"Cheng Zhiwen, he..." Shen Qing looked at the deposit slip in her hand, "Is he still in Shanghai?"
Qi Zhenheng shook his head: "I don't know. He travels all over the world frequently, and I'm not sure if he's in Shanghai right now."
Shen Qing stared at the deposit slip.
A slight wavering arose within me.
She didn't want to use the money of the traitors to do business, but she really couldn't raise the money right now. Moreover, the raw silk business itself wasn't for her personal gain, but to take back control of the raw silk business from the foreigners.
Using the money of the traitors to save silk and the vast number of silk farmers can be considered as doing a good deed for Cheng Zhiwen.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing turned around and locked the deposit slip in the cabinet.
"I'll accept these fifty million taels for now. I'll discuss how to handle the money when I meet with him."
Shen Qing locked the cabinet and turned to Qi Zhenheng: "If we can really sell it to foreigners at a tenfold price, then this fifty million taels will eventually become five hundred million taels. We'll discuss how much to give Cheng Zhiwen then."
Qi Zhenheng nodded in a deep voice: "You decide."
The following day, Shen Qing, along with He Fei and several other attendants, left Jiangzhou and headed to Sichuan.
Over a period of six months, she visited major silk-producing areas such as Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shandong, and Guangxi, and negotiated with silk farmers for the right to purchase raw silk for the next five years.
With Cheng Zhiwen's support of 50 million taels, she was able to successfully acquire the raw silk supply for the next five years in the country.
In previous years, foreigners who bought raw silk from silk farmers at low prices were forced to buy raw silk from Shen Qing at ten times the price.
In four years, the fifty million taels of silver multiplied several times, and the major merchants of the Chamber of Commerce and the vast number of silk farmers made a fortune.
The Gao family, represented by Shen Qing, was one of the wealthiest families in Jiangzhou.
Spring has come again.
The first day of the first month of the fifteenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign.
Shen Qing sat in front of the dressing mirror looking at the account book, while Chunju did her hair and makeup.
Looking at her pale face in the mirror, Chunju asked worriedly, "Young Madam, your complexion has been getting worse lately. Are you still not sleeping well?"
Shen Qing turned a page of the ledger in his hand and casually replied, "I haven't been sleeping well at all."
Chunju sighed and advised, "Now that Sulan can stand on her own, you should rest. You need to rest properly and not take care of your health like this anymore."
Shen Qing smiled and said, "Su Lan, she can do business normally, but she can't deal with those cannibalistic foreigners."
"Why not? Didn't you teach Su-lan English?"
"Knowing English isn't enough."
"All right."
Chunju continued to style Shen Qing's hair.
"Knock knock," someone knocked on the door.
Chunju went to open the door.
The servant stood outside the door and said respectfully, "Young Madam, several bosses from the Raw Silk Merchants Association have come to wish you a Happy New Year."
Chunju: "Young mistress understands, you may leave."
After closing the door, she returned to the dressing table and worked even harder on Shen Qing's hair.
She secretly hoped that Shen Qing could choose a good man from among the business owners in the Chamber of Commerce and remarry.
...
Snow fell thick and fast. Shen Qing, wearing a bright red cashmere cloak, hurried toward the main hall, with He Fei holding an umbrella for her behind her.
In a white world, a touch of red arrives gracefully.
As soon as she entered the main hall, she took off her cloak and handed it to Chunju, then smiled and went to greet the guests.
"Mr. Chen, Mr. Wang, Mr. Zhang..." He cupped his hands in greeting to the guests and said, "Happy New Year, everyone."
The five business owners stood up and bowed to her, saying, "Happy New Year, President Shen."
Shen Qing took his seat at the head of the table, took a sip of hot tea, and smiled as he raised two fingers: "Last year, the whole country had a bumper harvest of raw silk, and we earned twice as much silver as in previous years."
The merchants beamed with joy and flattered him, saying, "I knew we made the right choice in siding with Chairman Shen. Chairman Shen can lead us to make a fortune!"
Shen Qing humbly shook his head: "No, no, I should be thanking everyone for their support of my work."
At this point, her expression suddenly changed: "However, after the start of autumn, all the raw silk in the warehouse will have to be sold off at low prices, so in the second half of this year, the raw silk business will hardly make any money."
People were puzzled: "Why sell at such a low price after the start of autumn? Weren't they selling well at ten times the price all along?"
Shen Qing looked at the falling snow outside the door.
Four years ago, when Cheng Zhiwen handed over a deposit certificate of 50 million yuan to Qi Zhenheng, she asked Qi Zhenheng to convey her message.
He instructed her to sell off all the raw silk she had in the second half of the fourth year.
Shen Qing snapped out of his daze and looked at everyone: "Because Europe will have a bumper harvest of raw silk after the start of autumn, if we don't quickly sell off our raw silk at a low price, it may rot in our hands."
Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that it made sense and nodded in agreement, indicating that they would all listen to her.
After sitting at the Gao family's house for a while, everyone went to Qi Zhenheng's house to wish him a Happy New Year.
Qi Zhenheng is still the head of the Imperial Textile Bureau, but in the past four years, based on clues provided by Shen Qing, he has joined forces with port officials to crack down on smuggling, cracking down on many cases of silver being smuggled from China to the sea, and also intercepting a lot of opium that was about to enter China.
The Qing court wanted to promote him to Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, but he refused.
Shen Qing knew that he was still staying at the Weaving Bureau only so that he could be her support when there were conflicts with the raw silk merchants.
Now, he has bought a house in Jiangzhou and spends his holidays there.
Just then, the group arrived at the Qi residence.
The gatekeeper saw Shen Qing walking ahead and quickly went in to report.
Qi Zhenheng quickly came out to greet her personally, and his bright eyes lit up when he saw Shen Qing.
The group filed into the Qi residence.
I wished Qi Zhenheng a Happy New Year, reported on the work of the new year, and discussed our views on the future of silk.
After exchanging pleasantries for half a day, they all prepared to head home.
Like everyone else, Shen Qing prepared to go home.
“Shen Qing…” Qi Zhenheng called out.
Shen Qing paused, turned around and looked at him: "Does Lord Qi have anything else?"
Qi Zhenheng glanced at the others.
Seeing this, everyone quickly moved away.
Qi Zhenheng then looked down at Shen Qing and said, "Happy New Year."
Shen Qing smiled: "You already said that."
Qi Zhenheng scratched his head and chuckled, "That was Qi Zhenheng, the textile commissioner, giving everyone his blessings, just to keep things official. Now it's my personal blessing to you, Shen Qing."
Shen Qing laughed loudly.
She thought Qi Zhenheng was really adorably innocent.
“Qing’er…” He suddenly straightened his expression and took Shen Qing’s hand, which was placed at his side.
Shen Qing had already anticipated what he was going to say, and felt a chill run down her spine.
"Six years... We've known each other for six years... I still say the same thing: I want to marry you, I want to protect you for the rest of my life..."
Shen Qing bit her lip and lowered her head, remaining silent.
Four years ago, Qi Zhenheng proposed to her. She lied and said that she could not have children, hoping to scare him away. Unexpectedly, he became more determined after being thwarted.
Right now, she doesn't know what reason she can give to refuse him.
After hesitating for a while, she looked up at Qi Zhenheng and said, "Lord Qi, I never want to get married again in my life. For me, marriage is no longer a necessity."
"Qing'er..." Qi Zhenheng didn't know what to say for a moment.
After a long pause, he said, "If you don't want to get married, then let's not have a wedding and just be an ordinary couple."
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