Three Kingdoms Eschatology

People in the queue looked at each other in dismay. At this time, the clerk of the exchange had placed a stack of bonds in front of Chen Bao.Those were ten large bonds with a face value of [-] gold. Chen Bao sorted out each one and put them in his pocket, then walked out in big strides.

The voices of discussion among the queue crowd in front of the cashing counter became loud again.

"This person is so stupid! There are low-priced bonds in the market outside and don't buy them, but buy official high-priced ones."

"Maybe you can't buy it in the market?"

"How is it possible? I just bought the ten-gold one here this morning. If you sell it, you can earn a price difference of three golds."

"Hehe, what are you talking about with your ten gold! Others buy five hundred gold as soon as they buy it. There should be no more out there. You can easily earn a few gold by slipping your legs every day, which is equivalent to the income of an ordinary person for several months. It is possible for the pie in the sky to happen by chance, but it is unlikely to happen every day."

"I think so too. I heard that the bond was only issued for [-] gold. Look at the warehouse behind the counter. The cash we can see alone is at least [-] gold. And there are big buyers like just now. So they Can collect unlimited. And how much low-priced goods on the market can be put? I don’t believe any fool can put unlimited. Just like you said, if it’s true, people in Rome don’t have to do anything, and they come to pick up things that fall from the sky every day The pie is ready."

"Fine, listen to what you said, I don't need to rush to cash out our family's [-]-gold bond now. The spare money will be exchanged and put aside, and it will lose a lot of interest every day."

"Forget it, I won't sell it anymore. Although it is unlikely that my thirty-gold goods will be kept for ten years, after a while, the price on the exchange is likely to rise by a few points. Moreover, the queue is too crowded. It's a bit longer."

The queue suddenly became loose, and a large number of people left after a while.In the end, there were only five or sixty people still in line, except for the thirty or so people Julius was looking for.The other 60 people were all people who snapped up August's low-priced bonds early this morning and were going to eat the difference here.They have a total of a hundred or so gold coins in their hands.

But Julius and Chen Bao continued to play together, and from time to time, people could be seen coming to purchase bonds in large sums.Of course, these people are the trustees they found.But by mid-afternoon, a few real buyers started showing up.Together, they bought bonds worth nearly two hundred gold coins.

Finally, it was time to close the door again, and there was a balance of more than 600 gold coins from the [-] gold coins on the account.Julius sighed: "Thank God, there was no run on today. But there is still a critical day tomorrow. As long as more and more people continue to buy bonds tomorrow and reach a balance of payments, then this matter will be considered settled .I just don’t know how many goods are in the hands of our opponent who is hiding in the dark?"

Chen Bao smiled strangely and said, "The other party should be out of stock. I entrusted a friend to investigate, and the opponent is Guan Augustus. He is the one who subscribed the most bonds at the opening ceremony of the arena..."

Before Chen Bao finished speaking, Julius' eyes lit up and said: "Yes, I remember that he subscribed for 2000 gold. And in the past three days, we have collected more than [-] gold, and his goods should be at low prices. It's over. Hey, I'm relieved now."

Chen Bao continued with a weird smile: "And he dumped goods in this way, in addition to creating a market atmosphere where bonds continue to depreciate, it is also to conceal his identity. So if he wants to continue playing, it is unlikely Instead of going out to buy or borrow from other big players to sell, we will collect chips by letting the servants openly buy in the market. So we should only accept and not sell tomorrow!"

Julius was taken aback and said, "Ah! We only have more than 600 usable cash now. Why don't we just take it and not sell it?"

Chen Bao continued to say indifferently: "My lord financial officer, what I said is that we only accept and do not sell, but only on the exchange. But we will still sell off-market, and we will also purchase off-market..."

After listening with a confused face, Julius nodded in conviction.But he still asked suspiciously: "But in the exchange, why don't we sell at the listed price?"

Chen Bao chuckled and said, "Isn't there a reason not to sell all the bonds in stock? So, please transfer another two thousand cash..."

When Julius heard about the money, he said anxiously: "Didn't you say it earlier? Although my financial bureau is in charge of money, the money is a radish and a hole. It is impossible to risk diverting other funds. Otherwise Why do I have to pay out of my own pocket and borrow money from your Excellency? Why do I still do it like this?"

Chen Bao continued to say calmly: "Your Excellency, don't worry, I just want you to use these two thousand gold coins as props to perform a show, just like those boxes filled with stones and covered with a layer of gold coins. And I won't actually use one of them, I'm going to..."

After listening to Chen Bao's plan, Julius suddenly understood and said: "So that's it, no problem, I will order someone to transfer the cash of two thousand gold coins."

……

In the official mansion, Augustus, who had just finished dinner, remembered the matter of the bond again, and immediately called the butler over.

"Are you done with the bond?"

The butler quickly replied: "Master, we will follow your instructions and throw out the last bond of [-] gold coins."

"Well, there should be a huge crowd of people selling bonds on the exchange, and they should have closed early today because their money has run out. Look, as soon as the news gets out, people who want to sell their bonds tomorrow will The three inner floors and the outer three floors surrounding the exchange!"

The butler's expression changed into a smirk, and he said hesitantly: "There are quite a lot of people, and there is a long queue, and there is still an endless stream. But...but it seems that their money has not been used up, and they have not closed early."

Chapter 1088

"What? Impossible!" After hearing what the butler said, Augustus exclaimed.He stood up, paced back and forth, stroked his gray beard and said:

"Through the eyeliner in the consul's office, I knew immediately that Alexander had just received the [-] gold coins collected by issuing bonds, and allocated [-] of them to improve the water supply system in Rome. He only kept two Thousands are given to Julius to run the exchange. We sold bonds with a face value of [-] gold coins, plus other sellers driven by this. How can there be bonds with an amount of more than [-] gold coins flocking to him in the past few days? The exchanges. And they don’t have anyone buying bonds on their counters, so their cash is definitely going to be depleted by now.”

Suddenly, two cold lights appeared in his eyes, he stared at the butler and asked viciously: "Did you do something about it? Didn't you do what I ordered? You took it to the exchange and sold it yourself, and then the price difference Embezzled! If this is the case, I will definitely peel off your skin and cram your tendons!"

Although this steward is called a steward, he is actually a slave.When he heard this, he trembled like sifting chaff, and quickly cried out in a crying voice: "No, master...we are loyal to the master, how could we do this. Those bonds are absolutely in accordance with the The small pens and low prices were scattered at the market. The little one personally supervised on the spot. In addition, we are all the servants of the master, and we are usually provided by the house, and we are not allowed to leave the house without special permission. What is the use of this money? In the end, there are dozens of people involved in this matter. As long as the master has a little doubt and questioning, these dozens of words can't fool the master. So the young one is bold Son, don’t dare to do such a thing.”

After pondering for a while, Augustus snorted coldly and said, "Forgive you for not being so bold!"

He walked back and forth a few more steps, and suddenly slapped his hand on the table and said, "I see, Julius must have acted recklessly and embezzled funds from other funds!"

Seeing that Augustus no longer suspected that he had embezzled the money, the steward felt relieved and quickly echoed:

"My lord, when we went to the exchange to inquire, we found that there were five large boxes of gold coins in the warehouse behind the counter. According to the volume of the box, at least one thousand gold coins per box, that is, there are five gold coins in total. As much as a thousand gold coins."

Augustus pondered for a few more breaths, and then suddenly burst out laughing, the housekeeper who laughed felt a little terrified.Ogules said: "Since he dares to embezzle funds, I will play with him to the end. His funds will have to be returned in as little as a week or as much as two weeks. I will see how he will deal with it. Maybe the misappropriation The funds are still the military pay that some legions are going to distribute, and once there is a gap, it will inevitably lead to a series of consequences."

Then he ordered the housekeeper: "Go! Prepare five thousand cash, and go to collect the bonds early tomorrow morning. You will publicly advertise the purchase at the market. You must purchase at a price higher than the market price of the day, neither more nor more Less. Take as much as you can!"

The butler said in surprise: "Master...Master, why don't we go directly to the counter of the exchange to purchase? That way..."

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a slap, and he was slapped on the face.

Today, Augustus, who was already a little annoyed because he failed to achieve his goal, cursed: "I think you are stupid for drinking too much water from lead pipes. Why don't you understand this? My lord, I was just going to consume them." Cash. Go to the exchange to buy? We got chips, but they also got cash, so what’s the use? We go to the market to open the collection, which is the bond in the private hands of the market. Only one point higher than the listed price, It is also unprofitable for those who want to make price differences, so that no one will buy bonds on the exchange and then sell them to us."

The housekeeper quickly responded: "Yes, the master is extremely intelligent, and this little elm head is incomparable."

He covered his face and hurriedly backed out, but he cursed secretly in his heart, old guy, you are in your sixties, and you drink decades more water from lead pipes than I do.I think your brain is really broken, and you have trouble with money.play money?Don't play away all your property in the end!

Early the next morning, before the market opened, a large group of people with cash gathered.Today they are still thinking about continuing to pick up the pies that fall from the sky, waiting for someone who sells government bonds at a low price to appear.

"Here we come! We're here!" Someone yelled first, and the people who were standing under the shade of the trees followed the prestige, and they saw Augustus's housekeeper rushing over with a group of people.After three days of dealing with each other, the appearance of this group of people has been familiar to many people.They were respectively surrounded by crowds of smiling people asking for bonds.

"Brother, you're here so early, sell me a few more today."

"Brother, why do you have to work so hard? Just sell it all to me. I'll give you a little more price. I guess, you are selling it for others, and the extra money is your tip!"

Seeing this, the butler of Augustus shouted loudly: "Go! Go! Go! How can you get such a cheap deal every day. There are no bonds for sale today. Today we are here to collect bonds!"

Hearing the steward's words, these people who wanted to earn the price difference were immediately discouraged.Only one person asked: "Then brother, how much do you charge?"

The butler snorted coldly and said, "Why, you're thinking about buying from the exchange and dumping it on me to make a difference? Unfortunately, there is no such good thing today. Our purchase price is not too much, It’s just one point higher than today’s exchange price, if you want to earn this one point, go run errands.”

After everyone figured it out, they would use their small capital of a dozen or so gold coins to earn this point and then deduct the handling fee.That's just enough for running errands and missing work.Most people left with a sigh.

Then the housekeeper and everyone set up stalls in the market, set up signs, and prepared to buy bonds with great fanfare.But they haven't put out prices yet to officially start.Because they have to wait for the exchange to open and know the latest price before pricing.

Julius arrived on time again just before the opening of the exchange, and he found that the door was deserted and deserted again today.This reassured him on the contrary. This scene showed that the supply of those low-priced goods on the black market had been cut off, and there were no more people who took the price difference and sold them to the exchange.

After the door of the exchange opened, the price on the price board was marked 102 in Latin numerals, which was one more point higher than yesterday.It took a long time after the door was opened, and several people came in and out one after another, buying and selling, all of which were small amounts, and the funds in and out were roughly balanced.

At the same time, the group of people in August in the market shouted loudly: "Take bonds, buy treasury bonds at a high price. Get as much as you want..." Some of them went around the streets to spread the word stand up.

Chapter 1089 All Inclusive

There were more and more people in the market, and the butler of Augustus wandered around, supervising the work of his subordinates.It's just that his subordinates yelled for a long time and no one paid any attention.Finally he saw a fat, merchant-like man walking towards one of his men who was shouting.

The fat merchant lazily asked while smoking a Persian hookah: "How much do you charge?"

Before the subordinate could answer, the butler of Augustus walked up to the fat merchant and said, "Why, this boss has something to sell?"

The fat merchant snorted and said, "Of course it is in stock, otherwise I would ask this in idleness? But it is not certain whether it will be sold or not. I am just asking about the price now."

The butler stretched out three fingers and said, "We will charge you three points above the face value today, as much as you want."

The fat merchant sneered and said, "It's still three points higher than the face value? Just a few hundred battles ahead, a group of people are also yelling to collect coupons, while others take five points."

The butler's expression changed, "Impossible. Five points is almost equal to the one-year interest rate. The annual interest rate is only seven points." The fat merchant said with disdain: "It may not be possible, you can see for yourself. Can't you see it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a Thracian man holding a sign walking and yelling: "Take bonds, take bonds. Five points above face value, five points above face value."

The butler knew at a glance that this person was not his subordinate.He immediately called the other party to stop.The other party asked carelessly: "Why, this boss has goods to ship? Five points, as much as you want. Pay with one hand and deliver with one hand."

The butler's mouth muscles twitched and asked: "Who sent you? Who allowed you to collect bonds here and compete with us for business?"

The other party rolled his eyes and said, "For a long time, you are in the same industry. You don't care who sent me. That regulation says that you need someone's permission to buy bonds? What can you do if you compete with you for business?"

The butler said angrily, "Do you know my Patriarch..." He suddenly remembered that Augustus had told him not to reveal his identity after speaking half a sentence, and swallowed the second half of the sentence abruptly.Then, he hastily ordered two of his subordinates nearby: "Quickly, go gather your people. Someone wants to make trouble on our land."

The burly Thracian man, who was half a head taller than him, heard his words, but stood in front of him calmly, and blew a few loud whistles.After a while, more than a dozen strong men appeared around him.Butler Augustus felt a chill in his heart.Although he has a lot of people, he also knows from this posture that even ten of them may not be able to beat the opponent alone.The butler had no choice but to order: "Let's go, ignore these rascals."

In front of the bond exchange, seven or eight people came hurriedly.They were not a group, they just bumped into each other, and when they saw each other, they quickened their pace.They even ran up at last, scrambling to rush to the gate of the exchange.They all planned to come to the exchange to buy low-priced bonds for arbitrage after they heard the news in the market that someone had received bonds five points higher than the face value.

When they broke into the lobby panting, they found a young man with a fair face and luxurious clothes standing in front of the bond sales counter, and they lined up behind him.Only then did they discover that there were still a few strong men standing at the base of the wall near the young man, who were obviously the young man's followers.This young man is none other than Chen Bao.

The clerk behind the counter asked Chen Bao, "How many bonds do you want?" Chen Bao asked, "How many bonds do you have?"

The clerk checked the account book and said: "We have a total of [-] gold face value in stock."

"Very good, I'll take them all." After finishing speaking, Chen Bao waved his hand, and the entourage next to him threw two large bags and three small bags of gold coins on the counter, bending and deforming the panel of the counter.Then he counted a small handful of gold coins and placed them on the counter.

The clerk hurriedly greeted other clerks and took the gold coins behind the fence.As soon as the package was opened, two hill-like golden gold coins were revealed.

The seven or eight people behind Chen Bao suddenly became anxious, and said, "Little brother, how could you buy it all by yourself? You bought it all, isn't it a waste of time for us to come here? You can save us some ah."

Chen Bao pursed his lips, rolled up his sleeves and said, "First come, first served, why should I still consider you? There are no fathers and sons in the mall, let alone we are all strangers who don't know each other."

The noses of these people who wanted to take advantage of the interest rate difference were crooked, but looking at Chen Bao's tall and strong followers, they didn't dare to make trouble.But they were unwilling to leave just like that, and could only watch in place.Hope that Chen Bao didn't bring enough money, so they can still eat some leftover soup.However, the clerk counted the gold coins one by one and said, "Including the handling fee, just one penny is not bad." Then he handed out several thick stacks of government bonds and said: "This is a coupon of [-] gold. You order it." .Money and goods are cleared, and no refund will be made after leaving the cabinet.”

Chen Bao didn't even look at it, put a few stacks of bonds in his arms, and walked out with a few entourages in a grandiose manner.A "out of stock" sign was also hung on the sales counter.The few men who wanted to cover the price difference had no choice but to scatter away with a sigh.

In a secret room behind the exchange, Chen Bao was discussing with Julius in a low voice.

Julius said: "No one will ship on the exchange now, and that guy Augustus can't receive the goods. But you receive the goods at such a high price of five points, there are really a lot of people who ship you What should we do? We only have six hundred cash!"

Chen Bao said with a smile: "Don't worry, the financial officer, our [-] cash will not be used up, not only will it be used up. It will continue to grow after selling high and receiving low. What we earn is other people's money."

"But if some people who planned to hold it for a long time saw the price rise and were tempted to sell a large number of them in a short period of time, wouldn't your money be used up?"

Chen Bao laughed and said: "But the key is whether to sell or not, and we have the initiative to accept or not. Don't forget, we are all off-site transactions. In case there is a large amount of goods that do not know where they come from, we will The person who received the goods will disappear immediately. This outside transaction will not affect the reputation of the exchange. Because these people who sell the goods have been psychologically affected by the high prices in the market before, they are unlikely to be in the short term. Willing to sell it on the exchange at a low price will only continue to hold bonds."

Julius stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then thought of another question and asked: "But that old guy Augustus, if he wants to hurt others and lose money, he will punish us. After the high price is sufficient, the low price Focus on throwing..."

Chapter 1090 Price War

Before Julius finished speaking, he laughed himself, patted his head and said, "Look at my head, after all, I have been drinking poisonous lead water for decades, why can't I make sense of it? ? The old guy Augustus really did this, didn’t he give us free money? Hahaha..."

At night, a brightly lit room in the official mansion.Augustus summoned his butler again and asked, "How is the matter going? How much did you receive today?"

The housekeeper replied tremblingly: "To the master, today..., I haven't received a single bond today."

Augustus frowned and said, "Did you just shout at the market to accept it? How could you receive it? People who buy bonds are either rich or expensive, and they seldom go to the market in person. They Even if the servants of slaves knew about this, they would not be able to take the initiative to report it to their masters. So you should go to the bathhouse, the entrance to the theater, where rich and powerful people often hang out. Of course, they can't carry bonds with them, but you You can rent a shop in the market and tell them the location."

The housekeeper said with a bitter face: "Yes... yes, master is smart. But, but..."

Augustus shouted angrily: "But what? If you have something to say, just say it directly!"

"But today, we found that some people in the market robbed us of business, and they actually paid a price five points higher than the face value and three points higher than the exchange price. In this way, with them around, it is impossible for us to receive the goods. !"

Augustus said suspiciously: "The price is three points higher than the exchange price? Then why don't they go to the exchange to collect it? Even if they don't go to the exchange to collect it, wouldn't the exchange be shorted by those who eat the difference?"

"Returning to the master, I sent someone to investigate in the afternoon. The goods in the exchange were indeed taken away, and they were bought by one person at a time."

Augustus took a breath and said, "Is it true that some people are so rare about bonds? If this is the case, won't my master's plan be realized?"

With his hands behind his back, he paced back and forth in the room a few times, pondered for a long time, and finally said: "No matter how much, you continue to charge. If they charge a high price, you will pay a higher price. Press them two points. Anyway, we Gotta get enough!"

Augustus went on to say: "Tomorrow I'm going on a business trip to Gaul in the mountains, and it will take a few days to come back. You just follow the plan. Remember, if you collect enough goods of two thousand gold, you will sell them at a low price."

"But after selling it at a low price, it still failed to make the exchange run, what should I do?"

Augustus said with confidence: "Then collect and sell again, every time you collect [-] gold, you will sell. People who can beat the price repeatedly like this will panic, and those who hold bonds will scramble to sell. Yuriu They misappropriated other funds to support them, and they will not be able to bear it in the end!"

"Forehead…"

"Why, you still have something to say."

The butler swallowed back what he wanted to say, and re-said: "No...no. I will definitely settle the matter according to the master's words." In fact, he wanted to remind Aogules that the person who bought in the market might have a relationship with the exchange. It's a gang.

But the scene of him being scolded and slapped by Augustus yesterday immediately came to his mind. He was afraid that he would be beaten and scolded for talking too much this time, so he thought it would be better to do less than do more.Swallowed the words back abruptly.

Early the next morning, the housekeeper sent someone to the market to rent a shop as ordered by Augustus.Then mobilize some of his men to go to the baths, the arena, and the entrance of the Grand Theater to shout and publicize.But they only let them advertise that they charge a high price, but the specific price to sell can only be known by the person who gets the shop.Because the price is subject to change, the housekeeper has not yet set the price today.Because he still doesn't know the market price on the exchange today, and more importantly, he still doesn't know what price the unknown opponent in the market will offer today.

When the sun rises, the exchange price comes out and returns to 100, so it is just buying at the original price.But there is still a "sold out, out of stock" sign on their sales counter.The butler sitting in the room behind the paving thought, so the price of the other house today should be lowered accordingly.

But the people below immediately brought him different news than expected.The counterparty was actually receiving goods at a price that was eight points higher than the face value everywhere.This price is equivalent to more than one year's interest paid to the person who bought the bond at face value.And those bond buyers are holding on to those bonds for less than a week at most, which is pie in the sky.The housekeeper immediately ordered his subordinates to buy it at a price of ten points.

In a box of a wine shop about a hundred miles away from the butler's location, Chen Bao was sipping wine while cutting grilled lamb chops with a knife and fork.A man with a Persian appearance came in quietly and whispered something in Chen Bao's ear.Chen Bao wiped his mouth with a cashmere napkin and uttered a short sentence: "Twelve points!"

After a while, many people on the streets of the market shouted: "The price has increased, the price has increased! Treasure bonds are charged at [-] points above the face value, as much as you have!"

At the same time, although there was still a "sold out" sign on the sales counter of the exchange, it was still full of people and there was a long queue.Once in stock, these pie-in-the-sky people will snap up the bonds.On the other side, there was no one in front of the acquisition counter.

……

With a snap, the butler slapped the table heavily with his hand and said, "Press them for two points, and get fourteen points!"

The price was updated immediately on the signboard in front of the shop, and the August slaves who were attracting customers at the market also shouted one after another: "Fourteen points, fourteen points for bonds. High price for bonds. High price. Collect treasury bonds at fourteen points face value."

They shouted for less than an hour, and those people from Chen Bao raised the price again, and they started shouting at the price of sixteen points...

The chief senator of the Senate, Gaius, took a bath in the bathhouse as usual today, and was about to return when he left the bathhouse surrounded by a group of slaves, but he heard someone yelling: "Collect bonds at a high price, collect bonds at a high price, go to the Moon Road Market Shop 33, Lane [-], you can exchange bonds for cash at a high price. Much higher than the exchange price."

Gaius couldn't help but stop, not only because he held a bond of two hundred gold, but also because when he was taking a bath in the bathtub this time, the topic of bonds was the most talked about by people.He asked the yelling man, "What price do you charge for bonds?"