The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

There are dozens of wealthy families like Huang Liansheng in Suzhou City. But if you count those wealthy and wealthy people who are not well-known, then there are not many of them.

A few days ago, the government first issued a notice informing the court of the establishment of a railway transportation company and the sale of shares of the company to the public.

Then there were more and more discussions about this matter in the city.

Huang Liansheng was both a wealthy family and a businessman in Suzhou, so he naturally participated.

But after all, this was unprecedented. He really couldn't make up his mind, so he communicated, discussed, and even tested each other with friends in various circles.

For example, the other three people who came to Zuixian Tower today are all businessmen of the same size as the Huang family in Suzhou City.

After Huang Liansheng finished speaking, Wu Juda, who was more well-informed among the others, said: "It should be reliable, right? Although Da'ei was founded less than three years ago, it has always been about credibility. Since the railway transportation company can make money, it will definitely not lose money."

"In addition, I heard from a cousin in Changshu that the Qian family in Luyuan, Changshu, sold some of their properties and shops a few days ago just to raise money to buy shares in the railway transportation company."

Speaking of the latter sentence, Wu Juda lowered his voice, obviously thinking that the news was valuable and did not want people outside the box to hear it.

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, a middle-aged man next to him, who was slightly tall and thin and dressed like a Confucian scholar, laughed.

"Since Qian Qianyi took the initiative to surrender to Wei and drafted the "Teaching for Ming Dynasty", he lost the character of a scholar and devoted himself to catering to the current man in the new dynasty."

"As soon as you hear about these railways, trains, and railway transportation companies, you will know who created them. It must be that person's idea to allow private individuals to purchase shares in railway transportation companies."

"So, why is it so strange that Qian Qianyi spent some money to please and flatter him? Maybe the court wanted to use this matter to plunder the money of big and wealthy people like us."

This person's name is Zhou Yicai, and he comes from the Zhou family, the largest family in Suzhou, but he is a side branch.

Although he only had the reputation of being a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, after he started doing business, he often became arty and regarded himself as a Confucian businessman. His words were quite nostalgic for the Ming Dynasty, and he also looked down upon Qian Qianyi, a famous Jiangzuo scholar who had lost his reputation.

"So, Brother Zhou is not going to buy the shares of the railway transportation company?" Huang Liansheng couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Yicai said without hesitation, "I don't want to please that person like Qian Qianyi. Why did I buy it? Will I panic if I have too much money?"

"Cough cough."

As soon as Zhou Yicai finished speaking, Chen Zhe, the youngest of the four, coughed twice and said, "Brother Zhou, be careful. It is not good for others to listen to such comments about the ministers of the DPRK."

"So what if I heard it? Is it possible that because of a few words, I will be convicted and thrown into prison?"

Zhou Yi Caihun didn't care, and became more and more disrespectful towards Da'ei's court and government in his words.

He was not afraid, but Huang Liansheng and Wu Juda were afraid and quickly changed the subject.

Huang Liansheng asked, "Brother Chen, are you ready to buy that share?"

"Of course I want to buy it." Chen Zhe gave a completely opposite answer to Zhou Yicai, "Whether the shares of the railway transportation company can repay the capital and make money in the future is aside. Just say that the railway transportation company belongs to half of the imperial yamen. Its The shares are worth buying.”

"With the shares in hand, I can be considered one of the owners of the yamen. This identity may come in handy in the future."

"It may bring some convenience when dealing with the government, or it may eliminate some disasters in the future."

"Anyway, it's only a thousand taels of silver per share. If you buy a few shares, your wealth and life may be protected, and your business may be a little more convenient. Why not?"

Hearing this, Huang Liansheng and Wu Juda couldn't help but nodded subconsciously.

Although their wealth is only on the third or second level in Suzhou City and they are not truly wealthy families, they can still afford thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Zhou Yicai snorted coldly, "Chen Zhe, what's the difference between your behavior and Qian Qianyi and others?"

Chen Zhe's face also turned cold and he said calmly: "Brother Zhou won't buy it if he doesn't want to. Do you still want to care about how I spend my money?"

Zhou Yicai looked at Huang and Wu, and seeing that they had no intention of speaking for him, he snorted coldly and walked away.

When Zhou Yicai's footsteps were far away, Wu Juda shook his head and sighed, "This Zhou Yicai is obviously a businessman, but he insists on pretending to be a scholar. It's off-putting."

"Just don't call him at the next party." Huang Liansheng said, then looked at Chen Zhe and asked: "How many shares are you going to buy, Mr. Chen?"

Chen Zhe smiled slightly and said, "You can buy as many shares as you like. It all depends on your financial resources and wishes."

Seeing Chen Zhe not far away revealing his thoughts, Huang Liansheng did not ask further questions.

The three of them went on to talk about trains and railways.

"Have you two seen the railways and trains in Nanjing? To be honest, if I hadn't seen someone adding coal to the front of the train to light the fire, I would have thought it was the magic weapon invited from the fairy world today."

"Who says it's not - I think this railway company can make money in Jiangnan just by using this as a gimmick."

After listening to what the two said, Chen Zhe smiled and said, "Both brothers still don't realize the real benefits of this train." "Oh? Brother Chen, what do you think?"

"Although there are many rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, water transportation is convenient, but most of the rivers are difficult for large ships, so the goods transported by boats are always limited, at least not as good as the train. Right?"

"good."

All three of them have seen trains before, and when they think about the dozen or so carriages, they feel awesome.

Chen Zhe continued: "Furthermore, boats travel on lakes and rivers. Even boaters who are familiar with hydrology rarely take the risk of sailing at night. On the one hand, it is dangerous, and on the other hand, boatmen need to rest."

"But as for the train, there is basically no danger when it runs along the rails on land. As long as you bring enough coal and water, it can be driven by two or three groups of people in turns, and it can run day and night. How fast is it?"

"Therefore, I am sure that once this railway is established in Jiangnan, as long as the price is reasonable, merchants from all over the world will rush to transport goods by train."

"Both of you are businessmen. You should know what it means to be able to transport goods faster and safer in the mall, right?"

The shopping mall is like a battlefield, and every step must be fought for.

Since railway transportation has so many advantages, it will definitely make money in the future, even a lot of money.

Huang Liansheng originally just wanted to buy a few shares for fun, but after hearing what Chen Zhe said, he changed his mind and decided to take a gamble and buy more shares of the railway transportation company...
Another day passed.

I don’t know where the news came from, this time the railway company sold a limited number of shares in Jiangnan.

Some people say that they will only sell 500 shares, while others say that they will only sell 100 shares.

Anyway, not many.

There may even be certain restrictions on the identity of the buyer, such as having a clean family background and no criminals within three generations; another example, someone in the family must be an official; and even worse, the buyer must have a great reputation.

Rumors spread, and there was no consensus.

Originally, some gentry and wealthy households made up their minds to ignore the matter out of wariness of the Da'ei court. But after hearing the news, which was unknown to be true or false, I started to pay attention to this moment.

Many of them feel that the rarer the railway company's shares are, the more money they should spend to buy a few shares.

People who were planning to buy in the first place feel that under such circumstances, they should buy more - rare things are worth more.

In this way, three days passed in a flash.

The Suzhou government office and the railway transportation company finally issued a notice that a public sale of shares will be held at midnight tomorrow morning in the Humble Administrator's Garden.

Of course, in order to avoid crowding and confusion caused by other people entering the park, attendees must pay a deposit of 1,000 taels and can bring one attendant.

The deposit will be refunded after the meeting.

As for how many shares the railway transportation company will sell this time, there is no mention of a word.

The gentry, wealthy businessmen, big landowners and other wealthy people who gathered in Suzhou City started discussing among themselves after hearing the news.

At this time, one of the owners of the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Xu family, started arguing about this matter.

The Humble Administrator's Garden was originally expanded on the site of Dahong Temple by Wang Xianchen, the censor who returned home during the Zhengde period. Later, his son was addicted to gambling and owed huge debts, so he sold the garden to the Xu family.

However, the Xu family has owned this garden for hundreds of years, and the family situation has declined. The garden has been neglected and gradually deserted. A few years ago, the more than ten acres on the east side were sold to Wang Xinyi, an official who resigned from office and returned to his hometown.

Although the garden belongs to two families, the Suzhou government government has requisitioned the garden this time, so the two families dare not disobey.

As a result, Xu and Wang, two local Suzhou gentry, paid special attention to the "share buying conference".

In the main courtyard hall of Xu's mansion.

Xu Shuqi, who had been the head of the family for just a few years, looked anxious.

He said to the old man sitting at the top: "Father, everyone in Suzhou is worried about not being able to buy railway shares. My family is lucky enough to have the government government take a fancy to the garden and use it to hold conferences. I can't take this matter into account and pre-purchase some shares." , why don’t you let me buy it?”

The old man has gray hair and is leaning on a cane, but his face still looks rosy. He is Xu Jingwen, the previous head of the Xu family.

He paused his crutch and spat out Xingzi and said, "Why does everyone in Suzhou want to buy it? These are all unfounded rumors!"

"Things like trains, railways, and shares don't sound reliable. It's obvious that the court wants to make money. Your father and I have been officials in the Ming Dynasty for so long, so we know the ropes very well!"

Hearing this, Xu Shuqi couldn't help but said: "Dad, the Damei court is different from the Ming Dynasty!" (End of Chapter)