Chapter Eighty-six

  "Huh?" Gao Yang was slightly taken aback.

  "The Feng Army has already been reorganized, and you are still willing to work under the name of the Beiyang government. General Zhang is doing a favor by giving you these already disbanded troops, which doesn't cause him any loss. After all, even without these troops, you can learn from General Zhang and directly reorganize your own army. Now, at least General Zhang is still your nominal superior!" Yuan Dian explained.

  "Oh, I see." Gaoyang nodded slightly in agreement with Yuandian's explanation.

  He picked up the teacup and walked to the window, saying faintly, "It's not time to be a pioneer yet. The government of Beidu is recognized internationally! With this name, many things will be much less troublesome, and..."

  He sipped his tea, turned around and looked at Gao Feng with a light smile, saying "Don't you think the Beiyang government is good at being a scapegoat?"

  "Haha......" Gaofeng responded with a laugh.

  Gaoyang shook his head somewhat helplessly and said, "Your emotions are becoming more and more like those of a natural person."

  Gao Feng smiled and said, "Boss, I have something to report to you."

  Gaoyang sat back in his chair and put down his teacup, saying "What is it? Speak."

  "Boss, we currently have a lot of funds frozen in Citibank. I suggest withdrawing the money and exchanging it for gold to set up our own bank! Not only can this greatly alleviate financial pressure, but also squeeze out all kinds of notes issued by various banks from the market." Gaofeng said with some excitement.

  Gao Yang slightly raised his head and glanced at him, rubbing his forehead and said softly "You can be considered an excellent economic expert now. The plan you put forward does have various benefits on the surface, it's just that you only consider economic matters."

  "Firstly, the money I earned in 1925 was worth several billion dollars! But this money can't be used in modern times, they're all old versions! Moreover, the devaluation is too severe. As for exchanging it for gold, that's just nonsense, who would sell me gold worth several billion dollars in 1925? Now, how much gold reserves do countries around the world have? You should know that this era is on the gold standard!" Gao Yang explained with a hint of excitement.

  "For countries around the world, gold is the cornerstone of all economic and trade activities. Look at the British, they even dare to sell their entire fleet for money! The Washington Naval Treaty means nothing to them! But if I told them that I want to buy a few billion dollars' worth of gold from them, they would definitely spit in my face!" Gao Yang said with sarcasm.

  "As for opening a bank, your words are correct, and there are many benefits for me. However, you haven't considered other things. Speaking of which, I'd like to ask you, do you know what economics is?" Gao Yang asked with a relaxed tone and a gentle smile.

  "Economics is just an exchange game!"

  Gaoyang stroked his chin and didn't respond directly to Gaofeng's answer. He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and slightly furrowed his brow, saying "It's gone cold!"

  Quickly stepped forward to serve tea to Gao Yang.

  "Indeed, I can issue a large amount of banknotes with gold as the reserve. But there's nothing to buy! The main consumption on this land is grain and cloth! Other industrial products are produced in small quantities and can be ignored! Moreover, many places still use the primitive bartering method, where do you go to buy things with money? Go abroad to buy? They don't recognize your banknotes at all!!" High Yang said, slightly raising his voice.

  "Opening banks and playing with finance is just a game of making money from money, for an extremely backward country what is needed is not opening banks and issuing banknotes. What is needed is real industry! Is all kinds of rich materials! Can't buy things, banknotes are just good-looking paper!"

  Gao Feng handed the teacup to Gao Yang with both hands, saying "You said many foreign firms are issuing banknotes, and the market is chaotic. This is true. But you should know that those banknotes are in the hands of ordinary people! If you drive these banks out of business, it will be those ordinary people who have banknotes in their hands who will suffer! They'll only be left with a pile of worthless paper!"

  He said in a gentle tone, "Is it still not okay like this?"

  "Of course not! However, there are many ways to do it. What I'm using now is to issue a large amount of regular silver coins! The salaries I give to the military and government personnel are all in silver coins. Silver coins are precious metals, and between paper money and silver coins, people will basically choose silver coins. If there are more silver coins, they will naturally squeeze out paper money from the market."

  "Now the demand for silver is huge, and it's necessary to purchase a batch of industrial silver in modern times. It's also necessary to open our own bank, but not for printing money! What needs to be done is to provide convenience for people. I can pay all salaries through this bank, which will also strike at the foreign-funded banks that recklessly issue paper notes." Gao Yang lit a cigarette and continued to say.

  He puffed out a thick ring of smoke and said faintly, "Do you know why the British wanted to go to war with a vast empire that they didn't understand very well at the time of the Opium War?"

  Gao Feng standing beside him slightly shook his head.

  "Because the Qing government only allowed imports and not exports, the British were unable to sell anything in China except for opium. When the opium trade was prohibited, it strangled the British economy. What could they do? They had no choice but to use force. Similarly, if I were to sell a large amount of industrial products to America and take away their money without giving them anything in return, the Americans would definitely do the same thing as the British."

  He changed his sitting position and continued to say to Gao Feng, "Doing business is like a game of exchange. I made so much money from the Americans, but I couldn't take it back to modern times, so I had to spend it. It just so happens that I also need American oil and various supplies, so I'll use the money I earned to buy them back from America and exchange them for American industrial products. Then I'll sell the oil in modern times, exchange it for money, and buy industrial products to sell back to America. This forms a cycle. The Americans have their industrial production and foreign trade imports and exports, so they won't say anything..."

  "If I only make money from Americans but don't spend it, then the Americans will first impose trade protection and refuse to let me sell goods to them! Next is trade sanctions, if trade sanctions don't work, then the Americans will come and rob us with warships! No country can accept a one-way trade that only comes in and not out! If economic means don't work, then we can only use violent means to solve it!"

  "I'm putting the money in Citibank as a gesture of goodwill, to tell the Americans that this money will eventually be earned back by you. After all, what I need is urgently needed industrial goods, not money! Can you understand what I'm saying?" Gaoyang looked at Gaofeng who was standing obediently beside him and asked aloud.

  "Understood!" Gaofeng replied immediately.

  Gao Yang nodded in satisfaction.

  "Then can you explain your economic behavior in modern times?" Yuán diǎn suddenly asked, who had been quietly listening.

  "Alas," said Kōyō with a slight shake of his head, "you were produced for war; what consideration is economy to you?"

  The origin is silent in response.

  He let out a soft sigh, and Gao Yang spoke up, "I had my reasons for selling oil to the Koreans in modern times. The global oil market is an extremely important means by which Americans control the world's economic lifeline, it's not something that can be easily interfered with. Any country, organization or individual that shows signs of wanting to challenge America's oil economy will be ruthlessly suppressed by the Americans!"

  "Among the countries that need oil around the world, each European country has its own turf. The interests are intertwined and complex, I simply can't get involved! As for North America, it's too dangerous, it will definitely attract the attention of the United States! This is something I cannot afford to do now."

  "As for East Asia, the Japanese will definitely not sell. Besides, Japan is America's own territory, and I don't have the strength to compete with the world's top oil tycoons yet! Among emerging economies, only South Korea can spend hundreds of millions of dollars every month on oil. Although South Korea is also under American control, the degree of American control over South Korea is far less than that of Japan! And 4.2 million barrels per month is already the limit, any more will inevitably attract high attention from the Americans!"

  Gao Yang smiled and continued, "Moreover, this is also a way for me to enter South Korea. Without benefits, why would Koreans let me squeeze into their market? If I don't supply them with urgently needed goods at a discounted price, why would they politely invite me over? And why should I be able to establish myself in South Korea!!! There are many things that can't be done just because I have money!"

  He stood up from his chair, lit a cigarette and continued saying "As for the world's factory, it's just like America! Afraid of being investigated."

  He paused and continued, "I buy various industrial products in the world's factory, which is also a kind of favor. After all, a large part of the economy of the world's factory relies on foreign exports to drive it. My orders have digested some excess capacity and increased export earnings. Otherwise, do you really think they don't know anything? My company is located in Beijing!!! As for saying that purchasing living materials has raised the price level..."

  "I'm not qualified for that yet!"