Chapter 80: Unforeseen Changes

Liu Yu’s calm demeanor really angered Liu Yongfu: “If our warehouse collapses, no one can bear such pressure, and it will be difficult for Black Flag Bank as well.”
If a speculative firm like Liu’s Warehouse, which handled external currency exchanges, failed, Black Flag Bank’s reputation would also suffer. So Liu Yongfu gritted his teeth and said, “Withdraw some of the silver I’ve pledged with you. Xuan Guang can be left in Ye Chenglin’s care.”
This was exactly what Liu Yu had been waiting for. Smiling, he said, “There’s no need to use collateral. This is a minor matter between businesses. Just have Black Flag Bank step in and lend some funds to the warehouse.”
Liu Yongfu was slightly surprised. In his mind, Black Flag Bank always used Black Flag Banknotes as the settlement unit for loans. Since there was no shortage of them now, he realized after further thought, “What to borrow? Gold or silver?”
Of course, it was francs. Liu Yu said, “The Baosheng branch currently has 200,000 francs in cash—everything will be lent to you.”
Any short-term loan was considered usury, but Liu Yongfu didn’t care about that. “Okay!”

Liu’s Warehouse
As the saying goes, overcrowding can lead to disaster. Now, crowds kept arriving one after another. The queue stretched from inside Liu’s Warehouse to six or seven meters outside the door. It took over an hour just to exchange money for hard currency there.
Not to mention that the clerks kept finding faults, slowing down the exchange process.
The old shopkeeper was like an ant on a hot pan, too afraid to change the prices listed on the board at the entrance. Any change would trigger a disaster.
Any minor disturbance could cause his warehouse to go bankrupt, but he had to keep going anyway.
The silver in the warehouse was almost gone. He couldn’t understand how these people could be so insistent. They were already using gold and francs to cope with the demands. Yet more people kept coming—almost everyone from Baosheng had gathered there. Only the soldiers of Black Flag Army lacked the courage, but that was already terrifying enough.
All four counters were crowded, and the clerks were struggling to handle the demands. Fortunately, those in line were mostly small customers, asking for amounts ranging from three or four Black Flag Banknotes to fifty or sixty. If a large customer asked for a hundred, they might not be able to handle it.
The old shopkeeper tried to stay calm, fearing any accidents, hoping Liu Yongfu would send some funds soon.
Just as he felt desperate, the voice at the counter changed: “Miss, you want to exchange 5,000?”
“That’s right! 5,000.” Bing Mei was absolutely stunning, with extraordinary breasts and tall stature, putting immense pressure on the clerk: “Can’t you exchange it?”
Bankruptcy was imminent. The old shopkeeper raised his eyebrows and quickly stood up to address her: “Miss, please speak over there!”
“I want to exchange the money now!” Bing Mei wouldn’t back down. She tapped her suitcase: “These 5,000 are banknotes issued by Black Flag Bank.”

Now, the Liu Family’s store was in a difficult situation—they had exchanged all their hard currency for tens of thousands of Black Flag notes. So the old shopkeeper said with a smile, “This amount is large; I need to check each note one by one to avoid mistakes. Counting five thousand notes will take a lot of time—otherwise, it will delay those behind.” He pointed to the left and said, “You are a first-class VIP customer, different from the others. Come to this counter, and I’ll settle it personally for you to save others’ time.” The people in line, hearing that Bing Mei had a full five thousand yuan in Black Flag notes, immediately backed down. By the time she exchanged them, it would likely be dark. Hearing the old shopkeeper’s words, they all praised, “The old shopkeeper is absolutely right!” “You’re an important person; there’s no need to be as fussy as us ordinary folks.” “Great!” Bing Mei, accompanied by four bodyguards, acted like a noblewoman and stepped forward two steps, saying, “This is half of our family’s wealth. Old shopkeeper, you must calculate it carefully for me.” “No problem!” The exchange continued, with the old shopkeeper slowly and carefully checking each note, being extremely thorough in case any issue arose. Bing Mei, however, kept urging impatiently, “Shopkeeper, are you done yet? Are you done?” She was a very domineering woman, and under her pressure, the old shopkeeper could only force a smile and say, “With such a large amount, I have to be responsible both for my boss and for you.” Bing Mei sneered, “Responsible for me? If you can’t exchange it, just be honest.” The old shopkeeper, who had seen many storms, replied, “This is a store run by General Liu Yongfu—who says we can’t exchange money?” He sneered back, “You need proof for what you say.” Without waiting for the next two exchanges of five thousand yuan each, Bing Mei confrontated the old shopkeeper directly, “Then tell me why you’re so slow. I think your warehouse is completely empty.” The argument between the old man and the young woman drew everyone’s attention. Bing Mei, convinced of her right, insisted, “Open the warehouse and show us how much gold and silver we still have!” The old shopkeeper, who was always meticulous, replied, “This is our private matter; outsiders are not allowed in!” Bing Mei immediately turned hostile, “I suspect you can’t even exchange my five thousand Black Flag notes.” “How could that be!” “Then show me the silver!” Just then, a clever young clerk rushed over, pulled the old shopkeeper aside, and whispered something in his ear. The old shopkeeper immediately turned back and said, “Alright! Let you see the strength of the Liu family.” He shouted loudly, “Our Liu Family store is owned by Commander Liu Yongfu—it’s the most powerful business around. Now let you see—no matter if there’s an exchange of this scale or ten times more, the Liu family isn’t afraid.” His tone was bold, but everyone was skeptical. Meanwhile, the old shopkeeper shouted, “Bring out the capital stored in our warehouse for everyone to see!” Hearing this, everyone widened their eyes, full of anticipation. Two boxes were then carried over.

No one knew what was used as collateral—gold or jewelry? In Tonkin, these two were the most valuable. Two large chests should be enough to cover a run on the bank, but they seemed too small and not heavy enough.

Shopkeeper Liu immediately opened one of the chests, and everyone let out a gasp. Even many of the older people at the counters had never seen such a thing, let alone small merchants who were used to handling banknotes worth just a few yuan or dozen yuan.

There were so many banknotes. Shopkeeper Liu picked up a stack, and everyone could see clearly—they were francs, gold franc banknotes.

“That’s why we dare to do this business—thanks to this collateral!” The old shopkeeper showed everyone the stack of banknotes. “This isn’t something to deceive people with; these are genuine gold francs.”

Due to the French influence, gold francs had excellent credibility in Tonkin, even surpassing silver, which was hard to exchange, and only slightly less valuable than Spanish dollars. Now, Shopkeeper Liu had brought out two full chests of gold francs.

He picked up two more stacks and quickly counted them. This time, everyone saw clearly—it was to prove that these weren’t fake but genuine gold francs.

“This is our collateral!”

Not to mention them, even Bing Mei had never seen such gold franc banknotes in her life. In the Vietnamese Catholic Church, fewer than ten people had seen so many franc banknotes. Now, Shopkeeper Liu said proudly, “Miss, we’ll exchange these gold francs for yours.”

“Could they be fake?” Bing Mei still held out a glimmer of hope. “I want to check them.”

But her hope was quickly shattered—the gold francs were genuine, definitely not fake.

Five thousand Black Flag banknotes yielded a considerable amount of gold francs, but the exchange rate was quite unfavorable. Since gold francs were already a rare currency, most people in Tonkin kept them in their private rooms as treasures, like gold. They weren’t widely circulated, so Liu’s store usually offered a 10% higher exchange rate for gold francs, and now it was even 15% higher than usual.

Still, she gritted her teeth and exchanged the gold francs. Meanwhile, the old shopkeeper at Liu’s store was shouting loudly, “Those who want gold francs, hurry! This chance won’t come again! Only today!”

Everyone was still anxious. Who knew how long those two chests of gold francs would last? The Black Flag banknotes might lose value at any moment, and the exchange rate was indeed unfair.

The crowd thinned out. Some decided to wait and see, while others exchanged the genuine gold francs and left.

Liu’s store was indeed powerful. They had prepared countless gold francs worth five and twenty yuan today. If it weren’t for this run on the bank, people might have thought their strength was limited.

But Shopkeeper Liu remained calm. Now he had confidence. With these 120,000 gold franc banknotes, he could handle today’s run on the bank.

Bing Mei, carrying a revolver and surrounded by bodyguards, returned to the inn. As soon as she saw Qiao Erchi bowing and scraping his feet, she said immediately, “This time, go and exchange five thousand Black Flag banknotes.”

Now that she had already shown up, she couldn’t use that face anymore. Now, Qiao Erchi had to take risks and go to the Liu family’s warehouse once more. She estimated that the gold francs in the Liu family’s warehouse were worth around a hundred thousand, which seemed a lot but was actually only about twenty thousand taels of silver. It wasn’t much, but with extra effort, it was still possible to succeed. After all, the Liu family’s warehouse had already used up all its remaining funds, while they still had plenty of resources. Although the run on the bank had diminished in scale, many timid people were still exchanging Black Flag banknotes for gold francs, though the exchange rate was now extremely unfavorable. Even though it was a huge loss, they still had to bring down the Black Flag Bank. Bing Mei was determined; she urged, “You must go and collect the money.” Qiao Erchi had already shown up once before, exchanging a full five hundred Black Flag banknotes at the Liu family’s warehouse, triggering a stir. Showing up again, this time to exchange five thousand, would likely put his life at risk. But he could only force himself to say, “I’m going right now!” Bing Mei gripped her revolvers, thinking about how to proceed, but had few options. Soon, someone reported, “There are more people in the run.” It turned out that those who had withdrawn cash from the bank had joined the crowd. Bing Mei felt that with more resources, she still had a chance to accomplish her mission: “Good! We still have two batches of five thousand Black Flag banknotes—enough…” Just then, cries came from the room—Qiao Erchi’s voice. Bing Mei rushed over with her revolvers: “What happened?” Nothing seemed to have happened inside the room, but Qiao Erchi looked as devastated as if his mother had died. Bing Mei pointed the gun at him, with a bullet already loaded: “What’s the matter?” Qiao Erchi’s face was pale. He said, “Sister Su Sui is missing! The ten thousand Black Flag banknotes she had are gone too.” Only then did Bing Mei realize that Sister Su Sui, who had spoken in such a gentle voice, was missing. She wasn’t in the room anymore, and her two suitcases containing ten thousand Black Flag banknotes were also gone. Upon closer inspection, they found a hidden door in the room that hadn’t been noticed before—now forced open. After questioning the guards, they learned that since Bing Mei left, Sister Su Sui had locked herself in the room and refused to see anyone. Bing Mei knew Qiao Erchi couldn’t be lying. The guards were mostly Catholics and had nothing to do with Qiao Erchi—Sister Su Sui had indeed stolen the money and run away. She had even taken her change, taking a total of eleven thousand Black Flag banknotes with her. This was the loyal nun that Catholicism had nurtured for twenty years! What a cruel betrayal! Bing Mei’s expression became even more bitter. Qiao Erchi, eager to help, declared, “I’ll go catch her! It’s ten thousand Black Flag banknotes!” Among them, only Qiao Erchi knew the area best, so Bing Mei could only nod. But after waiting an hour, Qiao Erchi never returned—not even a trace of him. He had run away too! The two of them had colluded! Bing Mei reached this conclusion with bitter hatred. In reality, she had wronged Qiao Erchi. As soon as he saw Sister Su Sui flee with the money, he knew something serious was wrong—this was after all Liu Yongfu’s and the Black Flag Army’s stronghold.

Bing Mei and her group have too big ambitions; staying here is tantamount to seeking death. When disaster strikes, everyone scatters—only then can one see true ability! Qiao Erchi has great confidence in his own skills for escaping.

At the Liu family’s warehouse, the old owner loved to find gullible victims for exploitation, but now there were none left. The Black Flag Bank had assured him of an ample supply of gold francs; he could even get an additional 300,000 gold francs if needed. Today’s exchange rate was particularly favorable, and with so many “fat pigs” coming to him willingly, he was in high spirits.

However, after the initial panic, everyone realized they were actually helping the Liu family’s warehouse by providing money, so they stopped. Even so, the warehouse still managed to exchange nearly 80,000 gold francs. He hoped for more instances like that one, when someone exchanged 5,000 Black Flag notes at once—such a transaction brought in almost half a month’s worth of profit for the warehouse.

Now, the warehouse was piled high with Black Flag notes and gold francs. After deducting some costs related to turnover, it could still earn at least 20,000 gold francs—this was even considering today’s sharp drop in the value of Black Flag notes.

Liu Yongfu and Liu Yu had already made arrangements: the value of Black Flag notes would return to normal. Since Black Flag notes were now in short supply in the market, the Black Flag Bank would tighten credit in the short term and urge repayments to boost their value.

In five days, it would be time for the opium dealers to repay their loans, and the Black Flag Bank would delay the next round of loans by a week. That would cause the value of Black Flag notes to soar. It would be the perfect time to reap profits, and the Liu family’s warehouse would likely earn tens of thousands more in gold francs.

He didn’t realize he was just a worker for the Black Flag Bank. Just the gold francs allocated to him had already generated substantial profits for the bank, not to mention the origin of those gold francs.

And now was the season for the Black Flag Bank to reap rewards. After this wave of panic, many businesses with potential found themselves short of Black Flag notes for operations and faced the risk of closing down. In the past, they could only borrow at high interest rates or from the Liu family’s warehouse under even worse terms. But now, the credit officers of the Black Flag Bank were already planning the days of harvest.

They had plenty of Black Flag notes. The Baosheng branch now had a credit quota of 150,000 yuan. The credit department was already considering how to buy out the entire city of Baosheng. They would use every legal means of exploitation to maximize profits for this monopolistic bank. They smiled triumphantly.

Su Sui’s smile was equally beautiful. It was gentle, but extremely beautiful. She carried two boxes filled with 11,000 Black Flag notes, which, when exchanged for gold francs, amounted to over 35,000 gold francs.

Spending a lifetime as a nun in a convent meant suffering, and it was estimated that one could save only about 1,000 gold francs—already a considerable amount. She had seen many sisters abandoned by priests, left with not even 500 francs.

35,000 gold francs, or more than 5,000 taels of silver, would allow her to live a comfortable life for the rest of her days. The only loss would be losing her status as a nun and being unable to appear in church areas again.

But the Gold Franc seemed more practical; he had no attachment to the church—it was a dark world. She guessed she would stay in Baosheng for a while longer, as the value of Black Flag coins was too low to sell at the moment. She clutched tightly to her suitcase, which represented the happiness of her remaining years. Yet she still felt uneasy—after all, Qiao Erchi and Bing Mei had brought quite a few gunmen with them. She had to ensure her own safety. She thought of a sect that would unsettle Catholics, of a highly formidable woman. It was said that she was also preaching in Baosheng now, and during several encounters in Hanoi, she had privately shown intentions to win them over, which was a good sign. Su Sui made up her mind in just one minute. She set down her suitcase, passed by the church of the Flower Sect, and said softly to the female leader, “Madam, I have some good news for you, but it will cost one hundred Black Flag coins.”