1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 504 Vanderbilt's Huge Investment
San Francisco in November 1856 had entered the end of autumn, and the bleak scene was gradually revealed.

The leaves began to turn yellow and brown, and the fallen leaves fluttered in the wind and fell silently to the ground, dotting the streets, parks and squares of the entire city.

The clear blue sky in the past has become a rare sight now. The sky in San Francisco seems to be like a gloomy face, which is not good for people, and is always gray.

"The purpose of my coming to California this time is the same as six years ago, to conduct research and investment and look for business opportunities."

Seeing Liang Yao, Vanderbilt did not beat around the bush, but directly explained his intention.

"It's different. This time you came to California, not so much for investment, but as a hedge." Liang Yao personally poured a cup of his favorite black tea for Vanderbilt.

In the past two months, Vanderbilt has sold more than $2000 million worth of railroad company shares and bonds.

Such a big move could be detected by even a little sensitive Wall Street retail investors, so Liang Yao couldn't hide it.

Two months ago, Jones, the president of Bank of America New York Branch, reported this situation to Liang Yao.

Different from Liang Yao, Liang Yao's American Group is a large comprehensive group with many businesses.

Although the management difficulty and cost are relatively high, the ability to hedge risks is still stronger than that of Vanderbilt, a railway tycoon who has only operated railways for several years.

In just two months, more than 2000 million US dollars worth of railway company shares and bonds were sold out, leaving only one company, the Central Railway Company.

It takes a lot of determination to make such a decision, and Liang Yao admires the old man's determination and courage very much.

You know, the railroad industry in the United States is still on the rise.

His thoughts were exposed by Liang Yao, Vanderbilt was stunned for a moment, and then asked with a straight face: "Do you also think that the economic crisis is coming soon?"

"When you asked this question, I think you already had an answer in your heart. You had an answer that you were not very willing to accept." Liang Yao said very calmly.

It is impossible to say that the economic crisis in the American market will not have any negative impact on the West Coast.After all, the West Coast market is also part of the American market.

Being away from the core market in the eastern part of the United States is a very big disadvantage for the West Coast, but at certain times, such as when the economic crisis comes, this disadvantage is actually an advantage.

The west coast market is relatively closed, and the foundation has been relatively solid in the past five years, and there are not many bubbles. Liang Yao believes that the economic crisis in the east will not have a great impact on the economy of the west coast.

Of course, the economic crisis has not only negative impacts on the West Coast, especially California, but also positive ones.

After all, during the economic crisis in 1848, many residents of the eastern coastal areas chose to move westward to make a living, and there were many property owners among these immigrants.

The rapid rise of California at that time was due to the local gold rush in California, the Great Depression caused by the economic crisis in the eastern region, and the internal and external forces of the cholera epidemic, which completed the first round of siphoning of native immigrants.

If California can withstand the impact of the economic crisis, it will be able to attract more high-quality immigrants to settle in California, and more capital to seek refuge in California.

Therefore, the national economic crisis in the United States is not all bad for California.

"I don't know what you think of France's economic situation in the next few years?" Vanderbilt asked tentatively.

"Before I came to California, I received an invitation from the French government. In order to attract American businessmen to invest in France, the French government offered generous conditions.

You have always had a good relationship with the French side. I have received invitations, and you must have received invitations from the French side. Maybe the French side will offer you more generous terms. "

When Napoleon III participated in the election, he made a promise to the old French nobles to recast the former glory of the French Empire and maintain the stability of French society.

The bourgeois nouveaux promised to protect private property and strictly abide by the constitution.

Promises to the proletariat to solve employment and increase wages.

Promise to farmers to reduce land tax and agricultural tax.

Now Napoleon III is setting about fulfilling his promises.

In the next decade or so in France, until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the political situation can be said to be quite stable compared with the first half of the 19th century.

Moreover, France's industrial foundation is relatively strong. In all fairness, France during the reign of Napoleon III was indeed a treasure land for investment.

"I did receive an invitation from the Pope. From a business point of view, France is worth investing in." Liang Yao said after thinking for a while.

"Maybe I will make a token investment in France for personal friendship and other considerations to maintain the friendship between California and France. But my focus will still be in California and the West Coast, after all, this is my home. .”

Three years ago, the French side asked whether they could transfer the production line of Walter rifles for export, but Liang Yao refused.

Now Liang Yao has plans to get rid of the Walter rifle export model production line.

If possible, Liang Yao also hopes to transfer the production line of Walter rifle export models to France through this opportunity of attracting investment from France.

Vanderbilt stared at Liang Yao, and asked after a while: "I heard that the petrochemical industry in California is only open to consortiums in California?"

"You are my father-in-law, not an outsider. If you are interested in investing in the petrochemical industry in California, I welcome you on behalf of California." Liang Yao replied.

"Can you afford an investment of 1600 million dollars?" Vanderbilt continued to ask after a moment of consideration, "The most important thing is, what is the return on investment?"

The figure of 1600 million US dollars could not help but make Liang Yao's eyes light up.

Liang Yao has invested an additional 700 million US dollars to expand the production capacity of Los Angeles Petrochemical.

If Vanderbilt is willing to invest 1600 million US dollars, he can not only continue to expand the petrochemical production capacity in Los Angeles, but also directly deploy the petrochemical industry in the east, such as oil in Texas and Pennsylvania.

Fat water does not flow to outsiders' fields, Vanderbilt's idle funds, no matter what they want to get their hands on.

"The annual profit rate of Los Angeles Petrochemical has never been lower than 50% since its establishment. In 1855, the annual profit rate of Los Angeles Petrochemical was 85%.

In addition, Standard Oil's exploration team is exploring for oil in Texas and Pennsylvania. Once oil fields are found in these places, there will be Texas Petrochemical and Pennsylvania Petrochemical in the future. "Liang Yao painted a big cake for Vanderbilt.

The reason why Standard Oil can achieve such high profit margins is because Standard Oil has adopted a strategy of monopoly and vertical integration.

It is relatively easy to monopolize scarce natural resources.The monopoly strategy means that Standard Oil Company controls the only known crude oil origin and refining method in the world, occupies an absolute dominant position in the market, and has absolute control over the market price of petrochemical products.

At the same time, Standard Oil has adopted a strategy of vertical integration, that is, bringing multiple links of the production chain into the control of the company.

Controlled oil production, oil refining, product processing, transportation and sales, etc., so that the company can control costs and prices in all links, and ensured the absolute voice of Standard Oil in the entire oil industry.

Los Angeles Petrochemical is responsible for oil production, refining, and processing, and Standard Oil is responsible for finding new oil fields, transportation, and sales.

Vanderbilt was shocked and pleasantly surprised by the high profit margins in the petrochemical industry.

He has long heard of the huge profits of the petrochemical industry in California, but he did not expect such huge profits.

Liang Yao is currently frantically expanding the plant to purchase machines, and the labor costs in California are also very high. Under such circumstances, he can still maintain such a high annual profit, which shows that the petrochemical industry is even more crazy than the gold rush industry. and.

"Tsk tsk, no wonder you shut out outsiders." Vanderbilt sighed in admiration, "It's too high, it's unrealistically high, can I look at the financial reports of Los Angeles Petrochemical and Standard Oil?"

The $1600 million is almost one-third of the Vanderbilt family's net worth. With such a large investment, Vanderbilt had to be cautious.

"Of course." Liang Yao readily agreed.

"However, there is one thing I would like to declare in advance. My money is only here to avoid the limelight temporarily. I don't want to get involved in a field I am not familiar with for a long time." Vanderbilt emphasized, "It would be great if there is no economic crisis, and I will Get the money back and continue working on my railroad.

If there is, after the crisis is over, I still want to get back the money and buy the bankrupt railway company at the bottom. "

"To put it bluntly, you still want to be a railway." Liang Yao said with a smile.

Thanks to the Pioneer series locomotives launched by the California Railway Company, and the courage of Liang Yao and Vanderbilt, they directly dug the tracks of their own railway company that did not meet the Pioneer series locomotives, and established track standards for the American Railway.

Therefore, the railway bubble is big, but the assets of railway companies are not completely junk assets, and they have the value of bargain hunting.

At this time in history, the width of railroad tracks in the United States is varied. It is no longer a matter of one standard for each state, but one standard for each company.The seven-year railway boom left behind a pile of industrial waste, resulting in a huge waste of resources.

The standardization of American railways in later generations was already in 1886.

Because different railway companies use different gauges, it brings a lot of inconvenience to domestic and international trade.

In order to solve this problem, the American Railway Company began to explore the possibility of standardizing the gauge, and passed the "National Railway Standardization Act" in 1886 to unify the rail gauge to 4 feet 8.5 inches (about 1435 mm), which is what modern said "Standard Gauge".

"Life is short, and it is enough to do one or two things well in a lifetime." Vanderbilt said very seriously, "I can only feel at ease in the field I am familiar with."

The conversation between Liang Yao and Vanderbilt had just ended, and he was about to send Vanderbilt to rest when he bumped into the fiery Sven head-on.

"General, there is an urgent message!" Sven handed two letters to Liang Yao in a hurry.

Liang Yao opened one of the letters, and when he saw the contents of the letter clearly, his expression froze instantly.

　The profit margin of the oil industry refers to the book "The Rise of Standard Oil" (The Rise of Standard Oil). This book has the financial reports and data of Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company after its establishment.

　　In the 1870s, the standard oil company's annual profit margin was basically maintained between 50% and 100%.

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　　Working overtime these days is a bit outrageous. It’s almost two o’clock in the morning when I get home from work, and I have to clock in for work at 08:30 in the morning. I really can’t stand it. I will try to update it these days.

　　Double updates can be resumed after the 15th.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)