The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 89 Finance
"For us Jews, what is our true heart?" Victor Sassoon looked at the majestic and spectacular Imperial Central Bank building in front of him and murmured: "That is the endless love for money and wealth. Pursue, because this is God’s gift and God’s blessing for a better life!”

In Jewish teachings, it only recognizes the Jews as the chosen people of God, and does not recognize that other ethnic groups have the possibility of being saved by God, let alone Jesus. This directly led to the death of Jesus, and thus led to the hatred of Christianity.The fate that the Jews suffered in Europe - deportation, discrimination and massacre - once again verified "God's care for his chosen people", and also deepened the Jews' suspicion and uneasiness about the world from the depths of their subconscious.

Therefore, since 2000, the Jews have been seeking another weapon for self-defense, a weapon that can not only ensure the survival of their own race, but also prove that they are God's chosen people and thus have the power to rule other races.

Yes, they found it, money!

For the Jews, money is the stairway to heaven and the most effective weapon to gain world domination.After more than two thousand years of experience, no other race has a better understanding of money and its connotations.However, the Jews have been greatly restricted in the use of money - because their identity and status issues have not been resolved. For nearly 2000 years, they have been the object of discrimination and exploitation without any political power.

Spain, Portugal, France, England, Italy, Arabia... They were once full of hope, hoping to take root in these countries and regions, multiply their populations, and at the same time stick to their beliefs.However, repeated persecutions and expulsions caused them to suffer huge personal and property losses, and they also became a group of people wandering around without a fixed residence.

Now, they have come to Hanzhou and this rising Indian Ocean Empire.Then, they discovered that the people here were not only hardworking and kind, but also extremely friendly and gentle, and did not show any outright discrimination and persecution against the Jews.There are sound and fair laws here, and there are countless tempting business opportunities here. More importantly, this country is very powerful. They can use their footsteps of colonization around the world to extend their Jewish business tentacles and seize More wealth.

After a year of investigation and travel in Hanzhou, Victor Sassoon became more and more determined in his belief that Hanzhou would be the greatest blessing for the Jews.While he sent several waves of messengers back to Baghdad to report the specific inspection results of Hanzhou, hoping that the family would transfer people and wealth there as soon as possible, he also began to lay out a business network.

Yes, as a Jew, the most familiar and handy business activities are finance (loan sharking) and trade.Therefore, with the guidance and help of the Jewish Chamber of Commerce, Victor Sassoon applied for a banking license from the Daxing Branch of the Imperial Central Bank in February, invested 2 yuan, and established a financial lending company called Sassoon Commercial Bank. , began commercial activities in Hanzhou.

In order to quickly expand his business, after Victor Sassoon's business in Daxing improved slightly, he prepared to establish a second branch in Chang'an, the capital of the empire, to provide considerate financial services to the many wealthy people here. And hope to make a few "noble people" who can protect them.

In fact, Victor Sassoon spent a lot of money in order to integrate into the "mainstream" society of Qi State as soon as possible.Not to mention that more than ten years ago, in order to be familiar with the people of Qi, when the Persian trading company was developing and constructing Bushehr Port, it invested a lot of money to help the people of Qi with port construction and urban infrastructure, and formed a relationship with them. a certain community of interests.Moreover, under the recommendation of Persian trading companies, the Sassoon family also made several investments in Egypt, India, Ceylon and other places, making a lot of money following the Qi people.

Last year, after arriving in Hanzhou, through on-the-spot investigation and detailed analysis, he suddenly discovered that Qi's financial market is no less developed than Amsterdam and London in Europe. In terms of total scale, it exceeds that of the entire European region. .

However, after communicating with the local Jewish Chamber of Commerce, he learned that the supervision and control of financial markets in Qi is stricter than in Europe.

For example, if a private person wants to open a bank, he must obtain approval from the Imperial Central Bank, obtain a corresponding business license, and pay a high deposit at the Central Bank.

For example, the interest rate on loans to factories, trading companies, and especially individuals must not exceed 20%.

For example, loans to foreign governments, companies, and individuals must be reported to the imperial financial management department and approved before they can be implemented.

Despite this, Victor Sassoon still believed that Qi was worthy of their Jewish "investment."This country has the most advanced and largest industrial manufacturing capacity in the world, as well as the broadest market in the world. They also have the Indian Ocean region and even the most powerful navy in the world. All of this ensures that this empire The future development limit will reach an unprecedented height.

Compared with the Kingdom of Spain, which once boasted itself as an empire on which the sun never sets, and the Netherlands, which used to span the ocean, Qi's geographical advantage is undoubtedly the best.Dominating the mainland of Hanzhou, it is surrounded by vast oceans. Countless nearby islands have also been reduced to the territory of Qi or included in its sphere of influence, and there is almost no threat from any strong enemies.

Qin, a large eastern country with a large population and vast territory, has the same origin as Qi and has similar language, culture and traditions. It is also the main source of immigrants for Qi, and the two sides maintain a close and friendly cooperative relationship.What's more, Qin's strategic focus for a long time to come will be on the Tatars in the north and northwest, and there will be no conflict of interest with Qi at all.

The Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent has been in decline since it was defeated by Qi in a battle decades ago. In fact, it has fallen into a state of division and can no longer contain Qi's encroachment and control of the entire subcontinent. .

Another True God empire, the Safavid Empire of Persia, was overthrown by a group of tribal armed forces from the mountains of Afghanistan two years ago, and was on the verge of extinction.Currently, they are using the power of Qi to jointly expel Afghan tribal armed forces and try to restore the rule of the empire.Under this situation, Qi will definitely control Persia more deeply and comprehensively, and sooner or later it will become a vassal of Qi.

As for the Ottoman Empire, its territories in the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea region have long been infiltrated into a sieve by the Qi people. In addition to temporarily accepting Istanbul as its suzerain politically, it has become a vassal of Qi economically and militarily.It is said that most of the debts owed by Osman belonged to Qi people, and almost all the things that could be mortgaged at home were mortgaged to Qi.

Looking around the entire Indian Ocean region, you can find that in front of Qi, there is almost no one who can fight, and they all crawl at the feet of Qi people.

In time, when Qi's power extends to the Atlantic Ocean and even Europe, a true world empire will be born.Then, the Jews living in the body of this empire might be able to get rid of the wandering life of more than 2000 years and develop and grow together with this country.

The national integration policy of one country, one nation, and one language proposed by the Qi people will, to some extent, stifle their Jewish national attributes and weaken their conversion to Jewish teachings.But in Victor Sassoon's view, in the Qi State where this kind of ideology dominates, the concept of race will inevitably be blurred, and the Jews can cleverly "integrate" into the people of the empire. It was unthinkable before.

Once their ethnic identity was concealed, Jews were able to unleash their political talents—based on money and demagoguery.After thousands of years of "suffering", the Jews have fully realized that money and education are the only channels to power. If they can continue to pay attention to the role of both, then they Jews will be able to turn themselves into The few elite races in this country who have money and knowledge will most likely have huge power in the future, and then make full use of this power to serve the interests of their own ethnic group.The State of Qi needs to continue to explore and find a broader market for the industrial products that are continuously produced in the country, and the Jews can provide them with massive amounts of money, thus tying their own interests to the chariot of the State of Qi. .

From a global perspective, before the rise of Qi, the Netherlands was the world economic leader.In a sense, the Netherlands can be regarded as the first "modern economy". The Stock Exchange, the East India Joint Stock Company and the Bank of Amsterdam formed the prototype of the modern commercial system.

Financial capital, that is, the relationship between banks and companies is inseparable, or in other words, banks are a type of company.

It is hard to imagine that 100 years ago, the Dutch had established a long-term capital market with an interest rate of less than 5%, and the cost of capital was greatly reduced.In contrast, the minimum interest rate for borrowing money in England at that time was 10%. Spain, well, let alone this, the King of Spain even borrowed money at ultra-high interest rates of 20-30%, but it was not favored by European capital—— Without him, the country's credibility is too bad. The finance department has declared bankruptcy several times, which has devastated countless creditors.

A Dutch company paying 5% interest can save twice as much on financing costs as an English company paying 10% interest.Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why the initial financing amount of the British East India Company was only one-tenth of that of the Dutch East India Company.

Although the Dutch ruler William III ascended the British throne in 1688, he brought a large amount of Dutch capital and advanced financial tools and means to the country, which greatly promoted the development of the British financial industry and quickly replaced London. Amsterdam's status as a new financial center.

However, compared with Qi, London's financial market is not fully developed and its scale is relatively small.You know, in Daxing alone, there are more than 60 banks and more than a dozen insurance companies.As for other cities outside Daxing, the number of banks exceeds 1.The average annual value of various securities traded and financed in the market is more than [-] million yuan.

As early as 30 years ago, Qi State issued banknotes based on its gold reserves, which increased the circulation speed of funds and promoted the continuous development of the economy, allowing the country to maintain a prosperous scene.

In Qi's bond market, as early as 40 years ago, loan interest rates dropped rapidly from 12% to 6%-8%. Now, they have dropped to 4%, and even the interest rates on some short-term government bonds are only 3%.All this gives Qi an absolute financing advantage in the international financial market.

The Qi Navy once claimed that it could send two powerful fleets to the two most distant places in the world at the same time to launch the most violent attack on the enemy.

Victor Sassoon believes that this sentence is not deliberately to scare potential competitors, but that the people of Qi can really do it.Because their government's immense financial resources are sufficient to achieve this goal.

He came to Chang'an to open a bank this time after being recommended by several nobles from Qi State. He planned to cooperate with a trading company with strong economic strength and royal background to jointly invest in the establishment of a joint-stock joint venture bank.For this reason, he is ready to transfer his interests. As long as he can integrate with Qi's mainstream business capital, it will have a positive role in promoting the expansion of their Jewish business territory.

"Mr. Sassoon, I'm sorry to keep you waiting." A luxurious carriage drove to the entrance of the Imperial Central Bank and stopped. After Zhou Haoxuan got out of the car, he reservedly nodded to Victor Sassoon, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Oh, dear Zhou, actually, I didn't wait here for too long. I'm really happy to see you again." Victor Sassoon took two steps and came to Zhou Haoxuan. , took off his hat, bowed slightly to salute, with an extremely sincere smile on his face.

"Mr. Sassoon, if you want to seek better development in our country, let me give you a suggestion."

"Oh?" Victor Sassoon said with all ears, "I believe that your suggestions must be very constructive and will benefit me a lot in the end."

"Mr. Sassoon, I suggest you hire a good Chinese teacher to teach you the language of our country of Qi. In this way, you can better integrate into our country and get more business opportunities." Zhou Haoxuan read it. Looking at the interpreter next to Sassoon, he smiled slightly and said, "As we do now, we need an additional interpreter to communicate with each other. Don't you think it's a bit troublesome? If the interpreter misses the translation of some important information, you may You will suffer great losses. What do you think?"

"Thank you very much for your suggestion." Victor Sassoon nodded seriously and said, "When I have time, I will definitely hire a knowledgeable and patient Chinese teacher. Oh, dear Zhou, I have to complain here. , although your Chinese is a very beautiful language, it is really difficult for me to learn."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you communicate more with our Qi people, in a short time, you will be able to speak fluent Chinese like those naturalized barbarians...Europeans." Zhou Haoxuan said, looking up at the center of the empire The building of the bank, "Yesterday, my father had already greeted the official in charge of license approval in advance. After we entered, we directly handed over the corresponding information, and we can get the approval today. In this way, the bank in which we invest and jointly invest will be able to do so in the shortest possible time." It’s time to start.”

"Zhou, your work efficiency really shocked me!" When Victor Sassoon heard this, he immediately smiled and said flatteringly: "I think that with your participation and management, our joint-stock bank will definitely be successful. You’ll make a fortune!”

"Haha... let's all get rich together!" Zhou Haoxuan responded with a smile.

This Yi people are really on the right track. In order to gain the support of their Zhou family, they spent most of their funds, but only asked for 51% of the controlling stake. Isn't that because they have taken a fancy to the huge energy they have in both government and business circles!
"Okay, let's not delay here." Zhou Haoxuan reached out and motioned for Victor Sassoon to follow him into the Imperial Central Bank building. "This matter is done. I have to go to the residence of an important royal member to represent us. The Zhou family would like to express their condolences. Alas, you said that in the fire in Daxing City last night, how could it happen that the family members of this important man were burned to death in it?...This is a big deal!"

After hearing what the interpreter said, Victor Sassoon's face froze, his heart thumped suddenly.

Could it be that the fire in Daxing City that he mentioned happened in that dilapidated neighborhood near the Jewish business building?
(End of this chapter)