Mediterranean hegemon

Compared with the powerful and arrogant Fed during Contini's time period, the current Fed has only been established for 16 years, and its voice is not yet powerful enough to matter. Due to the historical failure of the First Bank and the Second Bank of the United States to perform the functions of the central government, the Federal Reserve, which was established for the third time, was very cautious in fulfilling the responsibilities of the central bank. It was mainly composed of the Federal Reserve Bureau in Washington and those distributed in various regions of the United States. Made up of 12 Federal Reserve Banks. The Federal Reserve's main monetary policies are jointly formulated by the members of the Federal Reserve Board and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank to avoid excessive concentration of policy decision-making power in a few regions (such as Washington and New York).

The Federal Reserve is a standard government agency, while the Federal Reserve Bank is a non-profit private institution. The purpose of this strategy is to avoid the complete concentration of monetary policy in the hands of the federal government. The Federal Reserve, the President of the United States, and Congress can speak out against each other when necessary. , but on the other hand, it is impossible for the Federal Reserve to directly rely on administrative power to exert greater pressure on the market. When Contini led the bank group to angrily throw a punch that did not obey orders, the Federal Reserve bureaucrats were stunned for a moment. They don't know how to deal with this situation, let alone consider using administrative means to exert further pressure.

They adopted three countermeasures: the first was to speak to reporters, the media, and the market, asking them to recognize the determination of the Federal Reserve; the second was to communicate, to communicate with Hoover and the federal government to clarify the current problems; The third is to coordinate and prepare to hold a meeting to prevent these big banks from going against the Fed.

Even Contini's newly appointed administrative secretary, Aquilani, couldn't stand this kind of weakness and laughed at the Fed's weakness: What did the president do when Italy faced a foreign exchange crisis and Siena Bank illegally lent to foreign countries? The airborne troops will kill them directly. If they don't obey, they will use Browning machine guns to kill them all. The situation will be contained immediately. They are good. Not to mention the army, police, and even administrative methods are not as superior as Italian national politics. and competitiveness are indeed extraordinary, so the CEO wants to shout, "We want wealth and strength, not freedom!"

On April 8, the five major banks that had completed lending pretended to sit down and held another coordination meeting. On behalf of Bank of America, Giannini said: "We understand the mood of the Federal Reserve and recognize the misunderstandings with the Fed's policies, but At present, the market has initially stabilized, and it is not appropriate for us to make any more comments to impact the market, nor can we rush to recover past loans... However, we can promise that we will not issue short-term loans at a rediscount rate lower than that of the Federal Reserve..."

This seemed to give the Federal Reserve face, but in fact, the US$100 million loan had already been snatched up, and there was no ammunition to prepare for the follow-up. Then it started to pretend to be a good person, and covered up the whole thing by simply saying that it would strengthen communication with the Federal Reserve. Bureaucrats have no choice.

Someone finally asked about the president, and everyone said that he had visited major arsenals. While selecting equipment for the Blackwater Security Company, he was also considering selecting weapons for Italy. The Federal Reserve also breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was eager to send this plague away quickly, it expressed its hope to further strengthen friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

In fact, Contini's inspection of the arsenal was all a cover. He used this time to conduct secret room operations: on the one hand, he used the transferred Roman warriors and Blackwater security guards to quickly transfer gold. Union Bank gradually hoarded nearly 500 million US dollars of gold are all ready to be shipped to Italy; on the other hand, they will continue to sell stocks in the market to repay the due debts owed by United Group to various banks. Because interest rates in the United States are generally rising now, if the debts owed by United Group are to be To apply for refinancing, the low interest rate of 4.5% must suddenly jump to more than 15%. Although everyone knows that it is temporary, Contini just doesn't want to bear such a high debt. He would rather slowly throw it away and repay it.

On April 14, Contini issued the third and most important instruction: Union Bank should use all means to recover the loans it had given out as soon as possible, and try not to re-lend the expired loans as much as possible, and at the same time transfer all surplus funds to Europe. The market is transferred through various financial centers such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Rome, and then pumped back to Italy like capillaries.

This process is also the process of another rebound in the stock market. Since the five major banks have joined forces to support the market and there is relatively little selling pressure on the stock market, market confidence is still very sufficient. Everyone is reluctant to sell their stocks because many people have used bank loans. For leveraged trading, reducing holdings means automatically repaying the loan. If you want to borrow it again, it will not only be more difficult, but the interest rate will be much higher.

By the end of April, the stock market was still stable at around 340-350 points in the Dow Jones, and the first batch of gold and US dollar cash was almost ready. Contini instructed Adriana and others to return home first.

"My dear, I don't want to leave, I want to stay with you..."

"I think so too, but I have something important to do, and I need your help." Contini stroked the beauty in his arms and said softly, "Among you, you are the only one who understands the situation and major policies. I am the clearest and most organized, so you must go back and help me quickly..."

If Monica is the internal boss, then Adriana is the external boss. She can deal with various political dignitaries and all kinds of people. She has her own unique understanding of politics, economy and diplomacy. Italy's chief intellectual female host Status is not gained by the CEO, it is firmly established with two brushes.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, tell me that the situation in the United States is complicated and the Federal Reserve's policies are unstable. I must stay in the United States to continue handling affairs. I originally agreed with the leader to return to the country in late April, and he is still waiting to appoint me as Secretary of Education."

"It sounds like you don't want to?"

"It's not that I am unwilling. I have found a good candidate for this position, Capello, the former president of the University of Rome. He is considered one of ours and has expressed his closeness to me. As long as I succeed in my operation."

Adriana was shocked at this time: Contini, who was studying at the University of Rome a few years ago, could now run a principal and become the Minister of Education? This is really incredible!

"So I can't go back now. I have to let Capello take this position first." Contini smiled. "As for the position I want, it is the Minister of Transport."

"Isn't that..." Adriana originally wanted to say His Excellency the Earl, but the words suddenly changed to, "Isn't that our father's position?"

"After I got engaged, my father was a little distracted. He didn't work as hard as before, and his mentality also changed subtly..." Contini sighed, "I know I shouldn't have given my mother the 10 million last time. Mother went back This incident must have stimulated him, so he is now focused on money, and has successively found several companies with insufficient qualifications or poor quality to contract business, just to get more consulting fees. He thinks I don’t know, how can I Maybe you don’t know? Every company that engages in construction projects in Italy has registered with me! Only if they can complete the task with quality and quantity based on the rebate they give and the contracted project price, they have to cut corners. I’ll let you know. They were warned and given money."

Adriana covered her mouth and laughed: "After doing it for a long time, the money our dad got was turned out to be given by you..."

"The key point is that he doesn't want my money, he wants face...Okay, give him a position with greater dignity." Contini said, "Director of the Grand Fascist Committee! I am ready to use him to take this position."

Theoretically speaking, the Grand Fascist Council is equivalent to the chairman of the unicameral parliament. Its status is very high and can almost be regarded as Mussolini's deputy. However, in fact, because all power is in the executive branch, the legislative body is useless. , so old Ciano will get a high-ranking and low-power position.

"Can the old man agree?"

"Why not? He likes money more than power now. Wouldn't it be nice if I arranged for a few more people to send gifts... Anyway, from left pocket to right pocket, although our father has 4 daughters-in-law, he only has one son after all. Outside As long as my mother is in charge, he can’t move at all.”

"Disgusting! I'm still single, I've never even been married..."

Contini slapped Adriana on the buttocks and joked: "I don't know if it's a marriage certificate or not. Anyway, it's fine as long as it's mine, and my son is also mine..."

Adriana chuckled: "Well, it seems that you are delaying time and waiting for other appointments, so when will you come back?"

"I don't know..." Contini looked up at the ceiling. "It could be July, it could be August, it could be October. As soon as the stock market crash breaks out, I will be ready to go back."

"Is there really going to be a stock market crash? Hasn't the market volatility been suppressed?" Adriana was shocked, "When will it happen?"

"I can't tell. If it's fast, it might be next month. If it's slow, it will be at least half a year." Contini explained, "I hope it will be a little slower. After all, I still have 800 million US dollars in stocks on hand that I have not reduced my holdings." , there are still 400 million here at United Bank..."

"I still have more than 7 million."

"Keep the account. If the reduction is less than 10 million, I will be responsible for making up for it. You can go back and do a better job in Italy!"

"Do you need me to also promote the economic crisis or the inevitable stock crisis in Italy?"

"Let's talk vaguely for now. Let me just say that it is my opinion that Italy has developed rapidly in the past two years. Some industries are very dependent on the external market, so we need to be more vigilant..."

"Can I add a little personal analysis? I have been interviewing in the United States for two months, and I can vaguely see the fanaticism and the irrationality behind it."

"Of course. You are Italy's leading intellectual female anchor. Of course you must have your own voice and logic system."

"Love me properly again... you won't be able to do it after you go back."

Soon the bedroom was filled with fanatical weeping...