Chapter 40

The trip to Zhashan and the tour of the Hanyang Iron Works were coming to an end. There were only one or two factories left, and most of the things were repetitive. Yang Yuanzhao carefully inspected them once again, scanned some small machines, and completed the entire blueprint entry work from start to finish.

It took almost half a day to tour the entire Hanyang Iron Works. Yang Yuanzhao was a bit tired from walking, but he was extremely excited. In this short half day, he had almost seen everything in the Hanyang Iron Works, from the operating equipment to the stored equipment. The blueprints stored in the integrated machine had reached over 6,000. From the blast furnaces to the steel furnaces, coke, cold rolling, hot rolling, and the railway track production workshops, these industrial systems, which took 20 years to build, were almost all within his grasp. If he wanted to, he could completely replicate a Hanyang Iron Works in Baotou.

This was a large-scale heavy industrial enterprise built with the combined efforts of the entire Hubei province and various sectors. Although it had taken many detours when it was established, no one could deny its achievements. Now, in just half a day, half of this wealth had already entered Yang Yuanzhao's pocket, and the other half belonged to the workers.

In Yang Yuanzhao's view, even in Europe and America, the importance of workers was not fully recognized, let alone in China. The skilled workers trained over 20 years, as long as he put in the effort to find them, he could definitely find a large part of them. This way, without spending too much, he could completely replicate a Hanyang Iron Works, or even a stronger one.

In one day, most of the things he needed to do in Wuhan were completed. Seeing the sun gradually setting, Yang Yuanzhao was about to call Yang Shixun to go back when, at a turn ahead, a servant in a blue robe stood there. Seeing them, he quickly bowed and said, "Mr. Yang, my master invites you!"

Before Yang Yuanzhao could speak, Yang Shixun stepped forward and asked, "Your master, who is your master?"

The servant in the blue robe said proudly, "My master is Sheng Xingsun!"

"Sheng Xingsun!" Yang Shixun frowned, and Yang Yuanzhao asked beside him, "Who is Sheng Xingsun?"

"Sheng Huixuan!" Yang Shixun said in a low voice. "He is the one with the second-rank official hat we saw in front of the steel furnace just now."

The second-rank official hat, Yang Yuanzhao couldn't quite remember, but the name Sheng Huixuan made him shudder. In the history of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, Sheng Huixuan was a figure that could not be overlooked in any research related to commerce and the Self-Strengthening Movement. He was a major businessman in the late Qing Dynasty, and historical evaluations of him were mixed. He was considered a corrupt official who enriched himself at the expense of the public, swallowing the fruits of the Self-Strengthening Movement, which led to his immense wealth. Later, he even sold out national sovereignty, turning the Hanyang Iron Works, once the largest iron works in Asia, into a raw material supplier for Japanese iron works. To some extent, he was a controversial figure.

In this era, he was the director of the Hanyang Iron Works and the money bag of the Beiyang Group. Even in Beijing, he was a guest of the princes and governors. It was said that he had a very good relationship with Yuan Shikai, and a significant portion of the military expenses for Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army were prepared by Sheng Huixuan. In the complex environment of the late Qing Dynasty, any provincial governor or viceroy would, to some extent, collaborate with merchants. Merchants would use the power of the governors to expand their influence and business, while the governors would obtain large sums of money from the merchants. Both Hu Xueyan and Sheng Huixuan were like this.

Yang Shixun frowned. Sheng Huixuan followed the path of an official-merchant, and now he still had a second-rank official hat. Such a person, the Yang family did not want to offend. His words could often cause significant turmoil in a family or even an entire field. However, the sudden invitation was unexpected. The Yang family only sent a greeting to the Sheng family during the New Year, which was just a custom, and they were no different from strangers.

"Yuanzhao, what do you think we should do?" Yang Shixun couldn't decide and turned to ask Yang Yuanzhao.

"Let's go and see!" Yang Yuanzhao didn't think as much as Yang Shixun. He was not as deeply aware of the Sheng family's influence in Hanyang as Yang Shixun. To him, Sheng Huixuan was just the second historical figure he had met after Feng Yuxiang, and his status and influence were far less than Feng Yuxiang, who was now a battalion commander.

"You lead the way!" Yang Shixun said casually.

Following the servant in the blue robe, they passed through the entire Hanyang Iron Works. At the factory gate, a four-wheeled carriage with a somewhat British style appeared. They headed towards the center of Wuhan. Yang Shixun introduced the area, which was by the East Lake and had always been the location of the villas of high-ranking officials and nobles. Indeed, in the midst of the mountains and water, a magnificent villa appeared before them, with a style that was a blend of Chinese and Western elements.

The layout of the villa was very reasonable, and its luxury even surpassed that of the Yang family, which had been around for a hundred years. The power of Chinese officials was evident here. As they moved forward, they were welcomed into a guest room, which was filled with a British style. Even the bookshelf had a pile of English books, making it very elegant.

Yang Shixun felt a bit uncomfortable, but Yang Yuanzhao remained calm. He looked at the layout of the room and thought about why Sheng Huixuan had invited them. Recalling history and combining it with what Yang Shixun had said, he suddenly had a flash of insight and steadied his mind.

Footsteps sounded from outside, and a middle-aged man in his fifties, who looked like a wealthy man, entered the room. Seeing Yang Shixun and Yang Yuanzhao, he smiled and said, "I apologize for the abrupt invitation, please forgive me!"

Although Sheng Huixuan said he was sorry, his demeanor was condescending, making people feel uncomfortable.

Yang Yuanzhao looked at him and suddenly remembered that he had seen this person before. He was the official who was pointing and discussing with Robert in front of the steel furnace. Now, he had changed out of his official attire and was wearing a scholar's robe, which gave him a more scholarly air. Both Yang Yuanzhao and Yang Shixun could see that he was a seasoned and decisive person. As the leader of the Beiyang commercial sector, he was the richest man in China during the late Qing Dynasty. After his death, the dispute over his estate caused a great stir, ultimately leading to the unprecedented case of a woman inheriting property.

"Meeting Mr. Xingsun!"

"Please sit down, this is tea I brought from Fujian, please try it!"

The tea was very fragrant. Yang Yuanzhao couldn't identify the type of tea, but Yang Shixun took a sip and praised it, "Is this Lapsang Souchong?"

"Mr. Yang, your family's knowledge is indeed profound, please enjoy!"

Yang Yuanzhao noticed that Sheng Huixuan did not ask much about their background or state the purpose of the meeting. They just drank tea. It seemed that in Sheng Huixuan's eyes, Yang Yuanzhao was just a young master of the Yang family, and his main focus was on Yang Shixun.

The encounter at the steel furnace, especially the pleasant conversation between Yang Yuanzhao and Robert, had piqued Sheng Huixuan's interest. As the director of the Hanyang Iron Works, he could easily use the power of the Beiyang to investigate these two people.

Indeed, the investigation results were quickly delivered to Sheng Huixuan. The Yang family's chamber of commerce, backed by the Shanxi Yang family, was one of the more powerful among the Shanxi merchants, a rising star among the eight major Shanxi merchant families, with vast wealth.

For a long time, Sheng Huixuan had been considering the privatization of the Hanyang Iron Works. He planned to issue shares soon, valuing the entire Hanyang Iron Works at 20 million. He would subscribe to a portion, but the remaining gap was significant. He had been working tirelessly to sell the shares, but the results were not good. Historically, it took him over three years, until the third year of the Xuantong era (the end of the Qing Dynasty), to raise only 8 million taels.

Previously, Sheng Huixuan had not considered Shanxi, focusing instead on Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the Huizhou merchants. These areas were his base, and the Beiyang originated in Hunan, later having significant influence in Anhui and Jiangsu. These regions, being traditionally wealthy, were full of rich people, and Sheng Huixuan thought it would be easy to raise the funds. However, in reality, the results were not good. The shareholders' meeting was not initiated, and private contacts were frequent, but people's interest in investing in the project was low. After all, the Hanyang Iron Works had spent tens of millions over 20 years, with ups and downs, and had not created much profit.

Sheng Huixuan was very clear that the poor management of the Hanyang Iron Works was the main reason. There were too many parasites. As an enterprise supervised by an official-merchant, there were too many people who could interfere and take advantage. He was confident that after privatization, he could create profits. China was vast, and there was a great need for steel. Even if the railway tracks could not be sold in large quantities due to quality issues, the demand for various agricultural tools, knives, and machines was enormous.

Unfortunately, no matter how he tried, the Zhejiang and Huizhou merchants, except for a few who could not refuse and contributed a small amount of funds to the Hanyang Iron Works project, mostly just made excuses and did not commit, making the fundraising process slow.

Yang Shixun and Yang Yuanzhao appeared at the Hanyang Iron Works, knowing only that Yang Yuanzhao was with Yang Yue, the son of Yang Shitang, and not much else. But since they were both surnamed Yang, they were likely members of the Yang family. Why did they come to the Hanyang Iron Works at this critical moment? In Sheng Huixuan's view, the appearance of the Yang family was a probe. Could the Shanxi merchants be trying to get involved in the Hanyang Iron Works?

After a long and winding conversation, Sheng Huixuan finally got to the point and said, "Mr. Yang, what do you think of the share issuance of the Hanyang Iron Works?"