Shanghai, this international metropolis, was the first major port opened during the Ming Dynasty. Today, just like its official history, it is the economic and financial center of South China and is known as the "Paris of the East."
The Financial Street along the Huangbu River is lined with European-style granite buildings. The world's major banks, insurance, investment and other financial companies, families, chaebols, etc. all have branches on this street. Dupont, Ross
Child, Morgan, Rockefeller, Onassis, Ford, Citigroup, HSBC, Deutsche, Royal Scotch, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Zurich, Union Swiss, as well as the Reichsbank (the central bank of the Ming Dynasty), the Royal Bank (the royal family's own bank)...
…Etc., etc.
Three flags are hung above the door of each house: the Ming Dynasty flag, the national flag of the country where it is located, and the company and family emblem flags.
Every day, an astonishing amount of bills are issued from here, changing the ownership of tons of banknotes and gold in the underground vaults of various banks. Every day, truckloads of banknotes are shipped out of this street, and truckloads of banknotes are transported in.
of banknotes.
Every day, countless people go bankrupt here and make countless people rich. The transactions here determine the price of a large part of the world's materials, gold and silver, oil, steel, coal, non-ferrous metals, agricultural products...
In the International Stock Exchange, all the trading areas look idle. They are taking a lunch break now. The heating is so warm that it makes people listless. The brokers loosen their ties and roll up their shirt sleeves, gathering together in twos and threes, eating and chatting.
, playing cards, chess, and reading newspapers. There were invalid transaction receipts, newspapers, and broken writing paper scattered on the ground, and no one was cleaning them up. Telephones, typewriters, abacus, etc. were scattered around, and thick black telephone wires were scattered on the ground.
The chalk numbers on the big blackboard still retain the last price at the morning's close.
There are 24 wall clocks lined up on the wall, indicating the time in 24 time zones around the world.
Since the royal family suddenly announced that His Majesty is seriously ill in the morning, the market in the stock trading area has fallen slightly. However, the bond area and futures area seem to have not been affected at all.
A press conference is currently being held in the Forbidden City in Nanjing. A group of people have gathered outside the palace gate, all here to inquire about the news. They are waiting for the reporters to come out, get first-hand information, and then quickly run to the telegraph office.
There are queues at every window of the telegraph office. The reporters who occupy the windows are spending money to post boring content. They just want to occupy the window until the end of the palace press conference, and their colleagues send the manuscripts, so they can be the first.
Send it out at home.
In Shanghai, the waiting room of the telegraph office was full of people, all followers of major newspapers and stock exchange brokers. They waited for the Nanjing telegram to arrive, received it as soon as possible, and then immediately ran to report it to the agency and back to the International Stock Exchange.
…
Nanjing Forbidden City.
A guard opened the small door, and a boy in a peaked cap ran out quickly, grabbing a piece of paper.
Everyone gathered around him and asked him questions noisily. He paid no attention to anyone and ran to the side of the road. He whistled and a rickshaw rushed over.
"Quick," he got into the car and shouted, "Telegraph office! Three times the fare!"
The rickshaw made full use of its energy and drove away.
The people waiting were stamping their feet anxiously, feeling that something big had happened.
After a while, another boy ran out, and another group of people gathered around him...
…
Shanghai, Financial Street, World Stock Exchange.
With a bang, the side door of the bond hall was opened, and a teenage boy wearing a vest and cap rushed in panting, looking around for him.
All the brokers in the hall looked at him in surprise. One broker raised his hand and snapped his fingers. When the boy saw him, he rushed over, handed him a telex newspaper, took a banknote as reward and left.
Everyone was watching the broker. He stared at the telex newspaper, his face gradually changed color, and then without saying a word, he put the paper in his pocket and stared at the trading board.
Everyone followed his gaze and saw one of the columns on the big blackboard: Ming Dynasty Public Bonds
After a while, two or three more boys ran in and delivered the news to an agent. The phone also rang sporadically. The agents who received the call looked nervous, their faces changed drastically, and they began to call quietly.
The entire trading room was filled with a strange and tense atmosphere.
Soon, this atmosphere spread to other stock, futures and other trading halls. The entire International Stock Exchange was shrouded in this tense atmosphere.
Some people are well-informed and some are not.
But everyone is waiting for the opening at two o'clock sharp.
…
Two big bells rang in the distance. At the same time, a sharp electric bell rang in the venue.
The whole place was in a state of excitement. Phones were ringing one after another, and the sound of abacus beads was filling my ears. A broker rushed to the trading board first, grabbed a piece of chalk and filled in the number 28600\20000 under "Da Ming Public Bonds", and then shouted to the bottom amid the noise.
:
"The code is 20,000, the real price is 28,600, does anyone want it?"
No one took over. The agent waited for a moment, turned around and erased 28600, wrote 28200 again, turned around and shouted again:
"The code is 20,000, the real price is 28,200, does anyone want it?"
Still no one took over. There were already a dozen brokers crowded in front of the blackboard, and they all started selling Ming Dynasty bonds just like him. The whole hall was filled with shouts of "Does anyone want it?" and "Does anyone want it?"
Prices are falling. And they're falling fast.
The stock market is also falling. But the futures trading hall has a different atmosphere.
The news spread quickly. From the telegraph offices in Nanjing and Shanghai, the radio waves were transmitted to major cities around the world.
Now in the futures halls of major exchanges around the world, various strategic materials that were originally sluggish due to the Great Depression have begun to show weak gains.
…
All the brokers' faces were changing color with nervousness, they were sweating profusely, they were shouting about transactions, and they were running around the venue holding the transaction slips. From time to time, they would hurriedly write down notes and give them to their followers, who would rush to send them out...
An agent in the corner was holding the phone receiver, sweating coldly, and nervously said to the other end:
"Master Hou... the Ming government bonds have fallen below their face value. Ah, they have fallen again. Now they are only worth 92% of their face value... Master Hou, have you decided not to sell them?"
The study room of the Marquis of Changping. Zheng Gongyin held a microphone inlaid with cloisonné and said nervously:
"Yes, we can't sell it... At this moment, as an important member of the royal family, I have to stand up and support the country... If even the royal family starts to sell off its own country's public debt, what does that mean? Yes, I will definitely not sell it! Ji Sheng,
You buy me another 300,000, no, buy 500,000!... If I tell you to buy it, you will buy it!... No, I don't have any inside information, I just have confidence in Your Majesty, and I believe that Your Majesty will be blessed with good luck!... No
No, don't ask about this, I won't tell you... Yes, I'll reiterate again, His Majesty is suffering from an emergency and is currently in my residence... The plane was shot down, that's a rumor spread by the Qing captives! Yes, that's it,
Buy it quickly! Yes, let me tell you another account number. You can also buy 500,000 for this account! Yes, the account number is..."
After putting down the phone, Zheng Gongyin was so happy that she rubbed her hands together and walked around her niece who was standing by the desk painting meticulous flowers and birds, smiling as if she was looking at a money tree.
"Rongrong," he said with a smile on his face, "uncle has made a lot of money this time! Haha, Rongrong, you have made a lot of money too! My uncle just asked someone to buy 500,000 for you. Now it has fallen below the face value.
, I guess when I bought it, 80 percent of the face value was pretty good... Haha, I was originally worried about how to get the news out, but now the fools from the "Qing Daily" have done it for me. It seems that Qinglu really believed it...
...Haha, now the whole world thinks that you were shot down in the Puppet Qing Dynasty. They will catch you soon, and we will fight with the Puppet Qing Dynasty soon... Haha, by then we will have enough to eat. All we need to do is announce that you have recovered from the illness.
, if you show up and speak on the radio, the public debt in our hands will double... Haha, the wonderful thing is that our royal family has not lied to them from the beginning, and has continued to refute the rumors... Who called them
Don’t believe it? You really can’t blame others! Haha! My uncle is so happy, let’s show a movie tonight! Rongrong, what movie do you want to watch? Chaplin? Shirley Temple? Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck? Let’s have a good laugh
!”
Zhu Yourong listened to Zheng Gongyin's coppery laughter, and the fish she painted became more and more tacky. She simply stopped painting, put down her pen and said with a smile:
"Uncle, are you really that happy making money?"
Zheng Gongyin was stunned and speechless for a moment, unable to think of how to answer.
Zhu Yourong said again:
"I still feel bad about using this method to plunder money from my own citizens."
"Rong Rong," Zheng Gongyin laughed again, "most of the people speculating on our Ming Dynasty public bonds are foreign consortiums. Their money is nothing if they don't make money. Besides, we don't do this to make money.
In order to create an illusion, cooperate with Xiang Xiaoqiang's actions on the Qinglu side. Haha, make some money, just for the sake of it. This is also a lesson to them. They don't believe the statements of the Ming Dynasty royal family, and only listen to the rumors of the Qinglu... As a result
How about it? Let’s see, after this time, our words will be more effective in the future.”
Zhu Yourong sighed:
"This kind of thing must never happen again, otherwise the credibility of our royal family will be ruined. Well... I can only stay in the backyard these days, which is the next best thing."
Zheng Gongyin looked at his niece holding her chin with a bored look on her face, and said with a smile:
"That's right. He is a little bigger than Xiaoqiang Zhima. He allows you to cooperate with him. It can be considered a blessing from his previous life."
Zhu Yourong said:
"Uncle, did grandpa tell you? He didn't sell anything, right?"
Zheng Gongyin nodded and smiled:
"Don't worry, the main members of our family know about it. If we do this kind of thing, we royal family members will all stick together. There are still a few sporadic royal family members who don't buy much and are relatively distant, so there is no need for them.
Tell them. Not many people know about this kind of thing."
Zhu Yourong thought for a moment and said:
"Well, that's fine. Uncle, you can ask someone to buy more for me..."
"oh?"
"I think... even if I buy it for them, if they lose money later, I will replenish it for them... They are my family members, 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 you, Rongrong, are so thoughtful... Yes, this is the best thing to do. Also, Rongrong, don't forget, many of the factory guards' bosses have bought Ming Dynasty government bonds. Factory Supervisor Shen naturally knows
, but that’s not necessarily the case with the directors below and the Jin Yiwei. They are on our side and we cannot let them suffer. There are also the army, the General Staff of the Land, the General Staff of the Sea, the Commander of the Nanjing Garrison, and
Most of the main army commanders and fleet commanders bought these things. Although the quantity is not large, and the total is only a fraction of ours, we cannot let them suffer because of us. They are all very useful people in the future.
"
Zhu Yourong nodded and said:
"What uncle said is that I will supply them all."
Zheng Gongyin smiled and said:
"Haha, let your uncle pay for this money, and reward them later in your name."
"Thank you uncle...and ah...uncle, um, help that Xiang Xiaoqiang buy some..."
"Huh?" Zheng Gongyin stared at her, a little strange.
"Well...yes," Zhu Yourong drank from the cup and said while drinking from behind the cup, "after all, he was the one who handled things for us through life and death...don't forget him...just use what we promised him."
That money... Well, I got some tea, bah..."
Zheng Gongyin stared at her and said thoughtfully:
"That's fine. Anyway, he entrusted us to help him invest. If he comes back successfully, even the principal and interest will be his. If he doesn't come back... it's still ours anyway."
He was thinking: Xiang Xiaoqiang, with your Majesty's words, your hundreds of thousands will be doubled several times... Now even His Majesty is cooperating with you... Plus, with such a large sum of money, don't mess it up.
…
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Stomachache were muttering in the cell. There was a sound of messy footsteps, the fence opened, and an officer shouted:
"Get in!"
A young girl stumbled in and fell to the ground.
"Bang!" The cell door was locked and the officer left.
The girl lay on the ground and kept twitching. The two people rushed forward to help her up. It was the girl with glasses.
She raised her face, her glasses were cracked, her face was stained with tears, and the corners of her mouth were bruised.
"Ah," Xiang Xiaoqiang exclaimed in surprise, "It's you!"