On December 28, 1887, the New Year was less than three days away.

Christmas has been popular in Europe since the beginning of the 19th century, and by the end of the 19th century, it has become one of the most important holidays, so just after Christmas and New Year's Day, the whole Big Apple is immersed in a joyful atmosphere. Whether it is the rich merchants who have gained a lot this year, or the ordinary workers who have worked hard for a year, they are trying their best to welcome the arrival of 1888 with a happy attitude.

In addition to having fun, most people take stock of the gains and losses of the upcoming year.

In the study of the Huntelaar family, the same is true of the two male hosts. It's just that for the Huntelaar family, it's definitely a big project.

"Looks like we need another accountant."

Sitting at the dining table after a busy day's work, old Huntelaar twisted his somewhat stiff neck and said with a faint excitement.

Although there are still three days before the end of the year, the old man has not yet obtained the specific numbers of each company, but when there is nothing to do during the day, he hard-pulled John to estimate it, and just came up with a result. After seeing this result, not only John was extremely surprised, but even old Huntelaar was a little surprised.

The Huntelaar family's property has been a glorious year.

In the United States, there is a wholly-owned commercial company owned by the elder Huntelaar, a Lego company with a 50% stake, a Carnegie Steel Company with only a 3% stake, a Newton Electric Power Company with an increasing shareholding, and of course, a Heinz General Hospital, which has been completely completed.

It's just that Newton Power Company and Heinz General Hospital have not made money, and they have even lost a lot of money.

After the elder Huntelaar gradually saw the huge advantages of alternating current, he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the New East Electric Company. In addition to increasing to more than seventy percent of the shares and a bunch of patents, there has not been a penny of money to be seen; Heinz General Hospital is a bottomless pit that eats money, and the renovation after John's return this year alone has cost tens of thousands of dollars, and if you add the cost of buying nearby land and building apartment buildings, it is expected to cost more than six figures!

The green dollars are spent like flowing water.

Fortunately, it is supported by novelty products such as bicycles and toys. The old Huntelaar business company has grown extremely rapidly in recent years, with a profit of more than $30,000 this year, and with the dividends of the Lego Toy Company and Carnegie Steel Company, the annual revenue is infinitely close to $100,000.

This number is enough to be satisfactory.

You know, it's only 1887, not yet the peak of the American monopoly companies, and even a big man like Morgan now has a net income of just over $1 million a year, and an annual income of $100,000 is already considered a rich man.

Not to mention the fact that in addition to companies in the United States. The Huntelaar family also has a lot of properties in Europe!

Stainless steel mills and stainless steel product manufacturing plants, which have only 5% of the shares, have just started production and they have not been able to pay John dividends this year, but General Motors, in which he has invested heavily, has already seen hope of profitability.

Because of the birth of the Aurora, John paid off the one million marks that had been planned to be invested in five years in a lump sum and asked General Motors to use it to build the plant and hire workers, and Benz was very satisfied with their watch. I thought that only twenty or thirty Auroras could be produced this year, but I didn't expect that in the end, it would triple and produce sixty-four! And if nothing else. General Motors will produce more than 600 Auroras next year, and sales of more than 2 million marks will bring hundreds of thousands of marks in profits!

Of course. After all, this is the expectation of the future, and it is the two medical-related companies that are really making money.

After the initial explosion of sales, the sales of both medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies have declined, but the two companies together are still stable at more than 1.5 million marks per month. And with the gradual development of the European market and even the American market, there has been a steady upward trend in the past three months.

Sure enough, no matter what era, monopoly is the most profitable business.

Heinz still has only six products. But whether it is three sulfonamides or two local anesthetics, they are the only ones in the world, and the only antipyretic analgesic with competitors is the drug of the century aspirin, in this case, it is difficult for Heinz Pharmaceutical Company not to make huge profits!

Because of the expansion of the factory, the recruitment of workers and the construction of the R&D center, this year's Heinz pharmaceutical company may have to support itself. But next year's full-year sales will exceed 10 million marks, which means millions of marks in profits......

After thinking about it, the grandfather and grandson were satisfied.

Whether in the United States or Europe, these are all promising industries, and as long as they continue to operate well, the Huntelaar family will surely become one of the world's richest people in the future. In fact, at their current scale, they can proudly think so......

……

"Poof! ……”

"It's almost time!"

Looking at the time on the wall clock, old Huntelaar wiped his mouth elegantly and said, "Hans, let Henry prepare the car, we should go." ”

"Yes, sir."

The butler nodded immediately, turned around and went out to make arrangements.

At the signal of old Huntelaar, John swallowed the last bite of food, finished the dinner at least two hours earlier than usual, and got up.

However, as soon as the two of them walked out of the restaurant, they saw Hans leading Tesla in.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tesla."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Huntelaar."

The tone of the two greeted Tesla very calmly, but the other party was faintly excited, and even the tone of his voice changed slightly. John and old Huntelaar were both sensitive to this change and couldn't help but smile at each other.

It's a big day for Tesla!

"Mr. Tesla, are you here by carriage today?"

After a short pause, John smiled and asked, "We're about to leave, why don't you come with us in a car?" ”

"Of course!"

Tesla's eyes lit up when he heard the word car. Nodding busily, he said.

Tesla's interest in the car that has just appeared for a short time is also very strong, and it has asked John several times to buy one. Although the current Newton Power Company has been invested by the Huntelaar family several times, because of Tesla's excellent performance in patents, it still holds 20% and a half of the shares, and its net worth has properly exceeded 100,000 US dollars. So he can afford even a car for two thousand dollars.

It's just that compared to other wealthy New Yorkers, Tesla's net worth is not enough.

Just a week ago, the second batch of Auroras promised John by General Motors arrived in New York. The second batch of cars totaled seven, two more than originally planned, because with the efforts of Bentz and others, the production speed of European factories was much faster than expected.

After the seven Auroras appeared at the dock, they immediately attracted the attention of the wealthy New Yorkers.

Now it's basically just a little bit of a person with a little bit of information. They already knew who General Motors belonged to, so just as the cargo ship left the German port, a big man like Morgan had already gotten the news and called the old Huntelaar directly. Therefore, before the freighter arrived in New York Harbor, the seven Auroras had already been divided up - since they were going to develop in New York in the future, some old Huntelaar naturally wanted to make good friends.

So Tesla's request was naturally ignored by the old Huntelaar.

However, in order to win over Tesla, the great scientist, John still promised to give him one in the first half of 1888. And it's not for sale, it's all for gifting. This made Tesla quite grateful to John in addition to disappointment. You know, although the price of the aurora itself is not high, even if you add the long-distance transportation cost, it will not exceed $1,200, but the rich people in New York paid $2,000 per car, which is not a small amount!

While chatting, the three of them went out and got into the car.

Considering that the space of the aurora is still a little small after all. So old Huntelaar took one by himself, John and Tesla took one, and Hans and Henry drove out of Huntelaar's garage in two cars.

Tesla, who rode in a car for the second time in his life, quickly became excited.

"This is destined to be an invention that could change the century!"

Sure enough, it is a scientist at the forefront of science and technology, Tesla looked out the window at the backward street and sighed loudly: "If the cost can be reduced by half." A few more performance improvements...... Of course, the important thing is that if the failure rate can be lower, I am afraid that the car will be as popular as the train a few decades ago. If the load capacity of the car can be larger, it will even replace the position of the train in the future! ”

"Uh......"

After listening to Tesla's words, John was suddenly a little speechless.

As a traverser, John of course knows that what Tesla says will be realized in the future, and in addition to secretly admiring it, he is also a little distressed. During this time, as the fame of the car grew, whether in Europe or New York, countless requests for shares or licensed manufacturing came one after another, which caused Benz and the Huntelaar family a headache.

For now, although the cost of the car is high, the performance is good enough, unlike the historical Benz products that cannot be sold at all, and there is no problem in meeting the needs of at least a small number of wealthy people as a luxury product. As a result, many people see business opportunities, and people like Morgan who have a long-term vision can foresee the brilliant future of automobiles......

It's not easy to deal with these people.

If it weren't for the Huntelaar family's absolute equity in General Motors, and there is no shortage of funds now, I am afraid that it would have been swallowed by these predators!

"Hoo ......"

Putting these thoughts in his mind, John exhaled softly, smiled and said, "I think the same as you, the car is indeed an invention that can change the world, but that is the future after all." But tonight, what happened tonight, is really changing the world......" (To be continued......