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Chapter 721 Run
The Sun Moon Bank in Zhangzhou is easy to spot. It is located next to the Jiulong River Wharf. The three-story gray building is square like a box. There is also a small square at the entrance, which is also square and completely different from the surrounding courtyard shops.

Maybe it was because of this that no one would stay near it unless they had something to do, let alone drink tea in the lobby on the first floor. Although the tea was free, it always felt eerie and uncomfortable sitting inside.

But today was an exception. Not only was the small square at the entrance occupied by the crowd, but the streets and even some of the docks were also crowded. From a distance, all you could see was a sea of ​​heads.

"Hey, Captain Lin, I've rarely seen you... I'm here to watch the show, too, hahahaha, you've arrived just in time. Come on, give Captain Lin a place to stay... Oh, we've been watching for more than half an hour, believe it or not, I'll go and call your shopkeeper over! You're so short-sighted, you'll have no future!"

When Lin Liang and Boss Tian got off the carriage, someone in the crowd immediately greeted them, and then without saying a word, pulled Lin Liang to climb up the millstone under the big tree, and even scolded a young man who ran away in order to fight for the commanding heights.

"Uncle Fang, why are you here? Your boat is not out to sea?"

This person must be known, because he is in the same industry. His family has several fleets, all led by his sons and nephews. He has been to the East, South, and West. In Yuegang, everyone knows him, from the old man to the child.

"You can see such an interesting scene when you go out to sea? Let me tell you, those who can stand here are blessed by eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures in their previous lives. How many people can see hundreds of thousands of taels of silver with their own eyes in this lifetime? Hey, do you see it? Just stand here and don't move. You will see it in less than two hours..."

The man called Uncle Fang was not too old, only about forty years old, with a square face, big ears, thick lips, a short beard, dark skin, and a robe with cloud pattern embroidery. He did not look rich or noble, but more like a clown on the stage. Moreover, he had a loud voice and a strong voice. Even if they were less than a foot away, his voice was loud enough for people on the other side of the street to hear.

"So much! Do you know who has such a strong grudge that they want to fight to the death with Sun Moon Bank?" Even though Boss Tian had already introduced some of the situation he knew on the way here, Lin Liang was still shocked to hear such a large amount.

What happened? Actually, it wasn't a big deal. Even the government didn't intervene. But among the common people, especially in places with a strong commercial atmosphere, this matter is not a small matter. In two words, it's a run!
This concept gradually emerged after money shops and silver banks began to carry out deposit and exchange business. It happened only occasionally and the targets of bank runs were few and far between, so it was not common.

For example, a customer deposited 500,000 taels of silver in Money House A in Tianjin Prefecture, agreed on a rough time frame and place to withdraw the money, then took the receipt to Suzhou Prefecture and found the branch of Money House A within the agreed time. After checking the receipt and finding it correct, he was unable to get the 500,000 taels of silver.

After the news leaked, customers who had business dealings with the bank came to settle their accounts in advance because they were worried about the limited silver in the bank's deposits. The amount they withdrew exceeded the bank's silver inventory limit and they were unable to repay, which was called a bank run.

No matter how well a money house has been doing or how high its reputation is, as long as a run occurs and payments cannot be made, its business will immediately plummet and it will most likely end up closing down.

In the final analysis, the money house is all about one word: trust. People deposit real money in your house, and only get a bill in return. If they don’t trust you, who would be so stupid? If you lose trust, you will lose the capital to do money house business.

Why is the probability of a run on a bank not high? Because this is a relatively special and closed industry. Since the threshold is very high, most people cannot participate, and the competitive atmosphere is not that strong. As peers, since everyone can eat their fill, why bother to fight each other? It has become a convention to help each other when necessary.

Generally speaking, when setting up a new money house, one must first prepare enough gifts, and then visit local colleagues as a newcomer, and only after gaining their approval can one continue with the preparations.

For a long time in history, the money shops and silver banks of Shanxi merchants and Anhui merchants were famous, but it was rare to hear about people from other places engaging in this industry. This was because Shanxi merchants and Anhui merchants entered this industry early and worked together to prevent other merchants from getting involved.

If you don't listen to advice and insist on doing it, it will trigger various legal or illegal means of exclusion, among which a run on the bank is the most ruthless move. When several or dozens of banks and banks unite to launch a run on the bank, it is difficult for a single bank to resist.

Moreover, the more sub-colonies are opened and the wider the distribution range, the more loopholes there are, which are almost impossible to prevent. After all, there was no way to transfer money online at that time, and everything depended on the deposits in the sub-colon. A good man cannot defeat four hands, and a fierce tiger is afraid of a pack of wolves.

Some people say that although Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants opened many money houses and silver banks in history, they did not have absolute control over everything. There were money houses and silver banks that did not belong to them in many cities.

Yes, there are banks, but they are relatively small in scale and have few branches. Most of them are local banks that are opened by locals and do not provide cross-regional deposit and withdrawal services. If you only stick to one bank, or a few nearby banks, you will not be too worried about bank runs.

However, the Sun Moon Bank did not fall into this category. Not only did it have many branches spread across several major port cities along the coast, it also set up inter-regional deposit and exchange services. When it was established, it did not inform the local money houses and silver shops, let alone obtain their recognition.

In other words, Sun Moon Bank's actions violated the current industry rules and were a disruption. In this case, there was no reason for them to tolerate it, and they used as ruthless tactics as possible, which was very reasonable.

Now, after several years of forbearance, someone finally challenged Sun Moon Bank. While Sun Moon Bank was busy selling interest-bearing bonds, a massive run on the bank was launched.

Just the afternoon before yesterday, Sun Moon Bank's Zhangzhou branch welcomed three customers who came with deposit notes of tens of thousands of taels and demanded full payment. The bank staff didn't pay much attention to it and took out silver from the vault after checking the notes.

Not long after the three people left, two more people came, each holding a deposit note of 100,000 taels, and also demanded immediate payment. The bank staff was undecided, and while calming the two customers down, they consulted the bank's top management, and the final answer was to pay it in one day.

This does not violate the agreement when depositing the silver. For one-time withdrawal of a relatively large amount of silver, the Sun Moon Bank requires notification a few days in advance to give money houses and silver shops time to prepare.

(End of this chapter)