Rebirth of the Strongest Tycoon

On the second floor, he entered a very spacious office. With Wu Hongyi's greeting, Xia Yu and others sat on the sofa at the coffee table for a week.

Soon, two young girls in cheongsam brought some cakes and peanuts and melon seeds in front of the crowd, and then the two began to make tea in tacit understanding, and their movements were very skillful.

"Everyone drink tea, you're welcome!"

After the tea was ready, Wu Hongyi picked up the teacup and said with a smile.

"Yes, everyone is a compatriot, just treat this as your own home, feel free to order it!"

Uncle Chang, who was sitting beside him, also agreed, with a very enthusiastic attitude.

The warm attitude of the two put Xia Yu in a good mood. He nodded and said, "We will definitely not be polite. Don't take offense at that time."

"Haha, where will I be surprised, I will only be happy!"

Wu Hongyi responded quickly with a smile.

"This snack tastes really good, it melts in your mouth, come, let's have a snack together."

Xia Yu picked up a piece of mung bean cake and took a bite. The soft, melt-in-your-mouth taste made Xia Yu's eyes light up, and his face involuntarily showed a look of enjoyment. After swallowing, he praised.

Hearing Xia Yu's praise, Uncle Chang smiled and was very happy.

Li Qian also picked up a piece of mung bean cake, her pink lips slightly parted, her white teeth nibbled lightly, her big watery eyes completed the crescent moon, and she said sweetly, "It's delicious."

"Eat more if it's delicious."

Looking at the beautiful Li Qian, Uncle Chang's eyes were full of kindness, he said cheerfully.

"Uh-huh!"

Li Qian smiled and lightly nodded her head, and said obediently, this made Xia Yu smile, Li Qian was indeed very likable.

While eating and drinking, Xia Yu and Wu Hongyi also chatted.

"Hongyi, when did your family come to the UK?"

Xia Yu leaned forward slightly and asked.

"Our family has a history of more than 100 years, and our ancestors came from England in 1828."

Wu Hongyi thought about it and said,

The tone was very emotional.

It's 1978, exactly 150 years from 1828!

Quickly calculating the result in my heart, not only Xia Yu was surprised, but even Li Qian and others looked at Wu Hongyi in surprise.

"It's been so long! Your family came during the Qing Daoguang period!"

"Yeah, it's recorded in the genealogy."

Wu Hongyi said calmly, as if he was used to the surprise of others.

Suddenly, Xia Yu's heart moved, and he thought of something.

Why did Wu Hongyi's ancestors come to the UK from the Qing Dynasty and have settled down to the present?

It is a skill to be able to exist in the UK for 160 years without disappearing, but considering that in that era, it was not easy to go abroad to work hard!

Wu family? The last name is Wu?

Xia Yu's mind turned frantically. Soon, his eyes lit up and he thought of a possibility. He looked straight at Wu Hongyi and blurted out: "Is your Wu family the Wu family from Thirteen Lines?"

Wu Hongyi looked at Xia Yu with an unexpected look. He didn't expect that Xia Yu's thinking was so sensitive that he could guess it so quickly.

But this is not a shameful thing. Many Chinese people in the UK know about this matter. It can be said that it is a public matter. There is no need to hide it. Xia Yu will know about it in the future.

So he nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, it is the Wu family, our lineage originated from the third son of Duke Dunyuan."

Hearing Wu Hongyi's admission, Xia Yu's face became solemn, and Wu Hongyi solemnly clasped his fists and said, "Disrespect!"

Seeing Xia Yu being so solemn, Wu Hongyi shook his head with a wry smile and sighed: "That is the glory of our ancestors, our descendants are incompetent, and the family has fallen into this state."

"No, being able to inherit it in the UK is a manifestation of strength!"

Xia Yu immediately shook his head.

"Xia Yu, is Duke Dunyuan famous?"

Li Qian tugged at Xia Yu's shirt and asked softly.

Xia Yu nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, Hongyi's ancestor was the richest man in the world at that time, and foreigners also recognize it very much!"

"Yeah! The richest man in the world? So amazing!"

Li Qian covered her mouth and exclaimed. She couldn't help looking at Wu Hongyi who shook his head and smiled bitterly. Obviously, Wu Hongyi also acquiesced.

"You should have heard this name before. It is Wu Bingjian, also known as Wu Dunyuan, the founder of Jardine House, one of the thirteen lines in Guangdong."

Xia Yu explained.

Li Qian, a highly educated person, naturally knows the name of the thirteenth line in Guangdong, and it is precisely because she knows that she is even more shocked.

Xiangjiang and Guangdong Province are separated by a sea, and many people in Xiangjiang are from southern Fujian or Guangdong Province, so the legend of Guangdong Thirteen Lines has been circulating, saying, "Ocean ships compete for official business, and the cross gate opens to Eryang. Five silks and eight silks and broad satin are good, and the thirteen lines of silver and money are piled up.

She learned it when she was studying history, and learned that the customs duties paid by the thirteen banks in Guangdong to the Qing government at that time accounted for 40% of the national tax revenue at that time.

According to records, in 1822, a fire broke out in Thirteenhang Street. The fire was fierce and spread for several days. A large amount of property and 40 million taels of cash stored in it were destroyed. After the fire, a peculiar fire appeared In the street where Shisanhang is located, "the foreign silver melts into the ditch and grows to one or two li".

She also knew that the Thirteen Lines at that time was just a general term, not thirteen. In a long time, there were dozens of them, and in a young age, there were only four. Among them, a group of wealthy people emerged, such as Pan Zhencheng, Pan Youdu, Lu Wenjin, Wu Bingjian, Ye Shanglin, etc.

What Li Qian didn't know was that Wu Bingjian was the richest man in the world at that time.

In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wu Bingjian was the richest man in the world at that time. Xia Yu really knew Wu Bingjian in his previous life.

In 1834, the Wu family counted their fortune, and it reached 26 million silver dollars. At that time, the wealth of the richest man in the United States was only 8 million silver dollars, less than one-third of Wu Bingjian's!

And business wizard Wu Bingjian really created a big consortium.

At that time, Wu Bingjian was the "banker" and the biggest creditor of the British East India Company.

In terms of industrial operation, Wu Bingjian not only owns real estate, real estate, tea gardens, shops, etc. in China, but also boldly conducts railway investment, securities transactions, and even insurance business in the United States across the ocean, making Jardine a veritable multinational company. consortium.

It is a pity that, in the state of the time, businessmen were destined to be sheep, and power was paramount; instead of capital controlling the government, as in foreign countries.

Therefore, the Wu family suffered heavy losses under the Qing government's repeated cuts.

However, when Wu Bingjian realized that it was not good, he took precautions and put many of his children overseas early. While taking care of his overseas business, he also tried to increase the family's ability to resist risks as much as possible.

The three caves of the cunning rabbit, nothing more than that!

This really made him do the right thing, otherwise the possibility of the Wu family being wiped out by the family really exists!

What Xia Yu sighed was that when he first came to the UK, the first person he met was the Wu family, and it was the first time he knew that after 150 years of ups and downs, the Wu family was still in the UK. Standing still, as to how far the Wu family is now, he will know it after he has a deeper understanding of it later.

However, Xia Yu guessed that the Wu family should be in decline as Wu Hongyi said, otherwise, although Xiangjiang is far away from the United Kingdom, he will not have never heard of the Wu family's name.

Of course, there are other possibilities. For example, the Wu family's business in Xiangjiang does not intersect with Xia Yu, or the Wu family simply has no business in Xiangjiang.