Knowing that foreigners attach importance to the concept of time, the next day, Wu Chaoyue, who has always liked to sleep until lunchtime, got up early and led Wu Dadao and other dogs to the dock to meet Father Meng Zhensheng. Seeing Wu Chaoyue arrive on time, Meng Zhensheng was also very happy, and immediately invited Wu Chaoyue into the carriage and took Wu Chaoyue all the way to the concession located in the north of Shanghai County.

Successfully arrived at the concession, which is still very desolate, Meng Zhensheng took Wu Chaoyue directly to a French foreign firm, and then asked Wu Chaoyue to wait for a while, and he rushed out to report the news. And just as Wu Chaoyue was tasting the coffee he hadn't seen for a long time, a blonde and blue-eyed foreigner also entered the living room under the guidance of Meng Zhensheng.

Coincidentally, the foreigner Wu Chaoyue had already seen - it was the white man Wu Chaoyue saw on the dock when he was dragged on a blind date, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly got up and shook hands with him, and Meng Zhensheng on the side also hurriedly introduced: "Wu, let me introduce you, this is Mr. Bourblon, he is our French ......." ”

Burbulon waved his hand to interrupt Meng Zhensheng's continued introduction, smiled and said to Wu Beyond in quite skilled Chinese: "Dear Wu, we finally meet again, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

"I'm glad to meet you, too, Dear Mr. Bourblon." Wu Yue saw that this Burbulon had a good identity, and although he did not ask him about his specific identity, he also politely saluted, and barely managed to be neither humble nor arrogant, leaving a very good impression on Burbulon - Burbulon was accustomed to seeing the servile face and knees of the compradors of the Qing Dynasty, and was fed up with the blind xenophobia of the Chinese in this era.

After the guests and hosts took their seats, Bourblon picked up the cigar and asked Wu Beyond very politely if he allowed it, Wu Beyond smiled slightly, also picked up a cigar, and skillfully cut off one end, Bourbulon laughed when he saw it, and lit the cigar with Wu Beyond, and then Bourblon also said: "Wu, you are the Chinese I have ever met who knows Western civilization best, even your grandfather, Mr. Jianzhang Wu, is not as familiar and understanding of Western civilization as you are." ”

"Dear Monsieur Bourblon, do you know my grandfather?" Wu Chaoyue asked curiously.

"We've met twice." Bourblon vaguely passed the topic, and then said, "Wu, I asked you to be invited because I have something to talk to you about. The day before yesterday, you said to a Chinese on the dock to open a factory, I heard all of it, and I think it makes perfect sense. But I think it's strange, since you know that there are so many advantages to setting up a factory in Shanghai, why don't you create a factory yourself? As far as I know, with your family situation, funding shouldn't be a problem? ”

Bourblon's words were a question that stopped Wu Chaoyue, which made Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but sigh, and then he remembered an important question - since he knew that he could make a fortune by building a factory in Shanghai, why didn't he think about building a few factories by himself? Benefiting the people and benefiting oneself, you can also take the opportunity to get the Shanghai land that is 100 times more valuable than gold in the future, even if the factory fails, you can also rely on the land to recover the investment, and then make a windfall.

Thinking of this, of course, Wu Chaoyue immediately remembered that the Xiaodaohui uprising that would break out in Shanghai in the future, but Wu Chaoyue vaguely remembered that the Xiaodaohui rebel army did not seem to be as blind xenophobia as the Twist Army and the Taiping Army, and there was still a certain cooperation and contact with the foreigners, and after the uprising broke out, it did not endanger the safety of the concession, so as long as he built a joint venture with the foreigners, he might not be able to keep the factory at that time. If you take another 10,000 steps back, even if the factory is not guaranteed, you can still get back several times or even more than ten times the investment in building a factory with only those precious land.

Thinking of this, and thinking about it carefully, Wu Chaoyue said in a sincere tone: "Dear Mr. Bourblon, I have plans to build a factory in Shanghai, but I haven't persuaded my grandfather to come up with money to invest yet, and I haven't contacted a reliable partner, so I haven't taken action for the time being." When I have solved these two problems, then Mr. Bourblon, I can assure you that China's first modern factory will be born in my hands. ”

After finishing speaking, Wu Chaoyue couldn't wait to add: "Dear Mr. Bourblon, I know that France's industrial level has been at the forefront of the world, if you can introduce me to one or two French businessmen who can sell industrial equipment, or introduce me to French businessmen who are willing to establish a textile factory with me, then I will be very grateful." ”

Bourblon, who originally wanted to open the Chinese market for the French government, smiled, and immediately nodded and said: "I am very happy, Wu, you can rest assured, I will arrange such a businessman to contact you as soon as possible." ”

"Thank you, thank you very much." Wu Chaoyue thanked him again and again, and then took the initiative to say: "Dear Mr. Bourblon, if the textile factory is successfully built and reaps a good return, I will very much hope to contact businessmen from other industries in your country in the future." For example, in the iron and steel industry, Mr. Bourblon, you must also know that although we have a lot of iron ore in China, most of the ores contain too high impurities, and the qualified steel production is very small, but the advanced ironmaking technology in Europe can perfectly solve this problem, so I believe that if your businessmen can come to China with advanced steelmaking technology to build factories, then they will be able to create a lot of profits and completely monopolize the entire Chinese steel market! ”

"As for the prospects for the steel market." Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but add: "Dear Mr. Bourblon, so far, there is no railway on the land of China, and I don't think such a situation can be set forever. Therefore, if your businessmen can establish a joint venture with us to build a modern ironmaking plant capable of producing qualified steel, then when it comes time for China to build railways, we can easily win all the rail orders, and then expand the railway market to a larger and wider extent. ”

The cigar in Burbulon's hand fell to the ground, branding a small hole in the expensive woolen carpet, and when Meng Zhensheng on the side hurriedly reminded him, Bourbulon ignored it, and asked Wu Chaoyue with wide eyes: "Wu, you surprised me too much!" Tell me, what other industries in the West are you interested in? ”

"Banking!" Since China in this era is completely blank, Wu Chaoyue, who is not very good, of course picks the most profitable business, and says: "Dear Mr. Bourblon, the financial industry is the most profitable industry in the world, compared with it, the opium trade of the British has to bow down!" ”

"Although my family cannot afford the huge investment of opening a bank, it can afford a part of it, so if a banker in your country is willing to open a bank in China, then I am very happy to invest some of the money to open a joint venture bank with a businessman in your country!"

"As for the prospect of opening a bank in China." Speaking of this, Wu Beyond smiled slightly, and said: "Mr. Burbulon, since you are so fluent in Chinese, then you must know very well that China's banking industry is almost a blank, and there are only a few foreign banks in Hong Kong, Macau and the Shanghai Concession, which are not very large and are not accepted by conservative Chinese. ”

"But if your businessmen can open a joint venture bank with me, then my Chinese identity will not only be easily accepted by conservative Chinese, but also help your bankers bypass many of the stupid prohibitions of the Qing court and directly open branches in more cities in China, including Beijing, China's largest consumption-oriented city, and obtain ten times or even dozens of times more profits than now."

Bourblon's body was shaking, not cold, but so excited that he couldn't control it at all. After thinking about it for a while, Bourblon said again: "Wu, you are more and more surprising to me, I know that what you said is right, but I know that no matter whether you open a textile factory or an iron factory and a bank in China, the biggest obstacle is not capital or technology, but the government of your country, that is, your Chinese court!" What are your thoughts on this? Or is there a workaround? ”

"As far as my ability is concerned, there is no solution to this." Wu Chaoyue shook his head, and then said: "But, Dear Mr. Bourblon, your French government has a way to solve these problems, although I don't like your way of solving them, but I must admit that if you want the conservative and closed Qing court to accept advanced culture and technology from the West, it is your method that is the most effective." ”

"Wu, you haven't said what the solution is." Bourblon reminded with a smile.

"Dear Monsieur Bourblon, don't you know what to do?" Wu Chaoyue said with a bitter smile: "Do you have to force me to say it as a Chinese?" What would you think if a Frenchman told other foreigners to do the same to France? ”

Bourblon smiled knowingly, nodded and said, "Wu, you are very frank and cleverly answered, I understand your distress. It's a pity that if there were a few more people like you in the Chinese government, then we wouldn't have considered that approach, after all, we would have to pay a huge amount of military spending if we did that, right? ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, stopped talking, and didn't want to continue on this issue. After pondering for a moment, Bourblon suddenly stood up and said, "Wu, I still have some business to do, and I must say goodbye to you." It was a pleasure to talk to you, and I think I will look for you again, and you can rest assured, I promised to introduce you to businessmen in the textile industry, and I will do it. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, shook hands with Bourblon and said goodbye, and said goodbye to each other, and when he left, Bourblon also gave Wu Chaoyue a bottle of French champagne, and as a result, Wu Chaoyue, who is a drunken man in the 21st century, took the champagne and only glanced at it, and immediately shouted in surprise: "My God!" Remy Martin! It's still 1830! If I'm not mistaken, it seems that this is the year Rémy Martin was founded, right? Rémy Martin champagne produced in the first year of the factory! Such a valuable gift, Mr. Bourblon, how do you think I should repay you? ”

"Wu, you are too polite, the words you said to me just now have far exceeded the value of this bottle of wine." Bourblon smiled and waved his hand, the expression on his face did not change much, but he couldn't help but exclaim in his heart, "My God! Is this Wu really Chinese? How is this Chinese who knows us France better than many Europeans? ”

With an irrepressible excitement and excitement, Burblon left first, and Wu Chaoyue, who had a rare visit to the concession, did not rush home, and took Wu Dadao and other dogs to turn around the few foreign companies in the concession by the way. However, when Meng Zhensheng's carriage had just left the concession, an Englishman stopped his carriage and pretended to plead with Meng Zhensheng, and after getting into the car, the Englishman suddenly took out a small bag of silver dollars, put it in front of Meng Zhensheng, and said in a low voice: "I want to know the reason why your minister, Mr. Bourblon, made an appointment with the Chinese Wu, and the content of the conversation. ”

"You care so much about Wu?" Meng Zhensheng asked with some confusion.

The Englishman shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Wu is worthy of attention, but he is not of sufficient weight, and we are concerned about your minister, Mr. Bourblon, who has suddenly come to Shanghai from Hong Kong, and as a friendly neighbor, how can we know his purpose and purpose?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhensheng blinked his eyes and smiled again, and then whispered in the ear of the Englishman, who used a pen to shorthand, and immediately got out of the car after thanking him, and then immediately rushed back to the British consulate in the concession. And Meng Zhensheng happily counted the silver dollars in the car, while thinking in his heart, "Anyway, there are no secrets involved, so why don't you take the initiative to contact the American cowboys and Prussians to see if they are interested in this information?" ”

There was no need for Meng Zhensheng to take the initiative to contact, and an English voice with an American accent came from outside the carriage, also asking to take Meng Zhensheng's carriage to the Shanghai dock, Meng Zhensheng smiled and ordered outside the car: "Stop, let him come up." ”

(Note: At that time, silver and silver dollars were already common in China, each silver dollar was about seven cents of silver, and before the sixties of the nineteenth century, the Spanish silver dollar was mainly in circulation, and then the Mexican silver dollar was the main.) ）