Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 303 You ask which piece of land will appreciate in value? Have you heard of a subway?
Today, while looking at a map of New York with Astor IV, Larry finally gained a direct understanding of "New York's largest landowning family." At its peak, this family owned more than half of the Manhattan Peninsula, all of which they purchased when land was incredibly cheap in the early 19th century.

Unfortunately, the Astor family gradually declined after entering the 20th century, selling off their land holdings one by one, eventually focusing solely on the hotel industry. They held most of their land for nearly a century, and when they sold off a large portion around 1900, they certainly made a fortune. However, looking at it from a 2000-year perspective, they essentially bought land at rock bottom and sold it at ankle level… still selling it far too cheaply!
Although the Astor family remained wealthy in New York, their fortunes had declined significantly compared to their heyday as "half of New York."

Larry is now living in the height of Astor's power, which is also the time when they split up and began selling off their land.

Larry had some spare cash and knew these lands would appreciate significantly in value in the future, so he was naturally very tempted by the map; however, after some thought, Larry decided not to deliberately deceive King Astor IV. This wasn't just a matter of morality, but more so... there was no need!

If you can gain the upper hand with just overt strategies, why bother with underhanded tactics?
So, after the three families of the Astor family had studied the map for a while, Astor IV leaned close to Larry's ear and whispered, "..."

"Larry, how do you think we should divide the land? I'm considering land in the lower and middle cities, but choosing the specific plots is another matter... because there will be bidding and compensation mechanisms during the family's internal allocation."

Larry smiled. His arrival had already attracted the attention of the other two families, and now that King Astor IV was asking him this question, it naturally caught the attention of the other two families' agents as well.

Larry said casually, "Mr. Astor, may I have a cigar? I traveled all night and didn't get any rest. My mind is completely blank right now."

King Astor IV raised an eyebrow, understanding the implication of his words, and then stood up to invite Larry to join him in the outer corridor of the law firm for a cigar.

Once they were standing facing each other by the window in the corridor, and after lighting their cigars, Larry took a deep drag and then complimented, "By the way, your cigars are really good? Where did you buy them?"

“Direct purchase from Cuba! We have direct channels with the Spanish government,” King Astor IV said, taking a leisurely puff of his cigar before adding, “I know you’re full of tricks! Now that there’s no one else around, you can speak.”

Larry nodded, but leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "John, have you ever heard of the subway?"

“A subway?” King Astor IV looked puzzled, thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Oh, a railway built under a tunnel? I’ve heard that more than 20 years ago, Beach attempted to build a pneumatic subway, but it didn’t succeed. I’ve heard that many people are envisioning such a line. As far as I know, the Belmont Foundation is very enthusiastic about it…”

As he spoke, King Astor IV turned to look at Larry, his brow furrowing.
"...But Belmont is the Rothschild family's agent in the United States, and I personally don't like them. I don't want to have anything to do with them."

Larry laughed, raising his cigar, and said, "I'm not asking you to invest, but... by the way, aren't you a science fiction writer? What do you think of this idea?"

“A subway? Of course! I don’t think New York City can accommodate a railway anymore, land prices are getting more and more expensive!” Astor IV looked at Larry with suspicion, thought for a moment and said, “You’re not saying that New York will build a subway in the future, are you?”

“That’s obvious, sir!” Larry said with a smile. “The subway isn’t technically difficult; the challenge lies in finding the right opportunity. The New York City government has long wanted to solve the terrible congestion problem in Manhattan. Building the subway was inevitable, and it will bring about an increase in real estate and property prices along the line!”

Larry was fully expecting the other man to "suddenly realize" his mistake, but King Astor IV showed no unusual expression. Instead, he frowned and asked, "You mean, there will be fewer horse-drawn carriages on the streets? And all those people will take the subway? But what does that have to do with me?"

Larry was speechless, thinking to himself that it was no wonder people at this time didn't realize the importance of the subway, let alone that it would drive up land prices along the line, because they simply had no concept of it… Everyone has historical limitations! Larry thought for a few seconds, then patiently explained, “Sir, land prices in New York have never been determined by the soil, but by footsteps. Let me give you some examples. Please abandon your old, preconceived notions and consider why the land price at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street is 20 times that of the surrounding alleys?”

King Astor IV was, after all, a shrewd and knowledgeable man. He immediately understood after hearing Larry's first sentence. "You mean... although it's in the same district as Wall Street, that intersection is much busier?"

"Your observation is very insightful!" Larry seized the opportunity to offer praise, then proceeded to guide him further.
"I heard that after the Sixth Avenue elevated railway opened, the number of shops along the line quadrupled in three years, even though it used to be a slaughterhouse. What was the reason? It was because there were more people there... In the horse-drawn carriage era, street-front shops were valuable; in the tram era, corner stations are valuable."

King Astor IV stared wide-eyed at Larry. "Damn it!! What are you thinking? Fuck, that makes sense!!"

Clearly, Larry's words had the other party suddenly realize something and was extremely shocked, to the point that he even swore. For someone of his status, this was equivalent to the shock of "This kid is terrifyingly powerful and must not be allowed to live."

Larry chuckled, took a puff of his cigar to keep it from going out, and continued, “The ground in New York is dead… You can see that during rush hour, horse-drawn carriages are only going 2 to 3 miles per hour, and traffic jams at intersections can take 45 minutes at a time…” As he spoke, Larry mentally added, “And there are no traffic lights at these intersections.”

“But there are also elevated railways…” Astor subconsciously retorted.

“The current elevated railways are noisy and block sunlight. The middle class would not allow an elevated railway to pass through their community... Let alone them, if there were an elevated railway near your residence, would you agree to it?”

Astor immediately fell silent.

Larry continued, "Widening the roads is also impossible. The layout of Manhattan is already set. How could the New York City government demolish expensive buildings to build free public roads? So, if New York doesn't want to suffocate, the only option is to build a subway!"

“That makes sense!” Astor nodded, then said, “The London Underground has indeed greatly driven up the surrounding land prices. I have a piece of shops on Oxford Street, which was already very expensive when I bought it; I heard it was only a tenth of the price ten years ago. Oh, by the way, is Paris also building a subway?”

Larry didn't know anything about the Paris Metro, but he still smiled and said, "Oh, right, you've seen the London Underground. So you should know where the metro would be built if it were to be built?"

“Of course, the main roads… wait, my God, I understand what you mean!” King Astor IV looked up at the ceiling, as if recalling the layout of the London Underground, then used his finger to draw the subway lines of downtown and midtown New York on the wall of the corridor, and began to ponder.

Larry knew that he had already started using his family's real estate expertise to try and find possible subway lines in New York, but in reality, there was no need to think much about this line because the options were very limited!

“Broadway!! Or Lexington Avenue!! Only those two fit the bill, because they are the spine, while the other streets are the ribs!” King Astor IV’s eyes gleamed.

(End of this chapter)