The Shanghai Concession is a country within a country, and in this country within a country, the British, American, and French consuls and tycoons in the concession are the kings of this country within a country, and the "cabinet" of the kings is the Ministry of Industry of the Concession. Located at the intersection of Nanjing Road and Guangxi Road, the Public Concession Bureau is a two-storey red brick high-rise building, with a pointed top floor on the top floor, like a giant with a tentacle growing out of its head.

The black-lacquered doorway flanks each side of the doorway, with two large windows that are full of ceilings, and together with the six floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor, they glisten in the sunlight, like a majestic gaze towards passers-by. The building is surrounded by rows of spear-shaped iron fences in front of the windows and on the roof, symbolizing its firmness, toughness and eternity.

There are many offices in the "iron house" for the members of the security, public works, taxation, public utilities and other committees; The two large rooms in the middle of the second floor are the meeting rooms of the general office and the board of directors. The president of the general office is in charge of all affairs of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau, and the directors discuss important decisions in the public concession in the conference room.

Usually, those decent foreigners, if they want to become directors of the Ministry of Industry Bureau, need to pay a huge amount of real estate taxes, and then ask others to express their willingness to serve the development of public concessions in the future, and then get the support of big banks or ocean banks, and then they can be successfully elected as directors of the board of directors.

Becoming a director is often a wish of those foreigners in the concession, and if they can, there will also be Chinese people who have this dream, but unfortunately for the Chinese, this is just a dream. Becoming a director of the Ministry of Industry not only means that you have the "tiger skin" of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau to rely on, but also when necessary, you can also control the Ministry of Industry and Bureau with other directors for a week!

Today's board of directors of the Ministry of Industry Bureau is of great significance to the big class of Hartung Foreign Company, this is the first time he went to the board of directors after he was elected as a director of the Ministry of Industry Bureau, his Chinese-French wife specially bought a new suit for him in the welfare company, and also wore a stiff-necked shirt and a butterfly-shaped bow tie, which looked very structured and bright.

When he entered the conference room, when he met with several other directors, the directors who were standing there, not many people paid attention to this beggar from Iraq, although he was no longer a beggar, and Hartung certainly knew that these foreign Taipan were close to the new and old Sassoons, and they were actually courting the Sassoon family in this way, using this snub to put pressure on him.

When the directors saw Hartung enter, most of them looked at him with contempt and contempt, and some of them whispered to each other, and one sentence actually reached his ears: "A monkey is still a monkey when he is clothed in silk, and he will not become sincere." "This is obviously ridiculing Hartung, who became a senior class and became a director!

Listening to their sarcasm, Hartung couldn't help but be angry in his heart, and cursed this group of people with a British proverb in his stomach.

"Put on the priest's clothes, and the devil can climb the bell tower of the church, you devils who climb the bell tower!"

On the contrary, the chairman of the board of directors, the general director, because Hartung paid more real estate taxes than other Taipan, so he was particularly enthusiastic, in addition to applauding and welcoming him, he also expressed the hope that Mr. Hartung would make a significant contribution to the Ministry of Industry and Bureau.

But today, in this iron house, there are obviously not too many monkeys who care about this silk cloth, perhaps just like Ha Tongxin scolded this group of devils who climbed the bell tower, today is to discuss another important matter. The meeting began, listening to the topic, Hartung was stunned, whether the Huangpu Bridge on the Huangpu River would "affect" the shipping of the Huangpu River.

However, Hartung knows that this is only the superficial reason, but the fundamental reason is the impact of Pudong's real estate on the concession, and he Hatong alone has lost at least one million yuan because of the impact of the Pudong Development Company, and of course, now, he also knows that cutting off the bridge connecting the two sides of the strait is the only way to prevent the development of Pudong.

"Mr. Charlie, their bridge deck has been raised to two hundred feet!"

A director who was in the second class of Jardine Matheson said with a sneering smile.

"I wonder if Charlie thought that when he suggested that we sell the land in Pudong, they would build a spiral approach bridge and come up with a new amazing plan?"

Another director interjected aggressively without waiting for Charlie's answer, but his eyes looked up coldly at the crystal hanging lamp.

"I hope Mr. Charlie understands how much money we have lost because of the conflict between you and Mr. Chen because of women! Ten million? No! I can tell you clearly that our losses are probably more than 100 million! ”

The general director and all the directors stared at Charlie with stern or mocking eyes, it was under his persuasion that they would sell the land in Pudong to the industrial company in order to obtain more profits, but now? The industrial company solved the problem with a spiral approach bridge, and unless the Ministry of Industry can produce evidence that there is a bridge in the world that is 200 feet high and can affect shipping, the Ministry of Industry will have no normal reason to prevent the bridge from being built.

People who originally wanted to fall into the well, but now they can only watch the price of land in Pudong one day at a time, watching Pudong rent out 156 pieces of land for "renting land and building buildings" after the Spring Festival, and even watching some shopping malls and shops that have been in the concession for decades go to Pudong to rent land and rent buildings.

Anyone knows that there are nearly 20,000 industrial workers living in Pudong with a monthly income of more than 30 yuan, and even some Chinese gentry choose to set up factories there, and many workers who cannot find jobs in industrial companies go to those factories, and the ground rent in Pudong Development Zone is cheaper, and the water and electricity bills are only 60% of the concessions, and even some factories in the concessions have the idea of relocating.

Ten years from now, Pudong will definitely be more prosperous, and the land price may even exceed the concession, but the problem is that there is no land for them at all! And all this is "benefited" by Charlie.

Under the provocative and blatant questioning of these directors, Charlie was silent for a while, then glanced cautiously at everyone, and then spoke softly and slowly to the general director.

"Gentlemen, I once said that once Pudong is successfully developed, the impact on the concession is unimaginable, and now! It proves my original assertions! ”

The second class of Jardine Matheson Matheson, who was sitting across from him, immediately blushed, and stood up unceremoniously and questioned him loudly.

"Charlie, you're deaf and blind! Now that the development of Pudong is a foregone conclusion, will they be prevented from building bridges? The Huangpu River Bridge is the tallest bridge in the world, 200 feet! This bridge alone is taller than the tallest building in the concession, do you know how people compare it now? The concession is from the 19th century! And Pudong is the 20th century! Last year, the land price of the Bund was 100,000 yuan per mu, but now? It's 87,000! ”

His question was agreed by everyone, and one of the prerequisites of the directors of the Ministry of Industry Bureau is that they need to pay real estate taxes, which makes more than 70% of the directors here are real estate businessmen, and it is they who have lost the most from the decline in land prices.

Charlie coughed lightly in the face of questioning, moistened his throat, and then calmly replied.

"So, my original assertion was correct, wasn't it?"

He went back to explain and state to the general director, he knew these people very well, and he also knew how to get out of the crisis he needed to face now.

"It's obviously impossible to stop them from building bridges! I think the only thing we need to consider now is how to regain our interests in the development of Pudong, which may be ......"

"Haha! I understand. ”

One of the directors clenched his fists as he listened, glaring at Charlie with a mocking look on his face.

"Maybe our Mr. Charlie has already bought his own land in Pudong, right? You should have made money yourself! Otherwise, I wouldn't have said this kind of dream talk! ”

"Do you know how much money Chen Moran has? The oil fields sold by his wife, and more can even buy the next country! My Mr. Charlie, does he need our financing or equity participation? ”

There aren't too many secrets in the mall, especially when Ji Li? After Stirling, Rockefeller and British financiers made two huge acquisitions that could go down in history, almost the entire civilized world reported on these two acquisitions, and now they have so much wealth that even British and American politicians are afraid of them, let alone businessmen.

In the face of the ridicule of the directors, Charlie smiled politely, avoided the other party's question, and sat up straight.

"I think all of us are intimidated by Chen Moran and his industrial company!"

The corners of his lips twitched, and he looked at the directors with a sneering look. These directors looked down on the Qing people in their bones, but when they knew that Chen Moran had such a huge amount of wealth, they all became humble, and they hated to kiss Chen Moran's feet, as long as they could get enough rewards.

These directors, they usually only think about the interests of their own enterprises, they only know that they rely on the power of the concession to make themselves rich, even if they rely on the power of the concession to make a fortune, but now they have forgotten what makes the power of the concession a tool for them to make a fortune.

"This is the Qing Dynasty, this is the concession, in this house is the king of Shanghai, it is here that controls Shanghai, not Shanghai that controls here, how did we get rich, how did we own this country within a country! Sir, you forgot! ”

When questioned, Charlie stroked the collar of his suit with his hand, and then stood up.

"You have forgotten, what kind of people we are, we are foreign adults who are one level higher than their officials! We can control everything here for as long as we want, as long as we need it, money! Maybe! He has more money than we think! But so what? ”

Charlie's words only stunned everyone, and they seemed to have really forgotten.

"But...... He is still from the Qing Kingdom, and it is not just us who is here to influence him, but also a group of people! ”

His words seemed to give everyone a glimmer of hope, and one director couldn't wait to ask.

"Mr. Charlie, could you please tell us what to do?"

Just a few minutes ago, Charlie was the "sinner" that everyone questioned, and now he has regained everyone's attention, which makes Charlie can't help but be excited, and even a little fluttering. In the past, he relied on other ideas to increase his wealth for foreign firms, and at the same time achieved his own wealth, and finally even bought the foreign firm where he used to work.

"The other day, when I was talking to a Chinese official, the official pointed to the Industrial Bank building on the other side, you know, maybe by the end of the year, the Industrial Bank building will be topped out, and the official said that according to the Qing Dynasty, that building is against the law!"

Charlie's words made the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau think about it with both hands, and asked rhetorically with dissent.

"Charlie, you should know that whether it is Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang in the past, or Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang who is now part of Liangjiang, they are all Chen Moran's political supporters, and under their protection, Pudong does not need to worry about those laws that have long been forgotten!"

The words of the general office made the directors nod their heads and said yes, the Qing government's support for Pudong is always very helpless, whether it is to the dead Liu Kunyi or Zhang Zhidong, even the British consul will not make a statement to threaten as a "businessman", with the support of the governor, local officials naturally dare not use this as an excuse to blackmail or demand that the building be stopped.

Although the general office said this, Hartung, who had never spoken, guessed that even if Charlie said so, he might have some good way, so he stood up and asked Charlie, who had lost millions of dollars, with a kind of humility and flattery.

"Mr. Charlie, maybe you already have a solution to the problem, don't you?"

Hartung's humility and flattery made everyone turn their attention to Charlie again, and Charlie, when he was proud, also realized that in front of these greedy directors, if he did not give them a solution to the problem, even God could not save him, and these evil wolves, who had lost tens of millions, would tear him to pieces.

It is precisely because of this thought that Charlie made a modest expression, and at the same time pretended to be reverent.

"You are all experienced seniors, I have a method that is not mature, please refer to it."

Before he finished speaking, Charlie smirked twice before continuing.

"Since Liu Kunyi's death, until now the position of the governor of Liangjiang has been vacant for six months, why would such an important position allow another feudal official to belong to him, and what makes the Qing political axe unable to appoint a suitable official as the governor of Liangjiang so far!"

As soon as the voice fell, Charlie stared at these greedy directors, for whom he could not know better, they were a pack of wolves, for money, they could even sell their souls to Satan, sometimes all he needed was a beginning.

So, I asked some of my friends, and I got an answer from them, and I also learned some inside stories about Chinese officialdom. Perhaps, it was their answer that gave me a revelation, gentlemen, so to speak, it was Liu Kunyi's death that gave us a better chance, and all we need is ......"

At this time, Charlie suddenly suppressed his voice, he didn't even continue, just looked at these thoughtful directors, this group of evil wolves, poisonous snakes may have guessed what he meant, looking at the joy on their faces when they pondered, for the first time he had a little affection for the Chinese, those Chinese may not have any strengths, but when it comes to intrigue and conspiracies, it seems that everyone has this talent.

After frowning and pondering for dozens of seconds, the general director raised his eyes to look at Charlie, who was no longer speechless, and put forward his own opinion.

"Charlie, you know, we may be able to influence Shanghai, but we can't influence the appointment of officials in the Qing Dynasty, I don't think our influence can reach this level!"

The other directors also nodded in agreement, even if they arrogantly claimed to be the "king of the concession", but this was only a concession, Jingyanjing had a virtual emperor, the queen mother who held real power, even if the legation could influence China to a greater or lesser extent, but the legation did not have enough influence to influence such an official position.

"Gentlemen! We may not be able to appoint a random Chinese official to the position, as we think, but ......"

Standing up, Charlie's body leaned forward slightly, and then looked around at the crowd and said.

"If you take a different approach, you might be able to get unexpected results!"

The meeting ended after an hour and a half, and after a long meeting, everyone got what they needed, Charlie got through the crisis, and the directors got the "future benefits" they needed, and Hartung, who was on the board for the first time, also got a "cake!" ”。

Even after leaving the iron house, Hartung couldn't help but rejoice that he, like those people, was dressed as a priest and was working towards the bell tower of the church as one of the devils!

"How would you describe Charlie's adventures?"

Considering that each of the directors needs to come up with a sum of money to complete Charlie's plan, that plan has a certain amount of risk, but the rewards are amazing, if successful...... Sitting in the carriage, Hartung even specially instructed his Chinese groom to drive the carriage to the Bund, although across the Huangpu River, Hartung can still clearly see the industrial bank building under construction in Lujiazui, which is amazing, and at the same time took out an "industrial coupon" from his pocket, staring at the bank building on the industrial coupon, Hartung's dark eyes were full of fanaticism.

"I'm going to get it, I'm going to get this mansion!"

He shouted in his heart, he knew that if he wanted to surpass Sassoon, maybe the opportunity was not in the concession, but on the other side of the Whampoa River, and when Charlie said his plan, and everyone perfected that plan together, Hartung also had a plan in his heart, a plan that would only make him more profitable!

(To be continued)