The British businessman is called Eicoff, he is the president of the Yantai West Chamber of Commerce, he came to Yantai 37 years ago, opened a Hutchison foreign company, mainly engaged in business, insurance and agency business, and handled more than 20 shipping companies such as the Sino-Indian shipping company. The www.biquge.info also has its own three steamships, opening routes from Yantai to Tianjin and Yantai to Hong Kong, which can be said to monopolize Yantai's shipping and insurance business.

Obviously, because of the business, the scale of port equipment in Yantai Port, etc., will have a direct impact on his foreign business. Therefore, since last year, Eickhoff has begun to call on Chinese and foreign businessmen in Yantai to jointly raise funds to build Yantai Port. It's a pity that there are very few applicants, and no one dares to invest in such a big project.

The reason why Eickhoff was so anxious was related to the construction of Qingdao by the Germans, and the Germans were so crazy about the construction of Qingdao Port, which made him feel the pressure deeply.

In fact, Eickhoff's concern is not unreasonable, because of the neglect of Yantai by all parties, after the completion of Qingdao, it soon became the largest port in the north, and has never changed since, and Yantai has completely lost the capital to compete with Qingdao.

"Lord Yang, take a look. Although Yantai is a bay, there is land on the left and right. But it is an open shape, and the tide is very affected, and there are often sailing boats in the harbor. Moreover, the water depth of the wharf is too shallow, only four or five meters deep, and now it can dock cargo ships of up to 500 tons. Now we all rent small boats, sail out to the open sea to transfer the goods down, and then transfer them to the docks. In the summer, it is better to say, but in the winter, it is terrible, and the workers have to wear thick leather pants with tung oil on them. If you fall into the water, you will lose half your life at once. Last year alone, we froze to death and drowned 10 people. ”

Under the lighthouse of Yantai Mountain, a group of people are discussing, and the core of this group of people is Yang Chao.

The person who spoke was a foreigner, fifty or sixty years old, who was none other than Eickhoff, who had come to China to create a world.

Yang Chao couldn't help nodding, he was not from engineering and technology, but he could still understand the basic truth, and besides, Eickhoff said it very thoroughly.

"So now we have to build our own breakwater and push the pier into the deep sea, so that the 1,000-ton ship can dock directly at the pier. If we don't do this, when the Qingdao port is built, I'm afraid Yantai will not have a chance in the future. The Germans are very ambitious, and I'm sure you don't want to see the Germans control Shandong's shipping, right? ”

Eickhoff did move out of the Germans.

Yang Chao smiled and nodded: "Of course, it's better to let the British control the Shandong shipping!" ”

Eickhoff blushed, but argued, "It's different. You see, Yantai has customs and regular customs. The Chinese government can also set up customs supervision here, and the Germans have not allowed Qingdao to send customs agencies until now, do you think the Germans will allow the Chinese government to set up officials in Qingdao? ”

This is a fact, Yantai is a port opened after the Second Yapian War, because of the important location, Britain and France attach great importance to it, and the two countries set up consulates here for the first time, including Yantai Wharf was built through customs appropriations at that time.

But in the end, this is just a port, the same port as Shanghai, and the better thing about it than Shanghai is that there is no concession here.

At that time, when Britain and France built a port in Yantai, they actually agreed with the Qing government at first to open Dengzhou Port, because Dengzhou was originally a port, but later found that Dengzhou was a military port established in the Ming Dynasty, and the geographical location was very good, but it was not suitable as a commercial port.

Britain and France did not want the Germans to be like this, and they had already chosen Qingdao before selectively occupying it. After they found that Dengzhou was not suitable as a port, they surveyed the neighborhood and found that Yantai, which was still a fishing village at that time, was very suitable, so they discussed with the Qing government that Yantai should be opened as a port.

The Qing government wished that Dengzhou was a military port, and Yantai was just a fishing village, so it agreed.

Yantai opened the port in this way, and soon built a wharf, but the wharf built at that time only accommodated 500 tons, which was very advanced at that time, but under the impetus of the industrial revolution, Western shipbuilding technology is changing with each passing day, and now 1,000-ton ships are already the norm, and no one thought that such an advanced wharf would be outdated.

The Germans did a better job in Qingdao, where they built a wharf that could accommodate 6,000 tons, just like the construction of their city, leaving a lot of margin.

"So, we only need to build two breakwaters, and then we can build a new wharf, and then we can berth thousand-ton ships."

Towards the sea, Eickhoff gestured in the shape of a hug, meaning to build two arms to hold the harbor.

Yang Chao said: "What about the cost? ”

Eickhoff said, "At least a million taels." ”

A huge amount of money, if it is two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, everyone can just make it together, and the one million level is different.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Then what if you want to build a wharf for docking 10,000-ton ships?" ”

"10,000 tons!"

Eickhoff was taken aback, and his tone was a little hesitant: "I'm afraid it's even higher, and I'm afraid three hundred taels is indispensable." ”

Yang Chao said: "Don't be afraid to spend money. You get a professional to do an estimate. Then everyone scrapes together the money and counts as much as they want. I'll take care of the rest. However, the person who pays this time will not be in vain, and the official will ask the imperial court to repair the port this time, and whoever pays will benefit. You can get the right to operate the port for thirty years! ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, the right to operate the port? I haven't heard this word, but if you take it literally, this is to give Hong Kong ** to a private person?

Yang Chao knew that they didn't understand, and immediately explained: "That is, the person who paid this time, we set up a company together, which is called Yantai Port Company, which is responsible for operating the port business." What loading and unloading ships, warehouses are stored, these can be charged. Even if you don't plan to do it yourself, you can still collect rent if you rent it out. Anyway, it's the one who manages and runs the port. ”

Yang Chao said to a few Chinese businessmen: "Like Boss Meng, don't always think about earning money to go back to buy land, and then marry a lot of aunts, have a lot of children, and finally divide the family property again and again." You have to make a statement with the official, how to divide this property, the official can't control it, but you can divide the shares. ”

Boss Meng nodded, dividing shares is a good way, Shanxi people are like that, but everyone will still divide the real estate, the land, they all feel that the title deed is in their hands, and the first thing to do is to divide the land.

Boss Meng's name is Meng Luochuan, and he is also a little famous in later generations, and he is even more famous now, because he is a descendant of Mencius, and he started a silk village from scratch, and his family's industry is the famous Ruifuxiang, which is mainly operated in Beijing, and is one of the famous eight auspicious in Beijing.

Qingdao is a branch of Ruifuxiang's family, which happened to be here to welcome Yang Chao, but was invited to go up the mountain early this morning.

"What Lord Daotai said is that the villains have remembered it."

Although he is a descendant of Mencius, but the treatment is far from the Confucian family, otherwise the Meng family would not have done business to make a living, Confucianism despises business, who has ever seen the children of Confucius come out to do business? Whoever has two or three hundred thousand acres of fertile land will not take this risk.

Therefore, Meng Luochuan is not as calm as the Kong family in front of the officials, and he is not much different from Xiaomin.

"Boss Meng, this official is not joking with you, nor is he urging you to raise donations. If you are optimistic about the port, you will invest money, and if you are not optimistic, you will not invest. Take out the courage of your descendants of Mencius! ”

To be honest, Mencius is stronger than Confucius, and he dared to say that the people are noble and the monarch is light in the Warring States Period, and he does have the courage to go to the bottom of the family, probably because he was born at the bottom, and Confucius was a slave and a small nobleman.

Meng Luochuan smiled awkwardly, he is not a member of the Kong family, and he is not a descendant of Mencius, he has never had much preferential treatment from the imperial court, how can he have any courage.

But since everyone has said that the Daotai adults have talked about this, how can they mean it, and it is not necessary to give some money to the Daotai adults.

Meng Luochuan didn't know what he was thinking at this time, it would make him regret it for the rest of his life.

"Okay, that's it! Mr. Eickhoff, who helped to contact the tender for the construction of the port, and the business leaders also discussed how much to buy. If it's an official matter, come to the official. Within ten days, everyone will gather at the Daotai Yamen, and we will discuss it, and this matter will be decided! ”

The opening of Yantai is not a bad thing, it is a good thing that is conducive to the local development of Yantai and can promote the development of Shandong.

You must know that before Qingdao, Yantai has always been the largest port in the north, Tianjin and Yingkou are not as good as Yantai, and the goods transported from overseas to Henan and Shanxi are all Yantai. I think that compared with Tianjin and other places, there is a special advantage, that is, ice-free port. This era is much colder than later generations, and Tianjin Port can't run ships in winter.

And now Yantai Port is still under the control of the imperial court, so it can not help but consider his development, although Qingdao Port can also stimulate development, in the final analysis, it is still in the hands of the Germans, whether it is for economic considerations, or to increase the dignity of the people, Yang Chao wants to make Yantai Port the largest port in the north. When the time comes, it will take off with Qingdao Shuanggang, which can be regarded as promoting the development of Shandong.

After dealing with these affairs, Yang Chao returned to the yamen.

Yamen is in Yantai, to be precise, only here in Yantai can be regarded as Yang Chao's real territory.

Because according to the usual practice, Denglai Qingdao Terrace has always served as Yantai Customs Road, and everything in Yantai, a port city, is under the jurisdiction of Customs Road. Legally speaking, only here can Yang Chao have the right to govern, and in the state capital below, Yang Chao only has the right to supervise.

Although Yang Chao took office alone, the yamen was not empty, and there were actually all that should be there, such as officials.

For the officials of the ancient Chinese government, Yang Chao's understanding is that the civil servants of later generations are responsible for practical affairs, while officials are responsible for overall planning and leadership, and are not responsible for specific affairs.

In addition, there are staff members on the side of the officials, who can also be called masters, who also do specific affairs and give advice to officials. However, when Yang Chao took office, he had not yet had time to recruit a master, so there were only two old officials in the yamen.

This is far from enough, and Yang Chao plans to vigorously expand his recruitment.