1890 King of Southeast Asia

"We are still good. Private Kurosawa of the second squad has a lower salary and has sold his sister. Alas, I am going to retire." The comrade sighed, a little reluctant to leave the friends he knew.

"Ah? You can be recommended to the non-commissioned officer school next year. Are you giving up now?" Kitami Shigure said regretfully, but still understood the choice of his comrade.

For six consecutive months, except for the price of rice and wages, everything else has increased. The already meager salary of the army is now enough for one person to eat porridge for a month.

Kitami Shigure left the barracks and prepared to send money home, but heard many people discussing similar things at the door of the post office.

"Have you heard? A lot of people are queuing up at the bank to withdraw money."

"What's wrong?"

"I heard that several trucks of gold were taken away from Liyou Bank today, and they are still withdrawing..."

"I went to withdraw money today, and several banks were closed. I heard that someone exchanged gold. You say, the yen is so useful, why do you want to exchange gold?"

Kitami Shigure stopped, thought for a while, looked at the yen in his hand, and walked towards the bank calmly...

...

"The plan is going smoothly. 40 million yen has been exchanged in scattered exchanges, and 60 million yen worth of silver has been snapped up. The current silver price has risen, and it is not cost-effective to continue to snap up."

Liu Yiming listened to the secretary's report and nodded slightly.

"Is Japan buying silver?"

"It should be that the international silver price has also risen, with an increase of 2-3%. The price of silver has been rising on the London Stock Exchange." The secretary nodded.

"How much silver do we have?"

"It is currently worth about 30 million pounds, which has met the plan requirements."

"The Ministry of Finance will use this silver to repay the debt directly. After paying off all the debts, the remaining part will be exchanged for gold and shipped back." The sharp drop in the price of silver is a trend, and it has been falling in the past two years.

But this time is an opportunity. Japan tightened the money supply to ensure the value of the bills, and bought a lot of silver in the die-clearing and Japan.

Liu Yiming also followed up. The die-clearing has not failed, and the price of silver has risen all the way. Most importantly, financial capital in London and New York also followed up, and the price of silver was pulled to a high level.

Liu Yiming originally planned to short, but such a large amount of funds might collapse before entering the market. There was no way, Liu Yiming could only use a stupid method.

"Deliver within three days. After three days, I will do my best to squeeze the Bank of Japan. At that time, the price of silver may fall."

...

It has been three days since Kitami Shiyu sent the money home. Now he regrets it a little. When he left the bank, he only got 90% of the gold and silver. At that time, he was still lucky.

But three days later, the situation of Japanese yen devaluation did not happen, which was equivalent to another 10% loss!

"Ah~" Kitami Shigure sat on the grass, watching the new soldiers training.

"Hey! Have you heard? Someone went to the bank to exchange gold and silver today, but they can't exchange it anymore!"

"Why? Where did the bank take our money?"

"Can we still spend the Japanese yen in our hands?"

"I heard that the price of rice has risen back. If it is true, what about my mother?"

"Don't panic, the emperor will definitely find a way."

...

"Is what they said true?" Kitami Shigure heard their discussion, and he seemed to have guessed it right.

Indeed, starting from October 12, it was a large number of die-clearing merchants who exchanged hundreds of thousands of yen at a time.

The Bank of Japan had also made preparations long ago, temporarily collecting 200 million yen of precious metals from the society, various foreign exchange worth 100 million, and 50 tons of gold currency reserves.

Most of it is social wealth, and there is actually more, because there are many deposits.

50 tons of gold, equivalent to 6 yen, 66 million.

Japan was not surprised by the exchange of hundreds of thousands of yen, but the continuous exchange for two days soon made Japan panic.

"Why are so many people exchanging, why are even our citizens involved? This group of traitors!" Dashan looked at the increasingly empty treasury with worry.

"We can't go on like this. Forbid citizens to exchange gold and silver, and at the same time, precious metals will flow out!" The Minister of the Army said in a deep voice.

"In that case, the yen will never enter the international market again." The Minister of Finance has lost his expression and his face is pale.

"So what?" The Minister of the Army curled his lips. He was born a samurai and didn't know anything.

"This means that from now on, you can't use yen to buy any raw materials, you can only use gold and silver, and you can't get enough financing. More importantly, exports will also be hit..."

"Sir, just now, a group of foreign businessmen came, they pulled 200 million yen and asked for exchange..." The deputy governor of the central bank made an exception and entered the central meeting.

"Exchange! It's already at this level. If we can't maintain the yen, we have no future..." The Minister of the Ministry of Finance took a look and waved his hand.

Ito Hirobumi seemed to have aged ten years during this period. "Let's meet with the British envoy to discuss the loan!"

"This!" Many people wanted to object.

"Do you have a better way? This is obviously premeditated and planned, but you are still arguing. If you don't borrow money, will you wait for the government to go bankrupt?" Ito suddenly got angry and sat on the ground dejectedly.

"Mr. Ito, I heard that you need a loan? It's easy for you to believe Britain. We already know the current situation in Japan. We have a package loan plan here. Look at this, the annual interest rate is 5%, and it will be repaid in 39 years..." The envoy introduced it to Ito with a smile like an ordinary Maitreya Buddha.

5%! Very low, after all, it is not a normal loan. If you buy something, you may be able to borrow 3%/2%, but if you are at the end of your rope, 5% is simply an angel!

However, this is to be repaid in 39 years. According to the British temper, it should be marked that it must be repaid in 39 years. Before that, the collateral is basically equivalent to the British...

...

"Please give me a bucket of medium white rice, thank you." Huizi said.

"Sincerely, four yuan, or two coins of silver." The boss said weakly.

"Ah!" Huizi exclaimed.

"The bank is closed. Today, foreigners brought 200 million yen to exchange for gold and silver. I don't know if the yen can still be exchanged for gold and silver. Do you still want to buy it?" The boss said unhappily.

Huizi struggled for a while.

"Hurry up, maybe the price will go up tomorrow."

"Buy! But why do they want to exchange?" Huizi took off the headdress and pulled off all the silver pendants on it.

"Despicable foreigners! Why do you use yen to exchange gold and silver!" The boss took the silver pendant and weighed it.

"Two taels and one qian. There is not much gold and silver now. I will give you one stone and one bucket and send someone to deliver it. How about that?" The boss quickly calculated and arranged to deliver it.

...

"Mr. Prime Minister, you are a good abacus!" Cyril smiled at Liu Yiming.

"I just saw that the price of silver is so high. I happen to have a batch of silver in my hand. I am not comfortable owing others money all the time." Liu Yiming smiled, and this silver really brought down the price.

From the original 1:5, the ratio of pounds: silver, it fell back to 1:1, and it is still falling.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, it is the speculators who lost money." Cyril made a fortune, and Japan was already using it to discuss borrowing with Britain. The money in the stock market was harmless.

"How many yen do you have?" Well, mainly Cyril needs help.

"Three hundred million? What, you want it? I will sell you 5 million yen at 90% of the face value, no more." Liu Yiming smiled.

"Haha, I'm not here for this today. The British government hopes that you can keep the yen in your hands for a while, and discuss the repayment after Japan has initially restored order." Cyril seemed to be talking about a very small matter.

"Cyril, the yen now has only one function, that is, to exchange for precious metals. Who in the international market still accepts yen? Do you accept it?" Liu Yiming seemed to be looking at a fool.

"Or transfer your yen to us, we can pay 20% off, how about it? In a short period of time, Japan can't take out many precious metals." Cyril continued to work hard.

"Then use other debts, merchant ships, warships, and territories." Liu Yiming narrowed his eyes, as if he was calculating accounts.

"How about this, the war ends here, Japan pays our 300 million yen military expenses, and the Ryukyu Islands are ceded to me, otherwise I can fight directly, and the warships can enter Tokyo Bay." Liu Yiming smiled.

"I can be a creditor of Japan, 600 million yen, which is Japan's fiscal revenue for eight years. I can pay it in 80 installments, with an interest rate of 3%, which is very favorable. How about it?" Liu Yiming smiled obscenely.

"In Japan, the yen has already fallen sharply..."

"But the Japanese government has to pay back the money, unless they want to default on it, then, they are useless, right?" Liu Yiming looked at Cyril.

"I will persuade Japan to surrender, but the conditions must not be so harsh." Cyril was silent for a moment and gave in.

"Has Japan asked the British government for help?" Liu Yiming looked at Cyril's confident look and asked bluntly.

"Britain has agreed to a total of 100 million pounds of support plan." Cyril nodded.

Liu Yiming curled his lips. A 100 million pound support plan? Bullshit!

Liu Yiming has 300 million yen in his hand, and other people should also have 300 million in their hands. When the time comes, this money must be paid first, otherwise it will be too late.

Then what? Even if calculated at a lower exchange rate, plus international practice, the compensation to Nanhua may be more than 10 million pounds in the hands of the Japanese government, which is only 100 million yen.

Piece by piece, it can only get 200 million yen. Is it useful? It can ease the domestic situation, but it may not be able to rebuild the credit of the yen.

"I don't want much. First, I want Japanese yen, hard currency, or foreign currency, but I want foreign currency to be exchangeable. I want a strong currency."

"Second, I want the Ryukyu Islands. Don't worry, it's just for trade, so we can avoid thousands of miles of detour."

"Indemnity, for the sake of Britain, 100 million, Southeast Asian currency, that's how much I spent on military expenses. This is the last condition. If you don't agree, the war will continue. They no longer have the ability to fight, and they can't move for at least a year." Liu Yiming said seriously.

"Mr. Prime Minister, please..." Cyril wanted to continue bargaining.

Liu Yiming stretched out his hand and opened five fingers.

"Fifty thousand pounds, I'll give it to you after the treaty is signed."

"Deal!" At this moment, Cyril looked like a gentleman.