At this time, the status of the Xi family was similar to that of the Song family and the Kong family during the Republic of China. They were the financial backers of Chiang Kai-shek.
Of course, the Xi family is also married to the Song family, as well as the Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu families. Anyway, these people are very particular about being well-matched and will try their best to maintain their family status.
However, in 1929, the third generation head of the Xi family was targeted by the underworld and assassinated... It was a very sensational kidnapping case at the time.
Li Yu even thought about the kidnapping of Li Ka-shing's son in later generations.
The direct line of the Xi family is broken, and the fourth generation is too young, so they no longer control the comprador position of HSBC Bank.
But over the past 50 years, he has accumulated a huge amount of wealth.
The comprador's income at HSBC was about 50,000 taels per year, and later reached 100,000 taels. Coupled with the fact that they control many banks and bank accounts and make a lot of investments, the Xi family can be called the number one financial family in Shanghai.
After Li Yu entered the living room, Xi Zhengfu, who was already sixty-five years old, stood up and said: "The Imperial Master is here. I am sorry for the delay in greeting you from afar. I hope you will forgive me. Ahem!"
Xi Zhengfu couldn't stop coughing.
It seemed that he was indeed not in good health. Li Yu hurriedly said: "Old sir, there is no need to stick to the situation."
Li Yu saw a white man and an official from the Qing court in the living room.
Xi Zhengfu introduced him: "This person is Maersk Muller from the Kingdom of Denmark in Europe."
"Hello Mr. Mueller," Li Yu said, "I went to Denmark exactly two months ago."
If you know a little bit about shipping, you will definitely know that the top ten shipping companies in the future are Maersk Group. Those who have been to the terminal will definitely see the "MAERSK" logo on many containers, that is Maersk.
It’s just that Maersk Group is still in its early stages.
Maersk Muller said: "Academician Li Yu, I have heard of your name. You are the best scientist in the world today."
Li Yu smiled slightly: "Thank you."
Xi Zhengfu introduced another official: "This is Mr. Wei Yungong, the director of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau."
Wei Yungong said: "Master Imperial Master, I have admired you for a long time!"
Li Yu also cupped his hands and said, "Nice to meet you!"
Wei Yungong will be promoted to the top of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau next year, that is, the general office.
He compiled "Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau", which is the most important first-hand historical material for later generations to study the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. It is also of great significance for studying the Westernization Movement and the development of modern China's military industry.
Li Yu saw that there were many English freight bills and payment transfer orders on the table.
Xi Zhengfu smiled and said: "It just so happened that the Imperial Master arrived. Imperial Master Suwen is well-informed. Can you solve a problem we are encountering now? We have been discussing it all morning and have no idea."
Li Yu said: "But it doesn't hurt to talk."
On the side, Xi Ligong called the servant to bring him the best Mingqian Longjing. Even if Li Yu didn't understand tea, he knew it was something extraordinary when he smelled it.
Xi Zhengfu said to Wei Yungong, "Master Wei, it's up to you to speak."
Wei Yungong then said: "Your Majesty, the thing is like this. Our Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau purchased a batch of high-quality steel, totaling 5,000 tons according to Western metric standards. When the ship passed through Singapore Port, there was also a freight bill that was weighed as evidence. "
Wei Yungong took out a list issued by the Singapore Port from the table, and there was a British signature on it as proof.
Wei Yungong knew English. When Liang Qichao founded the "Current Affairs Daily", he served as the English translator for the newspaper for a time.
During the Reform period, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, recommended him to the Economic Special Section. After arriving in the capital, he saw that the situation was unpredictable, so he accepted the request of the "Current Affairs News" to inquire about the changes in the court situation, and promptly informed the Shanghai Post Office via telegram or letter. Acted as the eyes and ears of the "Current Affairs News".
So this person is still relatively new in thinking.
Li Yu said: "There is no problem with the freight bill, please continue."
Wei Yungong continued: "But now when the steel is shipped to Shanghai Port and weighed, it turns out that there are ten tons more! Mr. Maersk insists on paying the price for the extra ten tons."
This high-quality steel is expensive, and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau obviously wants to use it to make guns and weapons.
Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau has always suffered from low efficiency. If it were other people, it might not take it too seriously. But Wei Yungong is a relatively serious person, so he cannot throw away so much money in vain.
Xi Zhengfu added: "The Taikoo Terminal that unloads the cargo at Shanghai Port is also owned by the British, so the two freight bills are both made by the British. We are really wondering, could they have made a mistake?"
Li Yu understood it as soon as he heard it. It was nothing more than a problem of gravitational acceleration. Weight and mass are two concepts, but not many people understood it at this time.
So he said: "Mr. Maersk, I think you must think that no Chinese understands what the acceleration of gravity is, and no one understands that the earth is an ellipsoid and the acceleration of gravity is different in different places?"
Maersk was a little speechless for a moment: "I..."
Today's international freight does not have the strict regulations of later generations, and there is a lot of chaos. However, Li Yu really can't stand this kind of blatant bullying of Chinese people who don't understand physics.
Xi Zhengfu and Wei Yungong were equally confused. What about acceleration and ellipsoid?
Seeing that Maersk was obviously not convinced, Li Yu immediately started writing on paper: "If I remember correctly, Singapore's gravity acceleration value is about 9.78, and Shanghai's should be about 9.8. It seems that there is not much difference, but once the mass is very large , there will be a significant gap.”
Li Yu casually listed an equation and calculated that the difference was exactly 10 tons.
"I think Mr. Maersk should have learned these contents when he was in Denmark." Li Yu said.
Nowadays, the popularity of education in Denmark is very high.
Seeing that Maersk had been exposed and that Li Yu was well aware of Li Yu's abilities, he had no choice but to give up the struggle, but he was not comfortable admitting it directly, so he could only mutter: "Maybe, maybe I forgot. In that case, the price will be based on 5,000 tons."
Xi Zhengfu and Wei Yungong were amazed when they saw how easily Li Yu convinced Maersk: "He is indeed the emperor's master!"
Li Yu sighed in his heart, it was just junior high school physics content, but now it can scare so many Chinese people, and he said casually: "It's just a little effort."
Xi Zhengfu added: "The emperor's plan to establish a school is a great thing that will benefit the country and the people. It's a pity that I knew it too late. If you need it, sir, I still have a lot of land on hand. It would be good to build some houses."
Li Yu smiled and said: "It's not necessary. The land purchased by the foundation is already quite large."
Xi Zhengfu said: "The emperor's master bought the land for the school. With the status of the emperor's master, he should have a house in Shanghai, right? I happened to have a piece of land two miles south of Jing'an Temple, and I gave it to the emperor's master. With 400 square meters, you can build a two-story villa. It’s not far from the school and it won’t delay the Imperial Master’s affairs.”
Li Yu was quite familiar with Shanghai. At this time, the places Xi Zhengfu could name were basically the core areas of Shanghai in later generations.
The location he mentioned is just east of Xujiahui.
In later generations, the name of this road was Dongping Road, but in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, it was called Jialyeai Road, which was the name of a former Consul General of the French Concession.
In 1943, the name Dongping, Shandong was changed to Dongping Road (for the sake of easy distinction, we will just call it Dongping Road from now on).
After that, the Xi family built the Xi Family Garden on Dongping Road. It was a top-notch mansion that has been passed down to later generations.
Dongping Road can be said to be the top luxury residential area in the eyes of Shanghainese during the Republic of China. It is lined with trees, has an elegant environment and houses comparable luxury homes.
The Xi Family Garden is at No. 1, and the later villa "Ai Lu" owned by Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling is at No. 9. This was given to them by Soong Ziwen as a dowry for Soong Meiling's wedding.
Song Ziwen's own villa is on Yueyang Road not far from Dongping Road.
In short, this area was a great place in Shanghai during the Republic of China.
Of course, for Li Yu, it was all a matter of the future.
At this moment, the half-acre of land was worth almost a few hundred taels. In the eyes of the Xi family, it was just drizzle, and it was given to Li Yu as a favor.
After all, the concessions have not yet radiated so far. No one could have imagined that Shanghai’s development would continue to advance by leaps and bounds in the future, with no intention of stopping.
Even if they don't have Li Yu's vision of time travel, the Xi family is 100% willing to think about becoming neighbors with the current imperial master, honorary scholar, and world-famous scientist in the future.
Rich people also like to lean into cultural circles.
Li Yu declined a few words, but when Xi Zhengfu persisted, he stopped being polite: "Thank you, General Manager Xi!"
Xi Zhengfu laughed loudly: "I just like people to call me general manager. Many shopkeepers and compradors have no foreign taste."
Wei Yungong also said: "The emperor has helped Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and I will keep it in mind."
Li Yu said casually: "It's just a trivial matter, so why bother."
Seeing this, Maersk felt that it would be even more embarrassing to stay any longer, so he said: "Manager Xi, Mr. Wei, I have something to do in our company, please leave first."
Xi Zhengfu didn't deliberately keep him.
After Maersk left, Wei Yungong said to Li Yu: "Although Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau can afford the premium for ten tons of steel, we are afraid that foreigners will continue to bully us after they know our ignorance. This is the most unbearable!"
Li Yu understood Wei Yungong's thoughts. After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, this man devoted himself to more "Westernization" matters such as the Manufacturing Bureau, hoping to strengthen the country.
Li Yu said to him: "After this incident, Mr. Wei should be able to see that the development of industry requires theoretical support, otherwise the products created will always be one or two generations behind others."
Wei Yungong sighed: "What the emperor said is that now the manufacturing bureau can only make the most common rifles, and the yield rate is difficult to guarantee. Shangfeng has repeatedly asked us to provide the same guns as foreigners. I have always had a question, is it necessary? Purchase new gun manufacturing technology?"
The guns now produced by Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau are actually made in Hanyang.
I was deceived when I bought this technology. It was not the genuine German Mauser rifle that Zhang Zhidong and the others wanted.
If you buy again, you may be cheated again.
Li Yu shook his head and said: "It's not necessary. You can't buy the best technology. But I think you can work more on management. If you can mass-produce qualified rifles while ensuring quality, that's not a bad idea."
Any modern person understands how important innovation is to a company, but currently these manufacturing bureaus have no R&D capabilities at all, let alone innovation.
When I see that the British army and the German army have more advanced weapons, the first thing that comes to my mind is to buy them.
By analogy with India in later generations, military weapons are made by all countries. Where can I buy the most advanced ones? India has almost become the biggest victim of international arms purchases. It is world-famous that it bought an aircraft carrier from Russia for one dollar, only to be tricked into receiving another $3 billion.
At this time, the Qing court was the victim of international arms purchases.
The technical backwardness will be difficult to make up for in a short period of time. There is still some hope in management, but it depends on whether they can be ruthless in combating corruption.
——Well, it may not be easy.
(End of chapter)
