Chapter 608-Bank Run
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"That can’t be true, right? The reputation of the Four Seas Bank can be trusted." Some people did not believe these rumors.
"Who knows? Aren’t there many people who look righteous but are actually cheaters?"
"It's better to believe than regret later."
"I do not care, just take it out before talking."
Under the coercion of those people with bad intentions, some people finally started to waver and follow the crowd.
The power of rumors was exceedingly effective in swaying the Chinese people. In history, stupid rumours had caused numerous shopping waves.
All of a sudden, the number of people who went to withdraw their money actually exceeded the number of people who went to save. Even those people who were doubtful toward the rumors decided to wait and see; they did not store their money.
Such an anomaly naturally caught the attention of all the workers, and they immediately reported the matter to the treasurer.
The treasurer of the Chang An branch was someone Meng Zhida had expended a lot of effort to recruit, he was advanced banking talent, Li Wei. In reality, he had some dealings with Meng Zhida.
"Do not panic, just deal with them normally." Li Wei instructed.
"Yes!" the workers returned to their tasks.
In the bank, the prestige of the treasurer was not to be doubted. Just like that, under Li Wei’s suppression, the Four Seas Bank learned nothing about this little storm.
In just a short two hours, the Chang An bank withdrawing storm grew more and more intense, and it slowly turned into a tornado. Slowly, the entire Chang An City crazily spread the news.
The rumors grew more and more exaggerated.
At this stage, it did not need people to fan the flames, as the players who loved to join in the fun had naturally started to make up rumor after rumor.
"Did you hear? The Four Seas Bank is about to close down."
"Really?"
"Why not? Take a look at the number of people that went to withdraw their money. They are filling the streets."
"Then I'll go too."
Rumors were like a virus, crazily spreading. Originally, those who had just wanted to catch the fun could not help but want to withdraw their money too when they saw the swarm of people.
At this stage, the truth was not important anymore. Everyone seemed to have lost their rationality, and they packed the door of the banks like sardines. It seemed like the situation was spiralling out of control.
At this time, Li Wei slowly walked out and read aloud an official statement.
As expected, it had no effect at all.
It seemed like the bank vault would get emptied.
Based on the rules, the bank vault only possessed a sum of emergency funds. At set periods of time, they would shift the large quantity of gold back to the main vault in Shanhai City.
Such an arrangement was made to ensure the safety of the bank funds.
The moment the vault was exhausted, the outcome would be catastrophic.
"Treasurer, should we inform the headquarters? If not, it would be hard to solve this situation," the manager asked.
"What are you panicking for! If we cannot handle such a small matter, what will the headquarters think about our branch?" Li Wei's attitude remained highly adamant, “Instruct the people at the front desk to slow down."
"Yes!" The manager was placed on a spot.
The manager knew that slowing the speed was like drinking poison to quench thirst. The best solution was to ask for money from the headquarters to relive the panic.
As expected, someone started to stir up problems once again.
"Why are you taking such a long time? Are you all out of money?" A teen who was withdrawing his money suddenly raised his voice to show his displeasure.
"Sorry sir, there are too many people. Please wait patiently," the worker replied.
"What too many people, it's obvious that you are out of money. In just a short time, you are out? At the start, I did not believe the rumors but now I do. You guys must be making use of the reserves," the teen continued to cause a racket.
This naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the main hall.
When the others heard these complaints, their mob mentality grew.
"People, please calm down, the funds in the bank vault are sufficient. Anyone who wants to withdraw their money will be allowed to do so. However, we only have a limited number of workers, so please wait patiently," the treasurer came out to facilitate.
"Hen, empty words."
The entire place was close to exploding out of control.
If the Jinwu Guards were not already in place, the situation would have probably gotten out of hand.
Even so, they would not be able to hold on for long.
Under the meticulous planning of others, the Chang An branch of the Four Seas Bank had turned into an unrecoverable mess.
Shanhai City, Nanjiang Governor-General Manor.
"I want to see the Lady!"
Black Snake, the leader of the Black Snake Guards, arrived at the back hall with a solemn expression.
"Commander Black Snake, what's the matter?"
After a short while, Song Jia walked out; her words showed the utmost respect to him.
After Song Jia married Ouyang Shuo, he had handed the Black Snake Guards over to her to handle. After all, he was often outside, and he could not handle certain matters in time.
Song Jia's identity was the most suited for this role.
"Reporting to the Lady, something has cropped up at the Chang An branch of the Four Seas Bank," Black Snake replied.
The bank run in Chang An City quickly grew in intensity. The commander of the intel station had finally noticed that something was wrong, so he reported the matter as an emergency situation to headquarters.
When Black Snake received the news, he finally realize that something was amiss, and he immediately looked for Song Jia.
When she heard the news, she did not panic. She asked Black Snake to pay attention to the situation first.
"Make use of the power of the Chang An station to understand the situation," Song Jia instructed.
When Black Snake heard her command, awe and praise appeared in his eyes.
"As expected from the woman the Lord chose. She truly was brought up in a huge family."
……
"Men!" Song Jia said.
"Present!"
"Please invite Treasurer Meng over," Song Jia gently said.
"Yes, my Lady!"
While she waited, Song Jia also picked up the brush and wrote over ten emergency letters. The recipients were all members of the Four Seas Bank administrative committee.
After a short while, Meng Zhida hurried over.
Although Song Jia was his daughter's classmate, Meng Zhida did not dare to treat her lightly.
"My Lady!" Meng Zhida bowed.
"Treasurer Meng, take a look at this." Song Jia passed over the intel that the Black Snake Guards had gathered.
When Meng Zhida saw the news, his hand could not help but shiver.
"I've appointed the wrong person to the job, my Lady, please punish me!" Meng Zhida felt ashamed.
As the treasurer of the Four Seas Bank, he had actually received this important news from the Nanjiang Governor-General House. One could imagine that something had truly gone wrong in the branch.
At the very least, it was a personnel error.
"As for whose fault it is, we can temporarily put that matter aside and discuss when the Lord is back. Treasurer Meng, please take some funds and head toward Chang An to stabilize the situation. If you can, please investigate the situation."
"Understood!" Meng Zhida had a face of determination and resilience.
As an experienced banker, he knew that if this matter spread, a terrifying bank run would occur. At that time, even if they cleared the rumors, they would not be able to prevent the matter.
After Meng Zhida left, Song Jia started to ask people to prepare the side hall to welcome the members of the committee.
After receiving the emergency letter, Bai Hua and the others rushed over. However, there were too many of them, and everyone was busy, so it was not that easy to gather everyone.
At 3 PM, they all finally arrived.
The intel from the Black Snake Guards were distributed to each one of them.
Song Jia knew her place; she knew that she could not completely replace Ouyang Shuo. After introducing the matter, she allowed deputy director Feng Qiuhuang to chair the meeting.
Feng Qiuhuang accepted it. Between Song Jia and her, there was the smell of competition.
"This is a scheme."
The fellow who forever believed in conspiracies, Xunlong Dianxue, was the first to speak.
"Such an obvious matter, you do not have to specifically say it." Feng Qiuhuang rolled her eyes toward him and looked around, "Let's discuss how to solve this crisis."
"Regarding the rumours about the Blood Evil Mercenary Guild, I'll deal with Chang An Night News." Blood Romance had never expected for someone to actually dare to trifle with him.
"I think that Chang An Night News is a big problem." Bai Hua continued.
"Then let's investigate who gave them the courage to disturb the Shanhai Alliance. They really do not know their ability." Feng Qiuhuang was still so dominating.
"An investigation is naturally necessary, but it is not the most important issue at hand. It is best is to end the rumors one by one. If not, if this spreads, I'm worried it might affect the other imperial city branches." Xie Siyun reminded.
"Let's investigate!" Feng Qiuhuang agreed.
There was nothing more effective at explaining than a detailed report.. As expected from the two people who were familiar with this area.
"As for the rumors that we are making use of the reserves, we can invite some players and media to the Shanhai City vault to personally act as witnesses." Song Jia suggested.
"Great idea!"
"Apart from that, toward the doubts of the profits of the territories, we need to provide real proof. Why don’t all of us reveal some of our development plans?" Feng Qiuhuang added.
"No problem."
The allegations of Chang An Night News left Gong Chengshi and the others furious. What not having enough money to repay the loans? Wasn’t this a slap to their faces?
"Apart from resolving the rumors, we must be wary of what other tricks they can pull." Bai Hua said.
All those seated basically had a rough idea of the situation. The people who spread these rumors were definitely people from the Yanhuang Alliance. Their goal was to help the Huitong Bank rise up through affecting the Four Seas Bank.
However, these methods were a little despicable.
"If there are fund problems, Snow-War Rose can move one million over," Xie Siyun stated.
"Blood Evil Mercenary Group can send more than a million if needed." This scheme had deepened the recognition of the Shanhai Alliance in Blood Romance's mind.
When Bai Hua and the others saw them express their support, they nodded happily.
The other guild leaders all declared theirs stances one by one.
This massive boat, the Four Seas Bank, had a bright future. They definitely would not give up this bright path just because of one scheme.
The toughness and unity of the Shanhai Alliance would probably scare the enemy.