among them, the Baoqing gang , the annual trade volume was calculated in millions of silver dollars, and then expanded its sphere of influence to Hankou, and built a special wharf - Baoqing wharf.In the last years of Daoguang (around 1848), the Baoqing Guild Hall was built in Hankou. In the eight-year battle between Hankou and Huizhou merchants for Baoqing Wharf, they finally won with the support of Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army.Due to the northward movement of commercial routes, the Hongjiang merchant gang transferred the entrepots of Sino-foreign trade to Shanghai and Hankou. Due to the convenient waterway transportation in Hunan, cotton yarn and cotton cloth imported from foreign countries were transported from Hankou to Changsha by civilian ships, and then sold to all parts of Hunan. Rice, tea, firecrackers and other agricultural and sideline products and handicrafts from Hunan were re-exported from Changsha to Hankou.Changsha was a well-known rice market in the country in the early Qing Dynasty. Changsha Xiang tea was also transshipped from Hankou to open a channel for sale to the southeast, and it carried out mutual trade with Zhejiang salt and exported it from the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.Therefore, Hunan merchants were very active in Hankou. Tea merchants such as Liu Linjiao and Zhu Zigui all opened tea houses in Hankou and became very rich tea merchants.Today, Hanzheng Street, the most famous commercial street in Hankou, was formed on the basis of Baoqing Wharf in those days. Most of the old citizens in Hanzheng Street are descendants of Baoqing businessmen in those days.

As for this Zhu Zhida, he is really a character. His story is not only inspirational, but also a legend.It is worth mentioning that, like most members of the Hongjiang business gang, Zhu Zhida is not from Hongjiang, not even from Hunan.

When the Taiping Army of the Qing Dynasty captured Anqing, Anhui in June of the third year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1853), Zhu Zhida's mother took her three sons and fled from Jing County in southern Anhui to Hongjiang, Hunan to escape the "long hair" rebellion.

The four mother and son fled to Hongjiang and had no means of living. They relied on selling a kind of fried snack in the north, "Sanzi" to make ends meet.Later, he couldn't go on anymore, so he sent his three sons to be apprentices.Zhu Zhida was the boss, and he went to work as an apprentice in a silk thread shop.My mother lived frugally, and after a few years, she accumulated some capital and opened a small shop. At the beginning, she only dealt in silk threads. Because of her good management and more capital, she gradually increased her business items, and gradually developed into a business of silk thread. Cloth and satin, until the bank, and finally expanded to the oil store.By the first year of the Republic of China (1900), there were more than [-] shops in Hongjiang. Except for barber shops and bathhouses, which were regarded as dirty businesses, Zhu Zhida almost monopolized all walks of life in Hongjiang.At that time, the golden signboard of the oil company was called "Zhu Zhida", which was well-known far and wide.

Zhu Zhida Oil Company not only has its headquarters in Hongjiang, but also has branches in Hankou, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing, with hundreds of employees.As soon as the Spring Festival comes, there is an endless stream of people visiting Zhu's family to pay New Year's greetings.The Zhu family not only has a large area of ​​shops, but also has a thousand hectares of fertile land, extending to Qianyang and Huitong.

After Zhu Zhida became rich, in order to leave a way for future generations, he used a large sum of money to build 360 shops, and rented these shops to businessmen free of charge. When there is no food or clothing, each family takes turns feeding them.

Ye Zuwen took a sip of tea and continued: "In addition to Zhu Zhida, there are three big families in the Hongjiang Merchant Gang, the Zhang family, the Liang family, and the Liu family. Wenzheng, the Zhu family, the Zhang family, and the Liang family are traditional A large tung oil family has monopolized the three major items of tung oil, pig temples, and wood in western Hunan. However, in the past 20 years, the Liu family has sprung up. By the way, their head is called Liu Qishan, who is a courageous and insightful character. He occupies the bulk of the opium trade, and made a fortune last year in the tung oil trade. It is estimated that he is the strongest and most powerful of the four major Hongshang families."

Wang Zhenyu listened carefully and did not interrupt casually. At this moment, Song Haomin left suddenly, returned to the house after a while, and handed a letter to Wang Zhenyu.Song Haomin returned to his original position and stood without saying a word. Wang Zhenyu looked carefully, oh, it was a letter written by He Jian, who he sent to Hongjiang, Fenghuang, and Changde to inquire about news.

Looking at the two letters in his hand, Wang Zhenyu suddenly felt that there was an inevitable connection.

Zhu Zhida's letter was unremarkable. Apart from polite greetings, he expressed his appreciation for Wang Zhenyu's reforms in Jingzhou Prefecture.I really admire the face of this old man, who actually praised Wang Zhenyu as the number one saint in 2000 years.Also for businessmen, Wang Zhenyu's reforms are tantamount to finding a hope and a way out for them.

Zhu Zhida said that his business was already developing in Huitong County under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou Prefecture, and he hoped that he could get the care of Commander Wang, and he would be rewarded handsomely. Depressed, no, there is such a generous reward?).

Finally, Zhu Zhida did not forget to wish our Wang Zhenyu children's shoes good health and academic progress!

Wang Zhenyu couldn't see anything useful from the hundreds of words written by this big businessman.Of course, it's not completely absent, at least this letter represents an attitude, maybe it's Zhu Zhida's personal attitude, or it may be the attitude of the entire Hongjiang business gang.

Wang Zhenyu shook his head, and he didn't say much except lamenting that Jiang was still old and spicy.

Then he opened He Jian's letter, his eyes suddenly lit up, and Wang Zhenyu immediately understood the meaning of the previous letter.

As a subordinate, He Jian's letter was much more straightforward.

The letter introduced that Hongjiang is an important place for business and taxation in Hunan. Opium is not counted. The annual income of wood alone is one million, and tung oil is even 500 million.After the opium business boomed, the annual commercial tax here was nearly [-] million yuan, accounting for [-]% of Hunan Province.

Another important place for business and taxation is Changde. He Jian said that he has sent people to Changde and will report back as soon as there is news.

Hongjiang and Changde's commercial tax accounted for [-]% of the province's commercial tax and [-]% of the total tax.

It is so important that Tan Yankai can let it go, but Changde has been occupied by Wang Zhenya, who was as famous as Wang Zhenyu during the Revolution of [-].So Tan Yankai set up the fifth garrison area in Hongjiang, directly under Changsha, and appointed Zhou Zefan to Hongjiang as the commander of the fifth garrison area. The purpose is very clear, which is to guard the lifeline of the province's finances.

This Zhou Zefan still has some background, he and the recent Hunan military boss Cheng Qian are classmates who stayed in Japan together.For this position, Cheng Qian even agreed to Tan Yankai's plan to abolish most of the Hunan Army.

The Fifth Garrison Command is stationed in Hongjiang, with 9 battalions and about 2.000 people. At the same time, there are ten county regiment defense bureaus in the territory under its control.

According to He Jian's careful investigation, the army under Commander Zhou has a total of 7000 troops, which is currently the largest army in western Hunan.Wang Zhenya, the guardian of Changde, followed with 6000 people, and Wang Zhenyu followed with 4000 people (the first three, among the giants).

Oh, by the way, He Jian also mentioned a person in the letter. This person is named Zongsi Shen, a Phoenix native. It is said that during the Boxer Movement, he followed Luo Rongguang to guard the Dagu Fort, but his future was ruined because of the defeat.When the Revolution of [-] broke out, this person relied on the prestige of this clan to successfully plan and organize the Phoenix Uprising.

Due to the absence of the head of the Tian family, the entire army has actually fallen into this person's hands.

He Jian quickly turned the topic back to Hong Jiang. Yes, he had a strategic vision, and he was able to guess the boss's expansion intentions.