Since Chen Qiang decided to participate in the Olympics, he immediately resumed his daily training.

As Chen Qiang had expected before, he was a little uncomfortable with the hard sports training. For Chen Qiang, who had been used to comfortable days, the repeated training day after day was more like a painful torment.

Chen Qiang could only force himself to persevere and force himself to get used to it. There is no shortcut to training like this. Even the genius athletes need to go through a lot of training to gain enough strength.

In this way, Chen Qiang spent more than half a year in boring training.

...

Nanjing, Ministry of Finance.

"Minister Wang, this Olympic Games is a grand event all over the world. All countries will send representatives to participate. How can we, China, not participate!" Dong Shouyi said.

"Professor Dong, I understand what you said. Although I have never studied abroad, I also worked in the Ministry of Education. Naturally, I know what the Olympic Games is. But this sports matter should be managed by the Ministry of Education. In theory, the participation funds should be spent by the Ministry of Education? Why did you come to me with the Ministry of Finance?" Minister Wang of the Ministry of Finance said.

"The Ministry of Education said that the budget this year has already exceeded the expenditure. Now even the salary of professors at the National University can't be paid, and I can't afford to participate in the Olympics. So I can only come here to ask you, hoping that the Ministry of Finance can give some grants." Dong Shouyi said.

Minister Wang smiled slightly and said, "Professor Dong, I'm not sure about it. Our Ministry of Finance has no money either!"

"The Ministry of Finance is in charge of the country's financial power, how can it be without money?" Dong Shouyi asked.

"A country of ours is so big, all expenses are already huge, and the frontline war is tight, and the soldiers have to spend money on food, clothing and expenses. Not long ago, I bought a lot of weapons and ammunition from the United States. Now our Ministry of Finance has no spare money! No matter who comes here to ask for money, the Ministry of Finance does not have a penny. I am also waiting for the United States to provide assistance as soon as possible so that my Ministry of Finance can have money to turn over!" Minister Wang answered.

Dong Shouyi was very persuasive, but he still didn't get a penny of participation in the competition, so he had to leave the Ministry of Finance in a mess.

Dong Shouyi is the director-general of the Chinese delegation at the London Olympics, so he naturally has to work hard for the participation funding. Unfortunately, in these days, both the Ministry of Physical Education and the Ministry of Finance, which holds financial power, have been silent.

In desperation, Dong Shouyi had to go to find Wang Zhengting. Although Wang Zhengting had no real power, he had a deep experience and was a member of the International Olympic Committee, so he might be able to think of a solution.

...

"Prince, I'm really desperate! The opening day of the London Olympics is approaching, but our participation funds have not yet been settled. I went to ask for both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, but I didn't ask for a penny. Do we really want to give up this Olympics?" Dong Shouyi said anxiously.

"Oh..." Wang Zhengting also sighed and said, "This result is as expected by me. The Ministry of Education should really have no money. The salary of teachers in national schools has begun to be delinquent. Recently, teachers have even went on strike. As for the Ministry of Finance, it is probably really tight. The front-line war is tense, and the money is like flowing. If you don't fight, you may be able to hold on until the end of the year. But when the cannon fires, you will be 10,000 taels of gold. In less than half a year, the treasury will bottom out."

"I heard from Minister Wang of the Ministry of Finance that American aid is coming soon. Maybe after the American aid arrives, the Ministry of Finance will have money to allocate to us." Dong Shouyi said.

Wang Zhengting shook his head: "Even if the money provided by Americans really comes, it will not fall on us, let alone this is a matter of not having a single word!"

"Then what should we do? Prince, I really have no other way." Dong Shouyi looked down on his face.

"It's a pity that I'm just an idle person now. Although I have a few false positions, my fingers have no real power. Otherwise, I can deal with it and at least solve the cost of the trip to London." Wang Zhengting looked helpless, obviously he had no good idea.

"It seems we can only give up this year's Olympics. Unfortunately, I had contacted Chen Qiang last year. He agreed to participate in the London Olympics. He originally expected Chen Qiang to win a gold medal at the Olympics to boost morale for our people, but now I'm afraid it's a waste." Dong Shouyi said.

"Now there is only the last way to go." Wang Zhengting said helplessly.

"There is a good idea for the prince?" Dong Shouyi asked anxiously.

"I can only ask for that person. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee. He should do something for it in a reasonable way." Wang Zhengting replied.

Dong Shouyi naturally knew who "that person" Wang Zhengting said was. China has three members of the International Olympic Committee. In addition to Wang Zhengting and Dong Shouyi, there is also the master of the Kong family.

"Prince, although Mr. Kong once served as Minister of Finance, that was a matter of many years ago. The so-called emperor and minister, not to mention that he has resigned now. Can it still affect the Ministry of Finance?" Dong Shouyi asked.

"It is normal for people to leave and tea is cold. After he resigned, he did not have much influence, but don't forget, how much money has he greedy over the years? And how much money has he used his power for personal gain and plundered? I didn't ask him to go to the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to us, but I asked him to pay directly as our participation funds!" Wang Zhengting replied.

...

At this time, Mr. Kong had resigned from all his official positions, but he was still seeking a chance to make a comeback. After a few days, Mr. Kong felt that the battle on the front line was unfavorable and he had no hope of making a comeback, so he would go to the United States to settle down, stay away from politics and become a rich man with peace of mind.

When Wang Zhengting and Dong Shouyi met Master Kong, they exchanged greetings with each other for a few words, and then mentioned asking for funds to participate in the Olympics.

"Brother Yongzhi, you are a member of the International Olympic Committee of our China. You can't ignore China's participation in the Olympic Games!" Wang Zhengting said earnestly.

Mr. Kong was cursing in his heart at this time. If he had known that this was the case, he would never have agreed to Wang Zhengting to be a member of the International Olympic Committee!

But when things have reached this point, Wang Zhengting has come to him. If Mr. Kong is not a shit, it will definitely be unreasonable. After all, Mr. Kong has the status of a member of the International Olympic Committee, so he still has to do enough things about face. Otherwise, he will be rumored and lose face.

"Forget it, just treat it as spending money to eliminate disasters!" Mr. Kong thought of this, as long as he reluctantly agreed: "Brother Rutang, since this is the case, I should help you with all my strength."

"Then I would like to express my gratitude to my brother Yong for his generous help on behalf of the Olympics." Wang Zhengting hurriedly wrote.

"My brother Rutang doesn't have to be here every day, they are all playing for the country." Mr. Kong paused and continued: "In the 25th year of the Republic of China, we sent a delegation to participate in the Berlin Olympics, which cost a total of about 200,000 yuan. Besides the athletes participating, there was also a tour group to visit and learn about the sports development of European countries. I wonder if I remember it wrong?"

"This is indeed the case." Wang Zhengting nodded.

"Berlin, Germany and London, Britain are both in Europe, and the distance is not too far. Since I spent 200,000 yuan that year, I will donate 200,000 yuan in fiat currency as participation funds. After all, there is no tour group this time, I think it should be more than enough!" Mr. Kong said.

After hearing this, Wang Zhengting's face suddenly became embarrassed.

During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, fiat currency had just been issued. At that time, one dollar of fiat currency was exchanged for a silver dollar, and 200,000 fiat currency was 200,000 oceans. But by 1948, fiat currency had already become waste paper.

In the past two years, under the huge inflation, China's prices have long been like wild horses. In early 1947, rice was sold for 60,000 yuan per duct, but by the end of 1947, rice had to be sold for 1.1 million yuan per duct, which had risen 19 times. In order to cope with financial pressure, Nanjing had to do three types of banknotes: 1,000 yuan, 3,500 yuan and 4,450 yuan at the end of 1947.

This kind of excessive issuance of currency has made prices even worse. In the past, prices rose once a few days, but later they simply rose once a day, and then they rose several times a day. The purchasing power of 100 fiat currency was able to buy two cows in 1937, but in 1948, they could only buy one fifty-tenth of sesame cake. Stores in various places had rejected "small banknotes" below 450 yuan. They didn't have to count money when buying vegetables. They put on a scale and exchanged for one pound of vegetables.

On the Qingming Festival in 1948, people who visited the graves of ancestors did not have to burn paper in the dark, but burned thousands of yuan bills directly because they could not buy a thousand yuan bill, so it was of course more cost-effective to burn cash directly. At that time, diners were eating in a restaurant, and rice was 20,000 yuan a bowl. When he finished his first bowl of rice and wanted the second bowl, the rice had risen to 25,000 yuan a bowl.

Therefore, the 200,000 French currency proposed by Master Kong could not even buy ten bowls of rice, which was clearly a deliberate humiliation of Wang Zhengting.

It is obvious that Wang Zhengting came to ask Mr. Kong for money, which made Mr. Kong very upset, so before he actually paid, he had to deliberately embarrass Wang Zhengting, and also cut off Wang Zhengting's desire to ask for money again in the future.

Wang Zhengting knew that Mr. Kong was deliberately humiliating him. Although he was angry, he could only endure it in order for the Chinese athletes to go to the London Olympics.

So Wang Zhengting smiled and said, "Brother Yongzhi is probably joking. Now the prices are soaring. With 200,000 French currency, you can't buy a pack of snacks even when you go to Confucius Temple."

Mr. Kong immediately looked surprised: "Have the prices nowadays increased to such a level? After I resigned from office, I was a fan of Yiyun Yehe. I rarely went out on weekdays. I just heard that prices have risen, but I didn't know that they have risen to such a level!"

Mr. Kong has made so much money, so of course he knows what the price outside is like. At this time, he is just a drama genius possessed.

Mr. Kong continued, "Since that's the case, this 200,000 French currency is definitely not enough. I wonder how much French currency is needed to go to London to participate in the Olympics this time?"

"At least 15 billion fiat currency!" Dong Shouyi said from the side.

One hundred and fifty billion sounds like a very exaggerated number. Many people are afraid that if they count "0", they have to count for half a day. However, in that era of severe inflation, one hundred and fifteen billion fiat currency could be exchanged for a few big yellow croaker.

In 1948, the currency depreciated too quickly. On June 25, the price of gold in Shanghai was 200 million yuan per twentieth. A week later, on July 3, it rose to 300 million yuan per twentieth. In that era, the transaction volume was hundreds of millions of millions of gold for random purchases.

After the end of World War II, the international system was adopted with the US dollar-centered Blintton Woods system. At that time, the US dollar was directly linked to gold, and 1 ounce of gold was fixed for 35 US dollars. According to this exchange rate, the fixed price of one or two gold was about 56.2 US dollars. If 200 million yuan per twelve, 15 billion would be just buying 75 taels of gold, which is about 4,215 US dollars.

A Chinese delegation has dozens of people, only more than 4,000 US dollars in participation funds, which is very saving. Spending this amount of money to play in London is definitely the worst boat, eat the worst things, and live in the worst places.

Hearing the number of "one hundred and fifteen billion", Mr. Kong smiled and nodded, but did not agree immediately.

However, Wang Zhengting on the opposite side became more scrupulous. He quickly said: "Of course, you can't use fiat currency when you go to the UK to participate in the Olympics. You have to use US dollars, so you can ask your brother Yong to generously donate and sponsor 5,000 US dollars."

Wang Zhengting knew about the depreciation of domestic currency. Now he asked Mr. Kong for 15 billion fiat currency, which may be worth more than 4,000 US dollars. But when the delegation set off, it would be good that this fifteen billion fiat currency could be worth 2,000 US dollars. So Wang Zhengting firmly stated that he didn’t have fiat currency, just US dollars.

The two sides bargained in a series of bargaining. In the end, Mr. Kong agreed to sponsor US$3,000 as the participation fund for the Chinese delegation. Perhaps this was also Mr. Kong's only contribution to Chinese sports after becoming a member of the International Olympic Committee.

...

"Prince, $3,000 is far from enough to participate in the competition in London!" Dong Shouyi seemed not satisfied with the result.

"It would be great if you could get $3,000 this time." Wang Zhengting sighed and continued: "Let's think of other ways and streamline the personnel as much as possible. If it really doesn't work, just let the athletes go, so the coaches don't go, as this will save a lot of money."

"Even if you only let the athletes go, $3,000 is still not enough." Dong Shouyi said.

"Then let's streamline the athletes and try to pick some outstanding people to go to London." Wang Zhengting said.

Dong Shouyi wanted to speak but stopped. He wanted to say that even if he streamlined the athletes, 3,000 US dollars was still not enough. However, seeing that Wang Zhengting was already worried about the funding, Dong Shouyi couldn't bear to say anything else, so he had to get up and say goodbye.

Although the funds were solved for $3,000, the funds were still not enough. Dong Shouyi returned to the office of the National Sports Association with a depressed mood.

Several letters appeared on Dong Shouyi's desk, which should have been sent from the mailroom.

Dong Shouyi picked up the letter casually and did not untie it. He first looked at the sign of the sender. Suddenly, a Nankai University mailing address attracted Dong Shouyi's attention.

"Nankai University, it's Mr. Zhang Boling!" Dong Shouyi quickly tore open the letter.

Dong Shouyi quickly browsed the content of the letter, and his expression suddenly became excited.

"That's great. Chen Qiang is willing to pay for the delegation's expenses during the Olympics and the travel expenses back to China. If you only count the ticket to London, 3,000 US dollars is definitely enough!"

—————
Chapter completed!