Li Songchen nodded and said, "Very good. On behalf of the Shanghai Government, I would like to thank you for your help. But please rest assured that the government will never let you suffer any losses. Even if you may suffer some losses now, we will make you more in other aspects."

Sheng Xuanhuai said: "Mayor Li is very serious. The government has always been known for his loyalty and integrity, and has always attached great importance to the industry and commerce. We have anything to worry about and ask for any needs."

Li Songchen also smiled and said, "Okay, I am very grateful for your trust in the government so much. However, before asking you for help, I must first make it clear that the government imposes seigniorage tax, not to increase taxes, but to promote the use of paper currency within the rule of our East China government, and ultimately achieve the goal of completely replacing metal currency with paper currency. However, I think with your own knowledge, I should have guessed this."

At this time, Zhang Jian said: "Mayor Li, the reason is just a merchant. He should not be involved in military affairs. The leaders are all intelligent people, and we are not able to meet the situation. However, the leaders are busy with their affairs and wise people are still worried about one mistake. It is inevitable that there will be some negligence. We are just bystanders, occasionally gaining something, and it is only a matter of great importance. We have to tell them all to prevent the government from paying attention for a while."

Li Songchen laughed and said, "Mr. Ji Zhi, please say it directly. We are not the Qing court, and there are no taboos in speaking. Even if we criticize our poor things, we don't have to worry."

Zhang Jian hurriedly said: "I dare not, but the currency reform is of great importance, so we must not ignore it. If you are not careful, the light will cause turmoil in the court, and the worst will cause danger of subverting the country and the worst will be risky. Moreover, we have used gold, silver and copper coins as currency throughout China, and we have not seen the use of paper money. When Wang Mang replaced the Han Dynasty, he once minted large coins to replace Wuzhu coins, which caused complaints among the people, and even the people changed their country and destroyed the country. In the past Ming Dynasty, the court issued the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, but the people also abandoned them, and eventually ended in vain. This is a lesson from the past, and the government must observe it."

Li Songchen nodded and said, "Mr. Ji Zhi is worthy of being the top scholar. He is indeed familiar with classics and history, and is well-versed in the past and the present. He also thanks you for your intentions. In fact, we are not unaware of the dangers of currency reform, but now it is time to change. The reasons for the whole are that I am not an economic expert and dare not buy it here. I only understand a simple truth, that is, as the country's economic scale expands, the demand for money will also increase accordingly, but the production capacity of metal currency is limited, and Moreover, the cost of minting is too high, so replacing metal currencies with paper currency that can be made into large quantities and have low manufacturing costs has become an inevitable trend in historical development. European and American countries are now mainly based on paper currency, and this is also the main reason why we have carried out currency reform and replaced metal currencies with paper currency. Of course, the knowledge about currency is very complicated. I have a book on currency knowledge here. I will ask someone to bring it to you later. If you are interested, you can read it carefully."

In fact, the theory that Li Songchen mentioned about paper currency replaces metal currency is not new in the East China Government. It has been promoted many times before, so Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Jian and others have also heard of it. Although they think that this statement has some truth, they may not fully agree with it. After all, once a human concept is formed, it is difficult to change it in a short period of time. However, Li Songchen said this, and also said that the attitude of the East China Government will inevitably carry out this currency reform. Everyone is very clear about it, which cannot be changed. No matter what the success or failure of this currency reform, everyone can only choose to support the East China Government at this time.

Li Songchen then said: "Of course, the danger of currency reform is very high. Our government has foreseeed it for a long time and has done a lot of preventive work for this currency reform. First, it is a pilot project in four cities, and has also prepared enough reserves and materials to deal with general events. However, it was unexpected that foreign forces would come to intervene in the hope of disrupting our currency reform and inspiring the public to launch this trend of silver dollar runs. What's more serious is that some of our own businessmen will also participate. Therefore, I invite you to come this time. First, I hope you can take the lead in exchange for paper money, express your support for the government, and ease the people's emotions. In addition, I hope you can persuade other businessmen in Shanghai to not help the evil and stand on their own."

When he spoke the last two sentences, Li Songchen's tone became stern, and the hearts of several people also jumped a few times, knowing that this was a warning from the East China Government. In the past few days, the Shanghai Municipal Government has fined and suspended several foreign companies that took the lead in exchange for silver dollars, and punished them with various names. Everyone knows that this is a revenge of the East China Government. However, there has been no action against the local enterprises participating in exchange for silver dollars. However, this does not mean that the East China Government has forgotten or has no ability to retaliate. It is just that the face of the Chinese people is all about giving them another chance. If they don't seize this opportunity, it would be a sin.

In fact, local merchants participated in the exchange of silver dollars, Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Jian, Zhang Shuhe, Rong Zongjing, and other local merchants in Shanghai knew that many people had come to ask them for advice, but they all adopted vague words, vague positions, and even intentionally misleading practices, which caused many local merchants to make wrong judgments and participate in the exchange of silver dollars. Their purpose of doing this was to test the attitude of the East China Government so that they could stand on the right side and ensure their own interests. As for the other merchants as cannon fodder. Now the East China Government has already expressed their attitude, and several people also knew that it was time to show their position, so Sheng Xuanhuai immediately said: "Please rest assured, Mayor Li, we will do our best to help the government and overcome this difficulty."

Zhang Jian also said: "Actually, we have planned to exchange paper money for a long time. We have been raising silver dollars these days. We will exchange paper money for the morning of tomorrow, and we will immediately recruit merchants from Shanghai to mobilize them to support the government. Hui

Li Songchen nodded and said, "A few people in the business world of Shanghai are worthy. If you come forward, you will definitely be able to unite the business world in Shanghai and work together to overcome this difficulty." As he said, Li Songchen took out a piece of paper and said, "This is a list of local merchants who have participated in the exchange of silver dollars. You can do nothing about the past. Just look at their future performance. I hope they can do it themselves." Then he sent the list to everyone, and the list was recorded very clearly, with the name of the local merchants who exchanged silver dollars, the number of silver dollars, the time of exchange, the bank, etc.

When Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Jian and others heard this, they couldn't help but feel "bang" in their hearts. It turned out that all the things were recorded by the East China Government. Fortunately, they did not act rashly before, so that the cannon fodder would take the fruit first.

However, when Zhao Weizhong saw this list, his expression changed a little. In the talks just now, he and Zhang Zhenxun had a relatively relaxed mentality because although they both had business in Shanghai and the scale of their business was not small, Zhao Weizhong's foundation was in Tianjin and Qingdao, and Zhang Zhenxun's foundation was in Nanyang, and the matter in Shanghai had nothing to do with them.

Because of this, Zhao Weizhong, he was a local businessman supported by the East China Government and had a close relationship with the East China Government. His adopted son Zhao Ping is now a major officer of the People's Army Navy, a cruiser captain, and a young officer trained by the Navy. His daughter Zhao Shuilan also married a second-generation veteran as Zhao Weizhong expected. Although Zhao Shuilan was 25 years old when she got married, she was already an old girl, according to the habits of this era, the veteran did not care about Zhao Shuilan's age. Therefore, Zhao Shuilan has been married for a year and a half, and her life is very happy, and she gets along very harmoniously with her husband's family.

At the same time, Zhao Weizhong's business is getting bigger and bigger, spreading across Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Jinan, Beijing and other places, with a total assets of about 3.5 million silver dollars. He also served as the president of the Tianjin Federation of Industry and Commerce. In addition, the wife Han Yuping who continued to marry gave him a son, two concubines also gave birth to a son and a daughter for him. It can be said that Zhao Weizhong can now be regarded as a gain of fame and fortune, and he has no regrets in his life.

When he received a notice from the Shanghai Municipal Government this time, Zhao Weizhong was in Qingdao and immediately rushed to Shanghai with his wife Han Yuping. On the one hand, he was helping the Shanghai Municipal Government. Zhao Weizhong did not hesitate at all because he knew very well that his interests were completely tied to the East China Government. He prospered and suffered losses. If the East China Government crossed the line, he would definitely not be spared. On the contrary, as long as the East China Government is still there, even if he lost all his assets, he could make money back in the future. Moreover, the East China Government would not allow him to lose all his assets.

On the other hand, he came to Shanghai to discuss a new business. This was a relationship between Han Yuping's brother Han Yanping. The Han family was originally a prominent family of officials in Tianjin, but now the family is in decline and he has to marry his daughter to Zhao Weizhong, who they had no choice but to look down on before. Although before marrying Zhao Weizhong, Han Yuping was widowed, but he was a widow to Zhao Weizhong. With the Han family's past family background, it was of course a very embarrassing incident. However, the situation was stronger than others. The Han family could not restore the status of the prominent family of officials in the short term. Zhao Weizhong was a celebrity in the East China Government and could only rely on marriage to maintain the family's survival.
Chapter completed!