By the time Yan Shao recovered from his injuries in the explosion, it was already 1908.

According to the original plan, Yan Shao and Elaline will take a ship to London to invest in the now very hot rubber in order to make huge profits comparable to oil.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the great development of the automobile industry, the demand for rubber increased sharply. At the same time, rubber has also become an emerging material for many industrial products, which is very popular. Cars, tricycles, and rickshaws have been replaced with rubber tires, and Shanghainese people wear a pair of rubber shoes and leather shoes, called "galoshes", and then wear rubber raincoats, and they can go out as usual in heavy rains. There are countless other rubber products (at that time, Shanghainese called rubber rubber).

Restricted by factors such as growth cycle, climate, and soil, the production scale of rubber cannot be expanded in the short term, which is destined to continue to rise in a certain period of time. The price of rubber in the London market, which rose to 2 shillings per pound in 1908 to 10 shillings per pound by the end of 1909, led to a rise in London's rubber stocks. A newly formed rubber company issued £1 million in shares, which were sold out in half an hour; The shares issued by another company, initially at £10 per share, rose to £180 per share shortly after the issue.

Yan Shao remembers this because when he was in school, he had read a book about the collapse of the Qing Dynasty.

In that book, the fall of the Qing Dynasty was obviously inevitable, but it was the rubber stocks that now seemed so hot that accelerated the fall of the Qing Dynasty...

The rubber craze, which had just begun, eventually destroyed China's economy two years later. and directly led to the Sichuan Road Protection Movement, and indirectly helped the success of the Wuchang Uprising...

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After saying goodbye to the people who saw them off, Yan Shao and Elano were the same. More than thirty members of the Guard boarded a cruise ship bound for London.

On the deck of the cruise ship, many passengers were waving goodbye to the people who saw them off on the pier, but Yan Shao did not. "I hope there won't be any accidents on this boat ride..."

After the cruise ship gradually sailed away from the dock, Yan Shao stood by the railing and said softly.

"What did you say?" Looking at the gradually remote city, Caterina didn't hear what Yan Shao had just said clearly.

"What do you say...", with a wry smile, Yan Shao didn't know what to say. I can only say that every time I take a boat, I will encounter some troubles more or less, and I just wore it. No, it should have been on the way to France that I encountered such a thing as a boiler explosion. Later, when I went to the United States, I encountered another hurricane, so I just hope that I won't get into any trouble this time, otherwise I would have really hit the water..."

Heard Yan Shao say this. Caterina pouted.

But at this time, Elaline on the side was reading a few newspapers. But he leaned over and said. "I just looked at it, and it seems that the rubber situation you mentioned is indeed quite good," he said, handing the newspaper to Caterina and motioning for her to take a look at it.

The newspaper was talking about the rubber craze, which had not yet reached the level of fanaticism that it would have seen a year or two later, but it had attracted the attention of quite a few people.

Coupled with some information from other places some time ago, at least in Elano's opinion, this rubber is indeed a suitable commodity for investment...

Katerina's profession, although not commercial, for such a long time. I also understand a lot of things, and naturally I can analyze some things.

"Definitely. It's a great investment..."

As they talked, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away from the wharf, and gradually, the people on the cruise ship were not only the wharf and the port, but also the whole of Shanghai.

Because of the explosion that Xiang Shan had encountered, the defense around Yan Shao had become much tighter since that day. Not only are there guards around the house 24 hours a day when recuperating from injuries, but even when they travel, they are always surrounded by people, and now they are on the deck.

While Yan Shao and Elano were talking about rubber, the members of the guards who were traveling with them had already surrounded the three of them, along with a few maids who were traveling with them.

With such a look, anyone will pay attention, but Yan Shao and the others acted as if nothing had happened, just talking about business there.

After nightfall, looking at the two people who were playing chess in the room in underwear, Yan Shao yawned and went to bed. "I'll go to sleep first, you guys go on..."

"Why, haven't you fully recovered your spirit?" Seeing Yan Shao's tired look, Elaline frowned, and Caterina on the side also stopped moving.

"Yes, I don't know what's going on, my spirit hasn't been very good since that explosion, and it will probably take a while to recover..."Rubbing his head, after saying hello to the two, Yan Shao curled up into the quilt.

Seeing Yan Shao's appearance, Elano and Caterina shook their heads helplessly, and they didn't have the heart to continue playing chess.

After a little pause, I went to bed together...

Because it takes at least a month to get from Shanghai to London, the next time is actually quite boring, and Yan Shao and Elaine are also trying to kill time.

For example, playing landlords today, playing chess tomorrow, playing mahjong the day after tomorrow or something, I have participated in a dinner party on the cruise ship a few times, but Yan Shao's body has just recovered, and it is still a little inconvenient, so I stopped after participating in one or two times.

On the other hand, the news that the three of them had been living in the same room all the time had spread throughout the ship, and even at the dinner party, almost everyone was looking at them with strange eyes, but because of the thirty or so 'bodyguards' who were guarding them, no one dared to disturb them.

That's it, after a long journey, Yan Shao and his entourage finally arrived at their destination this time, London, the capital of the United Kingdom and the financial center of this era...

A city with a fairly high level of pollution, perhaps even higher than that of later generations in China...

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Standing at the bow of the passenger ship, looking at the misty city in the distance, when the passenger ship was about to come into contact with the fog, Yan Shao took out a mask from his arms and put it on his face, and at the same time took out the other two and handed them to Elano and Katarina, and the members of the guard and the maids who came with Yan Shao also put on masks for themselves, which surprised several passengers who were about to take a deep breath.

During this period, London was also the financial center of the world, as the capital of the most powerful country in the world, London was quite famous for its haze, and many first-time visitors to London would even take a deep breath of smoke.

It's just that there will definitely be no Yan Shao in this...

London's name as the "fog capital" is very famous even in the 21st century, especially the London smog incident, which killed more than 10,000 people at one time, is even more thunderous, which is much more serious than the smog problem in China in later generations.

At the beginning of the 20th century, most people in London used coal as fuel, and the resulting smog was added to the fog that permeated London. Although the London smog incident will not happen for decades, but even so, Yan Shao still does not dare to ignore the toxic substances present in the smoke, if it is not for the fact that he can make a lot of money in London at this time, Yan Shao will definitely not bring Elaline to this place that will make people lose their lives.

Although Yan Shao also came to London once last time, the stay was very short, and the weather in those days was not bad, at least Yan Shao did not encounter smoke, but this time...

"I just ran into it when I first came, and I don't know if it is a sign that this trip will not go well..."Thinking so, Yan Shao has already added an extra mask to his face, which can be regarded as double insurance.

Of course, Yan Shao's practice of thinking about his own body is ignorant in the eyes of others, but how can they imagine how many toxic substances are contained in the fog that permeates London at this time?

After getting off the boat, Yan Shao and Elamine found a hotel in a decent environment to stay in the smoke.

Although it was not as tiring as taking a train or a carriage on the ship, the long sea bumps also made Yan Shao feel deeply tired, especially when Yan Shao's body still had not recovered in some places.

On the night he stayed in the hotel, Yan Shao didn't do anything superfluous with the other two, but just took this opportunity to take a good rest.

The next day, after everyone got up, Yan Shao ordered their respective tasks.

"There is only one task this time, that is, the market of rubber stocks in London today, and the distribution of the London Stock Exchange..."

Before 1973, the so-called London Exchange was not an exchange, but a collective name for dozens of exchanges, that is to say, if you want to make a lot of money on rubber stocks, Yan Shao must choose a target, especially when he is playing relatively large this time, I am afraid that dozens of exchanges in London will have to run again to meet his needs...

After receiving Yan Shao's order, the members of the guards who came to London with Yan Shao also nodded, and after getting more than a dozen maps from the inn, the twenty members of the guards left the inn and began to go to their respective divided areas to check the actual situation of those exchanges on the map...

Although there is already a detailed emblem on the map, after all, you have to take a trip to have a better experience, if you believe everything and hear it, but not see it with your own eyes, there is no guarantee that it is true... (To be continued......)