Dreaming back to 1949, the great powers were there to deceive us

April 4th, sunny, perfect for an outing!

Huifeng Foreign Company, Charlie was furious.

"Morris, you old bastard! Little bastard! Foul-mouthed jerk! Bastard!..."

Charlie used every curse word he knew.

The negotiations between Puxi Iron and Steel and Otto Trade lasted all night. At five in the morning, news came that the order was intercepted by Haben Trading, a subsidiary of Huaqi Foreign Company!

The bad news doesn't end there. Last night, almost all the account managers of foreign companies went out to visit clients.

Huifeng did not fail to gain anything, but compared with Huaqi Foreign Company, Charlie was very dissatisfied.

What infuriated Charlie most was that he had been tricked by Morris.

When I called last night, Morris hadn't slept at all and was working from home!

After Charlie smashed another vase, the assistant pushed the door open, put a document on the desk, and said,

"Sir, this is the contract signed between TA Company and Xinzhong Machinery Factory. It contains a disclaimer clause. If the price of raw materials exceeds a certain limit, Xinzhong can propose to terminate part of the contract!"

"What do you mean?"

Charlie grabbed the contract and prepared to read it, but it was full of Chinese characters!

The assistant was silent for a moment, then said helplessly,

"TA's contract is based on the current market price of raw materials. If prices rise by more than 5%, the manufacturer will cancel the contract if it becomes unprofitable. I've also heard another rumor!"

Charlie slammed the contract on the table and scolded impatiently,

"Stop hesitating, if you have to fart, let it out!"

This white devil has been in China for a long time and has mastered the art of cursing!

The assistant pulled a long face and whispered,

"TA company encourages Xinzhong to build a factory on Irian Island. If they are willing, Hu Zhenhua will increase the order!"

He carefully observed Charlie's mood changes, and seeing that he was not angry, he continued,

"At present, the Aode Foreign Trade Company is still unaware of this news. We must act quickly!"

Charlie pointed at the contract on the table and asked,

“How did this contract come about?”

"I bought it from a manager in Xinzhong for a thousand dollars!"

Charlie nodded, seeming to approve of the assistant's approach. He was no longer angry and calmed down in an instant.

"You did a great job! Get the car ready right away. I'm going to see Hu Zhenhua!"

The assistant looked at the sky outside and hesitated.

"Mr. Charlie, it's only 5 a.m.!"

"Then I'll go sit and wait at Huamao. We can't rely on any more luck. Morris first won a massive 400 million yuan order from Jiangnan Shipyard, and yesterday he reached an agreement with Puxi Iron and Steel for a whopping 300 million silver dollars. Huifeng is lagging far behind!"

"But you still have a meeting with the foreign companies at 9 o'clock this morning!"

Hearing this, the flesh on Charlie's face couldn't help but tremble. He suppressed the anger in his heart and shouted,

"Meet up! Meet up! Everyone's fighting and getting their heads bruised and bloody!"

"Then I'll notify you to cancel!"

The assistant was about to turn around and leave when Charlie suddenly shouted,

"Wait a minute!"

Charlie returned to the sofa and sat down, rubbing his eyebrows continuously. This silence lasted for a full 5 minutes!

"What's the interest rate we're offering on loans now?"

"The highest is 11%, and manufacturers with good qualifications can give 5%."

"What about other foreign companies?"

"It's similar to us. After all, we're all trying to make money. No matter how fiercely we compete, there has to be a bottom line!"

Charlie scoffed at the idea.

The bottom line is meant to be constantly broken through. If you stick to it, you must be a fool!

He waved his hand, called his assistant over, lowered his voice,

"What do you do..."

After hearing this, the assistant widened his eyes.

"Mr. Charlie, if we do this, I'm afraid we'll break the rules!"

"Whose rules are you breaking? What law is this? Do as I say!"

"Yes!"

After the assistant left, Charlie finally showed a slight smile on his face.

What are rules? Rules are used to restrain others.

I may not keep it, but you must!

It was only half past five when Charlie arrived at Chinachem. Hu Zhenhua had just fallen asleep.

Last night, Zhou Yongnian, Wang Mo, Hu Zhenhua and Guo Dachong finally reached a consensus after a fierce debate.

TA Company and TA Insurance officially separated, with TA Company holding 70% of TA Insurance's shares.

In the coming year, TA Insurance will donate 1000 million yuan to the Charity Federation. The first batch of donations will be provided in one month, with an amount of 30 yuan!

In addition, Hu Zhenhua invited Zhou Yongnian to join the board of directors of TA Insurance. In the future, 10% of TA Insurance's profits will be donated to the Charity Federation!

Although Wang Mo was unwilling, he had no choice but to accept it.

He doesn't have the courage to displease the First Lady.

In order to take control of TA Insurance's finances as soon as possible, Wang Mo transported 1000 million yuan that night. This move made Hu Zhenhua grit his teeth.

The bastard obviously has money, but he wants to pay his debt with a bunch of junk!

What a bad conscience!

After all this trouble, it was already four o'clock in the morning!

As soon as Charlie stepped into the door of Chinachem, he saw several familiar figures, including Kenny, Thomson and Morris.

Charlie thought he was working very hard, but now he suddenly realized that others were working harder than him!

This feeling of loss is hard to describe.

Charlie thought he would be angry when he saw Morris, but now he is calm.

He walked forward enthusiastically and greeted everyone one by one.

"Mr. Morris, congratulations! I heard that Haben Trading has won an order for tens of thousands of tons of iron ore!"

Morris did not hide it and admitted it openly.

"Thank you. I only got the news in the early morning, no wonder the magpies were chirping all night long yesterday!"

Charlie just laughed at this nonsense.

Kenny on the side was regretting it to death. When it comes to the supply of iron ore, Australia is the closest. Morris got the order and immediately placed an order with Australia. Just by doing this, he didn't have to do anything and could make at least 10% profit, which was faster than robbing money!

Kenny was unwilling to let the middleman make a profit from the price difference, so he came to Chinachem early in the morning to test Hu Zhenhua's attitude and see if there would be any subsequent orders.

Or, grab Morris's order!

Kenny no longer dared to hope for a price increase, but if possible, giving a reasonable discount was not impossible.

Thomson also regretted it. The shipload of cotton was still piled at the dock, and no one was interested in buying it even after it was discounted.

The cotton spinning manufacturers in Shanghai, who have always been willing to compromise, are unwilling to show up this time for some reason.

The cotton textile industry in Shanghai did not dare to offend the foreign companies, but that did not mean they were willing to be slaughtered. Now that Hu Zhenhua had said no to the foreign companies, although those merchants did not dare to cheer for him, they could still refuse to buy that shipload of cotton.

Besides, Thomson’s discounts are not very sincere.

Such junk is only 15% off.

The current situation is unstable, so everyone should be cautious.

Last night, all the major foreign companies made gains, except Jardine Matheson. Either the major manufacturers desperately lowered the interest rate, or refused to accept the request to keep the funds in Jardine. In short, they made all kinds of difficulties.

So far, Jardine Matheson has not signed a single loan.

Morris looked at their expressions and felt quite pleased with himself. The amount of loans issued during the recent flowering period was far ahead, and they were all high-quality customers.

The further you go, the worse the quality of customers becomes!

He thought for a while and said,

"Gentlemen, I've suddenly discovered a problem. We all require our clients to keep their funds within our own banks. This certainly ensures sufficient capital, but there's also a problem. For example, the Jiangnan Shipyard has an urgent order for welding rods, and they need them within three days. However, the trading companies under our Huaqi Bank can only purchase them from nearby Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Japan."

Morris looked at Charlie and continued,

"Jiangnan Shipyard is unable to place orders directly with British-owned companies due to a lack of funds. Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are British-owned spheres of influence, and we have limited branches, so we can only place orders with British-owned companies. But we are competitors!"

Charlie had understood what Morris meant and said with a smile,

"Mr. Morris, do you mean to say that loans and orders are to be handled separately?"

Morris gave a meaningful smile.

If the loan and the order were separated, Morris would not be able to earn money from the order, which he did not want. However, Morris had a solution. He said,

"Separating loans from orders raises a question: funding. If all foreign companies place orders with Huifeng, does that mean all funds will flow to Huifeng?"

Charlie was in a much better mood and said with a smile,

"Ordering and paying, isn't this a normal thing?"

Morris shook his head.

"The premise of cooperation is win-win. If you only care about your own interests, then forget my proposal!"

Charlie's mood became better. He had already sensed something was wrong: the American-funded company could not meet the manufacturer's requirements on the delivery time of goods!

If this is the case?

Ha ha.

This is indeed the case. TA company's order this time is too urgent, and they need the raw materials even more urgently. If the goods do not arrive within three to five days, they will not accept them.

The goods from the United States are thousands of miles away, so it’s simply too late.

But British capital is different. Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are their traditional sphere of influence, and they can transfer goods quickly.

Charlie's back straightened up, and his face showed an indifferent attitude.

"Mr. Morris, I'm so sorry that I can't go hand in hand with the flowering season!"

Morris saw Charlie was sure of defeating him and said with a smile,

"Mr. Charlie, although my delivery time may be slow, if I lower the price appropriately, I believe TA Company will accept it! After all, we also have a branch in Borneo!"

This is the rhythm of a price war!

Seeing that the two of them were on edge, Kenny was afraid that it would harm his own interests, so he immediately stepped in to mediate.

"Harmony brings wealth, harmony brings wealth. Once a price war breaks out, both sides will suffer and there will be no winners!"

Thomson also smiled and said,

"Mr. Morris, do you have a way to have the best of both worlds?"

Morris then revealed a satisfied smile.

"I have a preliminary plan for your reference. For example, regarding the welding rods from Jiangnan Shipyard, I will immediately transfer them to Huifeng after receiving the order. Of course, I will pay the costs in this process, so Huifeng will pay an appropriate intermediary fee of 2%. How about that?"

After thinking about it, Charlie realized that the 2% agency fee was indeed not high. He immediately asked,

“How are funds settled?”

"Huaqi will issue acceptance bills or banknotes to Huifeng, and we will deduct and settle the accounts according to a certain period! Of course, Huaqi Bank will also accept Huifeng's acceptance bills and banknotes. This way, we don't have to worry about capital and can expand our credit!"

Kenny and Thompson looked at each other.

They are all experienced bankers, how could they not understand the ins and outs of this?

Acceptances and banknotes are issued based on the bank's reserves, and in theory they cannot exceed the reserve funds.

Normally, major foreign banks are very cautious about the banknotes they receive and will exchange them for cash at the corresponding foreign bank within a certain period of time.

Why do foreign banks require customers to keep their money in their own banks? So that they can over-issue banknotes. Because the over-issued banknotes of their own banks return to their own banks, there will be no risk of bank runs, and they can still earn excess profits.

Let's take a simple example: A deposited 10 yuan with Huifeng. Huifeng needs to keep a reserve. If it is 20%, then the amount of funds that can be loaned out is 8.

B borrowed 8 yuan and paid it to C.

C was deposited in Huifeng!

Huifeng received 8 yuan in deposits, leaving a 20% reserve, and could lend out yuan.

D borrowed the money again and paid it to E.

E deposited the money into Huifeng again!

Huifeng received deposits...

This cycle continues endlessly, and the money remains the same 10 yuan, but after a round, Huifeng's total loan amount may exceed 20 yuan, 30 yuan, or even more.

This is under normal circumstances.

If Huifeng issues banknotes itself, it would be equivalent to itself being the central bank and being able to print money. Theoretically, the loan amount could be expanded indefinitely.

Morris's plan was even more radical, as it was tantamount to asking everyone to recognize each other's over-issued banknotes.

In this way, there are more than a dozen central banks with the right to issue banknotes in the market.

Charlie swallowed.

At present, the gold yuan has become worthless. What if a stable currency appears in the market at this time?

With the size of the major foreign banks in the banking industry in Shanghai, once banknotes begin to circulate, it will no longer be a dream for them to become actual legal tender!

They are 'de facto' because governments will not recognize their legal tender status.

The rewards are huge, but the risks are equally huge!

Kenny coughed twice, bringing Charlie back to reality. He shook his head helplessly. He could only think about replacing the gold yuan, because once banknotes were in circulation, you had to ensure free exchange. Once there was any disturbance that triggered a run on the bank, the foreign company would go bankrupt in an instant!

Morris was not in a hurry and looked at his old friends with flushed faces with a smile.

Charlie thought for a moment and said,

"We must establish strict rules. The banknotes issued must be limited to this loan order. Ideally, they should only circulate among foreign banks. Privately cashing in banknotes between members is prohibited. We must also sign an agreement to share the risks!"

Morris laughed.

Among all the major foreign companies, Huaqi ranks at the top in terms of scale and can attract the most customers!

Therefore, the more banknotes are issued in the future, the greater the excess returns will be!

"Mr. Charlie, you agree with my proposal?"

"Why not that?"

Everyone burst into laughter again!

Thomson frowned. Morris and Charles's plan was clearly disadvantageous to Jardine Matheson, because banknotes were based on loans, and in this regard, Jardine Matheson was in an awkward position.

Thomson immediately expressed a different opinion.

"Gentlemen, I think we should form a supplier alliance first to determine the market share and avoid undercutting each other on price!"

Since we can’t get a loan, we’ll focus on ordering! This is Thomson’s solution!

Morris didn't care, since he only earned a 2% commission at most.

Charlie would not mind at all, because Jardine Matheson is British capital and they are one of our own!

What's more, only after determining the share can you guarantee the price and earn more profits!

With a common topic, everyone was no longer in a hurry to meet Hu Zhenhua. They rented a guest room and began to discuss the details.