Master Yuan, start!

This is true in the international situation as well as in the domestic situation.

William McKinley was a Republican, and the Republican economic policies of this period tended to protect the interests of big business.

This was proven by both supporting the Southern Pacific Railroad and facilitating Carnegie Steel's acquisition of a number of small and medium-sized steel mills.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, large enterprises and large companies had another name.

Monopoly capital!

威廉麦金ba莱能登上总统5宝座，柒也和他的竞选策略6迎合了叁东部工业资4本家和银行家4的利益有关。2,

However, at this time, William McKinley only regarded capitalists as helpers in his campaign.

He won two presidential elections in history, the first from 1896-1900 and the second from 1900-1904.

After taking office for the first time, in order to repay the capitalists who supported his ascension to the presidency, he signed the Dingley Tariff Act in 1897.

This bill not only raises the tariffs imposed by the United States on foreign industrial products to the highest level in history since the founding of the country, but also does not set a specific expiration date. It only needs to be reviewed and adjusted every five years.

Nominally, the Dingley Tariff Act was intended to protect American industry from foreign competition.

In fact, it was more of a move by William McKinley to return a favor.

After William McKinley did these things, he felt that "the money and the goods were cleared" and he had repaid the big capitalists for their help during the campaign.

However, he did not realize that the resources owned by big capitalists could provide him with more support in his governance.

To put it bluntly, Americans at the end of the 19th century had not yet mastered the practice of "collusion between officials and businessmen" to perfection.

How can it be possible that before becoming president he could be on good terms with the capitalists, but after becoming president he distanced himself from them in order to demonstrate his own purity?

Collusion, must collude!

Yuan Xiangcheng had a plan in mind, and a barely perceptible smirk appeared on the corner of his mouth. "What I mean is, William, you might as well have a full conversation with outstanding entrepreneurs such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, JP Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt."

"Talk, what are you talking about?"

"Of course, I want to see if they have any good suggestions for the current domestic situation." Yuan Xiangcheng persuaded:

"I remember that in 1892, Rockefeller's oil company was ruled an illegal monopoly by the Democrats, forcing him to transfer his assets to various subsidiaries, right?"

"It seems to be true. He even retired because of it!"

"Then talk to Rockefeller first and support his return to office!" Yuan Xiangcheng said firmly, "As far as I know, New York State currently has two senators, one Republican and one Democrat, and the Democratic Party is up for election at the end of the year?"

"That's right." William McKinley nodded.

"If I mean if." Yuan Xiangcheng continued in a low voice: "At this time, the newspaper suddenly reported the scandal of the Democratic Senate, and a Republican was interested in running for Senate.

Then I believe that after talking with you, Rockefeller will be willing to contribute to the Republican Party winning all the Senate seats in New York State.

The support of the oil tycoons is much more important than the support of ordinary American citizens!"

America, oh America, you are the American Empire, how can you not do dirty and despicable work?

Chapter 530: The Age of Chaos Begins Early

Ok?

As soon as Yuan Xiangcheng finished speaking, Tang Shaoyi beside him exclaimed in surprise, and his eyes revealed a hint of confusion.

Chief Instructor, why are you interfering in Americans’ family affairs?

What's more, the method he proposed fundamentally violates the essence of the separation of powers in the United States.

Legislation and administration should be two powers that do not interfere with each other. How can we allow the administration to interfere with legislation through capitalists?

Tang Shaoyi, who grew up in the United States as a child, was very familiar with the foundation of the United States that he studied at Columbia University.

Moreover, he grew up in a traditional East Asian family and did not believe that "money" could control "power".

If rich people were so arrogant, why was it Cixi who was in charge of the Qing Dynasty instead of Hu Xueyan?

What Tang Shaoyi didn't know was that the capitalists controlled Congress, and this was the beginning of America's transformation from a "self-admiring" Puritan country to an imperialist country.

Starting from the late 19th century and early 20th century, America gradually moved towards a decadent capitalist society that only cares about money.

Even if Yuan Shikai did not tell William McKinley to do this, various capital groups in the United States and tycoons of various industries would sooner or later put their checks on the desk of the presidential office in a more blatant way.

The only difference is earlier or later.

American capitalists have already realized that America is a large-scale capitalist society, but ordinary Americans have not yet realized this. They still think that this land is a paradise far away from disputes.

William McKinley's face was so interesting at this moment that even Theodore Roosevelt held his breath and stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

William McKinley was not a fool. Judging from his path to success, he had worked his way up from the bottom step by step.

As a teenager, he joined the Northern Union Army during the Civil War and was promoted to the rank of major. After retiring, he returned to his hometown in Ohio and opened a law firm.

He then started in Ohio politics, joined the Republican Party and became a state legislator. Over the past ten years, he bridged the long-standing divisions in the Ohio Republican Party and became governor with his good record.

When William McKinley was governor of Ohio, he even established an arbitration board to resolve labor-management issues and punished several employers who fired union members.

His understanding of so-called capitalists is far deeper than that of ordinary people. Even though he accepted money from capitalists in order to run for president, he is definitely not the kind of person who would blindly obey capitalists.

Such a shrewd person had a much deeper understanding of the American national conditions than ordinary people, so he immediately grasped the meaning of Yuan Xiangcheng's suggestion.

Allowing capitalists to interfere in Congress and manipulate members of Congress would allow them to influence legislation through executive power, and they would have money to invest domestically or expand production. Then, giants like Rockefeller and Morgan could naturally take their careers to the next level.

So what is the price?

Extract]2*6

I'm afraid this is the end of this president's term.

"Waiting, I'm afraid I can't do this directly. It's too obvious." William McKinley instinctively wanted to refuse considering the great possibility of his re-election.

He knew that even if he did nothing, his contributions to expanding America's territory would give him a huge advantage in the upcoming 1900 presidential election.

Bowing to capitalists means undoubtedly sharing something with them.

William McKinley was reluctant.

He only wants to make the United States great and strong, and to make the country's international prestige match its own strength, and he does not want to be a pawn of capitalists.

Hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng was ecstatic.

If you are not decisive in rejecting something, there is still hope.

William McKinley was moved.

"William, perhaps we can try a different approach, one that is more beneficial to the country and the people, to allow these big capitalists to participate in domestic affairs without affecting the operation of the government."

"Do you mean domestic affairs?" William McKinley raised his eyebrows.

"To create an institution that is not part of the federal government but part of the United States, and that can fully leverage these industry leaders.

For example, the US central bank!"

"Central bank?" William McKinley's eyes widened.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" He waved his hands repeatedly at Yuan Xiangcheng: "Do you think the nine previous presidents of the United States have never thought about it? Forty-three-six.

As early as when the first group of continental elites founded the country, they tried to establish a national central bank.

Feilu Extraction Group 9679102)

But you know, waiting, America is not a unitary country, it is a federation, and the state governments will not agree to the central government supervising and managing their banking industry. This is more difficult than making America a British colony again."

William McKinley speaks of the American tradition of small government.

After the Civil War, the United States ushered in a period of rapid development, but was then hit by a series of financial crises. Bank runs and bankruptcies occurred in 1884, 1890, and 1893, resulting in severe liquidity shortages and the spread of financial panic.

If it weren't for the financial crises, the United States wouldn't have established so many monopoly institutions so quickly.

I can’t survive anymore, so I have to sell it to others!

Seeing this situation, presidents such as William McKinley and his predecessors had thought about establishing a central bank to help business owners overcome the economic crisis, but the mainstream practice in Europe at the time was that the central bank should be state-owned.

However, the United States has long believed that if the federal government controls the central bank, the government's power will be too great, and it will be difficult to restrain government power in the future, forming an evil autocratic government.

If a private central bank were established, people would be even more fearful.

Therefore, proposals by successive governments to establish a central bank often come to nothing.

"Then let the central bank belong to both individuals and the country, but at the same time not be completely under the federal government, so that the states can also participate." Yuan Xiangcheng put forward a seemingly impossible approach.

"Are you kidding, my dear President?" When William McKinley heard this, he thought Yuan Shikai was teasing him. He almost rolled his eyes and his tone changed.

"Of course I'm not joking!" Yuan Xiangcheng stared into William McKinley's eyes and said seriously:

"We can set up a central bank management agency in Washington and divide the central bank into six parts. No, six is ​​too few." Yuan Xiangcheng recalled the Federal Reserve in later generations and said arrogantly:

“12, 15, 18 servings are all fine!

A Federal Reserve Bank is established in each economically strong state, which is independent of the government and Congress and is responsible for performing central bank functions and issuing US dollars.

The government can only issue treasury bonds as collateral to the Federal Reserve in exchange for US dollars, and does not have the power to directly issue US dollars.

At the same time, these dozen or so Federal Reserve Banks can be established by banks from various states, become shareholders of the Federal Reserve Banks, and agree on a fixed annual dividend interest.

Of course, the Federal Reserve Banks in each region need to be classified as non-profit organizations.

There is only one requirement for these Federal Reserve Banks, that is, when a financial crisis occurs, Federal Reserve Banks everywhere must provide emergency loans! "

What Yuan Xiangcheng said is the original function of the Federal Reserve.

Historically, the United States had not yet been established until the Qing Dynasty established its central bank.

It’s not that Americans are stupid and don’t know the benefits of a central bank, but that the interests of all parties are intertwined, making it difficult to move forward.

In the end, when there was no other way, they had to consider all aspects and establish an institution like the Federal Reserve to exercise the functions of a central bank.

What Yuan Shikai had to do was to establish it in advance, let it be controlled by capitalists in advance, let it help America reach its peak prosperity in advance and lead America into the era of imperialism faster.

Only in this way can he more easily dig into the United States together with those Jewish capitalists who have broken through government control.

"This is really crazy." William McKinley was still in a daze and did not speak.

Theodore Roosevelt on the side had already begun to sigh.

Such a central bank is a mixture of congressional supervision, hostility from private banks, distrust from the public, concerns from businessmen, and expectations from manufacturers and financiers, and has compromised to the extreme between the interests of all parties.

Can it really continue to operate?

Theodore Roosevelt didn’t know it, and neither did William McKinley.

But he always felt that he should give it a try.