"Sir, Mr. Downing from the Goebbels Electric Lighting Company has been waiting for you in the reception room for a long time!" On this day, the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt had just arrived at the company, and his assistant came forward to report to him.
"Why is the person from the electric lighting company looking for me? Isn't he cooperating with the Morgan family?" Vanderbilt asked with a frown.
"From what Mr. Tangning said, it seems that he has a new business that he wants to cooperate with you!" the assistant explained.
Vanderbilt thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let him come over and let me see what new business he has?"
As soon as Tang Ning walked in, Vanderbilt joked to him: "Mr. Tang Ning, do you want me to invest in any new business?"
Obviously, he had already learned about the cooperation between Tang Ning and JP Morgan. In fact, Tang Ning came to New York this time because of JP Morgan, because he sent Tang Ning a telegram saying that he had something important to discuss with Tang Ning. It turned out that Tang Ning thought that he had finally made up his mind.
He was determined to build a big power plant, but he didn't expect that he just wanted to buy Tang Ning's shares, which Tang Ning naturally refused.
As for coming to see Vanderbilt today, it was actually a plan he had thought up a long time ago, but he didn't have enough funds before. In the past six months, he had been installing electric lights everywhere for people, and he had just sold a large amount of cotton. Finally, he had enough money.
Enough; another reason is that in Tang Ning's memory, the sleeper seemed to have been invented after the Civil War, so this opportunity had to be implemented before then.
Therefore, he took the opportunity of coming to New York to visit the future railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt!
The reason why Vanderbilt is said to be the future railroad tycoon is because now he is only a director of several railroad companies such as the Harlem Railroad Company. After the Civil War, he sold out all the ships in his hands and entered the railroad market.
.
So Tangning waved her hand and said, "Mr. Vanderbilt, you misunderstood. I'm not looking for you to invest. In fact, I want to be the investor in this cooperation!"
Because the young people who usually come to him for cooperation usually want him to invest, this is the first time that Vanderbilt saw someone who wanted to be an investor, so he asked curiously: "I wonder what Mr. Tangning wants to invest in?"
Unexpectedly, Tangning did not answer and asked, "Mr. Vanderbilt, do you often take the train?"
Vanderbilt shook his head and replied: "Although I am a director of the railroad company, I really rarely ride the train!"
Tangning looked like she had known this before and continued, "I guess the reason why you rarely take trains is because the interiors of today's train carriages are too crude and not comfortable at all, right?"
Vanderbilt nodded and replied: "Yes, it is indeed the case!" Then he reacted: "I guess the cooperation you asked me for today, Mr. Tangning, must have something to do with train carriages, right?"
Tangning also nodded and replied: "Mr. Vanderbilt, you are right. In fact, the reason why I rarely take the train is the same as yours, especially taking the train from New Orleans to New York. It is simply a kind of torture. I only take the train."
After taking it once, I said I would never take it again!
But on the way here by boat, I suddenly had an idea. Since there are luxury cabins on ships, first class, second class, and third class, why can’t they be available on trains? So I plan to book two
A carriage that has been transformed into a luxury cabin with a bathroom, a dining room, a large and comfortable bed, and all the enjoyment items that people like us are accustomed to! I believe that such a luxury carriage will be popular, you guessed it
Right?"
In fact, part of what Tang Ning said was true. When he took a train in this era for the first time, he secretly complained why there were no sleepers. The feeling of being squeezed into a carriage with a bunch of poor people was simply terrible.
No wonder those rich people don't want to take the train.
After listening to Tangning's words, Vanderbilt thought for a while, then nodded and agreed: "Mr. Tangning, I admit that your idea is very creative, and it is really possible to make money!"
Then he changed the topic and said: "But you are also a person who really likes to enjoy!"
"I admit this, but I don't think it's wrong. If I can't enjoy it, then why should I work hard to make money? And I think there must be a lot of rich people who have the same idea as me!" Tang Ning did not feel dissatisfied.
replied.
"You are right. It seems that whether it is the electric light before or the luxury carriage this time, Mr. Downing is targeting the rich!" Vanderbilt said with emotion.
After listening to Vanderbilt's words, Tangning almost said the classic saying "luxury goods never defraud the poor", so she coughed and said perfunctorily: "This is because I know the psychology and habits of rich people better.
So it’s more accurate to say that I only do business that I understand!”
"This sentence is well said. If you don't understand the psychology of customers and the nature of this business, you won't make money!" Vanderbilt praised.
Then he said: "Okay, Mr. Tangning, you have successfully convinced me. I will let the Harlem Railway Company allocate two carriages for the renovation you mentioned, but you have to agree to my investment, because I am also very optimistic about this project.
I wonder if you would be willing, Mr. Tangning?"
"It is an honor for me to be recognized by Mr. Vanderbilt!" Tang Ning replied humbly.
"Actually, I'm very happy to cooperate with you, because I haven't seen such an interesting and capable young man like you for a long time.
You may have heard that my family was very poor when I was a child, so although I have some money now, I don’t like rich people, especially those young people whose family conditions have been very wealthy since childhood. I think they
I don’t understand many aspects of this society, especially the real living environment of the poor.
But you made me change some of my views. It turns out that some businesses can only be discovered by people like you who have not endured hardship since childhood!" Vanderbilt said slowly.
Tangning knew that Vanderbilt started in the ferry business at the age of 16. This is one of the three most difficult professions in life, so it is normal to have such thoughts. However, he really misunderstood himself, but he couldn't help it.
Explain, so he had to smile bitterly and said: "Thank you for the compliment!" (The three major hardships in life are to punt, blacksmith and sell tofu.)
"Mr. Tangning, don't get me wrong, I'm really complimenting you!" Vanderbilt said sternly.
PS: I saw a book recommendation video on Douyin today. It was very lively and attractive, so I went to Tomato and downloaded the book according to the title he mentioned. When I went in and took a look, it was basically what he said.
It's different. How can anyone recommend a book like this...