Volume 2: The Rise of Shanghai Chapter 14: Buying Stocks

  The next day after receiving the check, Xu Shaowen immediately went to Citibank and deposited all $99 million in his own name. Although Citibank knew that several people in Shanghai had made a fortune by speculating on military supplies and had developed resentment, they did not know that Xu Shaowen was involved, so bank manager Brown personally came out to warmly receive this huge customer.

  Citibank, although currently one of the largest banks in the United States, did not become the first American bank to have a billion dollars in assets until 1919. For this nearly $100 million deposit, it was absolutely astronomical, and even if this major customer proposed to the US government to acquire one-tenth of Citibank's shares and become one of its shareholders, it would be absolutely qualified.

  Moreover, the circulating funds of Citibank's Shanghai branch were not as much as $9 million. The two checks brought by Xu Shaowen were deposit receipts from the US headquarters, and the cash was also stored in the US headquarters. If Xu Shaowen chose to withdraw the money now, it would take several months to assemble the funds from various branches and even the headquarters. This is not a small project, transporting dollar cash requires a lot of manpower and resources.

  In the VIP room of Citibank's Shanghai branch, Manager Brown personally made a cup of coffee for Xu Shaowen.

  "Mr. Xu, with $9.99 billion in China, that's enough to be called rich and powerful." Brown said with his awkward Chinese.

  In the early years of the Republic, the government could be considered poor, and most of the funds were actually controlled by local power figures. The establishment of the Beiyang government was also because it could represent the interests of some power figures, so it got their support. As for how many assets these power figures had, no one can say clearly, but the total assets exceeding $100 million are probably rare.

  "Mr. Brown, actually English is fine too, I can understand it." Xu Shao-wen's English lessons in the 21st century were not bad, and his oral skills could barely keep up with foreigners, so he directly conversed with Brown in English.

  "That's really great, Mr. Xu is a rare Chinese rich young man." Brown smiled and switched from awkward Mandarin to English, saying, "Actually, has Mr. Xu ever considered that putting over $90 million in the bank is useless? Although it earns more than $1 million in interest every year, for you, it's definitely small change. Why not take it out and invest it instead?"

  Xu Shaowen knew that banks liked to encourage users to take out money to do some so-called value-added financial business, but he came here today to talk to Brown for this purpose. He calculated the time, now is the end of September, the turmoil in the US stock market is almost at its worst, of course, it's also about to end, if you buy US stocks at a low price at this time, after two months, that will definitely be a stable profit several times over.

  "Mr. Brown is right, tens of millions are indeed not worth mentioning to me," said Xu Shaowen with a nonchalant expression, speaking very lightly. However, everyone knows that at this time in the Republic of China, tens of millions of dollars would be enough to pay the salaries of an entire division for ten years. "I've been very interested in stocks lately, especially American stocks."

  "Stocks in the US?" Brown was taken aback, knowing that his country's stock market was currently volatile and precarious. Why would this Chinese person be interested in American stocks?

  "I want Mr. Brown to help me purchase $20 million worth of American Railway shares, then help me buy $20 million worth of Remington Industrial Company shares, and finally I also need to buy $10 million worth of American Express Company stock." Xu Shaowen said several stocks he had studied earlier.

  Xu Shaowen understood history, as the 1914 economic crisis had a significant impact on American railroads. In the same year, Remington Industrial Company sold large quantities of military orders to Europe but was unable to collect payments from European countries in a short period, severely affecting its liquidity. As for American Express, although it was still an emerging financial services company at that time, the risk of loan recovery was also significant due to World War I.

  However, Xu Shaowen from the 21st century also knew that these three companies with a hundred years of history had always been supported by the government and banks in their future development. Now buying their stocks will definitely make a big profit in a few months.

  "A five-hundred-million-dollar stock...?" Brown almost dropped his jaw, he really didn't know what kind of person Xu Shaowen was, treating several hundred million dollars like pocket money and casually throwing it into the depressed stock market. "Mr. Xu, American stocks at this time... actually I can also introduce some other investment channels..."

  Without waiting for Brown to speak, Xu Shaowen smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Brown, you can directly buy stocks according to my intention, I will give you $10,000 as a commission, even if these stocks depreciate, I don't care."

  As soon as Brown heard about the commission, he smiled even more brightly, and it was $10,000, which was his salary for several years. Since the other party insisted on doing so, what could he say? He immediately responded, saying: "No problem, no problem, I will definitely do a good job for Mr. Xu."

  "Also, I hope you can help me raise $29 million in cash to Shanghai within a week, which I will use at any time. Of course, if there is not so much cash, the same amount of gold and silver, francs, yen, yuan, etc. are also acceptable."

  "A week? This..."

  Xu Shaowen didn't give Brown any chance, and said straightforwardly: "If you can get it done within a week, I'll give you another $10,000 commission."

  "No problem, I'll take care of it." Brown replied without hesitation. In 1914, $20,000 was enough to buy a villa in the prosperous downtown area of New York City. Even at major banks in the United States, daily cash flow was only around $30,000 to $40,000.

  After leaving Citibank, Xu Shaowen returned to Li's villa. Today was supposed to be his day on duty at the military police camp, but he had already asked for leave from Hao Jiguang yesterday afternoon. For the past two months, his mind has not been on official duties at the military police camp, and he has been worried about the problem of smuggling arms. Fortunately, he got to know Huang Jinrong, and the military police camp's business trips in the French Concession were easily solved.

  Xu Shaowen's reputation had also spread quietly, and both the white and black societies knew that he had a deep relationship with many big bosses. Usually, as long as he appeared, even if the two gangs in the concession were fighting fiercely, they would immediately stop. The prestige of the Third Battalion of the Military Police had also been quietly enhanced.

  －－－

  I've been framed, everyone! I'm innocent. This week has been a real mess for me.

  Army University Regular Class Group: 94327530