Beiyang Dream

Chapter 86 The Heiress, Follow Me to the Zhang Family!

April 1, 1891, Tianjin.

When Li Hongzhang's laughter rang out from the signing room, the guards standing watch outside were all stunned. The Grand Secretary was genuinely happy today. "Good, good, good! Well done, Chang Zhenbang! Well done, the alliance of the Northern and Southern Oceans!" Inside the signing room, Li Hongzhang stroked his beard, his eyes narrowed to slits, holding the telegram from Pontianak in his hand, pacing back and forth. The floorboards creaked loudly under his feet.

"That's good now," Li Hongzhang stopped and looked at the three people sitting in the room—Zhang Peilun, Sheng Xuanhuai, and Zhou Fu. "With this source of funding from the South Seas, our Beiyang Army will no longer need to rely on Weng Shuping's generosity; we'll have the silver to buy ships and cannons!"

Sheng Xuanhuai, still clutching a copy of the telegram, smiled and agreed, "Your Excellency is right. The most brilliant thing is the matter of various Southeast Asian companies significantly increasing their capital in the Nanyang Bank." He patted the telegram on his knee, his eyes gleaming, his smile practically overflowing. "A few years ago, Your Excellency wanted to establish the Beiyang Bank, but those incompetent officials in the court ruined it. And what was the result? These past years, every mine in Beiyang has been tightening its belt. If Your Excellency wanted to add a few fast-firing cannons to the navy, you had to submit a report and wait for approval. By the time you got there, it was all too late."

Zhou Fu nodded in agreement. This head steward of the Beiyang government had been managing money so much that his hair had turned white, and he knew best the hardships involved.

Sheng Xuanhuai continued, "But the Nanyang Bank is different—it was originally established to finance the 'Changyuan' ship. It's a Nanyang commercial bank, operating in the concessions of Shanghai, Tianjin, and Hong Kong, and also has branches in Nanyang. The imperial court has no jurisdiction over it!" He paused, emphasizing, "Those wealthy merchants in Nanyang, after seeing the battle at Pontianak, all know perfectly well—who is their backer? It's our Beiyang! That's why they're all rushing to inject capital into the Nanyang Bank. From now on, our Beiyang business will no longer be held hostage by money."

Zhou Fu chuckled and added, "It's not just banks. Wealthy businessmen from the south also want to invest in iron mines and ironworks in Tangshan, and they want to introduce technology from Krupp in Germany. They plan to invest two million taels as initial capital, saying that if things go well, they can add more later."

He counted on his fingers: "Tangshan's coal and iron are all in one place, so the cost is already low. There's also the Tangjin Railway, so we can dig it out, load it directly onto wagons, and transport it to Dagu to be shipped. It's convenient. As long as Krupp provides enough technology, there's no reason why we can't do it well."

Li Hongzhang nodded repeatedly as he listened, but in the blink of an eye, he saw Zhang Peilun sitting there with his brows furrowed so deeply they were almost forming a ball.

"Youqiao," Li Hongzhang's smile faded, "what do you think?"

Zhang Peilun was his son-in-law, and he always spoke frankly. He raised his head and sighed, "Father-in-law, I think... these things are certainly great things. But my Beiyang government must also be prepared to fight with others."

He paused, his voice turning somber: "Good things... are never that easy to accomplish."

The atmosphere in the signing room froze instantly upon hearing this.

Sheng Xuanhuai's smile froze, and Zhou Fu also lost his earlier joy. Both of them understood what Zhang Peilun meant by pouring cold water on their relationship. The Beiyang Army had the guns, and the Huai Army's training force and the Beiyang Navy were both in Li Hongzhang's hands.

Now, Old Li has a money bag again!

Once Nanyang Bank opened, money started pouring in.

Furthermore, the Beiyang Army occupied a strategic location near the capital, protecting the city. It would be so convenient to get things done there, like a promotion for everyone or getting Old Li an extra coat!

With these three things combined, how can the imperial court sleep at night?

In the past, the imperial court could still use silver to control the Beiyang government. Weng Tonghe, the Minister of Revenue, controlled the treasury; he could allocate funds as he pleased or delay payment as he pleased. But what happened later? Silver from the South Seas flowed in by sea, and the imperial court could no longer control it.

Li Hongzhang was silent for a moment, then suddenly waved his hand and laughed. "I'm happy today, let's not talk about such unpleasant things."

He walked back to his desk and sat down, pointing to the telegram in Sheng Xuanhuai's hand. "Let's talk about how to report this to the court." He cleared his throat and said slowly, "This time, the Qing Dynasty, Germany, the Netherlands, and Pontianak have reached a treaty. The Netherlands has granted the Qing Dynasty consular jurisdiction in Pontianak and allowed the Beiyang Army to send advisors to Pontianak... This is unprecedented since the beginning of the Self-Strengthening Movement."

"How should we report these merits? How should we utilize these people?" Li Hongzhang looked at Zhou Fu. "Chang Zhenbang, it's only natural to guarantee him a fourth-rank candidate for the post of Dao, isn't it? He also wants a position as the co-director of the Korean Camp Affairs Office... That can also be granted. As for those students Duan Qirui, Shang Dequan, Wu Dingyuan, and Kong Qingtang, and those officials like Zhang Bishi, Luo Xinglan, and Zhang Zhensheng, how should we report their merits and promote them? You should discuss it and draft a plan."

Zhou Fu responded with a "Yes," and began to consider how to write the memorial for the reward so that it would both make the merits seem great and not make the court think that the Beiyang Army was too powerful to control.

Li Hongzhang picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, and added, "By the way, aren't those people from Southeast Asia going to send representatives north to discuss the military treaty? Let them come as soon as possible!"

At the same time, in Pontianak, in Xiaolanfang.

After the days of carnage, Xiao Lanfang returned to her former tranquility.

In the rubber plantation, workers carried rubber buckets on their backs, their knives slicing through the tree trunks, and milky sap dripped down. On the rubber drying ground, a group of soldiers from the Pontianak Autonomous Army were training in formation, practicing thrusting, killing, and retreating in perfect unison, their shouts deafening.

Apart from these people, the whole town was quiet.

In the small garden of the Luo family compound, six people sat around a stone table.

Chang Desheng, Luo Jingrou, Luo Zhenxing, Luo Zhangshi, Luo Xinglan, Zhang Bishi.

Tea was laid out on the stone table, along with several plates of snacks, including Nyonya cakes from Southeast Asia, which were colorful and looked quite festive.

But right now, nobody's in the mood to eat.

Luo Zhenxing took out a rosewood box, made of sandalwood, smooth and shiny. He pushed it to Chang Desheng with a smile: "Zhenbang, this is what we agreed on earlier, 500,000 taels. It was raised by all the major families in Pontianak, as a thank-you gift for you, for the Beiyang government, and for the imperial court."

Chang Desheng took the box, his heart skipped a beat.

Five hundred thousand taels.

His mind raced through the accounts—how much was the Qing Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue? Eighty million? Ninety million? Certainly not over a hundred million. This five hundred thousand taels was equivalent to a fraction of the nation's total fiscal revenue!

When these Southeast Asian tycoons start throwing money around, it's really hard to keep up!

By the way, later generations have said that overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia spent more than 40 million taels of silver to "send off" the Qing Dynasty... If only I had spent that much silver, 20 million taels would have been enough to send the Qing Dynasty away!

He opened the box, and inside was something that looked like a silver note, printed with intricate patterns, with four large characters in the center: "Payable on demand." Below that was a line of smaller characters: "Seven hundred thousand silver dollars."

This is a HSBC draft. One HSBC dollar contains approximately 7.2 mace of silver, so 700,000 HSBC dollars is roughly equivalent to 500,000 taels of silver. Chang Desheng stared at the draft for three seconds, then snapped the box shut and handed it to Luo Jingrou beside him.

"Keep it."

Luo Jingrou was stunned for a moment, then her face turned red. Zhang Bishi next to her chuckled, and Luo Zhenxing and Luo Zhangshi exchanged a glance and laughed as well. Luo Jingrou took the box, hugged it to her chest, lowered her head, but couldn't help but smile.

She was already clearly Mrs. Chang.

Chang Desheng turned another page in his mental calculations. This 500,000 was "construction funds" for the "Pontianak Autonomous State Project," not just for him. He had to give some to Li Hongzhang, and he would probably also have to share some with the imperial court. If he wanted to keep his official position secure, he would probably have to bribe the Empress Dowager Cixi... In the end, he wondered if he would actually get enough for 50,000.

The initial funding for the North Korean project will likely depend on the extremely wealthy woman…

Seeing his expression, Zhang Bishi knew the young man was calculating. He coughed and steered the conversation back on track: "Alright, the score's settled. Now, shall we talk about Zhenbang and Jingrou's marriage?"

He looked at Luo Zhenxing and Luo Zhangshi, grinning, "I'll be the matchmaker. Jingrou and Zhenbang are mutually in love, and they're a perfect match in terms of social standing and appearance... Brother-in-law, sister, tell me, how much should the dowry be?"

Chang Desheng's ears immediately perked up.

On the surface, he had to feign disinterest, pick up his teacup, and slowly take a sip. But inside, he was scratching his head: How much? How much?

Madam Luo looked at her daughter, then at Chang Desheng. Like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, she was increasingly pleased. She tugged at Luo Zhenxing's sleeve. Luo Zhenxing understood and cleared his throat.

"Zhenbang," he began, his voice quite gentle, "Jingrou is the apple of my Luo family's eye. Over the years, her mother and I have never been willing to let her suffer the slightest grievance."

Chang Desheng quickly put down his teacup and sat up straight: "Yes, Uncle and Aunt love Jingrou dearly, I can see that."

"What you did in Pontianak this time," Luo Zhenxing looked at him earnestly, "saved the entire Luo family, saved thousands of people including Xiao Lanfang. You even made the Luo family the masters of Pontianak. The Luo family will remember this kindness."

He paused for a moment, then said, "As for the dowry... the Luo family owns a tin mine in Perak and four shops in Singapore, all under Jingrou's name. These properties bring in about 20,000 taels a year. In addition, there is a tea shop on Wellington Street and a herbal medicine shop on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong. These two places can also bring in several thousand taels a year. There are also two plots of land in the reclaimed land in Sheung Wan, which also belong to her."

Chang Desheng almost dropped the teacup in his hand.

The tin mines in Malaya... Chang Desheng now owns mines at home too.

And the shops and land in Singapore and Hong Kong—those two places will be incredibly valuable in the future! They must be held long-term!

There is also a fixed income of over 20,000 taels a year... The monthly salary of a Huai Army soldier is four taels according to regulations. A battalion of five hundred soldiers would amount to 24,000 taels a year!

In other words, the annual income from Luo Jingrou's dowry alone was enough for Chang Desheng to pay the military salaries of 500 private soldiers.

The rules of the Beiyang Army were that soldiers belonged to their generals. Whoever paid them and wore their uniforms was their private army! As long as you had a battalion of private soldiers, your status in the Beiyang system would immediately change—you would be a junior Beiyang warlord.

Of course, to truly own a private army, 24,000 taels a year wouldn't be enough. There are also the officers' salaries, the entire battalion's food expenses, the cost of hay for mules and horses, training and equipment maintenance... all added up, 50,000 taels a year would be about right.

In addition, to equip this battalion, we need at least 500 rifles, four Maxim heavy machine guns, four 80mm mortars, 500 entrenching tools, and various other equipment, as well as ammunition... and preparing another 50,000 taels of silver should be enough.

Luo Zhenxing continued, "In addition, the Luo family will provide another 150,000 taels of silver as a dowry for Jingrou."

Another 150,000 taels...

Chang Desheng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Of the 150,000 taels, plus the 500,000 taels of "construction funds" that could end up in his pocket, at least 200,000 taels would be in cash. Add to that the annual turnover of more than 20,000 taels... From now until the year of Jiawu, he could accumulate 100,000 to 200,000 taels.

Now, with just the money from the incredibly wealthy woman, he could raise two truly capable battalions before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War…

"This...this is too much trouble." Chang Desheng's face was serious, but the barely suppressed smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.

Luo Jingrou glanced at him sideways and said in a low voice, "What are you pretending for?"

Zhang Bishi laughed heartily, picked up his teacup, and drank it all in one gulp. "Alright, the marriage is settled! However, the formal wedding will have to be held back in Tianjin… Brother-in-law, since Pontianak is only recently settled, if you can't leave right away, how about having your eldest son escort Jingrou north and help Zhenbang with some miscellaneous matters? What do you think?" Luo Zhenxing nodded: "Okay, that's settled… Once things are settled in Pontianak, I'll come north with Jingrou's mother to attend Zhenbang and Jingrou's wedding!"

Zhang Bishi then asked Chang Desheng when they could set off.

Chang Desheng said, "I will set off once things are settled in Pontianak."

Luo Zhenxing asked, "Whom do you plan to keep in Pontianak?"

Chang Desheng had already thought it through.

"Shang Zichun".

He said, "Zishun is a steady, loyal man, and he's also quite capable in warfare. Keep him here as the resident commissioner of Pontianak, holding the fifth rank, to assist in military and political affairs and supervise the training of the new army. Within two years, he'll definitely be able to help you, Father-in-law, train two thousand Pontianak autonomous troops."

Luo Zhenxing nodded: "Committee member Shang is indeed suitable. So... when are you leaving?"

"In the next couple of days," Chang Desheng said. "We'll go with the Guangjia ship, first to Singapore, and then with the officials from Nanyang who are going north to discuss cooperation with the Grand Secretary, we'll travel north on a ship from the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, escorted by the Guangjia."

Back in his room, Chang Desheng faced the oil lamp, his mind racing with a jumble of thoughts.

The 500,000 taels of bank drafts were with Luo Jingrou. The tin mines, shops, and land in her dowry could generate 20,000 taels a year, and she could keep 150,000 taels of cash in her stash. She could also keep 50,000 taels as a commission for "construction fees"...

"In my past life, I worked myself to death over a house and dowry issues, and I still hadn't solved my personal problems..." He leaned back and let out a long sigh. "But in this life, my wife comes with her own dowry and even contributes so much..."

He counted on his fingers and did it again.

The tin mine needs to be managed, the shops in Singapore and Hong Kong need to be rented out, and the two plots of land need to be held onto for now to appreciate in value... Oh, and maybe we can find new ways to make money in North Korea.

"I heard North Korea has gold and copper mines, and quite large ones at that. If things go well... it could bring in tens of thousands of taels of silver a year. Then we can expand to another mine..."

The more he thought about it, the happier he became, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"With three battalions, we should be able to accomplish something by the time of the Sino-Japanese War. Then..." he muttered, "we'll keep making money, keep training troops, and keep climbing the ranks. Once we've climbed high enough..."

He suddenly paused, a thought flashing through his mind.

"How many such virtuous wives can one find in this lifetime?"

He laughed as soon as he said that.

"One Luo Jingrou is enough for me to live on for several lifetimes, how many more?" He shook his head, "Don't bite off more than you can chew, don't bite off more than you can chew."

Just as I was lost in thought, there was a soft knock on the door.

Who could it be so late?

Who is it?

"Zhenbang, it's me." Luo Jingrou's voice.

Chang Desheng hurriedly got up to open the door, but was stunned when he did.

There were two people standing outside the door.

Luo Jingrou stood at the door and smiled at him.

"I've stewed bird's nest for you," she said, stepping in and placing the tray on the table.

There was another person following half a step behind her.

Chang Desheng glanced up and his heart tightened again.

It's Haruko Okura.