1869 Chinese New Year's Eve, Guangzhou suburbs, Liangjiazhuang, Liangjia ancestral temple.

After the ritual of worshipping the ancestors, the main members of the Liang family gathered in the ancestral hall to hold the annual family meeting; This kind of meeting is like an annual summary, discussing the pros and cons of the development of family affairs over the past year, and discussing the successes and disadvantages of family members.

Liang Jingzong, the old man of Liang, and two other clan elders of his generation sat at the top, the seven brothers of the second generation of the Liang family and a dozen other major stewards of the Liang family sat down in turn, and the young master Liang, as the only third generation to attend the family meeting, could only be at the bottom. If it weren't for the fact that he suggested the establishment of the Liang family's business network, and if it weren't for the fact that he became famous in Guangzhou last year, it is estimated that he would not be qualified to attend this kind of family meeting on seniority.

The Liang family started by trade, this piece has always been in charge of the patriarch Liang Jingzong, and the other two clan elders Liang Jingyi and Liang Jingde respectively manage the family's field and ethnology, because Liang Jingde himself is an old Xiucai, who has studied the Four Books and Five Classics for many years, but since he was admitted to Xiucai, he has not advanced in the imperial examination, and has become a nerd who is not diligent and does not distinguish between grains and grains, and can only teach the juniors to read in the clan study.

Mr. Liang has become more and more fond of the atmosphere of family meetings in recent years, because the Liang family is becoming more and more prosperous, and because the second generation of the Liang family has gradually grown up. He squinted his eyes and swept around, and said loudly: "Everyone has been busy for a year, let's talk about it."

The first to speak this time was Liang Haoye, the father of the young master Liang, this kind of family meeting, as the successor of the patriarch of the next generation, it stands to reason that he should speak first, Liang Haoye stood up and saluted the three elders above, and then said: "Father, Uncle Yi, Uncle De, brothers, last year our Liang family decided to implement the Liang family's business network plan, as the first pilot out of Guangzhou - Shanghai, I am in charge; When I went to Shanghai, I realized that there were many foreigners and foreign businessmen in Shanghai, which had already surpassed Guangzhou, and Shanghai's foreign trade transaction volume had long surpassed that of Guangzhou; This is definitely more opportunities for a big commercial bank like Liangjia Tianbao Bank, which also shows that our development ideas outside Guangzhou and facing the whole country are correct."

"But Shanghai is unfamiliar to us after all, so I didn't act rashly after I went to Shanghai, but bought land in the best commercial location in Shanghai, the Bund, and hired a French architect to design the building of Tianbao Xing's Shanghai branch, which has now been completed; After the Chinese New Year, the Shanghai branch will be officially opened; Since we Cantonese people can't communicate with each other in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, I bought more than a dozen orphans from the labor market and taught them Cantonese, and now these children can communicate with us in Cantonese, and in the future they will be our interpreters when we do business in Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Therefore, after the New Year, the Shanghai branch of Tianbao Hong will officially enter the Shanghai business community, and we have made all the preparations and will definitely be able to gain a place in the Shanghai market."

Old Man Liang nodded and said: "Our Liang family decided to lay outlets across the country and build a business network, but firstly, we have no experience, and secondly, we are not familiar with the place in other places, so we should indeed be cautious and cautious, rather than rashly entering the local market; Because our Tianbao line is not a small fight, our scale is very large, and we are bound to compete with local counterparts; It is necessary to know that shopping malls are like battlefields, and peers are like enemies, so we must guard against various means of competitors, and even beware of other people's black hands; Therefore, we originally planned to set up a dart bureau to protect the safety of the trading house and the bank, and now after more than half a year of preparation, how is the dart board prepared? Seventh, you offered to set up a dart bureau by you, let's talk about it."

Liang Haowen was named, and hurriedly stood up and said: "Father, two uncles, brothers, I am responsible for the preparation of the dart game; Now that he has completed all the training, he can take on the task of guarding the safety of the various branches of Tianbao Xing; In the future, as long as the branch needs it, our dart game will be opened wherever it is." Liang Haowen's speech was as straightforward as ever.

At this moment, the three old men sitting at the top all nodded their heads, and with their shrewdness, they all knew that the Liang family must have a certain amount of force protection; Now that the dart game has been practiced, I can finally rest assured. Mr. Liang understood that only the three of them knew about the specific affairs of the dart bureau, and he didn't want to say more here, so he talked about another topic: "There is also a department - Qianzhuang, this area of talent is in charge of me, after such a long time of recruitment and training, the treasurer and teller of Qianzhuang have been able to meet the opening of the three Qianzhuang, after the Chinese New Year, Guangzhou and Shanghai Qianzhuang will be opened simultaneously, and the personnel recruited and trained in the future can meet the needs of Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shantou, Tell me how well you are preparing for these places. ”

Liang Haomin, the eldest of the seven brothers of the Liang family, immediately said: "The Ningbo branch has purchased the land with reference to the practice of Shanghai, and has also invited the French architect in Shanghai to design it, and now the underground part of the building has been completed, and the construction will continue after the year, and it is expected to be completed in three months; The Ningbo branch could open as soon as next summer."

Liang Haocheng, the second eldest in charge of the Fuzhou branch, continued: "The Fuzhou branch has only completed the architectural design, and I have been mainly investigating the tea production areas in Fujian during this time, which has a large tea production, and foreign businessmen also favor Fujian tea, but now I have not found more sources."

Liang Haodong: "The Xiamen branch I am responsible for has only completed the architectural design, there are many foreigners and foreign businessmen in Xiamen, here is the tea export area in Anxi, Fujian, the annual export volume is very large, but it is also very difficult for us to get a piece of the pie."

Lao Wu Liang Haonan: "Shantou is a newly opened trade port, the current trade volume is not large, the trade commodities are mainly tea, and there are some handicrafts, there is no large commercial house here, if we enter Tianbao Bank, it can be regarded as the largest commercial house in Shantou; I've just bought the land now, and I haven't started the building yet."

After listening to their words, everyone found that the situation was different from place to place, and they were not optimistic, and everyone's faces were solemn.

Old man Liang smiled and said: "It's good that you can investigate the local foreign trade situation, it can't be smooth sailing in business, there are always such and such difficulties, there are difficulties that are not terrible, we can always find a solution together; In addition, we not only have to do export foreign trade business, but also can sell our own products; Now we have our own business of cloth, garments, steel, cement and shipbuilding, and these products need to be marketed everywhere as well."

Liang Laoliu said at this time: "Father is right, our textile company and shipyard in the Guangzhou Development Zone are put into operation this year, and the current business is very good, if everyone helps to sell, then it will definitely have to be expanded, but father, where is the steel and cement produced, why don't I know?" ”

Old Man Liang smiled and didn't answer him, but his eyes were aimed at his grandson who was sitting at the bottom.

Young Master Liang had to stand up and say: "Fourth uncle, the steel factory and the cement factory were jointly established by me and foreigners, and the factory is not in Guangzhou, but in Qiongzhou."

"Qiongzhou?" Many people in the ancestral hall heard about it for the first time.