In the port of Qingdao, in the vast sea and sky, a newly launched dredger "Qingtang Army No. 6" is working in the bay with black smoke. Although the average water depth in the port of Qingdao is more than 8 meters, this does not mean that all areas are deep-watered, and according to the Admiralty's measurements, there are still some shoals in the bay that need to be cleared.

At present, they have set up buoys at these shoals to alert passing ships. At these buoys, the dredger uses a guò bucket to dig out the silt from the seabed and load it into the barge behind it, and after filling the barge hold, the silt will be transported to the dock to fill the seabed in the trestle construction area.

On the shore, more than 2,000 local residents (including later immigrants) are struggling to build buildings of all kinds. They were all mobilized in these two days, and the young cadres who organized them to graduate from the Corps Fort explained that they had taken a fancy to the unique harbor conditions of Qingdao Port and decided to speed up the construction of the city, and the first step was to build a decent wharf and ancillary facilities.

The people on the east coast are already familiar with the construction of the wharf, so under the organization of the Construction Bureau under the Ministry of Communications, the labor force, mainly local farmers, began to build lighthouses, trestle bridges, roads, warehouses, freight yards, hotels, customs, exchanges, batteries and other facilities, and plans to complete the construction of some of them in the first half of next year, so as to open the port as soon as possible.

There is a reason why the government of the Republic of the East Coast is determined to develop the port of Qingdao. Because just yesterday, the Doria family from Genoa, after negotiating with the people of the East Coast on cooperation in the grain, silk weaving, paper and other industries, finally put forward in the evening their greatest purpose of the trip, that is, to carry out financial cooperation with the East Coast.

And this so-called financial cooperation. In fact, it is also dependent on the possible large-scale trade between the two sides. i.e. services for these trades. Most of the bulk trade in Europe at that time was paid for by commercial paper (cheques, cashier's checks, bills of exchange, etc.) issued by reputable banks or individuals. There aren't many direct cash transactions. Therefore, if East Coasters want to be deeply involved in European trade, it is important to obtain endorsements or guarantees from banks with a certain status in Europe, otherwise market expansion will always be slow.

Similarly, there were European captains who had bills of exchange from banks or established wholesalers in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, who had come to the east coast to demand supplies. Due to the lack of identification of the authenticity of these bills of exchange, and the fear that they would not be able to liquidate them, the East Coasters had to reluctantly refuse a considerable amount of business. At this time, if one or more banks on the East Coast can be trusted and have a large amount of money to be involved, so that foreign merchants who come to the New World to trade will hold the commercial paper issued by these banks. Then the East Coast can recognize the authenticity and validity of these bills, thereby promoting the further development of trade.

At the same time, imports between the East Coast and Europe can also be offset by the transfer of bills between Guò and these banks, thus eliminating the enormous risk of carrying large quantities of precious metals on long-distance shipping. The people of the East Coast exported manufactured goods in Europe, imported various raw materials, livestock and even people, and these transactions could be offset by mutual transfer through the guò banking system, which was very convenient and safer, and at this time most of the international trade in Europe was actually settled in this way.

In order to participate in international trade so easily and safely, it is necessary to cooperate with one or more established European banks with status. Because the bills of exchange of the East Coast Europeans do not recognize them at all. Conversely, if it is the Banco de San George/Comptoir in Genoa, the Banque de Palermo in Sicily, the Banco de Santo Paul in Savoy (located in Turin). The bills of exchange issued by them, then, were fairly recognized, at least in the Mediterranean, South Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, largely unimpeded, thanks to the de facto financial hegemony of the Genoese for more than a hundred years.

Today, August 16, in the only stone building in the port of Qingdao, the East Coast negotiation team, led by Qiang Quansheng, director of the State Administration of Precious Metals, has been holding talks with Genoese for two days. Both sides have been frank and have reached a consensus on banking cooperation between the East Coast and Genoa, and the current differences between the two sides are mainly focused on the modalities of cooperation and the depth of cooperation.

In the eyes of the East Bankers, the Genoese only had to provide an endorsement for the international trade of the East Bank Republic, i.e., the banks of Genoa provided guarantees for the East Bank bank bills issued by the merchants of the East Bank. For example, the Northwest Reclamation Bank, the largest bank in the East Coast, currently has a branch in Riga, and if this branch issues a commercial paper with a face value of 10,000 yuan one day, then the Europeans will definitely not recognize it. If, at this time, St. George's Bank announced the guarantee of the commercial paper issued by this outlet, it is likely that European businessmen would recognize the validity of the note, thus allowing it to enter the market. This was the wishful thinking of the East Coasters, who needed to use the influence of the Genoese to squeeze their banks into the financial circles of Europe.

But how could the Genoese agree to such conditions? If so, what benefit did the Genoese bankers gain? Not at all! Not to mention the commodity agency rights that the East Coast people say, this is another matter, one yard to one yard! What a joke about the East Coast people trying to squeeze into the financial circles of Europe without paying anything!

In response, the Genoese first rejected the whimsical proposal of the East Coasters, and then said that the East Coast merchants could open current accounts in the banks of the Genoese in Europe, and that all transactions would go through the Genoese banking network, and that all the problems would be solved. Merchants on the East Coast can go to markets such as Amsterdam, Lyon, Barcelona, Cádiz, Milan, Florence and Bordeaux with commercial paper issued by the Bank of St. George, São Paulo or Palermo without any obstacles.

Of course, Qiang Quansheng could not accept such a plan proposed by the Genoese, because in this way, a large amount of trade surplus on the east coast was deposited in the banks of the Genoese, and the family was cheapened by a large amount of money, which was unacceptable to Qiang Quansheng, and he felt that he had to fight for some benefits in international trade for the east coast. Since option A doesn't work, it's time to throw out option B.

"In that case, then, in the spirit of mutual trust and honesty, I think that your country and my country can jointly fund the establishment of a new bank to provide financial support for the import and export business of our government and businessmen in Europe, Mario, what do you think?" Qiang Quansheng played with a quill pen in his hand and tentatively lifted yì.

Mario. At this time, Doria was also a little tired by the-for-tat attitude of the two sides in the banking business, so after seriously thinking about the strong and winning Tiyì, he was relieved and said: "It is feasible to jointly set up a bank, and we can also provide guarantees for this bank, but why don't you just let us take a stake in the bank in your country?" I think it's more convenient, and we have a lot of capital, so we'll give you a reasonable consideration, and you can get the money you need by selling your shares in the bank. ”

"I'm sorry, whether it is the Northwest Reclamation Bank or the United Industrial Credit Bank, these are important institutions related to China's financial security, and our government has not yet approved foreigners to hold shares in these banks, please forgive me." As soon as Qiang Quansheng heard Mario's words, he immediately refused. What are you kidding, if the Genoese is allowed to take a stake in the only two financial institutions in the country, then he will be forcibly dismissed by the Government Council and the Executive Committee if he goes out of this door, and maybe there will be soldiers who will treat him as a traitor to shoot him, which is no joke.

"Well, you're always so old-fashioned and conservative." Mario shrugged his shoulders and said as if he didn't care, "So how about I mention that the bank that is jointly funded by both parties is called Banco de la Plata?" Named after the Outer Río de la Plata. We can share half of the shares of Banco de la Plata, but we have to take care of the day-to-day operations, which is non-negotiable! You don't have the intuitive and emotional knowledge of the European bulk trade, and you don't have the expertise to do it, oh, I don't mean to belittle you, but you really lack the experience in it. But who made us friends, you see, I brought in quite a few talents this time, like Mr. López next to me. ”

López, a balding middle-aged man, nodded reservedly at Qiang Quansheng when he heard Mario mention him.

"Mr. López is Spanish, but has worked for many years at the famous Piazza Riato Bank in Venice and is well versed and experienced in all banking matters. He is exactly what you need, and I think that Mr. López will be able to take up the position of president of the newly established Banco de La Plata, and that he will keep this bank in good order with his professionalism, noble personality and experience, and will not affect the conduct of your trade. Mario finally showed his cards at this time. Obviously, he not only wanted to get the management of the bank, but also wanted to install his own personnel in the bank.

Piazza Rialto Bank is a well-known and established commercial settlement bank in Venice, established in April 1587 by Decree No. 2 of the Council of State of the Republic of Venezia, with the support of the Congress of Venice. It is a commercial clearing bank, which provides debit services for all trades over 100 ducats, and also supports account withdrawals, but does not allow overdrafts. In 1593, the Venetian Congress made it mandatory for all transactions to be settled through a branch of the bank, which soon flourished, as evidenced by the large debit balances on its current account.

The bank flourished until 1638, when it closed its doors in the same year as rival Banco de la Circulate di Venice (which handles the public debt of Venice and issues interest-bearing bonds on behalf of the state) grows stronger. At this time, it was clear that Mario of the Doria family had recruited some of the bank's talents under his command, and he was now preparing to put them in the management of the Banco de la Plata to continue to serve their family and the Republic of Genoa. (To be continued......)