Shadow of great britain

Lionel raised his hand towards the servant standing beside him, and soon a document was delivered to him.

He placed the item on the coffee table and introduced it to Arthur with a smile: "Mr. Hastings, it's actually a coincidence. If you plan to invest in relatively stable sovereign bonds, you can just catch up with this wave."

"Is sovereign bond investment stable?" Alexandre Dumas leaned on the sofa and asked, "As far as I know, among the public bonds issued by South American countries, only Brazilian government bonds are still paying interest as usual, right?"

Lionel smiled and stretched out his hand to Alexandre Dumas, and he said: "So this gentleman has had experience in public bond investment? This is not a field that ordinary people can get involved in. But I look at your appearance, and it doesn't look too good. Familiar, you probably didn’t do this business in London before, right? Can I take the liberty of asking for your surname?”

Alexandre Dumas held his hand and said: "Rothschild people really have extraordinary eyesight. Yes, I did have investments in this area before, and I also opened an account in Rothschild Bank, but you It is possible that my account has been frozen. After all, I am now a wanted criminal by the French government. I, Alexandre Dumas, are glad to meet you."

When Lionel heard the name, he couldn't help but open his mouth slightly. He was slightly surprised, but he quickly recovered.

He smiled and patted his head: "I should have thought of it earlier, Mr. Dumas. When I traveled to France before, I accompanied my uncle to the theater to watch your production "Henry III and His Court." And the historical drama "Christine" is really a wonderful script. At that time, I heard from my uncle that you made nearly one hundred thousand francs with this play, and you were one of the most outstanding French playwrights."

Dumas was quite pleased with Lionel's flattery. He nodded proudly and said: "Those are just small works written casually. You are really overly complimentary."

But Lionel quickly turned the conversation back to Arthur with a smile.

"I knew that Mr. Hastings's friends would not be ordinary people. Outstanding people will always attract each other. Rothschild not only invests wealth, but is also very willing to invest in the present and the future. Elite.

Mr. Hastings, I won't hide anything from you. It is true that South American sovereign bonds are not trustworthy, but Rothschild has recently been authorized by the Treasury to issue a modest British bond for the government.

I can give you a little information. This is a batch of ten-year urban construction bonds with a total value of 200,000 pounds. The annual interest rate should be 3.15%.

If you want to invest in sound assets, I can privately reserve a share of one thousand pounds for you in advance. In this case, you will get an investment income of 31.5 pounds every year for the next ten years.

In the current environment, although this kind of return rate is not particularly high, it is better than safety and stability. "

Arthur nodded slightly when he heard this, and then asked: "What if it is real estate investment?"

Lionel opened the document in front of him and published the information above in front of Arthur without reservation.

That is the summary data on the price trends of all rental and sale houses represented by the London Real Estate Consulting Company.

Arthur turned the pages and examined them, while Rothschild patiently explained them to him.

"As you can see, London's real estate prices have always been relatively stable. Except for some popular areas that have increased rapidly, most other areas have maintained an average annual increase trend of 1% to 2%. The annual rate of return fluctuates around 4.8%. After deducting your home maintenance, taxes and other costs, the approximate rate of return should be around 3.5%.

This kind of return is indeed higher than that of UK government bonds, but it will take a little time and effort on your part to take care of it. Of course, if you find it too time-consuming to manage these properties, you can also entrust our company to operate them on your behalf. But in this case, we will charge a certain service fee.

All things considered, the profit from real estate purchase may be similar to that of purchasing public bonds. Its advantage compared with new public bonds may be that it brings hidden income such as voting rights to the owners. "

Arthur nodded slightly, Lionel did not deceive him, and even in order to gain his trust, he did not hesitate to show the trade secrets coveted by various real estate agencies in front of him.

But he also understood what the other party meant by doing this. There is no free lunch in the world, and some things do not need to be explained too clearly. It only takes a simple action for both parties to reach a tacit understanding.

Arthur slowly closed the document in front of him. He looked at the smiling Lionel and understood that from now on, he and the Duke of Wellington would sit on the Rothschild River floating on the Thames. A cruise on the river.

He asked, "What about the stock market?"

Lionel raised his eyebrows. He did not talk about stocks first, but asked with a smile: "You are well-informed, so you must know that the railway industry is very hot recently, right?"

Arthur nodded and said: "Of course, everyone says that the first thirty years were dominated by the canal industry, and the next thirty years will belong to the railway industry."

"Hearing is of course an important reference, but I have a more important piece of data here."

Lionel smiled and opened another document at hand: "Look here, in 1821, the first railway company in Great Britain was officially approved, but it was not until 1824 that we had a second railway company. But , you see here, since 1824, the number of approved railway companies has increased rapidly.

In 1826, Congress approved five new railroad companies in one fell swoop. As of this year, Great Britain already has 21 railway companies. Last year, Parliament approved an application for 105.25 miles of railway construction, which has exceeded half of the total construction applications in the past eight years.

Although there was an unfortunate hiccup at this year's Manchester-Liverpool railway opening ceremony, we don't think it will interrupt Britain's rail-building frenzy. As you said before, the next thirty years belong to the railway industry, and I can even conclude that the 19th century should be the century of railways. "

Arthur asked tentatively: "So your suggestion is to invest in railroad stocks?"

"No."

Lionel smiled and replied: "On the contrary, we strongly advise you not to touch the stocks of railway companies. Because as far as I know, many railway companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are taking advantage of the railway boom to obtain financing.

A considerable number of them are only in the planning stage, and some of them are even more eager to absorb hot money without even passing the railway construction permit from the parliament. If you don’t have a deep understanding of this industry and get involved rashly, you will easily be deceived and lose all your money. "

When Arthur heard this, he seemed to gradually understand. He recommended the railway industry, but did not recommend the railway company, so the answer was already obvious.

He asked: "You mean you recommend a road and bridge construction company that has the technical capabilities to build railways?"

Lionel smiled and clapped his hands, pointed at Arthur and said: "Mr. Hastings, you are indeed very talented in finance. Yes, it is these construction companies that I recommend, or to be more precise, My recommendations are Thames Tunnel and Brunel Road and Bridge, which are currently at rock bottom in share value.”

"I've never heard of Brunel Road and Bridge Construction Company, but Thames Tunnel Company..."

Arthur couldn't help but take a breath when he heard the name.

Speaking of this company, it should be considered a well-known enterprise among London citizens. At the same time, it is also a favorite reporting target of London newspapers.

As the name suggests, the original intention of establishing this company was to build an underwater tunnel railway on the Thames River. According to the design plan, after completion, this underwater tunnel railway will connect Weiping and Lotsey on both sides of the Thames River.

But for something like an underwater tunnel, just by hearing the name, you know how difficult it is to build, not to mention that it is still the early 19th century.

Its slow construction progress lends credence to this idea, with the tunnel advancing only three to four meters per week.

And not only is the construction slow, but the most damning thing is that since the construction started in 1825, this underwater tunnel has had many water seepage accidents. Forget about water seepage, the foul-smelling Thames water will also release a large amount of methane gas into the tunnel and trigger an explosion.

Engineers and workers who have worked in this environment for a long time often get sick. Since the beginning of the project, many on-site engineers have been rushed to the hospital.

The most serious construction accident of the project occurred in 1828, when the foul-smelling Thames River washed away the tunnel and drowned six construction workers, including Marco Brunel, the chief designer of the project. The son who came for internship almost drowned in the tunnel. The poor young man lay in the hospital for six months before he recovered.

Since this serious accident, the Thames Underwater Tunnel project has been in a state of stagnation for a long time. In order to make up for the overrun project costs and restore the public's safety concerns about the tunnel, after the tunnel was pumped and repaired, the tunnel company even came up with an idea to open the tunnel. A unique idea for tunnel sightseeing projects.

What's even more surprising is that there are actually quite a lot of people from London visiting, and they are quite willing to pay one shilling to see this 'popular attraction' that frequently appears in newspaper headlines.

However, such a tourist boom cannot restore the Thames Tunnel Company's goodwill and shares. Their shares on the London Stock Exchange are almost stinky.

For rational investors, buying their shares is equivalent to throwing money into the Thames.

Arthur asked: "I heard that the Thames Tunnel project has stalled due to lack of funds?"

Lionel saw Arthur's doubts at a glance, and he asked with a smile: "Do you remember the urban construction bonds that the Ministry of Finance is about to issue that I mentioned to you before? That two hundred thousand pounds public bond, With your intelligence, you must be able to figure out what this money is used for at once."

Arthur woke up from a dream. He picked up the teacup and savored the aftertaste of these words for a long time. He looked at Lionel and took a sip of tea: "Otherwise, it is easier for the Rothschild family to make money. Woolen cloth."

Lionel smiled and nodded: "Mr. Hastings, you have to know that for those of us in finance, news is life. Only fools will stare at the stock numbers for a day, and really make big money." People all rely on good news.

In addition, I can share with you two more pieces of information. One of the major shareholders of the Thames Tunnel Company is another of our major customers, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.

As for the other company I just mentioned, the Brunel Road and Bridge Construction Company, its major shareholders are Mark Brunel, the chief architect of the Thames Tunnel Company, and his son Isambard Brunel. Nell.

Both of these gentlemen are top design and construction talents in railway construction. Moreover, Brunel Road and Bridge Construction's share price has also hit rock bottom recently due to the impact of the Thames Tunnel project.

But you know, you can't be unlucky all your life. I accidentally learned that Mr. Brunel's design is very likely to win the bid for the Avon Gorge Bridge. Once he wins this bid, Brunel Road and Bridge Construction Company will soon be revived. "

Having said this, Lionel lifted the teapot and added some more to Arthur's half-empty cup.

While pouring tea, he said: "Mr. Hastings, you know, life is so wonderful."

Arthur looked at the ripples in the teacup and couldn't help nodding in agreement: "Yes, life is indeed wonderful. Brunel and his son should also have good luck. By the way, please help me at the Thames Tunnel Company 500 pounds each in Brunel Road and Bridge."

After hearing this, Lionel stood up with satisfaction. He took off his hat and bowed slightly: "Thank you for your keen eye. You have demonstrated your strong investment strength and far-sighted investment vision today. Mr. Hastings, Rothschild We are honored to provide consulting services to you today."

Alexandre Dumas, who was sitting next to him, was so angry when he heard this, biting a donut, he muttered: "Is this also called a sharp eye? I can do it if I change it. It's all news, it's all 'luck' .”

Unexpectedly, when Lionel heard this, he smiled and shook his head and retorted: "Mr. Dumas, you must understand that only with strength can you have 'luck'. In my opinion, Mr. Hastings is very powerful." strength, so it’s natural that he has ‘luck’.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the real estate agent who had left the table ran back from the back hall, panting heavily.

He came to Arthur and respectfully handed over the house price appraisal in his hands.

"Mr. Hastings, I'm sorry, this is my redesigned housing recommendation report. Please take a look."

Upon hearing this, Lionel smiled at Arthur and nodded: "Come on, Mr. Hastings, your luck has come again."