The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 259 I have a plan

It took Aaron only two days to find out everything about James Townsend, the manager of the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association.

A financial elite from Wall Street on the East Coast.

But he made a mistake there that led to bankruptcy, and then he ran from the East Coast to the West Coast, looking for an opportunity to make a comeback.

As for what mistake he made, no one knows and he never says.

Due to his extensive experience in the financial industry, he became the manager of a small bank in San Francisco with a good salary and dividends.

Besides that, he has a beautiful wife and two children.

By some coincidence, he lived in Pacific Heights.

It was not surprising that Pacific Heights was inhabited by wealthy businessmen who were not that wealthy. But what was a coincidence was that his former neighbor was an ironworks owner named Andrew.

Now the iron factory is in the hands of Chen Zhengwei.

After finding out the situation, Aaron invited him directly to his doorstep.

In the evening, James Townsend left a banquet, returned home and got off the carriage.

"See you tomorrow, sir!" the coachman said politely to James Townsend.

"See you tomorrow, Jack!" James Townsend smiled and seemed very polite.

As the sound of horse hooves and wheels sounded again, the carriage gradually disappeared into the darkness.

James Townsend pushed open the gate of his yard and was about to enter the house when he heard a voice behind him: "Good evening, Mr. Townsend!"

James Townsend turned around and saw several people walking towards him in the darkness. One of them took off his hat, revealing a bald head.

After seeing that these people were all Chinese, James Townsend immediately became nervous.

A few months ago, his neighbor Andrew and his entire family were killed late at night.

The newspaper said that robbers broke into the house and the investigation bureau has not caught the suspect yet.

But he knew who killed Andrew's family and even why they were killed.

Therefore, when he saw several Chinese people coming to see him, especially since Aaron gave people the feeling of grinning even when he was smiling, he immediately became nervous.

"What do you want me to do?" James Townsend asked calmly.

"Our boss wants to talk to you! I don't need to explain who our boss is, right?" Aaron put his hand on the gate.

James Townsend wanted to say something to his family, but gave up the idea in an instant.

The other party showed up only after the coachman left, obviously not wanting to be known.

This also made him more nervous.

"it is good!"

After getting on the carriage, James Townsend asked, "May I know what Mr. Chen wants me to do?"

"You'll know when you meet my boss!" Aaron said casually.

James Townsend was thinking all the way about what China Chen wanted to find him for, but unfortunately he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

The carriage stopped behind the club. James followed Aaron up a staircase at the back, which led directly to the fourth floor. Then they came to Chen Zhengwei's office and knocked on the door.

The club has two staircases leading directly to the fourth floor, one leads directly to Chen Zhengwei's office, and the other is this one.

When James Townsend entered the office, he saw a tall young man in a white shirt sitting behind a desk. Even just sitting there, one could feel the terrifying power emanating from him.

This is the Chinese Chen that no one in San Francisco dares to mess with.

Not far from him sat a beautiful woman with dark brown hair, narrow eyes with a hint of charm in them, a high nose bridge, and fair skin.

Chen Zhengwei tilted his head, and the woman walked into the next door.

"Good evening, Mr. Chen, I am James Townsend." James took a deep breath.

"Sit down!" Chen Zhengwei motioned for the other party to sit down, then took out a contract from the drawer and threw it to James.

James raised his eyebrows, took the contract and read it, and found that it was a contract for 5% of the bank's shares.

San Francisco Development Bank.

James' heart suddenly started beating wildly and his throat felt a little dry. He couldn't refuse this contract at all.

What he couldn't understand was why Chen Zhengwei would spend such a huge price to dig him out.

"Mr. Chen, I don't quite understand!" James looked up at Chen Zhengwei with difficulty.

"It's okay, I can explain it to you!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"This is a new bank I have established. I plan to hire you as the bank manager and give you 5% of the shares." Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

“So I don’t understand…”

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. Now there is a small problem, which is how to buy this bank!" Chen Zhengwei's next words made James calm down a little. He knew why Chen Zhengwei was looking for him.

But this still made him excited. This was an opportunity for him, a chance for him to make a real comeback.

At this time, James Townsend had not yet realized what Chen Zhengwei was going to do and thought that the other party was interested in his financial experience.

"I need to make this bank bankrupt and then acquire it!" Chen Zhengwei continued.

Hearing this, James suddenly felt as if a basin of ice water was poured over his head.

He realized a terrible possibility, took a deep breath and asked:

"Which bank is Mr. Chen referring to?"

"San Francisco Savings and Loan Association!" Chen Zhengwei looked at the other party with a smile.

"I have a plan now. This plan only requires three steps. After completion, you will get 5% of the shares of a new bank and the position of bank manager."

"The first step is to empty the bank, the second step is to let the bank go bankrupt, and the third step is to buy the bank from the receivership structure... It's simple and easy, isn't it?"

James felt disappointed. He felt that this was not easy at all.

In his mind, the other party was full of greed and madness, like a devil.

"Emptying the bank is easy. You just need to do a little thing. Then you need to help me think about how to make this bank bankrupt..." Chen Zhengwei looked at him with a smile from beginning to end.

"Do I have any other choice, sir?" James asked nervously.

"With your current salary, when can you become a rich man? Are you prepared to live like this for the rest of your life? Being a manager of a small bank, getting a little salary and dividends every year? Although it may seem respectable, you know that true respectability has nothing to do with you!"

"There are only so many opportunities in a lifetime. If you miss them, you'll miss them. When you get a chance, you should grab it with all your might!"

Chen Zhengwei said slowly, his eyes fixed on James Townsend.

"And this is San Francisco, no living person is going to turn me down!"

"You're right, Mr. Chen!" James took a deep breath, "It's just that this incident is too shocking to me! Can you give me a few minutes to think about it?"

"Of course!" Chen Zhengwei put on a smile again and turned his head and said, "Along, give Mr. Thomson a glass of wine. He needs to calm down!"

After a moment, James took a sip of wine to calm himself down and began to think hard.

He knew he had no chance to refuse, as the other party was known for his cruelty and brutality. If he refused, the headline in tomorrow's newspaper would probably be that the body of a well-known bank manager was found on the beach.

If it wasn't for this headline, it would only mean that his body hadn't been found yet.

He has seen Wall Street and knows that capitalists will do anything for money. He also knows that the money of those big capitalists is not clean.

So once he figured it out, he knew this was an opportunity.

Although very dangerous.

James Townsend had the greed that is common among people in the financial industry.

"Mr. Chen, I'm willing to help you!" James Townsend thought it through and looked at Chen Zhengwei again and said.

"Very good! But this is not just to help me, you have to know that this is our common cause! It's not just mine, it's yours too." Chen Zhengwei corrected:
"It's easy to empty the bank. All you need to do is use some fake land deeds... to make loans! The land is real, the people are real, but the land deeds are fake, the handprints are fake... It's easy to do."

"So you have to help me figure out how to bankrupt the bank!"

James Townsend thought for a moment and then spoke: "The bank has assets of about 300 million. Currently, 15% of it is in cash and gold reserves, which is about 45. The rest is bonds and stocks, mostly corporate bonds in San Francisco, and a small amount of 1864-year war bonds issued in 40."

"When there is a problem with cash and gold reserves and there is a large-scale run on the bank, the bank will face a liquidity crisis. The first thing the bank will do is to borrow from other banks and sell bonds at the right price... This takes some time, otherwise the losses will be huge. Therefore, short-term borrowing is the main way to solve the liquidity crisis."

"As long as other banks can be prevented from borrowing, the only options for banks are to continue injecting capital or sell bonds and stocks at low prices."

"In this case, shareholders will not agree to continue injecting capital, so they can only sell bonds and stocks at low prices. However, this will cause the public's confidence in the bank to collapse, exacerbating the run..."

"In this situation, the bank has almost no choice but to go bankrupt..."

clap clap clap!
Chen Zhengwei clapped softly. This is the role of professionals.

All he knew was to cause a bank run and then find a way to make the bank go bankrupt, but that process was certainly not that easy.

With the explanation of professionals, the ideas become clear.

It is especially easier to do if the other party cooperates within the bank.

"The bank's equity is complex, with a board of directors consisting of nine people. The chairman is Henry White, a shareholder of Pacific Steel, and the other shareholders are also wealthy businessmen..."

Chen Zhengwei nodded. He didn’t care much about who the shareholders were.

"Next I will arrange for someone to make a loan and empty the bank as soon as possible! Some Germans or Poles! I have bought all the land, so except for the title deeds, everything else is legal."

"For every loan you make, you can get a 10% share!" Chen Zhengwei thought for a moment and said.

After all, if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it grass.

Since it was the bank's money, Chen Zhengwei was very generous.

"Okay!" James Townsend nodded heavily.

Then Chen Zhengwei chatted with him for a while before letting James Townsend leave.

He was not afraid of James Townsend's mischief. Even if he told others, at most some people would hate him. Chen Zhengwei didn't care at all.

What else can they do to themselves? Let the FBI arrest them? Or prosecute themselves?
As for James Townsend... Chen Zhengwei will send people to hunt him down until his entire family is killed.

After James Townsend left, Aaron, who had been standing aside, came over.

"Brother Wei, listening to you telling him how to empty the bank and how to force it into bankruptcy, I never thought it could be played this way!" Aaron said with a grin.

"So you have to learn more like me. In this place in America, you have to do things the American way!"

"This is the real American style!" Chen Zhengwei threw him a cigar and then took one in his own mouth.

"Is it too much to give him 5%?" Aaron asked.

"It depends on the ability he demonstrates. As long as his ability is worth the price, give it to him as agreed!"

"Remember, talent is the most important! Just like you, you are capable, talented, and willing to learn. You are a talent. I won't feel sorry for throwing more money at you!" Chen Zhengwei looked at Aaron and smiled.

Aaron smiled immediately when he heard this.

Chen Zhengwei continued, "If it's not worth it... then make him disappear! After all, my money didn't come from the wind, it's all hard-earned money!"

Aaron smoked a cigar from Chen Zhengwei and then left with a smile.

Chen Zhengwei returned to the room where Mary Gardner was waiting for him.

……

The next day, Chen Zhengwei got up, yawned, and asked Mary Gardner to leave.

He was getting married in a few days, so he decided to focus on his studies and not allow Mary Gardner to come over for the next few days.

He didn't even look for Anna.

Of course, this is also because women's attraction to him decreases intermittently.

That afternoon, Rong Jiacai and lawyer Brett returned with two contracts.

"Boss, the contract has been signed!" Brett said with a smile, and then handed the contract to Chen Zhengwei.

Chen Zhengwei took it and took a look.

This is an acquisition contract for two other large cigarette factories.

Home Run Cigarettes and Hills Cigarettes.

In fact, Home Run cigarettes had been discontinued long ago. Chen Zhengwei monopolized the tobacco in San Francisco through the Cromwell Tobacco Company and burned down the warehouses of Fog City Tobacco and Home Run cigarettes.

That’s when the home run was discontinued.

As for Hill Cigarettes, it was the luckiest and did not stop production until all its tobacco stocks were used up.

They did think about purchasing tobacco from other states, but after seeing the fate of Wucheng Tobacco, they finally gave up the idea.

Then he sold the tobacco company to Chen Zhengwei.

Today, Chen Zhengwei has completely monopolized cigarettes in San Francisco, but due to production reasons, the cigarettes he produces can only fill 70% of the market in San Francisco.

The result is that the price of cigarettes in the San Francisco market continues to rise.

"We will continue to retain these two cigarette brands and instead produce our own mid-range and low-end cigarette brands."

“Let all cigarette factories know that due to rising raw material prices, the ex-factory price of cigarettes will increase by 10% starting tomorrow.” Chen Zhengwei said after thinking for a moment.

Prices are going up anyway, so it’s better to make the money yourself than to let others make it.

Wait until people in San Francisco get used to the increased prices, then raise them again!
Chen Zhengwei's goal is to increase cigarette prices by 20% to 25%.

　My work and rest schedule has been chaotic these two days, resulting in unstable updates.

　　Let me adjust it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)