Chapter Eleven Here is Wall Street

  "When you're used to the grandeur and luxury, when you're accustomed to the vibrant scene of music and dance, when you're familiar with the dazzling lights and bustling atmosphere, you need a tranquil oasis to soothe your weary mind, a peaceful haven to comfort your tired soul. You need a serene and cozy home environment, you need a happy life. Life should be like this!"

  "The outdated and rigid design concept has never been whispered, occupying the world's blurred vision. The carefully crafted villa group, bidding farewell to the classical luxury villa's ostentation and rigidity, wiping away all pretentiousness and showiness, kneading pure simplicity, simple solemnity, artistic elegance, New York No. 10 Villa Group, Asia Mei Group's Faraway Architecture's another masterpiece, looking forward to your inquiry."

  At dusk, the red sun is shining its afterglow on the earth, and the golden sunset glow gently sprinkles on the way home. A Huayi car quietly passes by on the cement road, and the window occasionally reflects the slanting sunlight in the tree shade, flashing brightly.

  As the car moves forward, a gentle breeze with a warm and humid air slowly seeps into the heart. The wealthy people who have been busy outside all day quickly calm down in the cool breeze. The rustling sound comes from the friction between the wheels and the gravel road. When this sound reaches the private garden, the cheerful laughter of children reminds - home, has arrived.

  A villa with a simple exterior is surrounded by a fence full of tender green vines. The morning rain seems to still be hanging on the branches, and there are also some water droplets left on the lawn. The tranquility of the surroundings and the happiness inside the house complement each other. After tidying up the fatigue of the day, taking a comfortable hot bath, when you stand on your own balcony, holding a cup of fragrant coffee to gaze at the surrounding scenery, the hustle and bustle of life is not as good as this moment's tranquility.

  The river in front of the villa is lined with lush green grass, and occasionally a flock of birds flies by. My thoughts follow their flight, leaving the winding river and rushing towards the majestic deep lake. On a small island in the lake, someone is gathering today, and bursts of laughter drift through the air. Elegant people should be there, socializing and enjoying themselves. After luxury, it's the simplicity and leisure that one should experience with family amidst mountains and water, savoring the serenity of nature.

  Who created all this? Who can create a deep lake and artificial rivers on the barren land, making it possible to live by the river, making villas have a beautiful scenery, making high-rise buildings stand tall, making apartments the best resting place... It is excellent engineering drawings, it is a group of united and cooperative construction workers, it is sweat flying again and again, it is cooperation with all one's might - Ya Mei Group Hongyuan Real Estate, the road to success has always been with you.

  Hongyuan Real Estate is just an important company under the AM Group. The company has become a top-level construction enterprise in New York, and has developed a beautiful landscape in the development and construction of commodity residential houses, high-end villas, commodity office buildings, and factory buildings. If we say that eating, dressing, living, and traveling are essential to life, then AM Fashion is for "dressing", Hongyuan Real Estate is for "living", and AM Automobile is for "traveling". Except for not solving the problem of "eating" for the wealthy, AM has reached the extreme.

  On May 19, 1910, the first automobile direct sales store of former Asia America Group was officially opened in New York, creating an immortal myth that the price of the first Beetle was as high as $1058. Since then, three sedans, namely the Beetle suitable for car lovers with limited economic power, the elegant and luxurious yet dignified Phaeton, and the majestic and elegant Passat, have been popular for over a decade.

  After the passenger cars, buses, luxury buses and other types of vehicles were launched in the market, together with the freight trucks from the former Asia America Group, they formed an unparalleled automobile empire. Although the car models such as buses, sedans, and trains have not changed much over the years, their interior decorations, electrical configurations, safety protections, and workmanship have been continuously improving. Just like how some people fell in love with Huari because it was equipped with air conditioning, later on, car stereos, cassette players, and other features emerged, presenting the world with a perfect in-car system in the early 20th century, making travel by car comfortable and simple.

  "Adhering to the innovative technology concept, we wholeheartedly create a perfect car for you!" When the unmodified former Asia Motors Group's automobile brand slogan still echoes in our ears, the Asia Motors Empire began to be dismantled from within. This was not because the US Federal Court had taken notice of this super-trust, with General Motors and Ford only able to look up to it, but rather because the true mastermind behind the group decided that splitting up Asia Motors would be the best choice for the better development of the automobile industry, which also happened to meet the needs of some people in the US.

  "The heart moves with the intention, and movement and quietness are combined!" The former American Motors Empire has been inherited by today's four major American Automobile Group Companies. The only connection between these four companies is that they share the same automobile brand, "American" - always pursuing the road of beauty tirelessly from beginning to end, never stopping.

  The current AsiaMe Group only has three industries: clothing, cars and construction. Except for the Hongyuan Construction Company, the main production bases of clothing and automobiles are in China. The largest auto parts and whole vehicle assembly is in San Francisco and New York, USA. Its largest product marketing place is in England and France, and its largest development direction is in Germany.

  The bus business was turned over to the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company, the engineering vehicles and special transportation were given to the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, and the heavy-duty trucks were handed over to the Yellow Truck and Coach. She herself had reached the pinnacle of corporate development, because on August 15, 1927, after eighteen years of growth, it reached a remarkable day when it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as a whole. The company's subsidiaries, including Yellow Cab Manufacturing Corporation, Hertz Drive-Ur-Self Corporation, and others, were all sources of huge profits. In order to further develop the company itself, integrate more market-free funds to enrich its development capital, and also bring certain returns to the market, it chose to go public.

  The Far Eastern Building itself was just an internal construction company of the pre-Asian American Group. When the automobile manufacturing rose, the company undertook all the building construction projects within the group, not only saving a large amount of funds for the group but also tempering itself in various types of engineering. Finally, on December 25, 1918, it officially entered the real estate development industry and slowly moved towards success.

  A long and distant history of struggle, dissolved into a majestic and magnificent longevity; A profound and meaningful story of ease, faintly dissolving in the mellow aroma of coffee. Ascend to great heights and you will see far, you need to grasp the height. After experiencing the splendor of life, only the grand new skyscraper is left.

  The island of Manhattan between the Hudson River and the East River is a new paradise for the world's financial community, with countless large companies setting up their headquarters here, including DuPont Chemicals, Mobil Oil, United Steel, JP Morgan, American Group, etc. Especially Broadway Street extending to the East River has a loud name - "Wall Street". The narrow streets and towering skyscrapers on both sides form a contrast, with people in the high-rise buildings looking down at the tiny pedestrians, bonds, stocks, futures, gold, and other high-value commodities that can be bought and sold are not lacking here.

  Skyscrapers stand tall, cars and horses flow endlessly, the world economic center shifted from London to New York, the most intuitive manifestation of prosperity is the increase in suit-and-tie-clad investors on the streets. Their greedy desires and hefty prices make them infatuated with the unpredictable changes of Wall Street finance. Newspapers and coffee are their imaginary companions as they wait for or seize opportunities, needing only to grasp speculative chances, buying low and selling high, spreading rumors is what they love to do, the sole purpose being to manipulate the securities market, earning enough speculative profits to reach the pinnacle of their desires.

  The capitalist world is not lacking in speculative financial heroes, the strong economic recovery is like the thick smoke coming out of the tall chimneys of factories in industrial areas, while damaging the overall environment, it can bring rich income to a small number of people. After the implementation of the Dawes Plan, tens of billions of German bonds quickly disappeared into various economic hands, human greed has long been the prosperity of bonds, and the stable and thick annual profits of the Asia-America Group stocks are even more obscure compared to German national debt.

  No one was willing to believe that in the face of a plan drawn up by several major powers, Germany would not pay its debts and would certainly compensate for war damages. Buying those bonds was the best speculative means, including the Amalgamated Copper group, which purchased nearly $200 million worth of bonds at the time of issue to enrich the group's fixed assets. Gold is an absolutely valuable hard currency, but the rate and amount of appreciation cannot satisfy the appetite of speculators. Many people stored those bonds as hard currency, hoping that one day these bonds would rise higher.

  "Buy low and sell high, this is the most basic common sense of speculation. But we are not doing bonds, nor is it necessary to exchange bonds for gold that preserves value, or even stocks of some major companies can be used, but long-term holding of German bonds cannot..."

  Tang Guiyin, the chairman of AsiaMe Group, is a true veteran of the group. From an unknown small enterprise to today's listed large group, from relying on borrowing money to controlling around 10% of the shares of several groups, from a "private" enterprise to multi-party control, AsiaMe Group's stock has been purchased by wealthy trusts, government officials, and ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, AsiaMe Group itself also controls stocks of many other group companies. This is an exchange and a promise left behind when Zhang Yuansheng first came to the United States.

  However, just as the group was about to establish a specialized financial market investment department and prepare to invest some funds in the financial market to make more profits for the group, a directive telegram arrived from the domestic authorities, requiring that buying and selling bonds should not be overly optimistic, everything must be done with moderation and restraint, and when a certain amount of profit is made, it is necessary to stop in time. Often, investment failures are due to having too much ambition, making 20% profit but still wanting 30% or more, asking where there are so many good opportunities in the world.

  After the implementation of the Dawes Plan, due to the special relationship between the Asia-American Group and many American trust companies, Germany needs to prepare sufficient funds for the issuance of new currency. Morgan is the main intermediary for issuing bonds to raise sufficient funds from global finance. The Federal Reserve cannot absorb tens of billions of dollars in bonds, and the plan has just been implemented with low bond credit. It must make the bond have good credit, so that individual investors know that buying and selling it will definitely make a lot of money.

  So a dozen or so trust companies joined together to take on a large portion of the bonds, and then began to use the power of Wall Street, the greatness of the New York Stock Exchange, to slowly raise the price of the bonds. The financial sectors of countries such as France, Britain, Australia, and Canada gradually absorbed a significant number of bonds, and the international financial market gradually accepted and recognized the value of these bonds, at which point they became hot objects of speculation among investors.

  Under the hype of many economists, bonds are selling better and better. The relationship between creditors has shifted to ordinary people, and the low price at which they were initially accepted and the high price on the market at this time have created a huge price difference, allowing trusts to slowly release their bonds and complete the behavior of buying low and selling high to capture high profits. However, in such a crazy speculative behavior, many trusts made mistakes themselves, insisting on holding for a while in anticipation of even higher prices, including the Asia-America Group, which had similar plans, if not for the timely reminder at home that they had already made considerable profits and could boldly take their hands off, otherwise, Asia-America would continue to hold on. This phenomenon and idea are very common on Wall Street, because greed is universal.

  In 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus, carrying letters of introduction from the Spanish monarchs to the Emperor of China and the Great Khan of India, led a fleet of three small ships across the Atlantic Ocean. After 70 days at sea, they finally discovered land, which Columbus believed was part of the Indian subcontinent, but is now known as America.

  More than a hundred years later, Dutch merchants were still searching for the route to prosperous China. They made the same mistake as Columbus did and after several turns their steamship didn't arrive at the rich eastern continent but finally sailed into New York Harbor in America. Soon they found out the mistake and timely played the role of pioneers with strong adaptability. They brought wine that had never been seen before in this area to the Indians, and got Manhattan Island which was called "the place where one gets drunk together" in Delaware Indian language at a price of 24 dollars.

  From a desolate and barren land to a vast financial forest, Manhattan Island has undergone earth-shaking changes in just three hundred years. Its masters have also changed from the original Dutch to the British, then to Americans, and now it's a place for the wealthy.

  "On Manhattan Island, there is no human existence to be found, only the fallen or those filled with greed and ugliness, wealth and status, money and power, sin and filth, all outside the realm of ethics and morality. This is undoubtedly a paradise for financiers!" This was Zhang Yu's final evaluation of Manhattan Island before leaving America, especially that Wall Street.

  "A humble muddy path, what kind of future will it have? No one can read or see the destiny of things themselves, just like a rotten road hundreds of years ago, narrow and uneven, but now it has become a prosperous world financial synonym, because it is called Wall Street."

  At first, Zhang Yu-sheng's farewell to Wall Street seemed particularly bland, not as straightforward as Zhang Yu's. In fact, how Wall Street was formed, what its past and present are like, and what role it will play in the revival of the Chinese nation, the Asia-America Group, the Revival Party, etc., are all worth thinking about and studying.

  "Why did the world's financial center shift from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to London in the UK, and then inexplicably become New York in the US? The Dutch established the first stock exchange, the British set up the first central bank, what about Wall Street? How did it become the new hub of global finance?" Tang Guisheng, Chairman of AsiaMe Group, has been pondering this question for decades while working in the US.

  The Dutch were the first to engage in the business of war supplies, and the mutual slaughter of European countries provided a good opportunity for the development of Dutch capitalism. The natural geographical advantages and traditional commercial credit quickly made the Netherlands the first commercial power in Europe. In order to open up new markets, they targeted the ocean, and the East India Company was established.

  The Dutch East India Company needed a huge amount of capital for the reserve of goods and to counter the risks of long-distance transportation, so it could only raise funds from society, but the Dutch called it shares rather than loans. Every time the trading fleet returned was very profitable, and shareholders naturally got corresponding benefits. New things began to appear in the capitalist market, that is, securities. In 1606, the Dutch East India Company quickly became the world's first listed company on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, which was also the world's first stock exchange, and soon created the first stock, the first trading settlement and bill clearing, the first speculator...

  Watt invented the steam engine, making mass production possible, and Britain soon began its Industrial Revolution. Mechanized factories replaced small workshops, and industrial products replaced agricultural ones. British ships steaming with steam, loaded with cheap industrial goods, sailed across the world's oceans, and Britain became the workshop of the world. Its industrial strength was quickly transformed into military might, and the British Empire gradually reached its peak.

  After the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch War, the British Navy defeated the Dutch with its more powerful industrial strength. The strong commercial power did not bring victory to the Netherlands, but instead quickly made them lag behind in the Industrial Revolution. The Dutch in New Amsterdam were worried that the British would attack by land and built a defensive wall on the north side of the city.

  The wooden palisade wall ultimately failed to stop the British guns, and New Amsterdam soon became a new British colony. The British quickly renamed it New York, after the Duke of York. The Dutch-built city wall was soon abandoned and dismantled, leaving only a name: Wall Street.

  There is a magnificent classical building on Threadneedle Street in London, which people jokingly call the "Old Lady of Threadneedle Street". The owner is the Bank of England, the world's first central bank. Due to the rapid development of the British economy, a large amount of global funds poured into Britain seeking investment channels. Someone proposed setting up a central bank, with national credit providing guarantees for the central bank, allowing the central bank to issue nationally recognized banknotes, and financing Britain's massive expenditure was quickly put into practice.

  Thus, the world's first central bank was born. As for how to determine the scale of currency issuance and how to exchange currencies between countries, the Bank of England created a great monetary system - the gold standard system with great creativity. Newton fixed the price of gold at 3 pounds 17 shillings 10.5 pence per ounce, which remained in use until 1927. Nobody knows how long its strong vitality will last, but it is known that the emergence of the Bank of England laid a solid economic foundation for the rise of the British Empire.

  "When London was the world's financial center, it was like a powerful magnet that attracted funds from all over the world to Britain and joined the Industrial Revolution. Under the impetus of huge capital and huge market demand, Britain gave birth to its first railway, produced its first steamship, smelted its first steel plate, and wove its first cotton fabric. It had the earliest central bank, national treasury, and metal futures exchange...". This is how Lyu Zhengren, General Manager of YaMei Group's UK branch, evaluated Britain.

  At the height of the British Empire, the American continent across the Atlantic was undergoing a profound transformation, and the United States declared its independence. The building diagonally opposite the New York Stock Exchange is where George Washington delivered his inaugural address as the first President of the United States to Congress. After the War of Independence, New York was no longer anyone's colony; it had become the capital of the United States.

  The muddy roads of the past have become a newly paved stone road, and Wall Street has become home to important federal institutions, making it the political center of America. Although at that time, the financial center of the United States was just 100 kilometers away from New York in Philadelphia. The first stock exchange in the United States, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, was established in Philadelphia, and the first central bank, the First Bank of the United States, was also established here. However, this did not guarantee that it would always be stable, as compared to New York, its advantages were limited.

  The business spirit of the Dutch has been fully preserved and carried forward by New Yorkers, with a spirit of "tolerance, freedom, and openness" that has stood the test of time. There is also their traditional interest in money, which is not much different from that of the Dutch colonizers of the past. Moreover, the Port of New York is located on the northeast coast of the Atlantic Ocean, making it the busiest port in North America and the first stop for foreign immigrants landing on the North American continent. The blending of different nationalities and cultures from around the world has made New York what it is today, and without its tolerant, free, and open characteristics, New York would not have been able to develop as well as it has, nor would it have given rise to a brilliant Wall Street.