Qing Yao

Chapter 122 Taking the Deadbeat to the End!
Five thousand taels?!

Zhao An's move almost made Manager Shi's eyes pop out of their sockets.

Because a person's annual salary, including benefits, is less than a thousand taels. And that's only because the money shop was opened by the Imperial Household Department, and he himself was a bondservant of the Imperial Household Department. The manager of other private money shops would earn at most five or six hundred taels a year.

To put it bluntly, government-run lending institutions generally offer better benefits and compensation compared to private institutions.

As a result, Professor Zhao from Yangzhou Prefectural School gave him five years' salary plus benefits right off the bat, and the money was just borrowed from the counter. How could the shopkeeper not be dumbfounded?

Old Ding was also dumbfounded: Has his grandson-in-law lost his mind again? Even if he wanted to give benefits, three or five hundred taels would have been enough. Five thousand taels! Does he have too much money to burn?

"What does Lord Zhao mean by this?"

Once he came to his senses, Manager Shi dared not accept the five thousand taels of silver notes. It was too much, really too much, so much that he dared not take it.

"It's nothing, I just want to ask the shopkeeper to make an exception and do me a favor, after all, Lord Ding is doing this for the people."

Zhao An had never seen a bank manager who didn't accept money. If a bank manager didn't accept money, where would all those bad debts, non-performing loans, and dead debts come from?

His past life's various economic cases taught him that when dealing with bank presidents, you should never beat around the bush; just throw money at them.

Five thousand taels isn't enough? Ten thousand taels will do!

As long as the benefits offered exceed the other party's psychological limits, they can get their stamp of approval with a "bang".

With a simple stamp, the money is ready.

Whether it's developing the economy or undertaking engineering projects, focusing on "people" is the key.

If you can't grasp the "people," no matter how good your economic theories are or how high the quality of your engineering is, it won't work.

People are the primary productive force and the primary means of production!

An eternal truth that remains unchanged throughout history.

If you want to keep getting money out of the old man's house, you can't just take out loans to pay off other loans, because there is a repayment cycle. This cycle makes the money come in too slowly and there is a certain amount of repayment pressure.

You can't borrow 100,000 taels this month and then borrow another 100,000 taels next month.

Even if we can borrow it, do we still need to pay last month's interest?

Once it accumulates, and there are too many collection text messages, how can the pressure not be great?

If you want quick money, light repayment pressure, and a long repayment period—at least until your father passes away—the only way is to develop a mole within the money exchange.

It's just that they weren't familiar with Hengli's Yangzhou branch. Otherwise, Professor Zhao could have covered all the living expenses of their entire family, from the manager in front of them to the counter clerks, and even bought each of them a small villa in Jiangnan.

If you want to go abroad, Professor Zhao can try to find a way.

It seems that Myanmar, Annam, and Siam did not have extradition treaties with the Qing Dynasty, so it was quite safe to go there.

If you're still worried, Professor Zhao can also help you with the connections in England and France, allowing you to enjoy the blissful life of a comprador ahead of time.

If the British are really interested in promoting anti-Qing and pro-Ming ideas, the professor wouldn't mind being a traitor.

It must be said that the Qing Dynasty was truly short-lived. In its previous life, no matter which foreign devils invaded, they would always raise a banner of anti-Qing restoration and sincerely invite the heroes of Han lands to drive out the barbarians.

The British were the first to take the plunge into the anti-Qing and restoration movement, and they did it quite well, attracting many anti-Qing heroes to join them. Anti-Qing sentiment was particularly strong in the Jiangnan region, and the coastal people were happy to provide supplies to the British army, while the gentry mostly remained neutral.

This led to the Qing army massacring all the Han Chinese within its borders before even engaging in battle with the British.

As a result, the British army became the liberators of the Han people (in Zhenjiang), and even wanted to help the Han people liberate Nanjing.

If Emperor Daoguang hadn't made a timely turn and immediately surrendered, signed a peace treaty, paid compensation, and started trade, the underground anti-Qing restoration movement, which had lasted for two hundred years, might have actually been successfully carried out by the British.

Let's leave the distant past behind and talk about the near future.

Since they had decided to drag Manager Shi into this mess, there was no reason to take back the silver notes that had been given out.

Professor Zhao then adopted an official tone and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper, if you don't accept it, do you mean you look down on me?"

Shopkeeper Shi hurriedly replied, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Lord Zhao is a fellow Jinshi bestowed by the Emperor's great grace. Even if I had ten thousand times the courage, I wouldn't dare to look down on you, Lord Zhao!"

Hengli Money Shop was opened by the Imperial Household Department. As the person in charge of the Yangzhou branch, the manager was more informed than the prefect. Long before the Ministry of Rites personnel arrived in Yangzhou, he had already learned that the emperor had specially granted Zhao Youlu the status of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

At the time, it was judged that the head office was very likely to agree to lend 100,000 taels, because Professor Zhao was "at the height of his career".

Furthermore, the news from the main office indicated that the Grand Secretary was quite interested in the matter of studying at the Yangzhou Prefectural School. Combining these two matters, and considering that Professor Zhao was promoted five ranks by the Emperor for voluntarily paying one thousand taels of silver as a "model" for his crimes, the "value" of this young professor at the Prefectural School could not be calculated based on his actual income.

He has great potential; after all, he has caught the eye of the Grand Secretary, and he is very likely to be promoted later.

Manager Shi had no choice but to offend such a promising official.

"I dare not accept it. In the future, Lord Ding and I will be dealing with your company for a long time, and we will need the manager's help to mediate many things. This five thousand taels is a gift from Lord Ding and me to our friend, the manager. It's not a lot, but it's not a little either. It's just a token."

Without saying a word, Zhao An stuffed the silver note into the shopkeeper's hand again.

"No, no!"

Shopkeeper Shi instinctively tried to back down again, but Professor Zhao grabbed his right hand and whispered, "Shopkeeper, may we talk inside?"

"This"

After hesitating for a moment, Manager Shi invited the two seventh-rank officials to sit in his office. After they were seated, Zhao An spoke first: "If you can help us, Manager Shi, and if there is anything we can do for you in the future, please just say the word."

Old Ding sat there without saying a word, because he really couldn't understand what his future grandson-in-law was up to.

“Lord Zhao, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help, but Lord Ding’s request for 200,000 taels is too much. If it were less, I could manage, but 200,000 taels is beyond my authority, so I really can’t do it.”

What does that mean?

The head office only allowed President Shi to process loans of up to 50,000 taels without prior approval; any amount exceeding this limit had to be reported to the head office for approval.

The head office could tell with a flick of their abacus that the magistrate of Ganquan County was simply unable to repay this huge sum of money, so how could they possibly approve it?

Zhao An frowned slightly: "Then even if I vouch for Lord Ding, it can't be approved?"

Shopkeeper Shi gave a wry smile: "The 100,000 taels that Lord Zhao borrowed was approved by the head office because he used the tuition fees of the prefectural school for the next five years as collateral. But in terms of your actual income, you can't provide this guarantee."

The implication is that a professor at the prefectural academy only earns a few dollars a year, so why should he guarantee 200,000 taels of silver? Even if he approves it here, the main branch won't.

If the main branch doesn't approve it, nothing I say will make a difference.

"Can you do it or not? Please give me a straight answer, shopkeeper."

Zhao An didn't say anything, but gave him another five thousand taels of silver.

"this?!"

Shopkeeper Shi's expression wasn't one of shock, but rather one of utter bewilderment.

Seeing this, Zhao An laughed: "What, does the shopkeeper think that Lord Ding and I took your money and ran away?"

"Lord Zhao is joking. You two are officials appointed by the imperial court, how could you possibly run away? And where could you possibly run to? That's right, that's right,"

Shopkeeper Shi was genuinely troubled, not because he suspected the two officials in front of him of borrowing money and running away.

Without making a sound, Zhao An gently pushed the five thousand taels of silver notes he had just taken out towards Manager Shi: "Manager Shi, I won't make things difficult for you. I just hope that you can give me and Lord Ding some convenience without violating your company's lending principles."

After a slight pause, he offered another bait: "From now on, whether it's Lord Ding or me, we'll give the manager one-tenth of the silver we borrow from your firm as a service fee, how about that?"

"what?!"

Shopkeeper Shi was taken aback. After a long pause, he swallowed hard and asked the question he was most concerned about.

So, was Magistrate Ding's lending of 200,000 taels of silver truly for the benefit of the people?

Zhao An coughed lightly: "Lord Ding wants to move up in rank; the so-called water conservancy project is just a pretext."

"oh,"

Shopkeeper Shi suddenly realized that borrowing money to buy an official position made sense; how could there be an official who would voluntarily serve the people these days?

It's a ghost.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked with some concern, "Can you two gentlemen guarantee that this money will definitely be repaid?"

"Don't worry, Manager Shi. Your estate is backed by the Imperial Household Department. How dare Lord Ding and I borrow the Emperor's money and not pay it back?"

Zhao An smiled and slapped the silver notes on the table in half into Manager Shi's hand. "There's always a way to work things out. Manager, just think of a solution."

"This"

After much deliberation, Manager Shi came up with a solution: even with Professor Zhao's guarantee, the head office would not approve a one-time payment of 200,000 taels.

But if the 200,000 taels were divided into four installments of 50,000 taels each, he could process it directly.

Zhao An glanced at Lao Ding and thought to himself that even if Lao Song were included, there would only be three of them, and they were still one person short.

Where can I find another person to take out a small loan?
Suddenly I thought of Teacher Lou.

After the prefectural examination, Teacher Lou should have returned to Jiangning. However, since he has taken a rare trip, he may not have rushed back but instead traveled around Yangzhou with his friends. He might be boating on the Slender West Lake right now.

It's a good opportunity to bring him along to take out small loans together, since he doesn't have to pay them back anyway.

After confirming that the loan could be made in four installments, Zhao An took his leave with Lao Ding. As soon as they left the money shop, Lao Ding had an idea: "With Manager Shi's help, the money will come quickly. I think we should give up the salt trade. That business is too risky. If someone finds out, we'll be beheaded. We don't want to earn a few taels of silver and end up bribing people."

Zhao An insisted that the salt trade must continue. Firstly, the money lent out couldn't just sit there playing around; money that was spent was real money, otherwise it was just a pile of worthless paper.

Secondly, while the salt trade was ostensibly for making money, it was actually Zhao An's planned infiltration and transformation of the Green Gang.

He wanted to create a private armed force.

To truly become a deadbeat, besides accumulating debts that even surprise the creditors, it's best to have a gun in your hand.

Only in this way can we ensure that creditors dare not force us to pay. Otherwise, if creditors send people to collect debts at any time, how can an official have a peaceful life?

Just like fleecing an old man, you start with small loans and then move on to larger ones. Similarly, you start building up an armed force from the ground up and gradually expand it.

So much so that even creditors had to bring good cigarettes and wine to discuss the debt with Lord Zhao, instead of directly suing him and turning him into an unregistered person.

(End of this chapter)