"Dagui Commercial Bank is going to make 2 million yuan today," several newspapers in Shanghai have published news reports on this incident.

Zhao Dagui knew in his heart that Dagui Commercial Bank purchased a large number of foreign cloths from Yisheng Bank at a low price, and as long as these foreign cloths were sold at the original price, they could earn 1.5 million yuan, so the so-called goal of 2 million was not as far out of reach as he thought before.

However, 1846 was very crucial, and some of the layouts had to be done well in advance.

On this day, Bai Siyuanbai, who had been in charge of buying land and public relations of the government, was summoned by Zhao Dagui and asked him to come to Zhao Dagui's office at two o'clock in the afternoon to discuss things.

"How could the big boss think of talking to me, no one will sue me for a small case, right?" Bai Siyuan was puzzled, but he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly replied to the secretary sent by Zhao Dagui's office that he would arrive on time.

The secretary's office set up by Zhao Dagui originally had only one head and three ordinary secretaries for Xu Wenqiang, but recently it has expanded to one director, two deputy directors, and seven ordinary secretaries.

Considering that Xu Wenqiang played a very important role in the business war in 1845, and his status in the Dagui trading house was also rising, all the shopkeepers did not dare to ignore the secretary's office and tried their best to establish a good relationship.

Speaking of which, Bai Siyuan's status in Dagui Commercial Bank is somewhat special.

Originally, Bai Siyuan was just a down-and-out scholar, and after many years of taking the imperial examination, he was also admitted to the level of Xiucai, and later gave up the idea of the imperial examination, and turned to those big officials as masters and other staff.

Of course, Bai Siyuan has nothing to do with it, and he just serves as a master for officials at the county level, one of whom is still the former county governor of Shanghai, so he has a certain network in Shanghai.

In 1844, when Zhao Dagui was interested in acquiring land in the Shanghai Concession, someone recommended Bai Siyuan, saying that he knew many people in Shanghai and was familiar with officialdom, and that with his help, it would definitely be easier to acquire land.

Zhao Dagui was very rich at that time, so he hired Bai Siyuan and several other people with experience to go to Dagui Commercial Bank to help purchase land.

Bai Siyuan came to Dagui Commercial Bank at the beginning just in the form of help, that is, to help sort out the relationship with the government, but later he worked seriously and helped Dagui Commercial Bank solve several small troubles, and was gradually valued by Zhao Dagui, so he set up a department called "Public Relations Department", so that Bai Siyuan became the minister, responsible for taking care of some things that need to deal with the government.

Dagui Commercial Bank has good benefits, and it is also very face-saving to go out, so Bai Siyuan cherishes this job very much.

In the afternoon, Bai Siyuan changed into clean clothes and went to the door of Zhao Dagui's office, and after waiting for a few minutes, he was introduced into the office by the secretary outside the door.

"Minister Bai is very punctual. Zhao Dagui was originally looking at a large map in the office, but when he saw Bai Siyuan, he nodded and motioned for him to sit on the chair in front of the desk.

"The owner called, don't dare to miss the time, for fear of being ordered by your military to do it. Bai Siyuan said with a smile.

"Minister Bai is still so good at laughing. Zhao Dagui couldn't help but smile.

Bai Siyuan had experience in serving many officials before, and after arriving at Dagui Commercial Bank, he took great pains to establish a humorous and capable image, and every time he saw Zhao Dagui, he had to say two humorous words to ease the atmosphere.

"This southeast coast is too big, and the map cannon is not easy to fire. Zhao Dagui stared at the map for a long time before putting it aside.

Bai Siyuan was quick to see that the map that Zhao Dagui studied was a map of China made by Westerners, which was very different from the simple map style of the Qing Dynasty and much more detailed.

"The development of Dagui Commercial Bank has reached a certain limit in Shanghai.

Minister Bai thinks that Dagui Commercial Bank will continue to develop, what should we do next?"

At this time, the secretary had already brought the refreshments for hospitality and put them on the table, Zhao Dagui picked up a cup of tea and drank it, and motioned Bai Siyuan to drink tea by himself.

"The next step is to develop the peripheral market and develop business in Huzhou and Suzhou. Bai Siyuan picked up the teacup and took a sip carefully, then put it down again.

"Well, it's right to develop Huzhou and Suzhou, but there are still some problems with relying on these places alone. Zhao Dagui said to himself, and then suddenly raised his head and asked, "What do you think of Dinghai?"

"Dinghai?" Bai Siyuan didn't feel surprised, and said almost without thinking: "Dinghai doesn't have any business opportunities, it's just a small island, the British used to open a trading house there and made a lot of money, but in this foreign cloth crisis, they also plummeted, and almost all of them lost money and left."

To be honest, Dinghai is too close to Shanghai, and foreigners who come to Dinghai to do business might as well take one more step to Shanghai, so there are definitely not many opportunities in Dinghai in the future. ”

"That's what you think?" Zhao Dagui tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully, as if he was thinking about something.

Bai Siyuan suddenly felt very regretful, feeling that what he said earlier was too early.

Zhao Dagui made a very rapid start, accumulating millions of family fortunes in two years, and even became the largest businessman in Shanghai.

However, Bai Siyuan has been in contact with Zhao Dagui for a long time, but he understands that he is extremely knowledgeable, and he is very far-sighted and decisive when doing business, and he is really a first-class hero.

Such a person must have a reason for asking about the affairs of the sea, and he is afraid that he will easily deny the affairs of the sea, and he may give people the impression of being too far-sighted and frivolous.

"This Minister Dinghai Bai has also been there, and he has also helped buy a lot of land, what is your impression of Dinghai?" Zhao Dagui asked noncommittally.

"Dinghai is located on the main transportation route, it is very convenient to do business in Japan or North Korea, even to Dayuan is not far away, it is a very important port. Bai Siyuan said as cautiously as possible:

"It's just that because of the small population and the occupation by the British, many merchants are reluctant to go back to Dinghai.

Originally, the British relied on Dinghai to sell a lot of things, but after the rise of trade in Shanghai, a lot of business in Dinghai also moved to Shanghai, and after last year's foreign cloth crisis, this trend was even more obvious. ”

That's right. Zhao Dagui nodded, and suddenly asked again: "I heard that it is very convenient for us to buy and sell official positions in the Qing Dynasty, how much do you think it will cost me to buy a seat in Dinghaizhi County?"

"Do you want to buy the official position of Dinghaizhi County?" Bai Siyuan had a feeling of being suddenly beaten, Zhao Dagui's turn was too abrupt, and there was no sign at all.

"yes, what do you think of this idea?"

"Dinghai has a small population, so it is not a shortage of fertilizer, but it has developed commerce and fishery, and it is also a moderately profitable county.

According to the current market, the position of the magistrate of Fuxian County is only 50,000 or 60,000 yuan, and in a place like Dinghai, 20,000 or 30,000 yuan can be won.

However, now that Dinghai is occupied by the British, the imperial court has not sent a magistrate to Dinghai for a long time, and with the temper of the British, the imperial court will not be allowed to send officials to Dinghai, right?"