The implementation of the dragon coin in Zhili Province immediately caused a chain reaction in all aspects.

The first was the national currency reform that Guangxu was planning, and Guangxu spent a lot of effort to raise funds for the reform of the currency system at the Commerce Bank, and as a result, the Hubu Bank was established to prepare for the national currency reform, but it was opposed by the governors of the provinces.

There is a way that the law does not blame the public, and the governors of the provinces are united against the imperial court, and Guangxu can only stare and sulk.

Looking at Guangxu's sad face and depressed expression, Prince Qing gave Guangxu an idea.

"Your Majesty, Weichen has a way!"

Guangxu was suddenly overjoyed, and when he looked up and saw that it was Yixuan, his face suddenly sank. Guangxu really didn't dare to think that Yixuan could have any good ideas, but because of Yixuan's identity, he had to listen to it reluctantly.

"What does Prince Qing think?"

Yixuan smiled with a sharp beak on his face, his face was full of folds, and the long-term wine color almost hollowed him out. In order to maintain his luxurious life, Yixuan had to completely surrender to Wang Chenhao's money offensive and become a tool for Wang Chenhao to control the imperial court.

Guangxu wanted to receive the mint and ticket number issuance rights in the hands of the governors of the provinces, but the governors of the provinces had great power, and Guangxu could not confront them head-on, and he was not reconciled.

At the same time, Wang Chenhao was not satisfied with the issuance of dragon coins in Zhili, he also hoped to issue dragon coins throughout China and control the country's monetary resources in his hands. Although the governors of the provinces were affected by Wang Chenhao's power and did not oppose the circulation of dragon coins in the provinces on the surface, secretly, the local officials of the provinces threatened the people in their jurisdictions in a "disguise" manner and not to use the dragon coins.

Based on this situation, Wang Chenhao needed a justifiable excuse to open up the circulation channels of dragon coins in the provinces.

Yixuan proposed to Guangxu: "Your Majesty, at present, the governors of the provinces are protesting against the unification of the imperial court in terms of the right to mint and issue currency, but the governors of the provinces are in power, and the emperor cannot touch them. ”

Guangxu rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Do you still need to say this?" ”

Yi Xuan smiled brightly and said, "Your Majesty, what Weichen means is that it is better to divert their attention and let them deal with Wang Chenhao!" ”

Guangxu suddenly wondered, didn't this Yixuan always help Wang Chenhao say good things, why did he suddenly change his tone today.

Yixuan saw Guangxu's thoughts, so he said: "Your Majesty, Weichen is also surnamed Aixin Jueluo, so naturally his heart is towards the court and the emperor." ”

Yixuan pretended to be very similar, and Guangxu couldn't see that he was fake, so he nodded and said, "Prince Qing is loyal, so what good ideas do you have?" ”

Yixuan thanked him, and then according to the plan he had told Wang Chenhao, he proposed: "Weichen believes that Wang Chenhao is strong, and has the backing of the Bank of America, I heard that the new currency issued by Zhili this time will reach 20,000 dragon coins, and the top two copper coins of this dragon coin show the strength of Wang Chenhao's financial resources." Coupled with Wang Chenhao's influence on Zhili, all the wealth of Zhili is now controlled by Wang Chenhao. Weichen thought that since the imperial court could not touch the local governors, it was better to use Wang Chenhao's power to let the governors of the provinces eat dogs, intensify the conflict of interests between them, and achieve the goal of weakening them at the same time! ”

Guangxu listened to Yixuan's words, and felt that Yixuan seemed to be a different person.

With a face full of surprise, Guangxu asked, "What does Prince Qing mean?" ”

Yixuan then explained: "Weichen suggested that the emperor might as well let Wang Chenhao carry out the task of unifying the national currency reform, use the dragon coin as the national currency, and let Wang Chenhao directly collide with the governors of the provinces, presumably the emperor will receive unexpected results." ”

Guangxu thought about it, although he was a little puzzled, but he had to admit that Yixuan's proposal was very useful.

The snipe and the clam competed, the fisherman profited, and Guangxu was suddenly moved. However, he didn't have any opinions, and he didn't dare to make up his mind, so he called Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao to discuss countermeasures.

After Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao learned about the whole story, they were also happy and worried.

Li Hongzao was more optimistic and said: "Wang Chenhao sits on Zhili, and Li Hongzhang, the first governor in the world, is actually idle at home, and the entire Zhili Governor's Mansion is basically Wang Chenhao alone. The governors of all provinces are aiming at the position of the governor of Zhili, and now that Li Hongzhang is old, he is about to give way, but he let Wang Chenhao kill him halfway and grab it. The governors of the provinces are all old men, and Wang Chenhao is in his twenties, this is not something that can be waited on, and they will not be able to take that position until they die. This is one of them. Second, Wang Chenhaoshu has made a big move, and he has been deeply envied by the governors of various provinces. The emperor also praised him high, which is bound to make him get carried away, kill and kill, and kill him ruthlessly. Third, Wang Chenhao already acted as the Minister of the Navy and Army, and was actually the generalissimo of all the armies of the imperial court, with the right to control the armies of the provinces. This is the most fatal thing, and the governors of the provinces have been controlling the army for decades, so how can they give up. The reason why they haven't united against Wang Chenhao is that they haven't driven them to a dead end. This time it is a currency reform, this change has moved the pockets of the governors of the provinces, Weichen thinks that if Wang Chenhao is allowed to take care of this currency reform, all provinces will have to regard Beiyang as an enemy, and they will definitely twist into a rope to deal with Wang Chenhao. ”

Weng Tongyi said: "If Wang Chenhao and other local governors can be hostile to each other, tear each other down, and finally the imperial court will reap the benefits of the fisherman, this is a clever plan." It's just that Wang Chenhao would be so stupid to go against the governors of the provinces? ”

Guangxu also had this question, and said: "Yes, Wang Chenhao probably won't do it." ”

Li Hongzao smiled and said, "I think Wang Chenhao will!" First of all, he kept saying that the monarch wanted the ministers to die, and the ministers had to die, and the emperor Suo gave him this important task, and then made a big noise, so that he could not accept it or not, and he could not help it. This is compulsory, but it also needs to be appeased, otherwise Wang Chenhao will not work hard if he does not work hard. If you beat a stick, you have to give him a sweet date to eat. ”

Weng Tongyi said: "What sweet dates to give him to eat?" We have lost our wife and soldiers many times, but we don't dare to give him any more benefits! ”

Guangxu waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid it won't work if you don't give benefits, so let's let Yixuan touch Wang Chenhao's bottom and see what he wants." ”

Subsequently, Guangxu summoned Yixuan again and sent Yixuan to explore Wang Chenhao's bottom.

Yixuan went to Wang Chenhao with great interest and told him that the matter was basically done.

Wang Chenhao left Yixuan in the living room, and he found an excuse to go to the side hall to discuss with his subordinates.

"Now that the emperor intends to hand over the power of national currency reform to me, what do you suggest?"

"There are risks in this matter, and it will touch the core interests of local governors to carry out monetary reform across the country, and it will not be easy to implement," Nguyen said. The emperor has hit a wall, you have to be careful. ”

Zhang Feng pursed his lips and said, "It's normal for the emperor to hit a wall, an emperor with no real power, if he doesn't hit a wall, it's strange." But adults are different, which governor can't give your face to adults, I believe this is not a problem. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, he felt that his current strength was strong, and the governors of the provinces had to give face, so he was inclined to Zhang Feng's point of view, otherwise he would not have arranged for Yixuan to sing a duet with Guangxu.

Wang Chenhao turned to Zhang Jiaxuan, Song Hanzhang, Ye Jinghua, Chen Jintao, Wang Kemin and other domestic banking and financial industry experts and asked: "Do you think you have the ability to complete the monetary and financial reform if I take over the whole country?" ”

Wang Chenhao's words are already very clear, and he has decided to accept it, so ask these financial experts if they are sure.

Ye Jingkui said: "We already have the experience of implementing currency reform in Zhili, and the dragon currency is currently running well, with the financial resources of adults, if we can get a legitimate appointment from the imperial court, it should not be a problem to carry out currency reform in the whole country." ”

Song Hanzhang said: "But I suggest that you must control the household bank of the imperial court, and the right to mint money and issue currency must also be in the hands of the adult, otherwise you will fill in all the family wealth of the adult." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, he understood what Song Hanzhang meant, the national monetary reform, according to Jingqi's calculations, the total GDP of the country is estimated to be about 1.43 billion US dollars, according to the minimum gold reserve of 20% ~ 30% of the total GDP, 429 million US dollars of gold reserves are needed. And more than 400 million people, 5 yuan of dragon coins per person, need to issue 2 billion dragon coins, if you can't control the central bank of the Qing Empire and the right to mint and issue currency, then it is very dangerous.

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "You guys start preparing!" I'll get the household bank and the right to mint and issue money. ”

Everyone received the order, and Wang Chenhao returned to the main hall and told Yixuan his request.

Of course, Yixuan would not let go of this good opportunity to make money, and immediately asked Wang Chenhao to ask for benefits. Wang Chenhao then promised to give him shares of the future central bank worth 1 million dragon coins if he obtained the right to mint and issue the bank and currency.

Yixuan was suddenly elated, and hurriedly assured Wang Chenhao that he would persuade Guangxu and the court to agree.

Yixuan left Wang Chenhao's official residence and hurriedly returned to the Forbidden City to report to Guangxu.

"Hubu Bank to Wang Chenhao, but also to hand over the right to mint, print and issue currency to him, the imperial court finance, taxes need to be handed over to Wang Chenhao's designated bank for collection and storage, which is equivalent to giving him the financial lifeline of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor thinks twice."

Weng Tongxiao was the first to object, but Li Hongzao frowned and remained silent, he didn't expect Wang Chenhao's appetite to be so big.

Guangxu is also uncertain, as the saying goes, reluctant children can't trap wolves, but Guangxu didn't trap it every time, but lost his wife and broke his soldiers.

Yixuan said: "Your Majesty, Wang Chenhao has an international financial expert by his side, named Jingqi. This man helped the United States complete the reform of the gold standard, and no one else in finance is on the right side. According to his calculations, the Qing Dynasty needed at least $50,000 in gold reserves if it wanted to carry out currency reform. And 40,000,000 people, 5 yuan of dragon coins per person, need to issue 2 billion dragon coins, just ask the financial resources of the imperial court to carry out reforms. ”

Weng Tongyi has been in charge of the household department for many years, and he knows some international celebrities in this area, so he said: "If Jingqi says this, then with the current financial situation of the imperial court, it is indeed impossible to carry out currency reform." If the reserves are not enough, and foreigners take the opportunity to intervene again, I am afraid that it will cause a national disaster. ”

Yixuan then persuaded: "Even if the current financial revenue of the Qing Dynasty is handed over to Wang Chenhao to take care of, it is far from enough to meet the needs of reform, and Wang Chenhao has to pay it out of his own pocket. If he hadn't been given the right to mint and issue money, he would never have done a good job. Then the emperor's plan will not be able to be implemented. ”

Li Hongzao said: "Your Majesty, reforming the currency system and unifying the national monetary system is a major event that benefits the country and the people. Now the governors of various provinces are indiscriminately issuing paper money and minting coins in the name of the imperial court, which has caused public resentment to boil, and the common people are scolding the imperial court! ”

Guangxu couldn't hold it and asked, "Then you mean that I agreed to this condition for him?" ”

Yixuan hurriedly said: "The emperor is sage! ”

Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao also said: "If you plan to use Wang Chenhao to deal with the governors of the provinces, you have to give the profits to Wang Chenhao, without enough benefits, Wang Chenhao will definitely not do it." ”

Guangxu thought about it, and finally made a decision, saying: "Since it is a major matter for the country and the people, then I will compromise once!" Prince Qing, you go and inform the Military Aircraft Department, and ask them to appoint Wang Chenhao as the Minister Plenipotentiary for National Currency Reform, give him the Hubu Bank, and allow him to set up a bank for the issuance and minting of currency on his own, and the imperial court will not interfere. ”

Yi Liang received the order and hurriedly went down to handle it.

After Yixuan left, Guangxu sighed and said: "I don't know if it's the right thing to do this time, if you can't fix Wang Chenhao, I'm afraid it will lead to uncontrollable results." ”

Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao glanced at each other, and they both understood Guangxu's worries. It is nothing more than that once it cannot provoke a fierce confrontation between Wang Chenhao and the governors of various provinces, the imperial court will not be able to reap the benefits of the fisherman. Once it fails, the financial power of the imperial court will also fall into the hands of Wang Chenhao, and the financial lifeline of the Qing Empire will be controlled by Wang Chenhao. Once that's the case, Wang Chenhao holds the power of the Qing Emperor and the financial power, but there is really no rule of law.

Weng Tongyi comforted Guangxu and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the provinces must be strongly opposed to the monetary reform, because the monetary reform has touched their pockets. Wang Chenhao is now taking over the currency reform, which is equivalent to robbing their money pockets, and the minister thinks that Wang Chenhao will definitely not be able to reform this time, and will lose all his money, and then the imperial court will borrow Wang Chenhao's hand to hit the governors of the provinces, and secondly, Wang Chenhao's money will be used on the people, which can be regarded as benefiting the country. Third, Wang Chenhao's loss of money will be astronomical, and he can no longer afford to support the navy and army, which can be described as killing three birds with one stone. ”

Li Hongzao also echoed and said, and Guangxu can only think about the benefits now.

The next day, the imperial court issued an edict appointing Wang Chenhao as the plenipotentiary minister of the Ministry of Household Finance, and the Military Aircraft Department immediately released this news to all parts of the country, and informed the ministers, consuls and military attaches of various countries in China through the Prime Minister's Yamen, informing the world that the Qing Empire was also going to carry out the reform of the gold standard.

When the news broke, there was an uproar at home and abroad.

Not long ago, Guangxu announced that the Qing Empire would carry out monetary and financial reforms, and there was a storm at home and abroad at that time. There was great concern at home and abroad, domestic governors wrote against it, and foreign banking groups flocked into China, ready to snap up the new currency of the Qing Empire, and then hoard it for huge profits.

However, Guangxu's reform came to an abrupt halt, and the result was a great disappointment to the banking groups of various countries. The governors of the provinces also breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated their victory.

Now, the Qing government has once again thrown out the axe to continue the financial reform, and appointed Wang Chenhao as the minister of reform, which has once again set off earth-shattering waves. At home and abroad, they no longer care about the reform of the imperial court, but Wang Chenhao, as the minister of reform, has to pay attention to them.

The governors of the provinces immediately wrote to continue to oppose it, and their voices were even stronger than the last time. But Guangxu was determined this time, reformed to the end, and never compromised. The imperial court rejected the objections of the governors of the provinces and forced it. This is tantamount to pushing Wang Chenhao to the cusp, and pushing Wang Chenhao directly to the opposite side of the governors of various provinces, causing the contradictions between the two sides to surge.

At the same time, the banking syndicates of the major powers also began to mobilize funds and prepare to rush to buy new currency, because they knew that Wang Chenhao had the power to reform and knew that he would definitely succeed this time. Some banks are betting that Wang Chenhao will definitely use the dragon coin as Chinese currency, so they have begun to exchange dragon coins in the Zhili area on a large scale.

Wang Chenhao did not expect this to be the case, and before he began to reform, the provinces began to strongly oppose it, and threatened that the new currency would never be smoothly circulated on their territory. At the same time, there was a frenzy of buying and selling dragon coins on the ground of Zhili, and the banks of the great powers began to absorb dragon coins at a price on average higher than one thousandth of the value of dragon coins, and the common people in order to make money, they exchanged dragon coins with the Bank of America on one side, and on the other hand, they went to the banks of various countries to exchange the dragon coins into the currencies of various countries, and then took them back to the Bank of America to continue to exchange dragon coins, and obtained the exchange difference from the circulation, resulting in a large number of dragon coins flowing to the banks of various countries on the border of Zhili. The Bank of America also had to massively increase the production line of dragon coins printing and minting to make up for the lack of dragon coins in circulation.

Bank groups from various countries bought and sold dragon coins in order to make huge profits, which caused Wang Chenhao to be highly nervous.

Wang Chenhao immediately called in a group of staff members to discuss countermeasures and discuss the huge problems and crises facing the current reform.

Song Hanzhang said: "My lord, it is not uncommon for foreigners to take the opportunity to buy and sell dragon coins. Foreigners are born for profit, and if there is money there, they will drill there. According to the information provided by my friends in Shanghai, this is just the beginning, and international financiers will soon be flocking to China to invest in the Dragon Coin market. They obviously believe that the dragon coin will become China's national currency, hoard the dragon coin market, force us to print a large number of dragon coins, and at a certain time they will sell the dragon coins, which will cause price changes in the circulation of dragon coins in our country, and they will take this profit margin. Although this profit difference now seems to be only one thousandth of a thousand dollars, but international funds are billions of dollars or tens of billions of dollars, and once hot money flows into China, this one-thousandth of a profit multiplied by the base of tens of billions of dollars will be a huge profit. ”

Zhang Jiaxuan also said: "Yes! International foreigners and financiers made their fortunes by relying on this. But while they are making money, they are disrupting our money market, making the dragon coin unstable, causing price instability, which in turn causes deflation and inflation, which is extremely harmful. ”

Wang Chenhao said: "But we have legally stipulated the gold content and exchange standards of dragon coins, shouldn't they lose money?" ”

Song Hanzhang said: "Although dragon coins have legal effect, this is also relative, not absolute. Even the British pound and the dollar faced this problem when they first started reforming. In order to stabilize prices and curb deflation, we will have to issue a large number of dragon coins to replenish them. However, our gold reserves are not as much as those of international bankers, and after a period of time, our gold reserves are insufficient, and there is no basic guarantee of gold reserves when the dragon coins are issued, so we can only issue additional dragon coins, resulting in dragon coins actually exceeding the cashable standard of our gold reserves. At this time, the banking groups of various countries sell the dragon coins again, and we cannot withdraw these dragon coins in a short period of time, which causes inflation and the actual depreciation of the dragon coins. ”

Zhang Jiaxuan sighed: "This is their usual trick, adults need to be prepared!" ”

Wang Chenhao frowned and said, "Then how to stop them?" We can't help it! ”

Song Hanzhang said: "The solution is that our central bank has sufficient ability to monitor the amount of money in the market, and set up banks in major cities and economic pillar areas across the country to replenish the shortage of dragon coins or recover excess dragon coins at any time." But with our current strength, if we want to set up branches on a large scale, we need a large number of bankers and professional banking technicians. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "I will find a way to solve this problem as soon as possible, are there any other emergency solutions?" ”

There was silence.

Jing Qi, who had not spoken, suddenly said: "I have a way!" ”

Wang Chenhao hurriedly asked, "Mr. Jingqi, please have something to say!" ”

Jingqi then said: "I suggest that Lord Wang apply to the imperial court for the enactment of a banking law, stipulating that the buying and selling of dragon coins is illegal, and to curb the private buying and selling of dragon coins. ”

Song Hanzhang said: "But I'm afraid the banking group of the great powers will not carry it out!" ”

Jingqi said: "Then the bank groups of various countries are required to report the amount of dragon coins in their banks, and the amount of dragon coins in their income and expenditure on a daily basis. In this way, our central bank can control the amount of dragon coins in the hands of banks in various countries, and reserve dragon coins and gold for emergencies. When banks put dragon coins on the market, their central banks bring back the corresponding dragon coins. When they receive dragon coins, our central bank will put the corresponding amount of dragon coins, so that it can be controlled. ”

Jingqi's words immediately pointed out the direction to everyone, and Song Hanzhang, Zhang Jiaxuan and others immediately figured out the mechanism, and nodded to Wang Chenhao in agreement.

Then, Jing Qi said: "However, for the sake of insurance, I suggest that Lord Wang should discuss with the political axes and bankers of various countries, and many things can be resolved through political consultation." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said: "I understand what Mr. Jingqi means, I will discuss with the political axes of the powerful countries, thank you Mr. Jingqi for your guidance, and I will hold a banquet later to thank Mr. Jingqi for his help, and you will also participate together." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

Everyone hurriedly thanked them.

(To be continued)