On a dark spring night, a tall, pot-bellied, round-faced old man was pacing back and forth in his study. The cigar placed on the ashtray was filled with a little green smoke.

"The cursed banking syndicate!"

Morgan muttered that as soon as he thought about the telegram, he would find that he could not refuse the temptation at all.

"How could this man have so much gold? Even if he owned a country's treasury, he wouldn't be able to... But if he didn't have that much gold, how could he make this request? Damn gold!"

At this time the clock struck three.

Morgan listened carefully: everyone in the house was silent, and he could only hear the trees outside the window whining in the wind.

"Do you have any comments?"

Morgan put the question to his friends, or to be precise, his partners.

"I think so,"

After hesitating for a while, Tom Lamont spoke.

"I don't think we have any reason to refuse such a large sum of gold!"

As the bank's financial controller, Tom Lamont could not convince himself to refuse such a large sum of gold. This gold would give Morgan Bank the opportunity to further become a world creditor, grant loans to more countries, and further

Expand Morgan Bank's influence.

In short, there is no reason to refuse.

"Indeed, such a large sum of gold is enough to seduce everyone, even every country!"

"Yes, what we need to face is 7.6 million ounces of gold, not 760 ounces of gold. Even God will not let us refuse such a fortune!"

Harry Davidson appropriately added that when he mentioned the 7.6 million ounces of gold, he felt his heart even beat violently. It was like Pandora's box, and no one could refuse its temptation.

"If we refuse, it will undoubtedly be immoral. For us, or for others, silver is depreciating every day. Only gold can maintain its value. The Chinese need silver, and we need gold. Now we only need

What we are considering is the source of such a large sum of gold."

Sitting in the study was a lawyer in his fifties, Caverich, a lawyer at Morgan Bank. When others asked him what he thought, he said:

"In any case, I don't think our behavior will violate any law. This is simply a normal business behavior. We are willing to sacrifice our credibility for the benefit of the banking group. Moreover, according to the relationship between us and the banking group,

We only added some difficulties to his exchange, but now he is using gold as collateral for loans. Not to mention us, not even HSBC will refuse after they get the news."

Now a heated debate began. After listening to their discussion and pondering for a long time, he suddenly got angry, punched the table with his fist, and shouted:

"Okay! Then we'll give him this loan!"

"If so,"

Kaverich replied.

"Then, we must consider how to protect the bank's interests to the greatest extent."

"What conditions did he propose?"

While asking about others, Morgan picked up the telegram again.

"The conditions he proposed were..."

Looking at the telegram in his hand, Morgan frowned slightly.

"He provided 7,619,175 ounces of gold as a basic guarantee. At the official price of US$20.37 per ounce, Morgan Bank provided him with a loan worth US$157,488,347.25, half of which was paid in silver, and the other half was deposited in Morgan Bank, and he used the previous deposit

He invested US$70 million in Morgan Bank as loan interest guarantee. Of course, he has the right to withdraw no more than 30% at any time. As compensation, he will use his own business as a supplementary nomination, which refers to businesses other than railways. This requirement

We will check further at that time, and eventually he will use the company as a guarantee for interest, so there is no problem with this!"

Looking at the contents of the telegram, Morgan decided that all of this seemed to be within a reasonable range, no matter which clause it was.

"On the other hand, Morgan Bank must promise that it must unconditionally support its exchange business at any time. If Morgan Bank defaults unilaterally, it will pay 1,000% of liquidated damages!"

After a moment of silence, Kaverich nodded.

"Although it is a bit harsh, it is also very reasonable. So what are the repayment terms?"

"Repayment terms!"

Morgan frowned slightly. Among the conditions proposed by Li Zicheng, the most confusing thing for him was the repayment conditions. This repayment conditions were absolutely different from the conditions proposed by any Chinese in the past for borrowing money from foreign banks.

“His request is that after 8 years, he can repay the loan with silver!”

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that!"

Others nodded. There is indeed no problem. Don't the Chinese use silver to repay their loans? And sometimes foreign banks can also get "silver losses" caused by the fall in silver prices.

"But he also has a condition. If he uses silver to repay the loan, it will be repaid according to the silver price on the day of repayment. At the same time, both parties are not allowed to raise any "silver loss" objections." And this is the real problem!

"Oh? The current gold-silver exchange rate is 1:38.33. Does he want to bet on the rise in silver prices?"

"Maybe it's possible. Last year's gold-silver ratio was 1:35.68. This ratio has been maintained for five years..."

"But in the past few decades, the price of silver has been falling continuously, and the possibility of future appreciation is very limited! After all, the gold standard is now the trend of currency reform in various countries. Even China, the largest silver standard country in the world, has voices of implementing the gold standard. If that happens

If so, the price of silver will only fall further!”

After a moment of silence, Tom Lamont continued.

"So, in the future, the price of silver may fall by more than 75% and the appreciation may be less than 25%. This is completely acceptable!"

When Tom Lamont's suggestion attracted the approval of others, Morgan remained silent. He kept pacing back and forth in the study, thinking about this problem in his mind from time to time. As the most successful speculator, for

He understands the business of speculation very well.

49 years ago, he made huge profits by making a surprise attack on the gold market. It was that speculation and gamble between gold and the US dollar that established Morgan Bank today. So, could Li Zicheng have the same plan?

Although he only met Li Zicheng once, in Morgan's eyes, that Li was definitely a cunning guy. The reason why he proposed this repayment condition was because he wanted to bet on the rise in silver prices. If the silver price rises, even if it returns to last year

If the price of silver increases, he will be able to pay as much as nearly 16 million U.S. dollars less in interest. If the increase in silver value is also calculated, when he repays the loan 8 years later, the actual interest paid will be only half of the contract interest.

But,

But……

After hesitating, Morgan saw more than 7.6 million ounces of gold in front of his eyes. The light reflected by the golden gold was enough to confuse everyone's mind, whether to accept or reject.

For Morgan, this is a problem.

Picking up the cigar that was about to burn out, and taking a deep breath, Morgan thought intently. As a rich man who made his fortune through speculation, he certainly knew that he was a pirate on Wall Street because he relied solely on lucky gambling and risky speculation on the exchange.

, has succeeded again and again, constantly proving to the world that he is talented and far-sighted in speculation. Why is it that now he, a fearless, confident and arrogant person, has become afraid of differences? Why is it that in such a simple contract?

The possibilities contained all at once made me become frightened.

It seemed that I was really afraid, not of losing money, but of losing to him! To that young man who was only 22 years old.

Yes! This, this is the root of my fear. I am afraid that I, who has been successful all my life, will lose to that young man at this last moment! This is the root of my fear!

That Li Zicheng actually made him fear!

This is absolutely unacceptable!

Suddenly, Morgan's expression changed and he put out the cigar in the ashtray. He knew that he had to challenge his fear. Only in this way could he defeat his fear!

"Tell him I agree to provide him with a loan!"

In a word, Morgan made a decision, and he knew why he made this decision. It was not just for business reasons, but more of a speculator's pride that forced him to make this decision.

"As for the interest! He is our old friend, and the interest of 5% is enough!"

Even Morgan himself didn't know why he said this. It seemed that he was afraid that excessive interest would cause him to lose more and damage his reputation even more.

"We always have to give appropriate discounts to old friends, what do you think?"
Chapter completed!