"Ah, President Ding is here, please take a seat." Today's Dinghai County Deshunchang Teahouse, full of friends, not only the Fucheng Yin County and the local Dinghai businessmen came, but even a little farther Fenghua, Shangyu, Tiantai, Ninghai and other places businessmen also came, and they all have one thing in common, that is, the members of the Ningbo Foreign Trade Merchants Guild, and their president is the famous former servant army 10th Division commander Ding Ji.

Ding Ji is also in his fifties this year, and since he publicly published in the newspaper that year and announced that he would go into the field from the position of commander of the 10th Division, Ding's body has been like blowing up a balloon. Up to now, he weighs nearly 200 pounds, and he looks like a rich man with a rich heart, a wide heart and a fat body.

As a natural messenger between the local merchant group in Ningbo and the upper-level military and political system, it is not unreasonable that Ding, who runs a number of industries in Ningbo, was unanimously elected by the members as the chairman and has served so far. The Southern Pioneer Team needs a person who can do work in the merchant group, and the merchant group also needs a person who can speak at the top, and Ding Ji, a former servant army commander and current businessman, is a role that meets the needs of all parties, so he has been the guild leader for so many years, and no one can replace him.

Today, the members of each county did not dare to say all, but more than two-thirds of them came to the old stronghold of Deshunchang Teahouse, and reserved an entire floor as a place for conversation, which was also convened by Ding Ji. The reason is actually very simple, that is, the government wants to build the Dingding railway, and gather everyone to study the cost issue together.

In fact, everyone knows how to "study" the issue of expenses, which is nothing more than the distribution of donations according to the property in each person's name and their respective status. Of course, everyone's property cannot be exposed, and there must be some hidden, but to be honest, it is much better than some cross-shareholding and mysterious companies in later generations. In this era, whoever owns a certain stack is who's, and whoever a certain store is who's, so you can basically get a rough idea.

For example, Ding Jiding ran an oil shop, a cloth village, a Nanyang specialty store and a silk workshop in Dinghai County, a salt-related store in the port business district, a water-powered semi-mechanized rice mill by the Cixi River in Yinxian County, and a tea farm in Yuyao County, where he owned half of the shares.

These businesses, except for the silk workshop, the rest of the businesses seem to be relatively messy, but they are all clearly placed on the table, and they can also be estimated. The situation of other people is similar, and because of the relationship of traditional culture, even if a certain family divides a large amount of assets into the names of various family members, under normal circumstances, it will still be regarded as assets under the name of the family patriarch, that is, whose shares belong to it is a legal matter, and the East Coast government only cares who the actual controller of these workshops and shops is when raising funds, as for how you negotiate internally, it is your own business, we just need to receive enough money.

Therefore, in the social background of the East Coast, it is purely superfluous to engage in a complex equity structure to hide oneself, and it is better to do business honestly and focus on one's main business. The government has created a relaxed political and business environment for businessmen that has not been seen for thousands of years, so that everyone can give full play to their own subjective initiative to create profits, so what is there to complain about? As for collecting some money, don't say that this money is used to repair the railway, even if it is used to spend all day and wine, you can't help but give it. Which dynasty and generation of officials did not ask them for money, these merchants? I've been fucking used to it for a long time!

After sitting down at the main table, Ding Ji clenched his fists and shook his surroundings and said, "Our Ningbo Foreign Trade Merchants Guild has been established for more than ten years. In the past ten years, the members of the Chamber of Commerce have changed from a few people at the beginning to more than 50 people gathered together. Needless to say, over the years, our foreign trade businessmen have accumulated a lot of assets through trade, and then some people are full of the enthusiasm of industrialists, and begin to purchase machinery and equipment from Heishui and even locally, hire technical and management talents, and begin to develop into the emerging manufacturing industry. Of course, more people are still satisfied with running the stack business, and have not expanded upstream, this person has his own ambitions, and I am not convenient to comment, in short, everyone is making a fortune, I am relieved. ”

Ding Ji's words caused a burst of laughter from everyone. Foreign trade businessmen are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, these guys who occupy the top of the pyramid of Ningbo merchant group, the best of course is through foreign trade after accumulating a large amount of money, began to invest in upstream industries, especially the industry encouraged by the government, buy machinery, set up new factories, and become "enlightened businessmen" in the eyes of the government; Secondly, it is natural that those who continue to engage in the original industry after making money, they are full of doubts about entering the industrial field, and still continue to engage in foreign trade in the nature of tooth shops and compradors, and sometimes they will also engage in some private financial businesses such as lending and pawning, in short, in the eyes of the government, it is decent, neither good nor bad; The most important people are probably the people who go back to the countryside to buy land and buy real estate after making money, or simply melt the money into silver winter melons and hide them, these people are probably the most hated by the government, because they are artificially creating deflation, how can this be endured?

But as Ding Ji said, everyone has their own ambitions. The Bank of Taiwan's foreign trade still needs the full assistance of these businessmen, because the Bank of Taiwan is only a platform, and whether or not it can do business and what kind of business it can do depends on these businessmen, and the Bank of Taiwan is only responsible for centralized delivery and settlement every year. As long as these businessmen pay their taxes on time, and the government can "pluck a hair for the benefit of the world" when they donate money, then this is completely tolerable. You know, just a few decades ago, the Ming Dynasty government wanted to ask these merchants to collect taxes, which was simply impossible, let alone distribute donations from time to time. Those businessmen themselves spend all day long, eating, drinking, and having fun, who cares that your government is short of money for defense spending! Therefore, they are "well-behaved" enough in front of the people on the east coast, and they can make those officials stare out in front of them, so what more do you want?

"This time, the old man summoned you to such a meeting, but it didn't mean anything else, in fact, it was for the construction of the railway." After saying some opening remarks, Ding Ji glanced around, and then got to the point, only to hear him say: "The Shangding Railway costs a lot of money, and if everything is purchased and transported from the mainland, then it will cost nearly four million yuan before and after. It is very difficult for the government to come up with this money, so we still have to help our chamber of commerce find a way. ”

"At present, the preliminary opinion is to establish a board of directors of the Shangding Railway Company, with one chief director and ten sub-directors. Among them, the general director is appointed by the Southern Railway Company to be fully responsible for the daily operation of the Shangding Railway, with a veto power, and at the same time can requisition the railway to transport military supplies and personnel in wartime; Ten sub-directors, Shangyu, Yuyao, Yinxian, Dinghai four counties of the transportation bureau station each occupy one seat, this is four seats, and the remaining six seats, it is said that the Bank of Taiwan will fund, so it will also occupy one seat, this is still five seats......" When he said this, Ding Ji paused and successfully whetted everyone's appetite.

The members of the guild are no strangers to railways, and even many of them have even gone to Shandong to take a special ride. The distance between Yantai and Qingdao is so long, if you don't stop in the middle of the special train, it will take almost two days to arrive, which is simply incredible! Because of this inference, from Shangyu County on the bank of the Cao'e River to Dinghai Port, it will depart almost in the morning and arrive at night, what is this concept? If there is such a sharp weapon, then many things will become possible, and the promotion of local business and the exchange of people will be a subversive stimulus, and the social rhythm will be greatly accelerated as a result, which will in turn promote the development of productive forces.

All in all, you can't just think of the railway as a means of transport, because it has many other positive effects, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a metronome for social development. Therefore, the construction of the Shangding Railway, the first railway in Ningshao area, must have attracted the attention of more than 3 million local businessmen, so if anyone enters the board of directors of this railway as a sub-director, it is simply a great joy for the glory of the ancestors, and a sign of significant improvement in social status! Not to mention, this railway will definitely be able to make money, and there will be a lot of dividends every year, which is even more worth fighting for!

You know, after a businessman has earned a lot of money, isn't his further pursuit to gain greater social influence and even political capital? The president, vice president and other positions of this industry association have represented considerable social status and influence, so that many people are vying for it. At this time, there was no need for Ding Ji to say more, the top few in the foreign trade merchants' guild had already straightened their waists, and looked at Ding Ji with blazing eyes, to see what he would say next.

"The remaining five seats, in principle, are 600,000 yuan to subscribe for one seat to raise 3 million yuan in railway construction funds. Commander Liu of Yinxian County has given me the bottom line, and he can give us two seats in the guild, which is the subscription amount of 1.2 million yuan. Well, it can be subscribed by personal contributions, or in the name of guilds. Ding Ji said unhurriedly: "And there is always a process of railway construction, and we will not be asked to come up with so much money at once, probably only need to come up with this money in three to four years, so that the pressure is much less." ”

Ding Ji's words made everyone calm down a little. 1.2 million yuan in cash, even if it is divided into four years, it will take out 300,000 yuan a year. You know, more than half of the people on this floor have a net worth of less than 300,000 yuan, which is definitely a shocking astronomical amount! In the former Ming Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were already super-rich even in Jiangnan, which will pass for decades, although Ningbo has flowed into a lot of silver, and the currency has depreciated somewhat compared to the actual value at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but 300,000 yuan is really still a huge number.

In this case, then there is only one way to do this, and to subscribe for seats in the name of the guild. As for the abandonment of subscriptions, not to mention that the railway will definitely be profitable, it should not be a problem to return to the capital, but once the guild successfully subscribes for seats and enters the board of directors, then it will inevitably have its own say in railway transportation in the future. At that time, there will be room for maneuvering whose things to be transported, whose things not to be transported, whose things to be transported first, and whose things to be transported later! And if you give up this opportunity and let someone else raise money to successfully get into the board of directors, then when you need to use the rail to transport goods in the future, you may be at the mercy of others, which is very likely to happen, and you have to guard against it.

Therefore, subscribing to the board of directors of the Shangding Railway can not only obtain long-term dividends in the future, but also obtain additional benefits in the transportation of goods, and at the same time seek a more decent social status and higher influence for themselves (which is particularly important), so it has been inevitable, and the way is probably nothing more than to raise money together, and then enter the board of directors in the name of the guild to seek two sub-board seats. As for who will represent these two seats, it depends on how well they negotiate internally, and it is estimated that in the end, it will inevitably cost more than whom.

In fact, this behavior of the merchants on the East Coast also shows from one side that after the accumulation of the previous decades, they are now more and more inclined to find a backer for themselves politically, or simply enter the system by themselves, ensure the safety of their property, and at the same time seek greater benefits for their business empire. Just like what is lacking in traditional Chinese culture, businessmen have money but lack political power, so they began to use their brains in this regard, they support and sponsor promising students in the front, expecting him to enter the system step by step in the future, and later also marry with new political talents, also to increase their voice in politics, and now they plan to enter the system directly through the Shangding Railway, and expect to meet more big people through the epoch-making things such as the railway.

After all, they all have a lot of money, most of their businesses have stabilized, it can be said that they have no worries about food and clothing, and many people are not necessarily worse than the chairman of the local executive committee on the east coast, but they do not have the power of the chairman, how can this not make people sad? This time to raise funds for the construction of the railway is an excellent opportunity to increase the voice and influence of their merchant group, and whoever gives up will be a fool!

Isn't that $1.2 million in cash? It's only three or four hundred thousand a year, and there are so many members of the guild, and one person has eight thousand dollars, which is almost all raised, just like playing, what a big deal!

。 m.