"Sir, a friend of yours asks to see you1"

The butler's words interrupted Chen Guangfu's train of thought.

A well-dressed middle-aged man walked in. Chen Guangfu looked up, was stunned, and said in surprise: "Oh, it's you?" ”

The person who came was called Kong Xiangxi.

At that time, when Chen Guangfu was visiting a booth at the St. Louis World Expo, Kong Xiangxi was studying at Oberlin College in Ohio, and he had used the summer vacation to visit, so he met Chen Guangfu. Being in a foreign land together, the two young people hit it off at first sight and talked very speculatively. It's been nearly ten years since that parting.

"Brother Yong, my Brother Yong!" Chen Guangfu was overjoyed, and grabbed Kong Xiangxi's hand: "Ten years, ten years, I think about Brother Yong all the time, why do you have time to come to see me today?" ”

Kong Xiangxi smiled and said, "I heard that Guangfu is very popular in Shanghai, so I came here to beg for food." ”

Chen Guangfu laughed "haha": "Brother Yong, you are joking with me again." Others will have no food to eat, and your Kong family will have no food to eat? Come, come, sit. ”

made people serve good tea, and let all the subordinates appear: "What is Brother Yong doing now?" ”

"What can I do? It's nothing more than an errand in the government, and now it's in the skin of an official. Kong Xiangxi said with a smile.

Seeing that Kong Xiangxi was talking left and right, Chen Guangfu didn't ask much.

After chatting there for a while, Kong Xiangxi took out a stack of money from his bag and put it in front of Chen Guangfu.

"Brother Yong, what does this mean?" Chen Guangfu asked suspiciously.

"What about saving money?" Kong Xiangxi looked very strange: "Your brother Guangfu has 10,000 yuan here for me to open a bank, and I have to trouble you to help me open an account with you and store it with you." ”

Chen Guangfu had a complicated look on his face, but then he said in a meaningful voice: "If Brother Yong is not afraid of the collapse of my bank, I will go and do it myself early tomorrow morning." ”

Kong Xiangxi also smiled slightly: "Then it's bothering Guangfu, but the name on this account can't be opened to me, and this is also what others asked me to deposit in Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank." ”

"Oh?" Chen Guangfu felt strange: "Whose name is it?" ”

Kong Xiangxi took a sip of tea and said casually: "Wang Hengyue." ”

"Oh," Chen Guangfu said "oh", and suddenly his face changed: "Which Wang Hengyue is it?" ”

Kong Xiangxi smiled faintly: "In addition to a general commander in our Republic of China, which Wang Hengyue is there?" ”

Chen Guangfu shuddered.

Wang Hengyue? Wang Hengyue, the general ruler of the Republic of China, wants to deposit money in his own bank?

"What, aren't you welcome?" Chen Guangfu put down the cup: "The general manager is in Shanghai right now, and I don't know where I heard about your brother Guangfu and the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, so I specially asked me to save 10,000 yuan here as some support for the national finance."

"Wait, wait" Chen Guangfu thought for a moment: "Brother Yong, tell me honestly, what are you doing in the government now?" ”

Kong Xiangxi smiled again: "The chief financial officer of the government of the Republic of China"

Chen Guangfu gasped.

He never thought that his former friend had now turned into the chief financial officer, so he had to think carefully about the purpose of his visit today.

"There is no official appointment yet, and it will be about a month before it is announced." Kong Xiangxi himself seems nonchalant: "The government has issued a series of economic plans, including the banking sector. Qin Guangcheng recently became the chief minister of agriculture and commerce, and concurrently served as the president of the All-China Economic Development Federation, and then promulgated many issues concerning the rectification and protection of the banking industry.

After a slight pause, Kong Xiangxi continued:

"Shanghai is a place of national attention, where there are many banks, Chinese and foreigners compete very fiercely with each other, and it can even be said that Shanghai is a benchmark for national finance!"

Chen Guangfu nodded thoughtfully.

Kong Xiangxi continued: "But under the pressure of foreign banks, private banks such as the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank have very little room for development, and even say that it is very difficult to survive, and if there is a slight mistake, then there is no room for salvation." For example, this time I heard that Brother Guangfu was in some trouble, so ......"

Chen Guangfu was silent and did not deny it. …,

It is true that his Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank is in some trouble.

I never imagined that the Bank of Shanghai would encounter a run...... That's what bankers fear the most.

Hu Xueyan, who was a smash hit back then, was planted in the Qianzhuang squeeze turmoil, ruined his reputation for a lifetime, and finally lost his life......

At the end of August 1920, heavy rain in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River caused the Yangtze River and the Han River to swell, and the river embankment at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River burst, and the Han water soaked into the urban area of Hankou.

When the news came, Chen Guangfu's heart tightened. Bank of Shanghai as a pledge

The hundreds of thousands of loads of salt stored in the Hankou warehouse are soaked in water at all times. The water situation was urgent, and letters and telegrams kept coming, which shocked Chen Guangfu.

On August 28, the water in Wuhan reached 55.6 feet, and the lower floors of the wharves and warehouses of the steamship companies in Hankou were all flooded. Salt, those hundreds of thousands of loads of salt, are in the ocean! In this flood alone, the Bank of Shanghai lost nearly two million.

A wave of flattening, a wave of rising......

On the occasion of this eventful autumn, some people who covet the Bank of Shanghai have begun to start.

"Hankou lost millions of yuan, bonds lost more than 20 million yuan, and the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank was about to go bankrupt."

Such rumors spread far and wide, and customers panicked, fearing that the little money they had worked so hard to accumulate would be lost, and rushed to the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank to withdraw their deposits.

In the early morning of October 28, in front of the Bank of Shanghai, it was crowded and crowded, and a large number of reserves were withdrawn.

At first, Chen Jifu didn't care too much, and calmly responded to the squeezing wind, hoping that the rumors would be self-defeating. Unexpectedly, after three days, not only did the run not stop, but intensified, and the deposits withdrawn have reached half of the total inventory.

Chen Guangfu, who is a plain and steady old man, has no bottom in his heart at this time.

The turbulent crowd and the scrambling eyes suddenly made him feel a cold feeling on his back, and he couldn't help but shudder, he seemed to see Hu Xueyan's sad and desperate expression......

As a last resort, Chen Guangfu had no choice but to ask for help. He first thought of his close friend, Zhang Jiaao, who was the general manager of the Bank of China at the time.

After receiving the call, Zhang Jiaao immediately ordered all branches of the Bank of China to do their best to support the branches of the Bank of Shanghai, and allowed the Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank to borrow 800,000 yuan to meet the deposit and withdrawal.

In order to save his brother, Zhang Jiaao really let it go. He ordered a special opening of a position in solidarity with cash. He ordered boxes of cash to be transported from the Bank of China in Shanghai on Yan Kee Road to the Bank of Shanghai on Ningbo Road in front of those who were busy withdrawing deposits. Boxes of cash poured in, temporarily dispelling the doubts in the minds of depositors. The Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank deliberately piled up large amounts of cash on the business counters and in conspicuous places in the corridors, piling up like a small mountain of silver.

But the black hand behind it refused to give up, and new rumors spread again.

"Zhang Jiaao is pretending to be public and private, and he will soon be investigated; Bank of China and Bank of Communications no longer support commercial savings, and commercial savings must collapse this time; Chen Guangfu's wife and children have already gone abroad, and he himself may run away one day. ”

It's just been a quiet day, and it's no matter how the tide of squeezing.

This time, the road outside the door of the Bank of Shanghai was crowded with people, and customers scrambled one by one, banging on the door and climbing the window, shouting to the sky and grabbing the ground, and they were simply holding in their hands regardless of life and death, and it was just a deposit receipt of several tens of yuan, two or three hundred yuan.

The depositors who have not yet mentioned the money are like mourning, and even threaten to hang in front of the commercial deposit if they can't withdraw the money today.

The negative effect of the existence of one yuan is unfortunately manifested at this critical juncture.

Chen Guangfu begged his grandfather to sue his grandmother, and the money he got so easily was withdrawn at once, and no matter how much money he borrowed, it would not take long for him to be withdrawn, and the bankruptcy of Tsim Sha Hai Commercial and Savings Bank was in danger!

Chen Guangfu was already desperate about this matter. If you can't continue to prepare enough funds tomorrow, then you really have to find a rope to hang yourself.

Could it be that what the foreigners said is really accurate? Is it really difficult for Chinese to run their own banks?

At this time, this matter was said by Kong Xiangxi, and Chen Guangfu suddenly ignited hope: "Brother Yong, you are the chief financial officer, and you also know the current crisis of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, you can see ......."

"I can't help you, and the government can't help you"

Kong Xiangxi's words made Chen Guangfu's heart sink to the bottom of the sea, he smiled bitterly, and pointed to the 10,000 yuan on the table: "You know that my bank is about to close, but you still want to send the money in?" ”

"As I said, it's not my money, it's the boss's money, and you can't be mistaken." Smiling slightly, Kong Xiangxi said unhurriedly: "Moreover, although the government can't help you, there is someone who can help you." ”

"Who?" Chen Guangfu suddenly lit his eyes again.

"The Great Commander, Wang Hengyue!"

Kong Xiangxi's answer made Chen Guangfu stunned: "What is the difference between this general system and the government?" ”

"The general system is the general system, and the government is the government." Kong Xiangxi stood up with a smile and glanced at Chen Guangfu: "The general manager asked me to tell you that the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank will still be open as usual tomorrow, and when you are most desperate, someone will naturally come to help you get through the sadness." ”

As he spoke, he arched his hand: "Brother Guangfu, let's see you tomorrow!" ”

Chen Guangfu was stunned, and he didn't understand the meaning of Kong Xiangxi's words at all! ）1……