Chapter 61

While Huang Juren was running around with his servants to establish connections and give gifts, Xiao Letian was cheerfully leading his subordinates to prepare for the grand opening ceremony of his company the next day. The inside and outside of the company were thoroughly cleaned with clear water, the yellow soil at the entrance was laid in three layers and compacted three times, making it solid and level, and most importantly, it covered up all the stench from the previous day.

The grand opening of the company would definitely require sending out invitations. Invitations had to be sent to all 300 companies in Tanggu, as well as friends from both the black and white societies. Whether they would come or not was another matter, but the etiquette could not be neglected, otherwise, it would cause trouble.

There were many things to do for the grand opening. The Coastal Building had to be booked, the banquet had to be prepared in advance, and the fireworks, which cost tens of thousands, were specially ordered from Liuyang and needed to be watched over. Even the teacups for the guests and the loose copper coins for the beggars had to be prepared. It was a day of great joy, and there could be no room for error.

"Raise it a bit higher on the left, yeah, that's it... What a waste, are you hanging red banners or committing suicide..."

"Here, here, level it a bit more, put in more effort, and I'll treat you to a Dog不理 (Dog不理 is a famous Chinese bun) at noon..."

"What? You want me to write the invitations... Do they recognize foreign characters? Go play somewhere else..."

Xiao Letian was clearly very excited today. He was running around in his Letian Company, causing more chaos than helping. He was so excited that in his previous life, he had never thought he would be able to start a company, let alone a multinational one. Plus, the excitement from last night's arson and murder had not yet subsided, and he was causing a lot of trouble for everyone. In the end, Fan Lian had to force Xiao Letian to go out and clear his head, and everyone finally got rid of this troublemaker.

Xiao Letian, along with Long Ye and two clever subordinates, aimlessly wandered around the Tanggu dock. At one moment, he was teaching Long Ye to recognize the flags of various countries, and the next, he was haggling with fishermen selling seafood. He had no idea that in the second-floor guest room of a cargo station, a group of people was secretly observing him.

The one hiding behind the window was Niu Zhang, the manager of the Si Hai Cargo Station, who had had a drink with He Ren. He was clearly the leader of this group of merchants, and everyone's eyes were on him, silent.

Niu Zhang watched for a while, then closed the window and said in a low voice, "Everyone knows what happened last night, right? This Xiao Letian is not someone to be messed with. He's a fierce dragon. Xiao Bian Sun has completely fallen, and it's said that several people were killed by Xiao..."

The people of Tanggu already knew about the fire at Huang Juren's house, and they knew it was very strange. However, only the real big shots knew the details behind the fire. Niu Zhang and the surrounding merchants were among those who had the right to know these details, and now they all had serious expressions and were silent.

After a long time, someone finally spoke, "Niu Zhang, we have already agreed with Huang to deal with Xiao Letian, and we shouldn't go back on our word. But what happened last night is really... really frightening. After all, we are just merchants. Is it really wise to provoke such a person?"

As soon as one person spoke, others followed, but there were also opposing voices, "What should we do? We have already agreed with He Ren. If we back out now, what will they do? What if they vent all their anger on us... Our business is just starting to pick up, and we can't afford any trouble..."

"What should we do? We can't provoke one side and offend the other. In the end, we will be the ones to suffer..."

Niu Zhang watched as everyone chattered, and he sighed, "Quiet, complaining won't solve the problem. We are merchants, and we need to solve this problem with a merchant's approach. I have a plan, let's see if it works..."

After saying this, Niu Zhang took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, "On the opening day of a company, it is customary to arrange one or two transactions for good luck. This Letian Company is playing a bigger game. Yesterday, Fan Ru actually visited me, wanting to buy some pig bristles from me..."

Through Niu Zhang's introduction, people learned that the Letian Company had secured a huge deal. The French merchant ship 'Lucky' had contracted the pig bristle trade with the Letian Company!

At the Tanggu port, a French merchant ship, the 'Lucky,' had arrived last month, carrying Indian opium, Javanese spices, and various European goods like velvet and crystal lamps. It took ten days to unload all the cargo. Now was the time for large-scale procurement.

This merchant ship wanted to purchase goods from China, including tea, silk, and porcelain, but the most important item was pig bristles.

Ordinary people might not understand why pig bristles could be an important item in long-distance trade. However, in human modern history, the pig bristle trade was indeed a very important commodity.

Before the rise of the petrochemical and synthetic fiber industries, the only option for making brushes was animal hair. Most animal hair was too soft to make brushes. Only pig bristles were an exception, being both elastic and easy to mass-produce, making them a very important commodity.

Housewives needed pig bristle brushes to clean their kitchens, factory workers needed them to clean machinery, and even sailors needed them to clean the decks of their ships. At the time, China was one of the largest pig farming countries in the world, thanks to the high demand for pork.

Therefore, since the Qing Dynasty opened its ports, the pig bristle trade had been a lucrative business, though not very noticeable, it had brought a steady stream of foreign exchange to the Qing Dynasty.

The captain of the 'Lucky' had already said that he was willing to buy pig bristles at a high price of one Mexican dollar per kilogram, and he would buy as much as the Chinese merchants could provide. Even if the 'Lucky' was full, he would hire more ships to transport the goods back to France.

This news caused a huge stir, and the 300 companies in Tanggu went all out to gather the goods. The 'Lucky' was a large merchant ship with a cargo capacity of 1,000 tons. If it were fully loaded with pig bristles, it would be a million-dollar deal. Given that the 'Lucky' had said it would buy as much as possible, this deal could reach 1.4 million dollars, or about 1 million taels of silver in Qing currency.

Such a large deal almost drove the merchants mad. Countless pig bristles began to converge on Tanggu, and even the prices of pig bristles in Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan began to rise. The price of pig bristles in Zhili increased by 30%.

However, just as everyone was excitedly waiting for the French merchants to start buying, an unexpected message came. Three days ago, the captain of the 'Lucky' suddenly announced that he had entrusted the entire pig bristle trade to the newly opened Letian Company. This meant that everyone could only sell their pig bristles to Xiao Letian, and the French would not buy from individual sellers.

Niu Zhang sighed, "I received the accurate information yesterday afternoon. Xiao Letian has a lot of influence. For this deal, he even sought help from the U.S. embassy. With the Americans involved, the French had no choice but to give in... I now believe that Xiao Letian really has connections all the way to the top..."

"Not only that, but last night, Fan Lian sent a message to me, saying that he would not make a single cent on this deal. He would buy at one dollar and sell at one dollar, just to gain popularity..."

The crowd was stunned. This was unbelievable. A million-tael deal and he would do it for free? For most companies, such a deal would be enough to sustain them for ten years. Xiao Letian was really generous!

Seeing everyone chattering, Niu Zhang knocked on the table, "Quiet, everyone, quiet... The plan I have is this: tomorrow, we will use this deal to support Fan Lian's opening. We will supply him with pig bristles at one dollar per kilogram, as much as he needs, but... we have one condition: immediate payment, no delay..."

Niu Zhang's words made everyone draw a sharp breath. This was a real strategy. The merchants had at least 600 to 700 tons of pig bristles, filling dozens of large warehouses. If all this were converted to cash, it would be like a mountain of gold.

"Not only will we not accept credit, but we will not accept banknotes. We want to see the cash. I don't believe they will bring over a million taels of silver to open a company. When they lose face in front of the foreigners, I don't think they will be able to do business in the future..."

This was a ruthless strategy. In the Qing Dynasty, such large transactions would allow for a few days of credit. There was no such thing as immediate payment. The Qing Dynasty had no modern banking system, and there were no transfers or checks. Both parties would give each other time to raise the silver. A million taels of silver was 35 tons of silver, and it was impossible to keep such a large amount of wealth in a newly opened company.

Niu Zhang smiled, "We are legitimate businessmen, and we do not do illegal things. Everything must follow the rules of business. If Xiao Letian doesn't have the money, he should leave Tanggu as soon as possible and go do business with the Shanxi vinegar jars. Maritime trade is not as simple as he thinks..."

"What if he really brings the cash?" someone asked cautiously. This question made Niu Zhang frown and think for a long time, "If he really can bring that much cash, then we should humbly bow to him and admit our mistake... Honestly..."

"But I still don't believe it. How many Hu Xueyans are there in the Qing Dynasty? If he can really bring that much money, he would be a prominent Northern financial god, at least as famous as Hu Xueyan... If he reaches that level, the end of Huang Juren and Xiao Bian Sun will be near..."

The guest room of the Si Hai Cargo Station was deathly silent. Everyone felt a chill. If they offended a person with the influence of Hu Xueyan, how could they continue to do business? They might as well pack up and go home to take care of their children.

"This is a gamble, and it's a very risky one..."

The gamblers were not just Niu Zhang and the other merchants. Xiao Bian Sun and Huang Juren were also taking a big risk. Huang Juren was smiling and running around the government offices, giving 10,000 taels of silver and two opera performers to each official, just to get their tacit approval.

Xiao Bian Sun was even more hardworking. He was leading a group of hooligans to rally the countryside, promising tax exemptions and other benefits to the peasants.

"Do you trust me or do you trust the thousand-acre landowner? Last time, you all did it, and nothing happened, right? If you make more noise