Chapter 160 Yan Bugui was scolded for being ignorant

As the news spread to Siheyuan,
Jiang Sheng, Chen Zhijie and several other neighbors who were still in Songhu in May and June recalled some bad things.

But the expressions of the two people were obviously different.
In contrast, Jiang Sheng had a look of gloating, as if he was waiting to see someone laugh at his misfortune.

Chen Zhijie, however, had a sad face, as if someone had borrowed rice from him and returned him chaff.

The two people's completely different performances naturally attracted the attention of the neighbors. Yan Bugui, who was particularly sensitive to money, asked with great concern,
"Old Chen, what's wrong with you?
Your wife is not like everyone else who exchanges all the family money for food and coal.

No matter how much those merchants rush to buy these things, no matter how much the prices in the market rise, it has nothing to do with us!"

Hearing Yan Bugui’s question.

He Daqing and the others all focused their attention on Chen Zhijie, wanting to see what had happened.

Chen Zhijie sighed quietly at this time and began to explain the reason.

"I'm not worried about how I'm going to live in the future.
Instead, I recalled the struggle between local merchants in Songhu and the Songhu Military Control Commission when Songhu was liberated a few months ago.
The situation back then was so similar to what it is now!"

When Chen Zhijie mentioned the situation in Songhu, He Daqing, Yan Bugui and others were all confused. They didn't know what the situation in Songhu had to do with Beiping.
But He Yuzhu knew what he said.

It was the Silver Dollar War that took place in June 1949 in Songhu, the largest city in the Far East.

I recalled that he had said that he could go to a teahouse to drink tea when he had nothing to do, and I also heard the poem that mocked the gold yuan coupons.

And now he is like this,

It was hard for He Yuzhu not to suspect that Chen Zhijie had suffered heavy losses in the Silver Dollar War and had to run back to Peiping.

So he asked with an interested smile,

"Uncle Chen, you didn't participate in the Silver Dollar War in June!

How much loss is there? "

Seeing that He Yuzhu actually knew about this, Chen Zhijie panicked, but he smiled calmly and explained,

"Zhu Zi, you really think too highly of Uncle Chen. With the little money I have, I wouldn't dare to get involved in such things.

I just feel that this time's incident is very similar to the last time,

Don't think too much about it.

I just think that if the State Council solves problems violently every time, it will lead to more and more people being disappointed. That’s all I mean.”

Did Chen Zhijie participate in the Silver Dollar War?

He Yuzhu didn't want to know at all, and he was too lazy to care.

But He Daqing, Yan Bugui and others nearby saw Chen Zhijie's performance and immediately knew that there must be something fishy going on.
So he turned around and asked He Yuzhu,
"Zhu Zi, tell us what this silver dollar war is all about. How come we don't know about it?"

"Actually you know, you just don't remember it!"

After they thought for a while, they still looked at him with doubts.

He Yuzhu could only continue to speak helplessly,

"Do you remember back in June when we were cleaning up the garbage in Beijing, one day the newspaper reported that many people had jumped off buildings in Songhu?"

As soon as He Yuzhu mentioned this, Yi Zhonghai immediately said with sudden enlightenment,

"Yes, yes, that's what happened.
At that time, no one could understand why our People's Liberation Army had such good discipline when it entered Songhu. They didn't even enter private homes and slept on the streets.

Why does Songhu look like it's been looted? So many people are jumping off buildings.
I couldn't figure it out no matter how hard I thought about it. But at that time we were busy cleaning up the city, and seeing Beijing getting better day by day, I didn't think much about it.

You mean,
Was this what Lao Chen said published in the newspaper at that time? "

After being reminded by Yi Zhonghai, He Daqing, Yan Bugui and the others all remembered this matter and immediately began to urge He Yuzhu.

"Zhu Zi, don't keep us in suspense. Tell us what's going on."

“It’s not a big deal, actually.
Just like in our Beijing, as soon as Songhu was liberated, the local military control committee began to exchange RMB and banned the circulation of gold, silver and foreign exchange, with banks accepting them for redemption.

But Songhu is different from our Beijing. It is the largest industrial and commercial city in the Far East.
Gathering numerous powerful businessmen,
Their strength is far beyond that of our businessmen in Peking.

They would not easily hand over gold, silver and foreign exchange.
Not only did they not actively exchange gold and silver,

They even threatened that the People's Liberation Army could enter Songhu, but the RMB could not.
They ignored the orders of the Songhu Military Control Commission and even used gold, silver and foreign exchange to collect and attack the RMB, directly confronting the Military Control Commission.

As a result, the gold price in Songhu increased by 6 times and the silver dollar price increased by 2.1 times in early June.
The overall market price increased by 2.7 times.

The Military Control Commission was forced to intervene, directly closing down local securities buildings and underground banks, and arresting more than 200 leaders who were disrupting financial order.
The losses on both sides were extremely heavy.”

After hearing He Yuzhu say that both sides suffered heavy losses, Yan Bugui couldn't help but ask curiously,

"That's not right, Pillar.

Since the Songhu Military Control Commission sealed off the Securities Building, they must have seized a considerable amount of gold, silver and foreign exchange.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many people jumping off buildings in Songhu during that period.

But since the Songhu Military Control Commission clearly confiscated so much gold, silver and foreign exchange, how can you say that they also suffered heavy losses? "

Seeing this guy who only cares about money, He Yuzhu couldn't help but roll his eyes.

But before he could open his mouth, he heard Chen Zhijie sigh.
"This is why you don't understand, Teacher Yan!

For Daxia now, food that can feed the people is the most important thing, while gold, silver and foreign exchange are secondary.

No matter how much gold, silver and foreign exchange the Songhu Military Control Commission seized, it was useless and could not be spent at all.

But because they violently intervened in the market,

This made the merchants there unconvinced, and in July they started buying up grain, cotton yarn and cotton cloth in large quantities, causing grain prices to rise again by 7 times, cotton yarn by 3 times, and cotton cloth by 3.8 times.

Two months after Songhu was liberated, prices rose more than nine times.

The local people had no confidence that the Songhu Military Control Commission could govern Songhu well.

What the military control commission loses is the people's trust and hope for the future.
Compared with this,

The little gold and silver seized was nothing at all.

I looked unhappy just now, and I was thinking the same thing.

If the State Council still uses violence to solve the problem this time, Daxia will be in chaos for a while."

Yan Bugui felt very angry when he saw that Chen Zhijie had directly defined the tone for him. This was simply like pointing at a monk and calling him a bald man, which was blatantly saying that he was ignorant.

But He Daqing and the others didn't care what Yan Bugui was feeling now.
After listening to Chen Zhijie's words, everyone suddenly understood.
"I was wondering why the prices of grain, cotton cloth, and coal have risen so fast recently.
It turns out that those speculative businessmen took advantage of the farmers selling grain during the autumn harvest and jumped out to oppose the Military Control Commission, right?
There is less supply on the market.

The price will go up.”

(End of this chapter)