The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 599 Emergency Deployment

Xi Ligong's report on the stock exchange particularly attracted Teng Yuzao's attention.

According to Xi Ligong's report, he found that someone had been secretly buying stocks of the Bicycle Company, the Electric Company, the Beiyang Machinery Company, the Flour Company, and the Beiyang United Alkali Company.

After his secret investigation, he found that there were mainly seven people who bought large amounts of stocks of these companies. All of them came to Tianjin from Beijing. Four of them were businessmen who specialized in stock speculation and had been in Tianjin for more than two years.

The other three had just arrived in Tianjin half a month ago.

The purchasing behavior of these people caught Xi Ligong's attention. Although the seven of them purchased stocks separately, the types of stocks they purchased were exactly the same. They all concentrated on buying stocks of these companies. The original stocks in the hands of the four businessmen who had speculated on the stocks had been completely sold out.

In addition, after learning that someone was secretly acquiring the stocks of these companies, Xi Ligong did not wait until the end of the quarter to compile statistics on the shareholders of each listed company, but immediately began to summarize the shareholders of all stocks.

After statistics, Xi Ligong found that not only these people were buying stocks of these companies, but also foreign banks from Britain, Japan, France, Germany, the United States and other countries, led by HSBC, were involved and have also recently purchased stocks of these companies.

These foreign banks include HSBC, RBC Bank and Mercantile Bank of Britain, Deutsche Asiatische Bank and Huatai Bank of Germany, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank of France, Bank of Japan and Citibank of the United States.

Among them, the French Bank of Societe Generale, the German Bank of Deutsche Asiatische Bank, Huatai Bank and the American Citibank, in addition to purchasing stocks of these companies, have recently purchased stocks of all railways and mines.

Including shares of Beiyang Iron and Steel Company in Tangshan and Hanyang Gun Factory, the Germans were also interested in Dagu Shipyard's shares, but their targeting was not very strong.

The banks in Britain and Japan, apart from the dozens of Beiyang and Aurora Industrial Development Company stocks they had purchased in the past, now only focused on purchasing the stocks of the above-mentioned companies, and they were exactly the same types purchased by the seven people.

However, they are buying slowly, seemingly fearing that it might cause the stock to rise or draw attention.

Xi Ligong suspected that someone was preparing to forcibly acquire the companies mentioned above.

Moreover, Xi Ligong also believed that these individuals were likely to be in collusion with the British and Japanese banks, or at least they knew some information.

All companies with the word "Beiyang" in front of them belonged to the Zhili Governor-General's Office, while the companies belonging to Teng Yuzhao were all under the name of "Aurora Industrial Development Company". The rest of the listed companies that did not have the word "Beiyang" or "Aurora" in their names were listed companies founded by businessmen from all over the country, including the pen-making company that had removed the word "Aurora", which was the original fountain pen factory.

As for the pen factory, Teng Yuzao had allowed Zhou Xuexi to retain 20 percent of the shares and then put it up for sale. Now the company that holds the most shares in the pen-making company has become the Shanghai China Merchants Steamship Company.

In the office of Teng Yuzhao in the Governor's Office, Teng Yuzhao, who was sitting on the sofa, frowned and asked Xi Ligong beside him.

"Yucheng, regarding those seven people, are you sure they are all from the capital?"

Xi Ligong nodded and said, "Marshal, these people not only all have Beijing accents, but they come to the bank almost every six or seven days, and each time they exchange large sums of banknotes ranging from 300,000 to 500,000, and then go to the stock exchange to gradually buy stocks."

“That was the reason they were first noticed.”

After thinking for a while, Teng Yuzhao left his seat, paced a few steps on the ground, then walked straight to the desk, picked up the receiver, and shook the handle of the phone and spoke.

"Ask Li Yaoting to come to my place."

The telephone on Teng Yuzao's desk is a product of Aurora Electric Company. Now Teng Yuzao has asked Zhou Xuexi to completely integrate the receiver and the microphone together. This also has patented technology, but this technology has now been authorized for production by major European and American manufacturers.

Of course, all manufacturers have to pay patent licensing fees to electrical companies.

The only regret is that electrical companies are not yet able to manufacture switches, so dial-up calls are not possible for the time being.

"Yucheng."

After putting down the phone, Teng Yuzao asked, "If the British and Japanese banks, as well as these seven people, are colluding to acquire these companies, it should be difficult to achieve."

"As far as I remember, apart from the flour mill, which had more shares circulating in the market, the remaining companies' shares did not exceed 60%. Jizhi should have more than 40% of the shares in his hands."

"The other party wants to acquire more than 40% of the shares in the stock market. Is this too difficult? It seems almost impossible."

"As for exceeding 50% and achieving absolute control, this should be even more difficult."

Xi Ligong nodded and said, "The Marshal is right. It is indeed very difficult to achieve absolute control. Even reaching more than 40% is difficult."

"However, it is not impossible. As long as there is an unexpected event, such as a war, once someone spreads some false information, it may trigger a panic sell-off. It is hard to say when it will happen."

Teng Yuzao was still a little confused and asked again.

"If that's the case, can't you buy back some of Jizhi's shares? That would not only stabilize the market, but you could even make some extra money."

Xi Ligong smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal, we have issued 180 million banknotes, but our reserve fund still only has 40 million gold coins. If we use a large amount of banknotes to buy back stocks, if someone spreads news that is unfavorable to the bank and triggers a wave of banknote exchange, the bank will have a hard time dealing with it."

Teng Yuzao was still a little confused and asked again.

"Aren't there still dollars that these merchants exchanged?"

Xi Ligong shook his head and said, "Our banknotes are mainly circulated in Zhili and Shandong. In Beijing and Shuntian Prefecture, banknotes cannot be circulated at all because of the obstruction of the Beijing Commercial Bank controlled by Yixin and others."

"It's the same overseas. All the silver dollars and foreign exchange we collect are loaned out to foreign trade businesses and merchants from other provinces."

"It's the same with the railways. They use silver dollars and gold coins for their expenditures in other provinces."

"Also, recently we have built foreign-oriented factories, new schools and railways, military expenditures, and loans to merchants who lack funds. In particular, we have invested in Dadeheng to improve the network of branches of Aurora Bank. This alone has cost 20 million. These expenses are not only huge, but many of them have to be paid in dollars and gold coins."

"According to Jizhi and I's estimates, we have to wait another half a year until the companies of Beiyang and Zhendan Industrial start to generate a lot of benefits, such as the promotion of filters, and the new products of the electrical company and the new products of the bicycle company and United Alkali Manufacturing Company open up the international market. Only then will our bank have a large-scale capital return. Otherwise, our bank..."

It was not until then that Teng Yuzhao finally realized that the situation was much more complicated and serious than he had imagined.

Once there is a problem in the stock market, it is not just a matter of a few companies being acquired and controlled, it may also trigger a collapse.

What worries Teng Yuzhao the most is that if a bank run happens again, he will have to tighten his belt and even fight quickly if he wants to join the fight.

"besides."

Xi Ligong said, "Marshal, yesterday I heard from a comprador from Shanghai at HSBC that it is very likely that the Ministry of Revenue will also set up a bank and issue banknotes."

"This person also told me quietly that this should be the result of Yixin's strong promotion." "The Ministry of Revenue also wants to set up a bank! It was Yixin who pushed it hard!"

What Xi Ligong said made Teng Yuzao feel nervous.

Yixin has now become his mortal enemy, and anything Yixin pushes for will definitely not be a good thing for him.

Teng Yuzao had always thought that since there was already the Beijing Commercial Bank established by Yixin and others, the Ministry of Revenue’s original plan to formally establish a bank next year should be cancelled.

Even if it was to be established, it would be delayed due to Yixin's strong opposition.

But what he never expected was that Yixin not only did not stop it, but also took the initiative to promote it, so that the Ministry of Revenue Bank, which was supposed to appear next year, actually appeared a year earlier. This made Teng Yuzhao feel that there was something fishy.

What was Yixin planning to do? Teng Yuzao had a vague feeling that something was about to happen.

"Commander."

Xi Ligong asked inquiringly, "Should the Marshal ask Prince Duan?"

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said, "Although Zai Yi is still the Prime Minister of the Grand Council, Yixin, with the support of the palace, has now used the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Army Preparatory Office and other government offices to hollow out the Grand Council. Zai Yi is now just a decoration. He has not informed me of this news, so it is obvious that he does not know about this matter."

Li Yaoting almost ran to Teng Yuzhao's office, saluted Teng Yuzhao hurriedly after entering the door, nodded to Xi Ligong, and then spoke to Teng Yuzhao.

"Marshal, I just received news that the Ministry of Revenue is also going to set up a bank, and Yixin recommended Zhang Yunyan, an official of the Ministry of Revenue, to be the general manager."

"It is said that this Ministry of Revenue Bank was promoted by Yikuang. This bank will absorb and merge Yikuang's Beijing Commercial Bank. The total capital is 20 million taels. Yikuang only invested 80% of the capital of Beijing Commercial Bank, and the rest will be funded by the Ministry of Revenue or raised by commercial shares. It is also said that they will also issue banknotes!"

Teng Yuzao thought for a while and asked Xi Ligong, "Yucheng, how is the business of Beijing Commercial Bank?"

Xi Ligong shook his head and said, "The business is not doing well and there are many bad debts. I guess some of them can't be collected."

"Also, according to confirmed information, their initial capital was 9 million taels, of which Yixin alone contributed 5 million."

"This time, Yixin was willing to buy shares in the Ministry of Finance Bank at a 20% discount. He must have known that his bank would lose money."

"In addition, he probably wants to make some money from the Ministry of Revenue Bank to make up for the shortfall."

Teng Yuzhao already had a clue in his mind and asked Xi Ligong again.

"Do you know who this Zhang Yunyan is?"

Xi Ligong nodded and said, "I know. He is forty-six years old this year. His courtesy name is Berne. He passed the imperial examination in the fifteenth year of the Guangxu reign and has been working in the Ministry of Revenue ever since."

"Last year, he was sent to Japan to investigate banks, gold pounds, stamp duties and other matters in preparation for the imperial court's currency reform. Now issuing paper money should be the first step in the imperial court's currency reform."

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said to Xi Ligong, "Yixun pushed for the establishment of the Ministry of Revenue Bank. I already understand what he meant."

Seeing Xi Ligong frowning in thought, Teng Yuzao sneered.

"If my guess is correct, Yixin will soon report to the court and force the cancellation of the provinces' right to mint coins and issue banknotes."

"Last time, the imperial court wanted to cancel the coinage rights of various provinces, which triggered a lot of backlash in the provinces and failed to push it forward. This time, Yixin will definitely push it forward resolutely."

Teng Yuzao continued, "This time, I'm afraid even we can't stay out of it. The minting of coins was allowed by the court, so it's not easy for him to do it, but the issuance of paper money is not easy for us to do it."

"what!"

Teng Yuzhao's words startled Xi Ligong so much that he jumped up from the sofa.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Don't panic. I still say that when faced with a big event, stay calm and the sky won't fall."

Teng Yuzao stretched out his hand, "Yucheng, if you have the list of those people, please give it to me."

"Have."

Xi Ligong agreed and took out two pieces of paper with pen writing on them from the pocket of his suit and handed them to Teng Yuzhao.

"It's not just those seven people. We should also find a way to investigate the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan."

Teng Yuzao simply unfolded the two pieces of paper, glanced at them, and handed them to Li Yaoting.

"Hanhun, you need to find out how these people and the banks mentioned above are secretly buying up the stocks of several companies I know of, including whether they have any connection with these foreign banks, and whether there are people behind them."

"besides."

Teng Yuzao pondered and said, "The machinery factory is trial-producing the high-horsepower engine developed by the Ordnance Department, and the electrical appliance factory is producing refrigerators, electric fans, radios and other new electrical appliances that we are about to launch internationally. Some patents belong to these companies or factories, so these enterprises must not make any mistakes."

Now that he had roughly thought of the possible results, Teng Yuzao calmed down and spoke to Li Yaoting again.

"In addition to arranging people to keep an eye on these factories, tell Cao Jiaxiang to send people to the factories above to prevent anyone from causing damage."

"In addition, we must pay close attention to the stock market and all news and intelligence related to our bank in the near future."

Teng Yuzao called out to Li Yaoting who was about to rush to arrange the tasks assigned by Teng Yuzao.

"Han Hun, please wait a moment. I have something else to tell you."

"One, from now on, you, Yucheng, Jizhi, and I, as well as Lianfu, will form the emergency response team for the two provinces of Zhishan."

Teng Yuzao looked at Xi Ligong and said, "Second point, from now on, we will immediately start to tighten the money supply. Not only will the construction and expansion of Jizhi's factories be temporarily stopped, but also the materials for the railway construction in Xingcheng will not be released for the time being. The expansion of the outer perimeter of the new city in Cuojiu will also be suspended."

(End of this chapter)