The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 297 Bank Run—I will beat to death anyone who lends them money!
Looking at Chen Zhengwei's fierce eyes, William Fox finally calmed down.

He was just obsessed for a moment and thought that if he could solve the switch problem, the market would definitely open up and the company's value would increase several times.

But that's what needs to be resolved after the switch is fixed.

The Chinese man in front of him is not an ordinary businessman who would remain loyal even if a deal fails.

The head of the branch company next door was sweating and kept winking at him.

Before he came, he repeatedly warned the company president not to anger the Chinese man.

William Fox and Bell looked at each other. In fact, he had already obtained authorization before coming.

Today, the shares of Bell Telephone Company are mainly held by Alexander Graham Bell, his father-in-law Gardner Greene Hubbard, and fur trader Thomas Sanders.

"Okay, we promise you, $30 and 30% of the shares." William Fox smiled awkwardly and sat back on the sofa.

"Go and notify the lawyer!" Chen Zhengwei said to his henchman.

"Are you optimistic about the future of the telephone business?" Bell looked at Chen Zhengwei with some curiosity. Before coming here, he thought that this Chinese was a bumpkin who didn't understand technology.

I didn’t expect that the other party would invest $30 without even asking about the profitability and company prospects, or even making any requirements.

And he can name the main problems that are restricting the development of telephones today.

"I like technology! Technology makes the world glow with different colors every day! And I'm also very rich!" Chen Zhengwei leaned on the sofa. Since the other party was sensible, it saved him a lot of trouble.

He's not a bad guy, and he doesn't like to put a gun to someone's head to get them to sign a contract.

"You're right!" Bell agreed with Chen Zhengwei.

Soon, lawyer Brett came to understand the situation and drafted an agreement.

Chen Zhengwei invested $30 in Bell Telephone Company and acquired 30% of the shares of Bell Telephone Company.

The shareholding ratios of the original shareholders will be diluted accordingly.

After the contract was signed, Chen Zhengwei asked someone to bring champagne: "I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation!"

Chen Zhengwei put a smile on his face again. The telephone company would not have any major development for the time being. One switch could only connect 21 calls and could only be used within the company.

Its scope of application is far less than that of the telegraph.

However, once the telephone lines are laid over a large enough area and automatic exchanges are invented, the telephone market will experience explosive growth.

As for how long this will take...only God knows.

"I think the company should set up a laboratory and hire some people to study automatic switches!" said Chen Zhengwei.

"We'll arrange it when we get back!" William Fox nodded. With Chen Zhengwei's investment, Bell Telephone Company now has more funds and can start more research.

"I'll have someone go to the company as my representative!"

Later, Chen Zhengwei arranged for two of his Polish men and two Chinese henchmen to follow William Fox back to Boston.

In fact, we don’t need so many representatives.

However, Chen Zhengwei also asked a few people to find out about the situation in Boston.

After all, Boston, like Chicago, is an industrial city in the North and is also Republican territory.

Chen Zhengwei's next expansion direction will be these northern industrial cities.

He wanted to smuggle cigars, coffee beans, slot machines, H comics... He wanted to sell these things to contribute to the spiritual enrichment of the American people after work.

……

San Francisco Savings and Loan Association.

James Townsend said to the man in front of him with an apologetic look on his face: "Sorry, Mr. Watson, the amount you want to withdraw is quite large. We need to go through the process, which will take a few days!"

"Why?" The man in front of James Townsend looked annoyed.

He had kept his money with the savings and loan association because of some business connection with the bank's shareholders.

Now he was moving to Chicago and had even sold the factory. He was going to withdraw all his money and deposit it in a California bank.

He thought this was very simple, but he didn't expect that he couldn't take it out, which made him quite angry.

"I've never heard of such a thing when I was doing business with you before! I'll give you three hours at most to get the money out. $50,000!"

"Sorry, I can't do it!" James Townsend still looked apologetic.

"I am very familiar with Congressman Cook. I want to ask him what's going on!" Watson said angrily. Congressman Cook is one of the shareholders of the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association and also a wealthy businessman.

"Well, Mr. Watson, to be honest, the bank has made a lot of loans recently, and our current cash reserves are not enough to take out 50,000 US dollars!" James Townsend had a confused expression, and then he said frankly.

When Watson heard this, his face suddenly changed.

No money in the bank?
Or is it low on cash? Anyone with a little financial knowledge knows what this means.

"Give us a few days and we can resolve this matter." James Townsend said. "Please do not disclose this matter to others. If others know about it, it will affect the reputation of the bank."

More importantly, there will be a bank run.

Everyone is afraid that they won’t be able to withdraw their money.

Watching Watson leave with a grim look on his face, James Townsend walked to the window and looked down, knowing that the plan was about to begin.

With his assistance, Schultz continued to use the land for loans, and now the bank's reserves are only $13,000.

This is fatal to a bank.

Logically speaking, the bank's financial officer would report the matter and tighten lending once the bank's reserves dropped to a certain level.

However, the bank's financial officer was also bribed.

Not only the financial officer was bribed, but even the cashier chief was bribed.

As a result, the bank’s board of directors is still unaware of this matter.

But they will probably find out tonight.

Because Schultz's men opened more than a dozen accounts in the bank and deposited $15,000. The next day, Henry White, chairman of the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association, and several shareholders came to the bank with grim faces, only to see dozens of people at the door of the bank shouting, "Why don't you let us withdraw our money?"

"We want to withdraw our money, return our hard-earned money!"

"Give me back the thousand dollars I saved!"

"I deposited this money with the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association because I trusted it, but now I can't withdraw it!"

Some people even put up banners, and the scene was filled with an uproar.

But if you look closely, you can see that these people are all muscular, tall, and ferocious-looking German men.

These people held banners at the bank entrance and shouted for money, causing more people around them to join in, especially ordinary people who had deposited money in the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association. After learning of the situation, they ran home like crazy to retrieve their passbooks, fearing that they would not be able to get their money back if it was too late.

Of course, even if you come early, you can’t get your money back.

"Where is James? Where is James?" Henry White asked the bank staff with an angry look on his face.

"Mr. James hasn't come today..."

"Where's the treasurer?"

"The financial officer hasn't come yet..."

Obviously, James, the treasurer, and the chief cashier would not stay in the bank at this time.

Maybe angry shareholders will give them a shot!
At this time everyone had realized that something was wrong. There were still many people in the bank lobby clamoring to withdraw money, and there were even more people outside the bank, and the crowd was extremely excited.

The staff in the bank were also in a panic.

At this moment, several big men accidentally "squeezed" the door into pieces!
The people outside rushed in all at once.

Henry White's face turned pale!
Then I had to stand up and speak: "I am Henry White, chairman of the bank!"

"We want to withdraw money!"

"There is no problem with the bank's operations, you can rest assured!"

"Give me my money back!"

"Don't worry, you can definitely get your money out!"

"Give me my money now, who the hell wants to listen to your nonsense!" Someone in the crowd shouted, and a fist-sized stone was thrown over, hitting Henry White directly on the head.

Henry White only felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and there were golden stars in front of his eyes. A hot current flowed down from his forehead. He reached out his hand and wiped it, and it was bright red.

As Henry White was helped to the back, the situation became even more chaotic.

As for the police…it seemed like all of them had disappeared at this time!
"Now they must be trying to find other banks to borrow money!" James Townsend was in Chen Zhengwei's club at this time. The person in front of him was not Chen Zhengwei, but the bank's financial officer.

"Yes..." The financial officer's expression was also complicated.

He doesn't want this to happen either, he is a man with professional ethics.

But there was nothing he could do with the gun pointed at his entire family's heads.

It was after noon when Chen Zhengwei arrived at the club.

"Mr. Chen!" The two men stood up immediately after seeing Chen Zhengwei.

"You're here! What's the situation?" Chen Zhengwei yawned and sat down opposite the two of them.

Chen Zhengwei waved his hand and someone brought him some root beer.

I've finished the Coke I won last time, so now I can only drink this.

"It has already started. The situation on the scene is very chaotic. Even the chairman Henry White had his head hit by a stone thrown by the crowd. And the news has spread. Now more and more people are rushing to the bank to withdraw their money..." James Townsend introduced the situation.

"In the afternoon or evening, they will go to other banks to borrow money... As long as they can get money out and make people believe that there is no problem with the bank and their money is still safe, then this bank run will gradually stop."

Of course, after experiencing this kind of thing, the bank’s reputation will definitely be affected and its business will be greatly reduced.

"Oh...Is that so...you guys find a place to wait for news!" Chen Zhengwei nodded.

The two of them are afraid to go home now. Last night the whole family stayed in the hotel arranged by Chen Zhengwei.

Chen Zhengwei went out directly to visit Jones.

Jones also became a shareholder of the club two days ago, buying 20% of the club's shares for 5.

He also looked at the club's accounts and was very satisfied with the profits, which would give him a payback period of about a year.

And Chen Zhengwei is here for this moment.

Jones was quite surprised when he heard that Chen Zhengwei came to see him.

I also know that Chen Zhengwei would never come to my temple without a reason.

"I'm curious why you don't live in Nob Hill..." Chen Zhengwei came to Jones's estate, which is next to Nob Hill.

"Like you, I arrived late and there is no suitable space left." Jones said with a smile.

He wanted to buy an estate on Nob Hill, but there were only a few estates on Nob Hill, only twelve. In addition to Stanford, there were estates of several other railroad tycoons, bankers in San Francisco, and mining tycoons.

There were also some luxury houses with very small areas, which he didn't like, so he simply bought manors in other places.

"Maybe it will be available soon!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Maybe!" Jones also smiled.

"I came here this time because I want your help with something!"

"There's a problem with the San Francisco Savings and Loan Association. There's already a run on the bank. They need to borrow funds from other banks to get through the crisis!"

"I hope you can help me contact the heads and important shareholders of those banks and tell them what I mean!"

“You mean…” Jones’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"I will beat to death anyone who lends them money!" Chen Zhengwei grinned.

(End of this chapter)