Chapter 40: Entangled Roots

  Wu Xuanren also donated a title of Daoyuan, and more than 20 years of continuous accumulation of wealth in Guangzhou's business made him a very prominent figure in the Guangzhou business community. There are rumors that Wu Xuanren may be a descendant of the Wu family, the leader of the Thirteen Hongs, who was famous in Guangzhou fifty years ago, but this news has not been confirmed.

  When it comes to merchants, Tan Yanqing is naturally very clear that in the late Qing dynasty, there were three local merchant forces that were most prosperous - the Guangdong merchants, the salt merchants of Lianghuai, and the Shanxi ticket number. The Thirteen Hongs were the Guangdong merchants, and before the Opium War, the businessmen of the Guangdong Thirteen Hongs were undoubtedly the richest group in the Qing Dynasty, and they were also the richest people in the world at that time.

  Tan Yanqin had also heard that Wu Xuanren was likely a descendant of the Wu family, who were leaders of the Thirteen Hongs. He knew something about the history of the Thirteen Hongs in Guangdong. According to him, by the time of Wu Bingjian's generation during the Opium Wars, the Wu family had become incredibly wealthy and could rival nations. With the information he had, it was not an exaggeration to say that the Wu family was the wealthiest in the world at that time. The Thirteen Hongs were destroyed in the gunfire of the Opium Wars, but their legendary stories still spread widely today. As far as Tan Yanqin knew, the downfall of these three major merchant groups in the Qing dynasty all had a close relationship with national wars: the Thirteen Hongs were destroyed in the Opium Wars, the salt merchants of Lianghuai were ruined by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Shanxi banks would be completely destroyed during the Beiyang warlord era decades later.

  Tan Yankai had also investigated Wu Xuanren's background, and indeed he had grown up in the United States, but his ancestral home was in Fujian Province. However, what his parents did for a living, Tan Yankai hadn't looked into it carefully. As to whether Wu Xuanren was actually a descendant of the thirteen surnames of the Wu family or not, Tan Yankai didn't care about these things - the Wu family was already a thing of the past, they might be part of history, and such families wouldn't possibly become ordinary people again after just one war. Some foundations were certain to remain, but Tan Yankai wasn't concerned with these things. He needed money, but he had ways to make it through legitimate channels, no need to dig up historical figures to extort money from their descendants.

  Tan Yanqun and Wu Xuanren's words were echoed by many directors, and the construction of Huasheng Textile Factory is now proceeding at a rapid pace, with buildings being erected on the original site. However, Huasheng is not the main competitor of Rongmao, and it is unnecessary to create another strong enemy - Huasheng may not be a big deal, but the Beiyang behind it is not easy to mess with. Businessmen do business for profit, not to make enemies. Building a spinning mill at someone's doorstep is seen as a very provocative move in the eyes of the other party.

  With the current strength of Rizhao, expansion is necessary. Since the price of cotton yarn may rise and fall sharply, Rizhao does not plan to continue investing heavily in this direction. Instead, Tan Yanqing's proposal to develop in other directions of the textile industry is a good choice, especially the printing and dyeing industry, which is considered a fat meat by Rizhao's board of directors. They can form an industrial chain - spinning their own yarn, weaving their own fabric, and then printing and dyeing, which can achieve economies of scale. After a series of deep processing, their products not only have cost advantages that others do not possess but also can gain more profits.

  The most important point is that China's textile industry has just started and has a very broad market, but in many aspects it is still in the primitive mode of manual workshop operation. Rongbao Textile Factory can rely on its strong financial foundation to develop these blank industries, which not only does not make enemies with others, but also allows us to taste the huge profits in the blank industry, why not?

  Tan Yanqing sat at the head of the board meeting table, seeing that the directors on both sides were discussing and exchanging their opinions. After a while, he picked up the small hammer on the table and tapped it twice, waiting for all the directors to quiet down before speaking: "Actually, when I was setting up the textile mill, I never thought of just making a quick profit in this industry and then being done with it. Instead, I wanted to operate it in the long term. The Western powers are relying on machines to carry out large-scale modernized production, which is why they can become strong and rich in such a short period of time. This shows that it's a trend - not just spinning and weaving can use machines, but in my opinion, all industries will gradually shift from manual workshop-style production to mechanized production."

  The other directors nodded in agreement, they were all Guangdong merchants who had extensive contact with the outside world and were very open-minded. They were not comparable to some local businessmen in the interior, and in terms of openness, they could be said to be the most vibrant group of entrepreneurs in China. They were deeply convinced by Tan's words, after all, the production efficiency of machines was far superior to traditional manual labor, and as time went on, these machines would only become more advanced. What couldn't be done today didn't mean it couldn't be done tomorrow.

  "At first, I wanted to start this textile factory on my own, but later changed it to a joint-stock company. This is just the first step. When we have accumulated more capital, we can expand into other industries such as silk reeling, hemp production, and dyeing. These industries are currently in a blank state, yet China produces the main raw materials of silk and hemp. Why don't we operate these industries ourselves instead of relying on imports? Everyone is familiar with the 'ten-year patent', and I estimate many people still have reservations about this policy. However, from another perspective, the primary purpose of the 'ten-year patent' is to prevent foreigners from setting up factories in China, which would be a disaster for us! Now that the 'ten-year patent' has ended, it can be foreseen that foreigners will soon come to China to set up factories directly. Therefore, we must seize the market quickly, otherwise, when foreigners really come to China to set up factories, we will truly have no chance of turning things around!" Tan Yankei said solemnly.

  "We resist foreign goods just like we resist sheep, as Chinese people, of course, we should use Chinese products. If our countrymen can't use our products, that's our fault!……” The directors may have purely followed the idea of pursuing profits when investing in the Resist Sheep Textile Factory at first, but this "Resist Sheep" trademark has an astonishing charm. This trademark was designed by Tan Yanqing based on later generations' trademarks for Resist Sheep. The pattern is a globe with two sheep heads facing each other, and the background globe pattern is divided into Eastern and Western hemispheres. The sheep in the Eastern hemisphere is slightly stronger than the one in the Western hemisphere, which has a curved leg design that seems to be retreating backwards."

  Tan Yanqing only had a rough memory when designing this logo at the beginning, and the subtle details of the sheep's confrontation were designed by himself and drawn by others. However, he did not expect that this was actually the original historical logo of the wool factory, which can be considered as an accidental success. Perhaps this logo is just a simple logo in the eyes of Westerners, but any Chinese or foreigners who have some understanding of Chinese culture can clearly interpret the meaning behind this simple logo. From the perspective of national sentiment alone, this logo has made great contributions to the sales of the wool factory. When the name and logo of the factory were first proposed, all the directors unanimously approved it, and some directors had also asked others to design the name of the factory, but after seeing the name and logo, they simply threw their own proposals into the trash can.

  "Now that our wool textile factory has made a substantial profit, I suggest that all directors go back and think carefully about it. We can either stop expanding production and distribute the dividends at the end of the year, or use these profits to invest in new factories. As for what investment projects we have, each director can write a report and submit it to us. We will discuss it within the board of directors and adopt the next step of our investment plan according to the principle of minority obeying majority..." Tan Yanqing proposed.

  Tan Yanqing knew that he still had to face the imperial examination, and according to his father's will, he was likely to enter politics, although he was extremely uninterested in politics and also feared those historical strongmen. However, this was his father's will, just like how he didn't want to get married but had to anyway. Engaging in commerce and seeking wealth was necessary, but in his father's eyes, it was a secondary occupation. Tan Yanqing's most important goal was still to seek development in politics. Spending several months on the foreign affairs industry was already pushing the limits of his father's patience. Therefore, Tan Yanqing had to get the woolen mill in order as soon as possible, and afterwards, he would have to rely on the board of directors to struggle on their own.

  The Lunar New Year has just passed, and the Guangdong Governor's Mansion is bustling with excitement. This year, the Tan family will have two weddings - in March, Tan Yanqing will marry Fang Rucun, the daughter of Jiangxi Governor Fang Ruizhi, and in August, Tan Yanqing's sister Tan Fumei will marry Tang Zanci, the son of Hunan Inspector Tang Shunan. These are part of a series of complex political marriages that have been planned by Tan Zhonglin for a long time.

  Marriage is an indispensable supplement to political alliances, just like war is the continuation of politics. The Zeng family and the Li Hongzhang family, as well as other old political families still active in the Qing government, have branches that continue to fill and solidify various political rules. The current Zeng family has reached its third generation. Apart from inheriting Zeng Guofan's title, the second son of this branch, Zeng Jihong, is the one who truly strives for politics - apart from Tang Shunang's son-in-law Zeng Guangjun being the governor of Guangxi, Zeng Guangrong has already reached the third rank as the acting governor of Hubei and is only half a step away from the second rank.

  Zeng Guofan was deeply calculating before his death, and after his death, he used the relationship between the Xiang Army commander and the Huai Army to weave a vast and solid political network through a series of complex means such as intermarriage. Tan Yankai's sister Tan Fumei's marriage also became an important node on this network - connecting outwardly to the power of Tan Zhonglin, who was the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi.

  When the old man began to form this marriage, it was also out of consideration with Zeng Guofan, a political marriage to ensure his family's safety. However, as Tan Yanqing emerged in the second generation of the Tan family, this marriage had a deeper meaning - the Tan family began to connect with the Zeng and Li families through their marriage with the Tang family. Zeng Guofan's granddaughter was already married to Li Hongzhang's nephew, making Li Hongzhang a distant relative of Tan Yanqing! As for how much influence this distant relative could have, it all depended on how far Tan Yanqing could go in politics - as a top-level political shark, Li Hongzhang would not be swayed by family ties. He was a realist, and even more so since Tan Yanqing was on the periphery of this web of relationships. However, if Tan Yanqing had enough capital and resources, it would be a different story - at least for now, Tan Zhonglin's governorship and Tan Yanqing's deliberate friendship with Li Hongzhang left a deep impression on him.

  Tan Zhonglin and Tan Yankei had a secret conversation in the study for two or three days. The old man thoroughly explained to Tan Yankei all the political and marital relationships between the leaders of the Xiang Army and the Huai Army that he knew about. Although Tan Yankei had been lectured by the old man many times over the past few years, this time he finally lifted a corner of this vast network and was stunned by everything the old man described - he had to admit that China's modern history has always been controlled by these few political families. When all the political events are sorted out and concluded, you can see that they will ultimately be concentrated in the hands of only four or five people, sometimes even Empress Dowager Cixi may not be able to control them.

  After all, people like Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan were always at the forefront of the storm, they were representatives of a large political and military group. In this situation, Cixi sometimes had to make concessions for them, at most using the method of "promoting in the light and demoting in the dark" to weaken the power of their groups over time. Looking back on past memories, it is clear that Cixi did not succeed in the end. In this decades-long political struggle, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang and their political and military groups behind them relied on the continuous emergence of new talents to finally exhaust the old Buddha, although they all died before Cixi, but in the end, the leader of the Beiyang Group, Yuan Datou, still sent the Qing Dynasty into the dustbin of history!

  "Northern Ocean!" Tan Yanqing felt a kind of personal fear towards this term that would be famous for generations to come. This group had developed slowly from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period over several decades and had become a formidable political and military force. Due to Zeng Guofan's management, although Liu Kunyi, the Governor-General of the Two Rivers, still held the title of Minister of the Southern Ocean, the entire Southern Ocean Group had been reduced to nothing after the Sino-French War, with all its resources transferred to Li Hongzhang under the name of Northern Ocean. Only an empty shell of a title remained. Now Tan Yanqing could understand why Liu Kunyi was more inclined to get close to Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan, rather than choose Li Hongzhang - Li Hongzhang had left him nothing but a mess and a name that wasn't worth boasting about!

  "Zu An, your father has already made it clear to you that your sister's marriage will be settled in August. Your own marriage and the conflict between Li Hebei and Zhang Nanpi have nothing much to do with each other, but now you can't stay out of it either!...Li Hebei and Zhang Nanpi, which one do you think is better? Which side are you on? After your sister's marriage is settled, you must make up your own mind!" Tan Zhonglin said calmly, lying in his recliner with his eyes slightly closed, speaking to Tan Yanqian.

  "The child still looks up to Beiyang!" Tan Yankai replied after deliberating for half a day.

  "Is that Li Heifei?!"

  "The child is looking at the strength of Beiyang, not Li Hezhi! In comparison, personally speaking, I think Zhang Nanpi is more promising than Li Hezhi. The key is the strength of Beiyang... Most importantly, can Li Hezhi find a suitable successor for Beiyang?" said Tan Yankai.

  Tan Zhonglin listened and remained silent for a moment before saying: "You still want to try both sides, right?!"

  "This tightrope walking business may only be suitable for Father's level of cunning, but as for me, I'm still too inexperienced and probably can't handle it..."

  Tan Zhonglin waved his hand and said, "Your father's body can still hold on for a few more years, so I can still help you observe the wind. However, your father cannot protect you for a lifetime, and this kind of thing will eventually be up to you to decide! But if your father had to make this choice, it would also be very difficult. Looking at the time..."

  "Perhaps it won't take too long..." Tan Yankai said in a low voice, his thoughts had already drifted from the study of the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi to Tianjin thousands of miles away - where the Beiyang clique was centered.

  "Yes, perhaps it won't take too long... The First Sino-Japanese War dealt a heavy blow to the Huai Army group led by Li Hongzhang, and the Xiang Army group, which had already declined, was completely destroyed in history. This branch, which was originally an important part of the Huai Army, will reach its final end in just one year! However, the foundation of the Beiyang government, laid by Zeng Guofan and carefully managed by Li Hongzhang for decades, although injured during the First Sino-Japanese War, quickly recovered under the development of Yuan Shikai and eventually established Yuan's new ruling core position, dominating China's fate for decades to come. It can be seen how deep this Beiyang water is!" Tan Yankai thought to himself in his study under the moonlight.