When I returned to Shanghai, it was the end of December 1909.

Because he had already discussed the plan to buy the machine with Song Dinghan before leaving Sichuan, after getting off the cruise, Yan Guang took Wang Er and others directly to Jardine Matheson.

Although Shanghai is not like the north, it becomes icy in winter, but there are still far fewer pedestrians on the streets than in summer. Although Yan Guang and the others were all wearing windbreakers, they still felt a little cold after getting off the rickshaw.

Rubbing his somewhat reddened hands, Yan Guang led Wang Er and them into the building of Jardine Matheson.

After explaining his intention to the staff of Jardine Matheson, Charlie soon walked out.

Looking at Charlie, who was a little fatter than before leaving, Yan Guang smiled and stepped forward to hammer him. "I've got a big deal for you this time."

Charlie was a little confused, but he still invited Yan Guang and them to sit down in the VIP room.

After sitting down and greeting for a while, Yan Guang spoke directly. "This time I'm going to buy equipment for paper mills, glass mills and garment factories..."

"Oh?" When he heard that it was indeed business, Charlie was overjoyed. "How much are you going to buy?"

"100,000 yuan per factory, a total of 300,000 yuan."

Charlie nodded. "There are stocks in these foreign stores, and you can take them with you at any time."

"There's also a textile mill, and the textile mill is going to be expanded, so I'm going to buy some spindles and looms from you."

"Textile mills?" Charlie looked down and thought about it. "Although the machine you bought last time was sold later, there are still a lot left, which should be enough for your expansion." In Charlie's opinion, the business this time is estimated to be about 500,000, which can be regarded as a big business.

However, Yan Guang sat down beside him with a smile and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "Do you know why I say it's big business?"

Charlie didn't understand, but he listened.

"This time I plan to buy 40,000 spindles and 800 looms to expand the textile mill, and now you understand why I say it's big business, right?" After speaking, Yan Guang looked at Charlie's flushed face with interest.

In the twenty-third year of Guangxu, that is, in 1897, the capital of foreign-funded textile factories in China was 4.21 million taels, and the number of spindles was 160,000, including Americans, British, and Germans. (The number of looms cannot be found)

And in the third year of Xuantong, that is, in 1911, there was another person in it.

In 1913, the number of spindles in foreign-funded textile mills in China was 338,960, and the number of looms was 1,986.

In other words, the number of spindles purchased by Yan Guang this time was equivalent to a quarter of the amount of foreign capital in China in 1897 and one-eighth of that in 1913, and the number of looms was equivalent to half of that in 1913, which is a very staggering figure.

At this time, the number of spindles in the textile mill under Zhang Jizhi, a famous Chinese industrialist, did not reach 40,000 until 1911.

In a sense, as long as all these spindles and looms are shipped back to Sichuan and put into use, Huasheng Textile Factory will become the largest textile mill in China, and it will also become a giant among Chinese textile mills.

And Charlie, after listening to Yan Guang's procurement plan, held back for a long time and only said a sentence.

"I'll give you a commission..."

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Of course, this is a joke, but 40,000 spindles and 800 looms, Jardine Matheson does not have so much stock in its warehouse in Shanghai, so the final result can only be sent to the headquarters in Hong Kong to see if there is so much stock in the warehouse of the headquarters, if not, it can only be shipped from the UK...

As for the equipment needed for glass factories, paper mills and garment factories, it is now in stock in the warehouse of Shanghai Jardine Matheson, which can be taken out and shipped to Sichuan at any time.

After learning of this, Yan Guang nodded. "Wait a minute." After speaking, he took Wang Er and others to HSBC and took out 300,000 yuan and handed it to Charlie, and before that, Charlie had already begun to arrange the loading equipment of the cargo ship.

Jardine Matheson's headquarters in Hong Kong also quickly called back, saying that there were enough looms and spindles in the warehouse.

"If you want, I can send a telegram to the headquarters right now and ask them to load all the equipment on the ship." Saying that, Charlie also glanced at Yan Guang. "The headquarters also said that certain discounts can be given, and all transportation costs can be waived."

However, after Yan Guang listened, he reflexively said two words. "Nonsense..."

40,000 spindles and 800 looms, with a total value of more than 1 million silver dollars, and other equipment worth 300,000 yuan, such a big business in Shanghai will be rushed to do by any foreign firm.

But when Yan Guang understood what he had just said, Charlie, who looked embarrassed, could only scratch his head to show his silence.

After paying the deposit, Charlie sent a telegram to the headquarters, indicating that the headquarters could be loaded.

"But Yan, I have bad news to tell you, this time you bought too many spindles and looms, and at least five freighters will be needed at the headquarters to complete the shipment in batches..."

"That should be good news." Yan Guang smiled. "40,000 spindles and 800 looms I can't put them all into use in one go, and now Dinghan is expanding the plant and recruiting workers in Chengdu, so if it is transported in batches, the time in Chengdu can be more abundant."

Charlie nodded in agreement.

Five days later, the first freighter arrived in Shanghai from Hong Kong, and instead of unloading the spindles and looms in Shanghai, the freighter went directly to Wuhan and then arrived in Yucheng, and Song Dinghan had already made arrangements in Yucheng that as soon as the freighter arrived, the carriage and spindle in Yucheng would send the looms and spindles directly to Chengdu.

As for Yan Guang and Wang Er, they stayed in Shanghai and returned to Sichuan with the last freighter.

However, after bidding farewell to the first freighter, Yan Guang stood on the dock and thought about the question of whether he wanted to leave Shanghai.

After a while, the rubber stock craze in London was about to spread to Shanghai, and if we took this opportunity to invest all our money in rubber stocks, according to the historical record of doubling the value of stocks from February to April 1910, it would be very easy for Yan Guang's $6 million to become 10 million.

Although such a sum of money is not invested in the revolution, it is still fine for a period of time at least in the early days of the revolution, but...

"Am I just trying to be a little warlord?" Yan Guang kicked a stone into the Yangtze River.

From the day he embarked on this path, the only goal was to make China the most powerful country in the world, and there was nothing else, 10 million dollars was absolutely enough for him to be a warlord, but it was a drop in the bucket to change China's fate, and it was useless for Yan Guang to know the future world situation at this point.

Knowing that doesn't mean you can participate, because you also need an entry ticket called strength.

So now Yan Guang needs money, a lot of money, far more than 10 million dollars.

It's just that...

Where exactly should this money come from?

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Ask for collections and tickets ~~~