readx; After two weeks of intense preparations, the "Morgan" Bank was officially put into operation, and 10 branches were opened in the concession at the same time. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In order to create enough momentum for the bank, on the day of its opening, Biszino carried out publicity with great fanfare: a military band of more than 50 people walked down the main street of the concession with more than 100 high school students hired at high prices in the middle, each waving a flag in his hand. The front reads JPMorgan Bank, and the back says $1 deposit. At the back of the procession were boxes of gold bars guarded by Indian patrols and bodyguards from the Ministry of Industry, the lids of which were all open, and the yellow gold was placed on top of the Chevrolet, which could be seen even from the periphery of the crowd.

The procession circled in front of each branch before returning to the head office, attracting countless citizens along the way, and many people followed the procession, and overnight, the name of the Morgan Bank and the slogan of the one-dollar deposit resounded throughout the public concession.

In addition, in order to maximize the impact, Biszino also commissioned an advertising agency to hang a huge photo of himself in the most conspicuous place in the concession, with the words written in both Chinese and English: Biszino and Morgan Bank are looking forward to your visit!

Biszzino knew that he could withdraw his salary of five hundred dollars with peace of mind as long as he could exchange the counterfeit money, but that ten percent of the profit depended on his own efforts, so he did everything in his power to expand the bank's business, which was also a very good cover for their shady business.

He pointed out to the bank's employees the concept of customer first, dedication to service, and the service closest to the public to attract customers. In all business outlets, including the head office, the façade is relatively small, without any ostentatious furnishings, very simple, so that ordinary citizens can have a sense of intimacy, and at the same time, the teller system is implemented in the bank, that is, a single staff member is responsible for the whole process from ticket inspection to payment, so as to contact the customer's feelings and save the customer's time.

Within a few days of the opening of the bank, a large amount of deposits were quickly absorbed, and at this time, Biszino categorically rejected the Fujian side's order to immediately start the counterfeit banknote plan, and first asked Jiro Ibe to inspect the 500,000 yuan of coins that had been transported.

Jiro Ibe first used counterfeit money to buy goods in the concession, but he was not recognized, and then he went directly to Citibank in the United States to exchange dollars, because the counterfeit money was too new, which aroused the suspicion of the bank staff, although he finally relied on superb acting skills to get out, but also exposed the defects of counterfeit money.

After receiving the feedback from Shanghai, the Fujian side immediately decontaminated the newly printed currency and then transferred it to Shanghai, but not only was it not discovered by Citibank, but even the Huaxing Commercial Bank and the Central Reserve Bank, two banks under its control, received it correctly, so boxes of banknotes began to be transported to Shanghai in a steady stream.

Some of these coins were exchanged for ordinary citizens through bank windows, some were taken to other banks for foreign currency, and some were transported to the Jiangbei guerrilla zone to buy urgently needed food and supplies from enemy-occupied areas.

Because the counterfeit banknotes made in Fujian were exactly the same as the banknotes circulating in the occupied areas, even the coinage experts could not distinguish between them, and they were quickly circulated. Therefore, the Fujian side resolutely dispatched a large number of people to purchase gold, silver, cotton yarn, grain, and other strategic materials on a large scale in the occupied areas, thus destroying the financial market dominated by the army and accelerating inflation in the occupied areas.

At the same time that the Fujian political axe was using counterfeit money to launch a financial offensive against the occupied areas, it was also sparing no effort to plunder China's economy. First, they exchanged worthless Union Bank bills and military bills for legal tender issued by the Kuomintang in the occupied areas, and then exchanged a large amount of foreign exchange with legal tender through the Huaxing Commercial Bank and the Central Reserve Bank, causing heavy losses to the economy of the Kuomintang areas. The Kuomintang immediately promulgated new measures for the liquidation of foreign exchange, ordering the central government, China, and the three banks of Communications to stop the supply and sale of foreign exchange, thus completely bankrupting the dream of turning legal tender into waste paper. The base areas that insisted on being under the leadership of the [***] in the rear of the Japanese army adopted the issuance of their own currency, and forbade counterfeit currency to deal with the financial offensive of the Japanese army according to the means of circulation.

Immediately afterwards, he went door-to-door to snatch gold and silver jewelry in the occupied areas, and set up gold buying stores in major cities to absorb Chinese gold and silver coins with the cooperation of financial institutions; set up the Manchuria Gold Mining Company in Northeast China to monopolize the mining of gold; The army also often organized Han Jian, disguised as Chinese and refugees, to go to the countryside to buy silver dollars and coins. Most of this gold and silver was due to the purchase of foreign exchange and strategic materials to enhance the economic power of the capital. The Kuomintang took a-for-tat approach to ban the gold trade and implement a policy of gold nationalization in order to cut off the flow of gold to the occupied areas, and at the same time designated four banks, namely the central government, China, communications, and peasants, to set up offices to purchase gold and silver as quickly as possible.

After discovering a large number of counterfeit Chinese banknotes in the occupied areas, although they did not trace the real source, they took it for granted that they aimed the spearhead at the national political axe, and then they also began to counterfeit Chinese banknotes on a large scale, and at the same time to squeeze strategic materials and create inflation in the national control areas while dealing with the offensive of counterfeit banknotes by the other side. It was first set up in its own territory to manufacture counterfeit money by a scientific research institute and a printing plant in the occupied area to manufacture counterfeit money, under the direct command of the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army, to give specific guidance on the study of printing technology and circulation measures for counterfeit money. As a result, batches of counterfeit 1 yuan, 5 yuan, and 10 yuan bills from the Peasant Bank of China were thrown out to grab money and control trade.

In order to cope with the offensive of counterfeit money, the Kuomintang resolutely adopted the strategy of countering counterfeit money, and the Military Command Bureau came forward to cooperate with the US banknote printing company, and under the guidance of foreign experts, set up a mint in Geyue Mountain, Yucheng, which specialized in counterfeiting banknotes, purchased paper and printing equipment from the United States, selected the technical elite of the Bank of China Mint, and rushed to produce them overnight, and finally the transportation department continuously smuggled them to the occupied areas for use.

After July 1939, the war of counterfeit money led by the three parties of Yuben, the Nationalist Axe and the Fujian Political Axe intensified, and the prices in the nationalized and occupied areas rose sharply. However, after discovering this, he immediately instructed the intelligence department to set up a special company to carry out trade with Fujian, and then exchange checks and bills of exchange in Fujian for silver dollars in the form of remittances, and then transfer them to Shanghai, so as to achieve the purpose of arbitraging silver.

After the Fujian side became aware of the conspiracy, it immediately took protective measures against gold, silver and coins: it was strictly forbidden to export gold and silver privately to prevent arbitrage; strengthen management and crack down on gold and silver speculators; It is forbidden to carry silver dollars into enemy-occupied areas, and political axes set up exchange points on the line of control to exchange silver dollars for legal tender or currency before leaving; Anyone who buys scrap copper and rotten iron and transports it to enemy-occupied areas will be punished as the crime of Han annihilation. Due to the effective measures, coupled with the fact that the international silver price was in a downward trend at this time, it did not cause much loss.

Unable to gain an advantageous position in the financial war, the present side began to focus on drugs.

In order to increase the enthusiasm of the peasants, the puppet government stipulated that as long as the prescribed tobacco tax was completed, they could get grain, cloth, and other necessities as rewards. The tobacco was collected in factories for processing, and then transported to the Guotong area through underground passages to be exchanged for legal tender. In addition, he said that he did not open up the net because Taiwan was already his own colony, but instead carried out tobacco and soil specialization in Taiwan, deliberately raised the price, and made huge profits from it. Since the Kuomintang did not carry out a comprehensive anti-smoking campaign, the tobacco offensive was carried out smoothly and a large amount of legal tender was earned.

At this time, the Fujian side also began to plan an offensive against Taiwan with tobacco and counterfeit money in order to disrupt the rear of the Japanese army

The violent typhoon once again hit the Taiwan Strait head-on, and the black clouds in the sky easily completely obscured the originally brilliant sun, and thunder and lightning accompanied by a violent raindrop smashed down endlessly. The weeds, shrubs, and rice in the mountains groaned in pain in the face of the storm, and their trembling bodies crawled on the rain-soaked ground. The tall trees swayed violently in response to the fierce wind, resisting, and holding up their trunks, which hung almost low to the ground.

On the vast sea, the storm reached its highest point, constantly pushing the sea into the dark sky, and striking the dark clouds that pressed like iron overhead! From time to time, the rough sea sets off monstrous waves more than ten meters high, turning the entire sea surface into a world of foam.

At the height of the storm, off the coast of the stormy Golden Gate, a fishing boat struggled in the middle of the whirlpool: the debris on the deck had already been swept away by the ferocious water, and the hull swayed violently, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, with the occasional palpitating sound of wood rubbing.

In the cockpit with the doors and windows open, a tall, muscular man grabbed the rudder of the ship and pulled the fishing boat back from the edge of capsizing again and again.

"Aqing!" Without looking back, the captain shouted, "Is the hole blocked?" ”

"That's it!" With a loud reply, the hatch was lifted, and out of the cabin came a sturdy young man, bronzed skin that had clearly been baptized by numerous storms.

"Go and cut the mast, the ship is about to capsize!" The captain's tone was obviously unusually solemn.

"Good!" Qing took out an axe from the toolbox, then grabbed the side of the ship with one hand and stumbled towards the mast.

Suddenly, a wave more than ten meters high slammed onto the deck, knocking Aqing out, and disappeared into the foaming sea in an instant, without even making a sound for help.

"Aqing!" The two people in the cabin shouted in unison, but there was no response, and by this time, the cabin was already full of water, and the hull of the ship shook even more violently.

"Ah Cheng, I can't go back today, I'm ready to land!" The captain said in an unmistakable voice, then turned the rudder to the right with all his strength, and finally pressed his body up. The rudder groaned in pain, almost as if it was about to break, and then the bow slowly turned in the middle of the raging waves, heading to the left.

"Uncle Nine!" Ah Cheng shouted in horror: "Opium is strictly forbidden in Fujian, and we are Taiwanese, isn't it a dead end to go up?" ”

"The boat can't hold on anymore, instead of waiting here for death, it's better to go ashore and gamble on your luck!" Brother Jiu replied lightly, as if he was not talking about his own surname.

An hour later, the battered fishing boat finally washed up on the beach, and the exhausted captain and Ah Cheng immediately collapsed in the cockpit, unable to move again

Gao Fei looked at the two Taiwanese smugglers in front of him with interest, and asked in a conversational tone, "What do you call them?" ”

"My name is Gong Jiu, his name is Feng Cheng, and he is my nephew." Gong Jiu didn't mean to hide it at all.

Gao Fei looked at him in surprise and asked, "Hasn't Taiwan banned opium a long time ago?" I remember that three or five years ago, a delegation of the Nationalist Axe visited and came back and said that there was not even a single tobacco house on the whole island, so who did you sell opium to? ”

"Forbidden?" Gong Jiu sneered and said: "If opium is really banned, what do I rely on to make money from Taiwanese?" These officials and gentlemen follow the route drawn by themselves, of course, they can only see the good side, who will expose the ugly side! ”

Goofy hurriedly asked, "Can you elaborate a little more?" ”

Gong Jiu explained: "I said that I implemented the opium monopoly system in Taiwan, and all tobacco houses had to go to the political axe to register before they could buy opium, and the price was ridiculously high. ”

Gao Fei nodded in understanding: "That's why you risked your life to traffic opium from the mainland to make huge profits, what a boldness!" ”

Gong Jiu originally thought that he had to die, so he answered his question very cheerfully, but he found that there was no malice between the other party's words, and he saw the hope of life, so he began to answer the question more cautiously: "The price of opium in Taiwan is at least twice as high as that of the mainland, and all of it is controlled by the political axe, which is basically priceless, so we are desperate." However, since the start of the war between China and China, patrols and inspections on the Taiwan side have been very lax, while there are not even patrol boats on the coast of Zhejiang, and if it were not for a typhoon, there would hardly be any danger. ”

"Are you saying that the garrison along the coast of Taiwan is very lax?" Goofy leaned his head forward, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Yes!" Although Gao Fei did not wear a military uniform, the shrewd Gong Jiu still deduced from the momentum brought out by his gestures that he must be a high-ranking official, and Gao Fei's concern for Taiwan's coastal defense confirmed his inference. Therefore, he did not hesitate to explain the situation he had in his possession: "Originally, I said that I still attached great importance to Taiwan's coastal defense, and there were warships patrolling the sea, and there were garrisons patrolling the shore, and in addition to the system of joint sitting, almost no one dared to smuggle opium. However, after the outbreak of the war, large warships and a large number of soldiers were transferred, and the garrison was almost requisitioned as reservists. ”

Gao Fei's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "How is the defense on the island?" Is it also the same emptiness of troops? ”

Gong Jiu replied: "It is impossible for us civilians to know the specific deployment of troops, but in the past, we could see soldiers with loaded guns everywhere, but now we can only see the police. ”

Gao Fei nodded, and his mind involuntarily turned to a crucial question, so he asked tentatively: "How is the people's heart on the island, is it more towards China, or more towards the original?" Although he had received a negative answer from Han Jian's before, Gao Fei still did not give up: Could it be that just a few decades of enslavement education can really cut off the blood between the Taiwanese and the mainland?

Gong Jiu already knew the weight of this question in his heart from Gao Fei's solemn expression, so he carefully considered the words and replied: "Originally, the residents of the island thought that they had been completely abandoned by the motherland, and they said that they had managed Taiwan well, so they were very indifferent to the mainland. However, after the outbreak of the war, Yue himself began to worry about us Taiwanese with Chinese ancestry, so he took some measures: first, all Chinese newspapers in Taiwan were abolished and replaced with Chinese newspapers; The celebration of traditional Chinese festivals maintained by us Taiwanese is also banned, and it is forced to visit the shrine; The Governor's Office also organized the 'Imperial People's Guild' and the 'Stand Up Servant Brigade' in the countryside and cities to force everyone to learn the spirit of bushido. Recently, I have been calling on Taiwanese people to change to their original names, and I don't know what will happen in the future! ”

Gao Fei could clearly feel the dissatisfaction from Gong Jiu's words, and he was secretly happy in his heart: How could the culture and customs that had been inherited for thousands of years be changed just as they were said, and the stupid man said that he had finally pushed the hearts of the people in Taiwan to the mainland!

The corners of Gao Fei's mouth involuntarily brought a smile, and said in a relaxed tone: "It can be seen that you are very dissatisfied with these measures of my own, and I think that there are not a few Taiwanese who have the same idea as you, so have you taken measures to resist?" ”

Gong Jiu replied, "Who dare! Now is the time of war, you will be shot at every turn, and resisting is not the same as looking for death! ”

Gao Fei asked puzzledly: "If you are caught smuggling opium, will the punishment be light?" I look at you, you don't seem to be like a person who is afraid of death, how can you say such unambitious words! ”

(To be continued)