Chapter 74: The Decline of the Merchants

"Brother Wu, what do you think is the most important thing for a businessman?"

Liang Yao opened the cigarette case, took out a Cuban cigar from the cigarette case, cut it and handed it to Wu Yuanhua.

"Vision, means, credibility, and timing."

Wu Yuanhua held his cigar and said slowly.

"Let's just talk about reputation. What does Brother Wu think of Yihexing's reputation?"

"I am not boasting about Haikou, but in terms of reputation, the merchants of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou are the best. Among the thirteen merchants in Guangzhou, the one with the best reputation is my Wu family's Yihe Bank." Wu Yuanhua said very proudly, "When my father was alive, the most important thing was his reputation. How sad! How hateful!"

"Why sad? Why hateful?"

"What's sad is that my father is very trustworthy, but foreigners are not. The Wu family does not expect the foreign businessmen who have helped in the past to repay the Wu family's favor. They only hope that they can return the Wu family's debts.

What I hate is that the British businessmen established a Jardine Matheson Company in Hong Kong eight years ago, and the following year they opened a Jardine Matheson Company in Shanghai to make profits in my name. But I, the Wu family, can do nothing but others can't do anything. Don't you think it's irritating?

If this continues, within a few decades, people at home and abroad will only know Yihe Foreign Trade but not Yihe Bank. "

"It's annoying, it's annoying!" Liang Yao also felt the same way, "Just the three words Yihexing are worth thousands of gold, so I said, Brother Wu, the name of Yihexing can be upright in the United States. ”

Having said this, Wu Yuanhua took out a bunch of bills from his sleeve as if he remembered something.

"This is a property purchased from an American businessman when my father was still alive. Can you please help me get the details? Brother Fool doesn't know much about foreign properties."

Liang Yao took the bills from Wu Yuanhua, put them on the table and looked at them.

Wu Bingjian's investments in the United States are quite extensive, involving railways, securities, and insurance.

Liang Yao has also done some research on the major railroad companies, banks, securities dealers, and insurance companies in the eastern United States, and he knows more or less about them.

What is certain is that these assets of Wu Bingjian are not junk assets, and are very likely to be high-quality assets.

At least Liang Yao had heard of the names of these railway companies, brokers and insurance companies. They were all reputable companies in the east.

Among them, the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company is now a relatively strong railroad company in the east. Perhaps it was when Wu Bingjian purchased the shares of the railroad company that the railroad company was just getting started, so the Wu family owned the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company. Xian Railway Company has so many shares.

"Mr. Wu really has a unique vision." Liang Yao sighed as he put down the bill in his hand.

Wu Yuanhua was overjoyed when he heard this: "Brother Xian, you mean that these bills are not all waste paper?"

Wu Yuanhua came with the worst plan. According to Liang Yao, these bills were still worth something, which was beyond his expectation.

"It's definitely not waste paper." Liang Yao said with great certainty.

"Brother, can you give me an estimate of the price?" Wu Yuanhua asked.

"It's hard to say. It requires a specific assessment, which will take some time." Liang Yao said.

Wu Bingjian's assets were all purchased more than ten or twenty years ago, or even earlier. The specific value is hard to say.

"Forgive Brother Yu for being presumptuous, since these bills are still worth some money, I wonder if Brother Xian intends to collect these assets of the Wu family in the United States?"

Wu Yuanhua bowed his hands towards Liang Yao and said.

"Brother Wu is too impatient. The value of these assets of the Wu family in the United States has not yet been determined. If I bid too high, your Wu family will inevitably say that I took advantage of your Wu family in the future. If I bid too low, I will When I think about this incident in the future, I feel uncomfortable. In the end, I, Liang Yao, have a hard time being a good person."

"Brother Yu was not considerate, please forgive me Brother Xian." Wu Yuanhua also felt that his move was too abrupt and apologized to Liang Yao.

"Brother Wu is so impatient, he must have encountered some difficulties and needs money urgently." Liang Yao guessed.

"To tell you the truth, my brother, Yihe Bank is indeed in trouble at the moment and needs a sum of funds for turnover. Otherwise, I would not take risks and come to the United States to acquire these overseas assets. My late father purchased the assets of American businessmen for only one purpose. It’s not that I’m greedy for the dividends, but that I want to make good friends with American businessmen and make Yihexing famous,” Wu Yuanhua said with a long sigh.

Before the five-port trade, the Wu family had the privileges granted by the imperial court. Foreign merchants who wanted to buy local goods from the Qing Dynasty had to look at the face of Yihe Bank. The Wu family could be said to be making money while lying down.

After the five-port trade, they had to face pressure internally from Fujian, Zhejiang and Lianghuai merchants, and externally from foreign merchants. Moreover, according to the Treaty of Nanjing, British merchants had the right to negotiate tariffs, which was very important to them. It is undoubtedly a fatal blow.

"I wonder how much silver Brother Wu needs for turnover?" Liang Yao asked.

Wu Yuanhua shook his head and said: "We need 530,000 taels of silver."

Liang Yao came to San Francisco in vain to hunt for gold. It has been less than a year now. Wu Yuanhua guessed that Liang Yao did not have strong financial resources.

It was rumored that Liang Yaofu was one of the three feudal lords, but in Wu Yuanhua's opinion, San Francisco was neither big nor prosperous. Even if Liang Yao really had a gold mountain on which he could pick up money, Wu Yuanhua concluded that Liang Yao's assets would only be a few hundred thousand taels of silver at most.

It is true that the Wu family's assets exceeded 24 million taels of silver at its peak, but that was accumulated over three generations.

This was not because Wu Yuanhua looked down upon Liang Yao. In less than a year since he came to San Francisco, Liang Yao could accumulate hundreds of thousands of taels of silver with nothing, which in his opinion was already very remarkable.

However, Wu Yuanhua still underestimated the wealth of California's gold mines. California's gold mines are not comparable to those poor mines in China that have been mined for hundreds or even thousands of years.

530,000 taels of silver is nothing to Liang Yao, let alone 530,000 taels of silver, even 530,000 taels of gold, he can take it out with a grit of teeth.

Liang Yao had his eyes on the Wu family's Yihehang business. In his opinion, Yihehang's business is far more valuable than the Wu family's real estate, land, and money houses.

The upper class in America and Europe also recognized the brand value of Yihehang.

As long as the product has Yihehang's business name, it is synonymous with high-end goods in their eyes, and buying these goods is also very face-saving.

Yihehang often does this kind of thing, often putting Yihehang's business name on the inferior silk, tea, and porcelain they purchase, passing off inferior goods as good ones and making huge profits.

Liang Yao wanted to quickly open up the market in the eastern United States in a short period of time by purchasing Yihehang's business name.

"I wonder if Brother Wu is willing to transfer the Jardine House?" Liang Yao asked.

"Are you joking, brother?"

Wu Yuanhua was greatly surprised. Liang Yao's appetite was too big.

Although the Wu family is now on the decline, the Jardine House will definitely not be sold. This is the lifeblood of their Wu family.

"The Jardine House is the root of the Wu family. If it is sold, how can the descendants of the Wu family face their ancestors in the underworld?" Wu Yuanhua shook his head and said, "Besides, I am not the one who makes the decision for the Wu family now."

"It's not a sale." Liang Yao smiled, "The Jardine House is still your Wu family. I just bought the right to use the Jardine House for ten years. In this way, your Wu family can also get a sum of money to tide over the difficulties."

"It's a big trouble. I can't make the decision. I need to go back and discuss it with my brother." Wu Yuanhua said, and at the same time he couldn't help but secretly complain: Can Liang Yao really come up with so much money? Is he really so kind?

"What's the matter? Can Brother Wu make the decision now?" Liang Yao stood up and asked.

"Opening a branch in San Francisco to see if San Francisco is profitable is the purpose of my trip." Wu Yuanhua said.

"Then congratulations to Brother Wu for coming to the right place. San Francisco is full of gold and is a good place to make a fortune. The business can be considered in the long run. Brother Wu, take a good rest. I will take Brother Wu to walk around the area on a chosen day." Liang Yao said.