The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 624: Sharpening the Knife and Writing to Heaven and America (Please Vote and Subscribe)

March 1858, 3, Shanghai.

The morning mist over the Huangpu River had not yet dissipated, but at the dedicated dock near the newly built Shanghai Stock Exchange, the call of porters carrying silver boxes could be heard. Armed guards of the exchange stood outside the building that combined Chinese and Western styles, nervously watching boxes of silver dollars being transported into the building. The managers, accountants, and staff of Taiping Bank, HSBC Bank, Zhenyue Bank, Korean Heavenly Kingdom Bank, Vienna Bank, Dutch East India Bank, Rothschild Bank, and Holy Spirit Bank had already been waiting at their respective fund counters, waiting to count their deposits.

Of course, more funds will flow to this hot exchange from East Asia and even all over the world through bill transfers.

Moore, who had just returned to Shanghai, had just stepped onto the granite steps when the silver box carried by two Ningbo waiters suddenly fell, and the shiny Mexican dollars rolled to his and Bonham's feet with a clang.

"There are eight ships with cash in total." British Consul Winchester counted the silver ships with armed escorts on the river. "The Shanghai Stock Exchange added more than 20 trading seats yesterday!"

Friedrich looked back at the busy traffic on the Huangpu River, sighed softly, and said in German: "They just don't know that they have become lambs to be slaughtered."

Moore took over his words and said with a wry smile: "All countries are the same. Britain, France, Austria, the United States. No one can escape their control. This is capitalism!"

Bonham laughed and said, "Moore, if you were not a friend of the prince and a shrewd Jew, I would really doubt that you participated in the Revolution of 1848!"

“I actually did!” Moore laughed.

Wen Xian laughed: "That's why they sent you there. Revolution is also a business opportunity. The Rothschilds, Condras, Batemans and Speyers bought a lot of high-quality assets at low prices between 1848 and 1850, right?"

Moore shrugged: "In fact, it was Her Majesty the Queen who made the most money between 1848 and 1850."

"Oh," Wen Xian seemed to understand some secret, and smiled knowingly, "Of course!"

"Consul, Sir Moore, you are here too! Come in quickly, the market has opened." Nathaniel Rothschild leaned half of his body out of an office on the second floor of the exchange and waved to the British Consul, Bonham, Moore and others who were talking outside.

The sound was overwhelming inside the vermilion lacquered gate of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

"Made in Jiangnan forty-five yuan!"

"Jiangnan Pharmaceutical. Fifty-one yuan!"

"Xuzhou Steel. Sixty! Sixty yuan!"

The broker in the red vest ran with a copper bell in his hand, shouting and yelling. Inside the nine-square grid formed by the mahogany counter the size of an eight-immortal table, the exchange clerk in the yellow vest was calculating with his abacus.

On the huge blackboard on the east wall, the price quoted in chalk next to "HSBC Bank" jumped by another five cents. The big bosses, dressed in elegant robes or dresses, stood on the platforms outside their respective VIP offices on the second floor of the hall, holding binoculars, watching the prices and giving instructions to their brokers.

Friedrich leaned close to Moore's ear and whispered, "This is where the brain of capitalism is!"

Moore nodded slightly and replied in German: "Let's see how the crisis is conceived, grown and erupted!"

The Rothschild Bank and the Vienna Bank had a luxuriously decorated office on the second floor of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. One side of the office faced the Huangpu River and the Bund, and the other side faced the huge quotation blackboard in the trading hall.

At a mahogany round table, Nathaniel Rothschild was wearing glasses and reading an express letter from Singapore. After several years of hard work, Britain's Cable & Wireless had already extended the "water telegraph line" to Singapore. However, the section from Singapore to Shanghai still relied on express letters sent by steamships to convey news: "Barings Bank has transferred another 8 million ounces of spot silver, enough to push the stock price to six times the IPO price."

"Those idiots in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Treasury thought it was a blessing from God." Albert from Sassoon & Co. flicked his cigarette ash on a copy of the Datong Daily. "They used all the stocks that were locked and could not be sold as collateral for the new round of government bonds. This time they want to borrow 100 million to 150 million!"

"We will take the lead in subscribing." Nathaniel Rothschild laughed, "but we can only give them Mexican silver!"

A tsunami of cheers suddenly erupted outside the glass window.

Van der Weer of the Dutch East India Bank drew aside the velvet curtains: "Jiangnan manufacturing has risen by another 9 cents! The collateral for government bonds is getting stronger and stronger." As he turned around to raise his glass, Charles Dent, Jr. of the Prosperity Bank, pushed the door open and said, "Congratulations, I just bought bales of Siamese rice in the futures market, for delivery in September. Nathaniel, do you have room to store grain in your warehouse in Nagasaki?"

"We have!" Van der Were took the initiative to speak before Nathaniel could say anything. "We can save as much as we can! We have long-term cooperative relations with many Japanese feudal lords and can borrow their rice warehouses."

"Then I really want to congratulate you!" Sassoon, an Indian Jew, laughed. "The great uprising in India destroyed a large number of grain-producing areas. It is estimated that India will need to import a large amount of grain in the next two years. By September, the price of rice will increase by at least 9 cents per stone."

Wen Xian paused with his ivory cane. "The current futures price is two Taiping silver dollars per stone. Will it rise to two and a half?"

"I don't think it's just that." Jardine Chaton suddenly interrupted, "When the war in the northwest starts, three pieces can be reached. Sir Wen, Moore, can the northwest fight?"

"Yes!" Moore nodded and took out the "Northwest War and Social Analysis Report" he wrote on his way back to Shanghai from his briefcase. "The Northwest is a powder keg. The conflicts between religion, ethnicity, the two dynasties, and various warlords and ambitious people are profound and irreconcilable!"

"How long will the war last?" asked Nathaniel Rothschild.

Moore said, "It will continue until the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can crush all contradictions with the power of industrialization!" He looked at Nathaniel Rothschild, "Mr. Rothschild, do you think they can have such power?"

The Jewish tycoon from England laughed and said, "Of course! But the prerequisite is that we manage the complex and risky finance for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Moore nodded: "I understand, you don't want to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but want to turn the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom into your cash cow!"

Nathaniel Rothschild smiled and nodded: "It's ours!"

"The first step is to push up the stock price, and then tempt the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to mortgage stocks and issue bonds." That night, under the kerosene lamp of the Far East Hotel, Moore tapped his notes with his pipe, "After obtaining the funds, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will blindly launch the Northwest War and speed up industrial construction. These projects require a large amount of imports, and the international silver and silver-based currencies fluctuate violently, and in the long run they are in a downward channel!

Friedrich circled the price curves of grain, silver and raw silk in his notebook with a red pen: "The second step is to layout the futures market and gradually collect a large number of long orders for grain and short orders for silver and raw silk."

"The third step is to store grain in Nagasaki and lock in as much grain spot as possible!" Moore took a puff of cigarette and continued to analyze, "The fourth step is to use the Indian uprising to gradually push up grain prices; the fifth step is to mobilize a large amount of silver to squeeze the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's gold; the sixth step is to release unfavorable news about the Northwest War. Whether it is a military setback, a refugee crisis after victory, or a long-term war in a stalemate, it can be used as an excuse to short stocks and bonds and go long on grain and gold."

Friedrich wrote the words "Dutch Expeditionary Fleet" in his notebook. "The most poisonous step is the seventh step - when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sells off grain and gold and supports stocks and bonds, the Dutch fleet will arrive in Nanyang to block the shipping routes and deal the final blow to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's financial market."

Moore said: "There is an eighth step! Their goal is not to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but to turn the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom into a slave of capital, allowing big capital from Europe to completely control the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's finances, so that European financial capitalists can suck blood from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom anytime and anywhere!"

"Moore, do you think they will succeed?" Friedrich asked.

Moore nodded: "They have succeeded in Britain, France, and Austria. Why can't the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom let them succeed? This is capitalism!"

Friedrich thought for a moment and said, "Should we give Luo Yaoguo a warning?"

Moore shook his head: "No need. Since he has chosen to accept capital, he must bear the consequences. Besides, the Chinese will not always be willing to be sucked dry by the big capital of Europeans. Once they decide to resist, perhaps we will see a war to destroy capitalism!"

When the bronze clock of the British Consulate struck eleven, Bai Siwen sat alone under the kerosene lamp in the reception room. The moment Winchester pushed the door open, the whistle of a Dutch merchant ship weighing anchor came from the river.

"This is a handwritten letter from Su Zhongtang of the Qing Dynasty." The British consul slapped the wax-sealed letter on the mahogany table. "It was sent from New York."

"What?" Bai Siwen was stunned. "Sushun's personal letter, from New York? He actually went to the United States!"

"Yes!" The British consul scratched his head. "It was sent to your house in London. Your British lover received the letter for you and then forwarded it to me. This letter has traveled across the ocean and around the world! Well, now it has finally arrived."

Bai Siwen quickly took the envelope, tore off the wax, and took out the neat and dazzling official script on the rice paper inside. It was Sushun's handwriting! The content of the letter made Bai Siwen feel even more shocked.
(End of this chapter)