Chapter 126 CITIC Bank

When Hu Chuyuan returned to Shanghai, it was already the tenth day of the second month of the lunar calendar. The weather in Shanghai was also a little dry and cold, which made people uncomfortable.

CITIC deposit tickets have been sold for more than half a year. Not only CITIC Qianzhuang, Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative and Jiangnan Commercial Bank are selling, but also CITIC's shareholding Qianzhuang is also on sale.

As of the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month last year, when CITIC General Account suspended the sale of deposits on the grounds of abundant deposits, the total sales of deposits had reached 337.83 billion yuan, most of which were exchanged for 90.72 million taels of silver in various places, and then through Jiangyun, Haiyun, Caoyun, and even other companies including competitors. The ticket numbers are concentrated in Shanghai to be minted into Qing silver dollars.

This process is still very thrilling. If the Qing court does not adopt the silver circle design scheme submitted by Hu Chuyuan, it will have to be recast.

Fortunately, the Qing court was eager to borrow 5 million taels of silver from Hu Chuyuan's CITIC ticket number, and everything was done by the Shanghai Banking Bureau and CITIC Bank.

When Hu Chuyuan returned to Shanghai, the Shanghai Banking Bureau had completed the casting of 40 million Daqing silver yuan, and another 17 million Daqing copper yuan, which was called Qing baht. The copper content per baht was 3.3 times that of the official printed copper coin.

500 clear baht is exchanged for a clear round, and the silver content of each clear round is exactly 0.49 taels, the number is five coins of silver.

Each clear baht is equal to half two pieces of silver. 500 clear baht is equal to one clear round, 100 clear baht is exactly one penny of silver, and 1 clear baht can be used to offset three copper coins according to market conditions.

Everything is ready. Hu Chuyuan officially opened the Shanghai Banking Bureau on February 20, with Tu Renshou as the first supervisor of the Banking Bureau. It was directly under the direct management of Yang Changjun of Shanghai Daotai. CITIC Bank also officially opened on the same day.

On the 20th day of the second month of the lunar calendar, the Spring Equinox, the zodiac is auspicious, everything is suitable.

This day should be written into history. After two years of deliberation and planning, the first bank of the Chinese people finally appeared on the Huangpu Bund.

Unlike foreign banks, CITIC Bank did not intend to issue silver dollar rolls from the beginning. It issued large denominations of paper baht. Hu Chuyuan was convinced that the domestic silver dollar was enough to be the currency with the highest denomination. The real inconvenience was that there was no large amount of copper coins, so he mainly played the paper baht route.

CITIC Bank's clear baht banknotes are issued in five denominations: 5 baht, 10 baht, 20 baht, 50 baht and 100 baht. This design is also carefully considered. Compared with the Mexican silver dollar, it is more acceptable in the domestic market, easier to calculate, and more suitable for people to use in daily life.

Taking advantage of the monopoly position of Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperatives and Jiangnan Commercial Bank, the newly cast silver yuan and clear baht quickly entered the five provinces of Jiangnan, followed by paper baht.

Paper baht is indeed very convenient. As long as it is a paper baht issued by CITIC Bank, it can be exchanged for silver yuan and copper baht in Jiangnan Commercial Bank, Jiangnan Agricultural Cooperative, and all merchants and banks that cooperate with them.

Compared with copper coins, Qing baht is directly bound to Qingyuan, and there is no doubt about the stable surname of market value.

Stable surnames, generic surnames and convenient surnames have led to a rapid increase in the passage rate of paper baht in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The people continue to exchange copper money into baht, while CITIC Money Bank continues to transfer copper money to other provinces to exchange silver and increase the issuance of baht.

After the capital in his hand began to increase sharply, Hu Chuyuan did not immediately invest in Jiangnan agriculture, but concentrated most of the funds on real estate in the Shanghai Concession, and began to sell the houses built in the United States Concession in the past two years in installment loans, with CITIC Bank and Wanqi Bank responsible for lending.

Following him, the Qianzhuang of Ningbo Shangbang also quickly entered this market. A large number of small businessmen began to invest in buying houses. The growth of land prices in Shanghai's concessions has also accelerated significantly. The price per mu has exceeded 40,000 yuan, and the land prices of the Bund and Nanjing Road in the British and American concessions are one after another. More than 80,000 yuan per mu.

Hu Chuyuan's goal is to cash out and withdraw funds back to agricultural investment.

He just chose a more beautiful way to cash out. He joined hands with Wanqi Yanghang and Taigu Yanghang to concentrate funds to build houses, plan each community, and set up Jiangnan Commercial Bank Branch, Fumao Department Store, Zhongrun Department Store, CITIC Qianzhuang Branch, Pawnshop, Pharmacy, Hospital, Public School, Yishu and other ways by building roads, sewers and squares. Continuously improve the price of lots in Hongkou, Suzhou River and Yangpu.

He planned Yangpu as a whole industrial area, where he invested in more than 40 private factories of various types, while Hongkou was planned to be a relatively high-end residential area with small commercial centers.

Through the "Declaration" controlled in his hands and the new "Jiangnan Daily Newspaper", he constantly publicized how much the overall price would increase after the improvement of various facilities in these areas, and speculated the land price, which was beneficial to his own cashing out.

Under this kind of hype, the real estate in the Hongkou area began to soar rapidly, sprinting towards an average speed of 80,000 yuan per mu, while the Bund rushed to the 100,000 yuan mark.

During this period, of course, he was very busy. From morning to night, he had to insist on going to Fuzhou every month, and the Jetta Ocean Bank, which Wu Shuzhen just founded, also ushered in a good start.

With the increasing scale of the industry, in order to facilitate management, Hu Chuyuan has set up a new general manager system. The four old shopkeepers are still the general managers, plus Zheng Xitai, the general manager of CITIC Bank, with a total of five people.

The chief shopkeeper is in charge of the big shopkeeper and the big branch shopkeeper, but big shopkeepers such as Hu Dazong, Zhu Funian, Zhu Yannian and Li Hongling are also directly under the control of Hu Chuyuan.

Taking advantage of this period, Hu Chuyuan made new adjustments to the entire CITIC system. The CITIC ticket number continues to open general shops in provincial capitals and the most prosperous prefectures, and the ticket number in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is mainly Fukang.

In addition, he opened a Wantong ticket number in Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Northwest, Zhaofeng ticket number in the three provinces of Liangjiang, Hongfeng ticket number in Huguang and Guangxixinyuan ticket number in Liangguang, Wanliyuan ticket number in Yungui, Tianbaoyuan ticket number in Sichuan, Taiheyuan ticket number in Henan and Shandong, and Fuchangyuan ticket number in Fujian and Taiwan. Open the Jinliyuan ticket number in the three northeastern provinces.

These big shopkeepers belong to the big branch shopkeepers. Except for Li Hongling, who promised to only be questioned by Hu Chuyuan in advance, and Zhu Yannian's hard work, the rest are under the control of Chen Xiaobai.

Like the Shanxi ticket number, Chen Xiaobai has a second shopkeeper and a third shopkeeper, with Wang Xijiu and Luo Jincheng respectively. Zheng Xitai is in charge of CITIC Bank, set up branches in Tianjin and Hong Kong respectively, and has three offices in San Francisco, Singapore and London. Ye Tongguang is the general manager of CITIC Financing Company.

Through a huge branch network, coupled with a large number of small banks that participate in, share and control, Hu Chuyuan has an extremely powerful authority in regulating the currency exchange rate.

The copper money in the south of the Yangtze River is continuously transferred to other provinces through these ticket numbers, turned into silver, returned to CITIC Bank from the book, and continued to issue new banknotes to exchange copper coins.

After all, the business of ticket numbers is special, and the old tradition is also very unique. Hu Chuyuan did not ask too much, but only managed the business of various ticket numbers through CITIC Bank.

Hu Chuyuan's business is getting bigger and bigger, but it is also getting more and more stable.

Gradually, it came to September 1881, the tenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar in the seventh year of Guangxu, and the next day will be white dew.

On this day, Hu Chuyuan received an urgent call from Zuo Zongtang from Suzhou, asking him to quickly return to Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden. He could only hand over the matter of CITIC Company to Chen Xiaobai and others first, and set off back to Suzhou by himself.

This year's Suzhou September is cool, and it's not too hot in a horse coat. The carriage is driving on the streets of Qingshi Road. When you open the curtains, you can feel the cool breeze coming.

Hu Chuyuan was just happy in his heart. At this time, he had gradually reached a peak of his life.

The soaring land price of Shanghai's concession made his family easily break through the 300 million yuan mark. Not many people know it. It feels really wonderful.

The carriage is parked in front of the door of the Humble Administrator's Garden, and not far away is the Jiangsu governor's government gate.

Humble Administrator's Garden.

At this time, the Humble Administrator's Garden has fallen into Hu Chuyuan's hands. Last year, tens of thousands of taels of silver were allocated to repair it. The garden seemed to be in an orderly place, with flowers blooming and purple and red.

A lake is as quiet as jasper, the wind is blowing and wrinkled, and the lines are like ripples.

This time, Zuo Zongtang lives in Wakano Hall, which is the main building in the middle of the Humble Administrator's Garden. It is surrounded by water on three sides and the scenery on all sides is charming.

After being notified, Hu Chuyuan quickly walked into the hall. He looked up and saw Zuo Zongtang just walking out of the back hall of the side hall. Compared with two years ago, Zuo Zongtang is a little more blessed and ruddy. Unfortunately, his eyes are a little dark and not so fierce.

He took a few steps forward and worshipped with his fists: "Lord Zhongtang!"

Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly, asked him to sit down first, and said, "You just came here. I came to Suzhou this time to invite you to talk about something."

Zuo Zongtang became turbid, which was also bottomless.

Hu Chuyuan replied cautiously, "Please speak out."

Zuo Zongtang was not happy or unhappy. He couldn't see his mood. He reminded indifferently, "Your period of Ding's worry is coming to an end. For your credit in the past few years, the court has made a compromise and wants me to recommend an official position to you. Tell me, where do you want to be an official?"

Hu Chuyuan, who did not want to be an official, was inevitably a little scattered and said, "Zhongtang, Fuzhou Ship Administration's transfer is enough!"

Zuo Zongtang nodded silently, but said, "I'm afraid it's not up to you. I received a secret note from Prince Su a few days ago, saying that the Empress Dowager appreciated you very much and wanted you to be a Shanghai Taoist platform... However, there are other errands for you at present."

Hu Chuyuan asked, "What's the errand?"

Zuo Zongtang said, "Chen Lanbin, please leave and report back to the court. I would like to recommend you as a minister in the United States. The court did not allow it. As for him, there is another memorial. You still have to deal with it. I'm afraid it's a very tricky thing. It is said that the Americans expelled China and want to expel all our people from the country. It is related to the sence of the court. The Empress Dowager still attaches great importance to it and wants you to do it.

"Oh?"

Hu Chuyuan estimated that it was the same thing. After a little thought, he said, "I can try it, but it may not work."

He has been paying attention to this matter, and he also asked Rong Hong to do some preparations in the past two years.

Zuo Zongtang thought for a time and said, "You either don't go. If you want to go, you still have to do it well. If it really doesn't work, I'll find a reason to say no for you."

Hu Chuyuan said, "Then let me go and have a look. There are more ways than others."

After listening to what he said, Zuo Zongtang understood in his heart that although Hu Chuyuan did not dare to guarantee the ticket, he was still 30% or 40% sure.

(to be continued)