In July 1895, the Japanese army suffered a major setback in Taiwan.

With sophisticated weapons, ample ammunition, and soldiers and civilians who are not afraid of life and death, Taiwan has made the complacent Japanese suffer a lot, and many people have also seen the weakness of this island nation. The war with the Qing government exhausted their spirits, so much so that more than 4,000 people were killed and wounded in Taiwan in just one month.

In the meantime, John? Huntelaar also returned to the far east.

Of course, it was not he who went back, but the bank of Huntelaar that shone before and after this war. With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War and the accurate prediction of the final outcome, Huntelaar Bank made a lot of money in East Asia. After the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the bank went against the other powers, and was not optimistic that the Japanese could quickly occupy Taiwan, so they made a lot of money, and finally brought the Huntelaar Bank into people's sight.

Because of its late start, although Huntelaar Bank has become one of the three major banks in New York after a crazy merger and acquisition, it is not yet able to conduct business across state lines because of its shallow background. However, under John's guidance and the support of the elder Huntelaar, the bank began to move overseas, opening branches in England, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, this time in one breath in the Sino-Japanese War!

John had already planned the use of this money.

"To put it simply, it's about buying land!"

When facing the middle-aged white man again, John's expression was very indifferent: "I need to buy a lot of real estate in Shanghai and change some houses, and your authorization amount is all the profits harvested in East Asia this time!" ”

"What?!"

After listening to John's words, the middle-aged white man suddenly exclaimed: "Sir, that, that's a lot of money!" If all of it is used to buy land in Shanghai...... God, are you going to buy the public concession? ”

The public concession formed by the merger of the British Concession and the American Concession covers an area of more than 10,000 acres!

"No, of course not."

Frowning slightly, John waved his hand and said, "I need you to carefully select three pieces of land, the first one is a cheap and convenient place, the area should be large, I will use it to build a factory; Second, it should be in the public concession, the location should be good, but the place should not be too big; I'm going to use it to build homes and clubs; The last piece of land is chosen outside the concession, the place must be large, and the most important thing is that the distance from the second one should not exceed one mile! After buying it, build it for me according to the drawings I provided...... Don't rush, take your time, it doesn't matter if it takes a few more years, I'm not in a hurry. ”

"Uh......"

After being stunned for a moment, the middle-aged white man asked puzzledly, "Sir, can I ask what they are going to do in the future?" You know, I know how useful I can do better.

Taking a deep breath, John nodded and said in a deep voice, "I plan to build two schools, a middle school and a university. ”

"School?!"

After hearing this answer, the middle-aged white man exclaimed again......

……

“…… John, you're not going to build a branch in Shanghai, are you? ”

After receiving the news from his subordinates, old Huntelaar called his grandson and asked in great confusion: "To buy such a large piece of land in Shanghai, you still need to build so many houses...... Son, what exactly do you want to do? ”

"Perhaps, you can see it as an investment in the future!"

Shrugging his shoulders, John replied casually.

This answer made old Huntelaar more and more confused, and he frowned and whispered: "Investment? Future? Do you mean that land prices in Shanghai will rise sharply in the future? However, didn't the Qing Kingdom just lose the war? “

"The price of the land?"

After hearing this, John was slightly stunned, and then laughed dumbly: "Grandpa, the investment future I said has nothing to do with land prices!" ”

Seeing that his grandfather's expression seemed a little displeased, John hurriedly sat down and patiently explained: "Grandpa, although the Qing Kingdom has been newly defeated and has to pay a lot of money to the Japanese, but after all, that country is too large, and no one knows this better than me......"

Racking his brains, John fooled his grandfather with his pitiful knowledge of history.

Needless to say, building a school is purely for the purpose of cultivating talents for China, although there is no plan to recruit students in recent years, but buy land in advance, and then slowly start planning and building, so that everything will have to start from scratch.

As for building houses, it is for teachers who will be sent to Shanghai in the future.

Historically, most of the schools run by foreigners in China were missionary schools, but there were also a small number of schools, such as the Union Medical College founded by the oil magnate Rockefeller, whose main purpose was charity. But no matter what the purpose, running a school costs money, and the cost is quite large! In addition to the hardware facilities such as land and buildings, teachers are also very important. At this time, China was extremely short of local talents, so basically all teachers had to be imported from outside, for example, the teachers of Union Medical College were attracted from the United States by Rockefeller with high salaries.

John built those dwellings for the teachers.

In addition to a good salary and enough respect, John must provide these people with a comfortable living environment so that they can live in Shanghai with peace of mind. It can be said that these preparations for several years or even more than ten years in advance are necessary for the future.

"As for factories, I want to open two."

Finding that his grandfather was not so easily persuaded, John sighed secretly and quickly changed the topic to industry: "One is a flour mill and the other is a textile mill, I don't think I need to explain more to you, right?" It just so happens that we have acquired some machine manufacturing factories in the past two years, and the machines can also be used in our own ......"

"Well, that's a good idea!"

After a moment's consideration, old Huntelaar finally nodded.

Since the beginning of the war last year, the old Huntelaar has begun to pay attention to the situation in the East, and naturally knows that if these two factories are opened in Shanghai, as long as they are well managed, they will almost be a profitable business!

Merely......

Looking at his grandson with a calm face, a gloom flashed in old Huntelaar's eyes.

In fact, the elder Huntelaar himself knew very well that if there were opportunities, the United States had many more opportunities than the Far East in those years. In that part of the Far East, where there is a lack of adequate infrastructure, a lack of corresponding talents, and even the most basic workers, the United States is the place where his grandson's ability can be best utilized. Therefore, no matter how fanciful he says, there is only one essential reason: that place is where John once lived for more than ten years, and where his daughter Elizabeth is buried.

Old Huntlaar knew this.

Old Huntelaar, who didn't know that he had guessed his grandson's mind wrong, quickly nodded and said, "Okay, just do what you want!" Anyway, the money used was earned from East Asia this time, and it was just right to spend it there...... But John, I've heard that the old empire was very repulsive to the outside world, isn't it too early to go in now? ”

"Well, I know, so buying land or something now is just preparation."

After a long silence, a bitterness flashed in John's eyes.

If everything had gone according to history, the war that shook the foundations of the Qing Dynasty would have occurred a few years later. In that war, the Americans were just playing soy sauce, and John was naturally even less likely to influence anything. So all he can do is what is within his means...... (To be continued.) )