Chapter 1083 Conqueror's Wealth Carnival (3rd update, please subscribe)

In August 1882, the shadow of war once again enveloped the world.

A crisis involving several major powers is unfolding in Cuba, and in other parts of the world, people are preparing for war.

The fragile peace of mankind seems to be about to be broken.

However, for the vast majority of ordinary people, they may see the crisis of war, but for them, whether war breaks out or not, they have to live day by day.

But for some people, war means new opportunities.

The heavy rain last night made the streets of the coastal city of Daxing cleaner. The refreshing golden morning sun shone on the balcony windows.

In the bathroom, the hot water from the shower pipe was creating mist. After a simple wash, Li Pingcai wiped the mirror with his hand, then his eyes fell on the newspaper - Revenge! In the name of the empire!

When he saw the news, he thought about it for a while before walking out of the bathroom.

From the half-open window came the unique sounds of the neighborhood in the early morning: the crisp ringing of bicycle bells, the conversations and laughter of housewives queuing up to buy the first batch of freshly baked bread, the sounds of children playing, the footsteps of the crowd, the sound of unloading of three-wheeled trucks delivering milk and early newspapers...

Here at 6am in the morning, all kinds of noises are common in all communities.

"Honey, don't you want to have a little more?"

Catalina asked when she saw her husband already eating the eggs.

"A glass of milk, a piece of bread and an egg will do, and I like to eat your boiled eggs."

Li Pingcai said as he peeled a boiled egg.

“At home, we always cook our eggs very hard.”

"Actually, it's very simple. Put the eggs in hot water and boil for 3 minutes to 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The trick is to gently put the eggs into the hot water with a spoon to avoid it colliding with the bottom of the pot and causing cracks."

Katerina said with a smile.

"But you can't eat it right away. Once it cools down, the egg white will have completely solidified, and the yolk will naturally be half-cooked and runny..."

When Catalina explained the technique of boiled eggs, Li Pingcai just listened with a smile. She came from the local upper class and her family owned a farm of tens of thousands of acres outside the city.

Of course, like many upper-class families in Montevideo, no, it should be Daxing, they would find a Chinese husband for their daughter. It would be best if he was a military officer, but a civil servant is also good. A businessman like him, well, is also a good marriage candidate.

This was a very common phenomenon in the Ming Empire. Many Western families maintained their traditional status and wealth by marrying Chinese military officers and civil servants, which was always welcomed by the top officials of the empire. After all, such integration was beneficial to governance.

A Western upper class that accepted Ming rule and was willing to integrate into the Ming was beneficial to the rule of the empire, and it was also a transfer of wealth and social status. As conquerors, the Ming people became the owners of wealth in this process.

This is the way the world is, in the end the conqueror takes everything...

After breakfast and saying goodbye to his wife, Li Pingcai drove to the factory. The Alfonso Iron Works, which was once located in the city, built a new factory outside the city two years ago. The new factory building is larger, and the number of machines has increased to more than 300.

As soon as the car drove into the factory, he could hear the roar of machines. After parking the car, Li Pingcai went straight to his father's office.

The worker from Yingtian back then has now become the owner of Xingye Iron Works, and Xingye Iron Works is the largest private iron work in Daxing and even in the whole of Hebei.

"Ping Li is here."

Seeing his son coming in, Li Tieliang smiled.

"You came at the right time. Let me show you our new product. This is..."

"Dad, have you read the newspaper?"

As he spoke, Li Pingcai placed the newspaper in front of his father.

After looking at the front page of the newspaper, Li Tieliang frowned and said.

"Is it the Cuban Crisis again? We are living in such a good time, why do we need to fight a war?"

Li Pingcai laughed at his father’s words.

"Dad, if we didn't fight, our Li family wouldn't be where we are today!"

Yes, without the war, there would be no Xingye Iron Works today - its predecessor, the Alfonso Iron Works, was enemy property disposed of by the military, and the Li family "rented" this factory without paying a penny.

"Why……"

Li Tieliang sighed after hearing his son's words.

"I'm just worried about your brother. Your brother is safe and sound in the navy, on the ship. If a fight breaks out, he..."

Li Tieliang pursed his lips and stopped talking. He touched the "service badge" on his chest, as if praying for God's blessing in his heart.

Thinking of his elder brother serving on a naval ship and looking at the worried look on his father's face, Li Pingcai said.

"Brother will be safe and sound. Dad, what I want to tell you is that since we are going to fight a war, the market demand for steel will definitely increase in the future. You see, after we conquered Brazil, the steel production doubled in just a few years. New railways and municipalities need steel everywhere. Now is a good opportunity!"

Looking up at his son, Li Tieliang said in surprise.

"You mean a steel mill?"

"Yes, it's a steel mill. The most profitable business right now is still a steel mill!"

Li Tieliang took a deep breath after hearing his son's words.

"Pingcai, it takes a lot of money to run a steel mill, and our family doesn't have that much wealth yet."

Although the Li family has changed a lot in the past few years, but to run a steel plant... how much money would that cost!

"If you don't have money, you can borrow it."

"Our new factory still owes the bank a loan of more than 100,000 yuan."

Li Tieliang shook his head repeatedly.

"Don't take too big a step. If you do, it's easy to..."

"How can you run faster if you don't take bigger steps?"

Sitting in front of his father, Li Pingcai said.

"There are many people willing to invest in factories in Daxing. With the reputation of our Xingye Iron and Steel Factory, there will definitely be people willing to invest as long as we open an iron and steel factory. I have asked someone to calculate that the total investment to build an iron and steel factory with an annual output of 100,000 tons is only about 1.2 million yuan, of which about 700,000 yuan is needed to buy equipment. Our family will first invest 100,000 yuan, and then raise 600,000 to 700,000 yuan in equity. After the factory starts operation, we can use the factory to borrow 500,000 yuan from the bank, which is enough to set up the steel factory..."

Looking at his son who was talking in front of him, Li Tieliang felt a little uncomfortable because he didn't understand what his son was thinking and doing.

"Dad, right now the net profit from one ton of steel is about 10 yuan. A steel plant with a production capacity of 100,000 tons can make millions of yuan a year! It will almost pay off in just one year!"

Looking at his father, Li Pingcai said a little excitedly.

"We didn't have the money last time and missed the opportunity. Now that the opportunity has come again, we can't miss it again!"

“This, this.”

Faced with his son's wild thoughts, Li Tieliang pondered for a while and hesitated.

"You have to think about this carefully. What can we do with this technology? We are no experts in iron smelting."

"Dad, this is such a big factory now. It's not a workshop like before. We can't make everything by ourselves!"

Li Pingcai pointed his finger at the newspaper and said.

"We just recruit directly. Even if all the domestic candidates have gone to big companies, we can recruit overseas."

(End of this chapter)