In fact, Wang Deqian is not only the richest man in Zigong, but also the richest man in Sichuan, and the "Tang Bancheng" in Chongqing is just a pediatric.

Of course, I can't say that I am the richest man in Sichuan now, because the four major families have moved inward.

At the end of last year, the Japanese secret service counted the deposits of state officials at the Shanghai International Bank, with Chang Kaishen and Soong Meiling totaling $11.86 million, Song Ziwen $6.37 million, and Kong Xiangxi $6.35 million. At that time, the total deposits of China's domestic banks (excluding the occupied areas) were only more than $700 million in US dollars, and even less at the black market exchange rate - less than $300 million, and the four major families were definitely rich and rivaled.

This deposit statistics report is an internal material of the Japanese government, which was not taken out for publicity, and was later stored in the archives of Stanford University in the United States, so there should be no possibility of falsification.

How did the money of the four major families come from, let's not discuss it, Wang Deqian's money is really not easy to earn.

Zigong (including Fushun), as the number one source of tax revenue in Sichuan, has been targeted by all walks of life since the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and even the warlords of Yunnan and Guizhou have to come over to get a piece of the pie. For the local warlords, only by controlling Zigong could they truly control Sichuan.

Although Wang Deqian was born in a wealthy family, he was about to go bankrupt when he took over the family business.

Families are infighting, warlords are ravaging each other, the government is heavily taxed, and competitors are besieging and framing...... Wang Deqian defeated his two younger brothers to inherit the family business, when the price of salt plummeted, the whole factory stopped production, and sold hundreds of salt pots to pay off the installment debt. The clansmen made a fuss about forcibly separating the family, and after some tossing, Wang Deqian didn't even have salt wells, only some natural gas wells, and the profits were not enough to pay off the debt.

Wang Deqian carried out enterprise reform in a big way, and gradually recovered a few salt wells. But as soon as there was an improvement, he encountered a fire in the salt well, and a life lawsuit, and then encountered a dispute with the owner when repairing the stove, which led to the suspension of the new well and a huge deposit to the government, and at this time the two younger brothers were still fighting a lawsuit with him to divide the family property.

It was in this bad situation that Wang Deqian, who was once bankrupt, became the richest man in Sichuan in just over ten years.

He believed in Buddhism and Taoism, he helped the poor, he donated money to fight against Japan, he was diligent and thrifty...... These are all true. But he is also cunning and scoundrel, domineering and tough, insidious and cunning, with cold hands and black hearts. Because he owed a huge amount of money, he hid in the mountains for several years and did not dare to go out, followed by dozens of henchmen at any time, and all business was remotely commanded in the Buddhist hall in the mountains.

Since the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Deqian has been practicing Buddhism all day long, not socializing, and not going out. Just because the national government is too powerful, all salt is collected and sold, and the entire salt market is controlled by the government, and the salt merchants only need to be responsible for production. Coupled with the continuous depreciation of the fiat currency and the meager profits of the booming salt business, by the time the founding of New China, the richest man in Sichuan was essentially bankrupt.

This is just like the bankruptcy of the iron and steel enterprises in wartime, and the salt industry company can also be bankrupt, and it has to be said that the national government is very capable.

Therefore, Wang Deqian is extremely hostile to the Kuomintang, and his company is not allowed to have any Kuomintang party branches. At the same time, he acquiesced in the development of the underground party around him, and the children of the family were recommended to study in Yan'an.

Hearing that the famous Zhou Shenxian came to Zigong, Wang Deqian immediately led people to the gate to greet him, he laughed and said: "I have admired the name of Brother Zhou for a long time, I can see you today, and I have no regrets in this life!" ”

"Brother Wang is polite, I have heard of your good name in eastern Sichuan." Zhou Hexuan casually sent a flattering word.

This sentence made Wang Deqian very useful, he has no intention of running the industry now, but attaches more importance to reputation, and said happily: "I am very satisfied to be able to do what I can for the people of the country, and the good and bad names are all vain." ”

Zhou Hexuan introduced: "This is Qian Ji, a lay monk, and this is Nan Huaijin, who is a dual cultivator of Buddhism and Taoism. ”

Wang Deqian took the hands of the two and said, "Brother Zhou's friends are naturally young and handsome. I have been obsessed with Buddhism for many years, and I happened to ask you for advice. ”

"Don't dare to ask for advice, confirm each other." Nan Huaijin and Qian Ji hurriedly said.

The banquet of the Wang family is not extravagant, just ordinary dishes such as bean curd and back pot meat. As soon as everyone sat down and didn't move their chopsticks, suddenly a servant reported: "Yigong, Mayor Cao is here!" ”

"Invite him in." Wang Deqian said enthusiastically.

Cao Renyuan was the first mayor of Zigong and a member of the League, who participated in the Guangzhou Uprising, the Wuchang Uprising, and the Sichuan Road Protection Movement. He studied agriculture at Tokyo Agricultural University, chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, master's degrees at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin, and then a Ph.D. in Germany.

The most popular Yin Dan Shilin cloth during the Republic of China was invented by Cao Renyuan when he was a doctoral student. This kind of cloth was praised by intellectuals as the pride of the nation and could be called the "national cloth", and the cheongsam and caftan at that time were all made of this cloth as the first choice.

We mentioned the anecdote of Master Hongyi earlier, who once resisted foreign goods and only wore national cloth. A student gave him a good dress, but he thought the fabric was high-end and resolutely refused to wear it, but later learned that it was a domestic product and gladly accepted it - that dress was made of Yin Dan Shilin cloth.

A member of the league like Cao Renyuan, who returned from studying abroad, has fame, qualifications, and ability, and is enough to be a deputy minister in the central government, but he was sent to be the mayor of Zigong, which shows how bleak his career is. The reason is very simple, he followed the wrong person, he was Hu Hanmin's confidant, and he specifically sang against Lao Jiang. If it weren't for the fact that he was a famous doctor of chemical engineering, and Zigong produced salt, the mayor of Zigong would not have his turn.

"Yigong," Cao Renyuan greeted Wang Deqian, and then warmly shook Zhou Hexuan's hand and said, "Mr. Zhou, you don't say a word from the tribute, let me do my best as a landlord!" ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "Dr. Cao is polite. I'm mainly visiting friends from Gong, and I didn't want to alarm you. ”

Cao Renyuan said with a smile: "General Feng mentioned your righteous deeds many times in the letter, which makes me admire it so much!" ”

Cao Renyuan and Feng Yuxiang are also old friends, after the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, he assisted Feng Yuxiang in forming the Anti-Japanese Alliance Army in Zhangjiakou, which is the army where Ji Hongchang and Fang Zhenwu are located.

With such a big circle, it turns out that they are all friends, no wonder when Feng Yuxiang called for money to resist Japan, Wang Deqian would donate so much money in one go.

Cao Renyuan was relatively honest when he was the mayor of Zigong, and his exploitation of salt merchants was not serious, so he had a very good relationship with Wang Deqian. But it wasn't long before Zigong was about to change mayors, and the salt merchants were so desperate that they hated the Kuomintang as much as they hated the Japanese.

A pair of dishes and chopsticks were quickly added to the table, Cao Renyuan was originally from Sichuan, and he took the initiative to talk about Zhou Hexuan's deeds in Sichuan. When it came to Zhou Hexuan and Liu Congyun's fighting method, the whole room was laughing, and even the maid who was waiting next to him was covering his mouth.

Wang Deqian said disdainfully: "Liu Congyun is a person, I am more familiar with it. He is from Weiyuan, Da'an Village is Weiyuan when he crosses the river, and he often comes to Da'an to cheat before climbing Liu Xiang. At that time, I had just taken over the salt number, and there were a lot of unlucky things, and Liu Congyun was holding a sub-compass to show me feng shui. Look at the feng shui of a ghost, full of nonsense, Lao Tzu directly let the thugs blow him away. ”

Nan Huaijin was quite concerned about Buddhism and Taoism, and asked, "Mr. Zhou, how much real ability does Liu Congyun have?" If it is pure fraud, why are so many people deceived? ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "Then I'll give you a live demonstration." “

"How?" Nan Huaijin asked.

Zhou Hexuan said: "I tell Dr. Cao's fortune. ”

Cao Renyuan said: "Mr. Zhou personally told me my fortune, I am really flattered." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Dr. Cao, please tell me about your birthday." ”

Cao Renyuan immediately cooperated: "I was born when I was ugly on the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the nineteenth year of Guangxu. ”

Zhou Hexuan pretended to pinch his fingers and counted, and suddenly said, "You are the only son in the family!" ”

Cao Renyuan shook his head and said, "No." ”

Nan Huaijin laughed: "Mr. Zhou miscalculated!" ”

Zhou Hexuan emphasized seriously: "You must be an only son!" ”

Cao Renyuan said: "I have two brothers. ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Think about it again, when were you born?" ”

Cao Renyuan was a little confused, and recalled: "It should be ugly, my mother heard the rooster crowing when she gave birth to me." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The rooster crows generally after 3 o'clock in the morning, and it is already the end of the day. There are many brothers in the meridian unit, three or two in Yin Shen Sihai, and Chen Xu is not the only one. If you were born in Yin, the three brothers are just right, it's not that I miscalculated, but that you misremembered the time of your birth. ”

"Am I really misremembering?" Cao Renyuan really can't figure it out, because there were very few people with clocks and watches in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zhou Hexuan said: "It is also possible that Ling Zun Lingtang didn't figure it out, it was in the middle of the night, and it was easy to confuse the ugly time and the Yin time." ”

Cao Renyuan touched his head and suddenly reacted: "You lied to me, right?" ”

"Hahahaha," Zhou Hexuan laughed and said to Nan Huaijin, "See, this is the usual trick of charlatans." Although it didn't work against Dr. Cao, it was enough to deceive those foolish men and women. This fortune-telling and feng shui have routines, coupled with observing words and colors and improvisation, if you have read some Taoist classics, walking the rivers and lakes is simply unfavorable. ”

Wang Deqian looked at it from the sidelines, and he said: "Brother Zhou is also a master! ”

Qian Ji smiled: "No wonder the Americans call you a wizard in the Far East, there is indeed a set." ”

Wang Deqian said: "Life is not determined by heaven, it all depends on man-made. Doing good deeds is due to good results, and naturally there are many children and grandchildren, and people like Liu Congyun will kill themselves if they do too much injustice. ”

Nan Huaijin asked: "What sect of Buddhism is cultivated by Yigong?" ”

Wang Deqian said: "Pure Land Sect. ”

Nan Huaijin said: "I once met a Pure Land Sect master in Hangzhou. ”

Wang Deqian became interested: "Oh, who is it?" ”

Well, the two men began to discuss Buddhism.