Chen Yuan was transformed into the son of a comprador who went bankrupt in Shanghai in 1890. At the beginning, he pawned his pocket watch and got ten taels of silver.
With his modern financial knowledge, he predicted on the exchange: "Within three days, cotton yarn will rise by 30%!"
As the whole room burst into laughter, the British manager said contemptuously: "Young boy, Jardine Matheson is waiting for you to go bankrupt."
Three days later, cotton yarn prices skyrocketed, and Chen Yuan's assets doubled.
He turned around and acquired dying local textile factories and used modern management to defeat the monopoly of foreign companies.
When Jardine and Japanese merchants launched an encirclement and suppression campaign, Chen Yuan smiled and looked at the situation of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 displayed on his pocket watch: "It's time to short Japanese national debt."
