On February 17, 1896, Yamen, the prime minister of the Qing Empire, sent a note to the ministers and consuls of 17 European and American countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, in China, agreeing to their requests. At the same time, on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Gong signed the "Foreign Money Exchange Contract" with a banking group composed of 32 banks from 17 countries, stipulating that the Qing Empire would exchange silver for gold and equivalent currencies to foreign banks in various countries, and the ratio of gold and silver exchange was 1:22. From the date of the signing of the contract, the 32 banks of the 17 countries had to meet the gold and currency equivalent required by the Qing Empire, and a fine of 1,000,000 pounds was imposed for default.

On February 18, the major foreign banks in the Qing Empire reopened and continued to accept silver exchange, but the exchange ratio was adjusted to 1:22. Many people hesitated, the exchange price was too low, but the imperial court suspended the use of the silver and copper standard and switched to the gold and copper standard, which meant that the imperial court no longer accepted silver, forcing the common people to exchange it in pain. There were many complaints for a while.

On March 2, nearly 80 percent of the domestic silver industry had been exchanged, and nearly 400 million silver had been converted into gold and legal tender with constant value in Britain, France and Germany. The gold and paper money reserves of the 17-nation banking group were largely emptied, and in order not to default, the 17-nation banking group had to withdraw funds from the British East Indies, Burma, the Dutch East Indies, the Spanish Philippines, and French Indochina to ship them to various parts of China.

On March 10, the peak of exchange had passed, and the banking group of 17 countries had exchanged a total of 460 million taels of silver. In the Qing Empire, almost all the domestic markets used gold, copper coins and legal tender of various countries for circulation, and the circulation of silver basically stopped. However, there were still some speculators who took the opportunity to hoard a lot of silver, but this was unavoidable, and for most of the people they had already sold all the silver and exchanged it for the corresponding gold and the equivalent of foreign currency.

On March 13, the G17 sent a note to the Qing Empire's Prime Minister Yamen, stating that they had opened the silver exchange business in accordance with the provisions of the contract and completed the overall silver exchange within the Qing Empire.

In the afternoon of the same day, Prime Minister Yamen issued a statement affirming the performance of the 17-nation banking group and the fulfillment of the provisions of the contract. At this time, the international silver price continued to fall, and the gold to silver had fallen to 1:20. The Seventeen Nations Bank Group was still profitable at this time, and they made no less than 27 million taels of silver on the whole. However, it is very close to the bottom price they estimated, and the bank group of the 17 countries itself is not in agreement, and some banks can't help but worry that they will lose money, and while they are still making money at this time, they have secretly begun to sell their silver to the world, which has virtually affected the international silver price and accelerated its downward trend.

On March 14, Premier Yamen, in accordance with the intention reached in advance, said that when various countries helped the Qing Empire complete the plan of temporarily replacing the silver and copper standard with the gold and copper standard, the Qing Empire would borrow 12 million pounds from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States to maintain the economic losses brought by the international silver deficit to the Qing Empire in the next few years, as well as to make up for the fiscal revenue, and provide capital for the Qing Empire to adjust its financial system.

According to the contract after the compromise between the Qing Empire and the Five Kingdoms, the "Five Nations Foreign Money Contract" (also known as the "Detailed Regulations of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Russia"). A total of eighteen paragraphs. Provisions: The total amount of borrowings is 12 million pounds sterling (100 million kupit taels in silver); Delivered at a discount of 94% (94%), with an interest rate of 5% per annum, limited to 36 years, early or a lump sum is allowed, but the minimum shall not be less than five years; secured by customs revenues; During the repayment period, the posts of the General Department of Taxation of the Chinese Customs had to be filled by British, with seven deputy tax directors and four others sent by France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, thus guaranteeing the five countries control the customs administration of the Qing Empire for 36 years.

On the 15th, the British Times reported on the Qing Empire's large-scale silver exchange. The report first affirmed that the Qing Empire's temporary replacement of the silver and copper standard with the gold and copper standard was a great progress, and then mercilessly refuted the shameless behavior of Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and Russia to take advantage of the fire and robbery, and forced the Qing Empire to sign the "Five Nations Foreign Loan Contract" that was unfavorable to itself, making the country's customs sovereignty recovery action come to naught again. At the same time, it also mercilessly accused the international financial predators of being another financial crime after the US gold run crisis and a shameless trampling on the property of people all over the world.

Finally, Bromwell, editor-in-chief of The Times, quoted Dr. Holst, a well-known British financial expert, as saying: "The 17-nation banking group is too conceited, they vainly try to control international finance and take advantage of the opportunity to make huge profits, but they ignore one point, the silver they calculated before does not include the huge silver reserves of the Qing Empire, when the Qing Empire's 460 million taels of silver flow into the international market, it will form a huge financial resonance with the 500 million silver dollars thrown by the United States, which will inevitably lead to the final 1+1 is far greater than 2." The 17-nation banking group will pay a terrible price for this. ”

However, the Times' harsh criticism did not attract the attention of the 17-nation banking group, which was indeed too conceited to think that their financial power was enough to influence international finance, so they were not at all worried.

Frankfurt, the most important industrial, commercial and financial center of the Second German Empire. Frankfurt has been a thriving commercial city since the 13th century and an exchange and banking center since the 16th century. The headquarters of the Reichsbank and the Federal Parliament of the German Empire are located here, and it is the coronation seat of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

On the east bank of the River Main, it is home to more than 60 banks from all over the world. The 16-storey grey bank building of the Reichsbank stands out from all the surrounding buildings.

Unlike the bustle and bustle of the east bank of the Main, the west bank is a green area with no buildings except for a private castle in the center. Obviously, the owner of the castle bought all the land within a few dozen miles of the neighborhood and planted it with a lawn. The two sides of the river form a huge contrast in the scene, and only a very small number of people in the industry understand what the reason is.

The castle belonged to Count Hoss, the German branch of the Rothschild family, who helped Charlemagne unify Germany and was enshrined in Frankfurt. However, with the unification of Germany, Bismarck took advantage of the Rothschilds' investment in the Americas, and together with a large number of Junker aristocrats in Germany, took the opportunity to organize the German Imperial Bank, replacing Hoss's financial dominance over Germany in one fell swoop. Since then, the rise of the German Juncker consortium has continuously driven the Rothschilds from their influence in Germany.

Standing on the castle tower, Hoss quietly looked across the river at the Reichsbank building, his eyes full of hatred.

Footsteps sounded, and a tall middle-aged man in a black suit walked over quickly, stood behind Hoss and said respectfully: "Master, I just received news from the London headquarters that the Junkers have made a move in China, and they quietly injected funds into several Dutch and Danish banks, and ate a total of 30 million marks of silver. ”

"It's a big appetite!" Hoss snorted coldly and said, "They think that they can get rid of us without moving in Germany, it's just wishful thinking. Kane, you immediately inform the headquarters in London, and the silver in our hands will be thrown away immediately, all of it. ”

Kane asked worriedly, "Master, wouldn't this be too much?" If we make a move, we will make these Junkers lose a lot, and after all, the Reich Bank has the backing of Master Bismarck, and we will annoy them. ”

Hoss turned around and said coldly, "Don't you know that your peers are enemies?" Bismarck and these Junkers set up Deutsche Bank to bring us down, and they have already provoked us. If we do not fight back, Germany will not have a place for us in the future. ”

"I understand the master, I'll do it."