The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 266: Monster
Subtitle of this chapter: Without a major earthquake, there would be no Godzilla?
Compared with his trip to China, Thomas Lamont's trip to Japan was always filled with a peaceful and joyful atmosphere.
In 1921, Japan was still in the era of "Taisho Democracy". At this time, liberalism dominated the political mainstream, militarism had not yet become popular, and the overall social atmosphere was quite friendly to Westerners.
Moreover, the vision of Japanese nobility and chaebols was much higher than that of Chinese warlords, and Lao La's arrival was welcomed by all walks of life.
Rich businessmen such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi vied with each other to meet him, and Lao La specially visited the general secretary of the Mitsui Group... the top leader - Takuma Dan (1858-1932).
In terms of the strength of both sides, although the Mitsui Group is also very powerful and controls one-third of Japan's foreign trade, it is nothing compared to Morgan.
But from the perspective of the history of capitalist development, Mitsui is even more "advanced" than Morgan.
The Morgan Group merely controlled the state... but due to the checks and balances of other groups and the political system of separation of powers, it could be said that it influenced the state. The Mitsui Group, on the other hand, was essentially the state.
In any case, the two big conglomerates had their first contact.
Lamont also met Junnosuke Inoue, then Governor of the Bank of Japan, and became good friends with him.
Inoue, known as a "little giant" of Japanese finance, would later serve three terms as Minister of Finance. In the 1930s, he was a vocal opponent of militarism, leading to his assassination in 1932 by members of the "Blood Alliance," a right-wing Japanese fund organization.
Lamont had a very pleasant time in Japan, but unfortunately, there was a huge obstacle between the Morgan Consortium and the Japanese government.
This obstacle was the famous Jacob Henry Schiff (1847-1920) and his Kuhn and Loeb Co.
If you don’t know this old guy Schiff, then don’t even think about saying you’ve read modern history.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Morgan Consortium had three giants: "Jupiter" JP Morgan, "Railroad King" James Hill, and "Wall Street Miracle" George Baker.
Those who can be compared with the "Morgan Big Three" are the "Four Heavenly Kings of Rockefeller", the "Oil Emperor" Rockefeller and his son, the "Hand of Citigroup" James Stillman, and another one is Schiff, who is known as the "Napoleon of Finance".
There were both confrontations . These seven big names were the driving force behind the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1911, and of course, the help of the Rothschild family was indispensable.
The friendship between the Schiff family and the Rothschild family can be traced back to 1785, when the elder Rothschild moved his family to a five-story house in Frankfurt and lived with the Schiff family for many years.
As German Jewish bankers, the two families have a century-long friendship.
Like the Rothschilds, the Schiffs have become the subject of conspiracy theories, with the most famous member being this "Napoleon."
This "Napoleon" avenged the original Napoleon and defeated Russia, not with platoon executions, cuirassiers, and Napoleonic guns, but with money.
During the Russo-Japanese War, he lent a large sum of money to the Japanese, and this money was used to seek revenge on behalf of the Jews against Tsar Nicholas II.
In 1903, a massacre of Jews took place in Kishinev, the capital of what would later become Moldova (a southeastern European country bordering Ukraine and Romania) (where Pushkin was once exiled).
With the tacit approval and even instigation of the Tsarist Russian government, local peasants raped, robbed, and massacred a large number of Jews, killing at least tens of thousands of Jewish civilians. This incident is known in history as the "Kishinev Massacre."
In fact, Nicholas II had been persecuting Jews since he came to the throne because he believed that Jews not only formed revolutionary organizations this year, but also instigated countless strikes against factories.
Schiff used money to drive the Japanese to avenge his compatriots, and also added a strong stroke to the legend of Freemasonry, becoming the big black hand manipulating history behind the scenes.
In short, because of this historical origin, although Schiff passed away last year, Kuhn Loeb & Co. still has a very close relationship with the Japanese government and was the largest government bond underwriter at the time.
Kuhn, Loeb & Co. was actually Standard Bank's financial agent, and was also known as "one of the two most important investment banks in the Western Hemisphere." The other was naturally Standard Bank.
Paul Warburg, the chief architect of the Federal Reserve, came from this company.
According to the unwritten rules of the American banking industry at the time, peers were not allowed to steal each other's customers.
Ironically, this is indeed an era of gentlemen. At least to their own people, these gentlemen are truly gentlemen.
Therefore, even if the Morgan Consortium is willing, they cannot skip the cooperation between Kuhn Loeb and Neon Gold for the time being.
But that’s okay, because…
"I believe that a turning point will come soon."
Our Master Yuan forced himself to look cheerful and said, "I am Chinese, but I am also an economist..."
"From an economist's perspective, I fully agree with Mr. Lamont's view that Japan is a better partner than my own country..."
You must cooperate well and feed the neon gold to become stronger, so that it can bleed your America !
"Of course, I think the opportunities in Europe are greater. As I said to Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, it is necessary for America to shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding the European economy. I am talking about Germany and Italy, and Austria ..."
Besides Japan, you have an even scarier monster to feed, one that could turn this timeline into The Man in the High Castle!
"Well, gentlemen...some of what I've said might mislead you into thinking I'm a communist, but after all, I'm an economist. Actually, I think the Soviet Union is a very good investment target right now. They started implementing the New Economic Policy in March, so this is definitely an opportunity!"
Lenin once said to everyone with confidence in a speech: "Davarishe, don't panic. When the situation is unfavorable to us, we just need to throw the rope to the capitalists, and they will put the rope around their necks themselves."
"Excellent, Vladimir," cried one Bolshevik. "But where are we going to get enough rope to hang all the capitalists?"
Lenin replied calmly: "Don't worry, they will sell it to us!"
Thomas Lamont asked, "Dr. Yuan, when will the turning point you mentioned happen?"
"Two years..." Our Master Yuan calculated in his mind, then said confidently: "Sir, two years, four months, and three days, and a turning point will appear!"
Two years, four months and three days later, on September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred.
In order to provide disaster relief, the Japanese government issued long-term bonds worth up to 150 million US dollars in the United States, which was the largest long-term national debt in U.S. history.
Due to the decline of the Rothschild family, Kuhn & Loeb & Co. was already on the decline and it was powerless to take over the entire company.
So Mr. Lamont played a trick and communicated with Inoue Junnosuke, asking the Japanese envoy to take the initiative to propose cooperation with the Morgan Consortium. He easily circumvented the unwritten agreement between the "gentlemen".
The Morgan Group then became the largest underwriter of this bond.
From then on, the relationship between the Morgan Consortium and Japan was unbreakable and indestructible.
