Chapter 28 Section 28 Intervening in the financial industry

After the "April 12" incident, Du Yuesheng seemed to have jumped over a "dragon gate". After Chiang Kai-shek hired him as a counselor at the headquarters, he was hired as a "counselor of the national government". A tycoon in France, Britain and China.Party and state dignitaries such as Chen Qun, Yang Hu, Wang Boling, and Chen Xizeng are his sworn brothers, and some party committee members and heads of pornographic trade unions worship him as "Mr." Du Yuesheng's great energy in the society made the top figures in the financial and industrial circles in Shanghai who had always regarded him as noble and had never dealt with the "lower three circles" (hooligans, gamblers, and cigarette dealers) start to look at him with admiration and promoted him one after another. He came out to take up some important positions, such as the chairman of the "French Concession Business Federation" and the member and chief consultant of the "Chinese Taxpayers Association".

Soon, there was a vacancy in the French Concession, and the Chinese and foreign rich men promoted him to the throne of the five-member Hua Dong. However, Du Yuesheng has a heart problem. He always feels that his background is not good, and he can't get rid of the psychological influence of "lower class".To make oneself officially included in the ranks of "superior people", one must have industry as the backing of "increasing social status". Just when Du Yuesheng was thinking about how to step into the industrial world, the opportunity just came. During the Spring Festival of 1928, the first day of the Lunar New Year, a new guest came to the Du mansion. This person was Qian Xinzhi, the manager of the Northern Fourth Bank Savings Association.

Qian Xinzhi, named Yongming, was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang, and had studied in France. When Zhang Jian, the number one scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, was the president of the Bank of Communications, he served as the general manager of the Bank of Communications.A few days ago, he served as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Finance of the National Government, and now he is the manager of the "Four Banks Savings Association". He can be called a giant in Shanghai's financial circle. In the era of the Beiyang warlords, there were many private banks. After the establishment of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing in May 1927, Chiang Kai-shek raised his own central bank as the head of the bank and controlled other public and private banks and banks financially.The original two public banks, China and Communications, remain the same, and are controlled by the other two Kong (Xiangxi) and Song (Ziwen) of the "Four Great Families".

Among private banks, there are mainly North Four Banks and South Four Banks.The Northern Fourth Bank is composed of Jincheng Bank, Yanye Bank, Central South Bank Bank, and Mainland Bank Bank, which originally established their head offices in Beijing and Tianjin.After the establishment of the Kuomintang government in Nanjing, the center of gravity of the North Four Banks also gradually moved southward, and organized the Four Banks Reserve Bank, issued banknotes in the name of the Central South Bank, established the Four Banks Savings Association, and absorbed a large number of deposits.Later, the tallest building in the Far East at that time, the International Hotel, was built.

After Qian Xinzhi arrived in Shanghai, he lived in an apartment in the concession area. Two boxes were stolen, and there were several "heirlooms" in them.He reported the case to the concession authorities, and the patrol house visited for several days, but there was no news, and there was nothing to do. The day before yesterday, he turned a few corners and asked a friend to ask Mr. Du for help. Du Yuesheng promised: "I must find a way. Get the things back!" The next day, around 11 o'clock on the New Year's Eve, the two boxes were sent to Qian Xinzhi's residence by the driver A, and they were returned to their original owners, with a lot of things inside.Two of them have been pawned, and Du Yuesheng sent people to redeem them.Qian Xinzhi wanted to pay back the ransom, but the driver refused to accept it, saying that Mr. Du took care of him and made friends.

Qian Xinzhi was so grateful that he came to Du Mansion to express his gratitude on the first day of the Lunar New Year. When Du Yuesheng heard that Manager Qian, a well-known banker, came to visit, he ordered repeatedly: "Please, please!" He hurriedly went up to meet him. After exchanging pleasantries, Du and Qian hit it off right away, and they talked very speculatively in the small living room.In less than half an hour, the quick-witted Qian Xinzhi spoke to Du Yuesheng in the tone of an old friend: "Mr. Du, according to my humble opinion, with your skill and reputation, you should start a big industrial and commercial business in the future. After you rank in the industrial and commercial circles, your reputation will be bigger and stronger, your position will be more consolidated, and you will be more eye-catching in Shanghai. .”

"Oh——" Du Yuesheng actually had this idea a long time ago, but now he pretended to be confused and didn't express his opinion for a long time. "I wonder if Mr. Du has thought about this long-term plan?" Qian Xinzhi said frankly. "Mr. Qian, listening to what you say is better than ten years of reading. I want to start a business, and I want to start a business, but there are so many jobs. What do I do? I, Du, still don't know something. Please teach me one or two, Mr. Qian." "Do you want to start a business? First of all, you should have a bank and squeeze into the financial world. Standing in the upper class, not to mention fighting for status, it is also a good way to make a fortune. Banks absorb customers' money while lending money, doing business, and borrowing money." Why not take pleasure in this life?"

"Are you kidding? Mr. Qian, opening a bank is easier said than done. Where can I get so much capital? I dare not think about it." "Mr. Du runs five gaming tables, and he must have made a lot of money. As far as I know, Mr. Nanakia, the French consul, has as much as 180,000 red envelopes every month, not including the chief inspector. 180,000 from Fei Caier and Chief Inspector Qiao Wanshi. Mr. Du also gave 50,000 red envelopes to Chen Qun from the Municipal Party Headquarters in Zhabei and Nanshi’s Fushou Palace and Lingyan Pavilion’s smokehouses. Not bad! The specific method, let me plan on behalf of Mr. Du. After two days, we will talk about it in detail. In these two days, Mr. Du can find someone first and attract some shareholders."

Qian Xinzhi expressed his willingness to contribute on the spot. Upon hearing this, Du Yuesheng knew that the matter was hopeful, and immediately agreed.Qian Xinzhi's words made Du Yuesheng's heart come alive. After seeing off the distinguished guests, Du Yuesheng got into the car and went to Jun Peili.This time, in addition to the meaning of etiquette, another layer of substantive content was added to Jin Rong's New Year's greetings—asking my brother to open a bank together. "Yuesheng, can this thing make money?" Huang Jinrong was a little uncertain: "Can you be sure? If you lose money, you won't be able to win it."

Huang Jinrong has always thought that selling opium, opening casinos, and theaters are the best ways to make money. He is used to eating "black" food, and running banks and factories in a big way, he feels that it is both labor-intensive and unsafe. Du Yuesheng is different. He has already realized that the social status of his brothers has generally improved, and it is difficult to establish a foothold in the upper class society.Although the underworld can't be lost, it won't be on the table after all, and it will eventually make people suspicious after a long time. "Brother, our current situation is different from what it used to be. Only relying on opium and casinos, we can't get on the table. This bank is the most respectable. Many big bosses in foreign countries are bankers. You buy a share and get a managing director." Name, just ask about business, how about dividends at that time?"

Huang Jinrong thinks this is fine.Because he knew that it would not be bad for Du Yuesheng to do things, and it was impossible for Du Yuesheng to do business at a loss.He doesn't meddle in affairs, he only enjoys the fragrance of wealth, why not do it? "I'll just listen to you and buy a share." Taking advantage of the opportunity of New Year's greetings, Du Yuesheng went to a few more companies and bought some shares. On the third day of the new year, Qian Xinzhi sent a fundraising plan as expected.He suggested to Du Yuesheng: "Mr. can raise funds in three ways: scrape, heap, and dig." "What do you mean gathering, stacking and digging?" Du Yuesheng asked. Qian Xinzhi laughed but did not answer.However, the shrewd Du Yuesheng soon realized his true meaning.But Qian Xinzhi didn't understand what was going on, and then explained: "The so-called cobble together means piece it together from opium shops and casinos. In the "black" industry, the 10 big soil shops in the concession each have a working capital of less than a hundred thousand yuan and more than a few hundred thousand yuan, and their profits are extremely high. In order to support Mr. Du, it is no problem to raise hundreds of thousands." Du Yuesheng controls the five most famous casinos in Shanghai: Fusheng, Rongsheng, Yisheng, Lisheng and Yuanli. The amount of money in and out every day is tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Isn't it a piece of cake to raise part of the funds?So he asked again: "What is a 'heap' anyway?" "This is an old rule in the banking industry. Whenever a new bank opens, all banks must deposit a huge sum of money in the new bank on the opening day, called 'piling flowers', to express their congratulations. There are more than a dozen banks in Shanghai Bank, this number is also very large. With Du Yuesheng's reputation and influence, who would dare not come to pile up this icing on the cake?" Du Yuesheng nodded. As for "digging", Du Yuesheng was as clear as water, and Qian Xinzhi didn't say much. Soon, Du Yuesheng put into practice "digging". Coincidentally, at this time a kid named Wu was the first God of Wealth in Shanghai, named Wu Yaoting.Probably because he was overjoyed, or he was full of lust. He had sex with his father's seventh aunt right after his father passed away. One day, he and his seventh aunt had a naked fight on the bed for 300 rounds, and was caught by other aunts in the family on the spot. "Who told you to ignore her every day and ignore us?" Everyone pointed to the kid surnamed Wang. "Do you want to monopolize the inheritance of more than 10 million yuan?" Everyone pointed to Seventh Aunt and said. All of a sudden, the family was in trouble, and several co-heirs of the inheritance took advantage of this opportunity to embezzle the 10 million yuan, so they sued him for disobedience and wanted to deprive him of his inheritance rights. However, Wu Yaoting was not a soft-hearted person, and he refused to promise himself a share of his father's inheritance. When the family was in trouble, the other concubines sued him to the Shanghai county government for a lawsuit. When Du Yuesheng heard this, he slapped his thigh and said to one of his apprentices: "Yongming, go and tell Wang that I will settle this matter. He will get the inheritance of 10 million yuan, but he will invest 500,000 yuan in the bank." , I will give him the title of director." "Okay, Mr. Du can help, I think the surname Wu is exactly what we wish for." Sure enough, the two hit it off, Du Yuesheng coaxed and frightened several aunts and wives obediently shrank their heads, and 500,000 oceans were taken into Du Yuesheng's hands. Later, there was another man surnamed Zhu, who was also settled by Du Yuesheng. He got an inheritance and took one-third of it into shares, becoming the major shareholder of the bank.Within a year, Du Yuesheng raised as much as 2 million yuan so cleverly.This kind of resource is very strange, and it is unique in the financial world. After such planning, the bank was opened that year, and this is the famous "Zhonghui Bank", the first bank opened by a tycoon in China.Du Yuesheng served as the chairman, Huang Jinrong and Zhang Xiaolin were the executive directors, and Jin Tingsun was the supervisor. However, Du Yuesheng is a good smoker and gambler, but he has no way of doing business. His brothers are either the old rogue white-faced people, or some small characters who run the street to pay the bills. Yuan, barely maintaining the salary of bank staff and business communication expenses. Even so, Du Yuesheng quickly opened up the situation in the financial world by using his habitual skills of blackmailing and blackmailing. To the north of Zhonghui Bank is the Shanghai Huashang Gauze Exchange, and the window of Du Yuesheng's office faces it diagonally.Every day, Du Yuesheng can see that the exchange is full of people and the business is booming. "Let me join in the fun too." One day, Du Yuesheng looked at the busy people and said to himself. Soon, a group of hooligans in the exchange booed, screamed, and whistled, and the exchange was forced to close down.The exchange knew that Du Yuesheng was playing tricks, but he had no choice but to knock on the big bronze door of Zhonghui and ask Chairman Du to come forward to suppress the hooligans. Du Yuesheng politely agreed. Of course, Zhonghui never trades at a loss.Soon, Du Yuesheng's name suddenly appeared in the list of directors of the Huashang Exchange.In Zhonghui's treasury, another 500,000 gold deposits were added at once. While "snatching", Du Yuesheng also often "snatches". After foreigners invented the car, people found that the car was more convenient than the horse-drawn carriage, fast and labor-saving, and comfortable to ride.Therefore, in the early 1930s, automobiles were constantly being updated, and the demand for tires increased dramatically. For a while, the supply of rubber used to make tires was in short supply, and the price of rubber in the market also continued to soar.The rubber business is unprecedentedly promising, and several foreign rubber plantations and rubber businessmen have made huge profits. It is very profitable to be in the rubber stock business!Foreigners in Shanghai have a very keen sense of smell. A British hooligan named Maibian immediately found Du Yuesheng and said: "Mr. Du, rubber is very popular in the world now, and I would like to cooperate with you in this business." "How to do it?" "We can issue stocks. Don't you have a China Exchange Bank? We can join forces to speculate in stocks." "Is it possible to make money with these fluffy paperheads?" Du Yuesheng didn't understand this stuff. "Don't worry about this, Mr. Du. With the backing of people like you, we will definitely make a lot of money." Therefore, McBian and Du Yuesheng jointly opened a "Langgezhi Exploration Company" in Shanghai to sell rubber stocks. McBian is very scheming and has a good way of doing such things. At the beginning, he asked someone to write an article, which was published in several Chinese and foreign newspapers, bragging about how good rubber is and how versatile it is, and making rubber advertisements with sensational words. Then, with the help of Du Yuesheng, he recruited some dubious people to pretend to be directors, and convened them to hold a board meeting every week. He took this opportunity to make a big splash and spread the news that his rubber plantation abroad had a good harvest. .All this he did to make people believe that there was a backer to buy McBian's rubber stock. At the same time, this bastard secretly borrowed money from foreign banks as a gimmick. Every three months, he used the borrowed money to pay some shareholders who held rubber stocks a part of the intermediate interest, giving those who wanted to make a fortune a try. Taste the sweetness, and use it to advertise that you keep your credibility. With the help of Du Yuesheng, Maibian hired a large number of people to pretend to be stock subscribers, bluffing, and flocked to the door of Zhonghui Bank early in the morning, queuing up to buy rubber stocks, causing many people who did not know the truth to rush to Zhonghui Bank, Scrambling to snap up rubber stocks. As a result, Zhonghui Bank had to suspend operations due to crowding and chaos.When the news came out, the whole city was shaken.Just like this, Maibian and Du Yuesheng played tricks, taking the opportunity to make the rubber stocks rise again and again. They saw that the stock price was rising day by day, and when it was about to rise to the limit, Zhonghui Bank suddenly announced that all rubber stocks would stop deposits on a certain day of the month. When the announcement was posted, it was like a bolt from the blue, and the shareholders were so anxious that they wanted to jump off the building.Because the bank refused the stock pledge, it showed that the rubber stock was worthless and became a "bad check".People never dreamed that these colorful rubber stocks would become a pile of waste paper overnight.Maibian, on the other hand, took nearly ten million yuan, patted his ass, rolled up his bed and fled. The other half of the money was quietly swallowed by Du Yuesheng. This wave of rubber stocks led to the closure of dozens of shops, factories, banks, etc. in Shanghai.Among them, Chen Yiqing, the owner of Zhengyuan Bank, Dai Jiabao, the owner of Beikang Bank, and Lu Dasheng, the owner of Qianyu Bank, misappropriated the long-term checks deposited by the customers of their respective banks, exchanged huge amounts of funds with other banks, and bought a large amount of rubber stocks. It failed, and the three of them jumped into the sea outside Wusongkou at high tide arm in arm. In addition to using foreigners to cheat money, Du Yuesheng also has unique tricks in the financial world. Between July and August 1931, 16 provinces in the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Pearl River basins were hit by heavy rains, affecting more than 50 million people and nearly 150,000 people died of floods. On August 12, Du Yuesheng, Wang Xiaolai and others initiated and organized the "Shanghai Fundraising Meeting for Flood Emergency Relief in All Provinces" to raise donations with great fanfare, which is a good deed. During this period, Du Yuesheng heard that a salt business invested by Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank, one of the "Southern Three Banks", capsized in the Yangtze River and lost nearly 2 million yuan.After Du Yuesheng got the letter, he immediately instructed his subordinates to go to the bank to deposit money. After the commercial savings bank released the money, he made people spread rumors everywhere, saying that the "commercial savings" was short of tens of millions of yuan, and the bank was very tight. They are digging meat to mend sores and so on. As soon as this rumor came out, the citizens panicked, fearing that their deposits would be "lost", they lined up at the gate of the store all night long, scrambling to cash in cash. At first, the directors of the Merchant Savings Bank, relying on their strength, dismissed it.But after three days, the withdrawal of deposits reached half of the total inventory.Now the chairman, Chen Guangfu, was sweating profusely. In a few days, all the deposits would definitely be taken out!Because at this time the momentum of the run continues unabated. Chen Guangfu felt that someone was "undermining the situation" behind him, but he couldn't find out the root cause. The most important thing was to stop the run, so he hurriedly called for help from China and the transportation industry, asking for an emergency loan prepayment withdrawal.Thanks to the support of the two general managers, Chen Guangfu urgently borrowed two trucks of Yinyang, but the run was like a flood, and he couldn't stop the frenzy. By the afternoon of the fourth day, Chen Guangfu had nowhere to go, so he urgently called Qian Xinzhi, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance of Nanjing, to try to solve the problem. After Qian Xinzhi asked about the crisis of the commercial bank, he said without hesitation: "Go to Huagebei Road to find Du Yuesheng, and just say that I asked him to come forward and help." That night, Chen Guangfu came to Du Yuesheng's mansion according to Qian Xinzhi's instructions, and talked kindly until midnight. Du Yuesheng naturally accepted Qian Xinzhi's love.He only said one sentence to Chen Guangfu: "Before the door opens tomorrow morning, see you at Shangchu." In the morning of the next day, a group of cars suddenly came to the gate of Shangchu, the first car with the plate number "7777".This is Du Yuesheng's car, which is well known to Shanghai citizens.Du Yuesheng and others stepped out of the car door and declared a deposit of 3 million yuan. Seeing this situation, the customers who were crowded like a tide dispersed in an instant. Du Yuesheng just showed his face, and a huge difficulty was overcome, which made the financial tycoon Chen Guangfu amazed. Coincidentally, Siming Bank is also a typical example. Siming Bank was founded in the late Qing Dynasty. It is a bank in name, but in fact it is a bank. The bank was founded by Ningbo people. The bank's initial location was at the corner of Ningbo Road and Jiangxi Road, and it was adjacent to the United Insurance Insurance Company of Guangbang.Later, Siming Bank moved from Ningbo Road to part of the former Shanghai Huamei Library at the corner of Beijing Road and Jiangxi Road. The manager of Siming Bank is Sun Hengfu. He used to be an employee of a bank, but he was very scheming and good at calculating, so he developed rapidly in business. The bank's maximum deposit amount once reached 40 million yuan, becoming a relatively large commercial bank in Shanghai. one of the banks. However, Siming Bank and Sun Hengfu himself are also very interesting.The bank's business style completely followed the bank's set.Sun Hengfu has a eccentric personality. He usually lives in seclusion and rarely socializes with others.Sun Zi thought he was very rich, and he never asked for help in anything. He begged seven or eight wives, all of whom were as beautiful as flowers and jade. The wives and concubines stayed with him all day long.When the time comes, Lao Tzu, son, wife, and concubine will all swallow their clouds and smoke.When Sun Hengfu went out occasionally, he had to sit in a car with bulletproof glass, plus four or five bodyguards, surrounded by front and rear, very majestic. In addition to Siming Bank, Sun Hengfu also set up a Siming Savings Bank with a lot of tricks, such as opening tuition savings, marriage savings, etc., and tried every means to attract customers to save.He is also very interested in real estate management, investing a lot of capital in the purchase of real estate.It is said that there were as many as 1,200 houses in the lanes alone.In addition, Sun Hengfu also took advantage of the chaos in the financial management of the Beiyang warlord government to issue banknotes as its main source of funds.The paper and printing of banknotes issued by Siming Bank are average.The paper is made of cotton, which can be divided into two layers after soaking in water.However, at this time, the banknotes issued by other banks in Shanghai did not print 2-yuan rolls, but Siming Bank printed 2-yuan notes, so it looked very unique. However, Siming Bank also had bad days. At the end of 1931, a run on Siming Bank also occurred. Since Sun Hengfu used a large amount of bank funds to buy real estate, it would be difficult for the bank to stand up to such an urgent matter.However, Sun Hengfu is more familiar with the market conditions in Shanghai than Chen Guangfu.As soon as the crisis appeared, he immediately came to Du's mansion alone, handed a check of 500,000 yuan to Du Yuesheng, and asked to deposit it in Zhonghui Bank. Du Yuesheng then said: "It's easy to handle. I'll send the silver dollars tomorrow morning, and I promise to reassure those who change the money." The next day, Du Yuesheng personally delivered more than 100 boxes to the gate of Siming Bank. At this time, there were many people at the entrance of Siming Bank, and the order was very chaotic.Du Yuesheng asked someone to remove a box from the car, opened it, and said, "Customers, please don't be crowded, Siming has plenty of money, please rest assured! All can be exchanged to Ocean." After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and one of his subordinates opened the box. When people saw it, it was indeed stacks of shiny silver dollars.Then, the staff of the bank and the escort went into battle together, and moved all the more than 100 boxes into the warehouse. The run-on people saw that Siming's strength was so strong, so what to be afraid of, it was the safest place to put money.So people left one after another.Some people who had already exchanged the money heard about it and came back immediately to deposit the money again. In fact, among the more than 100 boxes, only the first few boxes were filled with silver dollars, and the boxes behind were full of stones. Du Yuesheng's reputation suddenly rose in the banking industry, and many banks came to invite this patron saint. Du Yuesheng suddenly became the chairman of Pudong, Guoxin, Yadong and other banks, the executive director of Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and part-time jobs in other banks. . In order to thank Du Yuesheng for his assistance, Chen Guangfu deposited an interest-free loan of 500,000 yuan in Zhonghui Bank, which was not well managed, and also transferred part of the business of "Commercial Storage" to him. With this aid, Du Yuesheng immediately expanded the business scope of "Zhonghui" in the industrial world. Soon, Du Yuesheng was elected as the director of the Shanghai Bank Branch by the financial giants on the beach. Since then, his white-faced man's robe has been covered with a "financier" gentleman's gown. With the prosperity of Zhonghui Bank, Du Yuesheng's career and reputation jumped to a new peak.By the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, there were as many as 70 banks, money houses, and trust companies in Shanghai that had him listed as directors and supervisors.Some companies also asked him to come forward as chairman.