Capítulo 21: 21 Fears
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"Lately, someone's been tricking others into selling and then sneakily buying up stocks, so silver mine stocks have always been on sale.
Do you know who's causing trouble? I don't think they have the brains for it!
Don't look at me! I would absolutely not sell—shares have risen to 8 dollars each, and they're about to break 9!
But I've run out of money to buy more, and the interest from the bank is suffocating me..." James expressed in agony.
Watching others steadily increase their number of shares, James felt incredibly anxious—it was all about the money!
There were many players involved to begin with, taking many shares, so the profits to be shared in the end must be less.
But as for how many shares there actually are, no one knows the answer, not even Zhu Wencong knows how many shares he's managed to get.
The stock market of this era is chaotic, with diluted stocks being the norm—it's just a matter of which fool will pay the price.
"Let's get out of here!" Zhu Wencong flat out said, as he had almost completely cashed out.
James, torn with indecision, said, "It hasn't hit 10 dollars yet! I... I think I could grit my teeth and stay!"
No, I have to sell some shares to repay at least a portion of the bank's interest.
Zhu, you haven't cashed out yet, have you? We should stick together in this!"
Zhu Wencong shook his head. When it comes to fleeing, no one would give a heads up in advance.
James was preparing to flee and would certainly not alert anyone before; he would leave quietly.
"To tell you the truth, they are greedy, and I am fearful. It's no good; we have to get them to bring in even more capital.
I plan to leave by tomorrow or the day after; how about we agree to leave together the day after tomorrow?" James gave Zhu Wencong a knowing look.
"No problem! Exit the day after tomorrow!" Zhu Wencong could somewhat guess that James planned to leave tomorrow.
James left again, satisfied, as every visit to Zhu Wencong's place yielded some gains.
Zhu Wencong leaned back on the couch, knowing that whether he ran tomorrow or the day after, James was already late.
Once the minor silver mine issue was resolved, it would be time to move on to the major silver mine, which required his direct involvement.
The funds from his first bucket of gold were still a bit short; he needed the bank's leverage to beef it up.
"Brother, there's a situation, our people have actually entered the market!" Su Yanqiao hurried over.
"What? Where are their brains?" Zhu Wencong stood up.
"You said it yesterday, in front of huge profits, people lose their minds!" Su Yanqiao pouted.
Zhu Wencong scratched his head; people managed to earn some money but were about to lose it all.
Indeed, what isn't yours will never stay yours; wealth comes quickly and can leave just as swiftly.
"Won't you talk to them?" Su Yanqiao noticed that Zhu Wencong calmly sat down.
"Let them learn a lesson! Our people can accept it since once bitten, twice shy.
Thankfully, they didn't know how to use bank leverage, so the loss isn't too great—it's just starting over from scratch.
Once they're scared of finance, they'll honestly work on real industries for me, which is perfect since both the state and city have quotas," Zhu Wencong mused.
"Can you estimate how much money we made this time?" Zhu Wencong looked up at Su Yanqiao.
A conservative estimate is about 90,000 British Pounds! That James could earn about 10,000 to 20,000 British Pounds, depending on when he exits.
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The group that profited the most were the Chinese workers, who not only received dividends twice but also cashed out at high prices and left the market.
Next were the newly joined White people, who, as long as they didn't follow the trend and continue to invest, made a small profit without any problems.
"According to the table you previously told me to make, the distribution ratio is us at seven parts, James at one to two parts, and the Chinese workers and those who left early at one part," Su Yanqiao handed over the document she had prepared.
Zhu Wencong glanced over the figures in the document, earning 90,000 British Pounds in a month was relatively easy, no wonder Americans were so enamored with the financial market.
To become overnight millionaires was indeed not a dream, people really could gain without laboring, all it took was creating a game, named the ultimate gamble for those who gain without labor.
Participants would bet all their savings, with everyone contributing to raise the stakes, the bet was on who had the bigger nerve! Who was the most crazy! Who was reckless with their life!
Su Yanqiao sipped her coffee in deep thought, Zhu Wencong's earnings in a month equaled more than half a year of her family's income, and the former had pure profit without other expenses.
One wonders whether it was the excessive wealth of the people or the abundance of money in the stock market that made it hardly impactful to fish for a bit of it.
"Why do you look so unhappy?" Zhu Wencong came over to Su Yanqiao's side and rubbed her shoulders.
"I think I understand why you look down on those who engage in the real economy, this finance business is really terrifying.
The question is, what do those White people think? Don't they realize this is all a scam?" Su Yanqiao became increasingly perplexed.
Zhu Wencong sat next to Su Yanqiao, quietly making tea first. There's too much in the world that is incomprehensible.
Knowing it's a scam, why would anyone participate? This question is akin to asking why people gamble when they know that nine times out of ten they will lose—it is because gambling is human nature.
The earliest creatures feared fire, yet some dared to bet. They weren't only unafraid, but they also harnessed and made use of fire.
In the beginning, people could only await death when they fell ill, but Shennong risked tasting the herbs that injured animals ate, betting that what worked for animals could also work for humans.
"In essence! We've stayed in our comfort zones too long, so much so that we've lost our gambling nature, accustomed to letting fate decide, sticking to the rules.
Americans are different, they are all making a bet of a lifetime coming here, not to mention the gamble of fighting a war against England during the time of independence.
Knowing it was a war destined to lose, yet Americans dared to risk it, persisting for years until finally France came to aid.
If they had recognized reality and chosen to surrender at the beginning, would there still be an America now?" Zhu Wencong explained history.
Su Yanqiao fell into a long silence, she had underestimated the Americans, always thinking of them as brainless barbarians.
Zhu Wencong poured a cup of tea for Su Yanqiao; in fact, countless people did not understand America and only regarded it as fortunate, without ever considering the desperate situations they faced.
After the Civil War, it took America a mere twenty-plus years to surpass England. Who could have predicted that? Who could have achieved that?
In the end, it was because the public believed in the financial market and were willing to invest their money in it that the government and capitalists had the huge financial power to push forward industrialization.
A negative example was the Manchu Qing. Towards the end, the Imperial Court also issued bonds, but it turned into a political task for local subscriptions, with local officials cunningly using it as a pretext for the common people to foot the bill.
The shares for Hanchuan Railway were borne by the local population, who didn't receive any dividends but took on all the risk.
With such a lousy financial system, who would have confidence in the future of the Manchu Qing? Everyone was hoping this damned dynasty would collapse sooner!
"It's not that my scam is sophisticated, nor that my deceit captivates the soul; it's primarily because James and his compatriots are confident in their country's market and in finance itself.
They saw our fear and exit, and they greedily kept buying more, because their valuation of the market far surpassed our conservative estimations.
We always carry a mentality that profiting is sinful, the more we earn, the heavier the sin we bear.
They don't carry such historical burdens, imagining life-changing earnings in one year—they dare to dream." Zhu Wencong concluded.
Su Yanqiao was left astounded, wondering when the nation lost its confidence and dreams.
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