A gunshot was fired in Sarajevo, OK, everything is as before!
On June 28, 1914, the Austrian Crown Prince Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo. A month later, Austria declared war on Serbia, and the Tsar announced a general mobilization order. Subsequently, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and other European powers were all involved in the war, and later the Ottoman Empire also joined in.
The European War broke out in full force, and mankind's first large-scale gang fights began after the industrial age.
When the news came, Lin Shuo was as excited as the despicable bankers on Wall Street. War is always the best time to speculate and make money.
Sometimes even he himself feels that his thoughts are shameless.
The U.S. stock market was suspended. Only then did Lin Shuo realize that he had made a serious mistake due to negligence. Over the past decade, he had used the surplus funds on hand to purchase tens of millions of U.S. dollars through Diners & Company's securities agency in Shanghai. The stocks were frozen, and the securities in hand, which now have a market value of more than 300 million US dollars, were banned from circulation.
Lin Shuo, who was in a state of excitement, had a basin of cold water poured on his head.
It’s time to spend money!
Minister-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang announced that China will abide by its neutrality.
Lin Shuo quietly ran to Qingdao. It seemed that the Japanese would join in soon. Now was a good time to seize the German colonies in Asia and the Pacific.
"It seems that Qingdao can't stay here. Maybe my merchant fleet and I can do something for your fleet, such as providing intelligence and supplies."
"Why?"
"I like Germany, and we have a common enemy. I hope the German army can defeat the Russians!" What Lin Shuo was thinking about was how to cause more losses to the British and French. As for Germany's defeat, this was due to Bismarck. The time had long been doomed. This self-righteous fool chose to ally with the Austrians, which inevitably caused the Germans to fall into the embarrassing situation of fighting on two fronts during the war.
In fact, German Emperor Wilhelm II may have had the right idea. Germany should annex this troublesome brother to gain access to the Mediterranean. The decadent Habsburg royal family was not even qualified to be the king of the Magyars.
Just like Hitler did later, he almost succeeded, but then he suddenly went crazy and turned around to attack Russia - then called the Soviet Union. As a result, he returned to the deadlock set by Bismarck.
Germany's defeat was inevitable, and Lin Shuo didn't want to worry about it.
The result of the conspiracy was definitely in favor of the German fleet. Lin Shuo seemed to have gained nothing and risked violating neutrality.
The real results are never simple.
The power of role models is infinite.
China has never lacked smart people. These days, most of the children of gentry and merchants from all over the country are well-educated. If you open a yarn factory to make money, before long, there will be a lot of spinning machines and looms around you. To make money by opening a flour mill, there were as many as 21 new flour and oil pressing factories opened in Shanghai alone in 1915.
From the late Qing Dynasty to the early days of Beiyang rule, China's industrialization process was not slow. Gentlemen, merchants and officials from all over the Republic of China were also enthusiastic about developing industry. According to incomplete statistics, from the early years of the Republic of China to 1919, the number of industrial and mining enterprises registered with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce The number of enterprises increased sharply from less than 700 to more than 1,900, nearly tripling in less than eight years. Its economic development speed was comparable to that of the early stages of reform and opening up in later generations.
If not for the chaotic warlord civil war that followed, perhaps the country could have completed its initial industrialization process within two to thirty years.
The outbreak of the European War also affected the domestic industrialization process. The newly built factories and the expansion of the original old factories lacked sufficient machinery and equipment. The shortage of equipment manufacturing industry greatly restricted the development of national industry. After the war, they had to and the influx of
compete with foreign goods.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, some mechanical equipment, electrical and electrical appliance manufacturing workshops had appeared in China, but they were small in scale and lacked the support of bank credit.
Now that Lin Shuo is not short of money, he decided to separate his Industrial Bank of China into an investment bank and select some domestic small companies with technology and promise but lack of funds for investment to support their expansion and development.
With the start of construction of Shanxi Baojin Steel Plant, China already had four steel companies that had started construction at that time, Hanyang, Wuhu, Xuanhua and Taiyuan Baojin. These four companies were all under Lin Shuo's capital control. Because Ou
Due to the impact of the war, most of these steel plants have a lot of money.
Due to the damage caused by the war of 1911, the Hanyang Iron Works produced only more than 35,000 tons of steel in 1915, but its profit was nearly 6 million yuan. The annual steel production of the Xuanhua Iron Works in Zhili was about 50,000 tons.
The Baojin Iron and Steel Plant in Taiyuan has an annual output of more than 15,000 tons of steel since it just started. The largest output is the Wuhu Iron and Steel Plant, with an annual steel output of nearly 160,000 tons and a profit of more than 25 million yuan. In just one year
All investment was recovered.
Li Chun, the governor of Jiangxi, was jealous and went to Fuzhou to find Lin Shuo: "Brother, even though you have become our leader, you can't treat me badly. After all, we are all from the Beiyang lineage. I didn't shoot him at the beginning.
Without letting go, I gave the entire Taiyuan City to you, and now I have to take care of it no matter what."
"What's the matter?"
"I heard that Feng Huafu took 600,000 yuan from you last year."
"That's what I deserve from the dividends I received from my Wuhu Iron Works shares and business," Lin Shuo said lightly.
"Aren't you building an iron factory in Xinyu? Brother, I want to join in the effort."
"How much do you want to count?"
"Thirty percent!"
"It's not really dark, but it's too damn dark!" Lin Shuo stared.
Li Chun seemed very aggrieved, "I don't want it for free like Feng Huafu, so why not buy it with money?"
"Okay, 20% of the shares, a total of 2.8 million, bring it!" Lin Shuo thought for a moment, stretched out his hand, and looked up at the sky.
"Okay, it's a deal, I'll send someone to deliver the money in two days."
"Hey, you're a fishmonger, how do you get so much money?"
"Mountain people have their own magical methods, which can't be said, can't be said!" Li Chun chuckled.
Li Chuncai had been the governor of Jiangxi for less than two years and had made so much money. Being a warlord was so damn exciting. No wonder the current Beiyang Army dared to resist Lao Yuan's orders even to the death.
It is generally believed that arms are the most profitable during war. In fact, the largest consumption during the war is food, clothing, shoes, hats, matches, cigarettes and other daily necessities. Lin Shuo can get about 200 million yuan in dividends from these industrial and commercial enterprises every year, plus
Nanyang Rubber's profit from production is approximately over 50 million yuan, which is enough to support its continuous investment in the country.
Not everyone is happy. Shanghai-based comprador Zhu Zhiyao's Qiuxin Shipyard ran into trouble.
The trouble comes from the order for two cargo ships that Qiuxin Shipyard has received.
It turned out that before the war, French businessmen ordered two 3,000-ton ocean-going freighters "Meili" and "Meijian" from Qiuxin Shipyard. The contract price of the two ships was 1 million yuan, and the construction cost was estimated to be about 870,000 yuan. So Zhu Zhiyao ordered
The purchase of materials was offset by the shipyard and some Shanghai real estate, and a loan of 800,000 yuan was obtained from French bank Credit Agricole.
Unexpectedly, the keels of the two ships had just been laid, and just as the European War broke out, the price of steel soared.
Zhu Zhiyao was no longer able to complete the construction of these two cargo ships and faced bank reminders, so he asked Lin Shuo for help.
Lin Shuo originally opened Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai, and Zhu Zhiyao's Qiuxin Shipyard opened almost at the same time, so the two knew each other.
Lin Shuo also admired this person very much, he was smart and courageous.
Lin Shuo wrote a note asking Zhu Zhiyao to find the manager of the Shanghai Branch of Industrial Bank, meaning that the bank would agree to lend Zhu Zhiyao 2 million yuan to support domestic industry. If there were risks, he would bear the loan solely.
Qiuxin Shipyard finally got through the difficulties, but Zhu Zhiyao took the shipyard stocks under his name and insisted on giving them to Lin Shuo.
"Without Mr.'s help, the shipyard would have closed down, so these stocks should have belonged to Mr. Zhu Zhiyao said sincerely.
Zhu Zhiyao owned 70% of the shares of Qiuxin Shipyard, but Lin Shuo refused to accept the offer. It was his wish to support the national industry.
In 1958, Zhu Zhiyao, chairman of Qiuxin Shipyard, passed away. Before his death, he donated all Qiuxin Shipyard stocks and dividends over the years to establish an education fund with a total asset value of 270 million yuan.
It is the duty of those who work in banks to support national industries.