It is the fifth year since 1890, when the financial crisis first appeared, to 1895.

More and more companies and banks are failing, and more and more workers and artisans are losing their jobs, with about 1 million workers, 20 per cent of the labour force, out of work.

The fall in the prices of agricultural products has weakened the purchasing power of the peasants in the west, who have discovered to their surprise that the vast and fertile land in the west is unable to feed themselves.

The riots in New York were not unique.

All sorts of vicious incidents are spreading across the country.

Trade unions and the BJP are also taking advantage of this opportunity to grow and challenge the political landscape of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Death from starvation is not a one-time thing.

They will become yellow-skinned, then malnourished, and finally, at some inadvertent moment, they will die on the side of the road, becoming a starvation corpse on the road.

It's the same with the economy.

Finally, in 1895, the U.S. economy was about to die.

On the morning of April 5, several well-dressed men walked into the building of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

They were greeted by a young staff member with glasses.

"Sir, may I ask how I can help you?" The clerk asked very politely.

"We have some maturing federal bonds that need to be paid today, can you help us deal with that."

A white-bearded gentleman at the head said politely.

He spoke in a very standard London accent as he pulled out a stack of bonds from his bosom and handed them to the clerk along with the others.

"We are asking for payment in gold." The gentleman emphasized.

The clerk took the bond with both hands.

He is no stranger to this business.

Since the financial crisis, people have come almost every day to demand that the government make good on their promise to exchange their dollars for gold.

And many of them are from Europe.

The staff took the bonds as they were accustomed to and began to verify the authenticity of the notes themselves.

But the more he looked, the tighter his brow tightened, until his heart began to beat violently.

These bonds are all very large in amount, and they are numerous and thick.

The clerk quickly sat down, took out a piece of paper and a pen, and added up the face value of the bond.

Not long after, the results came in.

The clerk sat down in his chair and stared blankly at the number.

Twelve million dollars!

This is an astronomical amount.

"What's wrong? Any questions, please? The old gentleman looked at the clerk and asked with concern.

"Well, sir, $12 million, that's 720,000 ounces, 18 tons of gold!" The staff finally recovered from the shock.

He looked at the British in front of him: "You can't take it with you for a while!" ”

"You don't have to worry about that, kid." The gentleman smiled and said, "Our carriage is right outside the door." ”

The staff's mind was almost blank.

His first instinct now is to report the matter to his boss.

I'm afraid this matter is not something that a little shrimp of his level can decide.

"Gentlemen, can you wait a minute, I'm going to report this to my boss, do you think it's okay?" The clerk asked, standing up.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time." The old gentleman looked extremely understanding, "We are waiting for your news here. ”

Soon, the staff broke the news to the director.

Five minutes later, in the office of Treasury Secretary Jacobs Wright.

The directors of the U.S. Savings Bond Division and the Treasury Administration stood in front of the minister.

Wright turned out to be a very spirited old Democratic man.

Carlisle, the former secretary of the Treasury, resigned because of his inappropriate words and deeds and his disagreement with the Secretary of State and the President.

Wright inherited a mess.

And in the face of this mess, there is nothing he can do.

With his ability, he can only make this broken ship sink late.

A deep sense of powerlessness made him look a lot older.

"$12 million? A one-time gold payment? Wright asked, staring at the director.

"Uh, yes, it looks like it's from London." The director hastily replied, "Mr. Minister, there have been more and more people asking for gold redemption for some time, and if this continues, we will be doomed sooner or later." ”

"Do we have a better option? If it is not paid, the dollar will lose credibility and the consequences will be unimaginable. Wright sighed.

"The dollar has long lost its credibility, minister, in Europe, the dollar is like waste paper, they don't accept to settle in dollars!" The director was a little frank and told the truth, "Damn the Silver Procurement Bill!" ”

The two of them asked and answered, but neither of them noticed that the most nervous person in this office was actually the director of the Treasury Authority.

The director looked very uneasy, and he couldn't even stand still, and he felt the urge to walk around.

"Now is not the time to talk about this, Evans, go to the vault and take them out, let's discuss a way to find a reason to suspend the exchange." The minister touched his forehead and said helplessly.

He sat down in his chair and began to close his eyes.

However, Evans, the head of the Treasury Authority, did not move or squeak.

Wright waited for a long time without waiting for movement, so he opened his eyes.

"Why don't you go yet? Is there anything I said that is not clear? He looked at the two people who were standing.

"Uh, maybe, this, we can't provide so many gold bars for the time being, uh, for the time being." The director hesitated and stammered.

Old man Wright suddenly sat up from his chair:

"We don't even have $12 million in gold in our coffers?!"

The minister was furious.

You know, the safety line of gold reserves in U.S. coffers is 100 million dollars.

Wright knew that the gold in the treasury had been decreasing, but he had never expected it to be so low.

"Well, yes, indeed, less than $12 million, our gold is still a little bit short." Director Evans weighed over his words.

"Then is there a way to transfer a little from other places, let's make up for it temporarily, and get this matter over first?" The minister had already stood up and asked eagerly.

"Yes, can we go to the state government to borrow a little, they should still have one or two million dollars of gold." The director was also on hand to help with advice.

He believed that with Minister Elet's personal relationship and even his own personal relationship with state officials, it should not be much of a problem to borrow some spare gold.

However, the director's expression was even more embarrassed.

"I'm afraid, one or two million, not enough." He whispered.

"Didn't you say a little bit?" The director was also anxious, and his tone was raised.

"Almost, you know, almost." Director Evans tried to find some justification for his previous words.

"Evans, please be honest with us, how much gold is left in the vault right now?" Minister Wright kept his eyes on Evans, hoping to find a definite answer from him.

Evans took a deep breath:

"Less than two million dollars."

There was a deathly silence in the office.

The three men looked at each other, maintaining an awkward silence.

"We're done! The dollar is finished! America is also finished! The Director's concluding remarks broke the silence.

Wright knew that what the director was saying was the truth.

But he decided to do something about it anyway.

So he picked up the receiver of the telephone.

At this time, the president has the right to know what is happening in the country.

It's already on the edge of a cliff.

President Cleveland is preparing his State of the Union address in his office.

When he received a call from Secretary Wright and was briefed on the depletion of gold reserves in the Treasury, he did not show any special expression.

The Plebeian Party, the financial crisis, and the Hawaiian crisis came one after another.

Cleveland's heart was too tired.

He had thought that the World Fair in Chicago would bring a little bit of a turnaround to the country.

But it backfired, and what should have come has come.

"Wright, think of something." He said to the other end of the phone, "I'm sure we still have a chance to live." ”

Wright put down the phone and sat down in his chair.

However, at this moment, a clerk knocked on the office door:

"Mr. Wright, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Belmont want to see you, and he is already waiting on the first floor."

Wright's eyes lit up suddenly.

Damn, how could he have forgotten about these two.

"Quick! Fast! Please let them in! As if he had picked up a life-saving straw, Wright asked his subordinates to quickly bring the two men in.

Morgan and Belmont walked into the room, one after the other.

Morgan touched his trademark big nose:

"Mr. Wright, the two of us are here to help you out, and as we all know, America is in danger right now." He said straight to the point.

The three senior officials of the Federal Treasury looked even more embarrassed.

They didn't want to admit it, but they had to admit it, even if Director Evans was very suspicious of the British people downstairs with national debt, they had absolutely nothing to do with them.

"We are willing to provide gold support to the federal government to solve the federal government's urgent needs." Belmont said.

Hearing this, Wright was overjoyed.

He no longer cares about his reserve as US Treasury Secretary, and his joy is beyond words:

"That's great! The Ministry of Finance will work out a plan very quickly, and I hope that the two will support it. ”

Your Excellency's understanding.

If these two banks are willing to intervene, they can at least temporarily solve the matter at the moment.

However, Belmont shook his head.

"No, Mr. Minister, you may have misunderstood me."

"The power of our two banks is insignificant, and we mean that we are issuing gold bonds on behalf of the US government, and if so, the Rothschilds are willing to take the lead in taking out some of the gold."

Minister Wright's face turned the color of pork liver.

The Rothschilds are rich, he knows it.

He never doubted that this family had such strength.

However, this plan also means that those bankers in Europe will have a great probability of controlling the economic lifeline of the United States and even the right to issue currency.

If this proposal came out of themselves, the lawmakers in Washington were afraid that they would drown themselves with spitting stars.

"You're taking advantage of the fire!" Wright shook his head, feeling like his hope was dashed.

"Do you still have a choice?" Belmont did not hide his arrogance at all, "As we all know, there is no gold on the continent of the United States, and all the gold in this world is in Europe, in the treasury of Lord Rothschild. ”

Morgan on the side couldn't stand Belmont's bravado, and coughed deliberately.

In the end, Secretary Wright didn't think of any other solution.

He decided to throw the hot potato to President Cleveland.

President Cleveland, immediately after receiving a call from Wright, convened an emergency session in Congress.

He told the legislators about the "bailout plan" proposed by Belmont.

Unsurprisingly, upon hearing this proposal, Congress blew up!

Democratic and Republican lawmakers are surprisingly unanimous.

This is an act of betraying the interests of the country, and if it is an American who proposes the plan, then he has no integrity and no patriotism.

Some lawmakers even scolded and pointed the finger at President Cleveland.

Wright is a senile dementia patient, and President Cleveland, who chose Wright to succeed Carlisle, is even more responsible for negligence.

However, no matter how much these members of the two houses quarrel, they all have one thing in common in this matter.

Ask questions, never solve them;

I only criticize other people's plans, and I have never seen them come up with their own feasible solutions.

Cleveland was in the parliament listening to the group of lawmakers to get angry, and his scalp tingled when he listened.

In the middle of the meeting, I couldn't hold back anymore and found a reason to leave first.

Cleveland returned to his office.

Coming out with him was the Secretary of State.

"This plan doesn't work, do we have any other solutions?" Cleveland was somewhat disappointed.

"There is no way, according to the report of the Minister of Finance, there is no excess gold, and it is imminent." The Secretary of State said.

"The Europeans control the gold, the whole of America is gone, and we have no choice."

However, just as the Secretary of State was saying this, a familiar voice came through the door:

"Who said there is no gold in the United States?"

(End of chapter)