Chapter 48: To take something, you must first give it.

  December 17th, Jiangning, Viceroy's Office of the Two Rivers.

  Gali, a Tunggiya clan Manchu from the Plain Red Banner, was one of the five great ministers of the early Qing dynasty and the fourth-generation descendant of He Youli. This year he is 48 years old. He was appointed as a Shengyuan by grace and then promoted to Langzhong. In the 35th year of Kangxi's reign, when Kangxi personally led an expedition against Galdan, he stayed at the Kerulen River, and Gali followed Yu Chenglong, the Left Vice-Director of the Imperial Household Department, in directing the transportation of grain supplies for the central route army, performing exceptionally well and earning great praise from Kangxi. Soon after, he was promoted to be a Minister of the Board of Revenue in Shengjing, and within more than a year, he was promoted three ranks in succession and appointed as an Academician of the Grand Council.

  In the 38th year of Kangxi, he was appointed as the governor of Shanxi. Gali was diligent and outstanding in handling government affairs, but he was greedy and cruel, indulging officials and bullying the people. As soon as he arrived in Shanxi, he actively investigated and dealt with embezzlement, earning Kangxi's appreciation, making him a model for clearing up embezzlement set by Kangxi.

  After taking office as the Governor of Liangjiang, Gali thought he could continue to win Kangxi's favor by investigating and punishing corruption, but unexpectedly this trick didn't work. Not only was he severely rebuked by Kangxi, but also the Han officials under him were at odds with him.

  When a man is down on his luck, even drinking cold water can get stuck in his teeth. Just as Gali was having a headache over the situation in Jiangsu, he was ruthlessly trampled by Fourteenth Brother Yin Zhen, who used him as a stepping stone. At this time, he held the imperial edict in one hand and Eighth Brother Yin's handwritten letter in the other, feeling quite helpless. What is going on with these two brothers? One beats while the other pulls? Couldn't Fourteenth Brother have given me a heads up beforehand? This is also Gali's good fortune, favored by the emperor; if it were someone else, they might not even be able to become governor of the two Jiangs.

  He thought of the gifts given to him by several members of the Jianghai Customs, as well as his own trusted men stationed there. He had no time to complain and hastily wrote a letter to Yin Zhen, lest this foolish young man create an irretrievable situation.

  On the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yin Zhen received both an edict from Kangxi and a letter from Gali and Eighth Brother Yin Xiang. After reading the letter, he smiled coldly and immediately ordered Da Chun to assemble two hundred imperial guards and bring along those accountants who had been idle for two months. A large group of people rushed to the Maritime Customs Office outside the Dongmen Gate on the Huangpu River. After publicly reading out Kangxi's edict, he ordered that all accounts be sealed and then declared a 'seal- closure' holiday to all officials.

  The customs officials felt a wave of panic, although they had already settled their accounts for the year and distributed the silver, but seeing Xun Zhen's aggressive attitude, they were still frightened. How many tricks were hidden in this, they knew all too well that even the best account could not withstand scrutiny.

  Now that Yin Zheng is the supervisor of Jianghai Customs, who dares not to obey his orders? One by one, they are all panicked and scattered. As soon as they leave, Yin Zheng waves his hand and says, "Cha, sort out all the accounts for the past three years, categorize them, summarize them, and establish archives year by year. List out the inconsistent accounts one by one."

  Back at the Liu Chun Garden, Yin Zhen immediately ordered someone to go to Songjiang Prefecture to summon Zhu Yan-zhi, the prefect of Songjiang. After that, he called Hai Feng over and said, "Next summer, our naval academy will be recruiting soldiers, with a first batch of around 3,000 people. The current military uniforms are not suitable for use at sea, so we need to find someone to make new ones. It would be best if we had our own department for sewing military uniforms. You're in charge of making this happen."

  He sent Hai Feng away, and Yun Zhen's mouth curved slightly. That little girl was probably getting impatient already. He took out Zhang Mengjiao's letter of introduction, thought for a moment, then hastily wrote a short note and sealed it together with the letter. Only then did he instruct: "Da Chun, have this letter delivered to Miss Zhang of the Zhang family."

  Zhang Mengjiao was indeed a bit anxious, and for the past few days, seeing her father hiding at home sighing all day long, she felt very uncomfortable in her heart. She clearly understood the current situation, no matter how much consolation, it would be useless, so she simply avoided her father, lest he become even more troubled.

  Today, she was hiding in her room reading a book when the housekeeper came to report outside, "Third Miss, someone has delivered a letter to the Liu Chun Garden, saying it's for you, but..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Zhang Mengjiao quickly ran out of the room, "Bring it over and let me see."

  No wonder the housekeeper was suspicious, it turned out that on the envelope was written 'Nie Mengjiao' (Nie is a Han surname), it seems to be the document for her own registration. Upon opening the letter, it indeed was a registration document, and she had been registered under the Han military banner.

  She thought that Yi Zhen would soon send someone to propose, and she couldn't help but feel a little shy and nervous. Just as she was about to turn around and return to her own room, she saw that there was still a letter in the envelope. When she opened it, she involuntarily took a cold breath - this was truly a masterstroke! The means and vision were simply worlds apart from her own. She couldn't help but feel a flush rise to her face as she realized how narrow her own horizons had been.

  After a while, she came to her senses and hurriedly rushed to his father's north courtyard. "Dad, don't worry anymore," she said, handing over the telegram in her hand.

  Zhang Yuanlong hastily finished reading, and his hands involuntarily shook. Good heavens! Supervising Jianghai Customs, monopolizing cotton sales, this Yi Zhen really can turn the clouds and rain upside down. In this situation, he effortlessly turned the entire situation around, now all the maritime trade fleets are eager to come to him.

  "What's wrong with you?" Zhang Yuanlong immediately stood up, "Good daughter, this is a rare opportunity, let's go to Liu Chun Garden, if we go any later, I'm afraid we'll have to line up."

  "Dad, you're in such a hurry to go, what are you planning to say?" Zhang Mengjiao said with a tone of reproach and grievance.

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanlong was also stunned. Ah, yes! How to face Yunzhen now? Why didn't he believe his precious daughter's judgment a few days ago? If only he had hugged her leg earlier, he wouldn't be in such a predicament now.

  "Dad, don't worry, we're already late, it's not a big deal," Zhang Meng said, "Besides, the 14th Master is not someone who doesn't understand human relationships. Even if you didn't go, he would still leave enough shares for our Zhang family's shipping fleet."

  "What about our Zhang family's share?" Zhang Yuanlong shook his head repeatedly: "This is a heaven-sent opportunity, how can we just have that little share for our fleet?"

  Zhang Mengjiao asked cleverly, "Father, are you trying to take advantage of this opportunity to expand our Zhang family's power? But why did the Fourteenth Master give you such a large share?"

  Zhang Yuanlong knew that in this regard, ten of himself couldn't keep up with his daughter in front of him. He slowly sat down and smiled: "Jiao Jiao, stop teasing, Dad's heart is like a cat scratching, quickly say what to do."

  "It is said that coming but not going back is impolite. Those fleets oppressed the 14th Master for no reason, do you think the 14th Master can easily forgive them after turning things around?"

  Zhang Yuanlong's heart tightened, "Are you saying that the Fourteenth Master still wants to integrate the maritime trade fleet?"

  Zhang Mengjiao smiled lightly, "The daughter is so guessing, only in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the annual output of cotton cloth is over 50 million pieces. How many fleets rely on transporting cotton cloth to survive? If cotton cloth is controlled, won't they come begging for it? What kind of person is the Fourteenth Master? Such a good opportunity delivered to his doorstep, will he miss it? So integration is certain, the question is how will he integrate?"

  I don't know if Father has noticed, but this cotton cloth not only has a large output and wide sales channels, but also has a great demand. Foreign merchant ships from Nanyang, Xiyang, Japan and other places all like cotton cloth. Now that it is controlled, it can only be shipped out of Shanghai. Moreover, since Shanghai now allows foreigners to reside, foreign merchant ships will inevitably flock in, and Shanghai will soon be able to share the prosperity with Guangzhou. It can be said that the golden opportunity for Shanghai's development is right before our eyes.

  Facing the greatest development opportunity in history, Father wants to seize the initiative and occupy more of the cotton cloth share. Other ship owners naturally have this idea too, but how can they get a share from the 14th Master? As the saying goes, "if you want to take something, you must first give something", what does Father plan to use in exchange for the share?

  Last week on the chart, recommend and collect it before it's too late!