Chapter 27 Yu Qiaqing and Chiang Kai-shek: A story that must be told

Yu Qiaqing is a man of the hour in Shanghai, a veritable financial boss.This man is a comprador of ABN AMRO Bank. He also runs a bank, an investment bank, and a shipping company. ABN AMRO has a very special position in the world of international bankers. Its founders are the Meng Dehui family, an old Jewish banking family.Meng Dehui, Sassoon and Rothschild belong to Sephardic Jews. In the 1590s, a wave of anti-Semitism rose in Spain. The Rothschild family went into exile in Germany to engage in their old business, and later became the court bankers of the German royal family; Sassoon went to the Middle East and became the chief financial officer of Baghdad; Fleeing to the Netherlands, initiated the creation of the Dutch Bank and the Dutch East India Company. In 1640, after the British bourgeois revolution, Meng Dehui entered the City of London and participated in the creation of the Bank of England and the British East India Company.In the Victorian era, he was known as "the queen's favorite Jew" and became the most trusted palace banker of the British royal family. In 1812, Meng Dehui married the Rothschild family and invested in stocks for the Rothschild family. The two formed an alliance of blood thicker than water.During the Second World War, all the investments of the Luo family in continental Europe were managed by the Meng family's Dutch bank.To this day, the Luo family's office in Hong Kong, China is still named after "ABN AMRO - Rothschild".

Yu Qiaqing worked for such a banking family for 30 years, diligently and conscientiously, so that the Queen of the Netherlands, who knew nothing about Chinese customs, specially granted a royal clock to commend his achievements. The Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, which was first initiated by Yu Qiaqing, has its own armed forces and played the role of the main force in the battle to recover Shanghai during the Revolution of 1911.At that time, the armed forces of this business group captured the Shanghai Dao County Office in one go, and then captured the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.The Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce under the control of Yu Qiaqing also advanced 1.8 million taels of silver to the Shanghai Military Governor's Mansion, which was established later, and raised a total of 3 million taels.

At the end of 1916, in order to raise funds for the revolution, Sun Yat-sen, who was quite economical, discussed with Yu Qiaqing and others to set up a stock exchange in Shanghai, dealing in securities, flower yarn, gold and silver, miscellaneous grains, fur, etc., and applied to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Beiyang Government.However, the Beiyang warlords had lingering fears and nervousness about "Sun Dapao", so that they would "rebel against Sun every time" and refused to approve it. Coupled with the economic downturn at that time, the matter was shelved.

Later, it was Chiang Kai-shek who pushed the matter forward. In his early years, Chiang Kai-shek followed Chen Qimei, the leader of the Shanghai Tongmenghui, to carry out the anti-Qing revolution. When the Tongmenghui attacked the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau firmly held by the Qing army, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Qimei carried guns together. Kowtow to the brothers.Chen Qimei was Sun Yat-sen's number one confidant. After the success of the revolution, Chen Qimei became the governor of Shanghai.Yu Qiaqing worked as a financial consultant for Chen Qimei, and raised a large amount of food and salary to maintain its operation.Because of his special relationship with Chen Qimei, Chiang Kai-shek also had a hot fight with Yu Qiaqing.Later, Chen Qimei was assassinated to death, and Chiang Kai-shek immediately lost his backer.

Sun Yat-sen's idea of ​​using the stock exchange to raise funds for the revolution is still very insightful. Both revolution and war need money, and a lot of money is needed.When Chiang Kai-shek was appointed by the organization to continue to promote the exchange, he suddenly felt that he had found the direction of his career.He first organized a secret society called "Association Society" in Shanghai with Dai Jitao, an old friend of the Shanghai Governor's Mansion, Chen Qimei's nephew Chen Guofu, Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebol Zhang Jingjiang, etc., to carry out specific organization and planning work.Then La Yuqiaqing came to mobilize the Shanghai business community to apply to the Beijing Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to create the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

On July 1, 1920, China's first comprehensive exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, officially opened.The chairman of the board is Yu Qiaqing, and the trading items are securities, cotton, cotton yarn, cloth, gold and silver, grain, oil, fur, etc.Shanghai "Shenbao" published an advertisement on the same day: "Shanghai Stock Exchange Broker No. 54 Chen Guofu, I buy and sell securities and cotton on behalf of customers. If you are entrusted, you are welcome wholeheartedly. Office: Room 80, 3rd Floor, No. 1 Sichuan Road. Tel. : Exchange No. 54." This No. 54 brokerage office is the "Hengtai" established by Chiang Kai-shek, and Chen Guofu handles the specific trading business. The business scope of "Hengtaihao" is to buy and sell various securities and cotton yarn on behalf of customers, with a total capital of 35,000 silver coins and 35 shares in total.Chiang Kai-shek has 4 shares in it.Later, Chiang Kai-shek's speculative business failed and he was forced to pay debts. It was Yu Qiaqing who introduced him to Huang Jinrong, the leader of the underworld, and joined Huang Jinrong's sect. Huang Jinrong came forward to clear the debts and funded him to go south to Guangzhou to join Sun Yat-sen.

Under the impact of the wave of the Great Revolution, the top priority of the international bankers was to mobilize the Chinese comprador class to strangle the Chinese revolution. In March 1927, after the working class in Shanghai held an armed uprising under the leadership of the Communist Party to liberate Shanghai, the British ambassador to the United States immediately told the US Secretary of State Kellogg: "It is impossible to retreat there (Shanghai), and we are in the middle of trade. The status and rights of the port will be completely lost. Our government is considering using all forces to defend the Shanghai Concession, where British interests are concentrated. We warmly welcome the cooperation of the United States in all aspects of civil and military affairs in Shanghai and Nanjing.” [15] On March 3, 1927 In August, in order to defend the "Shanghai Concession where the interests of (international bankers) are concentrated", more than 17,000 British troops, more than 4,000 Japanese troops, more than 3,500 American troops, and more than 2,500 French troops gathered in Shanghai. There are more than 30,000 imperialist armed forces including the "All Nations Business Group" and patrolling arrests.

At the same time, sophisticated international bankers also know that it would be costly to directly intervene in front of the Chinese people whose patriotic enthusiasm was aroused by the Great Revolution.To stabilize their vested interests in China, they must rely on the direct agents of international bankers in China—the comprador class. At this time, the biggest interest of China's comprador class is to demand power from international bankers.The interests of international bankers in China were concentrated in the Shanghai Public Settlement, and the highest authority in the concession was the Concession Industry Bureau.Due to the special status of the concession, many big compradors and chaebols from Jiangsu and Zhejiang settled in the concession and had to pay taxes to the Ministry of Industry and Bureau according to regulations.However, slaves are destined not to sit at the same table with their masters. These big compradors and chaebols have no place in the bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and it is difficult to protect their interests if there is no one in the court.According to the bourgeois republican principle of "no taxation without representation", these comprador classes have long been disaffected.

On March 18, 1926, members of the board of directors of the Shanghai Public Concession Industry Bureau had dinner with the big shots of the Chinese bourgeoisie in Shanghai at the Dahua Hotel.According to Chinese tradition, solve problems at the dinner table.This event was called "another milestone in the history of Shanghai... The convening of this kind of meeting is still a pioneering work in the history of this city" [16].On behalf of his British and Japanese colleagues, the American director of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said: "We are the hosts of the lords. Today, a group of Chinese gentry who enjoy such a high reputation have come to this meeting. I feel very fortunate...to be here with us. They are a group of representative figures who are capable of regulating and directing a huge and astonishing force, which is known to the world as public opinion.” [17] Fessenden, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Industry, gave a keynote speech at the dinner party, Straight to the point: In the face of the prairie fire of revolutionary forces, it is necessary to "think of countermeasures".If force is to be used, it may "soon lead to an extremely serious international situation". "Shanghai workers seem to have become easy prey to 'third parties' (referring to the Chinese Communist Party) who lure them into breaching factory security. So why not take advantage of this extreme credulity of the Chinese working class . . . for their benefit and ours? Why not establish another leadership, different from the one with which they are already familiar? To this new leadership they are at least as willing to obey as they are to any other... …I mean, there needs to be some sort of people like we got together tonight (to lead them)."

Yu Qiaqing immediately stood up and gave a reply: "We (referring to the Chinese businessmen present) are all very aware of this very tense situation... We are not exaggerating to say that it only needs a little provocation, and a flame will immediately erupt...For our mutual benefit, we It must be prevented by all means." Time is running out, and resignation to fate is dangerous. "The most important thing for us right now is to integrate the preliminary work at the local level with joint actions on a national and international scale, so that our major problems can be resolved as quickly and satisfactorily as possible." Immediately afterwards, Yu Qiaqing changed the subject, "but frankly Come on, we don't want to get it 'at any price'." Foreigners must somewhat recognize the principles of "racial equality" and "sovereignty".Especially at this moment, they should allow the Chinese bourgeoisie to participate in the administration of Shanghai.

Three weeks later, the annual meeting of foreign taxpayers in the Shanghai International Settlement approved the case of Chinese participation in the municipal administration, and the board of directors of the Shanghai International Settlement was unprecedentedly attended by three Chinese directors.Since then, Yu Qiaqing himself has firmly held a seat on the board of directors of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and other Hua Dong members include Xu Xinliu, the executive director and general manager of Zhejiang Industrial Bank, the flagship bank of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebols.This is obviously a deal. The Chinese big bourgeoisie, big compradors and chaebols in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in Shanghai sold their souls to international bankers at such a price. Such a well-rounded Yu Qiaqing, with all-hands and eyes, was the right role to "interview" Chiang Kai-shek for the international bankers eager to suppress the Chinese revolution.