Grant's mind turned, and he hesitated: "General Guo, the amount of money involved in this matter is huge, although I am the commander-in-chief, I still have to report to Mr. President to make a decision, but I think with Mr. President's meaning, there should not be too much of a problem." The question now is, General Guo, I implore you to stay, at least to help the federal government, to help me stabilize the situation in the United States, if not to completely wipe out the Southern army, at least to the point that they will be severely injured and have no strength left to pose a threat to the federal army. ”

Guo Ye nodded and replied, "Okay, General Grant, I'm waiting for news from President Lincoln." As for what I have left behind, I need to think carefully about it, and I cannot assure you of this question, after all, in the face of the call of the motherland, I have no reason to refuse, unless you can give me a suitable reason, otherwise, I cannot afford to be infamous in the afterlife......"

Grant said in a deep voice: "General Guo, don't worry, these things will be handled by me, and I will definitely not embarrass you......"

Chen Hai on the side said: "Big brother, the rest is easy to say, we can't go back to the country, now it's not only the chaos in Jiangnan, but the twisting army in Henan is becoming more and more fierce, which has seriously threatened the security of Shandong, and that is our fundamental ......"

Guo Ye frowned, and hesitated: "Well, don't say it, I'm thinking about it, I think Guan Ting and Bochen can handle it, and I believe that General Grant will give us a reasonable compensation......

The corners of Grant's mouth twitched, Guo Ye's meaning was very clear, if he wanted them to stay, then he had to come up with enough benefits!

Grant waved his hand and replied: "General Guo, what conditions do you have, although I said that as long as we can achieve it, I will definitely promise you, but don't think about money, because the federal government is now in financial difficulties, and even the maintenance of the war is already stretched, and there is no extra financial resources at all......"

Guo Ye was surprised: "Is the federal government really that difficult? Didn't you adopt the plan I said last time? ”

Grant smiled wryly: "If you want to pass these policies, you need to pass legislation in Congress, and it's only been a few days?" Moreover, even if it is passed, in the face of such huge expenses, it can only be better than nothing, and it will not be able to alleviate our financial pressure at all, and the interest rate on the loans given to us by the major banks in Europe is so high that it is enough to scare people to death, and we simply cannot afford it! ”

Guo Ye was surprised: "What? How bad is your relationship with Europe? Can't even bring out the money? ”

Grant replied: "It's not that we can't lend, but we don't dare to lend, and the interest they give us is too high, 23 percent a year, and if we receive 10 million dollars, the annual interest will be as high as 2.3 million dollars, and if 100 million dollars, it will be 23 million dollars. ”

The corners of Guo Ye's mouth twitched, what a deal, the businessmen of Britain, France and Russia are too dark, twenty-three percent! With such a high interest rate, even those unscrupulous black-hearted landlords in China are nothing more than that! A group of Huang Shiren!

However, Guo Ye's eyes rolled immediately, and he reacted, and said with a smile: "General Grant, I won't tell you, now our Qilu Bank in Shandong has some spare money, Shandong is developing rapidly, and our business has penetrated into other places, and now the total deposits, I am afraid that it has exceeded 100 million taels of silver, too many loans, I can't provide you with 20 million US dollars, it should not be a big problem......

Grant smiled bitterly: "General Guo, you won't also give us a loan shark with an annual interest rate of 23 percent, right?" ”

Guo Ye said angrily: "General Grant, we are friends, how can friends take advantage of others' danger?" As a friend, I can use my influence to make a proposal to Qilu Bank to reduce the annual interest rate to between fifteen and eighteen percent, but I don't know if President Lincoln will say yes......"

Grant jumped up at once, agreed, of course agreed, and now Lincoln is going to die of sorrow! The poor of the federal government are already about to be uncovered! To be able to get such a huge sum of money, of course, it is impossible to ask for, two or three hundred million dollars, although it cannot solve a big problem, but it can completely support the federal government for a period of time!

"General Guo, thank you, thank you so much! You will be the greatest friend of our American nation! I would like to pay you my sincerest respects! ”

Grant stood up and said, "General Guo, I need to report this news to President Lincoln now, I hope you can understand my feelings and don't blame me for being rude......"

Guo Ye smiled faintly and said, "General Grant, you are the commander-in-chief, this is the federal government army, and you are the supreme commander, what's rude?" Come on, take General Grant to the intelligence office! ”

Grant ran out excitedly with Riley and the others.

Chen Hai said in a low voice: "My lord, what are you doing here?" If Europeans ask for 23 percent per annum, you only ask for 15 percent, which will not only reduce our income, but also attract dissatisfaction among European countries......"

Guo Ye laughed softly: "Xiaohai, why did we lower the annual interest rate?" Of course, it's about pulling in a reliable ally. In addition, now that the European economy is developed and businessmen are enthusiastic about investing, it is too difficult for banks to absorb deposits, and the interest rate on deposits is as high as 5 or even 6 percent; What about us, the people of the whole country are eager to deposit money in our bank, and now the deposit of Qilu Bank is definitely not less than 100 million US dollars! I'm worried that we don't have a place to go with our savings, and now that we have such a great opportunity to take what we need, why not? Hey hey ......"

Chen Hai was speechless for a while, and said in a low voice: "Big brother, you are the real black-hearted businessman, it's so dark......"

Guo Ye replied: "The Americans' money is not earned in vain, not to mention, it also made them pay less interest, and it is too late for them to thank us!" Even if we only lend out a loan of 20 million US dollars, the interest alone can be as high as 3 million US dollars a year, which is 2 million taels of silver. ”

Chen Hai, Gao Qi, and Luo Bicheng nodded excitedly, it's too cost-effective, there's nothing more cost-effective than this!

Guo Ye instructed: "Xiaohai, in a while, you will send a telegram to Rong Hong, and ask him to tell me how much money the current Qilu Bank can raise, I need accurate figures, Americans have a great appetite, I am afraid that our Qilu Bank will be unable to meet their needs......"

"Yes, big brother!"

(To be continued.) )