17 Secrets
"Didn't you say you live over in the slums? Is this house newly purchased?" Su Yanqiao surveyed the surroundings.
"Since you were coming over, I definitely needed to buy a large estate, especially since the number of my followers is growing.
The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Would you like to recommend some Chinese elites to me?" Zhu Wencong asked.
Su Yanqiao spread her small hands, a stranger in a strange land, how could she possibly know any local Chinese elites?
Zhu Wencong glanced at Su Yanqiao. A family is the best resource, with so many things that can be utilized.
"My father will never agree! The Chinese who come here do so out of desperation; they don't wish to leave their homeland.
After two or three years, they can rotate back to their country and enjoy the rewards of promotions and pay raises.
You want them to work for you? That's impossible. Their families are in the East, and their wives are waiting at home.
The best way, you should choose the local white elites. They may not have the best characters, but they are very capable!" Su Yanqiao explained.
Zhu Wencong sat on a stone bench, knowing that the talent issue must be resolved first, or many things wouldn't be able to proceed.
Those rebels had limited potential, at best fit for running errands and doing the dirty, tiring work.
Su Yanqiao brewed tea for Zhu Wencong. "I heard your work involves stock market operations, that novel thing that only foreigners understand.
My father says that real business is the proper way. Stocks and speculation are third-rate occupations, unfit for respectable society.
There are outstanding white men too; as long as you pay them well, they will be devoted to you.
Besides, America's law and system are sound, unlike the East which only talks about human relationships and connections."
Zhu Wencong poured tea for Su Yanqiao, never expecting to taste the hometown Wuyi Black Tea, which was truly a blissful experience.
"Western law is indeed well-developed, but all that stuff is just a game for the common people!
Have you ever heard of the perfect crime? Those revered by the masses are often the ones with a long list of crimes, and their wealth comes from the sweat and blood of the people.
The law is made by them. In the words of our ancestors, full of talk of benevolence and morality, but with hearts full of thievery and prostitution.
For white people to betray us costs nothing, because this is their homeland. Do you think I dare use them?" Zhu Wencong elaborated.
"But I've studied England's laws, and I think it's exactly what the East needs in its judicial system.
Even if the rulers make the rules and break them, at least it ensures a level of fairness and justice," Su Yanqiao argued.
Zhu Wencong looked at Su Yanqiao, her face full of the desire for knowledge. She really knew a lot about the West, truly a female scholar.
England's system is indeed the best in the current world. Not only has America copied and pasted it, but so have the British colonies.
That system, on the whole, serves the nobility and the capitalists, weakening the power of the Imperial Court.
"Today's world governance philosophy originates from our earliest Huang-Lao thought, governing by doing nothing that goes against nature, letting people govern themselves.
Isn't that right? Hahaha! Therefore, it's the direction of the people's will and the trend of the great tides!" Zhu Wencong reflected.
Su Yanqiao suddenly realized that she had almost forgotten about the Huang-Lao thought that had created a prosperous Han Empire.
Regardless of the systems those countries use, they often have their roots in the East.
"Our centralized system is clearly the best, so why are we falling behind now?" Su Yanqiao did not understand.
"It's the Qing Dynasty now, not the Ming Dynasty. The rule of foreigners prioritizes maintaining the legitimacy of their reign.
If it weren't for the heavens intervening, the capitalists of the South would have certainly been able to transform the Ming Dynasty, as the emperor was not the biggest obstacle.
You understand England; do you know about the Glorious Revolution? Wasn't the Late Ming royal family similar to England's Royal Family?
What suppressed their power? Confucianism! They didn't dare to usurp it."
The Han Dynasty fell, and the Three Kingdoms rose, with Cao Cao controlling the emperor to command the princes, and in those times, Confucian Studies boasted the Gongyang Faction!
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, Confucian Studies had completely demonized, and a new ideology was needed, yet everything was terminated by Li Zicheng." Zhu Wencong, sipping his Wuyi Black Tea, was filled with emotion.
"If America is considered the apple of God's eye, then the Ming Dynasty would be God's chamber pot.
Let's discuss practical matters, I want you to manage my accounts, you know about accounting, right?
Lately, I've been dealing with my subordinates' accounts, there's too much currency, it's giving me a headache.
I know I've made a lot of money, but as to how much exactly, I am still tallying it up." Zhu Wencong rubbed his forehead.
Su Yanqiao pouted, what kind of talk is this, to have money yet not know how much.
The variety of currencies abroad is exceedingly numerous, unlike in the East with silver, gold, and copper coins.
The reason Su Yanqiao could follow her father is not only because she has a command of foreign languages, but she is also proficient in accounting.
Such talent is scarce wherever you go, after all, it is a world of the illiterate.
"I'm very curious, how exactly do you make money? In my view, not losing money is already lucky.
People give you money, and you have to pay them high interest, this… is too unbelievable!" Su Yanqiao wanted to understand Zhu Wencong's way of making money.
"Oh… I shouldn't ask this…" Su Yanqiao realized she wasn't very close to Zhu Wencong.
Zhu Wencong waved his hand, facing a confidante, he would certainly speak without reserve.
"I'll answer your first question, how do I make money?
First, we must understand the world's wealth distribution, 70% are the poor, 29.9% are the middle class, and 0.1% are the capitalists.
It seems there are many poor people, and that they don't have much money, but this is a wrong notion.
Most poor people do have some savings, which they generally set aside for emergencies and unforeseen events.
People in America don't think about the future, so they spend their savings on gambling, investing, or consuming.
Everyone wants their money to grow, too much currency in circulation only leads to skyrocketing prices.
To control inflation, the government guides the public's excess savings into real estate, housing, the stock market, and other reservoirs." Zhu Wencong paused.
"People deposit their savings in the banks, and the banks lend that money to real estate developers, who in turn pay construction, decoration, and heavy machinery industries among others.
The authorities exchange land sales for the funds needed for urban construction, and industries thrive because of real estate, while the public finds work due to these industries.
Land and housing prices soar, benefiting related individuals and industries, the advantage outweighing the disadvantage.
However, in Europe and America, real estate doesn't have much pull, so they funnel all the public's savings into the stock and bond markets.
The core of industrial countries' advancement in industry is finance, which can quickly build railroads, bridges, roads, etc.
Where does the money come from? People's savings! Consequently, the government encourages the public to invest in the stock and bond markets, allowing the capitalists to distribute this wealth." Zhu Wencong vividly described.
Su Yanqiao pondered Zhu Wencong's words, suddenly gaining enlightenment.
"Back to the main point, how do I make money?
I don't create wealth; I'm merely a mover of wealth!
The wealth within the stock and bond markets, rather than letting it be squandered by capitalists and embezzled by bureaucrats, is better utilized for real work by me.
Every investment project of mine births a tycoon, at the expense of tens of thousands of bankrupt individuals.
The American Dream, the bankruptcy dream, people become overnight millionaires, and they also fall into immense debt overnight.
All it takes is the creation of one Successor, and people will forget the tens of thousands of failures, then they follow in their footsteps." Zhu Wencong stood up, letting the sunlight bathe his entire body.