Field was originally very dissatisfied with the task assigned to him by the American minister Marshali, in his imagination, the rebels of any country would only bring destruction and killing, and the reason why he appeared in Caohejing was entirely because he wanted to sell the few goods he had brought.

After meeting the rebel leader again, the rude-looking rebel leader showed a considerable degree of civilization, and he shook hands with several British and Americans. In the ensuing conversation, Field discovered that the chief had a very beautiful lady, and that the handsome lady could speak English, so when the lady asked him if he would be in China, Field could not help but express his frustration.

Field didn't have much hope, he was just a way to pour bitter water to vent the disappointment in his heart, but he didn't expect the rebel leader to say a broken word in English, he understood the meaning, and the rebel leader actually asked himself how much money he needed to invest in the Atlantic telegraph cable? Field looked at Mrs. Xiwang with a disbelieving expression, she was a translator and should be able to give the exact meaning.

Hong Yun'er wanted to laugh a little, this bastard who didn't learn and didn't know how to do it, just now discussed a few words with herself, and the two agreed that investing some money in this cable could have some returns in the future. Xiao Yungui said it in his broken English, but Field didn't seem to understand, Hong Yun'er couldn't help laughing, and said it again solemnly.

Field was very excited, he stood up and said loudly: "Your Excellency King Xi, this cable still lacks an investment quota of four million silver dollars, if I can have this money, I can return to China immediately and start preparing for the start of the project." ”

Xiao Yungui was slightly surprised, this investment is really not small, four million foreign silver dollars are converted into silver taels, which is almost more than 2.7 million taels, although he has money now. But it's also a bit painful to come up with so much money at once. But when he thought of the high rate of return brought by telegraph cables in the future, Xiao Yungui still gritted his teeth and said: "Mr. Field, this investment is the king's, let's talk about how to collect returns in the future." ”

Field was very excited, the budget of this submarine telegraph cable project is more than 6 million US dollars, which is converted into more than 10 million silver dollars and more than 7 million taels of silver in Mexico, and he took out more than half of his life savings, and then he lobbied for financing in banks, commercial banks, and companies in the United States, Europe and other countries, but many people are not very optimistic about this investment project. Think Field is a madman. What could be crazier than his vain attempt to cross the Atlantic with a tiny cable? Level-headed people think of the unpredictable climate of the ocean, and the hidden problems of laying submarine cables, which are no less difficult than sending people to the moon in this era. Therefore, Field's financing was not smooth, and the difference in investment of four million taels of silver dollars was a very huge hole. Originally, according to the development of history, after Field returned to the United States. He would meet some knowledgeable American businessmen to join the financing. But in Shanghai, he met Xiao Yungui and Hong Yuner, and the result changed.

Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er once used the advantage of the traverser, Hong Yun'er not only knew that Field would definitely succeed in thirteen years, but this small cable gave Field a huge return on investment. At present, the fastest ship between the New World and Europe takes a month, which means that you have to bring a message to the other side of the ocean. It took two months to hear back, but the use of telegraph cables saved a lot of time, and many companies, merchants, and even ordinary people would use the telegraph, in the era when communication was basically blank. Every telegram letter is money income.

Therefore, after Xiao Yungui and Hong Yuner discussed, the two decided to invest in this deal. Hong Yuner's idea is very simple, that is, to seize the opportunity to invest in order to get a huge return on income in the future. And Xiao Yungui's idea is to invest some money out, if the rebellion is unsuccessful in the future, he can also escape to the United States with the four-eyed sister, this investment will be enough for the two of them to be rich for a lifetime in the future.

After listening to Xiao Yungui's words, Field immediately said, "Your Excellency the King of the West, I will repay this investment at twice the interest rate of the bank loan." ”

Xiao Yungui was very disappointed, this field is also a budget-conscious businessman, if he repays this money only at twice the loan interest rate, Zuihou's investment of 2.7 million taels of silver can only have more than 3.5 million taels with interest, which is far from satisfying Xiao Yungui's appetite. This guy smiled and said: "Mr. Field, I think in this way, we can jointly set up a telegraph company, the investment amount of this king as a share, you account for 60% of the shares, this king accounts for 40% of the shares, there will be income in the future, how about dividends according to the shares?" ”

Field didn't expect that the seemingly rude Chinese man in front of him would propose such an investment method, he immediately shook his head and refused, but Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er repeatedly threatened him, saying that this investment was extremely risky, and if he was not careful, he would lose all his money, and Mr. Field was afraid that it would be difficult to find investors.

Wilbur also spoke at this time, he actually kindly persuaded the Xiwang couple to invest cautiously, after all, there are many uncertain factors in the laying of submarine cables, if the Xiwang couple wants to invest, he can introduce a few foreign railways or mining investment projects to the two.

Field glared angrily at the Briton who was stirring up the situation, and had to grit his teeth and agree, but asked Xiwang's stake to be reduced to 35%, after all, Xiwang's investment only accounted for 37% of the total investment, and of course Field would not agree to the proposal of 40% of the shares. Xiao Yungui thought about it again and again and put forward a condition, if Field wanted to sell the shares in the future, he Xiao Yungui would have the right of first refusal.

After some bargaining, the two sides signed a contract in the presence of Wilbur and Jin Nengheng, and Xiao Yungui would hand over 2.7 million taels of silver to Field in the following month, and send a representative as a shareholder to follow Field back to the United States.

Xiao Yungui plans to send Zhu Changlin to the United States to start a company, there is still a war in China, many places need money, and domestic trade alone is very limited, so Xiao Yungui wants to learn from Wu Haoguan and open up overseas markets and companies. Xiao Yungui even plans to set up his own arsenals, shipyards and other factories and companies overseas, and when he opens up the situation, these factories and companies can be relocated back to China, or they can open branches in China, in short, the current domestic war environment is not suitable for large-scale investment in construction. As for investing in the country in telegraph, railways? Xiao Yungui felt that he needed to occupy at least the entire southern Jiangsu before he could start to implement it, and besides, investment and investment promotion were different, and he wouldn't even have to pay for the construction of his own railways.

After talking to Wilbur, Jin Nengheng was finally able to interject, and he immediately indicated to Xiao Yungui that the American minister Marshali wanted to meet with the king of the west, and witnessed a big deal just now, Jin Nengheng knew that this king of the west was definitely not an ordinary rebel who robbed the house, and his courage even surpassed that of Su Songtaidao Wu Jianzhang, who cooperated very closely with the Americans.

After listening to Jin Nengheng's words, Xiao Yungui said with a regretful expression: "If Minister Marshali had made this request a day or two earlier, this king would definitely have time to meet with him, but at present, this king is about to return to Suzhou and end the war in Suzhou, and it may take ten days and half a month before he returns to Shanghai." ”

Jin Nengheng said with some disappointment: "Isn't Your Excellency King Xi waiting for one more day?" ”

Xiao Yungui shook his head and smiled: "My dear American friend, the military situation is urgent, the war in Suzhou has reached a fever pitch, I must return to the battlefield to end the war over there, but I can promise you that as soon as I return to Shanghai, I will immediately arrange to meet with the American minister." ”

Jin Nengheng was a little happy at this time: "Is Your Excellency the King of the West sure that the war in the direction of Suzhou will end within half a month?" ”

Xiao Yungui is not afraid of what news he will leak, there is a lonely city in Suzhou, which is already a boiled duck that can't fly, and said firmly at the moment: "Yes, at most half a month later, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will end the barbaric rule of the Manchu Hunu government in Suzhou, and after pacifying Suzhou, we will immediately restore order in Suzhou and resume trade and trade, and at that time, goods from Wuxi, Suzhou and other places can go to Shanghai in a steady stream." ”

Jin Nengheng asked with some surprise: "Can Your Excellency King Xi tell me that after the end of the war in Shanghai in the future, can the Yangtze River inland shipping be opened?" ”

Xiao Yungui laughed, squinting at this Jin Nengheng, he was really the first person to carry out inland water transportation on the Yangtze River, and now he couldn't wait to ask this question, Xiao Yungui said with a smile: "We have not yet fully gained control of the Yangtze River inland waterway, and it may take another year, but there will definitely be inland waterway shipping on the Yangtze River, because the Chinese people on both sides of the Yangtze River also need shipping, right?" ”

Jin Nengheng, Wilbur and others are all bright-eyed, for a long time the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been reluctant to open the Yangtze River inland shipping, but listening to the tone of the Western King, it seems that after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gains control of the Yangtze River, inland waterway shipping will definitely be opened.

Jin Nengheng asked impatiently: "Your Excellency King Xi, there are many mature ideas about inland waterway shipping myself, I hope ......"

Xiao Yungui raised his hand to interrupt Jin Nengheng's words and said with a smile: "Mr. Jin Nengheng, we will have time to discuss these things in the future, and when we return to Shanghai next time, we can talk about it alone, the environment here is really not very good, right?" ”

Wilbur didn't expect the West King to be so generous, in fact, the British are determined to win inland waterway shipping, but tonight came in a hurry, there was no preparation, almost let Jin Nengheng seize the opportunity, fortunately, the West King terminated the conversation in a timely manner, otherwise Wilbur would have scolded the two Americans, and promised to introduce the West King to the two of them tonight, which does not mean that the British can give up their business interests.

Xiao Yungui and Wilbur and others then cordially exchanged opinions on recent trade, and Xiao Yungui made it clear that he was willing to continue the arms deal and other military supplies trade, and introduced them to his right-hand man Lin Qirong. With the completion of the handling of this batch of arms transactions, Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er are also ready to leave, after the two sides say goodbye, the Xiwang couple took Tang Erniu and hundreds of elite guards from the West Palace, together with more than 1,000 people, to transport a large number of arms to Suzhou overnight. (To be continued......)