Thick Persian wool sofas, sturdy ebony writing desks, intricately carved hardwood low bookshelves, beautifully bound books, and the whole arrangement is solemn and harmonious. The walls are covered with two faded gray tapestries by the famous French artist Gobland, depicting lifelike shepherds and trees.

During the day, the whole mansion looks exotic.

Gu Yongyuan sat in front of the writing desk, fiddling with a kaleidoscope in his hand. On the desk, there is an emerald green hosta, and the pearl head exudes colorful light, which is extremely gorgeous. There is also a gleaming gold pocket watch with a diamond-encrusted bracelet. Next to it are placed several small boxes filled with pearls and precious gemstones. Next to the box was a thick stack of Hengtongzhuang's silver tickets, which were 10,000 taels.

These items were all gifted by Storm Jade Mountain. Fiddling with the kaleidoscope, Gu Yongyuan chuckled. It seems that Storm Jade Mountain has spared no effort and put in a lot of effort. Look at the small things on the table, there are both local treasures and imported goods. Regardless of his temperament, there must be something in it that he likes.

He heard that during the Qianlong period, it would cost tens of thousands of taels just to present a work of art in front of Lord Fukangan. Now, with such a great influence on Storm Jade Mountain, even if he spends all his family property, he is determined to make Storm Jade Mountain happy. Moreover, it seems that Storm Jade Mountain may be scolding him. For him, it is undoubtedly a rare opportunity to be able to connect with the future Iron Hat King.

Although Gu Yongyuan is a descendant of Prince Yong, 10,000 taels of silver is a lot of money. Prince Yong's family background is a formidable behemoth, Prince Yong's annual income alone reaches 10,000 taels, plus the various sources of income of the prince's mansion, it is an astronomical amount. With tens of millions of acres of land, pastures and forests at home and abroad, and tens of thousands of taels of land rent per year, coupled with several gold mines and coal mines abroad, its industrial scale is indeed staggering.

However, the expenses of Prince Yong's family are equally staggering. Over the ages, few heads of a family have been able to save silver taels, and the most famous royal garden in the capital, Huiyuan, is a typical example. Generations of princes felt that wealth was a curse, so they took all the money they had saved from the family treasury and built this magnificent garden.

Therefore, although Gu Yongyuan received a large sum of ten thousand taels almost without much effort, he must not be considered unambitious or indifferent. In fact, he was happy for a while.

"Master, there's a foreigner giving you a business card." There was a knock on the door, and Mo Ba's thin figure walked in quickly with a gold-rimmed business card.

Gu Yongyuan took the card and glanced at it, "Shenghe Trading-Michael Wells." ”

"Invite him to the parlor to talk." Gu Yongyuan commanded. He tried to recall all the information about this Michael Wells, but couldn't seem to remember anything important. Still, considering that many foreign merchants made their fortunes in China through the opium trade during this period, most notably James Healey, the U.S. consul in Shanghai, it is clear that many made good profits. However, this Mr. Wells managed to meet with him in front of the consular officer. This is worth paying attention to.

...

There is an air of elegance and cleanliness in the reception hall. The French carpet underfoot is unusually soft, more than two inches thick. The walls are covered with oil paintings, exuding a Western vibe.

Mr. Wells had an aristocratic demeanor, with a short, neatly manicured beard that curled exaggeratedly. As he talked, he seemed to enjoy tapping the table with a beautifully decorated pipe.

Since Gu Yongyuan was fluent in English, the translator he brought was left outside. There were only two people in the reception hall, Mr. Wells and Gu Yongyuan.

Mr. Wells was direct. After a pleasant exchange, he smiled and asked, "I wonder if the envoy is interested in firearms?" ”

Gu Yongyuan took a sip of tea and thought to himself, it turns out that he is an arms dealer. Without thoroughly understanding the other party's background, Gu Yongyuan smiled and said, "Mr. Wells, it's not just me who is interested in firearms, I believe many people are the same. ”

In today's Shanghai, the public concession and the urban area are two completely different worlds, which are different from the layout of the late Republic of China.

Although the Qing army besieged the county seat occupied by the Shanghai Wind Sword Society, Britain, the United States, France, and other countries, while claiming to maintain neutrality towards their own citizens, actually maintained trade routes with the Wind Sword Society rebel forces. Knife Association. The material supply of the members of the Wind Sword Society is maintained through these channels of foreign merchants. However, they needed large quantities of silver to buy food, gunpowder, and other materials at prices several times higher than the market price.

Driven by profits, these merchants dealt with the rebel and Qing armies and reaped huge economic benefits from the war.

Still, if the man wants to get close to him, it seems like a big deal.

Sure enough, Mr. Wells tapped his pipe, his cunning eyes sparkled, and said, "Your Excellency, a thousand rifles, are you going to sell them to the rebels who oppose your central government?" ”

A thousand rifles? Gu Yongyuan's brows twitched, but there was no expression of surprise on his face. He smiled and asked, "Mr. Wells, are you an arms dealer or an opium dealer?" Engaging in this kind of business is not only harmful and unbeneficial, but also brings bad retribution. And, maritime trade is dangerous and arduous, hasn't Mr. Wells considered alternative investments? ” ？”

Mr. Wells was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Do you understand business investment?" It seems that the idea of a high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty suddenly talking to him about business is quite funny.

Gu Yongyuan leaned forward and said, "I have an immature idea, maybe you can call it financial speculation. Let's take a look at the war that your country and France are waging against the Tsar, who are said to have set up telegraph communications to transmit information. But what if the telegraph operator makes a mistake? If the report of the defeat had been out for a month, would it have caused a significant drop in the stock prices of companies that were vital to the interests of the Ottoman Empire? Will even your country's national debt fluctuate dramatically? What happens when the real thing arrives in London a month later? ”

"Of course, I'm just giving you an example, although the financial regulation in your country may be relatively lax now, how could a telegraph operator make such a low-level mistake?" Gu Yongyuan said with a mysterious smile.

Mr. Wells' eyes brightened and he stopped smoking. He fell into deep thought.

At this time, Mo Ba walked into the room, whispered a few words in Gu Yongyuan's ear, and then withdrew.

Gu Yongyuan has been waiting for Mo Ba's report. Translators provided by Moba and Mr. Wells were waiting in the side hall. Koo had previously instructed Mo Ba to gather information about Mr. Wells through a translator.

Sure enough, Mo Ba did not disappoint. In his report, he provided a detailed background on Mr. Wells. It turned out that Mr. Wells was originally a down-and-out aristocrat. He came to China more than a decade ago to engage in the opium trade and is rumored to have amassed a fortune of nearly a million pounds. Although he was not particularly well-known in the UK, he had become one of the wealthiest businessmen in the UK.

This discovery surprised Gu Yongyuan. Considering that the richest people in the world are mainly from Britain and its former colonies, merchants with assets of more than a million pounds are indeed a rare breed. In this era, a pound can be exchanged for more than four taels of silver. His recent hefty bribes are only worth around £4,000.

Although the Huacheng merchants who monopolized domestic and foreign trade through the Thirteen Lines were declining, some of them were at risk of having their property confiscated and punished. Their wealth does not involve any significant technical knowledge; It relied on a ban on trade by the imperial court, which only allowed the Thirteen Lines of Canton to trade with foreigners.

However, a British businessman with a net worth of £1.2 million can also achieve remarkable results if he has a keen business acumen.

"Mr. Wells, Mr. Wells." Gu Yongyuan shouted twice, and Wells seemed to come back to his senses.

"Mr. Wells, may you allow me to take a look at the rifle you intend to sell?" Gu Yongyuan asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes." Mr. Wells agreed absentmindedly, apparently still thinking about Gu Yongyuan's persuasion.