I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 448 Warm-up
"Extra, Extra, the Tianjing-Kaiping Railway has been operating smoothly for nine days and has been a great success. Lord Zhou has fulfilled his promise and will accept a disciple tomorrow!"

The golden sun had just risen in the early morning, shining through the gray snow clouds and dispelling the cold. Two pots of wontons were cooked in the breakfast shop. The aroma of the pork dough entered my stomach, and warmth rose. The market began to become lively.

Today's newsboys are walking through the streets and alleys, looking particularly excited.

"Here are three newspapers!"

At a square table that was obviously from outside the area, three young men in military uniforms spoke up.

The newsboy had a green cloth bag hanging around his waist and handed the newspaper in his hand to the three young men.

The diner next to him asked curiously, "Which newspaper is this?"

"Tianjing News."

"Wasn't the Tianjing newspaper published yesterday? Why is it on sale again today?"

There are a large number of newspapers now. Many of them, like Xinxue, are published at different times from Tianjing Daily. It is certainly impossible for ordinary people to subscribe to all newspapers. The most subscribed newspaper is still the most authoritative Tianjing Daily.

So when the newsboy was selling newspapers today, this local diner from Tianjing was not planning to buy the newspaper, but after hearing the content, he felt something was wrong.

Because Zhou Tieyi is the big boss behind the Tianjing Daily, everyone knows this. Logically speaking, when Zhou Tieyi accepts a disciple, the news will only be published in the Tianjing Daily and not in other newspapers.

The newsboy smiled and said, "This gentleman may not know that after Lord Zhou came back, he has changed the Tianjing Newspaper to a daily publication starting today."

"So that's it..."

The diner hesitated for a moment and said, "Then give me one too."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the diners in the breakfast shop asked for a newspaper one after another. Everyone was also very curious about Zhou Tieyi's decision to accept a disciple.

This was originally Zhou Tieyi's promise to the first batch of Railway Chamber of Commerce workers, and it was also considered by ordinary people in Tianjing to be the best opportunity to rise to fame overnight.

In particular, Zhou Tieyi turned a mountain into a mountain with his backhand at Pingjin Ferry, suppressed the water god Nilong overnight, climbed to the sky to grab the moon in Taihang Province, and saved all the evil spirits in the underworld. This is a story beyond the Mandarin version, and naturally made everyone very curious about the legendary martial arts of this legendary martial artist from Tianjing.

The three foreign enemy warriors who had received the newspaper earlier had already read the news about Zhou Tieyi. A young man in his twenties was the first to lose his temper and said with regret and sigh, "Such a good opportunity was missed. Zhou Hou only accepts two apprentices a year. Brother, do you think it's too late for us to become apprentices at the Railway Chamber of Commerce now?"

The older young man shook his head slightly. "This road seems to be a quick way to success, but after this year, you will definitely be targeted by all the major forces. Instead of taking this road, it is better to follow the original plan and take the exam to become a student of the Tiger Mighty Martial Arts School. This year, the Tiger Mighty Martial Arts School will recruit a thousand students, which is better than squeezing through those two narrow bridges."

"But it's not easy to take the Tiger Mighty Martial Arts School exam!"

The young man sighed.

"I heard that the competition for admission to Huwei Martial Arts School is even greater than that of the martial arts exam this year. If it weren't for the strict age limit, I'm afraid many old guys would shamelessly apply for the exam. Even so, didn't we hear at the inn a few days ago that many martial arts students who were admitted to the martial arts exam this year gave up the admission and instead prepared for the admission to Huwei Martial Arts School."

Generally speaking, for warriors throughout Daxia, the first choice is of course the triennial military examination, because those who take the examination are disciples of the emperor and the reserve force of the Academy of Martial Arts, and they are also trained directly as military officers when they go to the front line.

After the military examination is held in autumn, the second choice for the shortlisted candidates is to prepare for admission to the martial arts schools of various generals' mansions, become a member of the generals' mansions, and embark on the path of military service through the connection between the martial arts schools and the troops.

"There is nothing we can do about it. After all, Lord Zhou is a talent that only appears once every thousand years, and there are so many people who want to become his disciples."

The older young man also said with regret.

"pity."

Thinking of this, the young man patted his thigh and said, "Zhou Hou actually gave such a good opportunity directly to the workers and newspaper boys. The workers were agreed in advance, but the newspaper boys were also included. Since Zhou Hou wants to admit more people, why not expand the quota!"

Hearing what the young man said, the newspaper boy who was happily selling newspapers just now turned gloomy. Regardless of the fact that the young man was a customer, he said, "Marquis Zhou said that everyone in the world can be a scholar. Although we newspaper boys are of humble origins, this path was pointed out by Marquis Zhou. Why can't we be accepted as his apprentice? What this customer said is unreasonable!"

Although he was not the lucky one chosen, as a member of the Newsboys, he certainly could not tolerate others ruining his hopes. If he was not chosen this year, wouldn't he still have a chance next year?

What's more, the selection of newsboys was relatively fair, because the Railway Chamber of Commerce opened a newsboy school for the newsboys. The school held an open examination a month ago, but it did not say at the time that the first place winner would be accepted as Zhou Tieyi's apprentice, so many people did not care.

But on the contrary, everyone knew that this exam was very fair. At least no one from aristocratic families participated. The first place winner was accepted as a disciple by Zhou Tieyi, which was also reasonable in the minds of the newsboys.

"Yes."

The diners from Tianjing nearby naturally spoke to their own people. "You are from another place. If you still have the old perspective, I think you should not expect Zhou Hou to accept you as a disciple. Go back to where you came from. Why are you competing with us Tianjing people for the quota? Zhou Hou is our fellow countryman, and he should accept Tianjing people first!"

The young man, who was already feeling regretful, wanted to stand up, but the older young man next to him grabbed him and whispered, "Don't cause trouble!"

After that, he smiled at the others and said, "I'm sorry, my companion made a mistake."

After saying that, he put the wonton money on the table, then quickly left with his companion.

After they left, the customer who had just made the argument was smug, like a rooster that had won a fight. "A bunch of outsiders, no sense at all!" He continued to look at the newspaper. Below was the second piece of news from the Railway Chamber of Commerce: "The Tianjing-Kaiping line was successfully opened to traffic. The Railway Chamber of Commerce applied to the Central Bank for the listing of its shares."

Because this piece of information involved new terms, the diner looked at the title for a while before reading on. Fortunately, the content was simple, and because he had read the story of the Railway Chamber of Commerce's rise before, he quickly understood half of its meaning.

It is no longer a secret in Tianjing who has invested in the Railway Chamber of Commerce. The military heroes, the sons of the Si Lu, and the chambers of commerce in the southeast are all well-known figures. Everyone has also understood the meaning of investing in the development of the Railway Chamber of Commerce. Even now, many businessmen's industries are increasingly imitating the operating model of the Railway Chamber of Commerce and are being started in the form of investing.

The second piece of information published above said that as the Kaiping Line progressed smoothly, the Railway Chamber of Commerce was preparing to distribute part of its shares to the workers in the form of stocks. With the stocks, the workers could receive dividends from the Railway Chamber of Commerce just like the aristocratic families. Of course, if they were unwilling, they could also sell their stocks directly to ordinary people in Tianjing.

However, the trading venue is now fixed and can only be conducted at the stock exchange opened by the central bank. At the same time, in order to give back to the people of Tianjing and compensate for the disturbance caused by the construction of the railway, Zhou Tieyi and many shareholders took out 10% of their stocks, totaling 200,000 shares, and sold them at a price of one tael of silver per share.

The diner looked up in confusion. He vaguely knew that this was a good thing, because since Zhou Tieyi became successful, those who followed him had never suffered any loss, so the people also formed a perception that any "new policy" that Zhou Tieyi could not understand should be treated as a good thing.

Haven’t you seen that the train workers who were once despised by the aristocratic families have now become popular?

Compared to the ordinary people who only half understood the situation, there was already a huge quarrel in the various chambers of commerce.

"One tael of silver per share, this is too cheap!"

In Wangluo Garden, the big businessmen participating in the Southeast Chamber of Commerce were very excited!
On the one hand, because the Southeast Chamber of Commerce has a stake in the Railway Chamber of Commerce, they feel that Zhou Tieyi’s pricing is too cheap, and they seem to be taken advantage of by the people.

Do they know the size of the Railway Chamber of Commerce now? Zhou Tieyi raised more than two million taels of silver from various companies at the beginning, and now he has invested almost all of it in the three departments of the Railway Chamber of Commerce: the steel plant, the steam engine plant, and the railway.

Even though the money was spent, the job was done!
Whether it is the new steel, the steam engine, or the trains that run between the two places day and night, these three departments are now the goose that lays golden eggs, not to mention that the Railway Chamber of Commerce also owns a portion of the shares of the Tianjing Shipyard.

This does not even include the value of the combined power in their hands!
Zhou Tieyi bought all the shares of the Railway Chamber of Commerce for two million taels, which was really a bargain, almost like giving it away for free to the people of Tianjing!
"That's right. Although we know that Lord Zhou cares about the people, we are also the people! President Qian, we will follow Lord Zhou's lead along the way. Lord Zhou cannot ignore our lives!"

"enough!"

Qian Guangyun slammed the table and said, "What nonsense! I don't know what you are thinking."

Seeing Qian Guangyun getting angry, everyone present fell silent.

Although Qian Guangyun was the president of the Southeast Chamber of Commerce in the past, he was elected after all. Although everyone respected him, they were not too afraid of Qian Guangyun. Everyone present had some connection with him.

But ever since Qian Guangyun followed Zhou Tieyi, his power has been growing, especially during the last wave of the God-Slaying Division's crackdown on merchants who were related to the evil gods in Tianjing. Many of these merchants had connections that were all-powerful, enough to be able to manage the purse strings for officials at the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works. But what happened after they were arrested by the God-Slaying Division?

Isn't it time to admit their mistakes? What's even more terrifying is that even if those diehards insist on holding out, Zhou Tieyi will let Qian Guangyun squeeze out their shops. After they are released from the Zhushen Division after being locked up for two or three months, they will be bankrupt and still be heavily in debt. That will be even more cruel than killing them.

Having done so many cruel things for Zhou Tieyi, Qian Guangyun now has the nickname "Qian Pojia".

Qian Guangyun explained earnestly, "Everyone is reluctant to give up their interests. I understand, and so does Zhou Hou. But the people don't understand it yet. They are not as careful as everyone else. The information they know is all from newspapers. In the past few months, the newspapers have clearly written about the investment of the Railway Chamber of Commerce, and the share certificates for each family are also clearly written. The servants and housekeepers of each family have also conveyed a message to the people, that is, the Railway Chamber of Commerce has invested a total of 2 million taels of silver, so the people only recognize the 2 million taels."

"But the stock is issued at one price, and it's not impossible for the price to go up after it's listed. It's just like selling something. If it's selling well, the price will naturally go up, don't you think?"

Everyone present understood this principle, so they took the opportunity to express their second idea, "Then President Qian, we are also ordinary people. Can we buy shares of the Railway Chamber of Commerce?"

In the eyes of everyone, the dividends from the Railway Chamber of Commerce alone are enough to be worth the current price, not to mention that the prospects of the Railway Chamber of Commerce are far more than that.

In the past few days, everyone has estimated the daily profit of the Railway Chamber of Commerce. Just the 24 trains running day and night from Tianjing to Kaiping can make a profit of nearly 6,000 taels a day, not to mention the profits of the steel mills and steam engine factories.

Qian Guangyun nodded slightly, "Okay, but collect it slowly."

"Slow down?"

The people present did not quite understand what was said, but Qian Guangyun did not continue to explain, because it was related to national debt and silver bills, and the court needed to release the news step by step, so there needed to be a large number of transactions in the market to make the people accustomed to this kind of buying and selling as a daily routine in their lives. If the stocks were only kept in the pockets of a few people and did not enter the pockets of the majority of people, then the transaction itself would be meaningless.

Qian Guangyun has already made all the necessary suggestions. Anyway, those who don't obey orders will be killed as a warning to others. There are various methods that Zhou Tieyi has reminded us of. Qian Guangyun, who now holds great power, likes the feeling that one sentence can make people lose everything.

Next to the Tianjing Railway Station, a large piece of land was cleared when the site was under construction at the request of Zhou Tieyi. Various building materials have been continuously transported to the land in the past two days. However, unlike previous buildings which were mainly made of wood, the buildings being built this time are all made of cold steel, with huge transparent glazed tiles.

Moreover, no cost was taken into account during the construction this time. The main force was Gongshujia, a middle-rank official from the Ministry of Works, and Mohist monks. Even leveling the foundation took Zhou Tieyi half a day to complete personally.

“A complete steel building.”

Zhou Tieyi watched the ink stone mechanism constantly taking off and landing, delivering pieces of steel to designated locations, and then directly welding them together through mechanical force, making this huge steel building that resembled a bird's nest stand out among the surrounding brick, tile, wood and stone buildings.

The purpose of constructing such a landmark building, in addition to making it more attractive, is to convey the idea of ​​building houses with steel to everyone who comes to Tianjing by train.

He looked at the simple platform next to it. Although the platform was not well built, it had six tracks and could handle both freight and passenger transport. However, freight was still the main focus at the moment. In fact, because the efficiency of freight was so high in the past few days, Hao Ren even suggested whether they should just focus on freight, but this was directly rejected by Zhou Tieyi.

(End of this chapter)