My life skills in Daming Liver

When Xu Guo returned to Songjiang Mansion, he summoned businessmen who were willing to invest in the railway. He also invited powerful businessmen from nearby areas and held a public meeting.

At the beginning, Xu Kun was naturally very excited when he heard that Xu Guo had summoned them for a meeting.

The plan to jointly invest in the railway was not Xu Kun's idea, but the suggestion made by his father Xu Jie.

Xu Jie is already very old. Even in the southeast, where the average life expectancy has been extended, Xu Jie is considered to be quite long-lived.

After returning to his hometown, Xu Jie knew no visitors and did not write books. His daily job was to read and read newspapers, but he became sharper and sharper.

It has to be said that the ministers of the Jiajing Dynasty did live a long life. Xu Jie's old rival Yan Song was already over eighty years old. It was said that he died of illness last year.

Yan Song was from Youjiang, Jiangxi Province. After Yan Song resigned as prime minister, Jiajing gave him dignity and allowed him to serve as an official and return to his hometown, but his son Yan Shifan was killed.

This signal told the world that the Yan Party had completely collapsed. Xu Jie, his successor, did not send anyone on time at all. Local officials made trouble one after another. By the time Yan Song returned to his hometown in Jiangxi, there was only one old servant left by his side.

Yan Song's property was confiscated and his family was exiled. Yan Song first ate in the clan's ancestral hall and ate some food donated by his fellow villagers.

Before the Southeast New Army came over, Yan Song knew that his evil deeds would definitely be liquidated by the Southeast New Army, so he fled to Henan again.

After arriving in Henan, Yan Song was even more helpless, but his health was indeed good, and he struggled for another half a year before he died.

After receiving the news of Yan Song's death, Xu Jie cherished his current life even more. He was able to retire in his hometown, which was far better than his colleagues.

It was at this time that Xu Jie, who had never interfered in the family business after returning home, called his son over and told him his plan.

At that time, Xu Kun disapproved:

"Dad, don't read the hype in the newspapers. In fact, the railway does not make much money at all. You see, the Susong Railway is still losing money on passenger transport. The profits from freight must be used to subsidize passenger transport."

"At this rate, it will take several years for the railway to recover its costs. Why can't it be more profitable than this these days?"

What Xu Kun said is indeed correct. The investment in railways is huge, the threshold is high, and it requires specialized workers and engineers for maintenance.

Other new industries, such as investing in and building cement factories and glass factories, are now hugely profitable industries.

Cotton and wool textiles, a light textile industry, require little capital and low risks, and are a traditional industry of the Xu family.

Even in ocean commerce, profits are extremely huge, so in Xu Kun's view, railways are not a good business at all, or even a bad business.

Xu Jie patiently listened to his son's words, and then said: "You are right. From now on, the railway is indeed not a good business, or even a bad business."

"But as a father, I have thought of something in the past few years. As a person, you should not look at how prosperous you are now, but also look at the future."

"Take Yan Song as an example. He suppressed me for decades and had all the power. Finally, he ended up in a wilderness where his corpse was exposed and his family was confiscated."

Xu Kun was still a little impatient and said: "Dad, what year are you talking about? We are a legal society in the southeast. How can we confiscate homes at every turn?"

Xu Jie lamented his son's innocence, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he said, "Dad, let's put it another way. You are talented in business. Where are your sons?"

Xu Kun was stunned for a moment.

Xu Kun is already in his forties, and his two sons are adults.

But it seems that these two sons have no business talent at present.

Even extending this scope to his other four nephews, the third generation of the Xu family seems to have no business talent.

This is also something Xu Kun has been worrying about.

He is already over forty years old. Even if the Xu family lives longer and the Xu family's properties are now spread across the southeast, he can no longer run away.

There are many things that need to be done by the sons, but the two sons don't mention it.

The eldest son, Xu Jin, has always been interested in arithmetic. This is not the kind of arithmetic that counts in an accounting office, but arithmetic that Xu Kun cannot understand at all.

Derivatives and calculus, in Xu Kun's opinion, are sacred texts.

Not long ago, the eldest son went to Nanjing to study arithmetic at Tiangong Academy without telling her. He actually gave up the family business and went to study, which almost made Xu Kun angry to death.

The second son Xu Xiu is a normal playboy. He loves vocal music very much and often appears in vocal music venues.

This guy even went to the docks to meet Westerners and learn their instruments.

A few days ago, he even sponsored a band, which caused a sensation in the whole city. Xu Kun was so frightened that he quickly confined his second son to the house and prohibited him from going out to mess around.

When Xu Jie said this, Xu Kun got a headache.

Xu Jie added: "And you said that railways are not a good industry now, so let me ask you, what was the profit of cotton textile eight years ago?"

Eight years ago? That was when Su Ze's "Tiangong Kaiwu" was published in Jiangnan. At that time, Xu Kun decisively smashed the old spinning machine ordered at home and replaced it with a new spinning machine from the Grand Governor Tiangong Kaiwu. Keeping up with the technological revolution in one round.

That was Xu Kun's highlight moment, and he often used it to brag to his sons about his wise vision back then.

"Five times the profit!" Xu Kun said: "At that time, one new spinning machine was more powerful than a hundred. The yarn produced by one worker was more and better than that produced by a hundred workers before!"

"At that time, whoever had cotton in their hands would make money after weaving it!"

Xu Kun recalled the good times at that time. At that time, the Xu family workshop was not a textile machine, but a cornucopia!

"What about five years ago?"

"Three times profit. Five years ago, during the war with the Ming Dynasty, our Xu family received an order from the military. The price of cotton rose sharply that year, and we also made a lot of money."

"What about three years ago?"

Xu Kun's tone was no longer excited, and he said: "It's not even twice the profit. Three years ago, there were more workshops in Jiangnan. The northern counties in South Zhili, as well as many places in Fujian and Zhejiang, also began to invest in textile machines." The cotton spinning industry began to develop. At that time, although our Xu family was still the largest cotton merchant in Jiangnan, our profits had become much thinner."

"What about a year ago?"

Xu Kun was silent for a moment and said: "The profit is less than 50%. This is the profit we only get after we build our own merchant ships and sell cotton cloth overseas."

Xu Jie nodded and said, "What about next year? What about in the future?"

"I know that 50% profit is actually much higher than that of the railway, but have you ever thought that in the cotton industry, there is actually no threshold."

Xu Kun originally wanted to say that he needed technology and management, but he quickly couldn't say it.

technology? The principles of mule machines have been written down in Tiangong Kaiwu. Now there are workshops in Songjiang Prefecture that specialize in manufacturing mule machines. As long as you have money, you can buy and invest at any time.

There are textile workers who can operate mule machines all over the place, and there is no selling contract in the southeast. As long as they are willing to pay a better salary, there will naturally be people willing to do it.

Source of supply? There is a morning market every day at the Shanghai pier. Cotton shipped from all over the country will be auctioned here, and there will be dedicated people to help you take it to the workshop, as long as you are willing to pay.

Sale? There are many cotton merchants in Songjiang Prefecture purchasing cotton cloth.

A person who doesn't know any technology at all, as long as he is willing to spend money, can theoretically set up a cotton cloth workshop within a month.

Of course, this kind of layman will definitely lose money, but it is enough to show that the threshold of the cotton textile industry is indeed not high.

Xu Kun also understands this, and the Xu family is gradually transforming, reducing investment in the cotton textile industry and shifting to industries such as cement and glass.

Xu Jie added: "Even for cement and glass workshops, there is actually no threshold."

"The Industrial Department of Songjiang Prefecture has specialized technical personnel to help solve the problems of the glass industry. Cement is not too difficult, but the initial investment in land and equipment is a bit larger."

Xu Kun nodded helplessly. His father was right. There are indeed no barriers in these industries.

Xu Jie said: "But the railway is different."

"First of all, railways are government-run. Only the government can build railways. In other words, railways cannot be built casually without official permission. This is completely different from cotton textiles. This alone can prevent most competition."

Xu Kun thought for a while and nodded in agreement.

"The second thing is that the demand for rail will always be there."

"Why the price of cotton has dropped? First, there is more production, and second, there is less demand. No matter how cheap cotton is, people will not buy it every day before it wears out, but the demand for travel and transportation will always exist."

"A son, the beloved son of his parents, has a far-reaching plan. My grandchildren don't have my ability to study and be an official, nor do they have your ability to do business, but they are pretty good. They will not ruin the family anyway."

"What about their sons? Maybe they are not as good as them."

Xu Kun immediately understood his father's thinking, and he immediately summoned the big businessmen of Songjiang Prefecture to come up with this investment plan.

But now that he heard Xu Guo's plan, Xu Kun quickly made a calculation.

Xu Guo's plan only made a few modifications.

The first is the branch line. The original railway only passed through the most prosperous counties in Songjiang Prefecture. Now the railway requires several remote counties to be included in the railway branch line.

Second is the surrounding land. The land along the railway will be frozen after the construction plan is announced, and will be sold and traded after the railway is completed. That is, it can only be traded at the price after completion.

Finally, there are the shops at the train station.