The weather in early spring is warm and cold.

On the wharf at the confluence of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek in Tokyo (Shanghai), Jin Nengheng, an American businessman, stood on the bow deck of a large merchant ship, hugging his newly married and beautiful wife, looking at the familiar wharf in front of him, as well as the slowly lively porters by the wharf, his heart was on fire.

Finally arrived at the Shanghai dock. Thinking about the profits that this cargo will bring, Kim Neng-hyung is secretly happy.

On the other side of the wharf, several merchant ships were loading goods, a busy scene, seeing that the merchant ship was not big, it seemed that it was not a European merchant ship, but a Chinese ship, with a flag with a yellow star on a red background on the bow of the ship, and he had seen a lot on the way.

When, in this ancient country, will there be so many merchant ships? It seems that the distance of the voyage is not short, is it also ocean trade? Kim Neng-hyung was a little puzzled. In his impression, the large merchant ships sailing on the Shanghai River have always been mainly European and American merchant ships, and occasionally a few local cargo ships are also small and medium-sized, and they definitely do not have such a large tonnage.

It seems that in the past few years, there have been some changes in this place that I don't know.

This is not the first time he has been to Shanghai. Since he came to the Far East from the United States at the age of 27, according to the wishes of his family, he joined the most famous American-funded company in the Far East, Qichang & Co., as a substantive director.

In the past five years, Jin Nengheng can be said to be extremely familiar with this small county town in the east, and behind this city, a steady stream of goods and Qing merchants with amazing purchasing power are also fascinated by him. In the past two years alone, together with other shareholders of Qichang Foreign Bank, he has not only steadily occupied the largest foreign bank in China in the United States, but also developed rapidly, and as a quarter shareholder, he has gradually increased from $700,000 to $1.2 million in annual profits from Qichang Foreign Company.

That's a million dollars! For a commercial bank of the same size, if it is opened in the United States or Europe, let alone the annual profit, I am afraid that the annual turnover will not even be one million dollars. This port in the Far East has witnessed his growth and glory. Therefore, as the U.S. consular representative in Shanghai, if it weren't for the fact that his father was seriously ill and he had to return to Boston to inherit the family property, Kim Neng-hyung would not have left Shanghai, the place where he made a crazy fortune.

However, it has been two or three years since I returned to the United States, waited for my father to die, divided the family property with my brothers, got married for my honeymoon, and returned to Shanghai.

"It's finally back!" Jin Nengheng took a deep breath of the moist air on the Huangpu River, "It's a familiar smell." I even smelled the fragrance of Qingguo's tea leaves and the fragrance of raw silk, which was really charming! Honey, you don't understand how charming they are, the tea leaves are as fascinating as your lips when they touch the water, and the white raw silk is crystal clear, soft and silky, just like your skin is smooth and tender......"

A beautiful blonde girl next to her said a little noncommittally: "My dear, I really don't want to spoil your happiness and disturb your dream of getting rich." However, along the way, I have already mentioned to you a few times, last year I heard my father say that this ancient empire in the Far East is no longer the Great Qing Dynasty, it has changed owners, it is called the Chinese Empire, and the emperor is called Feng Yunshan. You haven't been to China for several years, so you come here to do business, and I'm really worried about you, in case the new emperor doesn't let you do business, or if the cloth, matches, cigarettes, etc. you bring will not be able to sell for a price. ”

"Oh, dear, I just made a slip of the tongue! I know, of course, that the Qing State has perished, and that in its place is the Chinese Empire. Rest assured, dear! Speaking of the Chinese Empire established by the rebels, it was more enlightened than the Qing State of the Tatars, and they even believed in God. Yes, you are right, what is their emperor's name now Feng Yunshan, he is the original rebel saint king, he is a civilized person and is willing to trade with civilized society. I've heard from my friends in Boston that it seems that he called the emperor took the initiative to add more cities as treaty ports, and that the ocean business in Shanghai and Guangzhou is even busier today than it was a few years ago. But the only difference is that this Chinese empire seems to be much stronger than the original Qing State, and we seem to have encountered several warships along the way. ”

"As for the cargo on the ship, dear dear, even more fine! Those matches and cigarettes are all small things, and they don't have much to carry, but that's it, and if you sell them again, you can at least make tens of thousands of dollars. The point is still the cloth, this is authentic Boston cotton, according to them, this is the best foreign cloth! Even if it is ordinary cotton, it can be sold at a high price, and the profit is amazing! I still remember that before I left Shanghai, the foreign company gave orders to cloth merchants in Hangzhou, Wuchang and Yangzhou, and they offered 3 taels and 2 yuan a horse for ordinary machine cotton cloth, which is 4.7 US dollars a horse. What I brought this time is the best foreign cloth in their eyes, even if the price of ordinary cotton cloth is 4.7 dollars a horse, according to their measurement, there must be at least 30,000 foreign cloths, and our cost, 5 cents a yard, converted, well, that is, 72 cents a horse, even if you add freight duties and benefits to those officials, it will not exceed 1 dollar a horse. 30,000 horses, we have to net $110,000! When it came to business, Kim Neng-hyung was full of interest, and his eyebrows danced.

The blonde gasped and exclaimed, "Oh, God! $110,000? Dear Kim, are you telling the truth? This single trip of cotton cloth can earn 100,000 US dollars! I found that I also fell in love with this oriental world, what a crazy country! ”

"Yes, it's a pity that San Francisco is full of gold diggers, and there are no weaving mills. Otherwise, it would have saved a lot of travel to bring in some cotton cloth directly from California and cross the Pacific Ocean directly to Shanghai. Now, it took too much time to buy goods from Boston, then detour to Cape Horn in South America to send the frenzied gold prospectors to San Francisco, and finally cross the Pacific Ocean to Shanghai. My dear, isn't your father a member of Congress, do you know when the bill for the construction of the Great Railroad from the East to the West was submitted? ”

"My dear, I haven't heard my father talk about it. You know, now that the government is short on funds, it will be years before the railroad to California arrives. Seven years, ten years, who knows. At this time, the hull of the boat shook suddenly, and the blonde woman half-hugged Kim Nenghyung, "Kim, don't say so much, the ship has already docked." Hurry up and contact the local cloth merchants. ”

Jin Nengheng nodded, entered the cabin and explained to his subordinates, and then got off the ship with his wife.

When he came to the U.S. Consulate, he met with Ma Hui, the U.S. consul in Shanghai, and proudly told him about the large number of goods shipped from Boston, and was going to hold a banquet to invite businessmen and celebrities in Shanghai to talk about business.

Ma Hui said: "Mr. Jin, what kind of goods did you ship this time?" Boston, it can't be plain weave, right? ”

Jin Nengheng nodded: "Mr. Consul is really smart, it is authentic Boston plain weave." What, what's wrong? ”

"Alas! Mr. Jin, you have also been in business for many years, why are you still so reckless? Before you come, ask those who trade in the Far East, or if you really can't do it, write to me in advance. Ma Hui shook his head and sighed.

Jin Nengheng became even more suspicious, and secretly said that it was because I had been in business for many years that I knew that this Boston plain weave was the best to sell. And I am writing to you to ask you, that back and forth has been turned around several times, and it must not be delayed for another year.

"Mr. Consul, just tell me, what's wrong?"

"Hey, three months ago there was also a Baltimore merchant who brought in two truckloads of cotton cloth, and now there is still a shipload of goods stored in the warehouse at the dock, and he has not been able to sell it."

"What? Is there a problem with his cotton cloth that he can't sell, or is the local government not allowing him to trade? Kim Nenghyung shouted, "If you really don't let the deal, I will protest to their emperor!" ”

Ma Hui waved his hand: "No, no, no, it's not that there is a problem with the cotton cloth, and it's not that their emperor won't let them trade, but now Shanghai can produce its own woven cotton cloth, and the output is still a lot." In the past, those local cloth merchants of the Qing Kingdom in Shanghai now purchased directly from the Shanghai No. 1 Weaving Factory in the east of Shanghai and the Shanghai No. 2 Weaving Factory in the south of the city, and I heard that the third and fourth weaving factories were also put into operation. ”

With a "bang", the wine glass in Jin Nengheng's hand fell to the ground, although there was a layer of carpet on the ground that had not been broken, but his heart was already broken.