Chapter Fourteen Overseas Industries

  That night, Wang Yuez and Xiong Menghuan stayed at Xiong Wu's villa until the lanterns were lit before leaving. Wang Yuez and Xiong Wu, this father-in-law and son-in-law pair, had a great conversation. Through today's conversation, Xiong Wu completely changed his view of Wang Yuez, no longer thinking he was an incompetent fool. This change made Wang Yuez extremely happy. Even though he was the young marshal, if he didn't have Xiong Wu's support, it would be impossible for him to smoothly take control of the Western Sichuan Army.

  "Old Master, didn't you dislike this son-in-law before? But today you seem to be chatting with him very happily!" Mrs. Xiong said with a smile as she watched Wang Ruzhe's departing carriage.

  "Rumors can be so harmful!" Xiong Wu sighed. Previously, he had also thought that Wang Yuze was an uneducated and useless person, but after today's conversation with Wang Yuze, his impression of him had changed dramatically.

  "Master, now that Yu Ze has become our son-in-law, you must help him with all your might! As long as Yu Ze is doing well, our daughter will be doing well too!" said Mrs. Xiong.

  "Hmm! I know!" Xiong Wu nodded. He knew what Mrs. Xiong meant, which was to support Wang Yuze's ascension after Wang Xiao's hundredth birthday in the future. Now that Wang Yuze had become his son-in-law, he would naturally do so without needing to be told.

  "Do you know what? I've heard that someone has been trying to usurp the throne. Master, you must be vigilant!" said Mrs. Xiong.

  "Alright! We can arrange these big things freely, those are just jumping clowns, no need for you to worry!" Xiong Wu said impatiently. He knew who Mrs. Xiong was talking about, but now there is no conclusive evidence, and the other party is in a high position, if they take action without evidence, it will definitely cause turmoil in the Chuanxi government! However, as long as the other party dares to rebel, he will absolutely not let them succeed.

  The next day, July 20th, Wang Yuze accompanied Yang Shilan back to the Yang family. Compared to the Xiong family, the Yang family was a big clan. When hundreds of people from the Yang family were waiting for Wang Yuze outside Yang Hua's mansion, he couldn't help but sigh. In this era, having many people is still a great advantage. Like their own Wang family, now there are only two of them left, father and son. This made Wang Yuze hasten his plan to have more children, in order to expand the Wang family, he must work harder.

  Mr. and Mrs. Wang were warmly entertained at the Yang's home, and everyone in the Yang family was very satisfied with this son-in-law. Yang Hua and Mr. Wang also had a private conversation in Yang Hua's study, but no one knew what they talked about. All that was known was that when they came out of the study, both were smiling and looked very happy.

  In fact, in Yang Hua's study, Yang Hua explicitly expressed his support for Wang Yuze. Once Wang Yuze needed it, all the resources of the Yang family would be invested in supporting Wang Yuze. Of course, there is no free lunch in the world. Wang Yuze also promised Yang Hua that once the State Council was established, Yang Hua would certainly be the first candidate for Premier of the State Council. This promise made Yang Hua very happy. He knew that in the future political structure, the Premier was one of the leaders of the government, responsible for handling state affairs and having great power. Being able to get such a position, he was already satisfied.

  July 21st was the day when Wang Yuze accompanied Zhou Rui back home. Compared to the initial coercion, Zhou Rui now seemed to have resigned herself to her fate, but she still didn't give Wang Yuze any face. It was clear that Wang Yuze had ruthlessly shattered a girl's dreams in her heart.

  As the president of Xihua Group, Zhou Rongxuan is one of the richest people in western Sichuan. Of course, most of Xihua Group's wealth belongs to the Wang family. But Zhou Rongxuan's personal wealth can also rank among the top 50 in western Sichuan. Moreover, with the continuous development of Xihua Group, his wealth will only continue to grow.

  The Zhou family's mansion was very large, not smaller than Yang Hua's provincial governor's mansion. Moreover, the buildings and style inside the mansion were even more luxurious. However, most of the time, the Zhou Rongxuan family lived abroad and only returned to China once every few years. Except for some servants, no one else lived here. This time, sending Zhou Rui back to marry Wang Yuezhe made this place lively again.

  Wang Yuze's motorcade arrived at the Zhou family home and received a warm welcome. Although the Zhou family was wealthy, the Wang family was even wealthier and still their boss. Even though Zhou Rongxuan was his father-in-law, he couldn't put on airs either.

  "Father-in-law, it's an honor that you've come to welcome me personally. I'm really not worthy of this!" Wang Yuze said hastily after getting off the carriage and seeing the people from the Zhou family coming up to greet him.

  "Haha, Yu Ze, we're all family now, what's with the formalities? Come on in!" Zhou Rongxuan said warmly.

  Wang Yuezhe also met with his mother-in-law and two maternal uncles. The elder uncle, Zhou Yugan, is 24 years old and graduated from Harvard Business School in the United States. He has already entered the management of Xihua Group. The younger uncle, Zhou Yukun, is 22 years old and just graduated from Yale Law School. He will also enter the group's work soon.

  After entering the Zhou's house, Zhou Rui was pulled away by her mother and two sisters-in-law, while Wang Yuezhe chatted with Zhou Rongxuan, Zhou Yuqian and Zhou Yukun in the living room over tea. As they chatted, they started talking about the Xihua Group.

  Zhou Rongxuan intentionally or unintentionally introduced the general situation of Xihua Group to Wang Yuezhe, who will also be in charge of Xihua Group in the future. Through Zhou Rongxuan's introduction, Wang Yuezhe has a more comprehensive understanding of Xihua Group.

  The headquarters of the Xihua Group is located in San Francisco, USA, spanning industries such as shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery manufacturing, food, and textiles. Although it is not listed on the stock market, its total assets have reached $500 million. While it can't be compared to those ancient families, it's still a massive entity. To put this into perspective, the US government's revenue in 1890 was only over $400 million. Even the UK, the world's strongest power at the time, had an annual budget of less than ￡100 million. Japan, China's arch-nemesis, had a budget of only ￥160 million. The Qing dynasty had a mere 80 million taels of silver in revenue. In comparison, the Xihua Group's assets are a staggering wealth that can rival a country's. With the support of the Xihua Group, Wang Yuezhe can accomplish many things, which is even more crucial for future plans.

  "I think that from now on, the group's main business direction can shift to shipbuilding, petrochemicals and internal combustion engine manufacturing. This will be the most important driving force for future development!" said Wang Wenzhe.

  "Petroleum? What else can that stuff be used for besides making kerosene?" Zhou Rongxuan was greatly astonished.

  "Europe is already conducting research on internal combustion engines and it's estimated that a breakthrough will be achieved soon. When that happens, the consumption of petroleum will inevitably increase dramatically. Just as the use of steam engines triggered the First Industrial Revolution, making Britain the world's dominant power, the use of electricity and internal combustion engines will trigger the outbreak of the Second Industrial Revolution. As long as we can catch up with this fast train, Sichuan, and even China, will be able to achieve extremely rapid development!" said Wang Yuezhe.

  Zhou Rongxuan and his two sons were all worldly people, they had been living abroad for many years and had some understanding of these things. Although they did not completely believe what Wang Yuezhe said, they also thought it made a lot of sense.

  "Father-in-law, compared to the Western powers, we have already fallen behind by a lot. If we can seize this opportunity, it will be our chance to catch up with them. Therefore, this matter still relies on you all. You must do your best to obtain the production technology of internal combustion engines and acquire more oil fields. This will provide tremendous energy for our rise!" Wang Zuo said seriously. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the United States and Germany were rapidly surpassing the old British and French powers by relying on the Second Industrial Revolution.

  "We'll intensify our efforts in this area after we return to the US!" Zhou Rongxuan looked at Wang Yuezhe's serious expression and didn't dare underestimate him. Although he didn't think these were ideas that Wang Yuezhe, a young man under 20, could come up with, his subconscious mind thought it was actually General Wang Xiao's intention, and Wang Yuezhe was just a messenger. Zhou Rongxuan had a deep understanding of Wang Xiao's abilities, as it was under Wang Xiao's guidance that he went to the US and achieved his current success. Therefore, he had great faith in Wang Xiao.

  P.S: This book has been signed, fellow book lovers can rest assured and collect it! The collection of fellow book lovers is the driving force for Xiaoyu to move forward!