Chapter 49 Reorganization and meddling

After the establishment of the central bank of the Nanjing government, the status of the "true dragon emperor" was confirmed in name. The original two giants, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, were designated as professional banks for international exchange and industrial development.However, until 1935, the amount of money issued by the central bank was only comparable to that of the Bank of Communications, but still far behind the Bank of China.As a dignified central bank whose main function is currency issuance, how embarrassing is it really? The reason why Bank of China's banknotes enjoy a high reputation in the market has its historical origin.

There are three important figures in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang chaebol—Chen Guangfu, general manager of Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank, Li Fusun, general manager of Zhejiang Local Industrial Bank, and Zhang Jia H of the Bank of China. They are called the "three tripods" of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang chaebol.At the age of 28, Zhang Jiah became the deputy manager of Bank of China Shanghai Branch.During the period of the Beiyang government, the two semi-official banks, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, were the two most important Chinese-funded banks, and they played the role of the central bank to a certain extent.At that time, the Beiyang government was struggling to cope with the war and was short of finances. The Bank of China and the Bank of Communications were responsible for printing and issuing "silver dollar certificates".

At that time, Liang Shiyi was the secretary-general of Yuan Shikai's presidential palace. Seeing the rise in prices, he came up with a bad idea: to merge the two banks of China and Communications.The meaning is probably to engage in a "share shrinkage merger" in order to issue more banknotes.As soon as the news spread, it immediately caused a panic run by depositors.In desperation, the Beiyang government ordered the two banks of China and Communications to stop cashing.At that time, the young Shanghai Deputy Manager of the Bank of China, Zhang Jiahong, believed that "if the order is followed, the credit of the Bank of China will be discredited from now on, and there will never be hope of recovery."So he and Song Hanzhang, manager of Bank of China Shanghai Branch, made a bold decision: Disobedience!But disobedience is easier said than done!If they defy the government's order and openly oppose the government, the Beiyang government can immediately "lay them off".At the same time, if the Bank of China's treasury is opened to cash, the Shanghai branch alone does not have the strength.At that time, the cash in the treasury was only about 2 million yuan, and it was necessary to have an accurate guess in advance about how much silver would be needed for open exchange.But at this time, Zhang Jia H had already made up his mind and was ready to sing a good show!

Zhang Jiahong and his partner, Song Hanzhang, did not show any signs of change, and first found several big treasurers among the Zhejiang chaebols——Chen Guangfu, general manager of Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank, Jiang Honglin, executive director of Zhejiang Industrial Bank, and Li Fusun, general manager of Zhejiang Local Industrial Bank.These three were the treasurers of the three most famous southern private banks in the banking industry during the Beiyang period, also known as the "Southern Three Banks".Zhang Jia H asked them to sue himself in court on behalf of shareholders and depositors respectively!

According to the law at that time, during the litigation period, the authorities could not arrest or replace the current manager or deputy manager, so the "acupuncture" of the Beiyang government was first sealed.Immediately afterwards, Zhang Jia H hired the Englishman Cooper and the Japanese Murakami to help him sing a wonderful oboe.Cooper and Murakami took over Bank of China on behalf of shareholders, and then they issued shareholder documents to Zhang Jia H and Song Hanzhang on behalf of shareholders, instructing them to continue to manage the branch business and operate as usual. (The British and the Japanese were still close buddies in the Beiyang era, and they gradually parted ways after the 1930s.)

In terms of cash banks, Zhang Jia H contacted the "Southern Three Banks" and foreign banks to support Bank of China. Most of the "three banks in the south" are shareholders of Bank of China, and their interests are related. At the same time, foreign banks know that Bank of China is the pillar of China's finance. The bank has entered into an overdraft contract of 2 million. 【3】The government's "suspension order" was officially implemented, immediately forming a run frenzy.There are huge crowds of people in front of the bank, "scrambling to be the first, banging on doors and climbing windows, almost disregarding life and death."Because the Shanghai Branch of the Bank of China had made sufficient preparations in advance, the comers still cashed in, but the run-on was still crowded.On Saturday, it is only open for half a day as usual, but Zhang Jia H decided to continue to open in the afternoon and announced in the newspaper.

On Sunday, the bank again placed an advertisement in the newspaper announcing that it was still open to cash.Citizens found that the Bank of China was a "trustworthy" bank, and there was no need to run on it at all, so their hearts were reassured, and the run on the bank completely subsided.After the turmoil, the reputation of the Bank of China suddenly improved, and Zhang Jiahong and Song Hanzhang were called "bankers with courage and strategy" by the media newspapers at that time.If there were no great powers behind him, how could the murderous Yuan Shikai let these two bold bankers go.

Later, Zhang Jia H served as the vice president of the Bank of China's head office and actually presided over the business of the Bank of China.As soon as he came to power, he proposed that the Bank of China should recruit commercial shares, reduce official shares, and get rid of government control.Relying on his close friends with powerful figures from Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebols such as Chen Guangfu, Li Fusun, Yu Qiaqing, Song Hanzhang, Jiang Honglin, Qian Xinzhi, etc., Zhang Jiahong initiated the "Friday Dinner Party" in the Zhang Mansion. Later, this "small dining table in the Zhang Mansion" gradually expanded. And evolved into the Shanghai Association of Banks.The Zhejiang chaebol controlled 14 of the 22 member banks of the Shanghai Banks Association. By 1925, these 14 banks controlled 84% of the total funds of all member banks.

The Bank of China has repeatedly expanded the shares of commercial stocks to increase the influence of commercial stocks in the Bank of China. The Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebols raised 6 million yuan in shares.Later, the Beiyang government ran out of money and sold another 5 million yuan of official shares.The proportion of commercial shares gradually increased, and increased to 97.47% in 1923. At this time, Bank of China was controlled by commercial shares. [4] When Chiang Kai-shek entered Shanghai, the central bank was established in 1928, and the national government reorganized the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, forcing them to increase capital and share. A seat, scored an extremely important official stock wedge.