Inflation is not unacceptable, there is still inflation in peacetime, let alone wartime, but this inflation must also have a limit, to inflation to the point that you have to use sacks to buy tofu is too exaggerated, and the main thing is that the Kuomintang did not have a wartime economic policy at all during the war, but insisted on the implementation of a liberal economy, and there was very little political axe control, and the corresponding countries in Europe and the United States, Britain, France and Germany during World War II implemented a strict rationing system, and this rationing system was extremely strict and meticulous. Only the basic needs of one person can be met, for example, in the United Kingdom, in the most difficult times, each person has a rule of several hot baths per week.

"Shaoqing, after you attend the meeting, talk to Weng Wenhao about establishing a wartime ration system, and if possible, talk to the principal." Zhuang Jihua wanted to try it in Yucheng first, but he immediately rejected the idea, and this kind of rationing system was impossible to implement in isolated areas.

Mei Yuntian nodded, and then asked, "Then what about this?" ”

"We don't know exactly how they play their cards, but inviting us to go means that they also need our cooperation, so we can make some requests, Shaoqing, this is a difficult thing." Zhuang Jihua said slowly.

Mei Yuntian nodded slowly, indicating that he knew the difficulty, the currency was different from others, and the concessions that Chiang Kai-shek might make were small.

Zhuang Jihua glanced at Mei Yuntian and unveiled his thoughts: "What I mean is still checks and balances, the right to issue currency and the right to formulate policies are separated, the two read each other, contain each other, and those who have the right to issue currency do not have the right to formulate monetary policy, the number of currency issuance must be jointly decided by the two committees, the currency issuing agency can be the relevant bank, this part we must be able to participate in the best, if you don't have to force it, the key is the person who formulates monetary policy, this committee is best to be an economist, the less relationship with the bank, the better, it is best to have no relationship, For a person with a strong backbone like Ma Yinchu, after you go to Nanjing, you will also talk to Weng Wenhao about this meaning and get his support. ”

"I understand what you mean," Mei Yuntian looked worried, he knew very well that this idea seemed easy, but it was actually difficult: "I don't dare to convince my uncle, I will try my best." ”

Zhuang Jihua nodded and patted him on the shoulder, he could only do this now.

Mei Yuntian and Lian Xiaosen disembarked in Nanjing in the afternoon, and the car sent by the Ministry of Finance to greet them had already been waiting at the wharf, and after getting on the car, they drove directly to the Nanjing Hotel.

The car was running fast, but the scenes along the way still rushed into Mei Yuntian's eyes, there were half-cut slogans everywhere, and the flags on the ground were also being cleaned. There was a section chief at the reception, and when he saw Mei Yuntian watching this, he was a little surprised: "The students marched again in the morning, Mr. Mei, didn't the students in Yucheng march on the streets?" ”

"Yes, though, there wasn't such a fierce fight, and it was only for a few days." Mei Yuntian said that those days refer to the days when the He-Mei agreement was signed. This agreement once again made substantial concessions to Yue Ben, withdrawing all the Northeast Army and the Central Army from North China, and he asked Zeng Kuoqing, Jiang Xiaoxian and other backbone members of the Blue Coat Society to withdraw from Beiping and Tianjin.

As soon as the "He-Mei Agreement" broke out, the ancient capital of Beiping was already under the guns of Yue himself, and the students of Peiping once again took to the streets to protest against He Yingqin's betrayal of North China and demand that He Yingqin be killed to thank the world. The anti-Japanese movement set off by the students quickly spread to the whole country, and the Pingjin Student Salvation Association once again organized people to go south and petitioned the central political axe, asking for troops to be sent to resist the movement, but when they reached Zhengzhou, they were pulled off the train by Liu Zhi.

The students in the north were stopped, but the students in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou still rushed into the city of Nanjing, petitioning the national political axe, Chiang Kai-shek hid in Lushan, Wang Jingwei had to come out to explain, but the students did not listen, they turned to attack He Yingqin's home, but He Yingqin also hid in Lushan, and the students who could not find anyone went to the military command department, which was definitely not good, the Nanjing garrison headquarters sent troops to disperse the students, but the students did not stop, and held demonstrations in Nanjing every three or five days, so that the police garrison was in a hurry.

"Oh," I heard that it was only those few days, and the section chief sighed with some emotion: "Your students in Yucheng are really good, and they know the general situation." ”

Knowledge? Mei Yuntian let out a sneer in her heart, and did something to make people wipe her ass. Zhuang Jihua was so busy with this student movement that he had to personally persuade the students not to go to Nanjing on the boat, and his negotiations with the students lasted all day, and finally persuaded the students to give up their plans to go to Nanjing and go to the countryside to participate in rent reduction and interest reduction.

Mei Yuntian unexpectedly learned from the section chief that Zhang Jingjiang was actually among the representatives of the Shanghai banking circles, and he also lived in the Nanjing Hotel, so he was not surprised at all when Zhang Jingjiang came to his room.

"Mr. Jingjiang, why are you here, I should go to see you." As soon as Mei Yuntian spoke, he knew that he was wrong.

Sure enough, Zhang Jingjiang's eyes rolled, and his face immediately pulled down: "Why are you being polite, don't you mean that I shouldn't come?" ”

"There, there, it should be the time for your veteran to come out, isn't there that sentence, the veteran is a top two. As soon as you come forward, you can stand up to me and the Cultural Revolution. Mei Yuntian learned from Zhuang Jihua, pushing Zhang Jingjiang's wheelchair into his room.

"you two? I'm afraid I can't even withstand the Cultural Revolution," Zhang Jingjiang laughed self-deprecatingly: "You have done a good job in Yucheng in the past few years, and with you young people here, I can't accept this old guy." ”

"You are talking about that, you can take a great credit for this," Mei Yuntian hurriedly said modestly, and then immediately changed the topic: "By the way, is Mr. Yu here?" ”

"He won't be here until tomorrow, he has more things to do than me," Zhang Jingjiang said lightly, and then mentioned the topic of his visit today: "What did you think about the Cultural Revolution?" ”

Mei Yuntian then told him Zhuang Jihua's concerns and thoughts in detail, and Zhang Jingjiang closed his eyes and thought about it after listening to it, and said: "Well, although his concerns are reasonable, I am afraid that it will be difficult to realize, and Chairman Jiang will never agree to be hindered." ”

"What then?" Mei Yuntian felt very tricky about this complex political relationship, and he was very envious of Zhuang Jihua's ease in handling this kind of thing, which seemed to be easy every time, but when it was his turn, he was helpless.

"It's not that there is no way at all, it depends on what other places think," Zhang Jingjiang said: "The issuance of fiat currency this time seems to be an economic contest, but it is actually a contest of political forces." In fact, the Liangguang Bank is the representative of Chen Jitang, the Shanxi Bank is the representative of Yan Xishan, Yunnan is the representative of Long Yun, and Han Fuqu of Shandong also issues currency in Shandong, but he is not qualified to attend such a meeting for the time being. Zhang Jingjiang is worthy of being an old man in the political arena, and he only made it clear to the parties involved behind this meeting in a simple sentence: "Chen Jitang, Yan Xishan, and Long Yun are all against Nanjing, and they will not want Chairman Jiang to give in so easily, so we can wait and see many things." ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Jingjiang paused and said very seriously: "Shaoqing, don't come out, this is a major event that Chiang Kai-shek has been planning for a long time, whoever comes out to oppose it, he will hate whom, once he remembers his grudge, he will be unlucky in the future." Then he added: "The same is true of the Zhuang Cultural Revolution." ”

"Didn't you offend him before the Cultural Revolution?" Mei Yuntian was shocked, and then asked with some concern.

"That's different, and Zhuang Wenge is very smart, don't look at him everywhere, his power has expanded dramatically, but Chiang Kai-shek knows very well that what the Cultural Revolution did is good for him, and the most important thing is that the Cultural Revolution has never privately interfered in Nanjing's government affairs, and he also let go of the people Chiang Kai-shek stuffed to him, like Teng Jie, Tang Zong, He Guoguang, and later Yang Yongtai, the Cultural Revolution can cooperate closely with them, so Chiang Kai-shek is extremely relieved of him." Zhang Jingjiang said lightly, but Mei Yuntian was in a cold sweat, the smooth development of Yucheng made him also confident, thinking that he could develop to Nanjing and grasp greater power, so that the Yucheng experience could be implemented on a larger scale, but such a suggestion was resolutely rejected by Zhuang Jihua, it seems that Zhuang Jihua has long seen through Chiang Kai-shek's bottom line of tolerance for him.

"Boy, you have to learn more from the Cultural Revolution in this regard." Zhang Jingjiang showed a hint of a smile.

"I understand," Mei Yuntian nodded yes, but then asked with a sad face: "Then can or how can I realize that idea?" And we don't have to come out yet. ”

Zhang Jingjiang thought about it and said: "Immediately respond, if I don't speak, you don't speak, let Chen Jitang and his representatives make trouble in front, and we will talk about it depending on the situation." ”

Sure enough, as Zhang Jingjiang expected, at the meeting held by the Ministry of Finance the next day, after Kong Xiangxi read out the opinions of the political axe on the issuance of legal tender, the meeting room fell silent.

The smile on Kong Xiangxi's blessed round face became more and more stiff, and after waiting for a long time, he finally couldn't help but speak by name.

"Shaoqing, what is your opinion on the Bank of Sichuan? When will the issuance of currency be stopped and the currency in circulation will be withdrawn? ”

Kong Xiangxi's intention to point at Mei Yuntian was obvious, and he hoped that Mei Yuntian could stand up and support him, after all, they still had the name of relatives.

Mei Yuntian thought for a while and said: "We support a unified currency, which is very clear to the chairman and Minister Kong. However, the recovery of currency is a very complicated work, first of all, to determine the exchange rate of the currency, there are many factors that determine the exchange rate, the most important of which is the exchange relationship between reserves and international hard currency, in addition to the need for sufficient currency, so the length of time to recover the currency, I really can't say, I can only say that as long as the central government gives enough fiat currency, we will do our best to recover the currency in the shortest possible time. ”

Regarding Mei Yuntian's speech, Kong Xiangxi nodded with satisfaction, and Zhang Jingjiang was more satisfied.

(To be continued)