Chapter 36: Founding a Bank and Building a Pharmaceutical Factory

  Saw rushed to the homepage, little bug is excited, brothers are too powerful! Little bug thanks you.

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  The Sino-Japanese War, which lasted for three months, finally came to an end. During this period, there were many battles, including the Battle of Feng Island, the Battle of Seonghwan, the Battle of Baekryeong Valley, the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and the Siege of Pyongyang. Some people were promoted, while others were demoted. Who can tell who was happy and who was sad?

  The Chinese and Japanese armies agreed to withdraw from Korea in three batches. As the elite troops, Ye Zhiqi's Hu Yongjun was naturally the last batch to withdraw. The King of Korea, Li Xi, was released by the Japanese army, and the politics of Korea were once again controlled by the Min family group. Regent Lee Yi should come and go from there, the only change is that the political center of Korea shifted from Hanyang to Pyongyang.

  Pyongyang, Li Hongzhang had just finished handling the withdrawal of troops and was resting when a servant reported that Ye Zhiqi was seeking an audience. Li Hongzhang held this young northern genius in high esteem and immediately summoned him.

  This is related to Li Hongzhang's concept of using people. Firstly, Ye Zhiqi was from Hefei, Anhui Province, and from Li Hongzhang's later use of personnel tactics, we can see that he attached great importance to local relationships, even to the point of being somewhat unfair and unclear in his treatment of public and private matters. This can be seen from the fact that Ye Zhiqi was able to spend his later years in peace after his defeat. If it weren't for Li Hongzhang's strong backing, how could he have achieved such a relaxed outcome? Secondly, Ye Zhiqi himself was highly valued by Li Hongzhang, who was impressed by the strict discipline of Ye's Huwei Army during his inspection tour of various departments. He considered Ye Zhiqi to be a capable general.

  Ye Zhiqi walked into the house and saw Li Hongzhang already wearing a common long gown and sitting in his seat. People who didn't know Li Hongzhang thought he was just a wealthy local, never expecting him to be the powerful Li Zhongtang.

  Ye Zhi Kui first paid his respects to Li Hongzhang and called out "Zhong Tang Da Ren", and only sat down after Li Hongzhang nodded. Li Hongzhang carefully examined him for a moment, without making a sound, and sipped his tea for half a beat. Ye Zhi Kui humbly sat on one side, with no signs of impatience. Seeing that Ye Zhi Kui was not arrogant or impatient, Li Hongzhang secretly thought to himself "this young man is quite good". He then spoke up: "Time really flies by quickly these days. In the past, your uncle and father followed me, Li Hongzhang, in suppressing the Nian Rebellion and achieved great merits. Unfortunately, your father died in battle, but now that you have achieved such success, I believe he would be happy too if he were here."

  Yezhi Kui replied seriously: "This is all because my father and uncle have a discerning eye, recognizing a wise lord, and without the support of Lao Zhongtang, I wouldn't have achieved such results today!" This statement was also true, as Li Hongzhang indeed practiced nepotism.

  Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said, "You, this mouth of yours is really good at talking, flattering me in a roundabout way. Youngster, do you have something to ask of me? Normally, I don't see your mouth being so sweet."

  It is said that when Li Hongzhang handles matters, as long as he intentionally uses coarse language and evil words, the matter will be 90% successful.

  Ye Zhi's heart was filled with joy, and he chuckled to himself for a moment. He thought it was better to speak directly, so he replied: "Old Zhong Tang is indeed a Bodhisattva from heaven, who has calculated that his junior has something to ask for. There are two things that I would like to hear the opinion of Lord Zhong on. Firstly, some time ago, I opened a pharmaceutical factory in Pyongyang, and a new invention of mine will be the main product of the factory. This medicine can stop coughing, relieve pain, and treat other diseases, but the raw material for this medicine is opium. So, I would like to ask Lord Zhong to allow me to transport opium from within the country to Korea for medicinal purposes."

  At that time, China had already petitioned twenty years ago by Li Hongzhang: "Petition to lift the ban and resist the influx of foreign smoke", which led to the widespread cultivation of opium poppies across the country. Therefore, even without Li Hongzhang's permission, Ye Zhiqi could easily obtain opium, but if he could get Li Hongzhang's support, things would be much easier to handle, at least in terms of price.

  "From Yun Ah, this new invention of yours is made from opium, won't it be harmful?" Li Hongzhang asked after a moment's consideration.

  It's not that Li Hongzhang is so compassionate, at least the opium business in the Qing dynasty was acknowledged by the authorities, as long as you pay taxes, it doesn't matter whether you make a fortune from the living or the dead. This is because Li Hongzhang fears that Ye Zhiwei is young and inexperienced, too ambitious, and doing business without making a profit but instead losing money, and when the time comes, Li Hongzhang himself will also feel ashamed for agreeing to let him open a factory.

  Ye Zhi Kui replied, "Minister Zhong, please be at ease. The Western countries have already begun selling it and verified its efficacy. In fact, I can first sell this medicine to Japan as a test. If something goes wrong, I am not afraid of being attacked by the imperial officials. After all, this is just a small business, and when the time comes, I can withdraw from it in time."

  Li Hongzhang thought for a moment and agreed, saying: "You are from the Western countries studying abroad, you know more than me this old antique, I won't persuade you anymore, I will let Sichuan and Gansu provinces' opium supply be prioritized to you."

  When Li Hongzhang said this, Ye Zhiwei was left speechless and didn't dare respond.

  When Li Hongzhang mentioned the priority supply of opium, Ye Zhiwei was overjoyed and said with a smile: "In that case, thank you, old Zhongtang. However, this second matter is somewhat troublesome. That is, I want to learn from Western countries and open a bank in Korea."

  "Found a bank?" Li Hongzhang's eyes flashed with insight, saying: "This is a big deal, but it's similar to the HSBC in Hong Kong."

  Ye Zhihui replied, "Exactly, the bank I plan to set up is similar to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, but with some differences. If Your Excellency permits, I will join forces with the Korean government to jointly hold shares and obtain the exclusive right to issue silver yuan and silver tael notes from the Korean government, making it a hub for reforming Korea's currency system. This will enable us to compete on an equal footing with foreign banks' paper currencies and prevent financial power from being controlled by foreign banks."

  Li Hongzhang couldn't help but take a deep breath after hearing Ye Zhiwei's words, he didn't expect Ye to have such grand ideas and ambitions. As the leader of the Westernization Movement, Li had long wanted to establish a bank, but in the Qing Empire, even someone as influential as him had to weigh his options carefully. However, if they were to open a bank in Korea under the guise of the Korean government, many things would become much easier. Once the time was ripe, they could then establish a bank in the Qing Empire, and they would have gained experience and set a precedent.

  Li Hongzhang's mind turned a few times, and he said: "From Yun, your idea is good, but this is a big thing, without certain strength it is very difficult to accomplish, have you thought all these through?"

  Ye Zhi Kui hastily replied: "This is exactly why the young man has come to see you, sir. Your esteemed doors are filled with students from all over the world; what kind of talent do you not have? Please, sir, help this young man out."

  Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, this young man Ye Zhi Kui is not bad, he knows how to share benefits equally. As for Ye Zhi Kui's nonsense about not being able to find professional talent, Li Hongzhang scoffed at it. In this day and age, what kind of person can't be found? It's hard to find a four-legged frog, but can't you even find a two-legged human?

  The two of them talked for a while longer and roughly settled on this matter.

  The next day, Ye Zhiwei informed Empress Myeongseong and the Korean government again, explaining in detail the benefits of running a bank, and obtained their consent.

  The Korean bank was soon set up with great fanfare. At the time of its founding, 10 million taels were raised from merchant investors, with half paid upfront and a loan of 5 million taels borrowed from the Korean government to be repaid over 5 years, leaving only merchant shares in the end.

  Among the shares, Ye Zhiqi and Ye Zhicha invested 1.2 million taels, Empress Dowager Cixi's outer court group and other Koreans invested 1 million taels, Li Hongzhang and his son invested 1 million taels, and some others like Xian Renshou and Feng Guozhang who made a fortune in the looting of gold also poured their money into it. Their idea was that since both Grand Secretary Ye and General Ye had invested, how could they lose?

  When these messages were heard by some other Beiyang ministers, the last shares were also divided up completely, and they acted so quickly that they only had a sip of soup.

  Ye Zhiqi personally held one-fifth of the shares, and if those related to him were added, it would be as high as three-fifths. Li Hongzhang indeed had many business talents under his command, and soon found some financial talents in the banking sector. As a pioneer, all refer to foreign banks, so set up Zhang Zhenxun, Liu Xueqin, Ye Chengzhong, Yang Wenjun and other nine people as general managers, establish articles of association, report to the emperor that the power belongs to the general manager and other professional talents, and the benefits belong to Ye Zhiqi and other shareholders. Ye Zhiqi also hired Germans as consultants to integrate Chinese and foreign finance.

  Ye Zhi Kui also established a dividend system for these managers, tempting them with benefits and making them wholeheartedly do their jobs.