"We hereby appoint a special commissioner to collect the money deposited in your bank, 8 million taels of silver! Song."
This is the number written on the white paper by General Song.
8 million taels. This almost exaggerated figure may make people a little confused and unable to realize how much there is. If converted into tons, it is 400 tons of silver.
What is this concept? If it is piled up, it will be a mountain, a shining silver mountain. If you want to transport it, with the transport capacity of one train wagon in this era, which can carry 30 tons, you will need thirteen wagons, that is, one train wagon.
The whole train.
The whole thing is running on a silver train, which is very exciting just thinking about it.
"How many oceans does this cost?" Tang Dao's little tongue trembled in his throat.
"Not much. If converted into silver, it's only 20 million!" Admiral Song seemed to be speaking casually, but the twitching of the muscles on his face still revealed his true feelings of pain.
No, it would be painful for anyone else.
Tang Dao didn't know what to say for a moment. He must have saved the earth in his previous life! Otherwise, why would such a good thing hit him on the head?
20 million is an almost exaggerated number. Not to mention it is an astronomical number in this turbulent era. Even if it is placed in the next hundred years, it will definitely be a number that dazzles ordinary people.
You know, this is 20 million yuan in this era. If the purchasing power of future currency is used, this is equivalent to billions of yuan.
If he could really have this kind of wealth, Tang Dao wouldn't have to work hard to earn any money. He could just lie down and support ten four-element groups.
After all, the 67th Army, an infantry army with a strength of 30,000 to 40,000 people, will never have more than 3 million silver dollars in annual military expenditures including material consumption, military pay, etc.
Seeing Tang Dao being stunned by the number written on his paper, showing for the first time what a young man should look like, Admiral Song's heartache was relieved a lot, and he showed a bit of pride, and said with a slight smile: "
How about this number, is Commander Tang still satisfied?"
"Sir Song, this gift is a bit too heavy." Tang Dao swallowed hard and swallowed back the words 'can't move'.
He has nearly 3,000 people in his four-pronged regiment, as well as hundreds of pack horses and more than a hundred carts. He is almost exhausted from transporting the equipment of two infantry regiments. If it were to move money,
Maybe, it’s not necessarily possible to move it.
Tang Dao did not question where the wealth came from. Based on his understanding of these elders, although they have a strong desire for power, they are definitely not like some people in later generations who like to make big claims with empty words.
If it is given, it will definitely be given.
"Is it serious? Then you really underestimate your brother Zhang's influence in North China." Admiral Song obviously understood the wrong meaning, shaking his head slightly, with a trace of melancholy on his face. "If he hadn't given in with all his strength, I'm afraid,
Zhang Xingchen's position as the number one player in North China belongs to him. Facts have proved that his original decision may have been wrong."
Tang Dao remained silent.
He knew that the old man in front of him, who had already passed his sixtieth birthday, might just want to listen, rather than interjecting into the conversation as a young junior who didn't know many of the inside stories.
"You don't even know how this money came from, so I'll tell you."
Following General Song's reminiscence, Tang Dao finally understood the ins and outs of the money, and it also matched up with a famous event in history.
It turned out that this money was the source of the future "Pingjin Silver Incident".
China's financial industry began to flourish decades ago. As the political, cultural and commercial center of northern China, Yanjing's financial industry is indispensable.
Banking institutions belonging to the government include the Yanjing Branch of the Bank of China, the Yanjing Branch of the Central Bank, the Yanjing Branch of the Bank of Communications, the Yanjing Branch of the Postal Savings and Remittance Bureau; in addition, there are Jiangsu and Zhejiang Industrial Bank, Yanjing Bank of Salt Industry
Beijing Branch and other private commercial banks; as well as HSBC Yanjing Branch and Citibank Yanjing Branch in Western countries; even Japan has a Zhengjin Bank Yanjing Branch, etc.
It's hard to say whether they were serious or not, but before the war started, the Japanese had already extended their tentacles from the financial industry to North China, which also meant that they were well prepared for financial plunder.
After the July 7th Incident, more than 30 banks in Yanjing closed down, and the four major state-owned banks either moved to Jiangxia or went out of business completely.
As long as it is a bank, there must be cash or gold at the bottom of the box. At that time, China was following a silver-standard mentality and the four major banks went out of business. However, the silver stored in the vaults was not so easy to transport. Not only Japan
There are still powerful local factions like General Song who are trying to make a comeback. After such a delay, as the situation worsened sharply, in the end it was impossible to leave even if they wanted to.
In the end, almost all the silver reserved by North China's financial industry remained in North China.
And how much wealth is there? Perhaps even this "No. 1 man in North China" himself doesn't know very well.
Tang Dao vaguely remembered that historical records showed that the total amount of silver stored in the concession was worth up to 57 million silver oceans. However, with the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army attacked the concession and seized this huge wealth.
In the end, this staggering amount of wealth became the accomplice of the Japanese. The pseudo-China Union Bank embezzled nearly 12.5 million yuan and used it as bank equity, plundering the wealth of people in North China. The remaining silver was packaged and shipped to Japanese military camps, plus
The total weight of the packed wooden boxes reaches thousands of tons.
Isn't it sad that such a huge wealth ended up in the hands of the Japanese because of some people's personal interests and became a bargaining chip for them to rebuild giant ships and cannons?
Fortunately, in this era, with Tang Dao, a little butterfly from the future, there was a slight turning point. The first man who once ruled North China was willing to hand over part of the huge wealth that was still in the concession.
Although 20 million is only a small part compared to the 57 million in the record, but in the spirit of digging out a little bit, Tang Dao doesn't mind. Maybe there is any discrepancy between the record and historical facts?
But soon, General Song extinguished Tang Dao's beautiful wishes.
Perhaps seeing Tang Dao's doubts about the 20 million and the total number of banks and bank accounts in North China amounting to tens of millions, General Song sighed slightly: "Of course the silver left by various banks and bank accounts in North China is more than 20 million.
But do you think that all this huge wealth belongs to our 29th Army? Then you are really thinking too simply. There are also shares of other forces. Even though they don’t have guns, as long as they are entangled together, my so-called
The King of North China also has to give them three points, not to mention there are people above to support them."
Tang Dao was silent.
Of course he knew those people that Admiral Song was talking about. The spokesmen of those people were mostly at the top of the current Chinese political arena. Their relationships were intertwined and they seemed to belong to different political groups fighting among themselves. However, when it came to sucking the blood of the people,
Their interests are extremely consistent. If anyone wants to touch their interests, they will pounce on them like wolves and tear them to pieces.
Faced with such a huge interest group, let alone a general like General Song who commanded one hundred thousand troops, so what if he commanded one million troops?
After all, their most famous spokesperson is the number one person in China's political arena today. It is because of his care that the so-called four major families have become the biggest blood-sucking worms in China.
Even when the country was ruined and the people were in dire straits, they never forgot the 'great' cause of 'making money'.
Reselling materials donated by overseas Chinese at high prices is nothing more than a common practice. It is their normal practice to directly withhold aid funds from the Western world that the government begged for, and deposit them in Citibank to earn interest without even entering the Chinese border.
Even the beautiful prostitutes who made a lot of money from the war can only use the word "unbelievable" to describe the chaos of the capital compradors they saw in China.
Corruption and bribery are not terrible. This kind of thing can happen in any era and under any system. Even when Lao Zhu struck hard and used the method of "peeling skin and filling grass" to crack down on corrupt officials, corruption and corruption still emerged in endlessly.
But if a person is about to lose his country, the ancestors once said, "Without the skin, the hair will be attached!" Under the wise saying, those people are still so obsessed with money, it is really only in this era.
Phenomenon.
There is an old saying in China: "If you want it to perish, you must first make it crazy!"
This may also be the biggest reason why that team finally reached the top. It was not just history that chose them, but the greed of their opponents that destroyed themselves first.
"Twenty million is already the maximum amount that I, Mr. Song, can use!" Admiral Song held out two fingers. "It's just that the silver is hidden in the concession, and the amount is huge. Unless you can lead your troops to capture Jincheng, otherwise
I really can't think of any way you can transport such a huge wealth out of there."
Yes, just like the batch of arms stored in the Jincheng Concession, how to transport this batch of silver out is the biggest difficulty.
Just like Tang Dao said before about "valuing" etiquette, "valuing" does not only refer to huge wealth, it really means the literal meaning.
How to transport hundreds of tons of silver? Bribe the Japanese and ask them to help carry it out? What do you think the Japanese will do?
I'm 100% sure I'll keep the money and carry the silver back to my military camp! Anyone with a sane mind would do this!
"But Xin Chen has full confidence in you. For this reason, he even gave up my hatred for his betrayal. I am really curious. I wonder if Captain Tang can solve my confusion?" Admiral Song's eyes surged.
With a strange light, he looked at Tang Dao.
This is definitely what he means.
The war situation changed so fast at the beginning that he could not go to Jincheng to withdraw the wealth accumulated by the 29th Army for many years in northern China. In the past few months, he had exhausted all his efforts and could not figure out how to escape from the concession surrounded by the Japanese army.
When the silver was shipped out, why did his brother think that the Tang Dao would be able to be taken out?
Tang Dao was slightly startled, there seemed to be something behind his words.
"Hey, it seems that you still don't quite understand the relationship between me and Xin Chen. Although I am the number one person in the 29th Army, as the commander of the 38th Division, Xin Chen commands the most elite infantry division of the 29th Army.
, with a strength of 40,000, in Yanjing, besides me, he is the one who has the most truth to his words. Otherwise, how could the man from Jinling appoint him as the mayor of Yanjing to negotiate with the Japanese?
This batch of silver does not belong to me personally, Mr. Song, but to the entire 29th Army. Do you think my warrant can do it? Before it left Yanjing, our 29th Army’s military headquarters had already made an agreement with Citibank and wanted to withdraw the silver.
, it can only be taken out if there is a warrant signed by Xin Chen and I, and a code word agreed with Liu Ruming personally. If there is less than one of the three, it will not work.
He wrote this letter to tell me that the only condition for him to settle the feud with me is to deliver this batch of silver to you, Tang Dao and Si Xing Tuan.
And he actually knows my personality very well. He knows that I, Song, am obsessed with returning to glory, so he attaches great importance to this batch of silver. How can he easily hand over the capital to make a comeback to others? But now
"
At this point, the army general looked out the window to the north, his eyes filled with despair.
"But Brother Zhang knows better that although you have some selfish motives, sir, you will definitely give in when faced with the interests of the country and the nation. This may be one of the reasons why Brother Zhang dared to write this letter." Tang Dao's heart was surging.
He looked at the general who was about to disappear from the stage of Chinese history with great seriousness and said.
This is not because Tang Dao slapped Rainbow because of 20 million silver, but the person in front of him did.
Even if his performance was slightly poor during the July 7th Incident, no one can deny his achievements in the Battle of the Great Wall and his unparalleled toughness in leading troops to guard North China for several years and refusing Japan's wooing, which also gave the entire China a rare few years.
Breathing time.
If North China had been lost two years earlier, the island country that occupied both the Northeast Plain and the North China Plain would have gained not only rich mineral resources such as iron, coal, and copper, but also a large amount of grain reserves. The troops stationed in North China might have far exceeded the current scale.
, China, fighting on two fronts, will face an even more embarrassing situation than now.
"You dare to tell the truth!" After hearing Tang Dao's praise, both positive and negative, Admiral Song showed a slightly bitter but proud smile on his face, and his originally sharp eyes softened a lot.
If it were before, who would have dared to say that he had selfish motives in front of him? Even if this was something he himself knew very well. However, although Tang Dao's words were a little harsh, they were more true, and this was something he dared to be proud of.
reason.
His selfishness stems from himself, but his love for this country and nation is also genuine.
Tang Dao didn't know that this former "No. 1 man in North China" had a deep mind. When he received the letter, his mood was complicated and changeable. First he was excited, then angry, then depressed, and finally...
calm.
The excitement naturally stems from the olive branch offered by his former confidant and subordinate. It is not only the restoration of the brotherhood between the two, but also represents the support of the general who commanded the army. However, the anger is that the former brother actually allowed him to let him go on the condition of repairing the relationship between the two.
He handed over the capital to make a comeback, even if it was something he couldn't get out even if he tried hard to get it;
Despondently, he finally admitted that North China is no longer his North China. If he doesn't give it to others, that huge wealth can only lie in the vaults of Western banks and mold; calmly, it is inner reason that has defeated selfishness and thought of the nation.
For big.
Tang Dao's words perfectly captured the army general's thoughts after he defeated himself. Naturally, the look in Tang Dao's eyes was much softer.
Of course, for Tang Dao, his heart was surging not because of the admiral in front of him, but because of his infinite gratitude to the newly recognized eldest brother.
Not only was he willing to give up grudges to help him raise a huge sum of money, but he was also trusted.
That was perhaps the first person who had such unconditional trust in him after coming to this world. Whether it was Deputy Commander Xie or Comrade Wu who met him for the first time, they all had reservations about their trust in Tang Dao because of their personalities and situations, until
As time went by and the battlefield continued to change, I finally believed in Tang Dao without reservation.
It takes a process to truly believe in someone. Ninety-nine percent of people in this world will do this, otherwise they will be called fools.
Commander Zhang, on the other hand, was one of those "idiots", but after spending an afternoon together, he actually trusted Tang Dao so much that it even exceeded Tang Dao's own imagination.
Or, only a sentence written by the general who had been promoted to the commander of the group army in a personal letter to Tang Dao long later could explain many people's confusion.
'Little brother Tang, you don't have to thank me so much. My vision has been proven by facts. Therefore, I don't use so-called eyes to see you, little brother Tang. The reason for this is all forced by the situation. The 29th Army has already
Success or failure, no matter how hard it is to unite the military's morale, the day of collapse is not far away.
Use this money as wealth, but if you don't use it, it will be something for others or a dead thing; if you give it to the Four Elements Group, no matter whether you can take it or not, the Japanese will encounter a powerful enemy.
When there are 10,000 pieces, I would like to congratulate my brother Yao for high-fiving the Four Elements Group!'
The words were very smooth. He told Tang Dao that it was just a choice of the times. The 29th Army was no longer good. China needed a strong army in the north of China to cause big trouble to the Japanese. The Si Xing Tuan had this potential, which is why he helped Tang Dao like this.
knife.
In fact, the silver worth 20 million silver oceans he threw out was just a bait, tempting the Four Elements Group to fight the Japanese even more resolutely.
However, the Army Lieutenant General who did not want Tang Dao to appreciate his favor had forgotten that recognizing the strength of a mere infantry regiment was in itself a sense of trust that was almost "silly".
You know, the Japanese army in North China had more than 300,000 troops, and nearly one million Japanese soldiers to support them. Who else except "idiots" would regard an infantry regiment of less than 3,000 people as a seed of hope?
However, this is how he chose to trust.
Moreover, this time, he did not trust the wrong person.
Of course, the righteous Lieutenant General Zhang also made a minor mistake. The 10,000 heads he mentioned was really too conservative.
Even if the Four Troops don't attack frequently, as long as they get back that batch of silver and buy a Japanese head for 1,000 yuan, they can buy 20,000 pieces back.
Not to mention the Chinese, if things go wrong, the Japanese themselves want to chop off their own heads and send them over.
As for the answer that General Song was curious about how Tang Dao could quietly transport this batch of silver out of Jincheng, I'm afraid Tang Dao couldn't answer him.
It's not that I'm afraid that this person will change his mind if he finds out. It's such a secret, and the fewer people know about it, the better.
Tang Dao's brain may have been modified after traveling through time and space for hundreds of years, and it can move much faster than ordinary people. After learning that the condition for Commander Zhang and this man to abandon their past feud was this huge wealth, he knew the answer instantly.
Because, the only person in the world who can digest this batch of silver weighing hundreds of tons is Tang Dao.
There were originally no more than two people in the world who knew about this, but now there is one more.
