Commuter pass, woo, where are you?

Lin Zexu, the minister of foreign affairs, is not a feudal territory, and there is no rule of defending the territory, if the Jishi army comes to attack Kowloon, he can slip away. But now that the mint in Kowloon was about to open, Emperor Daoguang also ordered that all the silver stored in the customs supervision yamen and some of the silver in the treasury of the Canton domain should be sent to the mint in Kowloon to be used as raw materials for minting silver dollars.

As a result, now the treasury of the Kowloon Walled City is full of silver, which is a full of 4 million taels and hundreds of thousands of taels! If this is robbed by Ji Shijun, Emperor Daoguang will not be distressed to death? However, more than 4 million taels of silver was not a decimal number, weighing nearly 300,000 catties, and it was transported by a naval division on that day. But now the waterway is probably no longer safe, although the ships of the naval division are still there, but the losses of the officers and men are too heavy, I am afraid that they will not have the courage to fight again -- the tactics of the Qing Dynasty naval division are to jump to the gang to take overboard, and the soldiers have been captured by Zhu Jishi, how can they fight?

If you go by land, you must also be escorted by officers and soldiers, otherwise more than 4 million taels of silver will not be robbed by robbers? And the weight of 300,000 catties cannot be transported without a large number of carts and horses. In this urgency, where can I get so many people and so many carriages and horses?

When they were struggling with their nerves, Bai Siwen, the assistant minister of foreign affairs and the superintendent of the Guangdong Customs, and Luo Li, the adviser of the foreign affairs yamen, also rushed over in a hurry, and it turned out that they had also heard the report of the failure of the Guangdong sailor's bidding.

"Mu Weng, please quickly deposit the silver in the Kowloon Walled City into HSBC!" Bai Siwen also came for silver, and 2.5 million taels of silver in the Kowloon Walled City were lent to the mint by the Yamen of the Guangdong Customs. If you lose it. His ruler is at the end of it. If you don't do it, you will end up in Yili.

"Deposit it in a foreigner's bank?"

Lin Zexu was also a little embarrassed for a while. Kowloon is close to Hong Kong, right under Chu Chishi's nose. If the Jishi Army wants to counterattack the mainland, I'm afraid that the first one to fall will be Kowloon! Of course, there is nothing important here in Kowloon, that is, an iron factory and a money factory, which have not yet been fully built, and the cost of silver is less than 100,000 yuan. Even if it is taken by Zhu Jishi, it doesn't matter, but the more than four million taels of silver in the Kowloon Walled City must not be lost! Only, deposit the silver in HSBC...... Is it reliable?

"No more reliable. It's more reliable than putting it in the Kowloon Walled City and waiting for the rebels to take it away! Bai Siwen stomped his feet and said, "Mu Weng, take 10,000 steps back, even if the more than four million taels of silver are swept away by HSBC, it is better than being taken by Zhu Zhi!" These more than 4 million taels of silver will be in Zhu Yi's hands, and they will soon become the army! ”

Lin Zexu nodded, this Bai Siwen's opinion is really good, it is unlikely that the silver will be transported to Guangzhou in time, and it will definitely attract thieves in Kowloon. Rather than let the silver be used as an enemy, it would be better to give it to a friend of France. This Manchurian is at a critical moment. Sure enough, it's more reliable than Hanchen! It's no wonder that the emperor believes in the banner man and doesn't believe in Hanchen......

"It's chaotic right now. Is HSBC still willing to accept deposits? How should this interest be calculated? Lin Zexu asked while thinking.

The HSBC building in Kowloon has not yet been completed, but has been set up as a temporary shed to carry out its business, mainly deposits, loans, remittances and the issuance of silver dollars. In HSBC deposits, there is a little interest, but it is not very high, and the interest on a fixed deposit is only a little more than a penny a year.

"Deposits will definitely be accepted, but don't think about interest." Bai Siwen has already contacted HSBC's Taipan in Kowloon, and now replied truthfully, "Morris Taipan said that banks make money by relying on the interest rate difference between deposits and loans, and if the deposits absorb too much, the loans cannot be issued, and the banks will suffer losses." At present, the smoke of the coastal areas of Guangdong is about to rise, and merchants in Kowloon and Guangzhou are depositing their silver money in HSBC. HSBC has too much money in its hands to let it go, so it has implemented zero-interest savings. Moreover, it is stipulated that the silver shall be deposited, the silver dollar shall be withdrawn, and one or two pieces of silver shall be exchanged for a piece of Qingyang......"

"That's at least a 10% profit!" Lin Zexu pondered and said in a deep voice. "More than 4 million taels is more than 400,000...... What should have been the mint's profit is now all to the foreigners. ”

"Muon! Now is not the time to care about such small profits, it is only right to keep this money from being lost! ”

"Either way, no matter what!" Lin Zexu waved his hand, "Enming, you go and invite Morris Taipan, and I'll talk to him personally!" This profit, it is one point to be able to fight for one point! ”

……

This Lin Zexu probably would never have dreamed that it is not the French Taipan Morris who really has the final say in HSBC, but the Chinese Taipan Tang Qiwen and Zhu Jishi's second aunt Tailuo Xiangju who sit in the Hong Kong head office, as well as Zhu Jishi's mistress Mrs. Duran.

Now Andrew. Jones was on his way to Europe to replace him in the role of Scorpper. William did not arrive in Hong Kong, and Zhu was too busy with the war to manage business. Therefore, the three of them were appointed to jointly manage all the businesses of Ji Shi Bank, Nanyang Bank, Lan Fong Hong and HSBC Bank, as well as Far Eastern Group Hotel. The decision to use zero interest to absorb savings and exchange silver dollars for silver was left to the three of them without even Zhu Jishi's approval -- of course, HSBC did not carry out this business to absorb deposits from the Manchu government, but aimed at Chinese businessmen in Guangzhou (now HSBC has branches or offices in Guangzhou, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pontianak, Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and other places) and Kowloon.

Due to the tense situation along the coast of Guangdong after the Lantau Incident, many Chinese businessmen and even officials deposited their silver in the HSBC Bank of France, which issued the Qing Dynasty -- the "Qing Yang," the currency in circulation in the Qing Dynasty, was issued by the HSBC Bank. As a result, HSBC's deposits skyrocketed, and interest naturally dropped to zero. However, when Sanyuanli became chaotic, the Guangzhou gentry and business officials all felt that the situation was unstable, and they all deposited the silver in their hands with HSBC. So Luo Xiangju and the other three decided to "deposit silver and take silver dollars". But the deposits are still rolling in, and to this day, there are still Qing Dynasty's foreign affairs yamen who want to deposit 4.35 million taels of silver at a time!

However, this deal is a bit big, and after Luo Xiangju got the report from Morris Taipan, she immediately took a clipper ship to Lantau Island to discuss with Zhu Jishi.

"Strategist, Yusheng, what do you think?"

When Luo Xiangju arrived, Zhu Jishi was talking to Zuo Zongtang and a lame man in the headquarters in Tung Chung City. This lame man is not Han Si, but Zhong Ziliang, a general of the Qing army who was captured in the battle of Phoenix Mountain the day before yesterday, and Yusheng is his name. He was captured after being shot with a lead bullet in his left leg, which he thought was certain to die, and he developed a high fever that night. When he was about to die, Zhu Jishi suddenly operated on him personally and saved his life. This morning, the fever had subsided, he knew that he was saved by Zhu Jishi, and in gratitude, he did not wait for the medical officer of Jishijun to give him H loin (he had already received a morphine injection during the operation), and he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and became a second minister. Because he is a martial artist, and he is a dignified Guanzhong man, he is quite favored by Zhu Jishi.

"Hui ...... Is HSBC a business? Zhong Ziliang looked at Zhu Jishi with a stunned face, and said in his heart, this HSBC Bank of France, which issued Qingyang to please Emperor Daoguang and was known as the "Friend of the Great Qing Dynasty", is actually Zhu Jishi's industry!

"Ah, HSBC is my business." Zhu Jishi smiled and said, "However, the silver deposited by the Manchu court and officials in the HSBC bank is very safe, and this bank must rely on its reputation." ”

Zhong Ziliang was silent, and said in his heart, where is this anti-thief's mind, it is clearly the courage of the founding king! It seems that he is right.

Zuo Zongtang shook the folding fan and said with a smile: "Ming Gong, I think I can accept the silver of the Western-style yamen...... This matter is also haode for Lin Muweng, and there is a reason for the torrent to retreat bravely in the future. ”

"Strategist, what do you mean...... When you have enough savings, let the background of HSBC be exposed? Zhu Jishi asked with a smile.

Zuo Zongtang smiled and said, "Isn't Ming Gong thinking so? This deposit of silver in Ming Gong's bank, in Emperor Daoguang, how can it be a crime of banditry, right? ”

"Well, that's true!" Zhu Jishi nodded with a smile and asked Luo Xiangju: "Xiangju, go and tell Morris that you can accept the silver from the Western-style Yamen, and Lin Zexu can also agree to three points of interest, but you have to save enough for a year." In addition, Lin Zexu also had to advertise for HSBC. (To be continued......)