Chapter 24 Chapter Fourteen 1935: The Great Collection

1935 Many years later, French scholar Bergier commented on the performance of the Nationalist government in this economic crisis. She wrote: "A large number of facts prove that the attitude of the Nationalist government to the development of private enterprises is quite indifferent. In the years of industrial and commercial depression, the Nanjing government They are unwilling to provide any support to private entrepreneurs who are on the verge of extinction, so as to help the enterprises concerned overcome and survive the crisis." What happened to the Rong family is an example.Rong Zongjing said sadly and indignantly, "God does not make Chinese people the first class."

The twists and turns of "saving glory" are really intriguing. On July 4, 1934, on the night when Shen Xin announced his "stranding", bigwigs from Shanghai's cotton textile industry and financial circles gathered in Rongzhai for an emergency meeting. Where can I still see the "martyr's twilight years, full of ambition" Shougong Fengcai a year ago.Everyone feels that the chess game is tricky, and only the government's assistance can tide over the difficulties.Therefore, everyone publicly recommended Rong Desheng to go to Nanjing to ask the central government for help. The specific plan was to allow Shenxin to issue 5 million yuan of special corporate bonds, and the government would guarantee the interest.

The Minister of Industry at that time was Chen Gongbo. He immediately sent people to Shanghai to investigate, and soon produced an "Investigation Report on Shenxin Textile Company".The main point of the report is that Shenxin's assets and liabilities have been offset upside down, and it accuses Shenxin of being "unorganized and unmanaged" and must quickly clear up its debts and "change its business organization".Therefore, it is proposed to form an interim management committee, and the government will provide 3 million yuan as working capital. After six months, any surplus or loss will be incorporated into the company's debt bonds for calculation.The report concludes, "If the Rong family is still the center today, the outside world will have no faith, and the center will not be able to maintain itself."

The Rong family was taken aback by the plan given by the Ministry of Industry.A discerning person can see that this is to use 3 million yuan to take away tens of millions of assets from the Rong family.Chen Gongbo also publicly stated his position in the newspaper, thinking that the only way out for Shen Xin is to "nationalize it." This scene is like a repeat of the China Merchants case two years ago. Of course the Rong brothers were unwilling to be arrested without a fight. Rong Zongjing wrote to Chiang Kai-shek, accusing the Ministry of Industry of "not talking about relief, but about rectification, and not about investigation, but estimation. The news in it is completely chilling." In the letter, he even lamented, "What is the crime of civil and commercial affairs, and what is the guilt of Shenxin." Rong's old friend Wu Zhihui also helped to resist. In his letter to Chen Gongbo, he sarcastically said, "Many people eat tofu in China. , so there are few risk-takers, and although I personally dare not follow suit, I really admire it." To put it bluntly, Chen Gongbo is taking advantage of the fire to rob.He went on to say, "Even if Mr. Rong is a reckless man, he will inevitably fall into the society of all the little devils." As a second minister, although he was extremely annoyed by Wu's insults, he had no choice but to resign himself.At the same time, the national cotton textile industry also opposed the proposal of the Ministry of Industry. Everyone knows the truth that once Shen Xin returns to the public, it will soon be his turn. Yarn in Wuxi, Tianjin, Hebei and other places The factory federations contacted the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry one after another, forming a strong public opinion.By August, Chen Gongbo had no choice but to stop, and had to change "sorting out by the Ministry of Industry" to "finishing up by the Rong himself." However, there was no talk of issuing special bonds and so on.

This is the first farce of "Saving Rong". The Rong family wanted to ask for rescue, but unexpectedly, they almost recruited a robber.The shock was still undecided, and the second play was staged. Rong Zongjing borrowed money everywhere to expand his business. Among them, he borrowed 2 million yuan from the British-funded HSBC Bank, which was mortgaged by the Shenxin No. 7 Factory. By December 1934, the loan expired and the Rong family was unable to pay off. Therefore, HSBC proposed to disclose The seventh factory was auctioned, which is a large factory with 56,000 spindles and more than 3,000 workers.Looking around the domestic cotton textile industry, all the Chinese merchants' spinning mills are too busy to protect themselves. If they are auctioned, they will inevitably fall into the hands of Japanese merchants.Rong Zongjing was in a hurry, and he said to the visiting reporter in frustration, "China's industry has reached this point, and the future is really unimaginable." Then, he said the extremely sad sentence, "God does not make Chinese people the first class." .

Here, there is a doubt that needs to be explained. When the crisis comes suddenly, why are the Huashang spinning mills in trouble, but the Nisshang spinning mills are doing well?In addition to strong capital, advanced technology and management, a big reason is the difference in taxes, which is one of the places where Rong Zongjing and others are most dissatisfied with the government.Scholar Yan Zhongping gave an example in "Chinese Cotton Textile History Draft", if Huashang yarn mills want to use imported cotton, they have to pay an import tax of 14 to 15 silver dollars per load, and after the cotton is spun into yarn, they have to pay another 8.5 to A unified tax of 11.63 silver dollars, so that the production cost of Chinese factories is 22 to 26 silver dollars per load more expensive than Japanese factories.According to his research, the tax and interest borne by Chinese factories is nearly five times that of the Japanese.

On March 26, 1935, Shenxin No. 7 Factory was publicly auctioned by HSBC. Sure enough, there was no bidder for the Chinese factory. Japan's Toyota Spinning Factory bid 2.25 million yuan in one fell swoop.As soon as the news hit the newspapers, there was an uproar. The people of the country hated Japan for a long time, and they would rather burn it than fall into the hands of the enemy.The next day, HSBC and Nisshang came to post the acceptance seals, but the workers washed them away with high-pressure water taps.Another day, the trade union held an emergency meeting and elected 10 representatives to petition the government, saying, "The factory survives, the factory dies and dies, and we will fight to the end at any sacrifice."

The industrial circles across the country once again expressed their solidarity. The Chinese Merchants Spinning Mills Association, the chambers of commerce in Shanghai and Nanjing, and the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions expressed their protests. Banks have been cut off, and anyone who takes office in our country must lead by example and earnestly implement it.” Major domestic media published editorials for days, unanimously opposed.Under such circumstances, the British Consulate in Shanghai came forward to coordinate, and HSBC was forced to agree to cancel the auction. The Rong family escaped another catastrophe.The difficulty of Qichang has eased, but the risk of bleeding is still there.In the next third play, a stronger character will appear.

In April 1935, the domestic banking world suddenly changed—the specific scene will be described in detail below—Song Ziwen re-emerged to take charge of the nationalized Bank of China. Song Rong’s relationship has always been good. The letter said in an extremely humble tone, "Zong Jing is powerless and can't make any claims. Please give me a phone call in public leisure time, and agree on a place and time, so that I can come forward to learn and follow." Song Ziwen remained noncommittal for a long time. In the blink of an eye, in September, the two met again. Rong Zongjing poured out his bitterness as always, Song Ziwen listened attentively, and suddenly.He said in a very understated tone, "Shenxin is so difficult, don't worry about it, I will bear the monthly expenses of 2,000 yuan for your family." Rong Zongjing was stunned on the spot.

A few days later, Song Ziwen finally came up with a rescue plan, which was even harsher than Chen Gongbo: the Bank of China would take over all nine spinning mills in Shenxin, and then issue corporate bonds to repay the old debts with new bonds. Debts are divided into five categories: operating loans, real estate mortgage loans, unsecured bank loans, personal savings deposits, and Rongjia deposits, which are repaid sequentially.The only temptation given by Song Ziwen was that the loan interest owed by Shenxin to banks and banks was reduced from one cent to five percent.This case is tantamount to kicking the Rong family out of Shen Xin.

This is the biggest crisis since Shen Xin was stranded, and it is also one of the most dangerous moments in the past 30 years since Rong's founding.Song Ziwen's political and business influence is far from comparable to Chen Gongbo's generation. He planned for half a year, and once He made a move, the chance of the Rong family surviving was already slim.Rong Desheng's eldest son, Rong Weiren, was Rong Zongjing's assistant at the time. He disclosed the family's concerns in a letter: "The matter of government-business cooperation has never been done well in China, and businessmen have no political ability to support it. It’s all for naught. It’s a matter of life and death for shareholders, and we have to work hard to argue.” Rong Zongjing looked for people everywhere to intercede, but no one dared to come forward to offend Song Ziwen.The time soon came to February 12, 1936. Song Ziwen called a meeting of Shen Xin's three major creditors at his home to decide Shen Xin's fate.The five participants were Xu Xinliu from Zhejiang Industrial Bank, Chen Guangfu from Bank of Shanghai, Song Ziwen, Wang Lengbo and Huo Baoshu from Bank of China.At this time, the brothers of the Rong family were like something on a plate, let down and let others eat. When the meeting was held, Chen Guangfu actually said that he would not be able to come due to illness, and Li Yunhou, the manager of the communication department, came to replace him.Song specially placed a big cake on the table for the celebration. More than 70 years later, the descendants of the Rong family recalled the scene to the historian Fu Guoyong: the meeting started at 2 p.m. Song Ziwen asked Huo Baoshu to read the printed and organized English documents paragraph by paragraph, and asked everyone if they had any comments.Finally, Li Yunhou made a speech. He stuttered a bit, but expressed his opinion very clearly: "This method cannot be agreed to by our bank." Song Jing asked: "Guangfu has agreed!" Li said: "This money belongs to me. Let it go, so I am responsible. According to this method, our bank will definitely lose money, and I hope that Chairman Song will help us tide over the difficulties.” —— Li’s so-called loss refers to Shen Xin’s debt of more than 12 million yuan to the Bank of Shanghai, The annual interest rate is reduced from 1 cent to 5 percent, and the annual loss will be at least 500,000 yuan.Song said: "Then what should we do? Bank of China also agrees." Li said: "Or transfer the loan from Bank of Shanghai to Shenxin to Bank of China. Bank of China is the issuing bank. It's not a big problem. When everyone heard this, their faces changed suddenly, and Song said: "This way we can't talk any more."The meeting broke up unhappy, and no one touched the cake on the table. In this way, relying on Chen Guangfu's righteousness, Rong Zongjing escaped from Song Ziwen's tiger's claws.For the next six months, Shenxin's factories opened and stopped, struggling to survive. The Rong brothers were like two drowning people, struggling to survive every day, relying on instinct to survive. On October 1, 1936, the Rong family entered into a "signature of entrusted operation" with China and Shanghai, which preserved the ownership.In autumn, the market that had been sluggish for more than two years finally changed. The cotton harvest was bumper, the price fell, the price of yarn and cloth rose, and the market turned warm. Finally survived the birth day. The Rong family is obviously lucky. During this economic crisis, state-owned enterprise groups have entered a large number of light industries that were originally dominated by private capital, such as tobacco, flour, and grain processing, through acquisitions and holdings.Bank of China alone controlled 15 spinning mills, accounting for about 13% of the total number of spindles in Huashang spinning mills. One day in 1935, "Match King" Liu Hongsheng had financial difficulties due to his diversified business operations. He asked Song Ziwen, who had been friends with him for many years, for help: "Recently, money is getting tighter and tighter. I have several due deposits, and the bank can recover them." Very urgent, I hope the Bank of China will accept the mortgage and help me tide over the difficulties, do you think it is okay?" Song Ziwen asked coldly: "What do you use as collateral?" Liu replied: "All the stocks of my company." Song Yi laughed He said in a tone of voice: "The stock of O.S. is not as good as straw paper now!" O.S. is Liu Hongsheng's English name. He later recalled that this was the most unforgettable moment in his life. When Bai Jier said that the national government did not help private enterprises when the crisis broke out, she actually only told half of the truth.The whole fact is that the government actually completed a fatal blow to the private capital group under such a critical situation. This is a very cruel and delicate battle. After decades of resumption, it still makes the reader's palms sweat , Myriad sighs. Before March 1935, the initiative of China's financial industry was still firmly in the hands of private bankers.There are only two banks directly controlled by the government, the Central Bank and the Peasant Bank of China. Their total assets account for only 11.7% of the total assets of the national banks, and 90% of the remaining assets are concentrated in the hands of members of the Shanghai Bankers Association. Among them, the most well-capitalized It is the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications. The total assets of these two banks are 975 million yuan and 425 million yuan respectively, accounting for one-third of the total bank capital in the country and three times the size of the central bank. Each bank has 20% of the shares, but the right to operate is still in the hands of the private equity side.Zhang Gongquan, the major shareholder of Bank of China and the 46-year-old general manager, seems to be the leader of the banking industry. Therefore, he replaced Yu Qiaqing as the new leader of entrepreneurs in Shanghai. Zhang Gongquan is a financial genius born once in a century. He became famous twenty years ago when he led the Bank of China to break away from Yuan Shikai's government.He was young, vigorous, broad-minded, and politically ambitious. At this time, he not only had a huge fortune, but also led the Shanghai Bankers Association, and ran magazines such as "Bank of China Monthly", showing the banker's right to speak everywhere.He has always been dissatisfied with Kong Xiangxi's deficit fiscal policy. After the economic crisis broke out, he repeatedly called on the government to direct its financial resources to help the recession-hit Chinese economy instead of accumulating public debt. Voiced out that "Under such circumstances, the financial policy of the banking sector must be completely changed", "The government immediately stops all unnecessary and wasteful expenditures, effectively implements strict savings, and uses reserves for construction to increase national construction. ", "Investment should no longer be limited to commercial and financial central cities, but should be directed to inland areas." Of course, Kong Xiangxi regarded these remarks as a thorn in his eye, and he wanted to get rid of them quickly.Zhang Gongquan's actions made Kong Xiangxi very uncomfortable. In order to express his anger at the central government's policies, he drastically reduced the public debt reserve from more than 72 million yuan in December 1931 to more than 25 million yuan in December 1934. Openly profess to boycott unreasonable government debt.The assets of the Bank of China account for 23% of the total assets of banks in the country, almost one in four in the world. Under its demonstration effect, the enthusiasm of private banks for public debt has been greatly reduced, and Kong's deficit policy seems to be unfeasible. At the most severe moment of the economic crisis, Kong Xiangxi used a combination of vertical and horizontal tactics to raid the Bank of China.He knew that it would be difficult to knock Zhang Gongquan down by himself, so he secretly joined forces with two masters, one was Song Ziwen, the brother-in-law of the country, and the other was Du Yuesheng, the boss of the underworld.Song Ziwen's influence in the financial world is obvious to all. After he was forced to resign, he no longer held a position in the government system. Instead, he initiated the establishment of a company called "China Construction Bank" - we will soon know this company What is the company's main business? The relationship between him and Kong Xiangxi is very flat, and it can even be said that there are many conflicts, but this time they are standing in the same trench for the common benefit. In early February 1935, Kong and Song held a secret meeting in Hankou to determine the steps of the raid, and the case was approved by Chiang Kai-shek. On February 13, Du Yuesheng came forward to send invitations, inviting bigwigs from Shanghai's financial and industrial circles to have a meeting to discuss strategies to deal with the economic crisis.Boss Du, who is rich and has a gun, invites him, and no one dares to lose face.At the meeting, Kong Xiangxi, who was present as a government representative, suddenly threw out a motion. He suggested that the Central Bank, Bank of China and Bank of Communications form a "three-bank group" to provide "as much loan assistance as possible" to the desperate Shanghai factory.As soon as this discussion came out, of course it attracted great welcome from businessmen. They stood by Kong Xiangxi's side like a long drought and rain, and Du Yuesheng even slapped the table and shouted hello.Zhang Gongquan and others didn't know what to do when they heard about this discussion. If they opposed it, they would fight against the factory owners. If they agreed, they didn't know what kind of medicine Kong Xiangxi was selling in his gourd.Zhang Gongquan then proposed that the loan is a matter of course, but the details need to be discussed, and all the funds raised should be loaned to the factory.Kong Xiangxi agreed on the spot. Fifteen days later, the industrial and financial circles met again, which was still hosted by Du Yuesheng. In order to create pressure on public opinion, Kong Xiangxi did not attend this time, but continued to propose the establishment of the "Three-line Group" by telegram through Shanghai's largest circulation "Shenbao" .At this time, Song Ziwen used his influence to frequently engage in Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, local associations and other organizations, and also instigated some small and medium-sized factory owners to form the China Industrial and Commercial Relief Association, forming a strong pressure on the banker group.In this way, Shanghai entrepreneurs were artificially torn into two camps of industry and finance, and Kong Xiangxi became the "savior" of Shanghai's economic recovery for a while. On March 9, under his chairmanship, people from all walks of life met for the third time and reached a resolution. The Bank of China led the formation of an aid consortium to provide 5 million yuan in unsecured loans and 100 million yuan in mortgage loans. On March 20, Kong Xiangxi solemnly submitted a proposal to the Central Committee, deciding to issue 100 million yuan of public bonds guaranteed by customs duties. Zhang Gongquan, Chen Guangfu and others proposed that this public bond must be used to assist the mortgage loans of the industrial sector. Zhang also quickly began arranging the details of the loan. If the event evolves according to this logic, the industrial sector should be the biggest beneficiary, and the banking sector should fulfill its responsibility even though it bears the financial risk.However, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations. Just after the 100 million yuan bond was determined, on March 23, Kong Xiangxi suddenly announced a jaw-dropping decision. The government required the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications to issue additional stocks for control purposes. The 100 million yuan bond would not Then, according to the original idea, the loan will be used for relief to industrial and commercial persons, but it will be used to buy the stocks of the two banks.The reason given by Kong is that this can increase the credit capacity of the two banks to better overcome the difficulties of the depression.He also designated the distribution of the purchase amount in the name of the Ministry of Finance, of which 25 million yuan and 10 million yuan were purchased for the shares of Bank of China and Bank of Communications, 30 million yuan was used to increase the capital of the central bank, and the remaining 35 million yuan was used as compensation Government debts, direct relief loans to industry and commerce are nothing. The most absurd thing about this plan is that, first, there is no premium for the bank’s private placement, and second, the money the government uses to buy stocks is exactly the government bonds it issues to the banks.It is like letting a pig eat its own hoof.At that time, the share capital of Bank of China and Bank of Communications was 25 million yuan and 10 million yuan respectively. Kong Xiangxi's additional issuance and purchase plan made the government the absolute controlling shareholder of the two banks.What is particularly overbearing is that Kong Xiangxi directly announced that Li Ming, the chairman of the Bank of China, and Zhang Gongquan, the general manager, were dismissed together. (In the previous Bank of China, Li Ming's chairmanship was symbolic, and the actual controller was Zhang Gongquan.) Zhang " Promoted to "Second Vice President of the Central Bank" - a position specially created for him, and Song Ziwen was replaced as chairman and general manager.According to the Bank of China's articles of association, the appointment and dismissal of these two positions must be collectively decided by the board of directors. As the Minister of Finance, Kong Xiangxi has no authority to make such appointments at all.Kong and Song also solemnly sent telegrams to congratulate Zhang Gongquan on his promotion. Zhang refused to take up the post on the grounds of being "tired". Not worth a penny.Chiang, of course, turned a deaf ear to it. Interestingly, the only person in the government system who disagreed with Zhang Gongquan's "promotion" was Wang Jingwei, then President of the Executive Yuan. There have been no discussions.It is conceivable that the Sri Lankan people are domineering. The last difficulty for Kong Xiangxi is that his appointment will ultimately have to be voted on by the board of directors.Some directors have publicly rebelled.Zhang Gongquan later recalled, "Since the shareholders are satisfied with the achievements of the two banks under private management, the government cannot make the shareholders submit except by extreme means of coercion." However, Kong, Song He and Du Yuesheng still used all kinds of explicit and dark methods to make the shareholders submit. On the new board of directors on March 30, Song Ziwen, his younger brother Song Ziliang and Du Yuesheng were all added to the board of directors, while Zhang Gongquan, Rong Zongjing and Zhou Zuo Min and others are out.Kong Xiangxi's only concession was that he promised Song Hanzhang to be the general manager, while Song Ziwen was still the chairman. One month after Zhang Gongquan was forcibly cleared, the board of directors of the Bank of Communications was re-elected, and Kong Xiangxi's cronies followed suit and made another victory.In this way, the two major banks of China and Communications were all in the hands of officials. This is how things turned out.Kong Xiangxi hadn't finished playing chess yet.At that time, in the Shanghai financial circle, in addition to the two major banks, there were also three relatively important private banks, China Commercial Bank, Siming Commercial Savings Bank and Industrial Bank of China, and their assets were all around 100 million yuan.Kong Xiangxi continued to fight fiercely.His method of winning these three cities is much simpler. In three months, he took advantage of the financial strength of the central bank, Bank of China and Bank of Communications to hoard a large amount of currency from the three banks, such as Tongshang, and then suddenly took it out and demanded cash. At this time, the three banks, which were already in trouble, couldn't resist, so they had no choice but to surrender obediently. China Commercial Bank was the first bank in modern China. Its founder was Sheng Xuanhuai. At this time, the chairman was Fu Zongyao, a close friend of the Sheng family and wanted by Chiang Kai-shek for refusing to "donate" a few years ago. Du Yuesheng talked to him personally. The author wisely gave up the position of chairman and Du replaced it.Siming Commercial Savings Bank is an asset of Chiang Kai-shek's hometown "Ningbo Gang" (named after Siming Mountain in Ningbo), the chairman of the bank is Sun Hengfu, and the actual controllers are Yu Qiaqing and others who played a big role in the "April 12" Incident. Kong Xiangxi is still merciless, and the new chairman is Wu Qiding, director of the National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance.Among the three banks, the Industrial Bank of China has the most assets. The chairman of the board is Gong Xinzhan, who was the Premier of the State Council of the Beiyang Government. Kong forced him to resign and was replaced by Fu Rulin, a member of the Kuomintang.There are still some private shareholders in these three banks. In the following ten years, the board of directors controlled by Kong Xiangxi did not distribute dividends for a long time. , private shareholders gain almost zero. In this large-scale acquisition, the only heavyweight private bank that slipped through the net was Chen Guangfu's Bank of Shanghai.This is a very strange phenomenon. The explanation given by "Cambridge History of China" is, "Chen and Kong were classmates when they were studying in the United States, and some people said that they were brothers." There are two more convincing explanations. In Shanghai, Chen Guangfu's "first contribution to fundraising" was really great, and his personal relationships with Jiang, Song, Kong and others were extraordinary.Second, Chen Guangfu has a very close relationship with the U.S. government and the financial circles. At that time, Treasury Secretary Morgan Tao was a close friend of Chen. In May 1935, Chen led a Chinese financial delegation to visit the United States and signed the "Sino-U.S. Silver Agreement", he is the most reliable channel for Sino-US financial exchanges, so he was retained as a "diplomatic pawn". Within half a year, Kong Xiangxi took advantage of the "great opportunity" of the economic crisis to incorporate the five largest private banks in Shanghai in one fell swoop, and Zhang Gongquan and others were defeated.China's financial structure has suddenly reversed, and the proportion of state-owned capital in the assets of national banks has soared from less than 12% to 72.8%.Kong Xiangxi's "surgery" was very thorough. In October, the Shanghai Bankers Association, which has always been the most important social organization and mouthpiece in China's financial circles, was re-elected. The leadership was deprived from professional bankers, and Du Yuesheng, Song Ziliang and others were elected as directors , the guild completely changed color, and has since become a vassal of the government. Therefore, on November 3, Kong Xiangxi announced the reform of legal currency, stipulating that from the next day, the national currency would be unified into legal currency.The main contents of the reform are: 1. Unify the right to issue currency. The banknotes issued by the Central Bank, the Bank of China, and the Bank of Communications are the "legal currency".2. All payment of grain taxes and all receipts and payments of public and private funds shall be in French currency.3. Abolish the silver standard system and prohibit the circulation of silver. Within three months, all silver stored by individuals or enterprises must be converted into legal currency, and all silver will be returned to the state to fill the legal currency reserve.4. The legal currency is linked to the British pound and the US dollar, and the foreign exchange standard is implemented.Since then, China has established a unified modern currency system and the gold standard. Another detail to be recorded is that just two months after launching the reform of the legal currency, Kong Xiangxi hastily announced the addition of a fourth bank for printing money, the Peasant Bank of China.This may be the strangest bank in the history of business. Its immediate superior is the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, and its actual controller is Generalissimo Jiang himself, who stands upright when everyone hears his name.A lot of information shows that the bank's business is not serving farmers, but the main channel for collecting opium taxes. It has unlimited printing rights, and its funds are mainly used for military activities.What's even more bizarre is that no one has ever checked its accounts. Once, Sir Liz Ross, a British consultant, asked to look at the accounts. He recorded Chiang Kai-shek's reaction at that time in his memoirs. The latter said angrily, "Is it too much for me to have such a little freedom?" In the financial history of the Republic of China, the Central Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Peasant Bank of China were collectively known as the "Four Big Banks", Tongshang, Siming, China Industry and Shanghai Bank of Chen Guangfu were collectively known as the "Four Small Banks". After the family controlled seven of them, the people had no more words.In 1936, among the 164 banks in the country, the "Four Big Banks" accounted for 42% of paid-in capital, 59% of total assets, 78% of banknotes, and 44% of net profits.Afterwards, the state-run power continued unabated. By 1947, more than 90% of the total bank deposits in the country had been controlled by it. After the fiat currency reform in November, Chen Guangfu and others struggled for the last time. On the grounds of "adapting to the environment of financial control and finding a new way to seek development", he gathered private banks to initiate the establishment of a "real estate mortgage bank". , trying to use the real estate of each family as collateral to issue creditor's rights and participate in circulation, so as to form an alliance outside the state-run system.After the plan was reported to the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, Kong Xiangxi only used one trick to make Chen Guangfu and others quit. He proposed that Song Ziliang, a director of the Central Bank, must be the manager of the bank, otherwise the case would not be established.Chen didn't want to be in a cocoon, so he had to withdraw the application angrily. After grasping the seals of the "Four Great Banks" and "Three Small Banks", "Haha Kong" no longer hears annoying noises, and he can manage the country completely according to his own ideas.However, the only thing the Minister of Finance seems to do is to keep issuing bonds and printing money, and at the same time not forgetting to move money into his cellar. Since 1927, the Nanjing government has been relying on issuing public bonds to survive. During the slump of public debt in 1932, Song Ziwen publicly promised that the deadline for repaying the principal of public debt would never change again.By the end of 1935, the government had outstanding public debts of 1.2 billion yuan, and the principal and interest paid for this amounted to 126 million yuan. Minister Kong obviously didn’t want to pay—or he couldn’t afford the money, so he came up with A wonderful way. On February 1, 1936, the Ministry of Finance announced that it would issue 1.46 billion "Tax Treasury Bonds". is longer. This plan is very hooligan. It sounds like "eat enough food", but it sounds like letting pigs eat their own hooves again.As soon as the news was announced, the banking circles and bondholders were outraged, the media rallied and the price of the bond market plummeted. In mid-February, the Shanghai Bankers Association held a debt-raising meeting. Kong Xiangxi invited Du Yuesheng and Zhang Xiaolin, another gang leader, to attend the meeting.What pleased Kong Xiangxi was that he no longer needed to fight against Zhang Gongquan for the issuance of public bonds. Several major banks were already under his control, and they undertook all the treasury bills.Soon after, he issued another 340 million yuan of "aftermath treasury bonds". So far, the debt of the Nanjing government has reached a record high of 1.8 billion yuan. In addition to issuing public bonds, Minister Kong continued to print money. The circulation of legal tender was 452 million yuan in November 1935, and increased to 1.477 billion yuan in June 1937. Half of the newly added currency was not guaranteed by currency. The public bond market without reliable government credit as a guarantee is an extremely dangerous market, but for Kong Xiangxi and others, it is also the best speculative market.After 1935, a well-known but unregistered "three-no company" appeared in Shanghai's financial circle. The "Chairman" of "Three Nos" is Kong Xiangxi, and the "managers" are Xu Kan, Deputy Minister of Finance, Chen Xing and Song Ziliang, Vice Presidents of the Central Bank. Xu and Chen are not only Kong's cronies, but also Song Ailing's "bridge partners" ", Chen is also Song Ziwen's university classmate.Each of these three people's names has a "no" added to it, which means "unbearable, bad, and bad", which is the "three nos company". (It is also known as the "Four No Company" in the market. In addition to Xu, Chen, and Song, Kong Xiangxi is added, which means "unlucky, unbearable, bad, and bad.") The "headquarters" of the company are located at the Central Bank of No. 15 on the Bund. In the Chen Xing office on the third floor, Chen is in charge of disclosing government information, Xu Kan is in charge of directing calls, and Song Ziliang is in charge of shifting positions. Their main business is to spread all kinds of insider rumors and manipulate public debt speculation. The government has issued a wide variety of public bonds over the years, and the credit collateral is weak, and policy changes are arbitrary, which has brought huge room for speculation. "Three no companies" take advantage of their official background and the financial power of the central bank to sit in the dark, sometimes driving up and sometimes suppressing, causing the market to change drastically in a few days, and making huge profits from it.Among them, the "Nine-Six Public Bonds" case is a classic. In 1935, the "Sanbu Company" spread rumors through the Continental Bank's Credit Savings Department and the Fuda Bank, claiming that the "Nine-Six Government Bond" was about to stop trading, causing panic among retail investors, and the price of government bonds fell to only 6 yuan per 100 yuan , setting the lowest price ever recorded on the blackboard of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In fact, the "Three Nos Company" turned into a large number of accounts and bought in a lot, and finally made a lot of money.According to the memories of Zhu Shikang, manager of the Savings Office of the Central Trust Bureau, Li Lixia, director of the Audit Office of the Central Bank, and Tan Guang, secretary of Kong Xiangxi, who participated in the incident, in just over two years, the "Three Nos Company" gained from public bond speculation. The profit exceeded 30 million yuan. Since the mid-1930s, there have been endless folk rumors about government officials who are "good" at making money. In 1934, Cai Yuanpei, a great educator and a veteran of the Kuomintang, copied an article in Shanghai’s “Jiangnan Zhengbao” on December 26 of that year in his diary. As far as the scope of investigation can be investigated, it is estimated that the property of the important people in this port is 13 million yuan for Chiang Kai-shek, 35 million yuan for Song Meiling, 35 million yuan for Song Ziwen, 18 million yuan for Kong Xiangxi, 40 million yuan for Sun Ke, and 30 million yuan for Zhang Jingjiang. .Other dignitaries have deposits and real estate in various Chinese and foreign banks in Shanghai. According to the survey of the Bank of China, there are about 500 million yuan, and their real estate and companies are mostly purchased in the name of their relatives, so the actual amount cannot be specified.” According to the conversion of contemporary scholar Chen Mingyuan, 1935 The purchasing power of one silver dollar per year is about 60 yuan in 2008. "Jiangnan Zhengbao" is a left-wing newspaper, and its data may not be reliable, but the rigorous Cai Yuanpei transcribed it in his diary, which shows that the outline of the facts is roughly the same. In the century-old corporate history, the Battle of Kong and Zhang in March 1935 has very important symbolic significance, and it can even be regarded as a decisive battle between state-owned capital and private capital.For thousands of years, since the circulation of currency, China's non-governmental financial organizations have not been controlled by the government, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Then, the government suddenly took the financial industry into its pocket, and the pulse of free economics was cut off. In his book "Shanghai Capitalists and the National Government", American scholar Parkes Coble Jr. concluded that "this sudden attack on the banking sector, in terms of the relationship between the government and entrepreneurs, marked the ten-year rule of the Nanjing government. It is the most important and dramatic change in the history of the Republic of China.” Wang Yejian, an expert on the history of the Republic of China, also held a similar view in the book "Chinese Intellectuals and the West". A group of politically influential figures whose prestige has now been eliminated in this way. This event not only shows the total government domination of China's financial circles, but also shows the end of entrepreneurs as a powerful class." After this battle, the once high-spirited and very powerful Shanghai banker group was broken into pieces, and the independence they had formed over the past thirty years was completely eliminated.Zhang Gongquan was expelled from the banking industry. He later joined the Political Science Department of the Kuomintang system and once served as the Minister of Railways, but he had no relationship with finance. Many years later, he said in a "Reporting the Past and Answering Questions", " The authorities took the banks and used them as treasury, and I think the banks are the banks."一度控制了半壁江山的“江浙财团”风光不再，陈光甫、李铭、吴鼎昌等知名银行家的地位大大下降，他们后来都进入国民政府任职，在孔宋的指导下工作，一直到抗战之后，才再度发挥了一些作用，这当然已是意料外的后话了。在并不遥远的八年前，正是靠了“江浙财团”的鼎力金援，浙江宁波人蒋介石和他的军事集团得以立足上海，清除异己，确立政权。而在此次大收编过程中，几乎所有帮助过他的同乡和金主们全部受袭，伤痕累累，这应该也算是一次命中注定的报应。 收获最大的当然就是以公权力为武器的密谋突袭者。 杜月笙靠“主持公道”换来了通商银行的董事长和中国银行的董事，他自己的中汇银行得以保全，后来成为获利最好的私人银行之一，白吉尔在《上海史：走向现代之路》一书中对这家银行的业务描述是，“它座落在爱多亚路（后来的延安东路）的一幢豪华大楼里，主要作用是洗钱，把贩卖毒品、赌博与卖淫赚来的黑钱再重新流入正常的商业渠道”，此外，他是三家日报和一家通讯社的董事长，其中包括发行量最大的《申报》，他还进入政府的法币准备管理委员会以及民间的上海物品证券交易所和银行公会。从此，这位神秘的黑社会领袖继虞洽卿、张公权之后，成为上海金融界——乃至整个中国商界最有权势的人物，俨然成了民营资本的第一代言人，这种转换实在带有太强的讽刺意味。甚至有专家考证，如果不是两年后爆发了中日战争，杜月笙很可能成为上海市市长，这已经得到了蒋介石的默许。 蒋介石的中国农民银行由幕后而到前台，一跃跻身“四大印钞银行”之一。孔宋更不待言，他们不但成为中国银行、交通银行的实际控制人，而且乘机大大壮大了自己的私人事业，在收编中，他们大肆吃进四明和中国实业银行的私人股份，构成了一个官商不分的经营格局。宋子文跟孔祥熙结盟，不但掠取了“天下第一大行”中国银行董事长的宝座，还顺便拿下了广东银行，这是一家有22年历史、广东地区最重要的私人银行，在蒋介石从广东北上时，曾经给予北伐军很大的支持。在白银危机的后期，它一度被迫停业，宋子文承诺组织力量拯救这家银行，而代价则是他必须要当董事长，他的另外一个弟弟宋子安要当董事，他当然如愿以偿了，广东银行得救，它仍然是一个纯粹的私人银行，不过主人则是一个官商难辨的人。跟哥哥的操作手法类似，宋子良得到了中国农工银行。 从孔宋等人身上，人们似乎可以得出这样的观感：一个拥有绝对公权力、却怀藏私心的名牌大学经济学博士，对于一国的经济来说，也许是最大的祸害。1935年3月是一个转折时刻，从此，强大的国营资本集团与身份暧昧的官僚资本集团结成了坚不可摧的利益同盟，它时公时私，左右逢源，形成了最恶劣的制度，最终败坏了整个国家的经济纲常。 中国经济史专家杜恂诚在分析近代中国社会阶层排序时很精辟地论及，“在1927年南京国民政府建立到1935年之间的8年中，虽然政府早已有意对国民经济实施全面控制，并已有若干准备措施的实行，但总的来说，国民收入的分配还是以市场化分配为主的。从1935年政府实施金融垄断起，中国城市居民的社会阶层排序发生了变化，其唯一变化是特权官僚单独成为第一等级，上层工商业者变为第二等级，以下的社会层次序列不变。特权官僚之所以单独位列首席，是因为那时的国民收入分配已开始演变为以非市场化分配为主的模式，特权官僚利用对资源和信息的控制权，在制度制约和权力制约双重缺损的条件下，可以有比上层工商业者绝对领先的自利机会。管制权越多，信息越不透明，特权官僚自利的机会越大。” 孔宋的官商模式，甚至比晚清的盛宣怀模式还要糟糕许多，盛氏靠办实业起家，他创建了众多支柱性产业，顺便夹带了不少的“私货”，这大抵算是“建设性腐败”，而孔宋则以金融投机为主业，对实业毫无兴趣，其行径是不折不扣的“掠夺性腐败”、“破坏性腐败”。 到1936年，罗斯福的新政终于取得了明显的成效，美国经济从谷底爬了出来，国民经济状况得到显著改善，失业人口大幅减少，罗斯福因此在这一年成功连任总统。在艰难的经济转型过程中，美国的公司组织也率先发生了革命性的变化，伯勒和米恩斯通过对200家美国大公司——其中包括42家铁路公司、52家公用事业公司和106家制造业公司的调查发现，所有权与控制权的分离变得日益明显，一种新型的公司治理制度正在诞生。一些不同于前辈的创业者也出现了，1936年，斯坦福大学的两个同班同学戴维·帕卡德和比尔·休利特在旧金山的一个车库里创办了惠普公司，他们在昏暗的灯光下通宵达旦地工作，发明并生产了各种小玩意，50多年后，这个车库被命名为“硅谷诞生地”。在这一年，国际商用机器公司IBM在上海设立了办事处，这是IBM在远东的第一个办事处。 罗斯福新政的成功进一步增强了人们对国家干预主义的信心。也是在1936年，英国经济学家J·M·凯恩斯出版了《就业、利息、货币通论》，凯恩斯主义因此成型。这位曾经服务于英国财政部的经济学家批评了以前的工资和就业理论，提出有效需求是预期可给企业主带来最大利润量的社会总需求，而为了增加有效需求，必须由国家实行干预。罗斯福的新政模式与凯恩斯主义互为配套，成为了主宰日后几十年西方经济思想的主流。碰巧的是，与凯恩斯主义背道而驰的另一个欧洲经济学家弗里德里克·A·哈耶克也在这一年发表了《经济学与知识》，他提出了“知识分工”的概念，并一如既往地反对计划经济，他相信自由主义经济本身有一种自行趋于稳定的机能，反对国家对于经济生活的干预。哈耶克的声音在当时遭到了讥笑，一直到半个多世纪后的1988年，他写出了，人们才认同他的观点：对高度计划经济的追求是理性主义者的一次“致命的自负。” 在欧洲，战争的阴霾开始出现。希特勒的纳粹德国崛起成最强国家，8月份在柏林举办的第十一届奥运会成为希特勒展示国力和倡导雅利安人种优势的最佳舞台。他违背国际公约，出兵强行吞并了非军事区的莱因兰地区，英、法两国居然视而不管。7月，西班牙爆发内战。德国与意大利签订联盟协约，不久后日本加入，从此形成了一个邪恶的“轴心三国”，它们将改变历史和自己的命运。奥地利作家茨威格很悲观地写到，“在那些决定时代命运的巨大运动刚开始的时候，恰恰是历史本身阻碍了那些同时代人对它们的认识，这仍然是不可抗拒的历史法则”，两年后，他的国家被希特勒第一个吞并。在中国，偏据西北一角的毛泽东是最早看到这一历史可能性的中国人之一，他在7月15日预言，希特勒将在欧洲发动侵略。 美国和欧洲经济的复苏，也影响到了1936年的中国，自入秋以后宏观经济渐渐走出了大萧条的泥潭，开始呈现转暖的迹象。但是，工商业元气大伤，除了投机活跃的上海公债市场之外，其余乏善可陈。 在这一年，最让人担忧的还不是经济，而是越来越恶劣的战乱局势。日本在华北虎视眈眈，随时有南下入侵的可能。而蒋介石却还在全力剿共。9月，他在西安设立西北剿匪总司令部，亲任总司令，命张学良为副司令，调东北军入陕甘剿共。12月4日，蒋亲抵西安督战，9日，北京、西安等城市举行纪念“一二·九”的示威游行，学生高呼“中国人不打中国人！”“东北军打回老家去，收复东北失地！”等口号，张学良向群众表示三日内以实际行动答复学生要求。12日凌晨，张学良、杨虎城发动兵谏，扣留蒋介石，是为震惊天下的西安事变。在中国共产党、美、英、苏及其他社会力量的斡旋下，蒋介石于两周后得释。他承诺与中共结成抗日统一战线，国共内战暂告一段落。 1937年1月，胡适为《大公报》撰文《新年的几个期望》。他写道，“多年梦寐里害怕的一九三六，居然度过去了。我们在全国欢呼的喊声里送出了旧年，迎进了新年”，因此他的第一个期望是“今年必须做到宪政的实行”，第二个期望是“蒋介石先生努力做一个'宪政的中国'的领袖”。 与乐观的胡博士相比，刚刚被赶出银行界的张公权则做出了一个悲观的预测，他把1936年的经济景象称为是“螺旋形的通货膨胀”，他预言说，没有节制、不计后果的赤字政策将可能让国家在几年内破产。 不过，他们两人的期望或预言都没有变成事实。因为，日本人的侵华战争很快就要全面爆发了。