"In addition to hoarding land, can companies consider managing cooked land at their discretion?" It was the second brother Li Yongcai who spoke. The Li brothers quickly took on the role and made suggestions for the company.

"Familiar?"

"Yes, although the company's hoarding strategy is very profitable, but it will take time to bear fruit, not only will it not make a profit during this period, but it will have to pay interest, it is better to concurrently operate some wharves and land near the warehouse, and some income can be subsidized."

Gao Yi has never considered interest expenses or anything, in fact, in addition to the initial need for bank loans in order for the company to open and hoard land as soon as possible, when the Li brothers' business stabilizes, the company will no longer borrow from the bank when it needs funds, but will issue corporate bonds to the two brothers. As for the annual repayment of principal and interest, it will take the form of issuing new debts to pay off old debts, which is how cash cows are used in the first place, and all the money for the purchase of the land will actually come from the brothers' funds. That's why Keswick and de Grey readily agreed to give them a super-standard reception, and these two were the God of Wealth.

Of course, the Li brothers will not suffer a loss in this transaction, and their funds will enjoy a slightly higher interest rate than the market, which is initially set at about six percent, and to some extent, such a plan should be regarded as a win-win situation.

Traditional Chinese merchants like Er Li used their surplus funds to be stored at home, or lent money to money banks to earn interest, or they were used to invest in shops and docks. Cellar silver at home, not only did not make a profit, but as the price of silver fell year by year, it only depreciated more and more; In 1910, it coincided with the rubber stock boom, and a large number of money banks went bankrupt, with losses as high as tens of millions of taels, who will pay for these losses? Not yet depositors who have money in the counter.

Shops, wharves and the like belong to the industry, although there are also profits from land appreciation, but these lands are so-called "cooked land", the cost of land acquisition is high, and the appreciation space is small. In addition, under normal circumstances, the supply of "cooked land" cannot be unlimited, and in many cases, money may not be able to be spent, unless it is forcibly acquired at a premium, or even doubled.

As far as Gao Yi knows, the expansion of the French Concession will reach its peak in 1914, and the boundaries of the French Concession will be basically determined after 1914, so it will only take ten years to hoard land at a low price.

If the period of this decade is to manage their property in the traditional way, the impact of the depreciation of silver prices and the stock market crash will not necessarily be able to achieve an annualized increase of 6 percent, let alone the share of the company's shares, even if it is supplemented by real estate appreciation. You must know that the land in Xujiahui, which is far away from the French Concession, is only 40 or 521 acres, and as long as the boundary of the concession is determined in 1914, these lands that are included in the French Concession will bring tens or even hundreds of times the profit margin.

However, these words have not yet reached the time to say to the brothers, it is easy to scare the other party away if they are too complicated, and some things, after they are in the middle of the group, it is not too late to talk slowly, anyway, all these follow-up operations are based on the premise that their business can obtain excess profits. And when the two of them make much more money than before, their confidence in Gao Yi will be further established, and everything will be easy to talk about at that time.

It's just that now we still need to appease them well, and it is naturally impossible to reject their suggestions, which will dampen their enthusiasm. In fact, if it is a good deal, it is not impossible to consider buying a few pieces of cooked land.

"I wonder if you two have any good land recommendations? If the price is right, you can consider getting some. ”

The brothers glanced at each other, and this time it was the turn of the eldest brother Li Yongfa to speak:

"It's the land of Sixteen Shops and South City."

"Oh? Isn't that a three-way zone where China and the West are mixed? Where is there a lot of money to be made on the land? ”

"It's not that the land is very profitable, it's just that the land there is very profitable, and the wharf and warehouse are more profitable than Hongkou." Saying that, the two brothers glanced at each other again, and Li Yongfa continued: "It's just that not everyone can buy the land there. ”

These two guys, no matter how much they pretend to be Sven, their hooligan nature is always unconcealable, grabbing territory, bullying and dominating the market, and that's all they can think of.

Gao Yi quietly cut a small piece of steak and chewed it a few times before saying, "Is there any problem?" ”

"To tell the truth, we have long had the intention of buying some properties in Nanshi, but there are people who dominate the docks, warehouses, theaters, teahouses, and even mixed halls, and others can't intervene. Although our brother has some means, this person is an official figure who is not easy to start, so we thought about whether to take this opportunity and ask Mr. Gao to help dredge up the official face, and it is also a good thing for the company to be able to buy a few properties there. ”

"Who is that man? It's so powerful, it sounds like it can cover the sky with one hand. ”

"That person's surname is Huang, he is the inspector of Huayu in the French Concession, his big name is Huang Jinrong, and his nickname is Jute Pi. He Laozi was originally the head catcher of Suzhou Prefecture, so he had some influence among the locals. ”

It turned out to be the famous Golden Glory, but unfortunately it was not the twenties, and it was not until after the smoking ban in 1909 that these local gangs obtained a large amount of money from smuggling and trafficking became rampant, just like the United States Prohibition Act gave birth to a large number of gangs.

Gao Yi put down the steak knife in his right hand, turned around slightly and snapped his fingers, and a waiter ran over briskly.

"Go and call the French Consulate General for me, report my name to Consul General Riettard, and come back to inform me after connecting."

"Yes, sir." The waiter retreated neatly.

Keswick and de Grey looked at each other with a little puzzlement, Gao Yi's conversation with Er Li just now was not translated, so the two of them were a little confused.

"Our friend has some conflicts with a Chinese detective in the French Concession, and I will help them solve it." Gao Yi explained.

"It's a great opportunity to show our friends what we're capable of and help them feel more confident working with us."

"yes, that's what I thought."

"Contact the Consul General directly? Don't need the board of directors to come forward first? De Gray asked.

"There's no need, it's faster for the consul general to give orders directly." Gao Yi shook his head. There are many factions in the board of directors, and this kind of thing is easy to rip off, but it will cause the other party to be vigilant. Judging from his historical actions, Huang Haozi is not an incompetent person, and he is likely to make some off-the-counter recruitment. To deal with this kind of thing, we must cut through the mess quickly, and the key lies in the word "fast". Thunderbolt was in a hurry, and before the other party could react, he knocked people down with one blow.

After about three minutes, the waiter ran over quickly, "Mr. Gao Yi, the phone has been connected, and His Excellency Rettard is waiting online." ”

Gao Yi nodded, stood up, patted Li Yongfa on the shoulder, and said, "Wait a minute, you two, I'll go back when I go." ”

The two brothers were a little inexplicable, and they said it well just now, when suddenly Gao Yi called the waiter to mutter a string of foreign texts, and then the three foreign devils were a balabala pass, and in the next few minutes, everyone didn't say anything, eating steak with their heads bored, and finally, the waiter ran over again, and Gao Yi got up and said that he wanted to leave for a while.

It's just that they didn't have much to say on this occasion, so they could only nod and let Gao Yi leave.

Gao Yi was back soon, even less time than the waiter. He patted Li Yongfa's shoulder again and said calmly: "It's done." ”

"What has it become?"

"That Inspector Huang will be removed from office today."

The brothers were so surprised that they couldn't even say "ah". It took a long time before Li Yongfa spoke: "So fast? I mean, it's that simple? ”

"What's the matter," Gao Yi shrugged, "The surname Huang is just an employee, of course it's as simple as the boss to fire the employee, is there anything more important than that?" ”

"Of course, if the surname Huang is not fired today, don't be too anxious, it is likely that the consul general has misremembered the name, and he may not be able to hear it clearly on the phone just now. But in any case, anyway, there is an inspector in the French Concession who will be fired today, if it is not surnamed Huang, then count him lucky, let him sit in the seat under his ass for one more day, and we will continue to open tomorrow. Gao Yi made a small joke, but the two brothers were still in a state of confusion and did not react.

Next, everyone used the steak on the plate in silence again, and Gao Yizhi waited until the surprise of the two brothers had passed a little, and then he spoke:

"There's one more thing you need to help you with."

"Ah...... Ah, you say! Li Yongfa finally came to his senses and said.

"This detective surnamed Huang should have a lot of apprentices and grandchildren, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to say, the surname Huang is a local, and there are a lot of helpers, if you rush to fire him, I'm afraid the market will be unstable......"

"Well, so this time I want to wipe out all his apprentices and grandchildren!"

Gao Yi had the impression that Huang Jinrong seemed to be particularly good at playing the game of thieves shouting to catch thieves, first letting his subordinates mess up the market, and then he would come forward to deal with it. Although most of these impressions come from unreliable wild histories such as reviews, novels, and film and television works, it is better to believe them than not to believe them, and some things are either not done, or they must be done thoroughly. Now that they have done it, if they don't eradicate him, everyone is uneasy.

"Huh?" Once again, the brothers were shocked.

"You should know the details of his henchmen here, right?"

"Of course I know, Cheng Ziqing and Ding Shunhua of Zhengjiamuqiao, Chen Shichang of "Fusheng", and Xu Fusheng of "Fusheng in the Heavenly Palace" ......"

"You don't have to tell me your names," Gao Yi interrupted Li Yongfa, "Do you have anyone under you who can recognize them?" ”

"I can recognize them all, Shanghai Beach is not big, everyone is mixed on the same road, and you can't see anyone who looks up and looks down, and each of these people has someone under me who has dealt with them." Li Yongfa finally returned to his true colors, and his eyes were shining.

"Not only the leaders of his men, but all the minions who can be named, it is better to find someone they know. In the next operation, you two brothers only need to be responsible for preparing these people, and the rest will naturally be solved by the military and police dispatched by the concession authorities. ”

"Okay!"

"The most important thing is that this matter must be kept secret, your subordinates must not let them know the reason in advance, just let them know what to do before the operation, after all, they are only responsible for identifying people."

"You can rest assured that we know who we know each other. If we are really uncertain, we will inquire on the side and will not divulge the secret. ”

"That's good, then this matter will be talked about here first, what is the specific plan, and we need to communicate with many parties, and then I will inform you when the time comes. However, it will not take too long, and it will change later, and it will only take two or three days at most, so you should also step up your preparations. ”

"Understood, if there are any other orders, just let us know."

******

After the meal, Gao Yi and the three of them first accompanied Er Li to the bar for a glass of wine, felt the Taipan bar, and then everyone went to Casewick's suite together to formally discuss the specific matters of forming the company. A large part of it was actually negotiated separately by Gao Yi with all parties in advance, and now it is just a clause and a written word.

The registered capital of the company is 2 million taels, divided into 1 million shares, 2 taels per share, of which Gao Yi accounts for 40% of the shares, Erli brothers 30%, Keswick 20%, and de Gray 10%. 5% of Gao Yi's 40% stake is held by the acting consul general of France, Ju Laida.

Since the company's main business is the French Concession real estate, its official registered name is Société Franco-Scot de Chine in French, which literally translates to "Chinese Franco-Soviet Company". However, because most of the land held in the company's plan is located on Luban Road, that is, on both sides of Chongqing South Road, which happens to be the Xintiandi plate in the later generations, Gao Yi simply waved his pen, and the company's Chinese name in the future will be "Xintiandi".