Shanghai, an international metropolis, was one of the earliest ports opened up in the Ming Dynasty. Today, as in formal history, it is the economic and financial center of southern China, known as the "Paris of the East".

The financial street along the Huangbu River is full of European-style granite buildings, and the world's major banks, insurance, investment and other financial companies, families, chaebols, etc., all have branches on this street. DuPont, Rothschild, Morgan, Rockefeller, Onassis, Ford, Citi, HSBC, Deutsche Royal, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Zurich, Union of Switzerland, as well as Imperial Bank (the central bank of the Ming Dynasty), Royal Bank (the royal family's own bank), ...... And so on and so forth.

There are three flags hanging on the head of each house: the national flag of the Ming Dynasty, the national flag of the country where it is located, the enterprise and the family emblem flag.

Every day, a staggering amount of bills is issued from here, changing the ownership of tons of bills and gold in the underground vaults of banks. Every day, the banknotes of the whole vehicle are transported out of this street, and the banknotes of the whole vehicle are brought in.

Every day, it bankrupts countless people and makes countless people rich. Transactions here determine the price of a significant part of the world's goods, such as gold and silver, oil, steel, coal, non-ferrous metals, agricultural products......

In the World Stock Exchange, all the trading areas are idle, and now they are taking a lunch break, and the heating is warm and listless. Brokers loosen their ties and pull up their shirt sleeves, and they get together in twos and threes to eat, chat, play cards, play chess, and read newspapers. The floor was littered with invalid transaction documents, newspapers, and broken paper, and no one had bothered to clean them up. Telephones, typewriters, abacus, etc., are scattered, thick black telephone lines are lying on the ground, and the chalk numbers on the large blackboard are still retained at the last price of the morning's closing.

There are 24 wall clocks on the wall, each indicating the time in 24 time zones around the world.

Since the royal family suddenly announced His Majesty's acute illness in the morning, the broader market in the stock trading area has fallen slightly. But the bond and futures sectors don't seem to have been affected.

Now a press conference is being held in the Forbidden City of Nanjing, and a group of people are outside the palace gate, all of whom have come to inquire about the news, waiting for the reporters to come out and find out the first-hand news, and then rush to the telegraph office.

There was a queue at every window of the telegraph office, and the reporters who occupied the windows were spending money to shoot boring content, in order to keep occupying the windows until the end of the press conference at the palace, and their colleagues sent the manuscripts, so that the first ones could be photographed.

In Shanghai, the waiting room of the telegraph office was full of people, all of whom were followers of major newspapers and exchange brokers, who waited for the Nanjing telegram to come and receive it as soon as possible, and then immediately ran back to the company and the International Stock Exchange.

……

Forbidden City, Nanjing.

A Praetorian guard opened the door, and a young man with a peaked cap grabbed a piece of paper and ran out quickly.

Everyone gathered around him and asked him noisily. He ignored no one, ran to the side of the road, whistled, and a rickshaw sped over.

"Quick," he shouted, getting into the car and raising his hand, "telegraph office! Triple the car price! ”

The rickshaw was full of strength and went away.

The people who were waiting were so anxious that they stomped their feet, and they all felt that something big was wrong.

After a while, another small guy ran out, and another group of people surrounded him......

……

Shanghai, Financial Street, International Stock Exchange.

With a bang, the side door of the bond hall was slammed open, and a teenage boy in a waistcoat and a peaked cap rushed in panting, looking around.

The agents in the hall looked at him in amazement. One of the agents snapped his fingers, and the boy saw him, ran over, handed him a telegram, and took a reward for a banknote and left.

Everyone was watching the agent, and he stared at the newspaper, his face gradually changing color, and then, without saying a word, put the paper in his pocket and stared at the trading board.

Everyone followed his eyes, and there was one of the columns on the big blackboard: Daming public bonds

A moment later, two or three more guys came in and delivered the news to one of the agents. The phone rang sporadically, and the agents who received the call looked nervous, their faces changed greatly, and they began to whisper calls.

There was an eerie, tense atmosphere throughout the trading floor.

Soon, this atmosphere spread to other stock and futures trading halls. The entire World Stock Exchange was enveloped in this tense atmosphere.

Some people are well-informed, and some are not.

But everyone was waiting for the opening at two o'clock.

……

Two loud bells rang in the distance. At the same time, a sharp electric bell rang in the field.

The audience was boiling. The telephone rang one after another, and the sound of abacus beads filled the ears. Before a broker rushed to the trading board first, he grabbed the chalk and filled in the number 28600\20000 under the "Daming Public Bond", and then shouted below in the noise:

"20,000 yards, 28,600 reals, does anyone want it?"

No one took over. The broker waited for a moment, turned around and wiped off 28600, wrote 28200 again, turned around and shouted again:

"20,000 yards, 28,200 real oceans, does anyone want them?"

Still no one took over. There were already more than a dozen brokers in front of the blackboard, all of whom, like him, began to sell Daming bonds. The hall was filled with shouts of "Does anyone want it?" and "Does anyone want it?"

Prices are falling. And it fell very quickly.

The stock market is also falling. But the futures trading hall is a different atmosphere.

The news spread very quickly, and the radio waves in the telegraph offices in Nanjing and Shanghai spread to major cities around the world.

At present, in the futures halls of major exchanges around the world, various strategic materials, which were previously sluggish due to the Great Depression, have begun to rise slightly.

……

All the brokers' nervous faces changed color, sweating profusely, shouting to trade, running around the floor with trading orders, and from time to time hurriedly writing notes to the followers, who rushed to send them out......

A broker in the corner grabbed the phone, broke out in a cold sweat, and said nervously to the other end:

"Master Hou...... Daming bonds have fallen below face value, ah, they have fallen again, and now they are only worth 92% of face value...... Master Hou, have you decided not to sell it? ”

Changping Houfu study. Zheng Gongyin held the cloisonné-inlaid microphone and said in a nervous tone:

"Yes, you can't sell it...... At this moment, as a member of the royal family, I need to stand up and support the country...... What would it mean if even the royal family began to sell off their own public debt? Yes, I resolutely do not sell it! Ji Sheng, you buy me another 300,000, no, buy 500,000! …… If I ask you to buy it, you will buy it! …… No, I don't have any inside story, I just have confidence in Your Majesty, and I believe that Your Majesty will be auspicious! …… No, no, don't ask about that, I won't tell you...... Yes, I repeat that Your Majesty is suffering from an emergency, and is now in the Benhou Mansion...... What landline was shot down, that's a rumor! Yes, that's it, hurry up and buy it! Yes, I'll give you another account number, and you can buy 500,000 for this account! Yes, the account number is ......"

Putting down the phone, Zheng Gongyin was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, rubbed his hands, and circled around his niece who was standing by the case and drawing flowers and birds, smiling, as if looking at a cash cow.

"Rong Rong," he smiled with a wrinkled face, "Uncle has made a lot of money this time!" Haha, Rong Rong, you have also made a lot of money! Uncle just asked someone to help you buy 500,000 too. Now that it has fallen below the face value, it is estimated that when I bought it, the eight achievements with the face value were good...... Haha, I was worried about how to get this news out, but now the fools of "Daqing Daily" have done it for me, it seems that Qingyu really believes it...... Haha, now the whole world thinks that you have been shot down by the Pseudo-Qing and are about to be caught by them, and we are going to fight the Pseudo-Qing immediately...... Haha, when the time comes, we will have almost eaten the goods, as long as we announce that you are cured, you come out to show your face, and make a speech on the radio, the public debt in our hands will have to be doubled...... Haha, the wonderful thing is that our royal family has not lied to them from the beginning, and they continue to refute rumors...... Who called them unbelievers? I can't blame anyone else! Ha ha! Uncle is so happy, let's show a movie in the evening! Rong Rong, what movie do you want to watch? Chaplin? Shirley Temple? Mickey Mouse Donald Duck? Let's have a good laugh! ”

Zhu Yourong listened to Zheng Gongyin's copper-smelling laughter in his ears, and the more he painted the fish, the more cheesy they became. She simply stopped drawing, put down her pen and smiled:

"Uncle, are you really that happy making money?"

Zheng Gongyin was stunned, speechless for a while, and couldn't think of how to answer.

Zhu Yourong said again:

"It always feels bad to use this method to steal money from your own people."

"Rong Rong," Zheng Gongyin laughed again, "Most of the people who speculate on our Ming public bonds are foreign consortia. Their money, if they don't earn it in vain, don't make it. Besides, we didn't do this to make money, we did it to create an illusion and cooperate with Xiang Xiaoqiang's actions on the Qing side. Hehe, make some money, just piggyback. This is also a lesson for them, they don't believe the statements of the Ming royal family, and only listen to the rumors of the Qing Dynasty...... The result? Look, with this time, it will be much more useful for us to talk in the future. ”

Zhu Yourong sighed:

"This kind of thing must not be repeated, or the credibility of our royal family will be ruined. Not...... I've had to stay in the backyard for the past few days, and I'm secondary. ”

Zheng Gongyin looked at his niece holding her cheeks, looked bored, and said with a smile:

"That's right. He is a small person who is a small person, and he can let you cooperate with him, which can be regarded as the creation of cultivation in his previous life. ”

Zhu Yourong said:

"Uncle, grandpa said it there, right? None of his are sold, right? ”

Zheng Gongyin nodded and smiled:

"Don't worry, a few of our own family members know. To do this kind of thing, we royal people have to hug each other. There are also a few royal families, who don't buy much, and they are relatively distant, so I didn't tell them. Not many people know about this kind of thing. ”

Zhu Yourong thought for a moment and said:

"Well, it's okay, uncle, you can ask someone to buy me more......"

"Oh?"

"I want to ...... Even if I buy it for them, I will make up all the losses they have in the future...... It's all my own family, and I can't let them suffer because of me. ”

Zheng Gongyin looked at his niece and said with a smile:

"Okay, it's rare that Rong Rong is so hearty...... Yes, that's the best way to do it. Also, Rong Rong, don't forget, the heads and brains of the factory guards, many people have bought Daming treasury bonds. Governor Shen naturally knew, but the directors below and Jinyiwei were not necessarily. They are on our side, and we cannot afford to let them suffer. On the army side, the Army General Staff, the Navy General Staff, the Nanjing Garrison Commander, as well as the main army commanders and several fleet commanders, most of them bought these things. Although the number is not much, it adds up to only a fraction of us, but we can't let them suffer because of us. They are all extremely useful people in the future. ”

Zhu Yourong nodded and said:

"What my uncle said is that I will make it up to them."

Zheng Gongyin smiled:

"Hehe, let my uncle give this money out, and reward them in your name when I go back."

"Thank you, uncle...... And what's more...... Uncle, well, help that Xiang Xiaoqiang buy some too......"

"Huh?" Zheng Gongyin stared at her, a little strange.

"Hmm...... That's right," Zhu Yourong said while drinking from the back of the cup, "After all, he was the one who did the work for us from birth to death...... Don't forget him...... Just use the money we promised him...... Hmm, I've got the tea, phew......"

Zheng Gongyin stared at her and said thoughtfully:

"Well, that's fine. Anyway, he also entrusted us to help him invest. can come back successfully, even the interest is his, and he can't come back...... It's still ours anyway. ”

He thought in his heart: Xiang Xiaoqiang, Your Majesty's words, your hundreds of thousands will be multiplied several times...... Now even Your Majesty is cooperating with you...... Add that a lot of money, you don't mess up......

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang and his stomach hurt were muttering in the cell, there was a sound of messy footsteps, the fence opened, and an officer shouted:

"Get in!"

A young girl's figure stumbled in and fell to the ground.

"Boom!" The cell door is locked. The officer is gone.

The girl lay on the ground and kept twitching, and the two of them hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, it was the girl with glasses.

She lifted her face, her glasses were cracked, her face was covered with tears, and the corners of her mouth were bruised.

"Ah," Xiang Xiaoqiang exclaimed, "it's you!" ”

The girl with glasses said weakly:

"I ...... I didn't say anything......"

Then he passed out.