Original subtitles

[Legend of the Magnate]

[Episode 20]

How weird.

Does he have any enemies?

Yes.

He has a grudge against this man.

Gu Pingwen,

how could you say that?

Your Highness,

I'm merely serving

as the humble head

of the Anhui Tea Merchants' Association.

There used to be some misunderstandings

between Mr. Gu and me.

But ever since he earned

the reputation as the Top Tea Under Heaven,

it has brought great honor

to our Anhui Tea Merchants' Association.

I-I feel nothing

but sincere gratitude toward him.

How could I possibly hurt him?

Mr. Gu Pingwen,

you shouldn't talk nonsense like that.

Your Highness,

I have already dispatched

all the tea merchants

from the Anhui Association in the capital

to search everywhere

for Mr. Gu.

Your Highness.

I'm putting you in charge of finding this person,

so that when the Empress Dowager

asks me about it, I will have something to say.

Understood.

The Empress Dowager

likes your Orchid Snow tea very much.

Prepare 2 baskets of tea.

I'll send someone

to collect them later.

Also,

when you find your brother,

tell him to send a message to my mansion.

I wish to see him.

Farewell, Your Highness.

Mr. Gu, Mr. Gu.

Go away.

Mr. Gu,

I think

you should hurry

to get the tea ready.

You can totally entrust

Mr. Gu Pingyuan's matter to me.

Entrust it to you?

Had you not been constantly

bullying my brother and me,

would he have suffered this?

It's been so many days already.

Mr. Gu,

just do me

a favor,

please...

It's the tea that the Empress Dowager asks for.

This is no trivial matter.

Oh my goodness.

Hurry up.

Go.

Hou Er!

Coming!

Come out!

Old Master Hu!

What's wrong, Old Master Hu?

You bastard.

Get on your knees!

Wait.

Today, you should

kneel

inside this circle.

Don't be mad. Well...

Let me explain it in detail.

Wait, Old Master Hu!

Old Master Hu, please...

Stay on your knees!

Who are you?

Where are you taking me?

-Greetings, Your Majesty. -Greetings, Your Majesty.

Rise.

Bring a seat for the Sixth Prince.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

I am Qiao Song, Governor of Anhui.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

For your visit to Anhui this time,

if you need

anything else from the imperial court,

you can tell the Sixth Prince about it.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The battle in Anhui is over.

I will follow Marquis Zuo

to reclaim the Northwest.

Marquis Zuo wrote to me,

asking me to purchase more foreign guns

and cannons from the inland to strengthen

our military supplies.

However,

it's extremely difficult to buy even a single gun,

and foreign gunpowder is not easy to come by either.

You can never trust those foreigners when doing

arms deals with them.

Some days ago,

a customs official told me

that they bought

a warship from a British man

called Timothy.

And guess what?

They took our Qing Empire's money,

yet they still insisted on keeping control of the ship

and only hired foreigners.

Our people

weren't even allowed to take a look at it.

How could they do business like this?

I already told Hart.

Even if we have to give up the money,

we must not let

these untrustworthy foreigners

walk all over us.

Please calm down, Your Majesty.

Timothy is no more

than an unscrupulous British businessman.

But if we let Mr. Hart

go negotiate with the German captain,

they would be

willing to return the money.

What's the use of getting it back?

After all that hassle,

we end up getting nothing.

What's the Office of General Management doing?

Please forgive us, Your Majesty.

Anyway, I failed

in my duty.

Rise, Sixth Prince.

I'm not blaming you.

About purchasing foreign firearms,

go discuss it with Hart.

If our forces return defeated due to a lack

of sufficient arms to reclaim the Northwest,

causing the imperial censors to lose it,

I won't be able to protect you.

Also, go ask

those merchants who trade with foreigners

to see if they can get some.

Little by little, we'll get there.

Let me go first when we talk to him later.

Understood.

Look at him.

Mr. Hart.

[Hart, Maritime Customs Service]

Sixth Prince!

Sup?

Oh!

You sound more like a local than I do!

I just guessed

you weren't at the government office

and were chilling here instead.

Come on, have a seat.

Mr. Hart,

I am the Governor of Anhui.

Waiter!

Two more premium ones.

Coming!

Our shop just got some Orchid Snow tea,

the Top Tea Under Heaven.

Mr. Hart, would you like to order some

for your two friends?

You're really ripping people off.

Even the Empress Dowager

only got 2 taels.

Off you go.

Cut it out.

Yes, sir.

Sixth Prince,

where's the tea you promised me?

I didn't fool you.

This gentleman is

the current Governor of Anhui,

Qiao Song.

He's in charge

of all the Anhui tea.

Yes, indeed.

From now on,

if you want Orchid Snow tea,

just ask him about it.

The Orchid Snow tea is

going viral everywhere.

My ears are tired of hearing about it.

But

I haven't had a single sip yet.

Sorry for that.

Sixth Prince,

if you keep paying lip service,

I won't be able to help you.

Please don't.

How about this?

Well, I

just requested 2 baskets of tea

to offer to the Empress Dowager.

Can't take more than that,

but I can try to keep

2 taels of it for you.

There's no problem.

I'll take care of it.

Good.

Mr. Qiao,

go ahead with your matter.

Mr. Hart,

I,

by order of the Empress Dowager,

will go to the Northwest

to reclaim our lost territories after seizing Hefei.

However, our guns and ammunition are

in severe shortage.

Could you please help us

order some from Germany?

The Office of General Management

sent this here yesterday.

The capital's Tiger Spirit Battalion alone

[1,000 guns with 200,000 bullets for the capital's Tiger Spirit Battalion.]

wants 1,000 guns

with 200,000 bullets,

20 breech-loading howitzers,

and 50,000 shells.

The following pages

contain all the orders from each of your provinces.

You know,

you must report to the Office of General Management first

before I can process it.

[Order]

Mr. Hart,

please just spare 200 guns for me.

The imperial court's Tiger Spirit Battalion is

guarding the capital.

They won't need

so many anytime soon.

But I have to respect

the first-come, first-served principle.

I really can't wait for a year or more.

I'll lose my position.

Or how about we request an imperial decree?

No imperial edict can help.

The Krupp foundry

doesn't listen to the Empress Dowager.

The earliest batch of firearms

won't arrive until next spring.

You'll have to

go to Qingdao and collect them yourselves.

Waiter!

Mr. Hart.

Here you are.

Please help us figure out a way.

I suggest you

go talk to the God of Wealth.

Businessmen are

much more efficient

than the imperial court in handling these matters.

The God of Wealth has

plenty more people asking for favors.

How could it possibly be my turn?

Just recently, I finally managed

to ask Gu Pingyuan for help.

And guess what?

He's gone missing!

Old Master Hu,

let me go find Gu Pingyuan!

There's no use doing it that way.

What's the point of you

getting bad in the room?

Straighten it up before moving.

Everyone, take it slow.

Place the boxes against the wall

and arrange them in proper order.

Old Master Hu,

please let me go find Gu Pingyuan.

Old Master Hu!

Let me go look for Gu Pingyuan!

-I'll get Gu Pingyuan back for you! -Which Gu Pingyuan?

Okay?

Which Gu Pingyuan are you talking about?

What's it got to do with you?

Is it the Gu Pingyuan from Anhui?

A tall, young man?

You've seen him?

My dear lady,

please! Please tell me

where Gu Pingyuan is, will you?

Please tell me...

Did he really come to Beijing?

Wait,

you don't know that?

Then why are you messing around here?

Off you go.

Old Master Hu!

Someone is here to visit Mr. Gu Pingyuan!

Who? Who is it?

Why is everyone looking for Gu Pingyuan?

Are you looking for Gu Pingyuan?

Greetings, Old Master Hu.

Isn't this Li Wantang's son,

young Mr. Li?

Well...

Yes, it's me.

Do you know where Gu Pingyuan is?

Look at the trouble you've caused!

What are you doing?

Everyone's looking for Gu Pingyuan!

Do you know where we are?

Ningguta.

Commander Xu,

how have you been?

I asked his brother.

He said they sent that man surnamed Hou

to rent a carriage

with the Thirteen Great Guardians to pick him up.

And he passed out after drinking a cup of tea.

When he woke up,

both the people and the carriage were gone.

Did he antagonize someone?

Or was he kidnapped by bandits?

But there should have been some kind of message.

I need to find him.

Where would you even start looking?

The Tea Merchants' Association offered tens of thousands of taels

of silver as a reward.

So many people have searched for him but failed.

North, south, east, or west,

at least you need to know the direction.

Come with me to ask the major escort agencies

in the capital about it.

They're on the way every day,

so they might have seen something.

Your stomach is full of ice.

If you get near the fire, your internal organs will be damaged.

Don't worry.

Two hours later,

I'll take you outside again.

Before you freeze to death,

I'll definitely bring you back in.

Comfortable?

Want to sleep?

No way.

If you're asleep, who else can I talk to?

If you want to sleep now, I'll just

take you outside to cool off again.

Wait! Hear me out. Wait.

You're just

trying to torture me a little longer.

If I freeze to death,

who will keep you company in this game? Huh?

You need to keep me alive.

I'm starving right now.

Give me something to eat.

Please.

Have some wine.

It's been quite a while since you escaped

to lead that dreamlike life,

and now you've finally woken up.

Was it worth it?

Yes.

Absolutely worth it.

The places I've been are

somewhere you'll never reach in your lifetime.

Are there places more prosperous

than Fengtian?

Fengtian.

So that is

the best place you've ever been to in your life.

After I escaped from here,

I went to the vast grassland.

There,

tens of thousands of herdsmen

fought against each other

for a stretch of grassland.

Later,

I went

to Shanxi, where the world's wealth gathered.

There,

I saw

giant Buddha statues and the Eighteen Arhats

made of pure gold.

Their eyes

and clothes were

all inlaid with huge gems.

Next,

I returned to Jiangnan.

That place was awash

with beautiful women.

I even went to Beijing

and saw Empress Dowager Cixi.

She drank our Orchid Snow tea.

[Top Tea Under Heaven]

[Top Tea Under Heaven]

Go ahead and brag all you want.

Aren't you afraid that you might strain your tongue with all that hot air?

I never brag.

What about you?

How have you been these past two years?

Me?

Thanks to you,

I'm here managing this horse camp.

There are 9 months of winter here every year.

I've been living like a rat,

feeding on the meat of frozen dead horses.

Judging from your condition,

I doubt you'll last much longer.

Don't worry.

I'll live long enough to see you die.

Wait.

Let's have a good talk.

For all the suffering you've endured these years,

I can pay to compensate you.

In this godforsaken place,

even if you offer me mountains of gold and silver,

it would be useless to me.

Let's go!

Let's go outside to cool off!

No.

Stop!

Let's talk! Don't!

I'm not leaving!

I'm staying right here.

No! Don't shoot me!

Move one more inch and see what happens!

Wait.

This is a foreign gun.

A breech-loading model, right?

This place is close to Russia.

You bought it from the people

who came from there, right?

You talk too much.

If you can trade with them,

why can't you do business with me?

If you stay and work here forever,

you'll never be more than a battalion commander,

a nobody with an insignificant rank!

Have you ever considered

that you could be a guerrilla leader,

or even a general?

I'll be the one who screws you!

Okay! Whatever!

But do you want to be a general?

Listen to me.

The imperial court is now

planning to reclaim the Northwest.

They need to purchase a large quantity of arms,

exactly like the foreign gun you're holding.

If you've got a source for them,

we can work together.

Let's collaborate!

I traded

four wolf pelts for this gun.

How many guns would I need to become a general?

Several hundred.

The more the better.

I have money.

I have plenty of it.

Xu.

Xu!

Let's talk again, shall we?

Please!

Please!

Xu!

Let go of me!

Xu!

If you have the guts, just kill me!

Kill me!

Xu!

Xu!

Xu!

Please let me go.

♪ This year sees the most enchanting spring ♪

Is Ms. Su inside?

Hey,

why won't you let me in?

What is she busy with?

There's an opera performance inside.

She can't be busy!

Ms. Su!

Ms. Su!

I need to speak with you!

Ms. Su!

-You may leave. -It's urgent!

Just let me in!

Stop making a scene. Let him in.

Welcome, Young Master Li.

What brings you here?

Where have you taken Gu Pingyuan?

I know who you are.

Who am I?

You were humiliated in Pingyao.

Isn't he your enemy?

Since when have you been on good terms with him?

I also don't know why,

but I am worried about him.

You should worry about yourself

and your father.

Do you really think

being Li Wantang's son

means you're safe and sound?

This enormous wealth

and overwhelming power

can vanish overnight.

Just tell me

where he is. That's all.

You really want to know?

I...

Don't answer yet.

I'll ask you three questions.

After that, if you still want to know,

I'll keep my promise and tell you.

This man

ruined the big plan of your father and me.

Do you really want to save him?

Yes, I do.

Are you curious

about what kind of big plan it was?

Listen to me.

If we collect a cart of guns,

we can sell them and make a fortune.

You need to become an official.

Otherwise, money is useless to you.

We'll get

as much as you need.

It's between just you and me.

I was also there at the Grand Tea Competition that day.

I knew the Empress Dowager would come.

I prepared a cup of poisoned tea for her,

but Gu ruined it.

Such an extremely rare opportunity was

just wasted like that.

The chance of finding another opportunity like this is

almost zero.

If you save him,

you'll be making an enemy of me.

Now that you've heard what I've done,

you share half the responsibility.

If you save his life,

you'll be an accomplice.

You can't stay out of it anymore.

Usurpation leads to punishment more than just beheading.

The entire clan will be sentenced to death by slicing.

Do you still want to save him?

I must save him.

You really don't get it.

If that woman dies,

the Sixth Prince can immediately become regent,

promoting commerce and expanding diplomatic relations.

When that happens,

who do you think will oversee

all commercial affairs?

If you save him,

you'll get in the way of your father's rising to power.

Do you really want to save him?

These big issues you mentioned

don't concern me.

All I know is

that he's my only friend.

I must save him.

If Gu Pingyuan dies,

everyone will have some peace.

You're the only one who cares about him.

This man

has got brains and tricks way better

than yours.

He's no ordinary man for sure.

Once he gets the upper hand,

you'll be no match for him.

Do you want to keep an enemy for yourself?

Do you want to let someone

who outdoes you

in every way survive in this world?

Do you still want to save him?

Answer me.

Mr. Li.

Who's there?

You're Mr. Li Qin,

son of Li Million in Beijing, right?

We met in Shanxi before.

I've been looking everywhere for Mr. Gu.

Do you know where he is?

You've got the wrong person.

You...

And you are?

I'm Chang Yu'er.

My father is Mr. Chang Si.

We came from the Tea Merchants' Association

in Shanxi with our goods.

I...

I want to see him.

Can I trust you?

You know

how he risked his life

to save my father.

I don't know where he is.

Just tell me.

What if he's already dead?

If he were dead,

he would have said goodbye to me.

I haven't dreamed of that.

Since you put it that way, I believe you.

He's in a place of bitter cold.

In the past few years,

these wolf cubs have bullied me a lot.

Before I leave, I need to tell them

that I'm going to be a general.

Do the Russians live

far from here?

Cross the Argun River

and head further north,

and that's where

the Cossack cavalry is stationed.

That's a trading area between the two states.

Grilled meat! Come take a look!

Fresh meat!

Grilled meat! Check this out!

Fresh meat! Fresh meat for sale!

Grilled meat! Come take a look!

Great prices!

Come and take a look!

Come check out the fresh lamb!

Freshly butchered lamb legs! Take a look!

Here's some nice stuff!

The freshest meat! Come on!

It's cheap.

This is called Shashlik.

It's local grilled meat.

Bigger piece! Bigger!

Here.

Try it. Very delicious!

Thank you very much.

Bigger piece! Bigger!

Handsome guy.

Come on, let's dance.

Look.

Who's this guy from the Qing Empire?

Are we going to buy guns from them?

Excuse me.

Excuse me. Let me through, please.

What are you doing?

Sorry.

Get lost.

Get out of here.

Shoot! They have a gun!

Don't let them escape!

After them! Let's go!

[Good Weather]

Why did you run around like that?

How would I know

what that place is?

Tie yourself to the horse!

We're hitting the road tonight!

Were it not for me,

they would have eaten you alive by now.

How can you still laugh on the brink of death?

Karma finally caught up with you.

Now you know how I felt.

Get out.

Are you Tartars?

The Qing Empire.

We're from the Qing Empire!

I'm a merchant.

I am

a merchant doing business.

I have a lot of money!

Let me see what you've got.

Boots!

In the b-boots.

You cunning man.

Do you have any?

I have boots.

Guards!

Take this man away.

Gu Pingyuan!

Gu Pingyuan!

Ask them not to kill me!

Tell them not to kill me!

No, no! We're together!

We're both merchants!

-Business partners! -Partners!

Hold on.

Bring him back.

W-We are

business partners.

Buy guns.

We want to buy guns!

Buy guns!

Haven't you done business with him before?

How do you say "guns"?

Guns.

Guns!

Did he get it?

How would I know?

I bought my gun

from another hunter.

I've never dealt

with them directly.

You've really screwed us over.

They're going to make us

into Shashlik (grilled meat).

No!

No, no, no.

No, no, no.

No, no, no.

No, no, no.

It's not expensive.

So he got it.

The Governor of Anhui, Qiao Song, told me

that they bought guns

at 16 taels of silver each.

We only need to pay 3 taels of silver for each.

This is a real bargain.

You're buying over 100 guns at once.

How will you take them back?

We have money.

We can buy a huge cart

and use horses to transport them back.

Once we reach the military station in Ningguta,

everything will be easy.

I have the permit issued

by the imperial court to purchase guns.

As long as you're telling

the truth about the imperial court's plan to buy guns.

Come on,

just rest assured.

You got it this time.

You can gain an official position

and make money, too.

Nobility for generations

and wealth till old age.

Let's call it even between us.