In what was said to be a decent little hotel, Scrooge, who had been bitten by those goddamn fleas for almost a night, didn't sleep well until near dawn. Just fell asleep but was woken up by Rockefeller.

"Hey, Scrooge, wake up, it's dawn." In the dimness, Scrooge felt as if someone was patting his shoulder.

"What? It's annoying!" Scrooge touched the pillow and smashed it according to the guy who disturbed his sweet dreams. There was just an "ouch", and then there was the crackling sound of something messy falling to the ground.

This time, Scrooge woke up, opened his eyes, and saw that Rockefeller was sitting on the ground. On the ground around him, there was a chair, a clothes rack, and some clothes.

"What's going on?" Scrooge jumped up quickly.

At this time, Rockefeller was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his health was still quite good. I didn't need Scrooge to pull it, I got up by myself, and while I lifted the chair, I said to Scrooge, "What's wrong? I have to ask you! I kindly asked you to get up, but you hit me with something! I ducked, but didn't notice the chair behind..."

"Hahaha!" Scrooge pointed at Rockefeller with one hand and covered his stomach with the other. He couldn't breathe with laughter. After a while, he said, "John, I never thought that a pillow could knock you down..."

"I didn't expect a man to have such a feminine reaction!" Rockefeller retorted without showing weakness.

"That's not your fault, and you said that this place is fairly clean. Last night, I was bitten by lice and didn't sleep well all night, and just fell asleep, and you came here to make trouble! You deserve it!"

"You were bitten by a tick? Ah, no wonder no tick bit me last night."

"So you had a plan!"

The two laughed for a while, got dressed, ate something random in the shop next to the small hotel, and walked towards the Chicago grain futures market.

Scrooge has seen what the futures market in the twenty-first century looks like, but he doesn't know what the futures market in the nineteenth century looks like. Therefore, Scrooge is still very curious about the earliest futures market in the world.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the Chicago grain futures market appeared in front of them. This is a building made of red bricks. From the outside, it looks more like a large warehouse.

"Maybe it was a warehouse." Scrooge thought.

It's still early, and the doors of the market haven't opened yet. But outside the door, there are already many people waiting there. Scrooge and Rockefeller walked over.

"Phil, how are the crops growing on your farm? Don't be like last year. In the end, the grain you planted was almost not enough to sign the futures contract." A tall man in his thirties was talking to a man with a face full of The bearded peasant chattered.

"Tom, don't worry, you need your food," Phil replied. "This year I hired a few more new immigrants to plant all the fallow land, and the cultivated area is larger than last year. It has increased by almost 30%. In addition, at the end of last year, we built another canal, and the irrigation is also guaranteed. Even if there is a little drought, there will be no problem. As long as there are no locusts and no floods in the next two months, it will be five At the end of the month and the beginning of June, it will be a good harvest. I'm afraid that there will be too much food and you will not be able to buy it."

"Don't worry, there are so many immigrants from Europe every year, they always buy food to eat. Moreover, the animal husbandry in Europe is developing well, and as a result, they have converted all cultivated land into pastures - this is more profitable, so only We can rely on us to grow wheat. Think about it, there are so many people in Europe, so many mouths, no matter how much food you produce, they can eat it. Don’t worry, I promise, as much as you have, you can sell it How many!"

"Well, three more layers of land, better irrigation, and almost certainly better harvests." Heard the conversation between the two men. Rockefeller, who was standing by the side, thought silently in his heart, "In this way, food prices may drop."

However, Rockefeller and Scrooge did not intend to join this discussion. For them, listening was enough.

At this time, the sun has risen very high, and the doors of the exchange have opened. So the people waiting outside the door stopped talking and walked in.

Scrooge and Rockefeller followed suit. Unlike the futures exchanges that used information technology extensively and had various electronic displays everywhere, the futures market at this time was much more primitive. At the center of the exchange is a large wooden board with the prices of the last trades of various crops yesterday.

"Scrooge, look at the price of corn!" Rockefeller said to Scrooge, pointing to a price on it.

"John, this price doesn't seem to be much lower than the spot price," Scrooge whispered to Rockefeller.

"Well, it seems that not only the price of wheat has risen, but the price of corn has also risen. This will cause animal husbandry..." Rockefeller glanced at Scrooge, and he saw Scrooge's eyes twinkling.

In addition to being used as food, corn is also used as feed. The rise in corn prices will almost inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of animal husbandry, which will inevitably lead to a decline in the price-earnings ratio of animal husbandry. Once the price-earnings ratio of animal husbandry falls, and the price of food products rises, a shift from animal husbandry to agriculture will naturally occur in Europe. This also means that when this year's harvest season, there is likely to be a real crisis of overproduction.

"Hey, John! Didn't expect to meet you here!" A voice came from behind them. Scrooge and Rockefeller turned around and saw a large bear walking toward them.

This big man is about 1.9 meters tall. What is even more frightening is that he is not only tall but also sturdy. He looks like a standing brown bear, full of oppression.

"Mr. Warren Delano? I didn't expect to meet you here! Are you planning to buy food?" Rockefeller walked over and said to the brown bear.

"Ah, the grain trade is booming lately. I'll come and see," Warren Delano said. "How's the Tuttle and Hewitt guys doing now?"

"Mr. Warren, I've left Tuttle-Hewitt," Rockefeller told Warren Delano. "Everything was going well in the company when I left."

"You left Tuttle and the others? ... Well, that's not bad. Tuttle and the others are good businessmen, but they are too old-fashioned and have no spirit of adventure. Young people learn little basic things from them. Yes, but it's boring to follow them all the time. Where are you doing now? Why don't you do it with me!" Warren Delano said, "Well, who is this kid, is that your brother? He learns Is it too early to do business?"

"Mr. Warren, I started a company with two gentlemen from two foreign countries to deal in grain trading. Well, please let me introduce myself to you, this is my partner Scrooge." Rockefeller said. On the other hand, he gave Scrooge a helpless look, which made Scrooge so young that everyone who saw him thought he was his little brother. However, my little brother is also older than Scrooge.

"Hello, Mr. Warren." Scrooge held out his hand to Warren Delano. "I'm Scrooge MacDonald. Nice to meet you."

Warren Delano half bent down took Scrooge's hand and said, "It's hard to imagine that you're running a business at such a young age. When I was your age, well, I was a total jerk. ." He turned back and said to Rockefeller, "And you, John, you too. Are you 16 or 17? Well, standing with you guys makes me feel like an old man all of a sudden... ...are you going to buy food?"

"Ah, Mr. Warren, we don't know much about grain futures, so we're going to take a look first, read and learn more, and then make a decision," Rockefeller replied.

"Well, proper prudence is necessary, but I still think you should hurry up. The market changes very quickly, and prices are rising almost every day. In futures trading, there are quick hands, but no slow hands. A little hesitation, very Maybe thousands of dollars less."

Hearing this, Scrooge remembered who this Mr. Warren Delano was. This Mr. Warren is the grandfather of the future President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is also a gambler and adventurer. Compared to Scrooge and the others who only have a few thousand dollars in capital, this Mr. Warren is a real deal. Bucky Monopoly. He made a million dollars by doing tea business in China! However, according to history, it is time for him to be unlucky. According to history, in this year's economic crisis, this adventurous rich man will lose his last piece of copper and become a complete pauper. Then this guy would go back to China and make a fortune selling opium again.