"Oh, President Ding is here, please sit down." Today, there are many guests in Deshunchang Teahouse in Dinghai County. Not only did many merchants from Yin County, Fucheng and local Dinghai, but there were also many merchants from Fenghua, Yu, Tiantai, Ninghai and other places farther away. They all have one thing in common, that is, they are members of the Ningbo Foreign Trade Merchants Guild, and their president is Ding Ji, the commander of the famous former 10th Division of the Servant Army.

Ding Ji is also in his fifties this year. Since he was publicly published in the newspaper that year, announcing that he had stepped down from the commander of the 10th Division, Ding's body has risen like a balloon. So far, he has weighed nearly 200 kilograms, and he looks like a rich man with a rich and generous heart and a fat body.

As a natural messenger between the local merchant group of Ningbo and the military and political system of the tier, Ding, who runs many industries in Ningbo, was unanimously elected as president by members and served as the president until now. The Southern Development Team needs someone who can work in the business group, and the business group also needs someone who can speak at the tier. Ding Ji, a former military commander and current businessman, is a role that meets the needs of all parties. Therefore, he has been a guild president for so many years, but no one can replace him.

Today, the members of each county dare not say everything, but two-thirds of them came to the old stronghold of Deshunchang Teahouse and booked a whole floor as a place of conversation. It was also said that Ding Ji came to convene. The reason is actually very simple, that is, the government wants to reorganize the railway and call everyone to study the cost issue together.

In fact, everyone is very clear about how to "study" the cost issue. It is nothing more than donations based on the property and status of each person. Of course, everyone's property cannot be exposed and it must be hidden. But to be honest, some cross-holding companies in later generations have become much better. In this era, someone's owned by a certain store and who owns who owns it, and who owns it, and who owns it, and who owns it, can basically make a rough plan.

For example, Ding Ji Ding, he runs an oil shop, a cloth shop, a Nanyang specialty store and a silk workshop in Dinghai County. He has a store specializing in salt management in the port commercial area, and a hydraulically driven semi-mechanized rice mill by the Cixi River in Yin County. He also invests in a tea farm in Yuyao County, accounting for half of the shares.

Except for the silk workshop, the rest of these businesses seem to be messy, but they are clearly placed on the table and can be estimated. The situation of others is similar. Because of traditionalism, even if a family allocates a large number of assets to the names of members of each family, they will generally consider them as assets under the name of the clan leader. That is, who owns the shares, it is legal. When the East Coast government raises funds, they only care about these workshops and who is the actual controller of the shop. As for how you negotiate internally, it is your own business. We only need to receive enough money.

Therefore, in the social context of the East Coast, it is purely unnecessary to hide yourself by engaging in a complex equity structure. It is better to do business honestly and focus on your main business. The government has created a relaxed political and business environment for business people that has never been there for thousands of years, so that everyone can give their greatest subjective initiative to create profits. So what else can I complain about? As for collecting some money, let alone the money is used to building railways, and it is used to spending money. Which dynasty and which era of officials do not ask them, these businessmen want money? It has long been a habit!

"Everyone" sat at the main table, Ding Ji bowed to the surroundings and said, "Our Ningbo Foreign Trade Merchant 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 fifty people who are now gathered together. Everyone has united, communicated information, contacted feelings, and helped each other, gradually strengthened our collective. It goes without saying that over the years, our foreign trade merchants have accumulated a large amount of money through trade. After that, some people are full of enthusiasm from industrialists, and have begun to purchase machinery and equipment from Heishui and even locally, hired technical and management talents, and began to develop into emerging manufacturing industries. Of course, more people are still satisfied with the business operations and have not expanded to You. This person has his own ambitions, and I am not convenient to evaluate it. In short, everyone is getting rich, I feel relieved."

Ding Ji's words caused laughter. Foreign trade merchants are also divided into different levels. These guys who occupy the top of the pyramid of Ningbo Merchant Group are of course the best ones who have accumulated a large amount of funds through foreign trade, and they began to invest in the tourism industry, especially the industries encouraged by the government, purchasing machines, setting up new factories, and becoming "intellectual businessmen" in the eyes of the government; secondly, of course, those who continue to engage in the original industry after making money, are full of doubts about entering the industrial field, and continue to engage in foreign trade of comprador, and sometimes they also engage in some private financial businesses such as lending and pawning. In short, in the eyes of the government, the rules are neither good nor bad. The second is probably those who make money and go back to the countryside to buy land or simply melt the money into silver winter melons to hide. These people are probably the most hated by the government because they are artificially creating deflation. How can they tolerate this?

However, as Ding Ji said, everyone has their own ambitions. The foreign trade of Taiwan banks still requires the strong assistance of these merchants, because Taiwan banks are just a platform, and whether they can do business and what they do depends on these merchants. Taiwan banks are only responsible for the collection of delivery and settlement every year. As long as these merchants pay taxes on time, they can "pull a penny to benefit the world" when the government sends donations, then this is completely tolerant. You must know that just a few decades ago, the Ming Dynasty government wanted to ask these merchants that collect taxes, which was simply impossible, let alone send donations from time to time. Those merchants themselves are flirting, eating, drinking and having fun all day long. Who cares about the government's lack of money for national defense expenses? So, they are already "well-behaved" enough in front of the people of the East Coast. Putting them in front of the Ming Dynasty can make those officials stare at them, so what else do you ask for?

"This time I have summoned you all to hold such a meeting, but there is nothing else. It is actually for the purpose of deciding the railway construction." After saying the opening remarks, Ding Ji glanced around and then got to the point. He only heard him say: "Deciding the railway costs a lot. If everything is purchased and transported from the local area, it will cost nearly four million yuan in funds. It is difficult for the government to take out this money, so we still need our Chamber of Commerce to find a solution."

"The initial opinion is to establish the board of directors of Ding Railway Company. The board of directors has one chief director, divided into ten chief directors. The chief director is assigned by the Nan Railway Company and is fully responsible for the daily operation of the Changing Railway. It has a veto power. At the same time, it can requisition railway transportation military supplies and personnel during wartime. The ten chief directors of the four counties, Yu, Yuyao, Yinxian and Dinghai counties each occupy one seat. This is four seats, and the remaining six seats are said to be the bank of Taiwan, so it will also occupy one seat, and there are still five seats left..." When he said this, Ding Ji paused and successfully aroused everyone's appetite.

The members of the guild are familiar with railways, and many of them have even gone to Shandong to take special rides. It is so far away between Yantai and Qingdao. If you take the special train shop without stopping, it will be almost two days. This is simply incredible! Because of this inference, from Yuxian on the banks of the Cao'e River to Dinghai Port, you can leave almost early and arrive late. What is this concept? If there is such a powerful tool, then many things will become possible, which is a subversive stimulus for the promotion of local commerce and personnel exchanges. The social rhythm will inevitably be greatly accelerated, and in turn will promote the development of productivity.

In short, you cannot simply regard the railway as a means of transportation, because it has many other positive and positive influences, and it is not an exaggeration to say it is a metronome to promote social development. Therefore, the construction of the first railway in Ningshao area of ​​Ding Railway, which must have attracted the attention of more than 3 million local businessmen. Therefore, if anyone enters the board of directors of this railway as a director, it is simply a happy event for the family to be a conspicuous improvement and a sign of a significant improvement in social status! Not to mention, this railway will definitely make money, and there are a lot of dividends every year, which is even more worth fighting for!

You should know that after earning a lot of money, will the further pursuit of businessmen not gaining greater social influence or even political capital? Positions such as president and vice president of the industry association have already represented considerable social status and influence, which has caused many people to fight for it. What kind of world should this board of directors who determine such a fresh and fashionable matter in the railway? At this time, there is no need for Ding Ji to talk more. The top figures in the foreign trade merchant guild have straightened their waists and looked at Ding Ji with bright eyes to see what he said next.

"The remaining five seats are the principle of subscribing to one seat of 600,000 yuan to raise three million yuan in railway construction funds. Commander Liu from Yin County has given me a briefing and can give us two seats in the guild. This is a subscription amount of 1.2 million yuan. Well, you can subscribe to it personally or you can subscribe in the name of the guild." Ding Ji said slowly: "And there is always a process for railway construction. We won't let us take out so much money at once. It's probably just to take out this money within three to four years, which will make it much less pressure."

Ding Ji's words calmed down a little. Even if one million yuan in cash was distributed within four years, it would take out 300,000 yuan a year. You should know that more than half of the people on this floor had a net worth less than 300,000 yuan. This is definitely a shocking number! In the Ming Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were already an extraordinary super rich man even in Jiangnan. Decades have passed. Although Ningbo has flowed into a lot of silver, the actual value of the currency at the end of the Ming Dynasty has depreciated, 300,000 yuan is still a huge number.

In this way, then you can only pay for the shares and subscribe to seats in the name of the guild. This is the only way. As for giving up subscription, let alone the railway will definitely make a profit, and it should not be a problem to recover. Just say that once the guild successfully subscribes seats and enters the board of directors, then you will definitely have your own say in railway transportation in the future. At that time, if you transport the things, don’t transport the things, first transport the things, and then transport the things, there will be room for operation! And if you give up this opportunity and let others raise money and successfully enter the board of directors, then when you need to use railway transportation goods in the future, you may be at the mercy of others. This is a very likely thing, and you have to be careful.

Therefore, the matter of subscribing to designated railway board seats can not only obtain long-term dividends in the future, but also obtain additional benefits in the transportation of goods, but also seek a more decent social status and higher influence for yourself (this is particularly important). Therefore, it has become inevitable. The method is probably nothing more than raising money together, and then entering the board of directors in the name of the guild to obtain two separate seats. As for whom these two seats are represented, it depends on how they negotiate internally. It is estimated that in the end, who will still have more money.

The style of the East Coast merchants actually shows from one aspect that after decades of accumulation, they are increasingly inclined to find a backer for themselves in politics, or simply enter the system by themselves, to ensure the safety of their own property, and to seek greater benefits for their business empire. Just like the traditional Chinese lack of what they lack, the merchants are rich but lack political power, so they began to think about this. They support and sponsor promising students in the front, hoping that they will enter the system in the future and will become more prosperous and marry newcomers in the political arena later, in order to increase their voice in politics. Now they plan to directly enter the system by setting up railways, and hope to meet more big figures through epoch-making things like railways.

After all, they all have a wealth of wealth and most of their businesses have stabilized. It can be said that they have no worries about food and clothing. Many people may not live a life that is not necessarily the chairman of the East Coast Local Executive Committee, but they do not have the power of the chairman. How can this not be hurt? The fundraising for the construction of the railway is an excellent opportunity to increase their business group's voice and influence. If anyone gives up, that would be a fool!
Chapter completed!