"Although the East India Company has announced its collapse, it is still in liquidation." Wu Bingjian said slowly: "The Guangzhou Finance Committee, known as the East India Company's correspondent bank, is no longer engaged in specific trade activities, but it is still lending to British retail merchants.

The trade income of British and American retail merchants in Guangzhou, including the proceeds from the sale of **, are all stored in the bank treasury under the correspondent bank, and the correspondent bank issues bills of exchange in London, India and Bangladesh. The British merchants were extremely disgusted by the existence of the East India Company's correspondent bank, and repeatedly protested to Parliament... It seems to be a fear of the resurgence of the East India Company. ”

"The Guangzhou Finance Committee is actually a commercial bank." Yi Zhishu followed the conversation and said: "Pinghu Gong is worried that British retail merchants will not deposit cash in the bank opened by the Thirteen Banks? The younger generation felt that now was a rare opportunity to replace it, and sooner or later the East India Company would have to withdraw from Canton.

Taking a step back, even if the correspondent bank of the East India Company does not withdraw from Canton for a short time, it does not matter, and the transfer between the two banks is much more convenient than the cash transaction. ”

This is also true, it is indeed a lot more convenient, Wu Bingjian pondered for a moment before asking, "Just for the convenience of trading?" ”

Wu Changqing walked in quickly at this time, but his hands were empty, there were a lot of clocks and watches in the Wu family garden, and naturally there were watchmakers who specialized in repairing and maintaining clocks.

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "Of course, it's not just for the convenience of trading. After a pause, he said slowly: "The benefits of the bank are difficult to describe, and the younger generation will briefly talk about the benefits of opening a bank in the thirteen banks."

The 13 banks monopolize foreign trade and have a unique advantage in opening commercial banks, whether it is a foreign supplier, a foreign businessman in Guangzhou, or a retail businessman in the United States, but anyone who wants to deal with the 13 banks must abide by the rules of the 13 banks, and deposit the cash in the 13 banks' commercial banks, which is not only conducive to foreign trade transactions, but also conducive to the turnover of the 13 banks' commercial money.

Secondly, the Thirteen Banks had a very high reputation in Xiguan and Guangzhou, and once they opened banks, they could absorb a large amount of idle silver in the hands of officials, gentry, merchants, and ordinary people in Guangzhou City and the surrounding areas.

If there are banks in the Thirteen Banks, a group of small merchants will not suffer from the high interest rates of British and American retail merchants, and the handicraft workshops in Xiguan and Guangzhou can continue to expand in scale.

Furthermore, once Canton lost its status as a one-port trader, the merchants of the Thirteen Banks had to go to other ports to trade, and the Thirteen Banks opened banks, which was conducive to the merchants to go to other ports for trade.

Also, there are rich banks in the Qing Dynasty that have ticket numbers, but there is no bank with strong financial resources ....... ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and said in an emphatic tone: "A bank with abundant funds can completely control the domestic and international exchange business and become the center for issuing commercial bills for domestic and foreign trade.

What is particularly important is that banks backed by strong capital can mint silver dollars or issue silver bills on their own, and can easily manipulate domestic and foreign trade, and even... Even controlling the economic lifeline of the entire Qing Dynasty, to that point, it is not that we look up to the imperial court, but completely reversed, and the imperial court has to look at our faces!

Another advantage is that the opening of banks by the 13 banks can increase the cohesion of the 13 banks and the merchants, even if the 13 banks are dissolved in the future and the merchants are scattered in various treaty ports, as long as the banks are there, the merchants in Guangzhou will not become a plate of scattered sand. ”

Wu Bingjian looked at him in a daze, speechless for a long time, controlling the economic lifeline of the Qing Dynasty, and letting the court see the faces of the thirteen merchants! This kid really dares to think and say!

The room was quiet for a long time before Wu Changqing's weak voice sounded, "How strong does the bank's capital have to be to make the court look at our face?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, took a sip of tea, and then said: "The family background of the Qing Dynasty is thick, and it takes at least one or two hundred million to play a threatening role." ”

One or two hundred million in cash! Wu Changqing was speechless when he heard it, although the Wu family said that it was rich and rivaled the country, and the family property had tens of millions of silver dollars, but that included real estate, land, shops, goods, etc., and the real cash was only a few million taels.

After a long silence, Wu Bingjian spoke: "How can the imperial court sit back and watch the bank endanger its own safety? ”

"The Heavenly Empire, the Manchu Dynasty Zhu Zi, if we talk about moral articles, we are not opponents, but if we talk about finance and economy, they don't deserve to lift our shoes!" Yi Zhi's content said in a very disdainful tone: "When the bank turns its hands into clouds and hands into rain, I'm afraid that the princes of the court will not understand what the problem is." ”

The little guy is very conceited, Wu Bingjian glanced at him, but he didn't say anything, the bank is actually a combination of the money bank and the ticket number, and the principal required to open a bank is naturally not comparable to the general money bank and the ticket number, and the thirteen banks opened a bank, and the silver stored and handed over in the peak season of sea trade must be tens of millions, in case of an accident, all the belongings of the Wu family will be compensated.

He has been in charge of the Thirteen Lines for decades, and has dealt with the imperial court and local officials for most of his life, and knows the risks involved, the Thirteen Banks are not the East India Company, and the Thirteen Banks dare to open a bank, whether it is the imperial court or local officials, they will do everything possible to reach out and get a handful, and he has seen too many ugly officials!

Seeing that Wu Bingjian was silent for a long time, Yi Zhixin knew that this matter was a little hanging, and when he came to Wu's house today, his main purpose was to suggest that the Thirteen Banks open a bank, and the topics of the East India Company, Assam Tea, and the outbreak of war between the Qing and Britain were all for the purpose of opening a bank.

The reason why he was in a hurry to propose the opening of a bank by the Thirteen Banks was because he knew very well that the crow. After the war, the five ports of commerce, the thirteen lines and a number of merchants scattered in all directions, and European countries rushed to the Qing Dynasty to open banks, if they did not take the first step, it would be several times more difficult to open up the situation in the future.

More importantly, the richest men of the Thirteen Lines are the real richest countries, and the total wealth of the Wu family, the Pan family, and the Lu family is estimated to be close to 100 million oceans, and the Thirteen Lines have supply channels, sales channels, and intricate connections scattered all over the southeast, southwest, and southwest provinces.

If the 13 banks can open banks, they can completely sweep away all foreign banks with these favorable conditions, easily integrate the bill numbers of large and small domestic banks, monopolize the financial market of the Qing Dynasty, and compete with the British financial giants.