Qing Yao

Chapter 123 The items are fine.

When Teacher Lou, whom Zhao An had found at Slender West Lake, heard that he had to step in to borrow money, his blood pressure nearly spiked.

No matter how Zhao An tried to persuade him, he simply refused to lend the money.

Can I borrow it?

If you borrow 10,000 taels, you'll receive 9,000 taels, but you'll have to repay 1,500 taels a year. If you borrow 50,000 taels, the interest alone will be 7,500 taels a year. Even if you sold your whole family, it wouldn't be enough to repay the debt.

Zhao An couldn't reveal too much about the benefits of taking out a small loan from the old man to Teacher Lou, so he could only try to coax and deceive him. But Teacher Lou was determined not to cooperate, as if he had swallowed the weight in his office.

Even when Zhao An threatened Ming and Qing, Teacher Lou still refused to lend the money.

When it comes to lending money, Teacher Lou is truly principled.

I'd rather die than lend it!
It's probably better to have a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one.

Compared to the long-term pain of borrowing money from a high-interest loan, playing Candy Crush is much less enjoyable.

"Old Lou, can you help me out? I just need you to show up, I don't need you to pay me back, what are you afraid of?"

"What are you afraid of? I'm afraid you won't be able to pay me back!"

"How could a dignified seventh-rank official like me be short of such a small amount of money?"

"If you're not short of money, why would you need me to lend you any?"

"."

Zhao An was speechless at Lou's shrewdness, so he had no choice but to resort to bribery. He offered Lou a 10% commission as soon as the money arrived in his account, which would amount to 5,000 taels.

"Five thousand taels?"

Teacher Lou's expression was similar to that of Manager Shi of the money exchange, a mixture of shock and confusion. After a long while, he looked at Zhao An with a strange expression: "You're borrowing so much silver, are you planning to traffic opium?"

Opium trafficking?
Zhao An was taken aback. This stuff was indeed very profitable. One imported box could be sold for the price of ten boxes. It was a business with huge profits. The problem was that his past life had taught him that he shouldn't touch this stuff.

And this thing is pretty absurd to talk about.

In a past life, the British fought a war with the Qing government over opium. Ironically, China, the very country dumping opium, later became the world's largest opium grower and exporter.

The reason was that the Taiping Rebellion caused the Qing government to go bankrupt, and in order to prolong its life, it had to vigorously develop the domestic opium trade.

From the three northeastern provinces of Mongolia in the north to Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan Island in the south, this stuff grows everywhere, it's practically a household that grows opium.

This short-sighted approach was highly effective in the short term. Whether it was paying indemnities, building gardens, buying warships, or training troops, a large portion of the money for these purposes came from selling opium.

What's even more remarkable is that, due to China's vast territory and abundant resources, ample supply of raw materials, low labor costs, and the active policies that encouraged the development of opium, the foreign opium trade was basically squeezed out by "Made in China" products by the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Statistics show that at the time, about 80% of the world's opium supply came from the Qing government, which forced European and American countries to successively introduce laws to prohibit people from smoking opium.

The British, who couldn't have lost any more money, went even further and organized a conference of so-called civilized countries around the world to ban drugs. In order to prevent opium from the East from continuing to harm the people of the West, they directly classified opium as a drug!
Damn it, I'm done with this mess!

It can be said that the British and the Qing government ultimately chose a policy of mutual destruction on the issue of opium.

This incident also fully demonstrates the shamelessness of the Qing court. In the words of some high-ranking Qing officials, "Anyway, it's Han Chinese and foreigners who are being beaten to death, so what does it have to do with us Manchus?"

By this time, China during the Qianlong era had become the largest dumping ground for opium in Asia. However, since the Qing government officially prohibited opium, the trade was conducted in secret.

Because the profits were so high, officials and merchants colluded to make money together. As a result, local governments turned a blind eye to the opium trade, or even completely turned a blind eye to it.

Last time, Zhao An saw some yamen runners using this stuff at the Ganquan County government office, and he didn't see the county magistrate, Old Ding, stop them.

It's possible that Lao Ding didn't realize the consequences of opium, or it's possible that he received benefits from opium merchants.

In Mr. Lou's eyes, the most lucrative business in the world, even more profitable than usury, is opium trafficking.

Therefore, it was naturally assumed that Zhao An borrowed money to do this kind of business, otherwise what business could he do that could keep up with the terrifying rate of interest increases from usury?

Zhao An couldn't tell Teacher Lou that he was going to team up with two county magistrates to smuggle salt and build a private army under the Zhao surname to deal with creditors. He only said that he had gotten in touch with the Imperial Household Department and the Grand Secretary, and that they had told him that if he could give them 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver, they would give him a promotion.

After hearing this, Teacher Lou was stunned for several breaths. Then, he stomped his foot in anger, pointed at Zhao An's nose, and cursed, "The corruption of our Qing Dynasty's officialdom is caused by people like you! With officials like you in power, how miserable are the people!"

Zhao An felt wronged. What did it have to do with him?

In all honesty, ever since he took office, he has done nothing but good deeds to serve the people.

Indeed.

The purpose of establishing a school-borrowing program was to allow more children to have access to education, and the purpose of water conservancy projects was to solve the problem of flooding for the people of Yangzhou.

Moreover, shouldn't governance be the responsibility of local officials with real power? What does it have to do with him, an academic official?

He can't control it even if he wants to.

"Old Lou, you helped me this time. When I get promoted, I'll help you get a professorship at the prefectural academy. Isn't that better than staying in the provincial capital? I know you want to do something, you just haven't had the chance."

Just like he coaxed Lao Ding into marrying his granddaughter to him, Zhao An then tried to persuade Lao Lou, who was eager to get things done but had no opportunity to do so.

In the end, what did Teacher Lou do? He sighed and admitted that buying official positions was also a highly profitable business, at least in terms of legality, it was much more legitimate than opium trafficking. Because the imperial court allowed it.

"I don't need the five thousand taels, if you really can get promoted,"

After clearing his throat twice to ease the awkwardness, Teacher Lou implied that he was getting old and would be content if he could serve as a county magistrate before he died.

Zhao An estimated that it would probably cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to appoint a county magistrate in a wealthy area, but a few thousand taels might be enough to appoint a county magistrate in a poor area.

He immediately agreed and then eagerly took Teacher Lou to Hengli Money Exchange.

"Master Zhao!"

Shopkeeper Shi was surprised that Professor Zhao had brought him so quickly. He treated him with great hospitality because of the 10,000 taels of silver he had earned as a reward. However, after hearing about Teacher Lou's identity, he became troubled and said that he could not process a loan for Teacher Lou.

"Why can't this be done again?"

Zhao An was a little displeased. He had given Manager Shi a bribe of 10,000 taels of silver. If Manager Shi refused to do his job, he would return the money. He would then use the 10,000 taels to bribe the clerks and accountants at the counter, which would probably allow him to make unlimited small loans.

If all else fails, taking this 10,000 taels to Hengli's main branch in Beijing and asking someone to fire you as the branch manager is also an option.

"Lord Zhao, please don't misunderstand,"

Shopkeeper Shi was also afraid that Professor Zhao would misunderstand him as taking money without doing anything, so he explained that although Teacher Lou was also a seventh-rank professor, he worked in the provincial education administration office. On the surface, he was on par with Zhao An, who was in charge of education in Yangzhou, but in reality, he did not have as much power as Zhao An, the top official.

To put it bluntly, can a section chief in your department have the same real power as a bureau chief in the city?
It is important to understand that in the minds of money shops, the amount of power one wields is always the most important factor in determining the value of money.

none of them.

According to market rates, Teacher Lou can borrow a maximum of five thousand taels.

There's nothing they can do; after all, these officials who work in the provincial government but aren't even officially appointed are only slightly better than probationary officials.

"Does Lord Lou have any collateral?"

Shopkeeper Shi probably didn't want to refund the money, so he was trying to find a way to do it.

Zhao An glanced at Teacher Lou, but then looked away.

Don't even bother asking, Lao Lou might still be living in a dormitory.

"Land deeds, house deeds, or valuable calligraphy, paintings, and antiques are all acceptable; it would be even better if you owned a shop."

Shopkeeper Shi, unaware of Teacher Lou's situation, listed a series of items that could be used as collateral, but Teacher Lou could only shake his head.

There are three dilapidated thatched huts in my hometown; if your money exchange wants to take them, they won't object.

Well, Manager Shi finally understood what kind of person Lord Lou was. Seeing Professor Zhao shaking his head repeatedly, he meant that it wasn't that he didn't want to help, but that the gentleman he brought was really not presentable.

Let alone 50,000 taels, he would have to think twice even if it were 500 taels.

Zhao An stood up and winked at the person inside the room: "Manager Shi, shall we speak in private?"

Let's borrow it one step at a time.

Shopkeeper Shi followed Zhao An into the inner room. As soon as the curtain fell, Professor Zhao put a hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice, asking, "Can't the paperwork for the collateral be handled here?"

“That’s right. As long as the item is genuine and its value exceeds the loan amount, I can process it. However, since Lord Lou has nothing, this will be difficult.”

The shopkeeper glanced at Professor Lou, who looked increasingly poor and shabby, and sighed softly.

Zhao An glanced outside, then said in a deep voice to the shopkeeper, "Lord Lou owns some businesses. He has several shops in Yangzhou alone, as well as thousands of acres of fertile land. All of these combined must be worth more than 50,000 taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Manager Shi exclaimed in surprise, "If Lord Lou really had these things, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Then he saw Professor Zhao looking at him with a meaningful gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously shook his head and said, "In the village, you can only pay money if you see the land deeds and house certificates. Without these things, even if I want to help Lord Zhao, I can't."

"Don't worry, I'll ask Lord Ding to help me with the land deeds and property certificates,"

Zhao An gently patted the shopkeeper on the shoulder, "You just need to go through the motions here. Don't worry, you'll get five thousand taels less."

"."

The room was so quiet you could hear Shopkeeper Shi's heart pounding wildly.

"Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. As long as the shopkeeper doesn't cause any problems, no one will know about this. Besides, Lord Ding, Lord Lou, and I are all officials appointed by the imperial court. Would we abandon our posts and abscond for such a small amount of money?"

After a long silence, Manager Fang Tingshi spoke in an extremely soft voice: "The land deeds and property deeds must be genuine. The county's household registration and tax office must have their seals on them. That way, even if the head office finds something wrong in the future, I can still shirk responsibility."

"Don't worry, if anything happens, it has absolutely nothing to do with the shopkeeper!"

Zhao An practically patted his chest and guaranteed it.

Knowing that Professor Zhao's words might not be entirely trustworthy, Manager Shi had no choice but to believe them, because the benefits offered by the other party were so numerous that he could not refuse.

He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "As long as there's nothing wrong with the goods, I'll report to the head office and give Lord Lou 100,000 taels!"

(End of this chapter)