Businessmen, treacherous also.

Li Hongzhang definitely disdains to cooperate with him, but Sheng Xuanhuai doesn't mind.

There is no cheap raw silk of himself, there is no collective interest of foreign companies, there is no enmity between the Ningbo merchant gang, only Sheng Xuanhuai is alone, he can't play such a big adventure and surprise attack.

Hu Chuyuan happened to be in Europe, Xu Run may accept the invitation of the governor of Liangguang, and the Jiangnan Commercial Bank is fighting with the Ningbo merchant gang...... Wouldn't this be the best opportunity!

After monopolizing the raw silk industry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the salt industry in the five provinces, the Jiangnan Commercial Bank made an annual profit of up to 12 million taels of silver, and with the rice, sugar and kerosene markets, the net profit was close to 15 million taels of silver.

Li Hongzhang couldn't stand it, and Sheng Xuanhuai couldn't stand it.

Yueben, Sassoon, and Jardine couldn't stand it.

The quality of China's raw silk has been continuously improved, the output has been steadily increasing, and the price has remained unchanged, which is too oppressive for the raw silk industry, especially in the US market, the advantages of Chinese raw silk over the raw silk are obvious, and almost squeezed out of the American market.

At this time, the political axe was already considering reducing all taxes in the raw silk industry to ensure the development of the silk industry, and this was their last battle before the tax cut, and they had no choice.

After getting enough information from Pfister-Delaenau, Hu Chuyuan silently sorted it out in his heart, thinking, and wanted to find a way to break the situation.

He can break through this link of foreign travel.

Hu Chuyuan estimates that these raw silk are left over from last year, because the output of raw silk last year is rising, but the sales volume has decreased significantly, and a large amount of raw silk has been backlogged in the country, triggering a comprehensive drop in prices.

This year, the yield of raw silk in this book is definitely reduced, and it is impossible for farmers to continue to take risks to raise silkworms.

With a strong marketing network, the Jiangnan Commercial Bank almost bloodlessly took away the sugar, kerosene, and north-south grocery markets in the five provinces of Jiangnan.

CITIC Bank, Jiangnan Commercial Bank and Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative are Microsoft-style bundled business strategies, and the settlement of the latter two is entirely based on CITIC Bank bills, and other silver accounts are not used, unless they are customers outside the five provinces of Jiangnan.

In this case, the Shanxi ticket number and the Ningbo ticket number were deeply hit, and the Jin merchants were deeply trapped in the northern famine, and they had not yet recovered their vitality, and they did not dare to do anything to Hu Chuyuan for the time being, and the Ningbo ticket number could not stand it.

The sugar, oil, north-south groceries, and Chinese and foreign goods that Ningbo people are proud of have all been defeated, and only hundreds of Ningbo money houses remain.

If you don't decide to fight to the death, within five years, even these Ningbo ticket numbers will have to be cleared by CITIC Qianzhuang.

What to do?

Hu Chuyuan pondered silently in his heart.

Seeing that he couldn't come up with a way for a while, Tan Yiyun sent someone to invite Xu Run, and Pfister-Delano personally invited RS Butterfield from Swire & Co., to discuss countermeasures together.

At this time, Hu Dazong had already come over first.

He was wearing a plain satin gown, thirty-four or five years old, tall and strong, square face, thin eyes, probably to give Hu Chuyuan a good impression, his forehead and cheeks had just been shaved in the shaving shop, iron and iron blue, shiny, looking particularly neat.

After being introduced to the door by Tan Yiyun, when he saw Hu Chuyuan, he couldn't wait to come forward to pay homage, hugged his fists and said: "East, the little Hu Dazong has finally seen you!" ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded and asked him to sit down and talk.

When he was still a little uneasy to sit down, Hu Chuyuan tried his best to squeeze out a smile and said: "Your affairs in Shandong are very good, I am very satisfied with the law of holding the field, as for the other fields, if you have some money in your hands, just buy the land directly, as long as I don't lose money." ”

Hu Dazong was slightly taken aback, and hurriedly said: "The owner, you can rest assured about this matter, even if you find the head, all the land deeds will be recorded on my head, and only the shopkeeper Tan has another contract." I want to raise money as much as possible, just like Zhejiang, and invest in the construction of reservoirs and canals on a large scale in the local area, so that when the conditions of our fields are better, how can an acre of land be sold for 278 taels? When the time comes, we estimate that we will be able to have more than 10 million yuan of our own land, and it will not be a problem to sell it for 200 million or 300 million taels of silver. ”

Hu Chuyuan gasped.

His original investment was only 4.7 million taels of silver, and even if he sells the field now, he can almost recover 70 or 80 million taels of silver, which is definitely a double profit.

It's basically a real estate business!

Where do you find such a good deal?

Hu Chuyuan immediately made up his mind and said, "Okay, this matter will be handled by you, and you will be in charge of the size." From today on, even if you are the seventh treasurer of our Hu family, only the four treasurers, Zheng Xitai and Zhu Funian are in front of you, this is not a grievance against you, right? ”

Hu Dazong was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Thank you to the owner, the small one must be done for you, if you don't earn 300 million taels of silver, the small one will cut off your head!" ”

To be honest, Hu Dazong's words and this good news really changed Hu Chuyuan's mood.

It really made him feel a special joy that a bold adventure that was unintentionally inserted in the willows could be exchanged for such a rich return.

Once upon a time, he had thought that Yufeng Club would also become the most profitable big business under his name.

From now on, in addition to the five major companies of Jiangnan, CITIC, Cooperative, Poly and Zhongrun, he will have to add another Yufeng Society.

Hu Chuyuan couldn't help laughing, the dark clouds in his heart were scattered, and he was much more relaxed.

He smiled and said to Hu Dazong: "Then I want to congratulate you, Hu Da shopkeeper, you can make a good living in Shandong, tell those brothers, don't lose face to our Jixi people." Five years later, I will give them one-seventh of all the land I own in Shandong and Hebei, and it will be directly rewarded to them, and it will be truly credited in their names. You are in Yufeng Club, I will give you an additional 7% bonus, plus a salary of 200,000 taels of silver every year...... This can't be too high, otherwise, the other big treasurers will have to talk to me. ”

Hu Dazong was overjoyed, but replied with a straight face: "Dongjia, you can rest assured!" I went to your house as an apprentice at the age of fourteen, and the old boss arranged for the shopkeeper Tan to teach me to read and write, learn the abacus, organize the accounts, walk the rice road, and tinker with the crops. Without an owner, where would I be? Owner, as long as you want me, I will follow you for the rest of my life, and I will never leave for the rest of my life. ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled, he was indeed very satisfied, and always felt that even if this year's raw silk business was smashed, getting such a person as Hu Dazong would be worth 10 million taels of silver.

He clapped his hands and said, "Then let's decide, when the current raw silk business is completed, I will personally guide you, let you go to see the world, and contact the governor of Shandong." When the time comes, I will donate an official title to you and make up a platform, and I will also find some way to have an official title and name in the local area. ”

Hu Dazong said with a smile: "The owner, I have already thought about this matter, and I will use the donation to do water conservancy at that time, and while spending money to make up the land price, I will buy some official vacancies for my brothers." ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled hesitantly, thinking to himself, this big sect is indeed a capable guy.

However, the whole matter of Yufeng Club should be careful and cautious.

He told Hu Dazong a few more words, so that Jixi's brothers usually pay attention, don't cause trouble in the local area, make a bad reputation, it is not easy to take root in Shandong, Hebei and other rural places, you have to find a way to build a good relationship with the local squires and big households.

In normal times, these brothers also have to pay more attention to studying, not only to continue to work well in the crops, but also to learn some other things.

With the growth of Yufeng Society, you can also do more other businesses, even open a pawnshop, a workshop, and an oil shop.

Hu Dazong listened one by one, nodded his head, and thought about it.

Hu Chuyuan felt that this person was not only bold and careful, but also very thoughtful, otherwise he would not have come up with so many methods.

Some of his methods also gave Hu Chuyuan a wake-up call, making Hu Chuyuan feel that the joint operation method he was pondering could also absorb the advantages of the land holding law, and carry out joint operation in the case of ensuring that the land rights belong to the peasant households, wouldn't it be easier to promote the joint operation law and lower the investment cost?

Hu Chuyuan also quietly bought hundreds of acres of land in Zhejiang, which was secretly taken care of by Mei Qizhao and several prefects, he was not afraid, but he could also use this method of Yufeng Society to operate.

At this time, Xu Run had already arrived.

Hu Chuyuan first asked Tan Yiyun and Hu Dazong to stay for a while, and then came in after he negotiated with Xu Run, and when he saw the two leave, he felt ...... Hu Dazong didn't see it in vain, but he actually learned a lot of new things.

If calculated according to the assets under management, Hu Dazong may be regarded as the number one shopkeeper in his family.

This is a fucking surprise, 4.7 million taels of silver smashed into such a big family business, Hu Chuyuan really didn't expect 10,000.

Xu Run walked over with a serious expression, and seeing that Hu Chuyuan was still thinking about something, he said more and more cautiously: "Hu Shao, I haven't seen you for a while, it's not bad lately, right?" ”

Hu Chuyuan came back to his senses at this time, got up a little apologetically, and bowed his hand, and said, "I'm sorry, Boss Xu, I didn't see you come in just now because I thought about it." ”

Xu Run smiled and asked, "We are not outsiders. Were you just thinking about raw silk? ”

Hu Chuyuan laughed and said, "It's really not...... However, the matter of raw silk is really troublesome, and I haven't come up with a good solution for a while! ”

Xu Run said: "The best way is to start from the foreign bank, the Ningbo merchant gang is angry, the old Fang family, the new Fang family, Ye Cheng is all angry, just jump over the wall and kill into your family's garden." ”

Hu Chuyuan asked him to sit down first, and said: "It is not difficult to deal with foreign companies, but even if the foreign companies are settled, the Ningbo merchant gang and the Guangdong merchant gang, plus the local small silk merchants work together, they can still raise the price." If it's just a place to speculate, I can force him to stock up at a high price, and then I will squeeze the market with low-priced raw silk from other places and force him to go bankrupt. But if the whole of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is speculated, it will be difficult for me to recover the situation. ”

Xu Run said: "I have pondered, as long as the foreign company can be leveled, even if the price in various places remains high, at least seventy percent of the raw silk is still in your hands." It's hard to say whether you make money or not, it's unlikely that you will lose money, and it's still a foreign bank that will pay in the end...... In fact, foreign banks are really easy to deal with, let's make an agreement, agree that this price will be within ten years, unless the market price of raw silk exceeds ...... In this way, I think the foreign company is more afraid of someone frying raw silk than us! ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded silently.

In fact, he only has this way, using the method of alliance of interests to defeat the foreign bank, and then let the foreign bank force back the Guangdong comprador group, he can single-handedly take on the Ningbo business gang.

When the time comes, if he loses, the Ningbo Merchant Gang may not lose.

There is no other way.

Thinking of this, he said to Xu Run: "My relationship with the foreign bank is not as solid as yours, and this matter still needs to be handled by you." ”

Xu Run said: "It must be me to contact, in fact...... I have already contacted several of them, and although they are only small foreign companies, they can also make the rumors in the market nervous. In addition, I want to go to Guangdong, you probably know about it, right? ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded, and asked Xu Run: "What are the conditions, are you sure there will be no more things about the Steamship Bureau?" ”

Xu Run took out two letters from his pocket and handed them to Hu Chuyuan, and said: "This time it was recommended by Li Hongzhang, and he promised me that there will never be any more things about the steamship bureau, and besides, when I arrive in Guangzhou, I can still rely on the Nanyang Navy Division to continue to run a steamship bureau, and even many things of the Nanyang Navy Division have to be handled by me." ”

"Oh?"

Hu Chuyuan couldn't help but be a little surprised, and when he opened the letter, it was indeed as Xu Run said, Li Hongzhang criticized Sheng Xuanhuai and Zheng Guanying in the letter, saying that since Xu Run left, the situation of the Shanghai China Merchants Steamship Bureau was like a river, and one was not as good as the other.

Li Hongzhang regretted this very much, and just when Zhang Shusheng asked him to recommend a person to run the Liangguang Commercial Bank, Li Hongzhang immediately recommended Xu Run, and wrote a letter to Xu Run, so that Xu Run could rest assured.

Zhang Shusheng also wrote a letter and offered Xu Run extremely favorable conditions, not only vacating 80% of the shares in the Liangguang Commercial Bank to Xu Run to attract investment, but all the affairs of the commercial bank could be copied from the Jiangnan Commercial Bank, and all rights were held by Xu Run.

In addition, Zhang Shusheng also wanted Xu Run to run the Nanyang Naval Division, responsible for the procurement of the Nanyang Naval Division, and all the official stock profits obtained by the Liangguang Commercial Bank would be used as the funds of the Nanyang Naval Division.

After Hu Chuyuan finished reading the letter, Xu Run said: "Hu Shao, this is our opportunity, how did we think about winning the fat of Liangguang before?" Since I am in charge of the whole thing, I will do a good job in Liangguang to run silk tea candy and start foreign affairs, and everything will work with you secretly and synchronously. Wouldn't our profits be even greater? ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, and continued to ask, "Then what are you going to do?" ”

Xu Run said: "I have made up my mind this time, a good opportunity, I must not miss it." I want to sell you all the real estate in Shanghai, what about the shares of Jiangnan Commercial Bank, let's return it to you according to the contract, my land, without you can not be kept at all, now it can be worth 10 million taels of silver, I sell it to you for 7 million taels of silver, but I have to pay it off in cash, I can use this money to open a joint stock in Shanghai to open a Jiaguang company, I ...... Seventy percent, you thirty percent, and then, I will use this company to control the two Guangzhou commercial banks, and handle the two large number of small officials and commercial banks! ”

He said a little hesitant, the key is not the selling price, but the distribution of shares in Zhongguang Company.

How did he not know that Hu Chuyuan was a very domineering person with a strong desire to control, and he was afraid that Sancheng would not be able to satisfy Hu Chuyuan.

(To be continued)