20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 730: Difficulty in exchanging foreign currency
"Can't redeem it?" Fang Yan was very surprised. With his many years of business experience, he subconsciously asked, "Are there any new regulations recently?"

The female employee ignored him and said coldly, "It can't be exchanged, so why are you asking so many questions?"

Fangyan frowned, knowing that the female clerk at the counter did not have much authority and it would be a waste of time to talk to her, so he looked around, trying to find someone in charge to ask about the situation.

Hai Xinnian didn't think too much about it. He was seventeen years old, an age when he was easily resentful. He felt that his godfather's family was being bullied, so he immediately stepped forward and argued, "Why can't we redeem it? Isn't it clearly written on the note that you can pay in cash on presentation? Why can't we redeem it all of a sudden?"

The female employee turned away, as if she hadn't heard him, and said, "Next."

"What do you mean next? We haven't finished our business yet!"

"Security! Security!"

The female employee was too lazy to argue, so she simply stood up, stretched her neck and shouted towards the door.

Hai Xinnian felt puzzled. He thought, I'm not robbing anyone. Let's just deal with the matter objectively. I want to exchange the ticket for cash. What do you mean by calling the security guard?
Seeing the security guard at the door coming over following the sound, the boy suddenly became more and more convinced in his heart - as expected, money houses and silver banks are unreliable!
Soon, the female employee's screams caused a commotion.

The merchants and residents in the hall looked on, and several security guards, holding batons, approached and shouted curses, "What's going on? Who is causing trouble here?"

Hai Xinnian was about to explain, but was persuaded by Fang Yan.

"New Year, let's not argue with them. These people are simply unspeakable."

Although Hai Xinnian was a little dazed, he was not stubborn. After listening to Fang Yan's advice, he nodded and said nothing more.

Fangyan was too lazy to continue arguing, so he picked up the check, turned around and ran towards the stairs of the official bank.

Unexpectedly, when he was about to leave, the security personnel on the scene suddenly raised their hands to stop him.

"Wait a minute, don't leave yet, we need to understand the situation!"

Several security guards looked dignified and acted very arrogantly.

Fangyan was a serious person, not a gangster. He was well aware of the truth that "it is easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the devils", so he did not go against the trend. He just nodded cautiously, pretending to be willing to be dealt with.

Hai Xinnian stood aside, and although he didn't say anything, there was a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes, which was the common people's inherent vigilance and disgust towards the officials.

But at this moment, a greeting suddenly came from the corner of the hall.

"Hey, isn't this Secretary Fang?"

Everyone was stunned and looked sideways, only to see a middle-aged man in a suit and tie walking quickly towards them on the stairs not far away.

Fangyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he finally met someone who could talk.

The man who came was the boss of the official bank of the three northeastern provinces. Because of his position, he had some friendship with the Jiang family. Seeing the situation, he hurried over to help. After finding out the cause of the dispute, he first scolded the female employee, and then smiled and rebuked Fang Yan a few words.

"Hey, Secretary Fang, we are old acquaintances, why don't you come to me directly?"

"Well, isn't this because you're afraid that Manager Liu will be busy?"

"Look at what you said, you don't even treat me as a friend!"

"No, no, it's mainly because we came here in a hurry. Manager Liu, please don't be offended!"

Fangyan made up a few polite remarks, but in fact he had no intention of asking Manager Liu for help.

Firstly, there is no need to use connections or backdoors to exchange 400 yuan in cash.

Secondly, it’s not easy to ask anyone to do something for you these days.

Not to mention non-relatives, even if they are cousins, if you ask them to do something for you, you can't help but give them some benefits in private, otherwise who would be willing to work for nothing?

The more you ask, the more you owe, and the debt of favor gradually becomes a burden.

Fang Yan has been working as a secretary for Jiang Lianheng for so many years without making any mistakes. This is definitely not a position he got by flattering others. He can almost understand what Jiang Lianheng is thinking. He also knows clearly when to ask for help and when not to ask for help.

If they had to ask others for such a small matter, it would be too tiring to maintain the Jiang family's network of relationships.

However, Fangyan never expected that he would be harassed by the staff of the official bank even when he tried to exchange the note for 400 silver dollars.

Now there is no other choice but to accept Manager Liu's kindness.

After calming down the commotion in the hall, Manager Liu took Fang Yan and Hai Xinnian to the office on the second floor, closed the door, and personally poured tea and water for the two of them, following all the etiquette for treating distinguished guests.

"Secretary Fang, Xiao Zhang is new here. She's someone's mistress and she's a bit aggressive in her speech. Don't take it personally."

"Oh, that's nothing."

Fangyan took the teacup and waited for the other party to sit down before asking, "Manager Liu, what happened today? Why is it so difficult to exchange 400 yuan in cash?"

Manager Liu sighed and said, "Well, let alone four hundred dollars in cash, even if you want to exchange it for a hundred dollars, the clerk at the counter will have to ask you a few more questions."

"What's wrong? Are you afraid of being squeezed?"

"Yeah, what else could it be?"

Fang Yan frowned, thought for a moment, and asked quickly, "Manager Liu, is it possible that the reserve funds of the official bank are running out?"

"Enough!" Manager Liu smacked his lips. "At least... it's enough for now. This matter shouldn't be made public now. Don't spread it around!"

Fang Yan nodded doubtfully. He had indeed not heard of any financial crisis faced by the provincial government recently, nor had he heard of any new regulations issued by the banks. However, he was sure that the government bank would not tighten its exchange business for no reason. There must be some unknown hidden story behind it.

However, I think so.

The official bank would never easily announce new regulations and tighten exchange business, because that would be tantamount to openly declaring that Fengtian was about to face a financial turmoil.

Manager Liu confessed, "There will be no explicit regulations for the time being, and we haven't reached that point yet, but the implicit regulations have been implemented since last week. In the future, there will not only be a fixed limit every month, but also a corresponding limit every week and day. Boss Jiang should know this!"

"Really?" Fang Yan was a little confused. "I haven't heard the boss say that!"

Manager Liu frowned slightly, then asked, "Is Boss Jiang not at home recently?"

This reminded Fang Yan. In recent days, Jiang Lianheng had been staying at his residence outside the palace. The accounts of various businesses were usually settled directly through bank transfers. There was rarely a need to exchange cash. Moreover, the implicit new rules of the official bank had just been issued not long ago. Perhaps he was a little negligent for a while.

Manager Liu couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "That's not surprising. It turns out that Boss Jiang is having an affair. But that's normal. A big boss like him really doesn't need to come here in person to exchange for cash, right?"

"Did the Jiang family come to exchange foreign currency?" Fang Yan asked.

"Yes, just yesterday, Mr. Wang came to me and said he wanted to exchange 5,500 yuan in cash. He had already informed his superiors, and I personally handled the business for him. I guess it was Madam Jiang who asked him to do it."

"Oh, I really don't know that."

"That's the problem," Manager Liu said. "Now, the government bank is preparing to tighten the exchange of foreign currency. The dignitaries in the provincial capital have heard the news a long time ago. Those who have connections are busy exchanging foreign currency. But I can't lend out all of it. Every household has a quota. The Jiang family just exchanged 5,500 yuan yesterday, which is not a small amount. Now you want to exchange 400 yuan. It's not easy. This matter is really difficult to handle."

Whenever there is financial turmoil, the rich and powerful are always able to take emergency measures to avoid risks because they are well-informed, and in the end it is the common people who suffer.

Fang Yan knew the stakes of this matter, so he quickly asked: "But, since the official bank has enough reserves, why are they making such a fuss?"

"It's enough now, but I don't know if it will be enough in the future." Manager Liu turned his head to look at the door, smiled at Hai Xinnian and said, "Hey, can you help me lock the door?" Hai Xinnian didn't say a word, and immediately got up and went to lock the door.

Manager Liu continued, "Secretary Fang, Boss Jiang will know about this sooner or later anyway, so I'll tell you the truth! The provincial government has ordered that starting next month, the official banks in the three northeastern provinces will issue an additional 50 million Feng notes."

"How much?" Fangyan suspected that he had heard it wrong.

Manager Liu held up five fingers and emphasized again: "Fifty million, no more, no less."

I understand the dialect.

The impending financial turmoil in Fengtian has nothing to do with Xiaodongyang or those speculative money merchants. It is purely the evil result of the Fengtian authorities themselves.

You should know that every note would have a note saying "a certain amount of cash will be paid upon presentation of the note".

This is the credibility of the Fengtian Provincial Government and an absolute prerequisite for financial stability outside the Great Wall.

Logically speaking, if the official bank wanted to issue an additional 50 million Fengpiao, it would have to prepare 50 million silver dollars in cash or an equivalent amount of gold bars as reserves.

Although over-issuance of banknotes is a normal financial norm and a moderate amount of over-issuance can also contribute to economic prosperity, everything has its limits. To issue an additional 50 million Fengpiao, at least 20 to 30 million yuan in cash must be prepared to provide a bottom line in order to stabilize market order.

But the question is, does Fengtian have so much cash to back up these 50 million Fengtian notes?

Even if there was enough cash, how would the Fengtian authorities distribute it to ensure that the exchange business of official silver banks in various places was unimpeded?
Once merchants and civilians find that they cannot exchange the Fengpiao in their hands for cash in time, panic will inevitably arise, and then a run on the bank will be set off. The official silver banks in the three northeastern provinces will probably be unable to withstand it. If another small Japanese bank takes the opportunity to attack and short the official silver banks, the economy of Kanto will surely collapse immediately.

If there are problems with the economy, the situation in Fengtian will inevitably be turbulent.

This is not sensational, but a foreseeable and inevitable trend.

Thinking of this, Fang Yan even suspected that the official bank had gone crazy, and couldn't help asking, "Isn't it too sudden to issue an additional 50 million Feng notes?"

Manager Liu sighed, waved his hand and said, "Secretary Fang, if you ask me, I also feel that this is sudden. This matter is pure nonsense! I am an insider of the official bank. How big the risk is here, how could I not know? But it's useless for me to know this, this is an order from the provincial government!"

It turns out that, after all, this matter was instructed by Marshal Zhang.

After Feng Zhang defeated the Zhi army, his ambitions expanded rapidly and he only wanted to expand his territory as quickly as possible. However, two consecutive wars had made the financial situation of the three northeastern provinces increasingly unsustainable. In order to satisfy Marshal Zhang's ambition to conquer the Central Plains, he had no choice but to spend money before it is earned and drink poison to quench his thirst, and prepared to over-issue Feng tickets on a large scale.

This is a conspiracy between senior military and political officials, and ordinary businessmen and civilians are powerless to change anything.

Fang Yan asked about the general situation of the official bank, but he still had to focus on the task assigned by his boss, so he smiled and discussed: "Manager Liu, today's matter is our fault for not communicating well, but my boss is in urgent need of cash now. I'm afraid it's too late for me to go back to the Jiang family to get the money now. How about you please be flexible?"

"Oh, didn't I just tell you that there is a daily limit now!" Manager Liu shook his head quickly, "Four hundred dollars in cash is not a lot, but it's not a small amount either. The higher-ups just issued an order recently to conduct a strict investigation. It's not that I won't help you, but it's really difficult to do!"

"No, if anyone else said that, I would go back, but if Manager Liu said that, how can I believe it?"

"I can't do it. I really can't do it!"

"How about...I give you some advice?"

"I can't do it. I just exchanged more than 5,000 yuan for the Jiang family yesterday. I really can't do it!"

Fang Yan thought about it and suggested, "How about this? You help me exchange 400 yuan in cash and I'll give you 10 yuan. After all, I can't let you work for nothing!"

Manager Liu paused, glanced at Hai Xinnian, and still shook his head and said, "Secretary Fang, please don't embarrass me. Based on our relationship, if I can help you, why would I ask for money? This is too polite. I really can't do it!"

Fang Yan saw the other party's concerns and quickly explained: "Manager Liu, I forgot to introduce him to you just now. This is my boss' godson. We are all family. Today is his first time to come out to do something for the family. You can treat him as your nephew. It's convenient for you. I'll give you 20 yuan. What do you think?"

Having said that, he turned around and winked at Hai Xinnian.

Hai Xinnian stood up and echoed, "Uncle Liu, my godfather has finally given me a job, please help me!"

"Oh, look at this... Oh, this makes me... Tsk, don't worry about it..."

Manager Liu pretended to be nice for a while, then leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Oh, it's hard to ask for help! It's not easy for a young man to come out and do things, but he came to me for help. As his uncle, this is the first time we meet, so I can't refuse. OK!"

He immediately stood up and walked towards the door, repeatedly reminding: "But don't tell anyone about this. If you do this, I won't be able to live like a human being, and it will be difficult for me to handle business in the future!"

"That is, that is."

Fangyan agreed on the surface, but he actually knew clearly in his mind: Manager Liu wished everyone would do the same, after all, he was counting on making some money!

It is true that money makes the world go round. After the bribe was promised, three hundred and eighty silver dollars were packaged and delivered in just two or three minutes. Fang Yan and Hai Xinnian took the silver and immediately set off on their journey back.

However, even though he got the silver, Hai Xinnian couldn't be happy.

Fang Yan noticed that the boy was a little confused, so he comforted him, "New Year, go out more and you will know, these are all normal. When you are in the world, you will always need to ask for help, and asking for help will inevitably bring benefits. Manager Liu, for the sake of your godfather, this is good enough."

“Isn’t this good?”

"Of course. If you don't believe me, go ask other businesses how much they have to pay back when they go to the government bank for loans."

"It's too shady. This makes more money than robbery!" Hai Xinnian was indignant, and then he suddenly remembered something, "But speaking of which, Uncle Fang, if my godfather finds out about your actions without authorization, he won't blame you, right?"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "You are too straightforward, kid."

"Isn't this just killing first and asking for permission later?"

"Yes, but you have to know that your godfather sent us to cash in foreign currency, and Young Master Xu is waiting over there. If you go back halfway without any money, no matter what your excuse is, Young Master Xu will see you and think that our Jiang family is incompetent and that Boss Jiang has to personally ask for permission to cash in foreign currency."

Hai Xinnian seemed to understand something, and then asked, "But the problem is, doesn't my godmother have some cash? The north of the city is not too far away. Although Master Xu is anxious, he can't be so anxious that he can't wait. He still has to stay in Fengtian for a while, so why doesn't he go home to get the money? Why does he have to let Manager Liu get it for free?"

"Do you know what the money is used for?" Fang Yan asked, "If the money has other uses, our trip will be in vain. When we come back, the official bank may be closed!"

"Why not just call and ask?"

"I thought about it, but forget it!"

"Why?" Hai Xinnian didn't understand. Making a phone call was not a big deal.

Fangyan smiled but said nothing, without further explanation.

He has been working as Jiang Lianheng's secretary for almost ten years.

During these ten years, he was naturally very clear about the internal situation of the Jiang family, especially the temper of his boss and his eldest sister-in-law.

The two paintings in Xu Haibo's hand were what Jiang Lianheng wanted to buy. Hu Xiaoyan didn't know about it, but Hu Xiaoyan had just sent Nanfeng to the official silver bank to exchange for cash yesterday, which meant that the eldest sister-in-law already knew that the official silver bank's exchange business was about to be tightened. At this moment, Jiang Lianheng wanted to use 400 cash to buy two paintings...

This kind of thing can only be discussed by Jiang Lianheng himself.

Otherwise, if the couple quarreled over this, the person who leaked the news would definitely be scolded.

Thinking of this, Fang Yan couldn't help but sigh, patted Hai Xinnian's shoulder, and said with emotion:

"Xin Nian, do you think it's easy to be my secretary? To tell you the truth, I have been walking on thin ice in the past few years..."

(End of this chapter)