1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 74 Business in Guangzhou

Liang Yao inspected his new ship and the new employees of Global Shipping Company with satisfaction.

Although Vanderbilt failed very much in educating and managing his son, he was still very successful in managing his subordinates.

Many crew members and captains still miss the days of working for Vanderbilt.

Just as Liang Yao was about to leave the port and return to Tingtao Garden, two Chinese sailing ships came through the wind and waves and sailed into the port of San Francisco.

"Master Liang."

Zhang Bingliang, the pilot who used to shout around at Liang Yao on the Cape Town (at best, he was an illegal immigration agent, at worst, he was a transnational human trafficker), kowtowed to Liang Yao respectfully.

"I'm not an official, and I'm not your parent, so you don't have to worship me." Liang Yao said calmly.

"Master Liang is a person with a good reputation, and a person with a good name will be an official in the future." Zhang Bingliang spoke very nicely.

"Can I still use the reputation of the Qing Dynasty to be an official of Citigroup?" Liang Yao just thought it was funny and would not even flatter him.

"There's no need to be so pretentious. If I were a small-minded person, I wouldn't be as successful as I am today. I hope you can learn a lesson and stop being a dog of foreigners and relying on foreigners to support you and bully your compatriots."

"What do foreigners mean? Foreigners are not obedient in front of Mr. Liang. With Mr. Liang, I am willing to be Mr. Liang's dog!" Zhang Bingliang said without hesitation.

"Whose ships are these two ships?"

Liang Yao pointed to the two Chinese-style hard sailing boats and said.

The displacement of these two Chinese-style sailing ships is at least 800 tons. The sailors on board are also very capable, and there are foreign employees. They are not like merchant ships that ordinary businessmen can have.

To be able to go to sea under the Qing government's strict ban on going to sea requires not only courage, but also strong local power and financial resources to shut up the local magistrates.

"This is the ship belonging to the Wu family, the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank." Zhang Bingliang said.

"Wu family?"

"Yes, Yihe went to Fourth Master Wu's ship." Zhang Bingliang said, "Fourth Master Wu made a special trip to see Young Master Liang. I will introduce him to Young Master Liang."

"The Wu family is quite well informed."

"Although Mr. Liang has made his fortune not long ago, Mr. Liang doesn't know something. The news of your fortune is now known to everyone in Guangzhou. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people risking their lives to come to San Francisco to dig for gold." Zhang Bingliang just got up from the ground.

said.

In the Opium War ten years ago, the British not only defeated the Qing Dynasty, but the five-port trade clause in the "Treaty of Nanjing" also broke the foreign trade monopoly of the Thirteen Banks.

It has become a thing of the past for the so-called Southeast, Northwest, and Central to make a fortune in Guangdong.

If the British East India Company lost in this war, then the merchants of the Thirteenth Bank of Guangzhou lost in this war.

The money for recruiting troops and building artillery during the war came from the Thirteenth Bank, and the 6 million tael redemption fee for the city of Guangzhou came from the Thirteenth Bank. Even a large part of the war compensation was allocated to these merchants.

In the final analysis, these fat and oily traders are just fat pigs raised by the Aisin Gioro family, and they can be slaughtered whenever they want.

At this time, the business scene of Guangzhou was long gone, but it was not completely dead, and the wealth it owned was still quite scary.

"I heard a lot of rumors about Mr. Liang when I was in Guangzhou. Mr. Liang is handsome and talented. When I saw him today, he was indeed a rare young talent."

The visitor was Wu Yuanhua, the fourth son of the Wu family. Although Wu Yuanhua traveled thousands of miles across the ocean by boat, he was not tired.

Wu Yuanhua was very surprised when he saw that Liang Yao had shaved his head, but he did not show his surprise on his face. After all, he came to San Francisco this time to ask for help from Liang Yao.

"Master Wu, please come to the garden and have a talk."

Liang Yao always felt it was a bit strange to call a middle-aged man son, but he really couldn't think of any other suitable title.

"Master Liang, if you don't mind that Wu is a low-level businessman, you can call me Brother Wu. My grandfather and Liang Gei are close friends." Wu Yuanhua and Liang Yao became close.

When the Wu family was at its peak, Wu Bingjian and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi were both brothers.

Although Liang Yao's grandfather was a member of the imperial family, his official rank was only the fifth rank. However, since the Ming Dynasty, the imperial family had always held a humble and powerful position. He was a close official of the emperor, and the Wu family naturally did not dare to neglect him.

Although the Wu family is not an ordinary businessman, but a veritable official businessman, the direct descendants of the Wu family all have official positions. According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty, businessmen can be awarded the highest rank of the third rank, but Wu Bingjian made an exception and donated a rank from the second rank to the top.

.

Wu Yuanhua said that their grandparents were close friends. Liang Yao thought about it but could not find any memory from the host that the Wu family and the Liang family were close friends.

This may be the reason why his grandfather was too honest and refused to accept the Wu family's property.

"Brother Wu, please."

Without reaching out to hit the smiling man, Liang Yao still very politely invited Wu Yuanhua to sit in Tingtao Garden.

Along the way, as he walked, he murmured to himself what the Wu family was doing when they sent Wu Yuanhua to California. Could it be that the Wu family couldn't survive in China and wanted to find new ways to make money in the United States?

"My father's biggest regret during his lifetime was that he could not visit Citi Country." Wu Yuanhua walked and observed the city of San Francisco. He said with some disappointment, "It is said that Citi Country is also a big country, and San Francisco is in the west of Citi Country.

Why is this big city so small? It seems that it is not as big as an ordinary county town in Guangdong."

Although the Wu family has been dealing with foreigners for generations, they have never set foot in foreign lands before, and their understanding of Western countries is still very limited.

"Brother Wu's visit to San Francisco this time can be regarded as fulfilling Mr. Wu's last wish." Liang Yao said, "At present, the best place in Citiland is still thousands of miles away in the east, and San Francisco is a borderland.

.”

"My father also purchased some properties in Citi during his lifetime. Brother Wei also brought these bills with him when he came this time. Although brother Wei is familiar with the language of Citi, he does not understand Citi or these properties.

How much silver is it worth? I will ask my wise brother for advice later."

Wu Yuanhua was not polite at all and treated everyone as a brother.

Liang Yao knew that the Wu family had investments in the United States. At its peak, the Wu family's property was worth half the Qing government's fiscal revenue.

Wu Yuanhua's father, Wu Bingjian, also knew many businessmen in the United States, and it was not unusual for him to be tricked into investing in the United States by American businessmen.

But why did the Wu family decide to invest in the United States? Is it because the Wu family is now in such dire straits that it is unsustainable?

"We have heard that the Wu family is as wealthy as the country. The Wu family's industry in the United States is just a drop in the bucket." Liang Yao said tentatively.

"Things are not what they used to be." Wu Yuanhua sighed, but he was very aware. "When the Wu family was as rich as the country, all the money was from the imperial court. When my father was still alive, he told us brothers that the Wu family

It's just the imperial court's money bag, the emperor's Nanku, it just depends on when the imperial court reaches into the money bag."

The imperial money bag?

This metaphor sounds better than the fat pig raised by the Aixinjueluo family, but the nature is still the same.

"My father bought some properties in the United States during his lifetime. Now the Wu family is in trouble. They need to sell off the properties in the United States to recover the debts owed by the American businessmen.

My brother Wu Shangrong wrote many times to urge the American businessmen to sell off the Wu family's assets in the United States and to repay the debts owed to Jardine House. I didn't want the American businessmen to be so cunning and hesitant, otherwise I wouldn't have been involved in the risk.

Come to America.

Of course, the most important thing is that I heard that Mr. Liang found several golden mountains in San Francisco, and I also wanted to come over to see them with my own eyes and open my eyes." Wu Yuanhua said angrily.

“Are American businessmen so dishonest?”

"It's not just that they are dishonest! It's also my father's fault that he misjudged these American businessmen when they encountered difficulties in Guangzhou. American businessmen and British businessmen are like the same species, the least trustworthy. The barbarian businessmen are the most trustworthy.

The only ones who are trustworthy are the Dutch merchants.”

When it comes to American businessmen, Wu Yuanhua gets very angry.

(End of chapter)