Chapter 78: Old ministers of the Qing court

"Ignorous students!" Looking at the students' backs leaving, Xu Changqing sighed, turned around and took a sip of tea, and then shook his head with a sneer.

"Changqing, your words seem to be a bit heavy. If you say that, they are also excellent students of Beiyang Academy. If you say this, a good seedling may be ruined like this!" Just then, behind Xu Changqing, a few footsteps came, and an old and low voice said.

Hearing this familiar voice, Xu Changqing was slightly stunned, turned his head with a surprised look and looked at the person behind him. The person behind him was wearing a long coat made of brocade, a wide-edged leather felt hat on his head, an egg-sized ruby ​​in the middle, and a pair of Western sunglasses on his face, and playing with a string of strange Buddhist beads in his hand. The reason why these Buddhist beads are strange is that they string nine lychee-sized purple dragon beads together with a thick line that looks like iron and tendons. When they rotate, the Buddhist beads naturally emit a stream of sandalwood, which is refreshing.

Xu Changqing did not immediately recognize his identity from the old man's appearance. Instead, after seeing the Buddhist beads in his hand, he thought of who this person was, and his expression was slightly shocked, and then he immediately returned to calm. His face became much darker. He stood up, and bowed to the old man with a polite but not enthusiastic look, saying, "Changqing, I have seen Mr. Sheng!"

"Haha! Sit, don't be so restrained, let's be the same as before!" The old man saw Xu Changqing performing such etiquette as he seemed polite to him but refused to others from thousands of miles away. A hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes, but he immediately returned to normalcy and said with a smile.

"Old Sheng, I am a senior official in the court. I am just a cannibal. How dare I sit on an equal footing with Old Sheng? I have been running for a day and have lost my companion!" Xu Changqing said as he let himself go, greeted Guan Zheng who was looking here, and prepared to go back to the bedroom together.

When the old man saw Xu Changqing deliberately avoiding him, he knew what he was doing. He hurriedly reached out and grabbed Xu Changqing's arm and said, "Does Changqing still not want to forgive me?"

"How dare!" Xu Changqing shook the robe with all his might, shook the old man's hand, and then said coldly: "The heaven has eyes, God knows who did what. If you were willing to plead for Mr. Zhuangfei in front of Ronglu and Cixi, why would he and several other righteous men beheaded Caishikou!"

"Changqing, do you think it was useful for me to speak at that time?" Hearing Xu Changqing's words, the old man also felt a hint of regret on his face and said, "Didn't you have already calculated that the reform would fail? Even if you have calculated the death of Brother Resurrection, it is still impossible to stop it."

"Indeed, I calculated it very clearly! But I at least tried to stop it," Xu Changqing no longer had his usual indifference. He said, "Dare you ask Mr. Sheng what you did at that time? Although you were not at the high position at that time, you were extremely powerful and were in charge of the entire Qing Dynasty's lifeline. As long as you open your mouth, can Cixi refuse to agree? Don't tell me, you didn't have the courage to speak in front of Cixi. You used a secret order to make more than a dozen governors in the Yangtze River Basin not listen to the orders of the court. You can even do such a ruthless thing, but you dare not ask for love without any pain. No one can believe it if you hear it."

"Indeed, it's not difficult for me to plead with mercy? But have you ever thought about it? What Fusheng did was not just reform, but wanted to pull the old lady off the stage. Whoever pleaded for such a thing would die." The old man said with a solemn expression: "And how did you know that I was not ready to plead with mercy? After receiving the news, I rushed to the capital without stopping, but was stopped by the boy Yuan Weiting, and then I heard the news that Fusheng was beheaded. Including Fusheng is also half of my student. Do you think I am not heartbroken?"

Xu Changqing also knew the difficulties of the old man. In fact, he had forgiven the old man a long time ago. But what he really blamed was himself, complaining that he had clearly calculated the result but was still powerless to do anything about it. The appearance of the old man just exposed the scar that he did not want to uncover. Now he showed more of anger at his incompetence.

"Master, is this your acquaintance?" Guan Zheng had already come over and felt that the atmosphere was wrong, so he asked.

Xu Changqing took a deep breath, relieved the depression in his heart, and his face returned to normal, saying, "Brother Guan, I will ask the waiter to arrange for you to go to another bedroom later. Today I have something to talk to this old man alone."

"It's okay, I'll take care of myself." Guan Zheng nodded and said with a smile.

Xu Changqing turned around and ordered the waiter who was walking towards him, apologized to Guan Zheng, and led the old man to the bedroom behind him. Because the two of them had a loud quarrel, everyone around him heard it and looked over. Although they were using a southern dialect when they spoke, except for those foreigners, most of the wealthy businessmen in the carriage could understand a little, and some wealthy businessmen from the south even guessed the identity of the old man from clues in the conversation between the two.

After the two left, the wealthy businessmen gathered together and whispered what had happened just now. When the others knew the old man's identity, they all felt inexplicably surprised. They were even more curious about Xu Changqing, who was able to speak to the old man in this way, and they all guessed the identity of this person. Some even thought that he was one of the reformists who escaped the killing robbery back then. When Guan Zhengzhi was shocked in the carriage, he felt deeply that he had made an amazing friend.

In Xu Changqing's carriage, he sat opposite the old man. The door was closed. There were good sound insulation facilities on the door and the walls. Even outside the door, it was difficult to hear the movement inside.

"Oh!" Looking at the old man who was working hard for state affairs, Xu Changqing's cold face finally relaxed. He sighed and said, "Old Sheng, we haven't seen each other for twelve years, right? I didn't expect that we would have a fight as soon as we met, and it was just for the things that had been gone for so many years. It was ridiculous!"

"Who said no?" The old man heard that Xu Changqing had let go of his knot and no longer disgusted with him. He couldn't help but feel a little joy in his heart, and he smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to pretend to be a monk. If it weren't for your remarks to Li Hongzhang, I wouldn't have recognized you. You have changed a lot."

"Her Sheng has also changed a lot?" Xu Changqing touched his head, which had grown a little hair, smiled indifferently, and said, "If Mr. Sheng had not held these nine Xuanling Pearls in his hand, I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognized Mr. Sheng." He paused again, as if he had thought of some things before, his expression was slightly gentle, and asked, "How is Lianxin doing now? Is she okay?"

"This girl got married ten years ago! Now she has a son and a daughter, and her husband loves her very much." The old man sighed slightly and said, "If you hadn't hurt her too deeply back then, she wouldn't have gotten married so quickly. Maybe you might have..."

"There is nothing! If I were asked to make a new choice, I would still choose the path I am taking now." Xu Changqing's face returned to normal, but his eyes were a little sad. He said, "The result was the best. He was young and frivolous, and made some promises that he could never fulfill. He deceived her again and again, hurt her so much that he finally abandoned her on such occasions. Now I feel very relieved to hear that she has a happy family."

"The great way is ruthless, but there are a few more mortals who can truly break their love!" The old man murmured a few times, then smiled playfully and said, "Do you know who she married?"

"Who is it?" Although Xu Changqing no longer wanted to mention this past, he couldn't help asking.

The old man smiled and said, "It's the brother of the female student you scolded just now, Dong Zhenyu, the young owner of Huantong Trading Company."

"It's him!" Xu Changqing was stunned for a moment, with a slight disdainful tone, and said, "No wonder a student can take so much money to take the train without any concern. The family has a very generous foundation."

"Their family recently cooperated with McGalley Bank to develop the rubber forest industry in Nanyang, making a lot of money," the old man took off his sunglasses and showed his fox-like eyes and said: "Although its industry is far inferior to that of the Chen family, it is far beyond the top festival compared to most wealthy merchants in the north. Moreover, my niece, a son-in-law, has returned from studying in the UK and is proficient in Western affairs. Even foreigners have suffered losses in his hands. Huantong Trading Company is probably even stronger in his hands and will one day be on par with the Chen family."

"Old Sheng, please say it for the purpose of saying so much!" Xu Changqing's face was plain, and even his eyes became cold, and he said, "Although we have become unfamiliar, we are not so unfamiliar to the point of talking about things with this kind of indirect method. Moreover, you have already taught me this trick, and I have used it to be better than the blue, and it will not work for me."

"Since you said that, I'm just speaking out!" The old man smiled awkwardly, then looked solemn, and said, "You should have heard that I have been promoted to the position of Right Minister of Postal Affairs, right?"

"I heard of it," Xu Changqing nodded slightly and said, "It's not that easy to do things under Xu Shichang."

"Although that kid has outstanding abilities, I still have to deal with those small things in the overall situation. Although it is a bit uncomfortable to let a junior ride on his head, it is pretty good to cooperate with him. After all, we are all from the Wensect." The old man looked indifferent. After playing with Buddhist beads for a few times, he continued: "This time Yuan Weiting stepped down, Zaifeng asked me to replace the Bank of Communications, which he controlled, and said that he was promoted and held power, but in fact he wiped the butt of the big head. Now there are a lot of bad accounts in the bank. When merchants everywhere saw that there was no Beiyang New Army in charge, they all thought that Bank of Communications was not good and asked to withdraw deposits. If this continues, it will inevitably cause a run. By then, I might become the second Hu Xueyan."

"You always say so much, just to let the Chen family inject capital into the Bank of Communications through me, giving the merchants who are in charge of the Chen family. You will not have any trouble and help you overcome difficulties." Xu Changqing, who knew the old man well, looked at the old man and said calmly: "But Mr. Sheng, you also know how chaotic the bank management of the Qing court was. From beginning to end, the prime ministers, assistants and assistants of the banks all used their power to make money in their pockets. Whoever invested the money in it was a situation of a big dog. Do you think the Chen family would not want to invest heavily in such a mud with just a word? If you always think like this, you will look down on the Chen family too much. They can stand for so many years, but it is not just our idlers who can achieve success."

"Of course I won't underestimate the Chen family. I've thought about what you said long ago, so this time the Bank of Communications will have a major purge, and all the unqualified people will be eliminated. Li Jingchu, Zhou Kechang and Liang Shiyi will serve as the prime minister, assistant and assistant. I will personally serve as the supervisor." The old man said confidently: "This time I went to Baoding, and I heard that Chen Zhangping, the fourth son of the Chen family, was in the Wanguo Club in Baoding, so I wanted to come over to discuss this matter with him, but I wasted it. Even so, meeting you is not allowed to travel, at least it is much better than finding Chen Zhangping."

"Old Sheng, you are still as good as before, and you are good at climbing up the pole!" Xu Changqing chuckled twice, then sighed, thought for a while, and said, "If we can really reform as Mr Sheng said, maybe the Bank of Communications will be saved, but Mr Sheng, you should also know the rules. If we are idle at the ninth level, we must receive corresponding rewards for helping with our idlers, otherwise..."

"I know this even if you don't say it. After all, it's not the first day that I've dealt with your fellow men, so I naturally know your rules." The old man said, carefully took out a bag of thin book wrapped in silk from his arms, and said, "Didn't you, the 1960s, have you been interested in the 13th Qi Qi Dafa of my Sheng family? I think this should be enough for reward!"

"Old Sheng, can the Qing court really deserve your efforts like this? Even the family-borne magic was taken out." Xu Changqing did not reach out to get it, frowned slightly and said.

"Everyone has their own ambitions, and I did this not for the Qing court." The old man said with a serious expression: "Now foreign banks are domineering in China and making money. Although the people are determined to set up banks to resist the plunder of foreigners, there is no leader. Although the Bank of Communications is an official bank, it is taking the path of joint venture between officials and businessmen. Now all merchants in the world are looking at whether this first official and business bank can survive. If it collapses, the merchant's confidence will also collapse. I believe you also know what a big blow to our Chinese business."
Chapter completed!