1850 American Gold Tycoon

The fleets of Jardine and Tongfu departed from San Francisco and were escorted by armed escorts to Guangzhou, thousands of miles away.

Yihe's fleet carried one hundred thousand taels of gold, and Tongfu's fleet sailed into Guangzhou Port carrying 60,000 taels of gold.

According to the gold and silver price ratio of around 15 in the 1850s. One hundred thousand taels of gold is equivalent to one and a half million taels of silver, and sixty thousand taels of gold is equivalent to 900,000 taels of silver.

“Golden mountains, golden mountains, and gold everywhere, it truly deserves its reputation.”

Wu Shangrong, the helmsman of Jardine House, the general merchant of Guangzhou Thirteen Banks, said with emotion as he looked at the gold shining in the cabin.

He was very excited to obtain one hundred thousand taels of gold from San Francisco in one year, especially for the merchants in Guangzhou who were currently in decline. It was undoubtedly a shot in the arm.

"If we can seize the American market and we do business in Guangzhou, maybe ZTE will be able to do so."

"My brother from that tribe sent me several letters, saying frankly that America is full of opportunities and that it is simply a paradise for businessmen like us. It makes me think of America."

Pan Shicheng played with the rosary beads in his hand and asked Wu Shangrong.

"Brother Liangfu, how is Yihe Bank's donation this year going? The Changmao Rebellion, foreigners' compensation, and the famine in Shaanxi and Gansu are all areas where money is needed. The court is pressing hard. This year you are in Guangzhou As the general merchant of the merchants, you must not be careless, as donations from the imperial court are a first-class and important matter."

"There are some things I only dare to say to Brother De She. In the early years when things were relatively peaceful, we plundered the people. When civil strife arose, we plundered the merchants. We donated money and lost money. We donated money back and forth. When will we be able to stop it?" A grumbling Wu Shangrong walked out of the oppressive cabin and breathed in the fresh air on the deck.

"If this batch of gold hadn't come in time, I'm afraid this year's donation would have been a headache. In the past, when Guangzhou was making money, asking us to donate more was just a matter of cleaning up. Now among the five commercial ports, Shanghai is the most popular. It’s getting more prosperous day by day, and foreigners prefer to go to Shanghai to do business, why is it that our merchants in Guangzhou still donate the most and lose the most.”

"What you said is exactly what I'm worried about." Pan Shicheng was still playing with the rosary beads in his hand, "Shanghai is close to the prosperous areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and has access to the Yangtze River. If it continues to develop like this, sooner or later one day, the five commercial ports will , it is not surprising that it has become a commercial port in Shanghai.”

"Liangyi (Wu Yuanhua) also told me that as a businessman in the United States, you only need to pay taxes and don't need to make donations. Businessmen can also be officials. If I hadn't studied in Wujiagang in the Qing Dynasty, I would have wanted to go to California." Fa After complaining, Wu Shangrong said to Pan Shicheng.

"Brother Deshe, Liang Yaolai trusted us to convince the old man of the Liang family to take his mother to California to live in peace and happiness. Our Guangzhou merchants also have a lot of business in California and they take care of it. We will handle this matter for them as soon as possible."

"I was about to say this because I wanted to repay this little brother of the Liang family a favor. I just received a letter from Ting Yu a few days ago. Thanks to his idea, our two companies, Yihe Bank and Tongfu Bank, All the banks have directly opened branches in New York, and future transactions with the United States will no longer have to be handled by those second-rate dealers in the United States." Pan Shicheng said behind his back.

"Let's go to Xiangshan to meet the old man of the Liang family."

Xiangshan, Guangdong, Liang Family Courtyard.

Since Liang Yao became successful in California and sent gold back, the originally dilapidated Liang family has taken back the land it originally sold, and the dilapidated Liang family compound has also been renovated.

The Liang family seems to be a prominent local family in Xiangshan.

Wu Shangrong and Pan Shicheng rode tall horses and swaggered through the city, and their entourage drove a carriage filled with gifts to the front of the Liang family compound.

"I don't know whether Mr. Wu Si or the envoy Pan came to visit, but he was not welcomed from afar, and sometimes he was not welcomed from afar."

When he learned that Wu Shangrong and Pan Shicheng were visiting, Liang Weiming, the old man of the Liang family, did not dare to neglect and hurriedly came out to greet them.

Now Liang Weiming is no longer a capital official, but Wu Shangrong and Pan Shicheng are still prominent businessmen. Pan Shicheng, in particular, has close personal relationships with the favorites of the capital and local officials in Guangdong. He is also a celebrity of the current emperor Xianfeng.

Faced with such a person, even though he was a businessman from Guangzhou, Liang Weiming did not dare to neglect him.

"Liang is so polite to Shizhong. Our ministers and chief envoys are just empty titles. You were always in the reign of Lord Daoguang, but you were a real servant to Shizhong."

Pan Shicheng smiled.

This is not because he deliberately acted coy in front of Liang Weiming. In front of the serious imperial examination officials, no matter whether he was a big official or a small official, whether he was favored or not, Pan Shicheng always kept himself very low and made good friends with them.

He also knew that even if his children chose to take the imperial examination route to become officials, the brand of the Pan family as a businessman could not be lost in one or two generations. In front of these imperial examination officials who came from a farming and studying family and had a good reputation, they still lowered their expectations. Some gestures are better.

"It's all in the past. I'm a guilty person now. It's just that I was confused at that time." Liang Weiming, who had gray hair and beard, sighed with emotion and said.

"These are small gifts that the two of us have prepared for you. I hope you don't dislike them."

Pan Shicheng ordered people to carry up the gifts prepared for the Liang family.

"Absolutely not, absolutely not." Liang Weiming said hurriedly, "In the past year, the Liang family has been cared for by these two people. Liang will remember their kindness in his heart. He is grateful and cannot accept any more gifts from you. "

"Mr. Liang said this out of touch. The descendants of the Wu family and the Pan family living in California, USA, have also received favors from the Liang family. We are all from Guangfu. No matter whether we are in a foreign country or in our hometown, We should take care of each other, right?" Pan Shicheng said.

"Since Chief Secretary Pan said this, I will be disrespectful and accept it shamelessly." Seeing Pan Shicheng's words, Liang Weiming accepted the gifts from Wu Shangrong and Pan Shicheng and invited them into the palace.

"You two, please come in."

"Congratulations to Mr. Liang. The children of the Liang family have produced a capable person. Liang Yao is now a frontier official in the United States. In California, he can be said to control the army and manage the people. This makes us envious."

After sitting down, Wu Shangrong took the tea offered by the maid, took a sip of tea and said.

Over the past year, the Wu family and the Pan family have taken such good care of the Liang family. Liang Weiming, who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, certainly knows that this is for Liang Yao's sake.

It's just that the relationship between his son's generation in the Liang family, that is, the generation named Shao, is not harmonious, which makes him feel very headache.

"Yes, both our families are very envious of having such a capable person. Liang Yao is also a filial person. He has written to me again and again, saying that his grandfather and mother treated him well and that he is now prosperous outside. I want to take you to California, America, to enjoy peace and quiet and live a happy and comfortable life for a few days."

Pan Shicheng put down the tea cup in his hand and said.

When Pan Shicheng said this, Liang Weiming certainly understood what Pan Shicheng meant. After pondering for a while, he said: "I am very relieved that this son can have such filial piety. It's just that I am too old to bear the bumps of the sea. This is the United States." I'm afraid I won't be able to go.

Liang Yao wanted to bring his biological mother to the United States to fulfill his filial piety. This idea was excellent, and I took it upon myself to fulfill his filial piety. "

"This is very good. In ten days' time, Yihe Bank and Tongfu Bank will have fleets transporting immigrants to California. Mr. Liang's Global Shipping Company also has fleets arriving in Guangzhou every month. Now it is very convenient to go to California. Global Shipping Company A large steamship can reach San Francisco (San Francisco) in just over a month.”

Seeing that Liang Weiming agreed, Pan Shicheng was very happy. Liang Yao only asked for his biological mother to be taken to Jinshan. As for whether Mr. Liang would go or not, he did not say in the letter.

Pan Shicheng also thinks that Liang Yao does not want Mr. Liang to go to Jinshan. On the one hand, the boat is tiring, but Liang Yao is living a good life in the United States. If he takes the giant Buddha of Mr. Liang over, he will not make himself uncomfortable.

The Pan family was a businessman and had been dealing with foreigners for many years, so their horizons were relatively broad, while the Liang family had been a farming and studying family for generations. Naturally, the two families had different levels of acceptance of foreign things.

"That's very good. As for what kind of boat you want to make, let my wife make her own choice." Liang Weiming said.

"I heard that there are many people in your business who are proficient in foreign languages?"

"We have been businessmen for generations, and we have dealt with foreigners for business. How can we do it if we don't speak foreigners' language?" Pan Shicheng said with a smile, "Why did Mr. Liang suddenly ask about this matter?"

"Oh, I'm not afraid of your jokes. I was deposed because of cheating in the scientific examination, and the descendants of the Liang family are also tired of me. I want the descendants of the Liang family to be born later and go to your business to learn foreign languages ​​and characters. With business skills, there will be many opportunities in the future," Liang Weiming said in a sincere tone.

"It doesn't matter. Even so, I will pick a few guys who are proficient in foreign languages ​​and send them to the Liang Mansion to serve Mr. Liang."

Pan Shicheng and Wu Shangrong agreed happily.

After Pan Shicheng and Wu Shangrong chatted with Liang Weiming for a while, they said goodbye to Liang Weiming, left Xiangshan and returned to Guangzhou.

"Dad, no, if Deng Lan goes to Jinshan, what will happen if Liang Yao doesn't give us gold in the future?"

After Pan Shicheng and Wu Shangrong left, Liang Weiming's second son Liang Shaocong jumped out and said.

"It's useless! When Pan Shicheng and Wu Shangrong were here just now, why didn't you come out and say no?" Liang Weiming sneered, "Living on your nephew's money, do you still look like an elder?"

"The two adults were wearing official uniforms just now. I'm afraid that I will offend them by speaking and it will make you look bad." Liang Shaocong hurriedly smiled and said, "Liang Sheng has been mining in California for a year. Can you help me?" Please give Liang Yao a few words and find an easy job for Liang Sheng?"

"If it hadn't been for your bad idea, would Liang Sheng have been sent to the mine?" Liang Weiming glanced at the hollow-eyed, skinny Liang Shaocong with disgust, and asked, "Where is Shaochen?"

"Brother is in the back room." Liang Shaocong said, wiping the clear snot left on his nose.

Liang Weiming got up and left the main room and walked to the back room.

There is an ancestor's portrait hanging on the wall inside the house, and there are several couplets next to the ancestor's portrait.

Underneath the portraits of the ancestors is a long offering table, on which are placed some books and Western ornaments sent back by Liang Yao from the United States.

In front of the tribute table is a soft couch.

Liang Shaochen was seen lying loosely on the couch, holding a pipe in his right hand, stroking the cat with his left hand, and blowing smoke from his mouth.

Seeing Liang Weiming coming, Liang Shaochen looked at Liang Weiming with blurred eyes and said feebly: "Dad, are you here?"

"Are you coming out?! Smoking in front of the ancestor statue?!"

Seeing Liang Shaochen's behavior, Liang Weiming became even more angry. He picked up the cane he was leaning on and greeted Liang Shaochen with a slap in the face.