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

Xu Jingwen snorted coldly, "What's the difference? What's the meaning of the existence of the imperial court? It's herdsmen. Why do we need herdsmen? Just to get money and food to support the royal family and the high-ranking carnivores in the court!"

"Only a ghost can believe that railway transportation can make money! If it can really make money, those high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the Da'an Dynasty have secretly divided up the shares. How can they let us buy it?!"

Xu Jingwen's words sounded reasonable at first, but Xu Shuqi didn't know how to refute them.

But he also felt that if he didn't buy the railway shares this time, he would definitely regret it in the future.

He could only say anxiously: "Dad!"

A middle-aged man is as anxious as a child who wants to buy something.

Seeing this, Xu Jingwen was touched. He softened a little and sighed: "Well, since you are in charge now, you can buy it if you want. But my Xu family is in trouble now and doesn't have much money. You can just buy one share if you want." ."

"Just bought one share?"

Xu Shuqi stared blankly after hearing this.

The Xu family was in decline, and even to the point of selling the garden.

But a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how short of money it is, it's no problem to come up with tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Xu Jingwen only asked him to buy one share!
What is the difference between this and not buying?
Xu Shuqi wanted to persuade him again, but Xu Jingwen said: "That's it. Let's send a few more servants to keep an eye on the garden tomorrow. Don't let the random people damage the scenery inside."

After saying that, Xu Jingwen asked two pretty maids aged 12 or 13 to help him up and went to the backyard humming a little tune.

Xu Shuqi was helpless when he saw this.

Then he gritted his teeth again and thought to himself: The old man is not going to the Humble Administrator's Garden tomorrow anyway, so why not use some money to secretly buy a few more shares.

At the same time, the other owner of the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Wang family, was also discussing the matter.

Compared with the declining Xu family, the Wang family is much stronger.

Wang Xinyi was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli Dynasty. He was considered a veteran of the four dynasties before the Ming Dynasty. He served as an official in the Chongzhen court and became the left minister of the Ministry of punishment.

However, although Wang Xinyi is about the same age as Xu Jingwen, even a year or two younger, his health is much worse.

He was still in bed on a hot day, and the room was filled with the smell of medicine.

Wang Xinyi was a little upset when his son Wang Quanshi came back to ask whether he wanted to buy railway shares.

"Didn't I tell you earlier? It's only a thousand taels of silver per share, so why not buy ten shares? Ten thousand taels of silver can be used to get a name in the government office. It's not a loss, cough, cough, cough."

Wang Quanshi hesitated and said: "Father, since you want to build a relationship with the government, why don't you buy thirty or forty shares? Anyway, it's only tens of thousands of taels of silver, and our family can just take it out..."

"Confused!"

Before Wang Quanshi finished speaking, Wang Xin stopped.

"Are you afraid that the government won't know that our family is rich? If you offer us ten thousand taels of silver, the Da'ei court may remember our family's good deeds; but if you offer fifty thousand or eighty thousand, it will only make the court jealous."

"When the Tai army went to the south of the Yangtze River, it had only been a few years since they attacked the evil gentry and bullies? Aren't you afraid that the imperial court would be jealous and find any reason to beat our family into evil gentry and bullies?"

Wang Quanshi broke into a cold sweat after hearing this, and said hurriedly: "My son wants to be wrong. I will only buy ten shares tomorrow according to my father's instructions."

"Ahem...go ahead. Remember to send a few capable servants to help in the garden tomorrow and take care of the government officials."

"Yes."

···
The next day.

Soon after dawn, many wealthy people in Suzhou City rushed to the Humble Administrator's Garden in cars and sedans.

We met acquaintances along the way, and we couldn't help but say hello, and talk (test) with each other about buying railway shares.

"Brother Wang also wants to buy that share? How many shares are you going to buy?"

"Just buy two or three shares, just think about it. How many are you going to buy, Brother Lu?"

"Haha, I'll buy two or three shares too."

"I don't know how many railway transportation shares the imperial court has pre-sold in Jiangnan this time. If there are too many, and they won't be sold out in the end, I'm afraid the higher-ups will be angry, which will drag me down."

"Isn't that right? Isn't that person always known for being reasonable and loving the people like a son?"

"Being reasonable? That person conquered the world with guns. Even if he is reasonable, he is talking with a musket. As for loving the people as sons, just listen to it, don't take it seriously."

"Then let's buy more? Anyway, it's not short of the few thousand taels of silver." "It depends on the situation."

Humble Administrator's Garden.

Inside a main hall with green bricks and green tiles.

Shen Tingyang sat in the main seat and seemed to be drinking tea calmly, but in fact he was quite nervous.

This is the first major event he has done since he was re-employed by Jinshang. It involves the whole country and is related to a century-old plan, so he naturally wants to do it beautifully.

At this time, the only person sitting in the room with him was Li Qing, a fellow magistrate of Suzhou Prefecture.

As for the prefect Ding Yunyuan, he is a fourth-grade official, two levels higher than Shen Tingyang and Li Qing. He is also the chief official of the first palace and has busy affairs, so he did not come to attend this meeting.

If Ding Yunyuan comes, he will feel like he is taking over the host.

After a while, Zhou Lianggong walked into the house.

Shen Tingyang asked directly: "How many rich people have come to the garden?"

It is difficult to estimate how many rich people there are in Suzhou City, but how many people come to the Humble Administrator's Garden this time can be known through the deposit.

Zhou Lianggong said with a happy face, "Back to the main office, there are one hundred and thirty-six people!"

"so much?"

Shen Tingyang and Li Qing were both surprised.

It should be noted that there are still two or three quarters of an hour before the first quarter of Chen hour, and there will definitely be people coming later. By the time the conference actually begins, won't there be more than 150 people?

"Master Zhou, these more than 130 people do not include their entourage, right?" Li Qing asked urgently.

Zhou Lianggong smiled and said, "Of course it's not included."

Shen Tingyang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that his heart that had been hanging around was half relieved.

Although the rich people who come may not all buy shares, it is better than the few who come. Moreover, these people are willing to pay a deposit of one thousand taels, so there is a high possibility that they will come here to buy shares.

"Chief Zhou, go and ask the officials to check the layout of the venue again. As soon as the first quarter of the hour arrives, the conference will begin. There must be no mistakes!"

"Yes!"

Zhou Lianggong responded and went to work again.

The first hour of the morning is coming soon.

Shen Tingyang, Li Qing and other officials came to the venue together. There was a large open space in the Humble Administrator's Garden - it was originally filled with flowers and plants, but now it was all deserted.

At present, a circle of pavilions has been set up for the "share buying conference", and tables and chairs have also been placed.

Officials such as Shen Tingyang are located in the north, while the other three sides are reserved for wealthy people.

There were several rows of tables and chairs on each side, and tea was served.

Chen Zhe, Huang Liansheng, and Wu Juda found an inconspicuous seat in the last row and sat there, sizing up the venue and marveling.

"When I was about to explain, the local magistrate asked me to pledge donations from the gentry and merchants, and then he would treat me to dinner."

"This time, the imperial court said it was a good thing to allow us to buy railway shares, but it arranged such an elegant venue, and only arranged some ordinary tea, which made people confused."

"Indeed."

"···"

The three of them whispered for a few words, then heard the sound of a gong.

There is a saying that these rich people who came in with a deposit of one thousand taels behaved quite well in front of the Da'ei government. When they heard the gong, they quickly became quiet.

Seeing this, Shen Tingyang stood up, bowed his hands in a salute, and said loudly: "I am a member of the Ministry of Communications, led by Shen Tingyang, the general manager of the 'Da'ei Railway Transportation Company', and I came to Suzhou to host our company's first share subscription meeting!"

"This share subscription meeting is held in Jiangnan, so the funds raised will also be used first to build the first railway in Jiangnan."

"In order to thank you for your support to our company, I will first talk about our company's general plan to build the first railway in Jiangnan. Pictured above!"

After Shen Tingyang finished speaking, two officials entered the open space in the center of the venue, unfolded a map, and showed it to the wealthy people in the east, west, and south directions. (End of chapter)