The Beijing-Hankow Railway was launched a few days later than the Qing Dynasty Ocean Railway. After all, the workload of the project was too large. In the end, Baojun and other military ministers had no choice but to ask the Chinese for help.
There is a Chinese company that specializes in helping companies perform various data calculations, called an accounting company!
These are people who are professional in accounting and are proficient in mathematics. They are not only good at calculating accounts but are also good at earthwork measurement! Master Baojun found that he could not complete the emperor's mission within the scheduled time with the power of his own court.
The Beijing-Hankow Railway starts from Yongdingmen and goes all the way to Hankou. It passes through three provinces, countless rivers and even the Yellow River, which is like a natural moat.
There are so many things that need to be calculated that there is no way to be lazy, but stock market listing has such requirements. If you don’t budget well, what will you do if you overspend? I don’t want to be 100% accurate, but I can’t be too far off.
Just when Baojun was worried, he suddenly heard the news that Qingyang Ocean was about to be listed, and he was suddenly confused. He really didn't expect that the third master would be so efficient.
He quickly went to ask for help, but after asking him, he realized that it turned out that there were six Chinese accounting companies on the Third Master's side to settle accounts for him, and all the accountants in the Qing Dynasty yamen became helpers.
"Master Baojun, I don't know what to say to you. In this era, you have to believe in Europa's arithmetic. That actuary is very powerful!"
"And if people dare to open a company to pick up this kind of private goods, they have confidence in their craftsmanship! Hurry up and find such a company in the Chinese community, and I will help you match them!"
"The imperial court doesn't have to support idle people for a long time. If there are tasks, let them calculate the price for each job. No one can bully them! Once the work is done, the accounts will be settled, and it will save the need to support a lot of people, who are too busy to do the work!"
Baojun now found a gold mine, and immediately telegraphed to Naha to invite twelve accounting companies to come to the Qing Dynasty to handle the accounts for them!
As long as the money is in place and the work enthusiasm is there, you don't need to worry, and the slow progress will be doubled all of a sudden.
On April 15th, all the accounts were settled and all preparations for the listing were completed. Under the continuous reprimands of the little emperor, on April 28th, it was a month late for Qingyang Ocean.
Beijing-Hankow Railway, the largest large-cap stock in the Qing Dynasty with a scale of 81.9 million silver dollars, was officially listed!
This is really a gold-devouring behemoth. Daqing Yuanyang has swallowed up more than 50 million silver dollars in the market before, and now there is another 80 million giant.
Although everyone knows that this railway is a good thing and a good business that will make profits for thousands of years, the plate is too big to hold it!
On the day of listing, other stocks fell one after another. Various funds withdrew some funds from the stocks that had made profits and began to buy Beijing-Hankou Railway.
Twenty million shares were sold on the first day, 23 million shares were sold on the second day, and only 15 million shares were sold on the third day...
The imperial court actually knew it well, and Zaichun himself knew very well that the Qing Dynasty's reforms were too fast, especially the excessive use of the power of the capital market.
The civilian blood draw is too serious! Was the Qing Dynasty rich? Of course there is money, after all, China’s thousands of years of family wealth is here!
But being rich doesn’t mean having so much cash flow! The calligraphy and painting of the Tang Dynasty and the porcelain of the Song Dynasty are indeed valuable, but no matter how valuable your Wu Daozi's original work is, it cannot be used directly as cash!
The depletion of cash put the court under tremendous pressure!
Zaichun would never let his stock price break. The Beijing-Hankow Railway must be a complete success. On the fourth day, Emperor Tongzhi purchased three million shares out of his own pocket and ordered the court to take in one thousand shares in the name of the Ministry of Industry. Thousands of shares!
The state began to hold shares! The national team has entered the stage!
At this time, all the enthusiasm in the market was ignited, and all hesitations were swept away. In the next seven days, the remaining stocks were wiped out, and finally they were not lost in their own hands!
This Emperor Tongzhi was really cunning and cunning. Just when the Beijing-Hankow Railway began to be constructed in sections, good news suddenly came from Zhengding Prefecture in Zhili in June.
On the construction site of the Beijing-Hankow Railway double-tracking, in the Jingxing stockpile area, students from Huazhong University of Geosciences suddenly discovered coal seedlings!
Coal mines have been discovered in the original area of Zhengding, and the quality is very good!
What makes the market even more unexpected is that the entire coal mine storage area is within the scope of the imperial court's money to enclose the land. In other words, the coal mine is regarded as an asset under the Beijing-Hankow Railway.
The market relies on news. When hearing such good news, funds from all walks of life moved. The Beijing-Hankou Railway stock, which was originally hovering around one yuan, four or five yuan, suddenly rushed to the two yuan mark!
When Zai Chun saw the opportunity coming, he immediately dumped the stocks he held and turned around and exchanged them for Daqing Ocean. Then the Ministry of Industry also secretly sold them!
After all, the railway is a project that requires a construction cycle of four to five years to make money. To say that the money comes quickly, it comes down to Daqing Yuanyang!
In 1875, the capital market was in turmoil. Daqing Yuanyang was rising steadily, while the Beijing-Hankow Railway was fluctuating between one, five and two yuan!
I don’t know how many people have made a fortune, and how many families have been ruined!
At this moment, far away in Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong, there is no scene of the bustling metropolis of later generations. There are only scattered villages and fishing boats in the bay.
At the top of Laoshan Mountain, Li Hongzhang was standing with his direct descendant Sheng Huaixuan to watch the scenery. Here he could overlook the endless Yellow Sea, including the busy construction sites in the plain and hilly area below the mountain!
"This place has been taken away by Xiao Letian's concession. The entire area around Jiaozhou Bay will be the territory of the Chinese people in the future. This is a blessed land!" Li Hongzhang lamented.
Within the sight of the two, cargo ships were sailing towards Jiaozhou Bay from the depths of the ocean. Population, machinery and equipment, funds, troops... were landing near the trestle one after another.
Although you can't see the busy scene over the pier here, just looking at the fleet on the sea, you can tell how much effort the Chinese have put into running this place!
Sheng Huaixuan also sighed, "Sir... when I returned from Europe, I got the news that Krupp had produced four 210-caliber gun barrels for the Chinese and they had been shipped out!"
"According to intelligence, two of them will be installed on the Jiaozhou Bay Fort, and the remaining two will be secured at the Jiangyin Fortress!"
"Ah! Jiangyin..." Li Hongzhang's face turned pale, "Jiangyin! Xiao Letian wants to completely place the Yangtze River estuary within the range of his artillery fire. From now on, all Yangtze River shipping will sail under the shadow of his cannons. Got it!"
"Haha... those fools in the imperial court! Take a good look at this world! What has it become? They still stick to the old rules and refuse to form a navy!"
"Xiao Letian has locked up the Qing Dynasty with forts!"
"Not even a British ironclad would dare to cross the Yangtze River under the control of a 210-caliber cannon!"
"In Jiaozhou Bay under the protection of 210-caliber coastal defense artillery, the British fleet can only retreat!"
"Their plans are far-reaching!"
