As one of the famous giant merchants in the late Qing Dynasty, Wang Chi, a native of Maitreya in Yunnan, lived a life full of miracles. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Once, the name of Wang Chi, the king of money, resounded all over the country, but it is a pity that many people now only know Hu Xueyan but do not know that there is Wang Chi, and they do not know that Wang Chi won the crown and wear a product that is unique in history, and the honor has far exceeded that of Hu Xueyan, a famous giant businessman in the late Qing Dynasty.

No one knows how much money Wang Chi has, but it is an indisputable fact that the money bank he opened, "Tongqingfeng", had influenced the financial market of the Qing Dynasty for a long time during its heyday. The British "Times" once counted the richest people in the world in the past century, and Wang Chi ranked fourth. Moreover, he is the only Chinese on the list.

Although Wang Chi is rich and rich, he is not a profit-seeking businessman. He attaches great importance to morality and righteousness, and conducts business with virtue. And in the management is not complacent, good at learning from the world's advanced experience, for the power of the country; In his personal life, Wang Chi is rich but not extravagant, and has always maintained a diligent and thrifty family style. Integrity and virtue have earned the respect of everyone, including competitors, and become a role model in the business world. Not only that, Wang Chi also took advantage of the prosperity and squandering wealth, taking financial resources to meet the urgent needs of the country, taking the revitalization of the local economy as his own responsibility, developing local industries, and being enthusiastic about public welfare.

What is even more admirable is that Wang Chi also spent a huge amount of money to buy back the right of way of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway from the French, so that the right of way in Yunnan was not controlled by the French. In order to protect the local industry from being touched by foreigners, Wang Chi took the risk to win the bid and paid hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in advance to organize the Yunnan copper and tin mining industry with the government. In order to cultivate talents and revitalize local education and culture, Wang Chi cooperated with the local rich gentry to organize the "Xingwendang" (later renamed "Xingwen Bank"). It was used as a "fund fund" to support the development of local education, and Yunnan Jingzheng Academy (now Yunnan University) was also funded by it.

It's a pity. Wang Chi died in 1903, and Chen Wenqiang was never seen. But taking over Wang Chi's career, his son Wang Hongtu also has extraordinary business acumen, and inherited Wang Chi's enthusiasm for public welfare.

“…… After the Qingming Festival, the rain showered the head, the artemisia branches bloomed and the ghost was worried, nine of the ten people were sick, and one person fled to live on the mountain...... Yunnan Province has been a miasma area since ancient times. The people who live there have suffered for a long time. Mr. Genius, who wants to develop new drugs, chooses Qiongzhou instead of Yunnan Province. Seems inappropriate......"

Wang Hongtu, then assistant director of the Yunnan Chamber of Commerce, was not wrong in his letter, but he invited Chen Wenqiang to Yunnan to develop new drugs and was willing to donate all the funds needed.

on this. Chen Wenqiang politely refused on the pretext that Yunnan is located inland and has inconvenient transportation. But at the same time. In his reply, he still hoped that Wang Hongtu would make appropriate donations, and optimistically said that the development of new drugs was relatively smooth, and if the funds were sufficient, it was likely that there would be results within a few months. When the new drug is launched, he will give Wang Hongtu the exclusive right to sell Yunnan and supply the drug at cost price.

Although there is no shortage of funds, Chen Wenqiang still hopes to get more. And. If he can make friends with Wang Hongtu, who is the leader in Yunnan's business circles in terms of economic strength and management ability, the benefits he will obtain in the future will be huge. It is also very beneficial for the development of the Fuxing Society in Yunnan.

Wang Hongtu's reply obviously proves that he is not only enthusiastic about public welfare, but also has the business acumen like his father, as well as a fairly new business sense and extraordinary courage. It is proposed to advocate the establishment of the Kunming Electric Light Company and the Kunming Water Supply Company, which is not something that ordinary industrialists dare to try in such an emerging industry that is much more difficult and risky to invest in than light industries.

In the society at that time, there is Wang Hongtu such courage and vision, and there is not only one national businessman who knows the difficulties, since Chen Wenqiang established the Sino-German joint venture power engineering company, expressed positive intentions are the old champion Zhang Jian, red-top businessman Zhu Lanfang, Zhou Shunqing, etc., and power investment is very important to the country and the nation, is the only way to modernize the country.

A sigh interrupted Chen Wenqiang's thoughts, he looked at the sorrowful Luo Deng, couldn't help but reach out and pat the shoulder of this Yankee, and said with relief: "We have a saying in China: Xiao Bei is better than a newlywed." After a short separation, when you reunite with Lina, maybe she will embrace you with great enthusiasm. ”

"Perhaps?" A glint flashed in Roden's eyes, then dimmed again, and he shook his head and said, "You're not sure, are you?" ”

"It's worth looking forward to if you're not sure." Chen Wenqiang smiled slightly, stretched out his hand and pointed into the distance, "Guangzhou, it's a pity that I was just passing by last time." This time I must try the Dragon Tiger Fight, I heard that those who dare to eat are courageous, and the courage when eating the first bite is not inferior to fighting on the battlefield. ”

"Dragon and Tiger?" Roden looked confused.

"Jiajun, you can explain." Chen Wenqiang beckoned to Li Jiajun, "You are a guide, you must be conscientious." ”

"Hehe, Brother Wen Qiang, you forgot that I am also from Guangdong." Zhang Rongxuan, an overseas Chinese businessman dressed in official uniform, walked out of the cabin and said jokingly, followed by a person, but it was Zhan Tianyou, a famous engineer sent by the Qing court, who came to Guangdong to survey and investigate the Chaoshan Railway.

"The dragon and tiger fight is delicious, and the Buddha jumping over the wall is also mouth-watering!" Zhang Rongxuan walked closer and said with emotion: "I have been away from my hometown for a long time, but I remember these hometown delicacies the most. ”

Chen Wenqiang nodded and said hello, and said with a smile: "Food, clothing, housing and transportation, this food word is in the first place, of course it makes sense." What mortal can resist the temptation of good food? By the way, Cheng Cheng is also Cantonese, right? ”

"My brother's ancestral home is Wuyuan, Huizhou, but he was born in Nanhai County, Guangdong." Zhan Tianyou replied with a smile.

For scientific and technological workers, Chen Wenqiang has a natural good impression of special railway routes like Zhan Tianyou. Such professionals are simple-minded and better to deal with. Similarly, Zhan Tianyou also felt that Chen Wenqiang was well-informed, had new ideas, and had his own unique views on construction, and he also felt that he was happy to approach.

"It's a pity that Cheng Cheng is a busy man." Zhang Rongxuan shook his head with some regret, "After surveying and inspecting the Chaoshan Railway, I will return to Beijing to plan the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and the time to meet is short!" ”

"yes!" Chen Wenqiang also sighed lightly and said, "If you have time." I would also like to ask him to inspect the topography of Qiongzhou and see if he can build a railway! ”

"Wen Qiang's thoughts are similar to those of Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang." Zhan Tianyou was stunned for a moment and said, "Zhang Zhidong has been on the book more than once. It was proposed to build a railway to the hinterland of Hainan, but it was later abandoned due to the transfer to Huguang. ”

"Oh?" Chen Wenqiang expressed a little surprise, shook his head again, and said: "The scale and purpose are different, I want to build a railway from Tiandu and Shilu iron mines to the port or ironworks, the distance is short, and it is mainly used for industrial purposes. ”

"That's—" Zhan Tianyou groaned. He looked up and said: "There are many railway talents, not just God. Brother Wen Qiang, if you need it, I can recommend one or two. ”

Chen Wenqiang thought for a moment. Nod yes.

Hainan iron ore, including Shilu iron ore and Tiandu iron ore, is a sedimentary metamorphic iron ore deposit and hematite type, which was developed earlier in China. Larger. Iron ore production base with high raw ore grade. In particular, the Shilu Iron Mine is one of the largest open-pit mines in China. Iron ore reserves account for about 71% of the country's iron-rich ore reserves, ranking first in the country. It is not only rich in iron, cobalt and copper resources, but also nickel, sulfur, silver, gold and other mineral resources, and is known as "Asia's richest iron ore".

At present, these two iron ores are still in the stage of private manual mining, and the reserves have not been fully proven. The iron ore resources of Tiandu Mine have not been discovered by local villagers for many years. It was mined by soil method for a period of time and then abandoned; The Shilu mine is now mined by British-Chinese businessman Zhang Jun in collusion with local powerful forces, and the means are very primitive. The ore is mined by frontal drilling, and then the ore is transported to Danzhou Haitou, 80 kilometers away, by animal power and ox carts.

Whether to bribe the government with money, or rely on the power of the local three-point association, coupled with the forcible seizure of the manpower organized by himself, it is not too difficult for Chen Wenqiang to obtain the mining of these two iron ores. Therefore, the exploration technicians he hired from Germany had already arrived in Qiongzhou in advance, and had ordered mining, transportation and smelting equipment from Germany through Karl, which had already been loaded and shipped from Hamburg. Of course, this undoubtedly gave Kars an opportunity to transport a large number of guns and ammunition dismantled into parts to be mixed with these equipment and machinery to the port of Sanya.

As for the gun production line, Kars swore that he would ask Chen Wenqiang for another six months, and he would definitely get it, and he would give another discount on the price.

You can't get fat by eating it in one bite, but fat people eat it one bite at a time. Chen Wenqiang knows that there are some things that cannot be rushed, and now they are all paving, and they have not yet won the mining rights, they have not yet mined and smelted, and it is a relatively distant thing to build guns and cannons.

When everyone abandoned the boat and landed on the shore and entered the city of Guangzhou, it was not early, the sunset shone on a tower in the distance, and the alley was just a gray shadow. Occasionally, the sound of firecrackers could be heard in the depths of the alley, which Li Jiajun explained as presumably exorcising ghosts, and made it clear to a few foreigners that it was not crazy to listen to dead people in China.

After the Opium War, Guangzhou's absolute advantage in foreign trade gradually lost, and Shanghai and Hong Kong rose rapidly and gradually replaced Guangzhou's leading position. However, due to its proximity to Hong Kong, after the new things and ideas of modern capitalism were introduced to Hong Kong, they were quickly perceived by the people of Guangzhou, and through the "one transmission" of Hong Kong, an important channel for Western learning to be introduced to Chinese mainland. Therefore, Guangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty was still a southern metropolis that spread Western civilization, formed consumption fashion, and led the consumption trend, and it was also one of the most avant-garde cities in terms of foreign goods consumption.

Tracing back to history, Guangzhou is not only the first place in China to turn on electric lights, but also the first place to establish an electric power company in China. In 1890, Zhang Zhidong, who was then the governor of Liangguang, used a generator in his governor's palace to generate electricity for the governor's palace, and encouraged overseas Chinese capitalist Huang Bingchang to set up an electric light company in Guangzhou.

Unfortunately, even in the heyday of the electric light company, only about 700 electric lamps were supplied. Due to the fact that the line connection users are responsible for themselves, the electricity bill is expensive, and the high power consumption of the old electric lights also makes it difficult for the general public to accept.

As a result, from the successful establishment to the depreciation of machinery, the problem of failure, and finally the collapse due to lack of funds, China's first electric light company operated by electric power only operated for nine years, and closed down in 1899.

The end of the Westernization Movement in history in 1895 made the living environment of the national industry enter a harsh winter, although many Qing government officials who "learned from Yi and Changji" in the Westernization Movement made arbitrary decisions and kept paying tuition, but the general environment created by it in the past 30 years has made many people see opportunities, Huang Bingchang is only one of them, and after the end of the operation of the Electric Light Company, there is no news of his people.

Zhang Rongxuan and Chen Wenqiang are not people who are short of money, and their accommodation naturally cannot be simple. Seeing that the hall is spread out in a colorful manner, the pictures on the wall, Western-style furniture, gold and silver tableware are all exquisite, especially for profit and novelty, showing the tradition of Cantonese people who dare to "eat", Tianyi Restaurant also engages in Cantonese cuisine with unique flavor dishes.

The dinner was very delicious, there was a dragon and tiger fight, but there was no sense of heroism, but it made the faces of several foreigners change color, and they were so scared that they were "more and more fishy, chewing and swallowing sweat". Of course, under the ridicule and demonstration of Chen Wenqiang and others, they still mustered up the courage to taste it, and some also praised it, and then feasted on it.

When he came to Guangzhou, Chen Wenqiang certainly did not want to satisfy his desire for words, on the one hand, he wanted to establish a liaison relay point between Qiongzhou and Shanghai, and on the other hand, he also wanted to go through the government government so as to get a better development environment in Qiongzhou.

After resting for the night, early the next morning, Chen Wenqiang and Zhang Rongxuan had breakfast, and then rushed to the Liangguang Governor's Mansion to meet Governor Cen Chunxuan, and were successfully received.

Chen Wenqiang did a lot of homework on Cen Chunxuan, not only analyzing his temperament and political tendencies, but also synthesizing the current situation in Guangdong and the interests between the factions in the entire Manchu officialdom.

On the surface, Cen Chunxuan himself was relatively incorruptible, and wherever he was in power, he blew an anti-corruption storm there, impeaching more than 300 officials at one time when he was acting governor of Sichuan, and impeaching more than 1,400 lawless officials and dereliction of duty during his tenure as governor of Guangzhou, and was known as "official slaughter" for a while; Cen Chunxuan also proposed "constitutionalization", secretly sent his cronies to contact Zhang Jian, promised to invest 10,000 yuan to support the Jiangsu-Zhejiang constitutionalists in preparing for the establishment of a constitutional group, and promised to donate 1,000 yuan a year as funds to actively support the activities of the constitutionalists; For the New Deal, Cen Chunxuan also did a great job, setting up factories, building mines, and building railways...... He also went to the imperial court and requested that the battalions in Guangdong change their training to foreign exercises, and change their new uniforms, which were called the Guangdong New Army......

All this, although it cannot be denied that Cen Chunxuan is an enlightened official, if carefully analyzed and studied, Chen Wenqiang believes that the key crux is Cen Chunxuan's confrontation and competition with Yuan Shikai. (To be continued.) )