Shanghai, Yuanqi Bank Headquarters and branches all have long queues, and without exception, they all come to exchange banknotes. Because there are too many people queuing up, many people are not afraid of the cold and queue up overnight, so as to exchange banknotes in their hands as soon as possible.

Because of the run, the whole Shanghai was shrouded in panic, with all kinds of rumors flying all over the sky, and citizens were startled one day. Fortunately, Yuan Qi repeatedly promised that no matter what the situation, he would guarantee the exchange of banknotes and actively extend the business hours, and kept opening until dark. Even so, the run failed to alleviate.

Although Yuanqi Bank has experienced many bank runs since its establishment, such a large-scale bank run has not happened for many years. This run came quickly and violently, originating from the scramble of foreigners in Shanghai. It was then reported that Britain and Geely had declared war on the Qing Dynasty, and the armies of the two countries had fought in South Africa.

As soon as the news spread, it triggered a large-scale run. Originally, the government and the public, as well as newspapers, were pessimistic about the Qing and British war in South Africa. After all, the strength of the British Navy was already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. What is more important is that France was defeated in the French-Prussian War and paid Germany a huge war compensation of more than 700 million taels of silver.

Many people are worried that the Qing Dynasty was defeated in South Africa and would pay huge war reparations like France. Yuanqi has strong financial resources, but if he wants to pay huge war reparations, it is hard to say whether the banknotes issued by Yuanqi can maintain their value. In addition, there is news that Yuanqi exchanged a large amount of gold, resulting in a sharp decrease in inventory of silver, and the banknotes issued will depreciate significantly.

In addition, the Spring Festival is approaching, and all businesses will have a holiday of more than half a month, and Yuanqi Bank is no exception. Many people do not want to be frightened and are eager to exchange banknotes for cash and celebrate the New Year safely. After all, real money and silver are more reassuring. Many internal and external factors have combined to cause this large-scale run.

Due to the development of communications and transportation, the bank run in Shanghai soon spread. The branches of Yuanqi Bank in various provinces were in a hurry and requested the allocation of large amounts of cash banks to deal with the increasingly serious bank run.

The panic caused by the run spread rapidly to the stock market, and the stock index fell in response. The stock index, which had stabilized and gradually rebounded, turned around and fell. European capital naturally would not miss this opportunity and sold all the chips absorbed at low levels before smashing the market, causing the stock market to plummet again.

The crisp phone ringing of "Dingling" sounded. Zhao Liewen and Yi Zhengxing looked at each other with a wry smile. The phone calls in the past two days were constantly uneasy. As the Chinese New Year approached, a nationwide run broke out, and the stock market also fell sharply. The capital officials, princes of various provinces, major shareholders, business owners, local banks in various provinces with close relationships, wealthy merchants in various provinces that cooperated with Yuanqi... all kinds of people who could speak with Yizhizu called one after another.

"I'll pick it up." Yi Zhengxing said and stood up. After a while, he covered the phone and microphone and looked at Yi Zhizu, saying, "Father, he is the shopkeeper of Jinyuan Bank in Shanxi. I ask if he needs to support the cash bank..."

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and said, "Be kind, thank them for your kindness."

After waiting for Yi Zhengxing, he put down his phone and Zhao Liewen said, "Now that the current banking in various provinces is in a hurry, why does the shopkeeper refuse the kindness of Shanxi bank dealers?"

"This is not a bill of exchange." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "If the amount of cash transactions is large, it is impossible to hide them. Once the news spreads, it will undoubtedly aggravate the panic and cause a larger-scale run. It is not worth the loss. Besides, it is not yet at the level of unsupported..."

Before he finished speaking, Lin Meilian leaned at the door and then came in to report: "The big shopkeeper, He Tianyou, chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions, asked for a meeting, saying that there was something urgent."

What urgent matters can the Federation of Trade Unions have? Yi Zhizu couldn't help but be stunned, pondered for a while, and then said, "Please invite him in."

He Tianyou, who was in his early forties, walked into the room with an anxious look on his face. Before he could see the greeting, the phone rang again. Yi Zhengxing quickly walked over and picked up the phone, whispered a few words, then turned around and looked at He Tianyou, and said, "A call from Baoshan, more than a thousand workers took to the streets to march, refused to accept paper money, and asked for wages to be paid in cash..."

Yi Zhizu turned his head and looked at He Tianyou, and said slowly: "Chairman He came for this?"

The workers who heard that they had already marched on the streets, and He Tianyou immediately felt sweating on his forehead and said quickly: "Big shopkeeper, the union has not participated in this matter, and has stopped it many times..."

"I really know how to join in the fun." Yi Zhizu's tone was very plain, "requiring to settle wages with cash bank is also to protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers. He told the factory managers to settle wages with cash bank for the workers participating in the march."

He Tianyou naturally knew how bad the nature of this matter was, and was full of fear and fear. He didn't expect that Yi Zhizu had no intention of blame at all. Instead, he agreed without hesitation. He was shocked and didn't know how to speak for a while.

Yi Zhizu continued: "When Yuanqi was first established, England attacked Guangzhou, which also triggered a serious bank run, but the workers of all factories under Yuanqi's name deposited their savings into Yuanqi Bank." At this point, he sighed softly, "Is the world changing? Or has people's hearts changed?"

He Tianyou couldn't help but feel nervous and said, "Big shopkeeper, we are not doing our job well..."

"Of course you can't get rid of the relationship." Yi Zhizu's voice turned cold, "All workers who participated in the parade would take photos and build files. The factories under Yuanqi's name would never be hired and expelled from Baoshan, Shanghai. What Yuanqi needs is workers who can be with Yuanqi and share the same destiny."

He Tianyou couldn't help but be stunned. He knew best that all the factories in the Qing Dynasty would offend Yuan Qi for a few workers. This was equivalent to issuing a ban order. No factory dared to hire these workers, which was equivalent to cutting off the opportunity for those workers to enter the factory!

"And you!" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "The factory union, the joint union, the Federation of Trade Unions, all trade union representatives are elected by workers independently, right? Such a thing not only shows that the workers' demands cannot be reflected through legitimate channels, but also shows that the work of trade unions at all levels has serious flaws. Moreover, I seriously doubt the ability of trade union representatives."

This sentence is quite heavy. He Tianyou hurriedly stated: "The Federation of Trade Unions will conduct self-inspection and self-correction immediately, and will definitely give the shopkeeper a satisfactory explanation."

"It's not to give me an explanation, but to give the workers an explanation and to yourself!" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "The role of the trade union is to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and at the same time, it is necessary to properly handle the interests between workers and factory owners, and try to balance the interests of both parties.

This incident is extremely serious and may cause serious consequences. It will harm not only Yuanqi's interests, but also the interests of factory owners and workers themselves. What will happen if Yuanqi is run and bankrupt? It will lead to a large number of factories going bankrupt and countless workers will be unemployed as a result. The workers are low in awareness and do not know the consequences. It is rare for you to know whether they know it?"

"I understand." He Tianyou said bitterly. The tide of banknotes is getting worse and worse, and the workers are worried that the banknotes will depreciate or even be invalid. The union has not discovered this sign, but has also worked hard to do ideological work for the workers, but he did not expect that someone would secretly organize trouble. It is not a bad thing to deal with it harshly, and it is more conducive to the union's work.

He Tianyou was waiting for him to leave, and Zhao Liewen sighed softly and said, "Even the workers are clamoring to pay wages with cash, which shows people's panic. Is there any news about Transvaal?"

"Feng Zicai called the day before yesterday, and the British army was already at the city of Pretoria." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "It is expected that news will come in at most three or five days. Feng Zicai was picked up by me with one hand, so don't worry."

Can you not worry? Zhao Liewen sighed inwardly, the British army was 38,000, and the Marine Corps was only 14,000, and they were fighting in a foreign country. If anything goes wrong, Yuanqi will face the biggest bank run in history. Even if it can be overcome, it will be a huge blow to Yuanqi Bank and even the entire Yuanqi's reputation.

After hesitating, Yi Zhengxing said: "The current banking run is worse than the other day, and the current bank is tight, so it is better to suspend the exchange of pounds."

"Persistence in exchange for pounds is not only to reserve gold, but this is the same as allowing Yuanqi to share all kinds of shares to extend business hours. They are all to stabilize people's hearts. If exchanges are stopped, panic will inevitably intensify." Yi Quest said slowly: "Another, this is also a rare opportunity to absorb pounds. Don't worry, I have confidence in Feng Zi."

"Dingling" the phone ringing rang again, "I'll answer it." Zhao Liewen said, standing up and walking quickly over to pick up the phone. He heard Huo Qizheng's voice, and then he smiled and said, "Let me ask the shopkeeper to answer the phone later." As he said that, he turned around and said, "It's shopkeeper Huo."

He got up and took the phone call, Yi Zhizu said loudly: "It's me."

"Big shopkeeper." Huo Qizheng said: "The stock market is currently in a very strong downward trend. I personally think that I might as well wait for another two days. The momentum is slightly weaker, and then hold the market..."

After pondering for a little while, Yi Jingzuo said: "It is not advisable to wait any longer. The decline is too large and it is likely to cause panic. Besides, European funds should have already left the market and no longer need to wait. Enter the market to support the bottom in the afternoon and cannot fall any further."

"Yes, my subordinates obeyed the order." Huo Qizheng responded loudly.

In the stock trading hall, although it was lunch break, there were still many people in the hall whispering in a crowded manner. Because of the panic caused by the run, the Spring Festival is approaching and the stock market is about to be suspended. Many people are unable to accurately judge in the future. They do not want to hold stocks for the New Year. They are also because someone secretly manipulates malicious short selling, which has led to a continuous sharp drop in the stock market. Faced with this situation, Yuan Qi seems to be powerless and no longer has any pallet moves.

The trading hall is bleak and it is difficult for everyone to see a smile on their faces. Those who are still sticking to this place are still lucky in the later trend, or intend to take advantage of the stock market downturn to enter the market. After all, the stock market is ups and downs, and every big drop is a rare speculative opportunity. However, no one knows what the point will fall. Look at this situation, it seems that the beginning of the big drop.

As the opening approached, more and more people in the hall were gradually increasing, but compared with the previous period, there were significantly fewer people. Many people have sold their stocks and left the market. Although there are more and more people, given the morning trend, most people do not have much hope for the afternoon trend.

But what everyone expected was that as soon as the market opened in the afternoon, all the selling orders on stocks were swept away, and then there were huge buy orders, and all stocks were exactly the same.

Seeing this situation, the atmosphere in the trading hall suddenly became restless. There is no doubt that Yuan Qi has taken the pallet again! Only Yuan Qi has such a great spirit!

Compared with the restlessness and excitement of retail investors, all analysts and brokers in brokerage banks are wondering what is going on? Yuanqi has made a big deal again to stabilize the stock market and alleviate the panic of bank runs? Or is it because things have changed?

If it is the former, there is still a possibility of a decline in the later stage. If it is the latter, it means another extremely rare opportunity! Although the government and the people generally do not like the war between the Qing Dynasty and the English in South Africa, if the Qing Dynasty can defeat England like Germany, it means that Yuanqi will dominate Transvaal's gold mining, which will be an unparalleled favorable thing!

"No matter what method you use, you must understand what happened as soon as possible?" Almost all brokerage firms issued the same order, and the brokers also showed their magical powers across the sea and used different ways to inquire about the news.

There is no doubt that everyone's focus is on South Africa. It is no longer news that Britain dispatched a large number of warships and tens of thousands of troops to attack Transva. Did the Qing Dynasty withdraw its troops from South Africa? Or did the war break out? If there is no movement in South Africa, then Yuanqi will be in order to stabilize the stock market and alleviate the panic of bank runs.

Just as various brokerage banks and brokers were busy inquiring about the news, the stock market had begun to rebound strongly. The stock market was never short of adventurous speculators. Without knowing the real reason, many people entered the market without hesitation. Because of the ambiguous information, they could only bet. For them, the stock market itself is a casino!

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Cao Gensheng walked into the study with a light step and said aloud: "Big shopkeeper, Feng Zicai called from Transva."

Seeing his smile on his face, Yi Shizuo smiled and said, "I missed it—."

Cao Gensheng read: "The headmaster, General Staff, led the brigade department to defeat the British army at a weak price at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, at a slight cost, destroyed more than 280 British artillery gates, annihilated more than 11,000 enemies, and captured more than 2,300 prisoners. Then there was another detailed report. Feng Zicai and Xu Mingliang."

How did this battle be fought? Zhao Liewen looked in disbelief, "Just Feng Zicai's 253rd Brigade?"
Chapter completed!