In a small inn that was said to be in decent condition, Scrooge, who had been bitten by those damn fleas and had barely slept all night, didn't fall asleep until near dawn. I just fell asleep but was woken up by Rockefeller.

"Hey, Scrooge, wake up, it's dawn." In the haze, Scrooge felt as if someone was tapping him on the shoulder.

"What? It's annoying! Picking up the pillow, Scrooge smashed it against the guy who had disturbed his dreams. Just listen to the sound of "ouch", and then the crackling sound of some messy things falling on the ground.

At this moment, Scrooge really woke up, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Rockefeller was sitting on the ground, and on the ground around him, there was a chair upside down, as well as a clothes rack and some clothes.

"What's going on?" Scrooge jumped to his feet.

At this time, Rockefeller was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his physical condition was quite good. Without Scrooge's pull, he got up and said to Scrooge while helping the chair up, "What's wrong?" I'll have to ask you! I kindly told you to get up, but you hit me with something! I ducked, but I didn't notice the chair behind me......"

"Hahaha" Scrooge pointed at Rockefeller with one hand, covered his stomach with the other, laughed breathlessly, and said after a while: "John, I really didn't expect that a pillow could knock you down......"

"I didn't expect a man to have such a feminine reaction!" Rockefeller retorted without showing weakness.

"Then don't blame you, and say that this place is quite clean, I let the lice bite last night and didn't sleep well all night, just fell asleep, and you ran to make trouble! You deserve it! ”

"You were bitten by lice? Ah, no wonder no lice bit me last night. ”

"So you had a premeditated plan!"

The two of them laughed for a while, got dressed, ate a little bit of food in the shop next to the small hotel, and walked towards the Chicago Grain Futures Market.

What the futures market in the twenty-first century looked like, Scrooge had seen, but what the futures market looked like in the nineteenth century, Scrooge really didn't know anything about it. Therefore, Scrooge is still very curious about the world's earliest futures market.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the Chicago Grain Futures Market appeared in front of their eyes. It is a red brick building, and from the outside, it looks more like a large warehouse.

"Maybe it's a warehouse." Scrooge thought.

It's still early, and the doors of the market haven't opened yet. But outside the door, there are already quite a few people waiting there. Scrooge and Rockefeller walked over.

"Phil, how are the crops on your farm? Don't be like last year, in the end, the food grown is almost not enough to sign a futures contract. A tall man in his thirties was talking to a man who looked like a farmer with a full beard.

"Tom, you can rest assured, your food is indispensable." Phil replied, "This year I hired a few more new immigrants and planted all the land that had been fallow, and the cultivated area was about 30% more than last year, and at the end of last year, we built another canal and the irrigation was guaranteed, so even if there was a drought, there would be no problem." As long as there are no locusts and no floods in the next two months, by the end of May and the beginning of June, it will definitely be a good harvest. I'm afraid that when the time comes, there will be too much food for you to buy. ”

"Don't worry, there are so many immigrants from Europe every year, and they always buy food to eat. And the animal husbandry in Europe is doing well, and as a result, they have converted all the arable land into pasture – which is more profitable, so we have to grow wheat. Think about it, there are so many people and so many mouths in Europe, and no matter how much food you produce, they can eat it. Don't worry, I promise, you can sell as much as you want! ”

"Well, three more layers of land, better irrigation, almost certainly a better harvest." Hear the conversation between those two people. Rockefeller, who was standing on the sidelines, silently thought in his heart, "In this way, the price of food may really fall." ”

But Rockefeller and Scrooge didn't plan to join in the discussion, and for them, it was enough to listen.

By this time, the sun had risen high and the doors of the exchange were opened. So the people waiting outside the door stopped talking and walked in.

Scrooge and Rockefeller also followed, and unlike the futures exchanges that used information technology widely and were full of electronic displays, the futures trading market at this time was much more primitive. In the center of the exchange, there is a large wooden board on which the price of the last transaction of various crops yesterday is written.

"Scrooge, look at the price of corn!" Rockefeller pointed to a price on it and said to Scrooge.

"John, this price doesn't seem to be much lower than the spot price." Scrooge whispered to Rockefeller.

"Well, it seems that not only the price of wheat has risen, but the price of corn has also risen. It's going to be a ...... in the pasture," Rockefeller glanced at Scrooge, and he saw a sparkle in Scrooge's eyes.

In addition to corn as food, it will also be used as feed, and the rise in corn prices will almost inevitably bring about an increase in the cost of animal husbandry, which will inevitably lead to a decline in the price-earnings ratio of animal husbandry. As soon as the price-to-earnings ratio of the livestock sector falls and the price of food products rises, a shift from pastoralism to agriculture will naturally occur in Europe. This means that by the time of this year's harvest, there is a real danger of overproduction.

"Hey, John! I didn't expect to meet you here! A voice came from behind them. Scrooge and Rockefeller turned around and saw a large bear walking towards them.

This big man is about 1.9 meters tall, and what is even more terrifying is that he is not only tall, but also strong, looking like a brown bear standing up, full of oppression.

"Warren 61 Mr. Draenor? I didn't expect to meet you here! Are you planning to buy and sell grain? Rockefeller walked over and said to the brown bear.

"Ah, the grain trade has been booming lately, I'll come and take a look." Warren 61 Draenor said, "How are the two guys, Tuttle and Hewitt, doing now?" ”

"Mr. Warren, I've left Tuttle-Hewitt." Rockefeller said to Warren 61 Delaenor, "At the time I left, everything in the company was in pretty good shape. ”

"You left Tuttle and them? …… Well, that's not bad either. Tattle: They are all good businessmen, but they are too old-fashioned and have no adventurous spirit at all. It's good for young people to learn a little basic stuff from them, but it's not interesting to follow them all the time. Where are you doing now? Why don't you do it with me! Warren 61 Draenor said, "Well, who is this kid, is it your brother?" He's a little too early to learn business, right? ”

"Mr. Warren, I have opened a company with two foreign gentlemen, ready to buy and sell grain. Well, let me introduce you to this, this is my partner Scrooge. Rockefeller said. While speaking, he also glanced at Scrooge helplessly, who made Scrooge too young, so that everyone thought he was his little brother when they saw him. But besides, his little brother is also older than Scrooge.

"Hello, Mr. Warren." Scrooge held out his hand to Warren 61 Draenor, "I'm Scrooge 61 McDonald. Nice to meet you. ”

Warren 61 Draenor half-bent down, shook Scrooge's hand and said, "It's hard to imagine that you started running a company at such a young age. When I was your age, well, I was a complete jerk. He turned back to Rockefeller and said, "And you, John, and you too." Are you 16 or 17? Well, standing with you, I feel like I'm going to be an old man all of a sudden...... Are you going to buy food? ”

"Ah, Mr. Warren, we don't know much about grain futures yet, so we plan to take a look first, learn more and learn more before making a decision." Rockefeller replied.

"Well, proper caution is necessary, but I still think you have to be quick, the market changes very quickly, and almost every day, the price is rising. Futures trading is a kind of trading that is fast and slow. If you hesitate a little, you may well have made thousands less. ”

Hearing this, Scrooge remembered who this Warren 61 Mr. Draenor was. This Mr. Warren was the grandfather of the future President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a gambler and an adventurer, and compared to Scrooge, who now has a capital of only a few thousand dollars, this Mr. Warren is a real tycoon. By doing tea business in China, he made a full million dollars! Historically, though, it's time for him to be unlucky, and according to history, in this year's economic crisis, the risk-taking rich man will lose his last copper plate and become a complete pauper. Then, this guy would go back to China and make a fortune again by selling opium.