Xie Xiuyuan and Hu Guangyong are more concerned about the cotton hegemony, and they want to know more about the impact of the American Civil War on the international cotton market. That is, next year's cotton production will be affected? ”

Hu Guangyong said: "If the big shopkeeper can judge that a civil war will break out in the United States, will Western countries also make corresponding judgments?" Will they also be hoarding cotton? ”

Yi Zhishu didn't rush to answer, took a cigarette from the coffee table, lit one slowly, and then said: "In recent years, you should have some understanding of the world's cotton situation, the United States is known as the 'cotton kingdom', its cotton production accounts for three-quarters of the world, and almost all the cotton required for the textile industry in England, France, Prussia, and Tsarist Russia comes from the United States.

Although England has Indian cotton, it still imports more than 70% of its market needs from the United States every year. ”

"Two million packs, with prices fluctuating around nine cents a pound." Hu Guangyong hurriedly said: "According to the survey, 77% of the cotton in England comes from the southern part of the United States; 90% of France comes from the south; 60% of Prussia's cotton comes from the south; Russia imports 90% of its cotton from the south. ”

After investigating quite carefully, Yi Zhizhi nodded and said: "I can judge that war is about to break out in the United States, and European countries that rely heavily on American cotton should also be aware of the situation in the United States, and they will definitely hoard cotton to deal with the war."

However, in view of the huge demand for American cotton and the huge annual consumption of cotton in all countries, even if they hoard a large amount, they will only hold on for a year or two, and besides, the European countries may not stand idly by in the civil war with the United States, and if they want to intervene, they will definitely support the South. ”

Xie Xiuyuan listened, "In this case, how can we do this cotton hegemony?" ”

"If you are not sure, how dare you prepare this cotton hegemony three years in advance?" Yi Zhicontent had a confident expression, "Because I judge that once a war breaks out between the north and the south of the United States, the north will inevitably send a naval fleet to blockade the south in order to completely cut off the south's economic resources."

And the South will also take the initiative to cut off the supply of cotton to coerce Britain, France and other countries to support them, in short, once a war breaks out, the supply of cotton in the United States will be cut off, there is no doubt about this! ”

Zhao Liewen, Xie Xiuyuan, and Hu Guangyong didn't dare to speak for a while, this matter sounds a bit suspenseful, if Britain and France really support the south, with the naval fleets of Britain and France, can the north blockade the south's sea transportation? Once the supply of American cotton is not interrupted, how will they dominate the market?

After hesitating, Hu Guangyong said tentatively: "This time the cotton hegemony, how much money is the big shopkeeper going to provide?" ”

"All of them!" Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "This is a rare opportunity, the opportunity must not be missed, and it will not come again!" ”

All of them? Even the most adventurous Xie Xiuyuan was dumbfounded, this was a desperate gamble! He hesitated and said: "The big shopkeeper often says that war is full of uncertainty, and it is too risky to pour all the yuanqi into it?" ”

"International cotton hegemony is an adventure, since the decision has been made, why hold back?" Yi Zhi's content slowed down as he spoke, "In recent years, the economic crisis has broken out in Europe, the export trade has plummeted, the popularization of new schools, the implementation of nine-year compulsory education, the construction of the Northwest Railway, the expansion of the navy, the replacement of naval warships, and the large-scale immigration .......

This American civil war is an extremely rare opportunity for Yuanqi, if we don't seize this opportunity, how can we have sufficient funds to quickly promote domestic development?

As an excellent financial investor, keen insight and judgment is the foundation, more importantly, to be sure of the judgment of funds, and boldly put into action, risk and profit are proportional, risk is often the most important opportunity, in the face of risk must be decisive and brave, otherwise the opportunity will quickly slip away. ”

All of them! What will be the scale of this cotton hegemony? Hu Guangyong's mouth was a little dry, and he wanted to ask about the specific scale of funds, but he didn't know if it was suitable to ask, so he opened his mouth, but he didn't ask out loud, and when he caught a glimpse of his appearance, he couldn't help but smile, "The scale of funds, Xueyan doesn't need to worry, it will be far beyond your imagination." ”

After a pause, he continued: "When you arrive in London, you can buy cotton or buy cotton futures, bonds, etc., according to your own judgment, make the most money, and don't let the funds be idle." ”

"My subordinates understand." Hu Guangyong hurriedly bowed.

Yi Zhishu continued: "As for the country, we should hoard cotton as much as possible and try our best to expand the cotton planting area in cotton-producing areas, so as to appropriately increase the purchase price of cotton to stimulate the enthusiasm of the people to plant cotton."

The American Civil War should not end in a short time, and even if the war ends, European countries will deliberately disperse their purchases after experiencing this cotton crisis to avoid over-dependence on American cotton, and it is initially estimated that the cotton export trade will have a prosperous period of at least ten years. ”

"Subordinates obey." Xie Xiuyuan nodded.

Zhao Liewen said: "In this way, won't there be a shortage of domestic cotton supply? Moreover, the increase in the price of cotton will directly lead to the increase in the price of cloth...... Will it affect people's livelihoods? ”

"Brother Huifu is too worried." Xie Xiuyuan said with a smile: "In recent years, the planting area of cotton has increased significantly, especially in Xinjiang, southern Xinjiang and northern Xinjiang are vigorously promoted, domestic cotton prices have fallen because of oversupply, and furthermore, the successive production of textile mills has greatly improved the efficiency of spinning and weaving. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "Grain, cloth, and salt are all commodities related to people's livelihood, and Yuanqi will stabilize prices, and it also has this ability." There is nothing to worry about. As he spoke, he picked up his teacup and sipped his tea.

Seeing this situation, the three of them got up and retreated, Yi Zhizhi got up and paced to the window and pushed open the window, and a cold wind immediately poured in, the American Civil War, in addition to cotton, he also had to sell arms, in recent years, the scale of military factories in Guangzhou and Shanghai has expanded again and again, and the scale of production has been expanding, waiting for this opportunity.

As early as half a year ago, he had arranged for Huang Dianyuan to lead a fleet full of arms and medicines to the port of New Orleans, Louisiana, the largest port in the South, hoping to complete an arms trade worth up to 1 million taels of gold with the South before the election results were announced.

In fact, the American South has long foreseen the outbreak of this civil war, and has been preparing for war since 1850, and it can even be said that this civil war, the South has been planning for a long time, but it is precisely because of this that he is worried about whether Huang Dianyuan can successfully complete this arms deal, Lincoln has been elected, but there is still no news, so he is not worried.

He attaches great importance to this arms trade, not only because the transaction amount is huge, but if he cannot successfully complete this arms trade with the south, it will greatly affect the scale of his arms trade with the north in the future.

At present, Yuanqi's improved Baoshan II rifled breech-loading rifle and metal bullets can be said to be the most advanced in the world, he is not sure whether Britain and France have been able to imitate, Tianjin and Beijing War, although he tried his best to keep secrets, for this reason even did not hesitate to leave no prisoners, but after all, it is hundreds of thousands of troops, it is difficult to achieve complete secrecy, however, he is sure that even if Britain and France imitate it, it will not be easily sold to the south.

And, in his view, it is more likely that Britain and France did not imitate it, and last summer, a coalition of French and Sardinian kingdoms engaged the Austrian Imperial Army in Solfrino, in the town of Castilliglio in northern Italy, killing 55,000 men in a battle that lasted only 15 hours.

In that war, the French army still used the Minie gun, and if it had been copied, the French army would not have hidden it.

Yuan Qi's sale of arms to the south is like throwing bricks and jade, he must let the south buy Yuan Qi's arms, and in turn, the north will buy a large number of them, once both the north and the south use Yuan Qi's arms, not only can Yuan Qi make a lot of money, but also greatly increase the consumption and casualties of this civil war.

"The big shopkeeper, the Yan shopkeeper is here." Lin Meilian reported softly at the door, and before the words fell, Yan Shikuan had already walked in quickly, and said with a mysterious smile: "Big shopkeeper, it's done!" ”

What became of it? Yi Zhixiang was a little confused, but he reacted in an instant, "You mean Huang Dianyuan?" ”

"When the election is over, the South will pay directly to pick up the goods." Yan Shikuan said softly: "The telegram was sent by the leader of the Fuqing Gang in New Orleans, and he should be afraid of leaking the news." ”

Huang Dianyuan is worthy of being from a gang, acting cautiously, Yi Zhishu secretly praised, and finally put his mind at ease, the dust of the election settled, and the south reacted, it seems that the south does not understand the current situation clearly enough, fortunately, it is not too late.

Yan Shikuan handed over a telegram, Yi Zhishu glanced at it, and saw that the message was reversed, obviously a code word, and couldn't help but smile, "There seems to be a lot of content." ”

"The big shopkeeper." Yan Shikuan hurriedly said: "The south hopes that we can trade another arms and medicine of the same scale as soon as possible, and we can still pay for it in gold." ”

Gold is the world's currency, and it is not uncommon for such a private large-scale arms trade to be paid for in gold, besides, Yi Zhixin points out that only gold is accepted, and the dollar, whether it is the North or the South, is rapidly depreciating in the war, so he will not want it, besides, for the gold of the United States, he has long been jealous, how can he miss this good opportunity.

However, for the south's request to continue the arms trade, Yi Zhishu is a little hesitant, after all, the amount of this arms trade is too large, and continuing to trade is very likely to bring great pressure to the north, and furthermore, continuing to trade will inevitably affect the relationship between Yuanqi and the north, he wants to say that he is unaware of the civil war in the United States, obviously no one believes it, such a large arms trade is indispensable!

Besides, the big head is still the cotton hegemony, and he doesn't want to cause variables in the cotton hegemony because of the arms trade, which will really outweigh the losses.

Seeing that he was silent, Yan Shikuan was anxious, "Although this business is not a huge profit, it is also a huge profit, which is a good thing that is difficult to find with a lantern." ”

"It's not just one million taels of gold, and it's only 16 million taels of silver, so it's not worth the risk." Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "Let the Fuqing Gang pass the buck and clearly tell the Fuqing Gang that in the future, they can intermittently smuggle arms and medicines to the south, and they will all be settled in gold." ”

Yan Shikuan's small eyes turned slightly, and he said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper has another business?" ”

"There are other plans." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "It's just a little money, don't be blindfolded." ”

"Then I'll call them back right away." Yan Shikuan hurriedly said.

Lin Meilian, who came in with tea, saw Yan Shikuan so quickly surrendered her hand, and couldn't help but wonder secretly, but she didn't ask more, but stepped forward to change the leftover tea that Yi Zhizhi drank, Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, and ordered: "Prepare, the day after tomorrow, we will go to Hangzhou to relax." ”

As soon as she heard that the micro-service went out to play, Lin Meilian's face was rippling with a smile, and her eyes were shining with joy, she was clear, easy to be content to say that the micro-service was playing, it was a real micro-service, not seeing the officials and gentlemen, ignoring government affairs, and throwing off her hands to play, she immediately hurriedly said: "Do you want to take your wife with you?" ”

As soon as there are many people, his whereabouts will naturally not be able to be concealed, and Yi Zhishu is not the first time that he has made a private visit to Weifu, he has already accumulated a lot of experience, and said with a slight sigh: "But just a few days, Xu Yixuan, you two go with you, and tell the backyard that I will go to Baoshan Machinery Factory." ”

Lin Meilian smiled, "The slave family will let people inform Sister Xuan." ”

Yi Zhizhi went to Hangzhou not just to relax, but to avoid the American minister, Yuanqi is to withdraw the students and close the factory and Yuanqi semicolon, the movement is so big, it will definitely be fed back to Shanghai in time, and the uncle will inevitably come to the door to ask what is going on, and he is better to avoid it for the time being.

The next morning, Yi Zhizu was busy arranging the things at hand one by one, so that he could go out to play and relax with peace of mind, Ren An hurriedly entered the mansion, Lin Meilian knew that Ren An would not come when he was idle, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried, don't do anything else, make it difficult to make this micro-service play difficult.

Yi Zhizu sent Wu Changqing out of the study, and when he caught a glimpse of Ren An, he was also a little surprised, and after turning back to the study, Ren An quickly followed, and reported: "Big shopkeeper, English calls, the two 9,000-ton 'Warrior' class battleships ordered by the British Navy last year have been ......launched at the Thames Shipyard. Construction began at the Napier shipyard in Glasgow, but there has been no movement yet. ”

So fast? The shipbuilding capacity of England is really amazing, the 9,000-ton ironclad ship was launched in a year and a half, and Yi Zhizhi was content for a long time without saying a word, feeling a huge gap and feeling a huge pressure at the same time! The era of ironclads has begun! 10