Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 8 Hotel Expansion

  Fulinmen Hotel has ended its morning market at about 8:00 in the morning. At this time, the whole Brisbane city has just ushered in a new day, and it is another good day of autumn.

  After entering October

  The strong cold air from Antarctica went northward several times and encountered warm and humid air troughs over the Australian plate, causing a sharp change in temperature.

  Compared with the warmer climate earlier, the temperature has plummeted by more than 10 degrees.

Wearing a checkered coat made of woolen cloth, Li Fushou looked fit and personable. He wore a tall bowler hat on his head and an American rosewood cane with a hidden sharp sword in his hand. He was at the door of the ironware shop. Blocked Mike Hamner.

   "Mr. Mike, we need to talk."

  Mr. Mike Hamner is a short, chubby middle-aged man with curly brown hair and plump lips, and his eyes sparkle with the shrewdness of a businessman.

He saw Li Fushou could not help blowing a whistle, and he was in a very good mood and joked; "My dear Li, you are an eagle from the Andes Mountains. You have brought God's gospel and made my bad business extremely good. A big improvement, my beautiful wife hopes to invite you to come as a guest at home and try the plum biscuits that she personally baked."

   "Don't mention the **** plum biscuits, let's solve the current urgent business."

   "Hehe... calm young people, we have a lot of time to discuss, don't you think it's wonderful to sit and drink afternoon tea with the ladies in this golden autumn?"

   "Hey... Mike, if you are not sincere, I will turn around and leave." Li Fushou was not interested in going around with him, and said straightforwardly;

"I am very busy today. I have an appointment with a real estate agent. At least 4 to 5 private properties are ready to be sold. Fortune Hotel will expand into several branches in the short term to provide the best for the rapidly expanding customer base. Service, I have no extra time to waste with you."

   "Then... go inside and sit down and talk."

"No, Mr. Mike Hamner, I am willing to bid 500 pounds to buy your property. If you want to agree, you can go to the lawyer's office to sign the legal document. This price is already nearly 30% higher than the normal market price. Otherwise, I I can only regret to inform you to cancel the transaction."

Li Fushou stared at the other person's eyes, waved his arm vigorously to strengthen his tone, showing an unalterable and tough attitude, and continued; "Except for me, no one will pay a high price for your property. Use your brain to think. Come on, I just have to hear yes or no from your mouth."

   "Don't be like this... Lee, we have been working together very happily."

  Mike Hamner didn’t know why the other party changed his mind. The price of the £560 property rose to £728, which seemed to have made the other party anxious.

  Due to the influx of gold prospectors in the past two years, Brisbane's real estate prices have soared. The value of this property on Handel Street should be between 370 and 390 pounds.

  The price of five hundred pounds is very sincere. Mike Hamner is inclined to accept it in his heart, but he has a very embarrassed look on his face.

  If the other party really abandons the purchase, who is willing to take over at such a high price?

  Brisbane is not the prosperous Melbourne. If the other party really gives up, Mr. Mike Hamner will lose hundreds of pounds in earnings, which is enough to make his painful fat tremble.

  For a moment, Mike Hamona wants to listen more and don’t make a decision in a hurry.

Unexpectedly, Li Fushou turned around without saying a word. Mike Hamner was anxious, and ran a few steps to grab his sleeve and said; "Almighty Lord, okay, okay... just follow what you said. I agree to this price."

  "Go to the lawyer's office to settle the property right now."

   "Wow...Is it so urgent?"

  "Just say whether you want to go." Li Fushou's face showed an impatient look again. .

   "Go... of course." Mr. Mike Hamner responded repeatedly and took the deed of this property from his home, and accompanied everyone to the lawyer's office.

  After a while

  The group of people who have gone through the delivery procedures reappeared on Handel Street. A dozen heavy-duty carriages and a large number of coolies have arrived to carry the goods from the steel products store into carriages and transport them to the warehouse.

   More than 20 handymen from the Fulinmen store, led by Nan Huaiyu and Liu Shan, are taking over the house in an orderly manner, and contacting a large number of workers to prepare to start the renovation.

  3 Handel Street, as the headquarters of the Fulinmen Hotel, will rapidly expand in scale to meet the rapidly increasing demand for gold prospectors.

  Mr. Mike Hamner had just received a large sum of pounds and was in a great mood. He rushed to the middle of the carriage with a red face and shouted loudly, directing the carriage into the house in an orderly manner.

  There are many shops dealing in steel products, and it takes a lot of time to move them.

Li Fushou stopped and watched for a while, but he didn’t have the patience to stay any longer; “Asheng, Nanshan, you two will keep your eyes on here. When you’re done moving, you will quickly arrange for the carpenter to enter the site for construction. Remember to set aside a special area for building stoves. , We must make it easy for the heavy-duty carriages that carry coal to come and go."

   "Little understands, Master."

"Um."

  Li Fushou nodded, and said to Liu Shan, who was thin and thin; “Take a few capable people to follow. We are going to the bank and talk about some poorly managed shops in Chinatown. We will be very busy today.”

   "Master, do you need to bring a guy?"

  "Isn't this nonsense? We are going to **** a large amount of cash to Standard Chartered Bank and bring the gun to prevent accidents."

"understood."

  Liu Shan hurriedly arranged to load more than a dozen heavy cash boxes into a four-wheeled passenger carriage, and brought eight sturdy and capable men over and stepped onto the sturdy quarter horse to accompany him.

  Li Fushou tidyed up his clothes, got into the carriage while pressing the tall bowler hat in his hand, and tapped the front carriage with a copper-handled cane to signal that he was ready to go.

  The coachman flicked his whip and yelled loudly. Two sturdy horses dragged the carriage forward steadily. The goal was the other direction of Brisbane city-the location of Standard Chartered Bank.

  Brisbane is a new colonial port city on the Gold Coast. It is famous for its gold mines and wool. It borders Moreton Bay and is surrounded by rich and beautiful large pastures.

  Half a century ago, the original residents here were more than 1,000 prisoners in exile from England. Later, with the discovery of the wool trade and gold mines, it developed rapidly and prospered, attracting more and more free immigrants.

  The tall and towering three-story Victorian building of Standard Chartered Bank stands out among the many buildings in Moreton Bay.

  Liu Shan led a group of his men to get off their horses in front of the bank. The carriage stopped steadily at the door of the bank at this time, and the sturdy men "hulled" and surrounded them.

  This movement immediately caught the attention of two uniformed Royal Australian policemen at the bank’s gate, pressing their hands on the revolvers on their waists with a nervous expression.

  In recent years, not to mention that there are many vicious cases of bank robbery by cowboys in the West in the United States, and there are also many in Australia.

  The cowboys who are short of money have a hot mind. If they drink too much inferior wine in the tavern, there is no one who will not dare to do it. They will shoot and kill for a few pounds. God knows what they will do?

  The beautifully painted carriage door opened, and Li Fushou walked out from inside with his tall bowler hat in his hand.

  It’s really inconvenient to wear this thing on your head. You have to sit upright in a low car, and you will fall off as soon as you lower your head.

  He glanced at the crowd, and saw the big guys squeezing around each other, hoping to show a face in front of the owner, offering a good, his brows could not help but frowned;

  Public Street!

  If a gunman comes from behind, he can easily kill most of the people.

   Thinking about it again, he couldn't help laughing.

  The group of people in front of them looks like something, but they are either cooks or handymen. Their previous identities may be gold diggers or coolies working at the docks. It is no different from fantasy to expect them to be as professional as gunmen.

  Liu Shan is an experienced gunman. He also realized this problem, and his face flushed suddenly.

  Awaiting to reprimand, Li Fushou gently waved his hand to stop Liu Shan, and said in a faint voice; "Continue to stay alert around the carriage and wait until I have contacted the bank."

   "Yes, Master."

  At this time, a middle-aged gentleman in a suit and leather shoes walked out of the Standard Chartered Bank. He understood the situation with a sweep of his eyes, walked over with a professional smile on his face, and proactively extended his hand.

  "Welcome your distinguished guests. I am Charlie Vincent, the reception specialist of Standard Chartered Bank. Is there anything I can do for you?"

  "Please call me Mr. [Li], I need to open a bank account with your bank and deposit a large sum of money."

  "As you wish, Mr. Li, please sit down in the VIP room and have a cup of coffee."

  "Can your bank clerk help me?"

"no problem."

  Charlie Vincent waved his hand, and a few employees walked out of the bank to help carry the heavy cash box in, and summoned people to quickly start counting.

  Li Fushou came to the well-decorated VIP room. A graceful white girl offered fragrant coffee and smiled for a while.

  In a few minutes

  Charlie Vincent walked into the VIP room with a British man with gray temples, and looked at his respectful look. This seemed to be a senior figure in power in the bank.

  "Dear Mr. Lee, please allow me to introduce Mr. Kestner, the manager of the Brisbane branch of Standard Chartered Bank. He is an experienced banker and also my mentor."

  Li Fushou took the initiative to stand up and stretch out his hand, shaking hands as a salute; "It is a great honor to meet you, Mr. Kestner."

   "You are welcome, please sit down."

  Europe experienced the steam industrial revolution, and the society as a whole has undergone tremendous changes. Steam machinery has replaced manual labor to show higher efficiency.

  In the highly professional financial and legal industries, the inherent traditions are still maintained. It is difficult for outsiders to easily integrate into the old way of relying on masters and apprentices.

  This is a relatively high-end closed small circle. The so-called financial family is nothing more than father-to-child and descendant-grandchildren. This is very popular in the conservative European aristocratic circle.

  The so-called mentor is just another name for master.

  (End of this chapter)