Zhang Yu Company founder Zhang Bishi and Li Hongzhang's interaction

Among the celebrity ink treasures collected by ZhangYu Company, there is an inscription by Li Hongzhang - "The wine country has eternal life", and the inscription date is to be examined. It is certain that Zhang Bishi, the founder of Zhangyu Company, had in-depth contacts with Li Hongzhang.

However, it is said that on April 7, 1896, when Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Chincha, who wanted to go to Russia to attend the coronation of Nicholas II, was passing through Singapore by boat (passing through the Suez Canal by water and passing through the European continent to Russia), Zhang Bishi, who was then the Consul General of China in Singapore, boarded a boat to greet him. On April 9, the Singapore Chinese newspaper "Lak" ("Lak" is the abbreviation of Singapore) published a report entitled "Narrative of the Situation of Xiangjie Passing Through Lak", which described: "At the time of more than seven o'clock in the morning, the mail ship had arrived, and Zhang Bishi observed (the elegant name of the Taoist) and led the translator Liu Baosen to stab (Zhizhou), and the attachés Jin Jian Ping Yin (Shao Yin) and Shen Ding's pen were all gentlemen and gentlemen of the ship. The officers in the Governor's Office, etc., also boarded the ship to be appointed to the court, and invited the order of the government to the palace for lunch. Fu Xiangxun thanked him repeatedly and then allowed it, and immediately led the counselors and Zhang Bishi to observe, and the Chinese army of the Governor's Office led the official wheel of the state to prepare to welcome the envoys, and the wheel was immediately unfolded. ”

At noon on the same day, Charles Mitchell, governor of Lakyu Jia (Singapore, Penang, Malacca), hosted a banquet for Li Hongzhang and his party at the military palace, while Zhang Bishi brought more than 30 local "Guangdong Gang" and "Fujian Gang" gentlemen to meet him in the outer garden of the Military Palace. Regarding the subsequent reception, the "Narrative of the Situation of Xiangjie Passing Through the Lak" describes: "Zhang Bishi observed that he led the gentlemen to Fu Xiang to ask for peace, and Fu Xiang was humble and could not win, and repeatedly offered condolences, because the gentry said: When Yu Xiang was in China, he heard that the princes lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the local government decrees were very wide, and all the gentlemen were able to enjoy the good and leisurely, and the rest of the heart was very comforting. Now I have seen the face of the princes, and I have worked hard to see them, and I feel deeply friendly and cloudy. ”

Subsequently, Li Hongzhang also went to the Chinese Consular Office in Singapore to inspect, "A Brief Description of the Situation of The Crossing of the Festival", which describes: "At three o'clock, even less sitting and walking in the consular office, swirling in the consular office to eat." At five o'clock in the afternoon, Naifu took the carriage of the government, went to Mingli Garden and other places, and ordered the car to go to Gan Gong BaRu and return to the mail ship. At the end of the seventh hour, the exit of the wheel is launched. ”

Three years later, when Li Hongzhang, acting governor of Liangguang, took office, he also asked Zhang Bishi to be dispatched to Guangdong, and the Guangxu Dynasty Records recorded a note on Guangxu's residence on the fourth day of the first month of December in the 25th year (January 4, 1900): "Li Hongzhang, the governor of Liangguang, played: The negotiations between eastern Guangdong (eastern Guangdong, guangxi is guangdong) were complicated, and the dispatchers Zhang Zhenxun, Chen Rixiang, and Yuan Dahua; the prefect Hong Chao; and The zhizhou Xu Geng was sent by his majesty. Reportable. Telegraphy. Among them, zhang zhenxun, a Taoist official, was Zhang Bishi (字弼士, name Zhenxun), who had the official title of Taoist; Xu Geng, who knew Zhizhou, was the father of Xu Wangzhi, the manager of Zhangyu Company more than 30 years later.

Li Hongzhang dispatched Zhang Bishi to Guangdong, mainly to assist in the construction of the Cantonese-Han Railway. There is a "Zhang Bishi on imitation of foreign nails" in the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" that describes, "When Li Wenzhonggong Hongzhang was supervising Guangdong, Zhang Bitufang ran the Cantonese-Han Railway." Li Hongzhang also wanted to allocate funds to appoint Zhang Bishi to set up a factory to imitate foreign nails, but Zhang Qiangli resigned and took the opportunity to directly display the abuses, and Zhang Bishi wrote: "Zhang Bishi's "On imitation of foreign nails" wrote: 'Zhang Bishi will be held today, and before the construction and manufacture is not built, the amount of money for setting up the bureau will need a certain amount, the amount of money for purchasing machines will be needed, and the amount of money for building a factory on a certain degree of land will need a certain amount. The general office is also, the meeting is also done, the adjustment is also, the income and expenditure are also, the secretary is also, and the salary required is also a few. The speed is one or two years, late or three or five years, not a nail, and capital goes to most of it. Discounts are floating, all kinds of accumulated disadvantages and losses, especially can not be counted, how can they make a profit? Wen Zhong smiled with the straightness of his words. (Chen Yaoming)