The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 312: Bold and Black-Hearted, Lending Him 10 Billion

Late at night, in a spacious reception room, the dim light enveloped everything in the room in a soft halo.

The mist produced by burning tobacco filled the air like a thin gauze curtain, making the atmosphere of the entire space even more tense.

Outside the window, the night was as dark as ink, with the occasional chirping of insects, as if adding a touch of unease to the tense atmosphere.

Zhang Chi lay relaxed on the sofa, his eyes slightly closed, as if thinking about something.

Next to him, the ashtray on the small table was already filled with cigarette butts, as if it was a witness to this long discussion.

Next to him, Chief Economic Secretary Bai Hongsheng was hunched over with half of his buttocks resting on the edge of the sofa, with a sad expression on his face and his eyes full of worry.

Bai Hongsheng took a few deep puffs of his cigarette, as if trying to relieve his inner anxiety.

He took off his glasses, wiped the lenses gently, and then said seriously:

"Since the late Qing Dynasty, foreign loans have been the central government's biggest reliance for survival."

"This tradition continued into the Republic of China. Without the White Eagle and John's funds as reserves, the value of the French currency would have long since plummeted to a point where it would have been worth less than the Weimar Mark." He paused, then continued, "If it had truly become the Weimar Mark, it could be said that the War of Resistance would have been a failure."

"Indeed."

Zhang Chi opened his eyes slightly and nodded.

He still agreed with Bai Hongsheng's statement.

Although the French franc is depreciating now, it is still not to the point where it costs 50 marks to buy a piece of bread, and the marks needed to buy a bag of coal are even heavier than the coal.

He extinguished his cigarette and asked directly, "So, Special Envoy Harold suggested that we continue with the loan. Do you think we should continue with the loan?"

"We have to borrow. We can even say we have to borrow." Bai Hongsheng nodded, a hint of helplessness in his tone. "Objectively speaking, although the first four-year plan is only halfway through, our industrial infrastructure construction has begun to show results, and we have a relatively good cash flow."

“However, these cash flows can only guarantee the operation of the current system. If you plan to issue new currency, we will have to borrow a large amount of money as reserves.”

Zhang Chi sighed, a bitter smile on his face:

"In the past, when Western capital lent us money, they usually attached conditions. They either required road construction rights or exploration rights. Or they required railroads as collateral or simply concessions. At the very least, they required customs duties, salt taxes, or mining taxes as collateral."

As he spoke, a trace of anger flashed in his eyes:

"They were all unequal treaties. Now, we Chinese have finally conquered a piece of land overseas, but we are about to follow the old path of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. How will everyone view me and us?"

And this is what Zhang Chi is currently struggling with.

Pegu has been fully liberated, and the An Min Army is heading straight for the Malay Peninsula and the Strait of Malacca.

According to Zhang Chi's plan, the An Min Army must capture Singapore and control the Strait of Malacca by the end of September at the latest.

As the territory has grown and it becomes an independent entity, it naturally can no longer use the White Eagle people's sword music as currency.

Issuing one's own currency is naturally imminent.

However, issuing currency requires reserves.

Currently, most major countries in the world are on the gold standard. However, for Zhang Chi, the dozens of tons of gold in his hands have a more important purpose - to keep them in the system to exchange for atomic bombs.

Without the atomic bomb as a stabilizer, even if the Anmin Army took over Singapore, it would most likely give it up again under the dual pressure of the White Eagle and the Russian Bear.

Since gold cannot be used, the next best thing is to learn legal tender and use knives and gold pounds as reserves.

However, the relationship between the Anmin Army and the John people was very tense, and they were just waiting to find a way to get a large amount of money from the White Eagle.

In fact, Zhang Chi had secretly calculated it himself.

If he added up his overt investment in White Eagle and the shares of various companies controlled by the synth Yegorov and sold them all, it would not be a problem to get a few hundred million dollars in exchange.

But the problem is that, including the oil field shares, those are all cash cows that can earn hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars in the future. From an investment perspective, this is a complete waste.

On the other hand, issuing new currency is the responsibility of everyone in the country, and there is no reason for Zhang Chi to be the only one to pay for it.

Bai Hongsheng also knew that the White Eagle political circles represented by Special Envoy Harold and the big capital behind them must have some other ideas.

After all, relying on loan assistance to control an entire country is basically the White Eagle's usual routine in the 20th and 21st centuries.

It’s just that now White Eagle is the one who takes action directly, and later in order to avoid being too greedy, it was replaced by the IMF.

"How about we give them some more economic benefits?" Bai Hongsheng spoke cautiously, speaking from a business perspective. "We can issue government bonds or negotiate commercial loans directly with banks. We can raise the interest rate a bit, maybe 3% if 2% isn't enough."

"For a minimum loan term of 20 years, you only pay interest in the first 10 years, and repay the principal and interest in the next 10 years?" Zhang Chi interrupted, his mind flashing with the future White Eagle's method of borrowing new money to repay old debts and ascending to heaven with one foot stepping on the right.

"Yes, that's right. We can also sign an additional memorandum to allow the use of agricultural products, oil, minerals, and mechanical products to repay debts, and the price will be calculated at 90% of the market price." Bai Hongsheng continued to add.

Zhang Chi thought to himself: With the support of the system, as long as he develops the two key industries of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, he can not only quickly recover funds to repay debts, but also directly cut off the vitality of South Korea and the Japanese.

The rapid development of these two companies during the Cold War was largely due to the fact that they took advantage of the boom in semiconductor processing. Samsung, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and other companies all did the same, starting with white goods and then moving into semiconductor manufacturing.

"If you negotiate with such a big discount, how confident are you that you can get it?" Zhang Chi looked at Bai Hongsheng, staring into his eyes carefully and asked.

"3 million is not a problem. We can issue some national debt and borrow some from small and medium-sized banks in the United States." Bai Hongsheng replied.

"Our reputation has always been good, and the Anmin Army's combat effectiveness is evident to all. Large banks are controlled by financial groups and may require additional conditions. Smaller banks generally only care about interest."

"Okay!" Zhang Chi slapped his thigh and pulled Bai Hongsheng up from the sofa.

"My bottom line is 4%, no, 4.5% interest rate." Zhang Chi held Bai Hongsheng's arms and said word by word, "I don't care about all the dirty and gray income in the middle. I have only one request: loan me at least 5 million US dollars as a reserve for issuing currency."

"5 billion?"

Bai Hongsheng was really shocked by Zhang Chi's appetite.

For a 20-year loan at a 4% interest rate, the interest is almost half of the principal, but Zhang Chi decided to take it directly.

Zhang Chi feels that when doing big things, one cannot look ahead or behind.

Moreover, from the end of the war in 45 to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 71, the exchange rate for 1 ounce of gold was always 35 dollars.

However, as the economies of Europe, South Korea and Japan have recovered and taken off one after another, these countries have been using their gold reserves to exchange for gold from the White Eagle, undermining the Bretton Woods system.

In addition, Dao Le has been secretly overissuing, so Dao Le is actually depreciating in an implicit way.

Zhang Chi requested to extend the loan term to 20 years. On the surface, he paid more interest, but in reality, he could still pay less due to the decrease in Dao Le's actual purchasing power.

Moreover, he and Baiying had no special feelings for each other. If Baiying dared to deliberately downgrade his first-grade tropical fruits to third-grade ones when paying off his debts, Zhang Chi would really dare to blockade the Strait of Malacca and conduct exercises.

(The specific financial knowledge is a bit complicated, but in short, if the male protagonist uses industrial products and agricultural products to repay debts, as long as he can control the pricing power, he will not lose money.)

"If you have the ability, lend him 10 billion. Tell the Yang family that if they can lend him 10 billion, Pegu will be willing to place a 5 million dollar order in White Eagle. The extra 5 million will be used to purchase various equipment and products in the White Eagle market."

The metallurgical industry in heavy industry includes more than just steel mills. A series of industries such as electrolytic aluminum and copper smelting are industries that require large investments and slow returns.

Zhang Chi knew that unless he forced them with a gun, none of the wealthy businessmen in Nanyang would be willing to invest money here. They were all eyeing the light industry that could return funds faster.

The additional 5 million requested was what Zhang Chi prepared for these heavy industries.

He knew very well that only by investing the power of the state could heavy industry be developed.

Bai Hongsheng nodded solemnly: "I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Bai Hongsheng knew very well that such a huge contract would generate a huge amount of "oil and water".

Zhang Chi's words "I don't care" not only show his deep trust in him, but also imply that all the benefits can belong to Bai Hongsheng himself.

But this is also a huge test for him. If he only brings back 3-5 million in loans in the end, it is obvious that his career as chief economic secretary is over.