Wujia Garden, Yanhui Building.

"America has never been in such a precarious situation, with a large number of banks going bankrupt, stocks plummeting, house prices not falling too much in name, but basically no transactions, the government has made land purchases mandatory in gold or silver, paper money is forbidden for real estate speculation, no one is willing to ask for bonds and collateral that cannot be exchanged for cash, a large number of workers have lost their jobs, and riots have broken out in the streets.

This is an unprecedented commercial panic, one that is threatening to destroy everything that is in our society -- to destroy our entire country, to turn large areas into ruins, to wipe half of our banks off the face of the earth, to ignite the most impetuous passions, and to create mutations. ”

After carefully reading this long letter written by Robert, Yi Zhizhi raised his eyebrows, there is no doubt that there is indeed an economic crisis in the United States! After a slight groan, he asked, "Who is Robert?" ”

Hearing him ask this, Wu Bingjian knew that he wanted to determine whether what was said in the letter was true or whether it was an exaggeration, and immediately said: "Robert was originally a staff member of Qichangxing, honest and reliable, never exaggerated, and had a very close personal relationship with the old man. ”

After a moment's pause, he continued, "What does contentment think about this?" ”

At the end of the letter, Robert suggested that Wu Bingjian take advantage of this rare opportunity to invest in American stocks and real estate. Yi Zhizhi said: "This matter is not urgent. It's May. British and American merchant ships will arrive in Guangzhou one after another, and they will first collect US intelligence and analyze the causes and scale of this US economic panic before making a decision. ”

"Judging by the narrative in Robert's letter, the scale of this economic panic will not be small." Wu Changqing said: "This is what happened last year, if you delay it any longer, will you miss the opportunity?" ”

With a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi said tentatively: "Does the Wu family have children in the United States?" ”

"Nope." Wu Bingjian said: "If you want to speculate on the U.S. stock market and real estate. The old man is ready to entrust Robert to take care of it. ”

"Transferring money through a bank in London?"

Wu Bingjian nodded and said, "This is the fastest and most secure, I transferred three thousand silver dollars the year before last." ”

It seems that the Wu family has a lot of trust in Robert, and it is normal to think about it, there are many inconveniences in doing business these years, if you don't believe in people, many businesses can't be done at all, and the previous Guangzhou money bank lending is completely based on credit. Most of the trade dealings between the Thirteen Banks and American merchants were on credit. It's also about credit.

But Yi Zhishu did not dare to take this risk, he had experienced the era of credit crisis, and he would never dare to easily entrust hundreds of thousands of silver dollars to a foreign businessman who had no assets and was tens of thousands of miles away.

After a little muttering, he said: "Large-scale economic panic will have a long process, economic recovery also takes time, even if you want to speculate on stocks and real estate, you must choose the stage of bottoming out, now is not the best time, we have to be fully prepared at this stage." After a slight pause, he continued: "However, I don't want to invest all my money in stocks and real estate, I would rather be able to buy their factories and companies." ”

Wu Changqing was a little surprised: "Is it more profitable to buy factories and companies than stocks and real estate?" ”

"In the long run, of course, it is more profitable to buy factories and companies." "If we want to share the fruits of rapid development in the United States, we must gain a foothold in the United States, and the acquisition of factories and companies can help us quickly gain a foothold in the United States. ”

Wu Bingjian's fingers tapped rhythmically on the chair for a while before he said, "Contentment wants to buy American banks, shipyards, and railroad companies?" ”

Yi Zhisuff nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, the metallurgical industry and the machine manufacturing industry are also the main objects of acquisition, in addition to various mineral resources. ”

After pondering for a while, Wu Bingjian spoke: "It's a pity that this economic panic broke out early. ”

Yi Zhizhi nodded, the economic crisis in the United States did break out a little earlier, even if he was able to buy a large number of factories and companies in the United States, but also lacked enough manpower, the acquisition of factories, not only to make money, but more importantly, to cultivate technical talents, after a little thought, he said: "It is not too late to expand the scale of Yixue now." ”

"If the scale of Yixue is expanded, it will arouse the fear of the local government." Wu Bingjian said in a deep voice: "It's not appropriate to expand it now. ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said: "Now that several routes have been opened from Manila to Guangzhou, which are completely free from monsoon restrictions and can be traveled all year round, how about opening a new school in Manila?" ”

Hearing this proposal, Wu Bingjian slowly shook his head and said, "Spain is very wary of us, and it is impossible to allow us to open a school in Manila. ”

"Then go straight to the United States!" Yi Zhishu said in a deep voice: "Training while working, you can also train a group of technical backbones in five or six years." ”

"That's a good idea." Wu Changqing said: "Dealing with foreigners every day makes it easier for them to learn English. ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said with a smile: "Since we want to vigorously develop in the United States, we can't rely on American businessmen for everything, we must send people to the United States to take care of it, the Wu family has a good reputation in the American business community, evergreen and proficient in English and Portuguese, and has been dealing with American businessmen all year round, so it is the best candidate to go to the United States to fight the front station." ”

Going to the United States? Wu Changqing was startled, and hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Brother Contentment, don't be joking." ”

"I'm not kidding." Yi Zhizhi said: "The outbreak of economic panic in the United States is a great opportunity for us to take advantage of the situation, how can we miss it?" Not only do we have to buy a factory in the United States, but Yuanqi Bank also has to open a branch in the United States, and the Yuanqi apprentices who learn foreign languages in Yixue are preparing to open overseas branches. ”

Do you really want him to go to the United States? Wu Changqing looked at Wu Bingjian with a bitter face, he was one of the hundred unwilling to go to the United States, not to mention the long distance, the risk of sea navigation was also quite large, and how could the United States catch up with Guangzhou for fun? As soon as his eyes rolled, he said pitifully: "Grandpa, my grandson has no heirs yet." ”

Without waiting for Wu Bingjian to speak, Yi Zhixiang smiled and said: "The opening of Yuanqi's American branch is not a one-time thing, at least it will take a year or two to prepare, and if there are no heirs, seize the time, and take more than two concubines in these two years." (To be continued.) )