"Hehe, Shaoqing said it well, his worries are probably also your worries, I can explain that the exchange rate of fiat currency and silver dollars is one to one, so it can be exchanged according to the exchange rate of silver dollars, with a total issuance of 1.38 billion, once promulgated and implemented, it will be shipped to your bank in the shortest possible time." Kong Xiang said happily.

Mei Yuntian looked at his face, how could he feel a little like the naïve Fan Ha'er, honest on the outside and shrewd on the inside, but Fan Ha'er's shrewdness was a little reckless, and this duke's shrewdness was with the lofty momentum of the nobleman's car.

After Kong Xiangxi finished speaking, he waited for a long time before Chen Jitang's representative said slowly: "We have no opinion on the implementation of fiat currency, but there is always a way in this currency issuance, those banks have the right and those who do not, and secondly, how to determine how much currency is issued?" I would also like to ask Minister Kong to talk about it in detail, and I will also convey it to the above. ”

Mei Yuntian and Zhang Jingjiang exchanged glances, understood each other, and the real battle began.

"The central bank, the Bank of Communications, and the Agricultural Bank of China have the right to issue currency, and the amount of currency issued is, of course, determined by the central government in accordance with the state's fiscal policy." Kong Xiangxi's face was still smiling: "Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of unifying the currency is to abolish the disadvantages of indiscriminate currency issuance in various places, so of course the issuance of legal tender must also be controlled in the hands of the central political axe, there is no doubt about this." ”

In the last two sentences, Kong Xiangxi's tone was very heavy, but Chen Jitang's representative didn't care, as if he didn't know what he meant, he just shook his head simply, and said with disdain: "When I came, Commander Chen said that currency is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and it cannot be easily decided. ”

The King of Nantian really lived up to his reputation, and it was also blatant to ask Chiang Kai-shek for financial power, Mei Yuntian was about to speak, but Zhang Jingjiang shook his head lightly on the side, meaning to let him calm down and not speak for the time being.

Kong Xiangxi didn't say anything, just laughed twice and turned to Yan Xishan's representative, Shanxi's old finance will be scared of money, so Shanxi's reputation among the people is still very high, but Yan Xishan lost troops in the Central Plains War, and at this time he had no strength to argue with Chiang Kai-shek, so his representative said very tactfully: "Minister Kong is right, but this matter is indeed very big, the number of currency issued must be cautious, let's discuss it carefully." ”

Chiang Kai-shek Kong Xiangxi spent two years trying to win the support of the Shanghai side to convince the Shanghai banking circles, and there were five representatives of the Shanghai banking circles attending the meeting, the leader of which was Yu Qiaqing.

Yu Qiaqing is the new general manager of Siming Bank, the former general manager of Siming Bank Sun Hengfu resigned in July, Sun Hengfu's resignation and Yu Qiaqing's succession was the result of Zhang Jingjiang and Kong Xiangxi's secret wrestling, this contest is widely implicated, and the initial cause is also legal tender.

Siming Bank is one of the oldest Chinese-funded banks in Shanghai, founded by Ningbo businessmen in the former Qing Dynasty, and by 1935, its shareholders were no longer just Ningbo businessmen, and its business scope had long since expanded to real estate, negotiable bonds, loans, etc., it also issued currency, and had a good reputation among the citizens. Siming Bank was the most prosperous in 1933 and 1934, and then it was hit by the outflow of silver and financial turmoil, Kong Xiangxi in order to promote legal tender, to the Shanghai banking community a dismount, secretly sent people to Siming Bank to run on currency, general manager Sun Hengfu was unable to deal with it, had to ask the Ministry of Finance for help, Kong Xiangxi took the opportunity to ask to join the official shares; When Sun Hengfu was about to agree, Zhang Jingjiang appeared.

Zhang Jingjiang injected $5 million into Siming Bank through Yu Qiaqing to maintain Siming's private status, but Zhang Jingjiang and Kong Xiangxi both had the same condition, that is, Sun Hengfu must resign, but the successor was different, the former asked Yu Qiaqing to take over, and the latter wanted to send Li Jialong from the central bank. So the winner was immediately decided between the two, and Sun Hengfu chose Yu Qiaqing without hesitation.

Zhuang Jihua's explanation of Zhang Jingjiang's strategy afterwards was that Zhang Jingjiang was clearly targeting Kong Xiangxi, but he actually went to Chiang Kai-shek, and he wanted to take revenge on Chiang Kai-shek's abandonment of him back then.

However, the apparent explanation is that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Siming Bank will join forces to occupy 40% of Shanghai's financial circles, which can better support the development of industry and commerce.

But looking back now, Zhuang Jihua has to admire Zhang Jingjiang's foresight, these two banks are now actually controlled by Zhuang Jihua, which invisibly strengthens his ability to intervene in finance.

Yu Qiaqing's somewhat thin face was not waved, he just said calmly: "The issuance of fiat currency is a good thing for the country, and we naturally support it, but since the issuance of fiat currency, it is inevitable to recover the currency issued before, which is a matter of life and death for our bank, and the Ministry of Finance has any measures to help us tide over this difficulty." ”

As soon as Yu Qiaqing's words fell, the delegates present exchanged their heads and ears, and Long Yun's representative, the director of Fudian New Bank, immediately expressed his support: "Our Yunnan has always been barren, and relying only on our own funds to recover currency will definitely cause a shortage of currency, and our bank will also have to go bankrupt." ”

The bargaining of the banks made Kong Xiangxi very uncomfortable, but he had to negotiate with them, these banks were not within the scope of the central control, not to mention Yan Xishan, Chen Jitang, and Long Yun, the issuance of currency was an important means for them to accumulate military spending, and most of the banks of Shanghai were in the concession area, and the central political axe could not control it, which forced the central political axe to pull down the shelf and negotiate with them.

Kong Xiangxi understood what these people were thinking, they wanted the central government to bear part of the loss, but the central government could not bear this loss in vain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your banks can hand over reserves to the central government, and the central bank will provide you with fiat currency at a reserve ratio of 1:10 to recover the funds issued." After Kong Xiangxi finished speaking, he took out a cigar and lit it, revealing his faint smile in the smoke.

"From the 20th year of the Republic of China, after Commander Chen took charge of Guangdong, the development of Guangdong's economy is obvious to all, which is first of all due to the stability of the currency value, and the inflation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is high, the currency value is very unstable, and according to Minister Kong, the fiat currency is pegged to the pound sterling, how much foreign exchange does the central government have to stabilize the fiat currency, in addition, how to determine the number of currency issued, these are not clear, there are also foreign exchange transactions, Guangdong foreign exchange transactions are very active, and only three banks can conduct foreign exchange transactions after the issuance of legal tender, This undoubtedly cut off the channels of foreign exchange trading in Guangdong and caused a shock in the market. Deputy Chen Jitang's question is very acute and very specific.

"The foreign exchange trading bank is designated, and now we have only determined the central bank, the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Bank of Communications, as for other banks, as long as they meet the conditions, I think they can also be." Kong Xiangxi avoided other problems in Guangdong, and cleverly limited the problem to foreign exchange banks.

The fiat currency is guaranteed by the national credit, decoupled from precious metals such as gold and silver, and also decoupled from foreign exchange such as the pound and the dollar, and the number of issues is completely determined by the state, and there is no need for foreign exchange as a guarantee, which is the first time in China.

"We support the issuance of fiat currency," the director of Fudian New Bank puffed out a puff of smoke: "However, I dare not make the decision on how to recover the currency, and I must report to Chairman Long before I can decide." ”

Mei Yuntian secretly praised the cleverness of this director in his heart, the central government made it clear that it was going to implement fiat currency, and this meeting was actually not whether to implement fiat currency, but how to implement fiat currency, and at the same time let each company stop printing and withdraw the issued currency, so at this time there is no need to argue, it is useless to protest, it is better to take a step back and let the political leaders make decisions.

Kong Xiangxi understands that today's meeting is half successful, and the representatives of Shanghai and Sichuan have actually expressed their support, but the representatives of the local forces have not relented, but with the support of the representatives of these two places, especially Shanghai, there is no doubt about the implementation of legal tender.

However, Mei Yuntian felt that today's meeting had failed, Zhang Jingjiang had not made a hint of opening, and now the attitude of all parties is clear, Guangdong has made it clear that it will not give up the right to issue currency, nor will it recycle currency; Yunnan and Shanxi bargained with the central government, mainly to reap some economic benefits, so there was no need for the meeting to continue.

Sure enough, Kong Xiangxi said a lot of things later, but all parties reacted coldly, and they all stuck to their bottom line, Kong Xiangxi saw that they had no intention of giving in, so he announced the dissolution of the meeting, so far the transaction on the surface was over, and the transaction was transferred to the secret below.

When Mei Yuntian returned to the hotel, he complained to Zhang Jingjiang, why didn't he take the opportunity to raise the issue of supervision when Deputy Chen Jitang was in trouble, Zhang Jingjiang shook his head and smiled: "It's not the time." ”

Yu Qiaqing explained in more detail: "If you put it forward at that time, Kong Xiangxi will put you in the ranks of opposing the implementation of fiat currency, and Guangdong, Yunnan, and Shanxi will be encouraged, and many changes will occur out of thin air." Virtuous nephew, the algorithm currency has been implemented, and a supervision and balance agency can also be established in the future, so you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, so take your time. ”

"Then do we still want to talk to Weng Wenhao?" Mei Yuntian was a little depressed. But I have to admit that what these two old and sophisticated guys said is right, their purpose is not to oppose the implementation of fiat currency, but to supervise and manage the amount of currency issued, in fact, the main thing is to explore and plan wartime economic policies to avoid economic bankruptcy due to war.

"Yes, this must be discussed," Zhang Jingjiang said, "not only to talk, but also to talk openly, to talk about all the concerns of the Cultural Revolution, and there are some things that he can say, which is more advantageous than us." ”

As he was talking, Lian Xiaosen came in, holding an invitation card in his hand: "Sir, the Confucian Mansion sent someone to send an invitation card to invite you to the banquet." ”

Mei Yuntian frowned slightly, he had been to Nanjing several times, and he had seen Kong Xiangxi a few times, but he had never been to his house to attend any banquets, what did Kong Xiangxi mean this time?

"It won't be a Hongmen banquet," Zhang Jingjiang said jokingly: "Don't worry, it's your uncle." ”

He laughed, but before his laughter fell, he and Yu Qiaqing's servants also came in, both holding a red invitation card in their hands.

(To be continued)