The first year of Xuantong was a very magical and absurd year.

Under the rule of the regent of the Qing Empire, the governor of Zhili became Yinchang, the governor of Liangjiang was the end of the Manchurian Zhengbai banner, the governor of Huguang was Ruizi of the Manchurian Zhenghuang banner, the governor of Liangguang was Xiliang of the Mongolian blue banner, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang was Songshou of the Manchurian Zhengbai banner, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was Zhao Erxun from the Hanzheng white banner, the governor of Sichuan was Zhao Erfeng of the Zhengbai banner, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu was Chang Gung.

Zaifeng thought that he had achieved a comprehensive suppression of the Han people, confiscated the military power of the Han people, and finally only Song Biao was left to deal with, and he was also planning how to deal with Song Biao.

At the end of the year, the Northeast Newspaper published the 1909 financial bulletin of the Finance Department of the Governor's Office of the three eastern provinces, showing that the total annual fiscal revenue of the three provinces was 253 million silver yuan, or about 25,199,300 pounds.

This news directly frightened the regent of the Qing Empire.

At this point, there are enough military funds and enough troops, no matter whether Zaifeng is ready or not, Song Biao is ready to do it anyway, what he has to do in the end is to mobilize the whole army and wait for the chaos in the Guannai, if there is no chaos in the Guannai, he has to do it himself.

……

Because of the birth of his daughter and the confinement of his wife Shu Xuan, after returning from the inspection in Haizhou, Song Biao never went to inspect in other places, and he rarely even went to work in the governor's palace during this time, and stayed at home most of the time, not only to enjoy the joy of becoming a father for the first time, but also to start various later work to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

It should be said that now there is only the last half year left before he establishes the Chinese Empire.

He'd been waiting long enough.

On this morning, Zhang Bishi led his eldest son Zhang Zhijun to the Song Mansion to meet Song Biao and congratulate Song Biao on his happiness.

When Song Biao went out to greet Zhang Bishi in person, he was also a little surprised to see this generous gift.

Taking Zhang Bishi and his son into his study, Song Biao casually invited them to sit down and let the orderly pour tea, while he took the gilded congratulatory gift list sent by Zhang Bishi and scanned it in his hand.

Feeling that Zhang Bishi is really very generous, Song Biao laughed and joked with Zhang Bishi: "Zhang Dong must have made a lot of money recently, and he is so generous." ”

Zhang Bishi replied: "This is all thanks to the care of Lord Zhongtang." ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, and reminded: "What should be sold is about to be sold, if you don't sell it at a high price, do you have to wait for a low price?" I have received some very conclusive news from the United States, it is said that the United States Congress is going to pass an emergency legislation to ban the import of rubber, the United States is the world's largest rubber importer, accounting for half of the total imports in the international market, as soon as this law is enacted, the international rubber price will immediately plummet. ”

Zhang Bishi replied cautiously: "Thanks to Lord Zhongtang's several reminders, I have been gradually selling rubber stocks during this time, but the price of rubber stocks in Shanghai is also quite high, and it is estimated that it will rise for a while!" ”

Song Biao sneered without thinking: "Then let them rise, it has nothing to do with us." ”

Zhang Bishi smiled and said, "What Lord Zhongtang said is very true. ”

The two of them have been talking a lot of nonsense until now, and this is not only expected by them, but also the result of their deliberate indulgence.

Zhang Bishi's identity is complicated, his son is one of the main members of the Nanyang Liberation Society, he is a member of the Anglican Church, the leader and richest man of the Nanyang Chinese businessmen, the giant of the textile industry in the three eastern provinces, the pioneer of the Chinese wine industry, and at the same time founded the Nanyang Bank with the advice and help of Song Biao.

Some things will be very good if they are handed over to Zhang Bishi to handle secretly.

In the cooperation between Song Biao and Zhang Bishi, some of them are really not suitable for publicity, in short, in the matter of the rubber turmoil, Zhang Bishi is one of Song Biao's most important helpers, and what Song Biao has to do is just to quietly arrange what may happen to the level that is bound to happen.

For example, the Shanghai financial crisis, the national petition movement, the nationalization of the railways of the Qing Empire, and the national road protection movement will all occur, when patriotism becomes the last reason of the scoundrel, the country's demise is inevitable, whether it is the Qing government axe or for those squires, both sides are cultural hooligans who do not understand the universal spirit, govern the country with the most scoundrel means, and use rogue means to protect their own rights and interests.

The only difference is that Song Biao will not continue to watch from the sidelines, he will personally send people to participate in it, pour kerosene on the constitutionalists and the Manchu faction, and let their struggle burn.

If there is no conspiracy, you can't be the emperor, and you can't do real big things, which is roughly the most important new understanding of Song Biao in the past few years.

From another point of view, Song Biao and Zhang Bishi are also special scoundrels in another sense, they just conspired more insidiously to do a very vicious thing, and they never mentioned it, even to their own children.

Zhang Bishi still wanted to say something, thought about it, and said to Song Biao with a pun: "Lord Zhongtang, everything that should be done is almost done, it's time to replace the old with the new, although I am only a businessman, I have a lot of expectations for this, and I hope to contribute." ”

Song Biao quietly raised his eyes and glanced at Zhang Bishi more, looking at the person in front of him, he thought of a lot of things, and replied very simply: "I understand everything." ”

Zhang Bishi said with a smile: "Then I really want to congratulate Lord Zhongtang on winning the princess." ”

Song Biao said: "Yes...... Thank you for your kindness. ”

After saying this, he looked at Zhang Zhijun, who was sitting next to Zhang Bishi, a middle-aged man in his forties who had studied in the Netherlands, and it was said that he was just a real gentleman.

This is a very good family, with a very large property, which is very meaningful to China's capital industry, so Song Biao introduced a family business to Zhang Zhijun very early, and introduced a very capable young man to Zhang Bishi's youngest daughter as a husband and Zhang Bishi as a son-in-law.

Zhang Zhijun understood that Song Biao's attitude towards him had always been a little indifferent, and although he was a main member of the nominal Nanyang Liberation Society, it was just Song Biao who gave him an opportunity to contribute money and efforts.

Looking at Song Biao's cold expression, Zhang Zhijun was nervous, and his heart was filled with some kind of indescribable fear, he admired the person in front of him, but he was afraid of this person.

Zhang Bishi quietly felt this, and he was also very sorry in his heart, but he understood that Song Biao had always been full of real contempt for incompetent people from wealthy families, just like Song Biao's disdainful attitude towards the Manchurians.

Even so, he still took Zhang Zhijun to meet Song Biao with a fluke mentality, just because he is a father, and Zhang Zhijun is his eldest son, and the other children may not be much better than Zhang Zhijun.

The family business is so big, but there is no one to entrust.

The sadness in his heart seemed to be understood only by Song Biao.

Zhang Bishi had to make himself stronger, and instructed Zhang Zhijun: "Zhijun, since you have already met Lord Zhongtang, then go out first, I have to discuss some other things with Lord Zhongtang here." ”

Zhang Zhijun couldn't help but feel a little regretful, but he could only get up and say goodbye to Song Biao and his father, silently like a person abandoned by power and the upper world, and walked out of the study with more and more anxiety, like an expelled person.

Waiting for him to leave, Zhang Bishi said: "Lord Zhongtang, you are finally a parent now, it is really gratifying, there should be more children, and there can be a few more options to inherit the family business, especially the family business of Lord Zhongtang." ”

Song Biao nodded in agreement and said, "Dong Zhang, I think you seem to be talking about your own business." ”

Zhang Bishi was a little sad and said, "It's just a feeling." ”

Song Biao said: "Zhang Hongsheng is a very good young man, although he failed to graduate from St. John's University, his grades in Fengtian Commercial School are really good, and he has also been quite appreciated in the past two years in Far Eastern Commercial Bank. ”

Zhang Bishi was quite surprised, and said: "I have this intention, but I just think that Rong Xingqiao attaches great importance to my son-in-law, I am afraid that he will not easily cut his love, and it is inconvenient to speak." ”

Song Biao said: "It's okay, I talked to Rong Xingqiao about this a long time ago, let Zhang Hongsheng help you." ”

Zhang Bishi breathed a sigh of relief, in the past two years, Zhang Hongsheng, the future industrial giant of the Republic of China, was in charge of foreign trade of agricultural products and sugar exports in the Far East Commercial Bank, and his achievements were quite wonderful, and even Rong Xingqiao was full of praise.

Everyone knew that this young man was a business wizard, which is why Zhang Bishi was willing to marry his daughter to him.

Song Biao thought for a while, and said: "Zhang Zhijun has not been outstanding in the Nanyang Restoration Association and Nanyang Bank in the past two years, Zhang Dong's business is too big, I think he is probably difficult to control, Zhang Dong should plan early." ”

Zhang Bishi naturally understood Song Biao's intentions in these good arrangements, and praised: "Thank you for mentioning it, I understand it in my heart." ”

Song Biao has some things that need not be said explicitly, because of the special surname of the Anglican Church, it is very difficult to recommend a person to join the association, Zhang Zhijun has no such possibility, and it is impossible to really walk on the same road as the Song Mansion without joining this association.

Although Zhang Bishi was very rich, he knew that only by continuing to get close to the Song Mansion would he maintain the special prosperity of his family.

Speaking of such a heavy topic, Song Biao was also a little sad in his heart, but he felt that before the great cause, human favor was actually so indifferent, as if the world should not need human favor in the first place.

Thinking of this, Song Biao changed the topic and said to Zhang Bishi: "Aurora University has developed well in recent years, but it has always been supported by reading power in Far Eastern Commercial Bank, I think I want to invite you to join the board of trustees, or let Zhang Zhijun join the board of directors, I think it is appropriate, he is still a very stable and cautious person." ”

Zhang Bishi nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "This is a good thing, thank you Lord Zhongtang." ”

Song Biao sat high above the clouds for too long, as if he had forgotten what kind of expression a smile was, but he still smiled and replied: "It should be that I want to thank Zhang Fu on behalf of Aurora University and the higher education of the three eastern provinces, it is related to the cultivation of national elites, and I must sincerely thank you." ”

Zhang Bishi said: "In fact, in these words, I am also considering investing in a university in Jinzhou to contribute a little more to the education of the people." ”

Song Biao snorted and didn't take it too seriously.

Zhang Bishi's net worth has exceeded 25 million pounds now, and it is very simple to invest in his own university, Zhang Bishi has been studying the Far East consortium hosted by Rong Xingqiao for the past four years, and invested in Singapore and Rotterdam to establish Nanyang Commercial Bank, Nanyang Commercial Bank was founded as the holding parent company, and the commercial bank has Nanyang Yuchang Textile Company, Nanyang Hengchang Shipping Company, Dutch Indonesia Rubber Plantation Company, Nanyang Sugar Company, Nanyang Singapore Real Estate Company, Nanyang Indonesia Tobacco Company, Nanyang Tea Plantation Company, There are more than 20 companies such as Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company, Nanyang Yuchang Shipyard, Shanghai Land Company, Yantai Changyu Wine Company, etc.

By speculating in rubber futures and hoarding rubber stocks with the Far Eastern Commercial Bank, Zhang Bishi's capital has grown extremely rapidly in the past two years, and if he can cash out his holdings of 21 million pounds worth of rubber futures and stocks in the coming months as planned, and transfer capital back to China and Nanyang, he will surely become the new business hegemon.

In other words, the Far Eastern Group has taught Chinese businessmen a lesson, teaching you a set of "how to create a chaebol" photo lesson, but all Chinese businessmen with a little strength are investing in this model to set up factories, Far Eastern Commercial Bank is also actively involved in the integration of other Chinese business consortiums, holding shares in Nanyang Bank and Bank of Shanghai, helping Jinshang, Huishang, and Guangdong businessmen to form Jinshang Bank, Huishang Bank, and Yueshang Bank, in the process of the formation of Jiangnan Bank, Bank of Tianjin, Bank of Ningbo, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang Bank. and the restructuring of China Commerce Bank.

These banks, large and small, began to become the new hubs of merchants in various parts of China, and played a very important role in the development of China's capital industry, and these banks also played a role that the Far Eastern consortium needed - to expand the trade between the three eastern provinces and all parts of the Guannai, so that silver could flow into the three eastern provinces more easily and quickly.

Seeing that Song Biao was not too interested in his proposal to donate a university in Jinzhou, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive, so he asked again: "I don't know what Lord Zhongtang sees, how should domestic education be funded?" ”

Song Biao thought for a while and replied: "I think about this matter, you can discuss it with Tang Shaoyi and Chen Baochen, they have put forward a set of good ideas for education in the three eastern provinces." As far as the overall education of the three eastern provinces is concerned, the public school system in recent years has been very good, and middle schools in various places have also been run with the support of official funds, but there is a general problem of lack of teachers, so the foundation of domestic education is to first grasp the normal schools, and only with modern teachers can modern basic education be provided. At this stage of education in the three eastern provinces, it is mainly necessary to vigorously advocate the establishment of various types of junior colleges, considering the problem of the source of students, our current idea is to establish two kinds of junior colleges, that is, three-year and five-year junior colleges, that is, that you can study in junior colleges, that is, that you can study in junior colleges, and that the three-year junior college is a secondary junior college, and that the five-year junior college is a higher junior college. Northeastern University, Aurora University, Northeast Normal University, Northeast University of Political Science and Law, Northeast Medical University, and Harbin Institute of Technology are the centers of university education in the three eastern provinces. ”

Zhang Bishi nodded admiringly, and already understood in his heart that Song Biao was not very supportive of him to establish a university in Jinzhou, and it was probably not that he did not support it, but that he felt that the money was not used on the blade.

Thinking of this, Zhang Bishi and Song Biao said: "Lord Zhongtang, I would like to establish a Nanyang Changyu Aid Society, and set up scholarships in various colleges and universities to support poor children to further their studies and study abroad. The three eastern provinces are also my second hometown, with a lot of investment, a lot of income, and a lot of intentions, so I want to set up a few more junior colleges here. Money is a thing that you don't bring with you in your body and don't take it with you when you die, but you can use it for the people and for education, which is really good. ”

Song Biao agreed: "You are very right, anyway, you try to discuss with Chen Baochen and Tang Shaoyi as much as possible, I don't manage as much as them in this regard, except for Aurora University, which I personally handled, I basically don't ask too much about the details of the education in the three eastern provinces." ”

Zhang Bishi said: "The Lord of Zhongtang is involved in a lot, how can he do everything in detail, he is the pillar of the three eastern provinces, as long as there is an adult sitting here, we and other businessmen can live and work in peace and contentment." ”

Song Biao didn't answer, his usual strategy is to appoint talented people in specific powers, let go of others to deal with it, in order to show trust, try to ask as little as possible, and avoid mentioning some ideas that may be strange or hot for others and take for granted.

Too much is wrong.

If you don't understand too much, there will definitely be all kinds of mistakes, so it's better to entrust it to a full-time person who has been doing these things for a long time, and it's not too late to deal with it when others really do something wrong.

Between Song Biao and Zhang Bishi's chat, Zhang Futian came in several times to tell someone to come to send congratulatory gifts, because Song Biao was overjoyed, and the businessmen and rich gentry in the three provinces took the opportunity to come to congratulate, not many people can enter the military department's jurisdiction, and even fewer people like Zhang Bishi can have the opportunity to enter the Governor's Mansion, even if Song Biao personally wrote to invite Yu Qiaqing and others, they can only have the opportunity to enter the Song Mansion to meet for fifteen minutes through the help of Rong Xingqiao.

Being able to sit down and talk for half an hour like Zhang Bishi is really a rare honor in the eyes of other wealthy gentry and businessmen in Northeast China, and Zhang Bishi's status in the industrial and commercial circles of the three eastern provinces is naturally very high.

It is also a strategy to control the situation on the ground.

Zhang Bishi and Song Biao interviewed for a period of time, congratulating Song Biao on his daughter, the safety of mother and daughter is on the one hand, and talking about funding education is secondary, what Zhang Bishi really wants to talk about is actually where his capital should flow in after it is recovered from the rubber industry.

Although Zhang Bishi is a Chinese businessman and a leader in the Nanyang business community, he still wants to listen to Song Biao's suggestions and arrangements, because he knows very well that only by cooperating with Song Biao can he really make a lot of money, and he can also truly benefit himself, the people and the country.

Song Biao didn't really want to help Zhang Bishi make a lot of money, and recruit a suitable heir for him, so that the Nanyang Consortium would become a big chaebol with strong capital, Song Biao didn't have much practical interest in this kind of unfavorable thing, but if the money could be invested in the right place, it would be a good thing for the country and the people, with taxes for the country and employment opportunities for the people.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Song Biao had been helping Zhang Bishi in this way, giving Zhang Bishi some suitable advice, and he and Zhang Bishi continued to talk for half an hour, until Chen Wu and Jiang Fangzhen came in to talk about the mountain combat training of the Third Infantry Division, Song Biao got up to see Zhang Bishi and his son leave, and asked people to prepare a return gift.

Because of the close contacts between the Song and Zhang mansions, Song Biao personally sent Zhang Bishi and his son to the door of the mansion, if he was the emperor of the Chinese Empire, then it would be regarded as a real saint.

When he arrived at the door, Song Biao didn't plan to go out, so he shook hands with Zhang Bishi and said goodbye, and also shook hands with Zhang Zhijun briefly.

At this moment, Song Biao faced Zhang Zhijun, who was actually more than ten years older than himself, and couldn't help but say one more sentence: "Brother Zhijun, I have always felt that how much a person can achieve does not depend on his talent, nor on his knowledge, but on his ambition. ”

Zhang Zhijun was very frightened, he never thought that Song Biao would say such a thing to him, and he was very excited.

In the face of Song Biao, few people will not feel inferior.

Song Biao had so much to say, he felt that he was worthy of the cooperation with Zhang Bishi in the past few years, and patted Zhang Zhijun's shoulder and back as an encouragement, and waved his hand to send Zhang's father and son out of the Song Mansion.

If Zhang Zhijun, a person like Zhang Zhijun who is over forty years old and still does not learn and has no skills, because of this encouragement, he can forge ahead and be a useful person, Song Biao can really write his surname in reverse, which is basically impossible, and he does not report too much hope.

As the old saying goes, dogs can't change their.

Therefore, Song Biao gave Zhang Bishi a suggestion very early, that is, to follow the example of Vanderbilt and his family, only select a suitable heir to concentrate all the inheritance, and give the rest some cash.

If you don't even have a suitable heir, then find a suitable son-in-law, which is why Song Biao recommended Zhang Hongsheng, an industrial giant like the Republic of China, to join Zhangfu.

Zhang Hongsheng is a very good person, after dropping out of St. John's University in Shanghai, under the introduction of the university faculty to the Far East Commercial Bank as an assistant to Shu Fangxin, after graduating from the Far Eastern Commercial School, he continued to work as a salesman in the Far Eastern Commercial Bank, at first he was to assist in the export of soybeans, furs, medicinal materials, etc., and later he was in charge of the sugar and tussah silk business, which was extremely beautiful, especially the results of 1,700 tons of tussah silk exported to the United States were impressive.

The price of a ton of mulberry silk in the international market is about 1150 pounds, the better the quality, the more price, the index of evaluation quality mainly lies in the thickness, color and toughness of the silk fiber, the fiber of the silk is twice that of mulberry silk, there is a natural color, mainly light yellow and yellow-brown, the luster is hard, the toughness is high, and the price is between 750 pounds and 800 pounds per ton.

Zhang Hongsheng has sold 2,845 tons of tussah silk in the past two years, and the total sales share of this item is 440,000 Kanto silver yuan, plus the profits of sugar sold to Kannai, North Korea, and the United States, 920,000 taels in two years, ranking among the more than 40 gold medal sales executives of the Far East Commercial Bank, and others are in charge of soybeans, coal, pig iron, cement, these best-selling products, his achievements are more and more dazzling.

Therefore, gold will shine everywhere, geniuses will always stand out, and opportunities are always reserved for capable people.

(To be continued)