I changed the world.

Page 427

Dinghai City is located in the northeastern part of Jiangdong Province, with the Chuanshan Islands serving as a natural barrier to the east. It has been a renowned port in the south since ancient times, hence its name "Dinghai," meaning "stabilizing the seas." Dinghai is the second largest city in Jiangdong Province. Although Linzhou has always been the capital of Jiangdong Province, and historically Linzhou held a higher political and economic status than Dinghai, this was because throughout the classical period, the empire's economic lifeline relied on the Grand Canal, which originated in Linzhou. Furthermore, Linzhou was located in the heart of the Jiangdong Plain, giving it a unique geographical advantage during the agricultural era. As a port city, Dinghai's political status within the empire was naturally inferior to that of Linzhou.

In modern times, due to the decline of the Grand Canal's water transport system, especially after the abolition of river transport and the conversion of waterways to the sea, the Grand Canal's importance diminished. Dinghai, as one of the most important seaports in the southeast, connected the core of the empire's economy in the southeast, and was showing signs of economically surpassing Linzhou. The entire urban area also grew larger and larger…

As the ancestral home of the Yunxiao lineage, Dinghai Yunxiao Mountain is one of the thirty-six grotto-heavens of the Xuanmen (Taoist sect). It has been bestowed imperial titles by the imperial court throughout the ages and is one of the Three Mountains of Talismans. It is the orthodox location of the Xuanmen and the legendary site of the Supreme Heavenly Venerable. As a result, the entire Dinghai area has undoubtedly been strongly influenced by Xuanmen culture, and the people generally believe in Xuanmen. Here, you can see a shrine to the Supreme Heavenly Venerable in every household.

Due to the continuous expansion of the urban area, the Yunxiao Mountain area, which was originally located in the far suburbs of the city, is now connected to the urban area of ​​Dinghai. During holidays, the area around Yunxiao Mountain is bustling with pilgrims, and pilgrims from Dinghai and even all over the country come here to offer incense and pray for blessings.

The Dinghai Oriental Hotel is located in the city center, not far from Yunxiao Mountain. From a distance, it resembles a red sun. The entire building has a spherical exterior and is predominantly red, symbolizing the sunrise in the east. It is one of the highest-class super hotels in Dinghai.

Starting a few days ago, a large number of luxury cars with out-of-town license plates began to drive into the hotel's parking lot. At the same time, all the hotel's rooms had been booked by one of the hotel's shareholders, Yunxiao Temple in Dinghai Yunxiao Mountain.

An Zhengquan arrived in Dinghai last night and checked into the Dinghai Oriental Hotel. These rooms weren't booked by them, but rather arranged by the Yunxiao Temple. The Yunxiao Temple had booked the entire hotel for some of the guests attending the abdication ceremony. According to An Zhengquan's observation, even though there were still nearly five days until the 16th, most of the hotel's rooms were already full. Keep in mind, this is a super hotel with over 600 rooms! This allowed An Zhengquan to observe the influence of the Yunxiao Temple from a different perspective…

According to information gathered by his assistant, Su Yunlai, the guests at this hotel were all extremely wealthy and powerful. In fact, this was hardly a question; it was evident simply from the distinctive family crests on the specially customized out-of-town vehicles in the parking lot.

Even An Zhengquan himself secretly went down to the parking lot to take a look.

The sheer number of vehicles from noble families gathered together created a visually striking and impressive spectacle. In An Zhengquan's memory, even the social banquets organized by the Prince An's Mansion that he had attended before were far more grand than this.

With so many wealthy families gathered together, and the actual abdication ceremony still many days away, they naturally wouldn't waste their days idly in their rooms or simply go on a tour. Social interaction among them became an essential lubricant.

This afternoon, An Zhengquan received an invitation from the Changping Earl's Mansion, saying that the young master would be hosting a social banquet in the hotel's largest hall, Hongri Hall, that evening, and invited all distinguished guests to attend. The invitation did not have names on it, indicating that every guest had been invited.

An Zhengquan would naturally not miss such a banquet. Given the somewhat awkward situation of Qianluo Group, he was happy to participate in such social activities to increase his political connections.

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At this moment, An Zhengquan was holding a wine glass and chatting with someone in a corner of the lobby of the hotel's "Hongri Hall". He was surrounded by some well-dressed guests. At this moment, a middle-aged man with gray hair was bowing slightly and saying flattering words to him.

"Please feel free to drink, I'll drink this..." He picked up the glass of rice wine in his hand and gulped it down in one go, while the others around him cheered him on.

"Ziying has such a generous temper... However, I haven't been feeling well lately, I have some ulcers, so I can only drink a little bit..." An Zhengquan smiled warmly, picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"What are you saying? Please, make yourself at home..." The middle-aged man's smile widened, and he hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting.

A series of exclamations of praise immediately arose from the surroundings, all praising An Zhengquan for risking his life to accompany a gentleman... An Zhengquan had no choice but to take another sip.

"Mr. An, you can't drink too much. Madam emphasized this before she came." Assistant Su Yunlai stepped forward at this opportune moment to remind him softly, though softly enough for everyone around to hear.

“Look at you all… you have a shrew at home…” An Zhengquan sighed. Seeing this, the people around him flattered him again and again before bowing and leaving one after another.

"Chairman An, let's get together more often when we have time..." The middle-aged man who had just offered the toast kept emphasizing this with some reluctance before leaving.

An Zhengquan merely raised his glass again as a polite gesture before turning his gaze away.

Although he heard a string of compliments and wore a faint smile, An Zhengquan's mood was far from pleasant. Those people were all minor figures; while each possessed assets ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions, they were ultimately just businessmen.

Just like that middle-aged man with gray hair just now, his name is Zhou Fan, courtesy name Ziying. He is the owner of a media company with a net worth of over 100 million yuan. In the eyes of many people, he is also an industry tycoon. However, such a tycoon is not enough for him, and his business is the type that relies on others for survival.

As for the others, most of them were similar individuals who had exchanged business cards with An Zhengquan in other social settings in the past. Upon seeing him again, they all gathered around him.

Of course, An Zhengquan would not do anything impolite. Having risen from humble beginnings, he naturally had a set of ways of dealing with people, and even if he was unhappy, he would not show it on his face.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 885 Birds of a Feather Group

However... for him, such social interaction was, frankly, ineffective and could not help Qianluo in any way at present.

He took a sip of the black tea that Su Yunlai handed him, then switched back to his wine glass, observing the situation in the entire hall.

The hall was bustling with activity, a veritable gathering of distinguished guests, with a small band playing soft, fitting music in one corner. This social banquet adopted a Western style, with various foods displayed throughout the hall, their placement carefully chosen to allow guests to easily access the food without being too crowded to hinder movement and conversation.

A closer look reveals that the seemingly chaotic crowd is actually divided into distinct circles. For instance, in the heart of the venue, the young master surrounded like a star is the second son of the Marquis of Runan. Beside him, a young man in his early thirties engaging in lively conversation, is the protagonist of the evening, the host of the banquet, and the eldest son of the Earl of Changping. The young men chatting around them are at least direct descendants of viscounts. These individuals are all descendants of noble families residing in the south of the empire, many of whom have lived in Jiangling for generations and are closely connected.

Of course, standing further away were several older-looking individuals. Although they were older and well-dressed, compared to the relaxed and laughing young people in the center, they appeared noticeably more cautious and obsequious. This was even evident in the slightly bowed postures of some of them. An Zhengquan immediately recognized some of them. These men were all quite wealthy, considered tycoons, but their businesses were mostly in energy, mining, real estate, and the like. They were dependent on the power of noble families, essentially appendages of that power. Outside, these men were all influential figures, but here, they were relegated to supporting roles.

There were as many as three similar circles of nobles present, and they interacted with each other, but they mostly stood in separate groups.

Many nobles and officials sent their sons to pave the way for this trip to Yunxiao Mountain in Dinghai. As for the real head of the family, they probably won't arrive so early.

In addition, these people arrived early for another reason: the Empire's annual social season was about to begin. The social season usually started at the end of April and lasted until August. During this period, various social activities of the upper class emerged one after another, such as balls, banquets, charity events, horse races, garden parties, ball games, etc. This tradition was introduced from the West. During the annual social season, the main activity of some socially adept upper-class people was to dress up impeccably and move from one social occasion to another.

Of course, these activities are not purely for socializing; many business and political matters are discussed and settled in these settings.

On the east side of the venue, about ten meters away from these young nobles, several older middle-aged and elderly people were chatting and laughing. Most of them were dressed in traditional clothing and wearing crowns. They had an elegant demeanor. An Zhengquan could recognize that many of them were well-known gentry in the southeast, and their families had considerable influence in the officialdom.

On the west side of the venue were a group of Taoist practitioners dressed in Taoist robes. Their attire varied, but their demeanor and manners clearly indicated that they were from various sects of the Taoist community who had come to observe the ceremony.

An Zhengquan glanced around and saw that there were more than a dozen circles of this kind scattered throughout the banquet hall, each formed by region, status, official position, age and so on. They interacted with each other, but most of the time they stayed together.

As the head of a nationally renowned conglomerate, while An Zhengquan was observing others, many others were also observing him. In fact, he had already attracted a lot of attention as soon as he entered the venue, so people kept coming up to talk to him and clink glasses with him. Many of them were people he knew, while others hoped to get to know him.

However, most of these people were merchants and some lower-ranking nobles with business operations, as well as some local nobles and members of large clans from Jian'an Province who had a strong sense of hometown ties.

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"Chairman An, I'll email you later. Please do me the honor of taking a look at my project." A lean, well-dressed middle-aged man was bowing and introducing his project to An Zhengquan with great enthusiasm.

"No problem, no problem... I'll definitely go see it later..." An Zhengquan replied with a warm smile, just going through the motions.

The man said a few more words, then downed his wine in one gulp. Seeing that An Zhengquan didn't seem to have anything more to say, he reluctantly left.

"The owner of Wanhua Garment, whose father passed away the year before last, is preparing to enter the aerospace concept after inheriting the family business. It is said that he was previously acquiring upstream and downstream companies in the aerospace suit manufacturing industry. This time, it seems that his capital chain has run into problems." As soon as this person left, An Zhengquan's assistant, Su Yunlai, leaned close to his ear and whispered the introduction.

An Zhengquan nodded without saying anything. It's not fair to say the other party is wrong in this situation. After all, it's obvious that many traditional industries have limited room for growth. Previously, the booming deep space exploration industry had undoubtedly caught everyone's attention, and stocks related to deep space concepts saw significant gains, making many people eager to jump in, believing they had found a way to further advance their businesses.

However, there's no hindsight to backtrack. An Zhengquan knew that, in fact, if it weren't for his daughter's efforts, he would be in a similar predicament, no better off than the businessman who was clearly trying to raise funds.

"Mr. An, it's an honor to meet you..." An Zhengquan was lost in thought when he suddenly heard a series of flattering voices. He turned his head and saw a short, bald, middle-aged man with a mustache. The man smiled and bowed to An Zhengquan.

"You're too kind... May I ask who you are?" An Zhengquan glanced at the man and, confirming he hadn't seen him before, politely handed the wine glass to his assistant, Su Yunlai, and returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

"I apologize for the intrusion. I am Zeng Yuxuan from Qingchuan Tower, courtesy name Ziming." The man smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"So it's Brother Ziming, I've heard so much about you..." An Zhengquan cupped his hands in greeting, understanding in his heart that Qingchuanlou was a luxurious private club with business in many cities. To be able to do this kind of business, the person in front of him must be a very shrewd and sophisticated person.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 886 The Broker

An Zhengquan then smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with him. The two were not in the same industry, and their net worth was worlds apart, so to be honest, they had nothing to talk about. They could only chat about the recent economic situation. When it came to the recent economy, both of them sighed. After all, the stock market had plummeted, and even a blind person could see that an economic crisis was imminent, which would inevitably be followed by a period of industry contraction.

But that's about it. After all, neither of them had invested in deep space exploration, so they didn't experience any real hardship.

Generally speaking, the conversations at these cocktail parties are mostly ceremonial. If there's no awkward small talk about specific business, then after a few words, the person of lower status will usually know when to stop, to avoid making the person of higher status look bad if they linger too long.

However, Zeng Yuxuan showed no signs of leaving. Instead, he smiled and said, "By the way, I've heard that there's been quite a bit of controversy in the Grand Council lately. Yesterday, the Beijing Daily published an interview with Councilor Zou, in which he supposedly criticized the current economic environment, saying it requires appropriate government intervention... To be honest, that's utter nonsense..."

An Zhengquan's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he felt somewhat displeased. The topic this person was referring to was actually the debate within the Grand Council on monopolies. Such debates had been frequently reported in major media outlets in recent days, clearly indicating that someone was manipulating public opinion, and this was indeed An Zhengquan's biggest concern. However, if such a matter were brought up by one of An Zhengquan's close friends, it wouldn't be a problem, but for this person he had only met once to bring it up seemed a bit too forward.

An Zhengquan naturally didn't think the person in front of him was someone who didn't know how to behave properly; someone who didn't know how to behave properly couldn't possibly succeed in the private club industry. So, he simply smiled slightly: "Yes, especially given the current poor economic climate, this kind of news is always detrimental to economic stability."

Seeing that he had no intention of going into further discussion, Zeng Yuxuan continued with a smile, "I've heard that some gossipy people in Qianluo have been mentioning this a lot lately?"

An Zhengquan became increasingly certain that this person must have some kind of purpose, so he simply took the wine cup that had just been handed to Su Yunlai, took a sip, and then asked directly, "Brother Ziming, what advice do you have for me?"

"I dare not presume to offer my guidance. My business is small and my resources are nowhere near as extensive as Mr. An's," Zeng Yuxuan said, waving his hands repeatedly. "However, I can offer my humble opinion based on my limited experience..."

An Zhengquan raised his wine glass to indicate that he was listening. He then saw Zeng Yuxuan take a glass of wine from a tray held by a passing waiter, take a sip, and continue, "I wonder if Mr. An knows how I built my business back then?"

"Appreciate further details."

"Don't laugh at me, Mr. An, but I'm not from one of those families of officials and nobles who have held high office for generations. Back then, the expansion of Wuzhong City involved the development of several suburban land plots. I had my eye on one of these plots, but my finances were limited. I only ran a small business and couldn't afford to buy it. In the end, I went through the connections of a local nobleman and got a loan from the bank to acquire the land. That's how Qingchuan Tower came to be..."

“I have a habit when doing business, which is to always bring in those powerful figures… In fact, although I am nominally the owner of Qingchuan Tower, I am really just a small shareholder… Currently, my Qingchuan Tower is backed by several noble families. Although my shareholding seems small, in reality, what I have gained is much more than before…” Zeng Yuxuan spoke eloquently, while intentionally or unintentionally observing An Zhengquan’s expression.

An Zhengquan had already somewhat understood. The man in front of him was implying that he wanted to share the profits. It seemed that this man was probably a lobbyist, but he didn't know who was behind him.

He understood that with such enormous profits from the Qianluo Group, it was impossible for just one company to covet them. It was just that each company had different methods: some openly robbed, some secretly seized, and some not only made you hand them over but also expect you to be grateful to them...

To be honest, if it meant paying some price to completely end these kinds of things, An Zhengquan wouldn't be opposed. However, the reality was far more complicated. Many who wanted to take advantage of the situation lacked the ability to resolve everything, yet possessed a greedy heart, much like the hyenas on the Black Continent plains…

Who is behind this person in front of him? He thought to himself, while intentionally or unintentionally echoing Zeng Yuxuan's words, but without making any further statement.

"...By the way, Mr. An, did you receive an invitation from the Marquis of Changping tonight?" After saying a lot, Zeng Yuxuan probably felt that the atmosphere was set and changed the subject.

"Yes, I just arrived today. I came to check it out after receiving the invitation, hoping to run into some new or old friends," An Zhengquan nodded.

"Does Mr. An know the host tonight?" Zeng Yuxuan asked with a smile, pointing to a spot not far away. "Young Master Wen happens to be free right now, why don't you go over and have a chat with him?"

Not far away, the young master of the Marquis of Changping had just finished entertaining several chatting guests and was placing his wine cup on the table beside him...

“I’m not familiar with this young master Wen, so I’m afraid it would be presumptuous of me,” An Zhengquan said, making a gesture of refusal.

“That’s no problem at all. How about I introduce you to Mr. An? The Marquis of Changping’s family has always had a wide circle of friends, which should be helpful to Mr. An’s career,” Zeng Yuxuan said enthusiastically.

"Then I'll trouble you." An Zhengquan had a guess in his mind, but this was also one of the reasons why he came here tonight. So he nodded, handed the wine glass in his hand to his assistant, and walked over.

In fact, An Zhengquan had learned about the Changping Marquis's Mansion before he came. The imperial nobles' power was complex and intertwined, especially their strength, which could not be judged solely by their titles. It was difficult for outsiders to understand the relationships between them.

However, in general, the imperial nobles mostly came from two waves. One group was formed at the time of the founding of the country, when the founding emperor raised his army. These nobles mostly lived in the north, especially the capital, which was the most prosperous city in the north of the empire and the core of its politics and economy. It was home to a large number of noble families.

Another group of nobles emerged after the Jia Shen Incident, when the entire north fell to the enemy. Emperor Huanzong rose from the south, worked diligently to govern, launched a northern expedition, drove out the Tartars, and restored the old capital. During this process, many generals rose through the ranks, accumulating merits and being granted titles. Most of these nobles resided in the south.