In the palace of the Chief Justice, in the royal study.

"One, ten million taels?" The Chief Censor was stunned.

"This is still the most conservative estimate." The manager said confidently, "If I were to do the math, Xishan Mining could reduce production and transportation costs by half, while doubling output. It would soon monopolize the entire market... 20 million would be more than enough."

"Wealthy enough to rival a country..." Wang Ting hissed and gasped, "Eight times the annual income of Taicang."

"Of course, just saying it's worth that much money is different from having that much money."

Wang Ting nodded. As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." Under the influence of the steward, he also had more business acumen than ordinary officials.

The person in charge was from northern Jiangsu, good at calculation and proficient in business. He was a capable subordinate recruited by Wang Ting when he was the governor of Suzhou.

Under the management of the steward, Wang Ting did not engage in corruption or accept bribes, and over the years he has amassed a fortune of millions.

What? Power rent-seeking? I have never heard of this term...

"Master, let's make a compromise and say it's worth 15 million taels." The manager explained to Wang Ting with a trembling voice:

"Royal Xishan Coal Industry has a total of 100,000 shares, so each share is worth 150 taels of silver."

After a pause, he was almost speechless with excitement and said, "And the price of one share is only ten taels of silver."

"Hiss..." Wang Ting also felt his heart was about to jump out, and he opened his mouth wide and said, "Doesn't that mean that if I buy it, I can make fifteen times the money?"

"Isn't that the case with the first batch?" The manager said, "I guess the price of the second batch will go up, but it definitely won't go up by 15 times! After all, the court could still issue a coal mining ban at any time."

"It's just 150 taels, and it's definitely not a loss. The demand for coal in and outside the capital is there, and there are 3,600 coal mines with negligible costs. It will take a hundred years to mine all the coal! The dividends alone will support the master for at least five generations!"

After a pause, he bowed to Wang Tingyi and said, "Master, don't you always think that I am conservative in my investment? Now I strongly suggest that you buy as many shares of Xishan Coal Industry as you can!"

"Well, now that you mention it, Xishan Coal Industry is still a strong crop." Wang Ting stroked his chin and thought.

No matter how great the power of civil servants is, it cannot be inherited, so they attach great importance to planning for their descendants.

Haven’t you seen that high-ranking officials in the imperial court, regardless of whether they have anything to do with military affairs, are all begging and trying to get a hereditary military position for their descendants?

Do they really want their descendants to abandon literature and take up military service and serve the country with all their heart? Don't be ridiculous.

You're simply eyeing the permanent, iron rice bowl of a military attaché, okay?

This way, no matter how unworthy the descendants are, they will still have an official position and receive a salary...

So when Wang Ting heard that Xishan Coal Industry could support five generations, he immediately became excited.

Just to maintain his image of being a thoughtful person, he pretended to think for a moment before nodding his head and saying:

"Okay, let's raise the money! Buy as much as you can. I want one hundred and fifty taels per share!"

"Understood." The manager smiled and nodded.

~~

The Chengguo Mansion is adjacent to the scenic Houhai Lake and occupies an entire mile of water surface.

The old master Zhu Xizhong had just returned from the Governor's Mansion and was sitting in the sedan chair thinking about which concubine to sleep with tonight.

Bah, no!

I am seriously considering whether I should get sick again and go home to avoid the limelight.

Judging from my many years of experience, my memorial will surely cause a storm, so I should put safety first...

After making up his mind, he got off the sedan chair and was about to go find his new thirty-third concubine to have some fun when he saw his second daughter-in-law, Kong, walking towards him with a happy look on her face.

"Dad, Dad, we are rich..."

Zhu Xizhong has been cautious and prudent all his life, pretending to be stupid and foolish, but that is his way of protecting himself at the expense of himself, and the old master knows it very well.

But the second son Shi Mao's wife, Kong, is noisy and outspoken all day long. She is really stupid.

As soon as he saw her, Duke Chengguo's head started to buzz and it was too late to hide.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and scold: "Keep your voice down."

I thought, didn't I just embezzle some of the military pay? Are you shouting that you want to die?

Oh, that's not right, how did she know?

Duke Cheng looked at Kong in surprise and asked, "How did you make your fortune? Rapeseed or moss?"

"You see, Dad just looks down on people." Kong pouted and said, "Last time I bought the eldest princess's stocks, you scolded me."

"Isn't it my duty to scold you?" Chen, the wife of the eldest daughter-in-law Zhu Shitai, came out of the house and scolded the sister-in-law who didn't know the rules:

"Five thousand taels of silver, you, Kong Erlangzi, threw it away without blinking an eye. Do you think our family's money came from the wind?"

Zhu Shitai is now the right governor, and will inherit the title in the future. Chen, the eldest daughter-in-law, naturally would not take the useless Kong seriously.

"Even if you throw it into the Houhai Sea, you can hear hundreds of noises!"

"Who said I threw my money into the water? I'm rich, you know?" Kong took out Xishan Coal Industry's stock from her sleeve, slapped it on her face and said, "Do you know how much this is worth now? How much is it worth?"

"How much is it worth?" Zhu Xizhong suddenly thought of the young man who was letting himself go in Wenhua Hall, and stopped his eldest daughter-in-law from fighting back.

"Manager Qiu said it's worth at least 70,000 or 80,000 taels!" Kong laughed and said, "From now on, my husband and I will never have to worry about spending money just by living on the dividends!"

"You are just bragging." Chen didn't believe it at all. She curled her lips and said, "If it was really so valuable, why would they sell it to you for 5,000 taels? What if the eldest princess opened a charity?"

"You don't get a share anyway." Kong carefully put away the pile of stocks, and then said to Zhu Xizhong proudly, "Dad, you get a share."

"Thank you." Zhu Xizhong couldn't believe it either.

But just as he was about to enter the hall, he saw Duke of England Zhang Rong coming to him angrily.

"Brother, what you are doing is wrong. How can you just make money for yourself?" They are both dukes, and Zhang Rong has more seniority than Zhu Xizhong, but he is living in a disgraceful way and is far less glorious than Duke Cheng.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Xizhong looked at him strangely and thought to himself, here comes another idiot.

"Xishan Coal Industry's stocks! Your family bought them without telling me!" Zhang Rong was knocked to the ground by the 'God of Cursing' Ouyang Yijing. He had not been able to make a living in these years and lived a very tight life. Naturally, he valued this opportunity to get rich overnight.

"I'm not making any money from your family, why do you want to eat all the food for yourself?!"

"Oh?" Duke Cheng glanced at the laughing Kong and said incredulously, "So... are the stocks really that valuable?"

"Of course, the news has spread all over the capital! Now one share costs at least two hundred taels of silver! And the earliest batch was bought for ten taels of silver!" Zhang Rong almost suffocated, choking and saying, "It's only been less than half a month, and the price has increased twenty times! How long will the bad luck of my Zhang family last?"

Chen stared at Kong Erlangzi in amazement, her mouth wide open, her mouth big enough to fit a goose egg.

Is this what they call a fool having good fortune? Because the fool is particularly stupid, so the fool's fortune is also a big one?

ps. The fourth update, 12200 votes and extra update delivered, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~