Gu Yiqun was already waiting at the airport in Shanghai, and as soon as Zhang Kun and Chen Guangfu got off the plane, he reported what was happening in Europe at a very fast pace, without stopping. "The Banque de France did it." This was his first sentence: "A few months ago, when a customs union was being negotiated between Germany and Austria, the French Foreign Minister Brande declared that he was firmly opposed to the German-Austrian negotiations on trade and customs union, and in order to put pressure on the Banque de France, cut the short-term loan to the Credit Bank of Vienna by about one billion francs......"

Some of the information Gu Yiqun said is known, and some is only known now. Zhang Kun nodded and asked, "Why didn't you receive the news before?" I'm talking about the reduction of short-term loans in Vienna by the French bank? ”

"France does not want to make a noise, after all, it is against Britain and the United States, and Vienna does not dare to say anything, once it is announced, there will be a run on the banks, and the current situation is because the banks are run immediately after the news goes." Gu Yiqun explained that since last year, the whole of Europe has been in chaos, and as a non-senior European and American financial community, it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of many news even if it is received.

"Who's going to be next? Why didn't the Bank of England bail out? Chen Guangfu did not hold Gu Yiqun accountable for the afterthought, and now that the reason for the matter has been figured out, he thinks about how the follow-up development will be - the most worrying thing is the joint rescue of Britain and the United States.

"In terms of interbank connections, the next one should be the German Danat Bank, which has very close business ties with Vienna. And if the bank fails, then the entire German bank will have to close, and this is not the last time it closed. "If the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve were going to bail out the market, it would certainly not have collapsed the Bank of Vienna, and I think there must be something in that we don't know." ”

"Something you don't know? What exactly is there that we don't know. Zhang Kun tilted his head sideways and began to think.

The war in Europe ended. As far as Europe as a whole is concerned, only the Bank of England and the Bank of France, both of which are the victorious countries, are the protagonists of the financial circle, and the Bundesbank, the Credit Bank of Vienna, and the Bank of Italy, which are also the victorious countries, are only supporting actors. Between England and France, England, which has the nature of the World Bank, "broke off" from the gold standard long before the First World War, and its gold holdings could only pay off 4% of the sterling issuance, and after the war, it relied on the support of Wall Street to stabilize its previous position. This is also the original intention of the Bank of England in recent years, which has been aggressively touting the gold exchange standard - it no longer has much gold, only dollars.

But the French didn't buy it, just as they did after World War II. The French did everything they could to reserve gold (including lowering the franc by 20%), and the Bank of France made gold the only monetary reserve, not gold plus paper money, so within ten years, France's gold reserves increased to more than 2,800 tons, almost half of the Fed's.

The Anglo-American bankers thought it was profit, while the French feared the resurgence of Germany. It is the right thing to do this to strongly oppose the German-Austrian negotiations; With the power of the Banque de France, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve, which have long been a shell, and the Federal Reserve, which has been heavily restricted by Congress, can do whatever it wants in the European financial markets. In the case of intransigence on the part of Germany and Austria, it was only natural to strike at the Credit Bank of Vienna and thus on the major German banks. But what happens next?

Zhang Kun thought about this question, and felt that what Gu Yiqun said was not unreasonable-it is impossible to save the market, otherwise why not save the Vienna Credit Bank? Since it is not to save the market, it can only be revenge. Retaliatory ......

As soon as the word revenge appeared in Zhang Kun's mind, he thought of Germany. More than twenty years ago, he knew that what Germany was against was what France was for. In order to provoke Germany, it is necessary to mention France, and vice versa. That is to say, if Britain chooses to retaliate if they do not bail out the city, then the next step will be to support Germany against France, and although there will be no war, at least a new strategic balance will be formed.

Zhang Kun thought about relief or revenge. On the other side of the ocean, in Washington, relief is also in the mouth of President Dawes, who does not want the whole of Europe to collapse. If that happens, it's a catastrophe for the whole world - this is from the Montague Norman telegram of the Bank of England, the same. George Harrison of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York takes a similar view.

"Mr. President, I'm afraid we can't do anything now." Looking at the president, who was still in the dark, Commerce Secretary Hoover had to speak out.

"Why?" Dawes looked at him, a little incredulous, "If Europe is also finished, then the entire civilized world will also be finished." And Japan, now is the critical moment to separate China and Japan, if the Bank of England also collapses, then the Japanese can only turn to China again in isolation and helplessness, it will be a nightmare! ”

Dawes rightly waved his fist, he resented that most of the orders in China's tender were given to Germany, although everything was in accordance with the law, how could those yellow-skinned monkeys treat themselves like this?

"Mr. President, we are not in a position to help the Germans and the Japanese now!" Hoover emphasized. "It's a lot worse than we expected. If we agree to the request of the Germans and the Bank of England, then we will devote countless resources to save Europe, but the problem is that they already owe us tens of billions of ......"

"Oh, I know, these war debts ......" Seeing Hoover mention the annoying war debts, Dawes immediately tried to convince him, saying that the war debts could only be repaid if the European economic policy worked, otherwise the United States would get nothing. I didn't want Hoover to say, "Mr. President, I'm not talking about war debts, I'm talking about short-term acceptance bills." ”

"No," said Dawes, whose smile was a little stiff, "it can't be, I consulted with the Federal Reserve Bank last month, and they told me that this short-term acceptance bill is only about half a billion dollars." Think about it, just 60 to 90 days to facilitate the export settlement of the acceptance note, how big can it be. ”

"But that's not the case, Mr. President." Hoover suddenly stressed his voice, "I have had the Monetary Comptroller audit it, and although it has not been completed, he estimates that the figure will not be less than 1.7 billion dollars, and the news from England that the number of such promissory notes will not be less than two billion, and Germany, Austria and Hungary, including the defunct Bank of Vienna, hold more than five billion such short-term bills." ”

Hoover said a number each. Dawes's expression was solemn, he believed Hoover, but he felt a little dizzy when he heard the unbelievable numbers from the mouth of a cabinet member who believed. "Herbert, is this true?" He said.

"It's true, Mr. President." Hoover nodded heavily. "In the beginning, the goods and documents corresponded to each other, but after the economic crisis began last year, this correspondence was disrupted. In order to obtain funds, European banks and customs offices arbitrarily fill out export goods documents in order to obtain short-term acceptances. It is now clear that they were only mildly affected by the economic crisis because they obtained short-term loans from the Federal Reserve through fraud.

As soon as the Bank of Vienna collapsed, these questions came into our field of vision as clearly as landmines, Mr. President. I don't think we should let the European banks use our credit freely, because then the cost of these problems will eventually fall on us, as we are now, to bail out Europe one at a time, to remedy the deficits and empty promises they have created, to invest billions or even tens of billions of dollars, which will save nothing, and will only benefit the greedy and stupid bankers. ”

"But...... But...... "Dawes is not Hoover after all." Although the position he sat in in history belonged to Hoover, and Hoover, who held such an attitude, chose not to bail out Europe at this fork in the road of history. Because 'it's the bankers, not our taxpayers, who have to take responsibility for solving the problem,' but Dawes wasn't Hoover after all, and he stammered, "But Henry and Andrew are in England, and they agree that we should bail out Europe right away, or Europe will be in a desperate situation." Let's do something! ”

"Mr. President. What should really be done is the damn bankers, not the US government. Hoover said, his face disgruntled, "Even if we give Europe a loan this time, what if the next crisis happens again?" What about the $10 billion involved in short-term bills of exchange? And. Most importantly, this will not make the European economy better, because the market is still sluggish. ”

"Herbert, I think we should wait for Henry and Andrew to come back from England to discuss this." Although Hoover had made it clear, Dawes still couldn't make up his mind.

"But the Germans need $500 million in loans now, and they claim that if they don't have $500 million loans, then they have to get out of the gold standard." Hoover Road. "Mr. President, this is something that needs to be decided immediately, and we can't wait for Henry and Andrew to come back from England."

"Then we'll lend money to Germany first." Dawes said. "It's an emergency, and I think that's all we can do."

Unexpectedly, the president still insisted on bailing out Europe, and Hoover reminded after a wry smile: "Mr. President, I would like to remind you at the end that everything you have done has been seen by some other people, who have long wanted to push the Morgan consortium down and replace it." As soon as the government decides to lend to Europe again instead of bailing out the country, those people will stir up the Senate to impeach you......"

The word impeachment made Dawes's vest sweat, and he completely believed what Hoover said. The old guys in the Senate will definitely use this matter to impeach themselves, and perhaps, they will become the first president of the United States to be impeached and removed from office; But if Europe is not rescued, Europe will sink to the bottom of the sea like the United States, and the image of angels in the hearts of Europeans will be completely destroyed......

On the one hand, there is a reality, and on the other hand, there is an ideal, and Dawis contradicted for a long time before finally saying: "Herbert, I think I should understand the situation on the British side and listen to the views of Henry and Andrew." And then......" he glanced at Hoover, "I think I'm going to make the right choice." ”

"Of course." Seeing that Dawis was not as insistent as before, Hoover breathed a sigh of relief, and he said, "Mr. President, I fully trust your choice, just as I believe in God." ”

When Dawes had a telegram drafted for Britain, Hoover withdrew. Although he knew that Secretary of State Henry M. Mellon and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon would persuade the president to continue to help Europe, pressure from the Senate would make him abandon all ideas of rescue, and that American taxpayers were only American taxpayers and not European taxpayers, and that too much involvement in European affairs would only result in the consequences of the United States.

Hoover thought so, and after the British secretary of state received a telegram from Dawes, he scolded: "This son of a bitch! Didn't he know that once Europe fell, the Bolsheviks would occupy the entire continent and the Chinese would form an Asian alliance with Japan? It is true that American taxpayers are only American taxpayers, but America is also a member of the civilized world! We must not sit idly by and watch the situation deteriorate and cede Europe to the Bolsheviks and Japan to China......"

-- Dawes's telegram detailed Hoover's worries, which were not seen by **** students except for the Senate, but it was precisely because the Senate was an insurmountable obstacle to salvation that he scolded in anger.

After reading the telegram, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon said: "If the situation is allowed to develop and nothing is done, the United States will be completely surrounded, with the Bolsheviks on one side and the yellow heretics on the other." ”

"Everything is to blame on the damned French!" This was stated by Lord Montague Norman, Governor of the Bank of England. "We have to teach them a lesson, Europe cannot be left to the mercy of France."

"We can do nothing with the French except to re-prop up Germany." The angry **** sulked and said sullenly. "But neither the German ......, nor the National Socialist Party, nor the SPD, is a good target for support."

"No, sir." Lord Norman shook his head, "There are quite a few people in the National Socialist Party who are anti-Bolsheviks, such as their second leaders, the Goerings and their wife, who are staunch anti-Bolsheviks and German nationalists at the same time. I believe that with enough support, they will expel those Bolsheviks and teach the French a lesson. ”

"But Goering's wife is Chinese." He also knows the situation in Germany very well. "They have a close relationship with the Chinese, and the last time they caused a run, they almost ruined everything."

"But if the United States does not bail out Europe this time, Europe will also be destroyed, and we have no better choice but to go to Göring." Norman elaborated. "Goering's wife was of Chinese descent only, but her father was a purebred German, yes, Marshal Léo Wilhelm, the German national hero who occupied Paris and almost led Germany to victory in the whole war, and all Germans miss him!"

"But won't this lead to another war?" Andrew Mellon chimed in: "I'm sure it will! Once Göring comes to power, if he can come to power. ”

"Then let's let the Germans destroy France first, and then we destroy Germany, and then the whole world will be quiet." Lord Norman laughed, but when **** Sheng and Mellon changed color, he said, "Gentlemen, this is a joke. The rise of Germany was only to deal with the Bolsheviks, and for France they only played a balancing role. Moreover, this plan is only in the case that the United States is unable to rescue Europe, and Europe is completely in chaos. ”

"What about China?" Sheng looked at Montague and wondered what he thought of the Far East.

"China?" Norman shook his head disapprehantly, "It's too far away from Europe, but it's in the same ocean as the United States." I think that if President Dawes can't convince the Senate to come to Europe's rescue with the threat of China and Japan to create an Asian alliance, then the United States will have to pay a much greater price to maintain its supremacy in the Pacific. You say, how will the Senate be chosen? ”

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The end of the volume. (To be continued.) )