According to Li Cunzhi, the young patriarch Li Jingfang, who is seven years younger than him, actually has great political and business acumen.

"I have met Li Jingfang several times. He is a close relative of the clan. You have to convince him first and then let him come forward to meet with Sheng Xuanhuai. It will be easier. But no matter who you find, it will depend on you."

Use your sharp tongue to encourage them and persuade them."

"You have to understand it with reason, move it with emotion, talk about national justice, family interests, etc. The two of them have one thing in common. They are both admirers of the Westernization Movement, and they are both ambitious people.

I am willing to sit back and wait for death."

So far, Li Cunzhi has tried his best to help Chen Tianhua.

"Thank you, father-in-law."

"When you go to Shanghai and need ships, speedboats, personnel, etc., just tell Sun Yong. If you need any gifts, just tell the housekeeper."

"My son-in-law understands."

"..."

After talking about this matter, Weng and his son-in-law also talked about some family matters, especially the marriage between Chen Tianhua and Li Shuzhen.

Chen Tianhua said that his initial plan is to marry Li Shuzhen in the spring and summer of next year.

Li Cunzhi was naturally very happy after hearing this, and immediately said that if you have any financial difficulties, you can raise them and he will solve them.

Chen Tianhua said he could handle it.

He later counted the silver notes he received from He Laoliu in Meishan Town in private, and found that a total of two hundred thousand taels of silver were official notes from the Qing Dynasty Bank.

Now it's time to make money. Based on the current ratio of silver to silver dollars of 1:1.2, 200,000 taels of silver is equivalent to 240,000 pieces of silver ocean.

I almost picked up a Fengzhong Bank for nothing.

Therefore, he will naturally not be short of money when he gets married.

…

The twenty-eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, late autumn.

It’s mid-September in the lunar calendar, around two o’clock in the afternoon.

Along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, the sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, and the autumn air is crisp.

Shiliupu Pier is bustling with activity, with the whistles of various cruise ships coming in and out, the shouts of the crowd, the noise and curses all mixed together...

The crowds near the pier are bustling with people. The hawkers who wholesale fruits and vegetables, the coolies who carry poles to sell their strength, and the people who are ferrying to Puxi to make a living, all mix together to form a complex flow of people.

And more of them are homeless people from all over the country who are raising their children, huddled on the roadside and begging with a broken bowl. They are skinny and dying.

Shanghai was the first batch of treaty and trade ports and the first batch of free trade ports opened by the Qing government in the face of the guns of foreigners.

Naturally, it was also the first city in the Qing Dynasty to establish a concession.

After decades of development, although Shanghai is known as the largest city in the Far East, it is not all about entertainment and entertainment.

In the shadow of its prosperous foreign market, there are more poor streets and poor working people at the bottom who are struggling for survival.

However, compared to other cities in the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai was already quite prosperous.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the roadside, and a brand new fashionable top hat in the crowd was doing a relay race in mid-air.

A wealthy young man from outside the city who had just arrived at Shiliupu Pier had his hat "flew off" by some young men on the street amidst the shouts of "country people".

The fat young man was cursing loudly and instructing several of his servants to try to snatch back the valuable woolen hat he had just bought in the crowded crowd.

This rich young man from out of town probably doesn't know that Shanghai is a very bully place. It's better for strangers from out of town to behave with their tail between their legs and not to show off, otherwise they will be teased.

Just like the fat rich young man just now, he was made to cry without tears, and finally lost his temper.

"Come and declare...Sir...buy a declaration and take a look..." The boy selling newspapers rushed through the crowd, shouting, completely ignoring the insults from the little red guy next to him.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, although it was late autumn, the outdoor temperature was not low under the scorching sunshine.

At the freighter terminal, some stevedores were working shirtless.

At this time, a military speedboat with the Yellow Dragon flag of the Qing Dynasty and painted green slowly entered a military dock next to Shiliupu.

After the ship was stabilized, three men and two women got off the deck one after another, stepped onto the pier through the stone steps, and walked quickly onto the pier.

They were none other than Chen Tianhua and his party.

In addition to Chen Tianhua, the male attendant here is Zuo Gang, and Sun Yong is here in person.

The two women are Xu Yunyuan and Li Shuzhen.

The purpose of Chen Tianhua's trip to Shanghai is very clear.

First, he made a special trip to escort Xu Yunyuan back to the Shanghai declaration office and return the jade intact to Zhao.

The second is to come and visit relevant important people as planned, including big bosses in Shanghai's political and business circles.

On this military dock, where no one is allowed to enter and soldiers stand guard, there are already several luxury carriages parked in two rows.

It should be said that they came to welcome these three men and two women.

"Yun'er..."

"Mom..."

Xu Yunyuan couldn't hold back her excitement and hugged a lady who was standing on the bluestone of the pier and looking out.

The mother and daughter cried bitterly and broke down in tears.

Among the people who came to greet her, two neatly dressed men in their fifties walked towards Chen Tianhua and said, "You must be Mr. Chen, Yun'er's savior."

"Hello, elders. My junior is Chen Tianhua." Chen Tianhua nodded respectfully to the two elders.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Chen. I am Xu Yunyuan's father, and this is her second uncle. Fortunately, you rescued me this time..." Xu's father took Chen Tianhua's hand and was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

"Mr. Chen, I am Xi Yufu, Xu Yunyuan's second uncle and the editor-in-chief of the declaration office. I am responsible for Yun'er's accident this time. Fortunately, you rescued me. Otherwise, I will die of guilt and heartache." Xi Yufu also repeated again and again.

bow.

The two grown men pulled Chen Tianhua and expressed their gratitude incoherently, only to kneel down and kowtow.

It turned out that three days ago, Chen Tianhua had second thoughts and asked Sun Yong to arrange for people to go to Shanghai to attack the front station. This would be more appropriate.

The first is to inform the declaration office about Xu Yunyuan's situation, and the second is to find out whether Li Jingfang and Sheng Xuanhuai are in Shanghai.

Sun Yong received an order from General Li Cunzhi in advance, asking him to go all out to cooperate with Chen Tianhua in all matters and obey his arrangements.

He was afraid that his subordinates would not be able to handle these tasks, so he personally took orders to handle them.

Three days ago, he and Zuo Gang took a military speedboat out to sea from the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, entered the Huangpu River and arrived at the Shiliupu Military Terminal.

They first went to the declaration office and told Xu Yunyuan's details, which finally made Xi Yufu and the Xu family's hearts drop.

The declaration office did not receive any news about Xu Yunyuan and Allen for half a month, so they sent people to search for them. As a result, they heard that they had disappeared again in Meishan Town.

At this moment, the whole family felt like a bolt from the blue.

In the past few days, they are using all their forces in Shanghai, including foreigners, yamen, and Jianghu forces, to post a list offering a reward of 100,000 silver dollars to find Allen and Xu Yunyuan.
Chapter completed!