Chapter 194: Construction and Revolution, Raising Money
In the final analysis, the success of the revolution was not entirely military, and the Qing court had lost or was losing the support of the majority. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoEven if the idea of overthrowing it by force is not yet possible, most people will be happy to see it happen once the Qing court is in turmoil.
Except for the Manchus, who will be loyal to this rotten court? And Manchurian, how many outstanding characters are there? Whether it is a foreign race, although Chen Wenqiang does not say it, it is clear that most Han people hate the Manchus.
Despite paying lip service to Li Yuanhong's advice, Chen Wenqiang did not go to meet the new governor, but met and talked with Mr. Feng, a close aide of the new governor. This is probably also a tradition in China, where big men always hide behind the scenes, and go out to bargain in person, not only losing their identity, but also possibly falling into the trap.
The opening of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway gave birth to a new industry - the railway transportation industry, that is, a kind of company that acts as a comprehensive agent for railway transportation business. In order to increase the volume of transportation and compete with water transport for the transportation market, the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway Corporation actively encouraged businessmen to set up transportation banks, and formulated a number of preferential regulations.
At the beginning of the opening of the transportation line, it is necessary to pay 30,000 yuan in advance to the Yuehan Railway Corporation for the annual freight to ensure that the annual amount is 30,000 tons. After the payment at any time to deliver the ticket, all accounting, no cash, also known as "open red ticket", to the end of the year once settled, only less compensation, can not be more refund.
At the same time, the railway company has also formulated incentive measures, as long as the annual volume reaches 30,000 tons, the freight can be paid at a discount of 20%; If it exceeds 50% of the plan, it will be calculated as a 7% discount; If it is more than double or more than the plan, the payment will be discounted by 6%.
At that time, the largest transport line had "Gongxinghe", "Tailong", "Xinda", "Hunan Yuehan" and so on, they were in Changsha, Wuchang two stations, have their institutions, and equipped with stacks, protective loading and unloading equipment, its freight business from south to north, very prosperous.
Because they transport a lot of traffic. It is expected that it will exceed the original target by one to several times, so it is a wide range of financial resources, which has aroused the red eyes of many people.
Among them is the new governor Chen Kuilong, who also wants to make a fortune in the transportation industry. Even the name of the transportation line has been given, called "SF Express". Of course, he hoped that Chen Wenqiang, the general office of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, would give him more preferential policies. For example, the cancellation of prepaid loans, a 5% discount on shipping costs, and so on.
With such a little eyelid, Chen Wenqiang was disdainful in his heart, but he still bargained, and finally gave Chen Kuilong a reasonable preferential condition. At the same time, he also agreed to Chen Kuilong's request to install a few relatives in the Hubei Railway Patrol Police.
These are all small things that have nothing to do with the overall situation, Chen Wenqiang is trying to make a compromise, but he just wants to live as smoothly as possible for a few months, as long as the power in his hands is not too lost. He has his own way of retaking it.
After all, after he shifted his center of gravity to Hunan, his forces in Hubei were a little weaker, and they were no more domineering than he was in Guangdong.
And the harvest of his trip to Hubei was that he installed several officers in the 21st Mixed Association, and naturally, he also gave Li Yuanhong benefits, which was an exchange of interests. Of course, Li Yuanhong would not have imagined that these officers would hold him hostage and control military power.
To succeed in the revolution. In other words, the smooth outbreak in the three towns of Wuhan and the formation of a confrontation with the Northern Army, the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway is the key.
Chen Wenqiang left Hubei. Entering Hunan by train, he made a short stop in Changsha to meet and discuss with some important people.
At this time, Changsha is showing a scene of economic prosperity because of the connection of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway. Livestock pigs and grain were originally the bulk commodities exported to Changsha, and after the completion of the Chenshao section, the sales of Hunan rice to Guangdong increased sharply. The Changsha grain market began to enter its heyday.
Merchants from other provinces have also seen the development prospects of Changsha, and more and more people have set up shops in Changsha, and gradually occupy a pivotal position in the commercial and financial industries. For example, Jiangxi merchants are in the forefront of the gold and silver jewelry industry; Jiangsu merchants have strong strength in the silk industry; Cattle ears of merchants in Hubei and Henan provinces in the medicinal materials industry; Guangdong businessman Kaixi Pharmaceutical is a precedent; Fujian merchants are good at dealing in tobacco. All these have played a great role in promoting the economic prosperity of Changsha
From Changsha to Changsha, the towns along the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway are changing. Although it is not achieved overnight, it is only a matter of time before it is achieved from isolation to openness, from depression to prosperity.
The new army stationed in Changsha has just been transferred from Hengyang to Cai Yi's troops, and although Jiang Mingjing was designated by Zhang Zhidong, the new army is also the focus of the revolutionary infiltration. This is also a line of thought in the development of the new army, where the commanders who are inclined to revolution or revolutionary party do not have to focus on infiltrating and developing in the middle and lower strata; If the commander is ambiguous, he will focus on the development of middle- and lower-level officers or low-level soldiers, and always make his power as impossible as possible.
After only two days in Changsha, Chen Wenqiang set off south and rushed to Chenzhou.
After the center of gravity shifted to the south, Chenzhou became the key area of Chen Wenqiang's development, and its status gradually rose, almost equal to Yazhou. Because Chenzhou is located inland, it is the logistics base for the revolutionary army to fight against the Qing army in the north, so it is naturally very important.
Hundreds of thousands of funds were smashed, Chen Wenqiang attracted hundreds of thousands of investment, Chenzhou relied on the railway, the construction speed is fast, and this world-famous non-ferrous metal hometown is blooming with each passing day.
Coal mines, iron ore, manganese ore, lead-zinc ore, tungsten ore, tin ore, as well as gold ore, silver ore, as well as fluorite, graphite, clay, etc., are just the minerals that have been explored and excavated one after another, which has allowed Chen Wenqiang to quickly recover his investment, and has aroused the eyes of others.
An eye red is an eye red, but no one can take it away. In the past, there were railway patrol police to escort them, and later 2,000 armed police officers were trained in Chenzhou, which was actually to protect this large area of industry for Chen Wenqiang.
Ironworks, steel mills, power plants, arsenals, and so on were quickly built and put into operation, and the technical backbone transferred from Yazhou and the engineers sent by German investors made this industrial zone rise as quickly as possible.
Chenzhou's huge development potential has attracted the attention of the great powers, who are jealous and hateful of the German industrial and commercial enterprises that have taken the lead, and have to admire Chen Wenqiang's ability. At the same time, the value of Chen Wenqiang is also impressive.
However, the active participation of American capital in the construction of the Guangdong railway, and the major concession made by the British side to build the Guangzhou-Kowloon railway, cannot but be said to be out of comprehensive considerations, and the most important thing is the demonstration effect deliberately created by Chen Wenqiang. Germany is a good example, the earliest and most active support for Chen Wenqiang, not only successfully infiltrated the traditional sphere of influence of Britain and France -- the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In addition, it has repeatedly taken the lead in the development and construction of the mainland, and the benefits obtained are coveted.
Obviously, there is a huge commercial interest in supporting Chen Wenqiang, and this seems to be a foregone conclusion. With the astonishing achievements in the construction of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, there have been rumors in the Qing court that the Sichuan-Hanzhou, Zhejiang-Jiangxi and other railways may also be handed over to Chen Wenqiang. Who let Chen Wenqiang be able to raise funds and borrow foreign debts without being scolded? Who made it difficult for the imperial court and the government to come up with the money to build the railway, and the commercial railway company was slow to start construction!
And Chen Wenqiang seems to be in charge, ready to continue to show his skills in railway construction. However, he published in the newspapers and media denouncing the corruption, erosion and misappropriation of commercial railway companies such as Sichuan-Han and Zhejiang-Jiangxi, and appealed to the Qing court, asking the government to intervene to thoroughly investigate all kinds of malpractices and to suspend the lease of shares and other harmful actions to the people.
That's right. Chen Wenqiang's proposed rectification measures are reasonable and reasonable, but this is not the time. In particular, the Sichuan-Han Railway has the deepest drawbacks, involving the largest number of people, from the rich to the common people, and it is a little careless. It will provoke civil unrest.
The construction of the Sichuan-Han Railway has always been a key project of the Qing Dynasty. And it's a top priority. In addition to the economic drive of "if you want to get rich, build roads first", this proposed railway will also become a strategic layout to resist the continuous expansion and encroachment of Britain and France on the frontier in the southwest of the Qing Dynasty, and now it is more involved in the first priority of the southwest to suppress the rebellion.
However, the ambitious Qing Dynasty was embarrassed to encounter a fatal problem -- the lack of financial money. As a result, mobilizing the power of the private sector has become almost the only option. Although Chuanlu Company was characterized as a state-owned enterprise at the beginning of its establishment. However, most of its funds still come from the private sector, and they come from the "rented shares" that are forcibly assessed and levied on the peasants of the province. This is in stark contrast to other railways, where private capital mainly comes from business investment, and it also lays the groundwork for large-scale mass incidents that will eventually become out of control.
In the past few years, the Sichuan Road Company has finally raised nearly 10 million taels of funds, which are all "Sichuan people's blood bit by bit, and the class is bankrupt." knocking on the muscles and sucking the marrow", but it is still far from the 50 million taels of funds needed for the construction of Sichuan Road, which happens to be used by the management as an excuse for capital management, in order to "maintain and increase the value" of these assets.
After the failure of investing in another state-owned enterprise, Chongqing Tongyuan Bureau, the Chuanlu Company suffered a huge loss of 2 million taels, and learned from the pain, and the remaining funds were concentrated in Shanghai and Hankou for relatively conservative investment.
Regardless of whether the relatively conservative investment can maintain and increase its value, under a thorough investigation, the huge deficit of Chuanlu Company will inevitably be revealed to the world; As soon as the lease of shares stopped, it cut off those cadres who were not cadres who were not cadres who sat on the interest and ate the whale to swallow the leased shares.
And there are so many people who rely on the Chuanlu Company to make profits, and what is even more terrifying is that they also control the guidance of public opinion at the grassroots level, and they are also the best at hiding themselves under the pomegranate skirt of public opinion. Therefore, with these people instigating and manipulating behind the scenes, even if Chen Wenqiang's performance is not adopted by the imperial court, they will take certain counter-attack measures to try to cover up the chaotic management and huge deficit black hole of the Sichuan Road Company.
Now, what Chen Wenqiang wants is chaos, or is he afraid that there will be no chaos. As for those big rats of the Chuanhan Company, it is only a matter of time before they are dealt with. For the time being, they are only being used for the time being in order to bring about the success of the revolution.
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"Director Chen, this is a decision passed by the board of directors, borrow 2 million yuan, and repay it in installments in gold and silver."
Chen Wenqiang took the document handed over by the commissioner sent by the joint venture bank, glanced at it hastily, and said with a smile: "Now I am at a loss, but I am in a hurry to use the money, so I don't care." ”
Chenzhou has explored gold and silver mines, and the news is very confidential, but there is no impermeable wall, Chen Wenqiang knows that sooner or later someone will reach over and want a piece of the pie. It's just that in terms of time, it is too late for those who pretender, even in the Qing court. And this cornucopia, borrowing huge sums of money from joint venture banks, is very easy.
"If you talk about making money, of course you are the best." Neumann grinned disapprovingly, "The fact that the board of directors has decided to lend such a huge amount of money as soon as the mining of gold and silver has just begun, is obviously a sign of trust in you and optimistic about the future. ”
"It's just, I don't understand, what do you want so much cash for?" Neumann paused and asked suspiciously: "The shares you are going to sell and transfer are all very profitable, and you can get rich dividends as long as you sit at home." ”
Chen Wenqiang pondered for a moment and said, "Money is nothing to me. As long as you want to earn, you can have it. When I raise cash, I naturally want to do big things, and those dividends are small profits compared to this big event. ”
Neumann shook his head slightly, as if he was helpless, and said, "As an old friend, of course you have to lend a hand." I'll calculate your shares and buy them all to save you some time! ”
"You old fox." Chen Wenqiang rolled his eyes, "You don't need to calculate, my people have already estimated, you give it according to the actual price, and you are not allowed to bargain." ”
"You still don't believe me, my calculations can still make you suffer?" Neumann also rolled his eyes and smiled slyly: "Okay, just do as you say, who made us old friends!" ”
For the revolution to succeed, money is important, very important. Chen Wenqiang is indeed raising a huge amount of cash, whether it is to realize shares or borrow, without three or four million start-up capital, how can Chen Bing Yangtze River confront the Beiyang Army?
"This large area of factories and enterprises is made out of money." Chen Wenqiang's face became serious, he stretched out his hand and pointed around, and said, "Not only my money, but also German capital." In order to secure a majority of my shares, I can't sell my shares here easily, but I want to take a mortgage, a short-term mortgage, and raise another million in cash. ”
Neumann was stunned for a moment, looked at Chen Wenqiang incredulously, and frowned: "Mortgage to the bank?" That's fine. But I just don't understand, what are you going to do? ”
"Do a big job!" Chen Wenqiang patted Neumann's shoulder, looked at his confused eyes and smiled, "Soon you will understand, now, please convey my meaning to the bank board of directors, and handle the mortgage matter as soon as possible." ”
"Okay!" Neumann was really helpless this time, lowered his head and thought about it, and said: "Then I will investigate here for two days, try to estimate accurately, and maybe I can mortgage more cash for you." ”
"Thank you, old friend." Chen Wenqiang learned Neumann's usual movements, grabbed his arm, and pinched it hard to express his gratitude.
..。。 (To be continued.) )