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"Qin, Jin, Xishan, Seven Families, Qiao Chang, Li Wangqu, Cao Zhang."

This sentence is well known in the land of Shanxi, and it is about the seven most famous families of Shanxi Jin merchants, so Yan Xishan, who was ordered to raise money, quickly went straight to Qiaojiabao in Qi County as soon as he got off the train. Governor Yan returned to Shanxi, and the Qiao family compound was very lively, and Qiao Yingxia, who was in charge of the Qiao family's hall, waited at the door early to greet him. Not only did the Qiao family fall down, but Li Ziyong, the head of the Li family, who was also one of the seven families, also rushed over when he heard the news.

Whether it is Qiao Yingxia or Li Ziyong, they are not very old, but they have already shouldered the heavy responsibility of the rise and fall of the family. After the emergence of the silver crisis in Shanghai, they also paid special attention. As the richest families of the Jin merchants, they each possessed large silver reserves, which helped them to continue to operate after the abdication of the Manchu Dynasty, and to make the Bank of Shanxi prosperous today, the third largest commercial bank after the Southwest Huaxi Bank, the Bank of China, and the Bank of Communications.

But there are also endless worries under this boom, especially the silver crisis, which makes them feel like pins and needles.

On the one hand, all households have skyrocketed because of a huge amount of cash, but on the other hand, they dare not act easily for fear of angering Nanjing. You must know that Yang Qiu is not a good master, how many people have died in his hands since Xinhai started his family? Don't think that in the past two years, he has put his hand outside and ignored the country, but if he really provokes anger, it will be the end of a river of blood!

So when he learned that Yan Xishan was back, how dare he slack off and hurriedly served tea in person and asked, "Lord Yan, how is it in Shanghai and Nanjing?" ”

"It's bad." Yan Xishan can only tell the truth about these people: "No, Nanjing specially sent Yan to find two helpers, hoping that you can lend silver, which has solved the urgent need." ”

Since Yan Xishan came, both of them knew that borrowing money was certain. Since the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Jin merchants have been pumped (borrowed) by the authorities, so they have been prepared for a long time. But the ins and outs and the safety of silver still have to be asked, so Li Zi interjected and asked: "My lord, the students have also spent a few years in the UK, and although those foreigners fancy silver, they have not reached such an outrageous point. Why is this time around? ”

Yan Xishan also knew that if he wanted to lend silver, he always had to tell people the ins and outs, so he told the whole thing again: "Yan doesn't know much about finance, and I also heard Minister Xu talk about it. You should have heard of the Chongqing meeting not long ago, right? At the meeting, the vice president and the Ministry of Finance proposed a currency reform. Because we used to exchange gold and silver coins, and everyone liked to hold down the gold and silver in their hands, they couldn't issue the yuan when they were in circulation when they were doing big things. The purpose of this currency reform is to collect gold and silver and exchange them for paper money, and then enact legislation to fix the prices of the yuan and gold and silver, so as not to cause such confusion and fluctuations as they are now. ”

The two nodded again and again when they heard this, currency reform is nothing new, Europe and the United States do it. So there was no fuss.

Yan Xishan continued: "But I didn't think that before the currency reform began, the foreigners took the lead and took advantage of the fact that our gold and silver coins were in circulation, and wantonly raised the price of silver, collecting gold and silver to cause a run. This is done to make the difference, and on the other hand, it forces us to be unable to recover the gold and silver, and there is no way to change the currency, so that many places that need to use a lot of money can only watch and see that they cannot start work. Take the opportunity to suppress us in exchange for benefits. ”

"These foreign devils are so hateful! Isn't this a robbery while the fire is on?! ”

Qiao Yingxia was young and vigorous, and slapped the table fiercely when she heard this. The plums are older than him. And he has studied in the UK for many years, and said with a wry smile: "Why should Brother Qiao be angry, has it not been the case since the Manchu Dynasty?" How did Hu Xueyan fall back then? That's not it. ”

"Yes, that's what Nanjing is most worried about. If you are not afraid of chaos, you are afraid that you will not be able to recover the gold and silver in the hands of foreigners, and if that is the case, I am afraid that those of you who open banks will not have a good time. Yan Xishan nodded. This time the silver rebellion was unexpected, but it also gave him a good opportunity, as long as he could raise silver, the position of the governor of Jinjing was bound to move up again. So arched his hand and said: "Don't gossip, Nanjing is still waiting for Yan's news, you might as well get to the bottom of it." ”

Since the two of them were ready to lend out the silver, they didn't ask again and said, "Don't hide it from Lord Yan, I have already discussed it with Brother Qiao before you come, and it will not be a problem for the two of us to put together 6 million taels." How can you borrow this money? ”

Yan Xishan understood what they meant, and said, "Nanjing's idea is to exchange it all at a price of 1:19. However, this money is not directly given to you, but is used as a savings deposit for Shanxi Bank, and the excess part will be given to you treasury bonds or other shares, which you can choose by yourself. ”

Instead of giving cash, it is used as a savings margin and a treasury bond? This made the two of them a little unacceptable, isn't this just using the silver crisis as an excuse to deliberately collect silver! The two glanced at each other, and suddenly found that the cat in it was tired, the silver crisis was indeed tricky, but why not use the crisis to accelerate the collection of gold and silver from the people?

Seeing that the two of them understood, Yan Xishan's face changed and he smiled: "I know that the two of you are in trouble, but before I came, the vice president had promised me that as long as I got through this crisis, he would personally come forward and ask your Shanxi Bank to set up branches in Luzon, Singapore, Borneo and Malaya. ”

Four Nanyang branches!

This is no small matter! If you can really take the opportunity to enter Nanyang, let alone 6 million, it is worth doubling it. Is it just reliable? What if you lose all your money?

Yan Xishan rolled his eyes, spread his hands and said, "Don't ask me about this matter, it's up to you whether you can do it or not." I just want to say that currency reform is the trend of the times, and the withdrawal of gold and silver from trading is inevitable, and it is only troublesome for you to hold the future in your hands. Moreover, the vice president has always regarded the country as his life, and if it is really time to be in a hurry, are you fake when you are a few million soldiers? ”

The two were silent, although it was inevitable to lend money, but after Yan Xishan's analysis, it was obvious that Yang Qiu had played all the big businesses in the country as monkeys! Give all the silver to the country, and if it sounds good, it will send silver to save the country and resist foreigners, and if it is ugly, it will let people open a money printing machine. It's ridiculous that the whole country is kept in the bones, even if there is a smart person like Yan Xishan, who dares to say a word? I'm afraid I'll be branded as a traitor in no time.

Yan Xishan was silent, and only after a while did he take out the paper and pen he brought with him and put them on the table: "I said what I should say, and you who should listen to it will rot in your stomach for the rest of your life after listening!" As for this electricity supply in Shanxi to save the country and raise silver, it is better for you to write it after drinking foreign ink. ”

Raise money and get electrified?

Li Ziyong and Qiao Yingxia, you look at me, I look at you, and it took a long time to understand, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Yan, didn't you roast us on the fire." Yan Xishan looked at the two of them, laughed a few times, put down his pen and walked outside to admire this big mansion with a good reputation in Shanxi. Behind him. The two of them muttered a few words and then gritted their teeth and blocked all the prospects and futures.

"The silver tide is in chaos throughout the country. The Qiao Li Er clan of Wushan West visited all walks of life and learned that this time the silver was really a trouble, and the Western powers blasphemed China and strengthened itself. Suppressing the national industry in anger is infuriating and hateful! Today's China is no longer the Manchu Qing Dynasty of the past, and the whole country has heard the voice of rejuvenation! Enlightened by the ancestors, I know that although the financial war is bloodless, it is a matter of national honor and disgrace! Some friends persuaded me to wait and see the changes, but my heart is firm, although I can't pick it up. I can't lift it in my hand, but I can't sit back and watch the people not exist! Today, the whole country is electrified, and there are more than 1,000 people in Shanxi, raising a total of 6 million taels of silver, and voluntarily borrowing it from the central government to fight against the enemy!

I don't want the whole country to work together, but I want to have a clear conscience.

I advise foreign barbarians not to deceive people too much, and stop early so as not to hurt the national body! If you want to kill my China, my generation would rather scatter all the wealth and fight to the end! ”

More than 200 words. The sound of the telegraph operator perpetrated throughout the country. Especially the last sentence "I'd rather scatter all my family wealth and fight to the end" aroused indignation and support across the country. Under the rendering of newspapers and telegrams, students and workers took to the streets, holding banners in protest against foreign merchants. Blockade banks, burn foreign goods. By 15 June, Nanjing, after repeated study, had also taken action to forcibly close down the nationwide gold and silver currency exchange business, strictly ordering that gold and silver should not be exchanged privately.

Even the Jin merchants who did not have a good reputation participated in it, which stimulated the merchant associations across the country, and those who were still waiting before joined the silver self-rescue action. Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Sichuan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and other patriotic businessmen and associations all over the country spontaneously launched fund-raising activities. A few days later, even overseas Chinese in Nanyang and other places took action, quickly raising 10 million taels of silver and 50 tons of gold to be handed over to the navy for protection and transportation to Shanghai. In order to thank the overseas Chinese and the people for their dedication to serving the country, the central government immediately telegraphed the whole country and said that it would not let everyone suffer a loss, and exchanged all of them at an official price of 1:20. And paid as soon as possible, and directly transported the Minyuan banknotes to Nanyang, and brought the special gold and silver treasury bonds of the Central Bank of the Republic of China for overseas Chinese in Nanyang.

Under the exaggeration and stimulation of intentional or unintentional, the whole of China is surging and the people's morale is boiling! In just a few days, local governments across the country reported receiving tens of millions of taels of silver! More than dozens of tons of gold! The silver crisis that broke out in Shanghai finally climbed to its most intense moment, and countless people and minds were swept up in this crisis.

Zhang Wenjing hasn't slept well for a month. I worked until late at night every day to find a way, and my eyes were red and I couldn't look thin, but even after knowing the latest situation, I hurriedly rushed to Yang Qiu's house. But when he arrived, he found that Kuang Xukun was waiting in the study, but Yang Qiu was nowhere to be seen.

When he was in a hurry, he suddenly saw Yang Qiu actually wearing a dark cyan military uniform, talking with Pei Zuyi and walking over, and even when he entered the door, Yang Qiu didn't forget to take a few words in his ear, and the latter nodded again and again. Zhang Wenjing, who discovered the young man, was very happy to see that the young man who had relied on the groundbreaking Chinese Economic Circle initiative and was on the front lines of the silver crisis had been trusted and that it was only a matter of time before he soared.

After the initial panic stage, everyone finally calmed down after being restless.

Kuang Xukun held the list and reported excitedly: "This is what Premier Tang asked me to give you." He said that Mayor Yan called last night that the first batch of silver from Jin Merchants had been on the road, and the rest was also being counted and loaded, and the total amount of silver was expected to be 31 million taels. Nanyang Chinese businessmen also arrived in Guangzhou and were on their way back. After the Qiao and Li families sent out the telegram, now the whole country is raising silver, and Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan have all sent the first batch. Judging from the current situation, 3,000 tons of silver and 300 tons of gold will definitely be raised by the end of the month to deal with the crisis. ”

After worrying every day and finally seeing hope, Zhang Wenjing was also very excited: "The people's hearts are boiling! The hearts of the people are boiling! Haha, what does it matter if we can catch the flaws in the exchange of gold and silver banknotes before the currency reform? If Hanger wants to attack us, he must raise a large amount of yuan, and now that the bank has stopped the exchange, not only will the remaining silver be frozen for my use, but it will not be so easy for them to borrow yuan! As long as they cut off the way for the minyuan and hold on until the end of August, they will definitely not be able to take out so much silver to compensate, and they have to liquidate and admit losses. ”

"yes." Yang Qiu nodded slightly, but there was no sign of happiness on his face. This made Zhang Wenjing very strange. Just as he was about to ask, he suddenly waved his hand to Lei Meng and Kuang Xukun outside the door: "Lei Meng, Bohe." You go outside and keep watch, and no one is allowed to come near the study without an order. ”

To talk about a big matter, Lei Meng hurriedly pulled Kuang Xukun to lock the door of the room. Personally cordoned off the second floor.

Zhang Wenjing looked at Bei Zuyi and found that his face was full of solemnity, and Yang Qiu was even more terrifying, and he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, what's wrong?" ”

"Nothing happened." Yang Qiu pointed to the sofa, motioned for Zhang Wenjing to sit down, lit a cigarette by himself, and then looked at him for a long time and suddenly asked, "Wenjing." Do you think this battle is still necessary? ”

What does this mean? Zhang Wenjing chuckled in his heart, his butt just touched the sofa and jumped up, staring at Yang Qiu's eyes and asking, "Vice President, what do you mean by this?" Halfway through the battle, thousands of tons of silver have been thrown to stabilize the price of silver, can we still give up the last fight? ”

Yang Qiu avoided his gaze and glanced at Bei Zuyi. The latter took a deep breath and said slowly, "Minister Zhang." There is no point in fighting any longer. ”

"What do you mean by little significance?! Songsun. What happened to you? Now that the hearts of the people in the whole country have been aroused, can foreigners have more than us even if they still have Minyuan? As long as there is enough stock, we will be able to issue several times their currency! If you win. It's a feat! It's a victory, a big win! The more Zhang Wenjing spoke, the more anxious he became, and his gaze at Bei Zuyi became sharper. It's no wonder that he is so excited, seeing that the whole country has been twisted into a rope, and the silver crisis is just around the corner, but at this time, he suddenly said that he would not play, wouldn't the previous efforts be in vain? How can this be explained to 40,000 compatriots? A country that can defeat Japan twice and defeat the German army loses to a mere silver, how will the countries of the world think of their own people?!

Bei Zuyi looked at him fearlessly, and said without being angry: "Minister." You miscalculated! In order to stabilize the price of silver, we invested a total of 4,000 tons of silver, and now these silver contracts are in their hands, although they do not have much yuan in their hands, our inventory plus the re-raised silver is about 8,000 tons, which seems to be enough to support the yuan in their hands, the question is that you haven't noticed that the price of silver on the exchange has not moved these days?

First, it shows that there is no silver in the market. Second, it shows that they are ready for an armistice after eating our 4,000 tons of reserves! Now they don't have to do anything, just be patient and wait for the contract to expire at the end of August, and we will have to pay the physical silver! Coupled with thirty percent in their hands, it is equivalent to mastering nearly half of our country's silver reserves! You should understand that the currency issuance under the gold exchange system is about three times that of gold and silver reserves, and this time the replenishment from the country is equivalent to what we consume, and the hole is filled but cannot be used to issue new currency, so it can only use treasury bonds and shares to merchants and ordinary people, but if you continue to invest in physical silver to stabilize the price of silver, there will be a new hole! The silver that can move in the market has moved, and it has not received a penny, and it really can't fill the hole if it is used again! At that time, as long as they tremble to the newspapers, whether it is the value of the currency or the national debt, it will shrink significantly! ”

"Shut up! Shut up! Without waiting for Bei Zuyi to finish speaking, Zhang Wenjing's eyes were red and he pointed at him and scolded: "Songsun! I think you are quite talented in finance, so you were promoted to financial secretary, is that how you do things? Remember what I said to you the first day you came? In front of us, every cent and every dollar belongs to the people, we just take care of it and use it well! If we don't fight it, won't there be even more hope of recovering that silver? You also know that almost half of our country's silver is in their hands, and if there is no silver, the currency circulation will be reduced by 30%! That's billions! Billions of people's hard-earned money! ”

"Wenjing."

Zhang Wenjing was very excited, he really couldn't accept such a result, although he admitted that what Pei Zuyi said was reasonable, Britain and the United States could import silver from the outside to fight to the death, because unless the gold reserves were used, the total value of the national yuan would not be enough to buy all the silver of other people, so the final result was how much was invested and how much was drained! But he was unwilling, really unwilling! In order to curb the price of silver these days, the Ministry of Finance, the central bank and private banks have been studying all walks of life, but in the end this is the result, who can accept it? He was about to continue scolding him and fight to the death, but was interrupted by Yang Qiu.

Yang Qiu took two puffs of cigarette hard, his red eyes were extinguished, and he said, "I know your feelings, but I can say this, unless we forcibly close the trading market and clear all transactions, we won't be able to stop them!" It's easy to close the market and void all trades, but even if we do, it's just a game of time for them, and it doesn't hurt a single hair! So what Pei Zuyi said is very right, because I can order the closure of the trading market and clear all transaction records, but have you thought about the consequences? If the minyuan is only a domestic currency in the future, I can do this, but in the future, we want to promote the minyuan to the entire Chinese area and establish a Chinese economic circle!

Do you know why the Deutsche Mark and the Franc are inferior to the British Pound and the US Dollar? Because they don't have as many colonies as Britain, and no United States can overwhelm their opponents with more than an entire country's gold and silver reserves! If we want to build this Chinese economic circle, we must learn to survive in the cracks. ”

Zhang Wenjing finally calmed down a little by these words, but when he turned his head, his eyes became sharp again, even a few points better than just now, staring at Yang Qiu and asking, "That's not right!" Now that this result is known, why agitate for the nationwide collection of silver? Give up now, what can you use to buy back the silver that was bought by Britain and the United States?! ”

"It's simple."

Yang Qiu slowly stood up, and his gaze did not shy away: "First, because I found that the crisis has turned into an opportunity!" Don't you think the speed of silver collection in the country is much faster now? If the market were working, wouldn't it be a year or two to receive so much silver? After the silver in Nanyang came back, we paid 100 million yuan, do you know what it means? It means that our renminbi has become the local auxiliary currency! This is opportunity, and all crises bring opportunity. As for the silver that was bought, Hanger and the people behind him didn't look down on this bit of silver, they needed something else. Their posture is already obvious, and if we want to fight, they will do everything they can to crush us completely! That's the potential! It's money! Anglo-American is now the largest capital! ”

After these words came out, Zhang Wenjing's face suddenly lost blood, and he involuntarily took a few steps back, as if something was burning in his chest, glaring at Yang Qiu, like looking at someone he didn't know at all! After a while, he suddenly laughed, and after a while, he pointed to his nose and scolded: "Opportunity? Haha chance! You're taking advantage of it! Take advantage of the patriotism of the people and their determination to support you to win! deceived the people! No wonder you stopped talking in the car that day, it turned out that you had already thought about a political solution! What do you want to sell? Sell Hanyang or Chongqing? It's the Ring China Railway! Or the country?! ”

"Shut up!"

Yang Qiu slammed the table hard, his face turned red, his fists clenched, and his chest rose and fell.

The sudden confrontation between the two frightened Bei Zuyi's face pale, and he was about to come up to dissuade him, but was rudely pushed away by Yang Qiu. He walked up to Zhang Wenjing, stopped after reaching out to touch it, and his voice was low and a little terrifying: "I love this country more than any of you!" So I can't watch the hard-earned money of the common people fill it in vain! And I didn't deceive them, every gram of gold and silver was exchanged for the official price! ”

"If you don't let Yan Xishan go to Shanxi, and don't let the Qiao and Li families send electricity, will the people and businessmen be so active in taking out gold and silver? At the end of the day, you're taking advantage of them! Took advantage of the patriotic heart! This is already the third time, the third time! Zhang Wenjing finally didn't dare to look at Yang Qiu's eyes, and sat on the sofa with his face covered.

"Yes, for the third time! The first time Sun Yat-sen stepped down, the second time the Chengcheng bill was passed, and the third time. Yang Qiu grabbed the military hat and put it on his head, and after meticulously sorting out the military uniform in front of the mirror, he walked out of the study with Pei Zuyi, and when he closed the door, he took one last look at Zhang Wenjing, whose eyes were blood-red, and stomped his feet heavily: "I promise you, there will be no fourth time." ”…… (Site. Your support is my biggest motivation. )