Lead-gray clouds gradually covered the sky above Jinling City.
The snow fluttered down again.
Thousands of lights were lit up in Jinling City, and Hongxiu Zhao's pleasure boat naturally also lit up big red lanterns.
Tonight, the Red Sleeves Theater seemed to be bustling earlier than usual. When Fu Xiaoguan climbed up to the Red Sleeves Theater, he heard a noisy voice from the third floor:
"You don't know, I spent a lot of effort to buy a thousand shares..."
"What the hell are stocks?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Gongsun is truly oblivious to what's happening outside. That was a new product launched by Mr. Fu himself. Four million shares were issued at two taels of silver per share, and in less than a day, they were gone!"
“…” Gongsun Ke was stunned for a while, feeling a little disappointed. That was something created by his mentor, so it must be excellent. He had been immersed in economic theories these days and missed this good thing.
Huo Huaijin and Ning Yuchun were sitting in the corner. They had originally invited Fu Xiaoguan to come here to listen to music and drink, but they didn't expect that this year's Jinshi would be celebrating here.
There were too many people, and it was not a good place to chat, so the two looked at each other, got up and walked out of the third floor, and happened to meet Fu Xiaoguan on the second floor.
"Unfortunately, let's go to another place, Sifang Building."
"What?"
"This year's imperial examination is about to begin, and the gathering of successful candidates is being held. The place is completely packed with students from the Imperial Academy."
Fu Xiaoguan turned around and left. After all, he was a professor at the academy. If this teacher went there, the students would not be able to have a good time.
The three of them went ashore and took a carriage towards Sifanglou.
"Who is the top scorer in this year's exam?" asked Fu Xiaoguan.
Huo Huaijin didn't care about these things, so Ning Yuchun said with a smile: "The first place is Gongsun Ce, the second place is Shang Liang, and the third place is Sima Nan..."
Ning Yuchun looked at Fu Xiaoguan and said, "Two of them have followed you to the Wu Dynasty, and coincidentally, the essay that His Majesty presented during the palace examination was actually about this new policy.
The essay was titled "On the Advantages and Disadvantages of the New Policies for the Nation." The three authors' responses were said to be exceptional, earning His Majesty's immediate approval. Later, a rumor circulated within the academy that you had spoken extensively to the students on the New Policies during your trip to the Wu Dynasty, and that these two scholars' perspectives were quite novel, precisely meeting His Majesty's expectations.
Fu Xiaoguan naturally remembered Gongsun Ce and Shang Liang, but he just asked, "Who is this Sima Nan?"
"Yingqiu Sima, Bianhe Wangsun, Sangxiang Lushi, Linzi Zhongyu, these are the five most famous business families in the Yu Dynasty! You are not a very professional businessman."
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled and asked, "Isn't it clear that there are only four families?"
"Linzi Zhongyu, this refers to the Zhong family and the Yu family."
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly realized that Yingqiu was in the eastern part of Jiangnan, Bianhe was in the eastern part of Huainan, Sangxiang was in the eastern part of Shannan, and Linzi was in the eastern part of Jiannan.
These four places have excellent transportation and suitable environment. The cities are considered large in today's world, so it is normal for the business to be prosperous. Fu Xiaoguan did not ask any more questions.
Since Sima Nan came from a business family, he naturally supported the new policies, and the education he received was probably related to business.
These three people are talented. Fu Xiaoguan changed his mind and made up his mind that he must get these three people.
The three of them went up to the Sifang Building and continued to sit in the private room on the third floor.
The shopkeeper of Sifanglou is now here to serve Fu Xiaoguan in person. This new rich man from the capital is a very important customer.
"As usual, but since there are only three of us today, we'll have a smaller selection and a more refined style. First, a pot of good tea."
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"
After the shopkeeper went downstairs, Huo Huaijin smiled and said, "You're a married man now. If I want to invite you out for a drink, I have to be a little more considerate... Will the sisters-in-law have any objections?"
Fu Xiaoguan waved his hand and said, "That's not the case. A grown man should drink when he gets married."
"That's a brilliant statement!" Ning Yuchun praised. "I'm much older than you, but it's still the same for me. How can I let a woman control me?"
Ning Yuchun then changed the subject, looking at Fu Xiaoguan, and asked, "Your stocks have been sold out by this guy. To be honest, quite a few people came to my office today to plead for mercy, and they are almost all wealthy merchants in Shangjing City... How about selling them for another eight million?"
Fu Xiaoguan glared at Ning Yuchun, "How is this possible?"
"Why not? Exchanging paper for silver, where in the world is there such a good thing?"
Fu Xiaoguan pondered for a moment and explained, "This isn't a matter of exchanging paper for silver. The original plan was for four million shares. The eight million taels of silver raised will be distributed to the sixteen pilot counties after the start of the year. For the next six months, this distributed silver won't generate any profit because we need to build workshops."
"Therefore, there will be no dividends for the first two quarters of next year. Profits will only be generated after the goods are produced, circulated and sold. I roughly estimate that it will take until at least the end of next year for dividends to be distributed."
"Why can't we issue these stocks randomly? Because we have to be responsible to every investor! The more shares we issue, the more people will receive dividends. By then, there won't be much money to share, and the shares won't sell for much after they're listed... Tell me, who would still trust Xishan Shares?"
“If we need financing to expand production capacity later, who would dare to buy Xishan stock?”
Ning Yuchun and Huo Huaijin pondered for a moment, roughly understood the meaning, and then it suddenly dawned on them.
This paper really can't be exchanged for silver casually!
The three of them were chatting as the food and wine were served, but before they had even two drinks, there was a sound of footsteps coming from the stairs.
Jin Haozhi, a captain of the Jingyu Guards from the Jinling government office, hurried in.
He bowed:
"Sir, there's a riot in the slums north of the city."
Ning Yuchun frowned, "How serious is the situation?"
"Three people died and five houses burned down."
"What caused it?"
“…a… steamed bun!”
Jin Qianhu recounted the entire incident in detail:
A seven-year-old boy stole a steamed bun from Tangji Steamed Bun Shop in the evening. He was discovered by Tang Buyong, the owner of Tangji. Naturally, he was not happy with it, so he chased after the boy with a knife for cutting noodles.
He caught the little boy. If the little boy had returned the bun to him, this incident would not have happened.
But the little boy defended the steamed bun tightly and even bit Tang Buyong. Tang Buyong became furious and stabbed the little boy in the stomach with a knife.
The people in the slums suddenly rioted. The little boy's father and the poor people here surrounded Tang Buyong and beat him to death. Before he died, Tang Buyong stabbed to death a man who came to help him.
So the anger of the people in the slums was completely ignited. They rushed into Tangji Steamed Bun Shop, snatched all the steamed buns here, and set the shop on fire.
Fu Xiaoguan frowned, "This slum... is it so poor?"
He didn't say it was chaotic, because the cause of the chaos was poverty!
"That shabby place is a terrible place in Jinling City! This year, there are even more refugees coming from both sides of the Yellow River. Alas... they are also pitiful people!"
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