America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 532 Counterattack
"I'll join!"

First National Bank Chairman George Baker stood up and echoed the initiative of Chen Jianqiu and Morgan.

"We have no problem. It's time to teach those British guys a lesson and let them know that what they couldn't defeat a hundred years ago can never succeed now!"

National City Bank President James Stillman also stood.

Seeing the two big guys responding, other bankers also expressed their positions.

They can trust Morgan, and they can also trust Chen Jianqiu's gold.

It is unjustifiable for a Chinese to be so timid when he charges forward like this.

Moreover, if this battle is really won and I am not involved, I am afraid that I will not be able to keep up with Rehu in the future on Wall Street.

Everyone quickly began to discuss a rescue plan spontaneously.

They elected Chen Jianqiu, Morgan, Old Baker and Stillman to form a decision-making committee to mobilize resources for Monday's counterattack.

The party broke up late into the night.

Chen Jianqiu is still explaining some things to Okafor.

"Tomorrow you have two tasks. One is to pick up gold from the port. I don't need to say anything about this. The other is to pick up Mr. Wright, the Secretary of the Treasury. He will rush to New York from Washington tomorrow. Huh? Are you listening to me? ?"

Chen Jianqiu said to Okafor, but found that the latter was looking behind him.

"Boss, it seems that Mr. Morgan has something to do with you," Okafor said.

Chen Jianqiu turned his head and found Morgan standing behind him, looking at him with a cigar in his hand.

He walked over.

Morgan took out a strip-shaped leather case from his arms, then pulled out a finely rolled cigar and handed it to Chen Jianqiu's hand:
"I heard that you smoke it too? Try it, it's made in Cuba, it's pretty good."

Chen Jianqiu took the cigar with a smile, took out a box of matches from his jacket pocket, pulled out one, and lit it.

"Why are you so sure that I will enter?" Morgan asked while puffing away his smoke.

"You are a patriot." Chen Jianqiu said seriously.

"Oh?" The big banker's expression was unpredictable.

He had heard many praises for him, but this was the first time he heard the title "patriot" mentioned.

Morgan didn't know whether he was a patriot or not.

But he knew that the American financial market could not fail, let alone be easily swayed by the British.

Although in the past few decades, he had always been regarded as an obedient follower by Rothschild and Bahrain.

A smile appeared on Morgan's lips.

Times have changed, my lord.

As for what Chen Jianqiu said next, Morgan was even more convinced:
"Mr. Morgan, a patriot, the market will not let him lose money."

New York was quiet on Sunday.

But there is an undercurrent surging beneath the calm.

Bankers who attended Saturday's meeting gave up their rest and began to raise funds through various channels to prepare ammunition for next week's decisive battle.

And Chen Jianqiu was not idle.

Together with Morgan, he went to visit his old friend Pulitzer, the owner of the New York World.

The place where they met was at the newspaper tycoon's headquarters: the new Pulitzer Building.

Before Little Astor's luxury hotel was built, the building was the tallest building in New York at the time, with a full 20 stories.

The basement is used as a printing factory, the first floor is the sales department, the second to tenth floors are high-end office buildings for rent, and the tenth floor and above are the "Le Monde" hub.

The place where Pulitzer invited them to meet was in the office on the top floor of the gold-plated prototype.

"Don't you find it hot here in summer?"

Sitting on the chair, Chen Jianqiu patted the gold-plated armrest, looked around, and sighed.

He thought his office in New York was big and shabby enough, but compared with the newspaper tycoon's, it still pales in comparison.

This entire floor is Pulitzer's office.

"Oh, it's really hot in the summer, and there's no cover to the west. I'll go downstairs at that time." Pulitzer was half-lying in his large boss chair.

He sat up, looked at Chen Jianqiu and Morgan in front of him, and suddenly smiled.

His professional sensitivity made him understand that if these two people appeared in his office at the same time today, something big was definitely going to happen.

"Tell me, is there anything I can do for you two?" he asked.

Chen Jianqiu leaned forward slightly.

"You also paid attention to Friday's disaster in the stock market and bond market."

"Yes, yes, yes." Pulitzer suddenly became interested, "My editors and reporters have been following and reporting on this matter. They originally wanted to talk to one of you, but they both said they couldn't find you. I'm about to contact you."

"This is a war." Morgan spoke, his expression serious.

"Yes, we would like to ask the media brothers to help us announce something." Chen Jianqiu said immediately, "Not only for the market, but also for our opponents."

Pulitzer nodded repeatedly.

exclusive! First-hand information! mouthpiece!

For a media company, this is a dream come true.

"So, this is an interview, right?" Pulitzer stood up.

He walked to the tea table located in the corner of his office.

There was a pot of coffee brewing.

Pulitzer bent down, took out two small and graceful ceramic cups from the cabinet, lifted the coffee pot, and poured two cups of coffee into the cups.

He walked up to Chen Jianqiu and Morgan with two cups of coffee.

Chen Jianqiu smelled a strong aroma.

"Produced in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, the yield there is not high, but the quality of the coffee beans is very high. I like it very much." Pulitzer placed the coffee on the small table in front of Chen Jianqiu and Morgan.

He turned back to his desk, bent down, and took out a notebook with a beautiful cover but that was quite dated from the drawer.

Pulitzer moved a chair and sat across from the two men.

He opened the notebook, placed it on his lap, and then took out a very delicate pen from the inner pocket of his clothes.

"Then let's talk about how our heroes plan to save America."

Pulitzer crossed his legs, held his chin with one hand, spread the other hand, and started chatting with the two.

The first thing Chen Jianqiu and Morgan revealed to him was that when the market opens tomorrow, there will be 20 million US dollars of funds running into the market to participate in the fight against European capital;

In addition, US$12 million will enter the capital pool for stock brokers to lend and use to increase trading liquidity.

Pulitzer listened very carefully, writing like a dragon, and quickly recorded key data and information in his notebook.

"I thought your newspaper was only good at publishing pornographic stories." Chen Jianqiu glanced at Pulitzer's notebook and teased.

Pulitzer shook his finger:

"No, in normal times, we publish what my readers care about and want to see; but at critical moments, the public's views need to be guided, and we need to let them know the truth while speaking their minds."

"During this period, nothing is more worthy of attention than the situation in the New York Stock Exchange." Pulitzer said, "I will have them typeset and print it overnight so that the citizens of New York can know the news early tomorrow morning."

"I will also assign a special team to keep an eye on the 'battle situation' and be ready to issue special editions at any time," he added.

The three of them chatted for a long time until the sun was about to set.

"Would you like to have dinner together?" Pulitzer glanced at the large clock with gold hands in the corner and said, "I have everything in this building. You can even live here if you want."

"Have you also opened a hotel like little Astor?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"No, no, no, my entire eleventh floor is a bedroom, which is specially provided for those employees who can't go home because of overtime." Pulitzer said proudly, "So my editors are very happy to work overtime."

Chen Jianqiu curled his lips.

The culture of a company is determined by its boss.

If the boss is a workaholic, then the employees under him basically have to be prepared to treat the company as their home.

He suddenly slapped his head. "By the way, my manager will bring a distinguished guest here later. If convenient, please prepare a dinner for him and talk to the front desk on the first floor." Chen Jianqiu said, "You'd better arrange an interview for him as well. His words are also very important."

"Well, you have to tell me who's coming down, right?" Pulitzer Pyle
"You'll know when you get here. You should be familiar with him." Chen Jianqiu blinked at Pulitzer.

The restaurant in the Pulitzer Building, on the 8th floor.

This building is one of the few in New York that is equipped with an elevator. Designed by the American Otis Corporation, it uses a DC motor to drive the rope wrapped around the drum through a worm gear reducer to suspend and raise and lower the car.

Although the speed is not fast, it is better than climbing down the stairs from the 20th floor.

The restaurant on the eighth floor is more like a small bar, with a bar outside and a private room inside.

There were a few newspaper employees having drinks at the bar. When they saw the boss, they immediately put down their cups and greeted Pulitzer and the others.

"Drink, drink, just don't delay anything." Pulitzer waved his hand, then hurriedly led the two of them into the box.

The employees outside started discussing:
"Did you see those two people just now?"

"Well, the Chinese guy should be Mr. Chen who has been in the limelight recently. The other one should be Mr. Morgan. His big nose is so easy to recognize."

"The two of them showed up at our newspaper office. Something big must be happening!"

Chen Jianqiu and the other two were eating French food in a private room decorated in Baroque style.

The chef is a Frenchman from Paris, whom Pulitzer met and recruited when he was traveling in Europe. His cooking skills are only ok, but much better than many chefs in the United States.

Foie gras, black truffles, and baguette in soup.
Chen Jianqiu was even a little curious whether this Austrian media tycoon in front of him had French ancestry.

After the three of them ate and chatted for a while, there was a knock on the door of the box.

Pulitzer stood up and opened the door.

The first thing that caught my eye was Okafor's sturdy body, which almost filled the door frame.

He stepped aside to make way for the person behind him.

It is Mr. Wright, the federal finance minister.

The other two people in the room also stood up.

"Mr. Wright, I'm really sorry that we started eating without waiting for you." Morgan said apologetically.

"It's okay, it's okay." Wright waved his hands hypocritically.

But his little actions betrayed him.

The Secretary of the Treasury took a train from Washington to New York, eating some bread and drinking a glass of milk to fill his stomach along the way.

Looking at the delicious food on the table, the old man swallowed his saliva almost instinctively.

As the host, the newspaper tycoon did not expect that the Minister of Finance would come in such a hurry.

He quickly asked Wright to sit down.

"Don't worry about what to eat. Let me tell you what I need to say first." Wright said while looking at the people sitting on the seats while waiting for his food to be served.

"I'm here with a mission. The government is willing to lend you $500 million in government funds." He straightened his clothes and said, "The federal government will support you!"

Chen Jianqiu and Morgan looked at each other.

500 million US dollars is not a lot, but it is not a small amount either. As long as the US dollar does not collapse, it will have a certain fighting power.

Most importantly, the federal government has finally made its position clear.

They will stand on their side.

The next day, Monday morning.

Belmont arrived at the large room in his bank early, just like he did the previous week.

Many of his British staff have also arrived.

Belmont took the glass of milk and a piece of bread with butter handed to him by his assistant and looked at the board on the wall proudly.

Last Friday was a great success.

Today, he wants to press on with his victory, drive the market to the bottom, cause a systemic crisis, and then buy at the bottom depending on the situation.

At half past nine, the New York trading market opened.

At the beginning, the market situation was the same as two days ago. Large orders were placed, but no one was interested and the price kept falling.

Belmont seemed to see an endless battle line before him, where the enemy had been completely routed and defenseless.

The market is still down, but Belmont and his team are feeling proud.

But after another half an hour, something started to go wrong.

First, in the main battlefield, the railway sector, a large number of orders began to emerge and began to support the bottom.

"Hey, Chen Jianqiu, that country bumpkin, spent two days getting money again?" Belmont put down the phone with a smile on his face, "He doesn't want to live anymore! He's in a hurry to shoot himself!"

He turned his head and said to his staff:

"I know there is an idiom in Chen's hometown, called 'Mantis arms blocking the wheel', which means that the little mantis, not knowing how small it is, raises its arms to stop the wheel from moving forward. Today, we will let him understand the meaning of the idiom from his hometown!"

Belmont's assistants continued to follow his instructions and continued to sell.

The impact of their selling is not limited to themselves, but also to a considerable number of local holders.

These people did not have time to sell the securities they held last Friday, so they are scrambling to sell them today.

But what is strange is that no matter how many orders there are in the market, the bulls will accept them all.

They are like a bottomless pit, constantly devouring the chips in front of them.

The battle line was stuck there, not moving for hours.

Belmont felt more and more that something was not right.

He felt a little guilty.

According to his calculations, Chen Jianqiu and Little Astor should have exhausted their funds by now.

Just as he was puzzled, a team member rushed in, waving a newspaper in his hand, and said breathlessly:
"Boss! Boss! Oops, you need to see this!"

Belmont took the New York World from him, glanced at it, and his face turned pale.

"Led by Morgan and Chen Jianqiu, Wall Street collectively declared war on European financial capital!"

"Tens of millions of dollars in funding are in place, let's start the defense battle!"

"Morgan! This bastard! This traitor!" Belmont angrily threw the newspaper on the table.

His lips were trembling.

"Didn't you say he was sick? Huh?" He suddenly turned his head and stared at one of his subordinates with wide eyes.

It was this subordinate who had told him that Morgan had a bad cold.

The subordinates did not dare to say a word, but only whispered: "He is not a traitor, he is an American!"

But Belmont did not hear this. He ran madly to the board and growled like a wounded beast:

"Chips, we still have chips, hurry up, put them all out!"

The two sides began a bloody tug-of-war in various sectors, competing and consuming each other.

In fact, the situation on Chen Jianqiu's side is not very good.

By the end of the morning trading.

The $12 million in borrowed funds had already been used up by the stockbrokers, and the $25 million pool of funds had also reached the bottom.

"Let's have another meeting at noon. I can raise another 20 million US dollars." Morgan's eyes were blocked by the smoke from his cigar.

He kept smoking one cigarette after another this morning without stopping.

This is very rare.

After further analyzing the market turnover and funding situation in the morning, Morgan came to a preliminary conclusion.

"It looks like the outcome will be decided before 2pm." Morgan took a deep breath. "The media and the counterattack this morning have had some effect, but it's not enough. The market still lacks confidence. We have to keep working hard!"

Chen Jianqiu on the side nodded.

"Well, my dozens of tons of gold will soon arrive."

(End of this chapter)