In this currency war, the Japanese did everything they could, and even tried their best to print counterfeit money. It painstakingly established the Institute for Printing Counterfeit Banknotes in China, and made a careful plan.
In order to handle affairs conveniently in Shanghai, Seiichi Sakata also married the daughter of Du, the leader of green gang in Shanghai.
And a large number of counterfeit money, just printed and still warm, has not been shipped to China and become waste paper-the Japanese themselves saw the money that China people took out of their pockets collapsed.
The person in charge of "Anti-counterfeiting Institute" can't help but sigh: China is really a daunting country!
Wen | Chen Zhonghai looked at the special researcher of the think tank.
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China has issued new coins, and both Britain and the United States want to participate.
In the mid-1930s, in order to end the monetary chaos since the late Qing Dynasty, Nanjing National Government embarked on monetary reform and planned to introduce a new currency, namely legal tender.
However, the foreign exchange reserves of Nanjing National Government are very small, so it is necessary to seek huge loans as reserves for issuing new coins.
Pounds, dollars or francs are all available. In fact, any country that can provide this loan will have the right to speak on China's currency reform.
Controlling money can control finance, and controlling finance is equivalent to controlling a country's economy. Therefore, all major countries have their own calculations about China's currency reform.
Britain was the most active and appointed Liz Ross as the chief economic adviser of Nanjing National Government. Moreover, even the exchange rate between legal tender and British pound is fixed: 1 legal tender = 1 shilling 2p.
For a time, rumors spread everywhere, and many people said that Liziros was the "behind-the-scenes manipulator" of the legal tender reform.
Britain attached many conditions to the loan:
The loan must provide sufficient guarantee;
It is necessary to retain the management of China Customs by the British Revenue Authority;
Hire an Englishman as an adviser to the Central Bank of Nanjing National Government;
……
It seems that Britain wants to repeat the terms of humiliation of power and country that the Qing government was forced to sign after the Opium War. Naturally, China people will not agree.
When the Americans saw it, the opportunity came.
1936 In March, the United States invited the Nanjing National Government to send a monetary delegation to visit the United States, and the Nanjing National Government appointed Chen Guangfu, the managing director of Bank of China, as the senior adviser of the Ministry of Finance and led a delegation to visit the United States.
After more than two months of negotiations, the two sides signed the Sino-US Silver Agreement.
According to the agreement, the United States will buy 75 million ounces of silver from China at the price of 0.5 US dollars per ounce, with a transaction amount of 37.5 million US dollars, and the United States will accept a loan of 20 million US dollars secured by 50 million ounces of silver from China. Both of the above funds will be deposited with the Bank of new york as an exchange fund to support the legal tender reform.
In this way, legal tender is directly linked to the US dollar and brought into the US dollar system. The two sides maintain the exchange rate of 30 USD 100.
The United States won and the Japanese were very unhappy.
Not only Britain and the United States are greedy for China, but also Japan has been seeking to influence and even control China's economy. To this end, they slogan "Sino-Japanese economic support" and expressed their willingness to provide "credit loans" to the Nanjing National Government.
However, after the September 18th incident, how could the people of China choose to cooperate with the aggressors?
So the Japanese seem worried, but there is nothing they can do.
This is not the only thing that bothers the Japanese.
One of the measures to reform legal tender is that after the introduction of legal tender, the circulation of silver is prohibited, and the silver in the hands of individuals must be converted into legal tender. This regulation applies to all institutions and personnel in China, including foreign businessmen and banks.
You know, at that time, Japan invested heavily in Shanghai, Nanjing, South China and other places, and Japanese banks also had extensive business in China.
It is estimated that the value of silver held by Japanese banks in China is about100000 yuan.
If the currency reform law of Nanjing National Government is implemented, the Bank of Japan must hand over all the silver!
In addition, the Japanese judge that China's currency reform will fail.
The Japanese General Staff Headquarters believes: "In view of the current situation that the Nanjing government cannot win the trust of the people, it is obvious that the implementation of the Yinzhou decree will eventually fail, and the legal tender issued by the Nanjing government may also become a piece of waste paper."
Exchange tens of millions of dollars worth of glistening money for a pile of waste paper? Of course the Japanese won't do that.
The Japanese government protested, strongly protested!
1935 1 1.2. The day before the announcement on the implementation of legal tender was officially promulgated, Zhang Jiaao, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nanjing National Government, was ordered to call on Japanese Ambassador to China You (who was in office from May 1935 to February 1936) to inform Shanghai of the implementation of the monetary system reform.
Zhang Jiaao explained: China reformed its monetary system to relieve market pressure and save China's economy. It is hoped that Japanese banks in China can exchange legal tender with the Bank of China in accordance with laws and regulations, and said that this provision has been supported by most other national banks in China.
Ji Ming made a statement on the spot: strongly opposed.
165438+1On October 4th, Kong Xiangxi, Finance Minister of Nanjing National Government and Governor of Central Bank, personally called on You Jiming and continued to explain.
Ji Ming continues to strongly oppose it.
Not only that, the Japanese government and financial circles protested strongly, and the military even threatened to use force:
Zheng Jin, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Taiwan Province, North Korea, Sumitomo and other Japanese banks in China quickly held an emergency meeting to unify their voices and unanimously oppose China's currency reform.
165438+17 October, foreign banks in Shanghai held a meeting to discuss the implementation of the monetary reform of the China government. At the meeting, the Bank of Japan collectively opposed changing silver into legal tender.
1October 8th, 165438+ On behalf of the military, Ryunosuke Yugu, the military attache of the Japanese Embassy in China, asked the Japanese government to formally express its opposition to and obstruct China's currency reform and use "strength" when necessary.
The next day, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly accused the China administration of "persisting in opposing China's currency reform" without consulting the Japanese side before the currency reform.
Then, the Japanese military issued a statement strongly opposing China's currency reform, and Chen Daju attacked Jehol, claiming to "decisively" attack the Nanjing National Government.
At this time, China's monetary reform is irreversible.
As a result, the Japanese military action in China was accelerated. After the Lugouqiao Incident, Japan began a full-scale war of aggression against China.
The adjustment strategy brought China's economy to collapse.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, just like the military battlefield, the Nanjing National Government was in jeopardy in the economic and financial battlefields.
The Japanese attack on Shanghai caused a serious impact on China's financial market, and people withdrew their capital from Chinese banks and moved to foreign banks such as Britain and the United States. Soon, this "squeezing" trend spread from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the mainland.
In order to prevent the collapse of legal tender, Nanjing National Government adopted a series of measures:
On the third day of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 (1937 August 15), the Ministry of Finance of Nanjing National Government promulgated the Measures for Financial Stability in Extraordinary Times, which restricted the withdrawal of cash and encouraged deposits to maintain the stability of legal tender.
Branches established by the central government, China, Bank of Communications, etc. in the areas occupied by the Japanese army. Insist on operating by withdrawing to foreign countries for lease as much as possible.
1in March, 938, the Ministry of Finance of Nanjing National Government divided the areas where the financial industry operated into four categories, namely, enemy-trapped areas, near-enemy areas, far-enemy areas and revival areas, and "stipulated measures according to different situations".
Try not to give up business in enemy-occupied areas. Other regions require "exchange of foreign exchange, no foreign exchange water (banks or post offices charge a handling fee according to the remittance amount), and the amount is not limited".
The dream of destroying China in a short time was shattered, and Japan began to adjust its strategy of invading China.
1938, 12 in July, the "five-phase meeting" attended by Japanese prime minister, foreign minister, minister of the navy, minister of the army, and minister of finance decided to try to cause the collapse of the French currency, make China lose its ability to resist economically, and completely defeat China financially.
On the one hand, Japan restricted the circulation of legal tender and suppressed it in enemy-occupied areas;
On the other hand, in places invaded by the Japanese army, fake financial institutions were organized to issue counterfeit money in an attempt to replace legal tender with counterfeit money.
During the occupation of Northeast China, the so-called "China Bank Securities" was issued through the Puppet Manchukuo Central Bank.
After the occupation of Chahar and Suiyuan, the so-called "pseudo-Mongolian vouchers" were issued through the pseudo-Mongolian bank.
After the occupation of North China, the so-called "bank notes" were issued through the pseudo-China United Reserve Bank;
After the occupation of Central China, the so-called "China Treasury bonds" were issued through the Central Reserve Bank of Wang Puppet Government.
The above four kinds of counterfeit money are the main monetary instruments for Japanese financial domination and aggression against China. In addition, there are military tickets issued by the Japanese army, Jidong vouchers issued by the pseudo-Jidong Bank, Huaxing vouchers issued by the pseudo-Huaxing Bank, general vouchers issued by the pseudo-Guangdong Bank, bank vouchers issued by Taiwan Province and other miscellaneous coins.
With the expansion of Japanese-occupied areas, the circulation of these counterfeit coins has greatly expanded, constantly occupying the living space of legal tender.
Take pains to build the Institute of Banknote Printing and Counterfeiting
In order to crack down on legal tender, Japanese puppet organizations have come up with a more lethal method-forgery.
The Japanese army named this action "Chinese fir work", which was carried out by the "pine organ" under the Japanese General Staff.
Headquartered in Shanghai, Songorgan is also called Sakata Organ because it is led by entrepreneur Seiichi Sakata and Japanese Army Staff Officer Yoshimasa Okada.
In order to handle affairs conveniently in Shanghai, Seiichi Sakata also married the daughter of Du, the leader of green gang in Shanghai, and set up a stronghold in his father-in-law's home.
He registered a capital of 6,543.8 billion yen in his own name, set up a large company in China, and set up branches all over China, up to 53 at most, forming a spy network of Songorgan.
Printing counterfeit money is a technical activity with high requirements. The Ninth Research Institute of the Japanese Army (also known as the "Denghu Research Institute", located in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is responsible for providing technical support.
During his tenure in Manchuria, Kenzo Yamamoto, director of the Institute, spent several years studying China's monetary system in detail and went to Central China to observe the circulation of legal tender.
He noticed that the legal tender circulating in China was mainly printed by British Denaro Company, Huade Road Company and American Banknote Printing Company, and the main anti-counterfeiting means were watermarking and steganography, so it was not difficult to forge it.
On this basis, Kenzo Yamamoto submitted the Legal Tender Strategy Work Plan, which was highly valued by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters.
1938 12, Minister of the Army tojo hideki ordered the approval of the implementation of the plan.
With the counterfeiting, Denghu Research Institute entered its heyday, with more than 1 000 employees at most, and there were more than 1 000 buildings in the research institute, covering an area of 360,000 square meters.
Printed counterfeit banknotes should be handed over to the "Song Organ" in Shanghai for delivery in China. Japan's army province stipulates:
"The launch work should be carried out in secret, and the main purpose is to disrupt the enemy's economy, conduct normal transactions with forged legal tender, and purchase military supplies and civilian materials."
"The materials obtained through counterfeit banknotes are handed over to the designated military supply factory at the price stipulated by the army, and the proceeds are used as the activity fee for destroying legal tender, but there is no restriction when otherwise ordered."
These counterfeit banknotes are "aged" and transported to China, where they are mixed with real banknotes and put on the market by trading companies and companies controlled by the Japanese puppet government to snap up materials.
Inflation foiled the plot.
These counterfeit legal tender have appeared all over China.
Yasuhiro Oshima, who once worked here, recalled that it was difficult to distinguish the authenticity of counterfeit banknotes printed by Denghu Institute. "There is almost no difference between real banknotes and counterfeit banknotes."
"Denghu Research Institute" can print 65438+ ten thousand counterfeit banknotes every day, which is equivalent to 654.38+00% of China's domestic currency circulation if calculated by denomination.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the total face value of counterfeit French currency by the Japanese army was as high as 4 billion yuan, which was equivalent to the military expenditure of the Japanese army for two to three years.
When Japan surrendered, there were more than 20 kinds of counterfeit banknotes made in Japan.
If all these legal tender are put on the market, the lethality is incalculable.
This has attracted the attention of all walks of life in China. 1939, the Nanjing national government promulgated the "Japan's measures for counterfeiting legal tender", which stipulated that:
* Fourth, prepare more old coupons near the distribution office in the occupied area, so that the circulation people in the occupied area are all old coupons, so that the new fake coupons made by the Japanese are not easily confused;
* The Ministry of Finance has ordered checkpoints to closely check the Japanese people's printing of counterfeit banknotes, and absolutely prevent them from fleeing into unoccupied areas to avoid the spread of disaster-stricken areas;
* The four banks should choose to send all kinds of sample coupons, and ask the county government near the occupied area to post them for public display, so that people can verify them nearby when they find fake coupons and not be deceived;
* The fourth bank shall declare the difference between genuine coupons and fake coupons, and list the hazards of exercising fake coupons in detail, print publicity materials, and the central propaganda organs shall try to distribute them in the occupied areas;
* All kinds of propaganda methods of the central propaganda organ or the Political Department of the Military Commission stationed in the occupied area nearby are carried out at the same time, so that people know what they are doing and refuse to exercise it;
* According to intelligence, Japan is known to counterfeit legal tender, printing, manufacturing and transportation. International propaganda agencies should vigorously promote their cunning plans to all friendly countries. If the number of counterfeit banknotes is known, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will officially announce to all friendly countries that counterfeit banknotes cannot be recognized by that country, thus making Japan's improper and ugly behavior known to the world.
The above-mentioned "four major banks" refer to the Central Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Farmers Bank of China controlled by Nanjing National Government.
Moreover, in 194 1, Chongqing Banknote Printing Factory also carried out a major revision of legal tender, which made Japanese counterfeit banknotes invalid as soon as they were printed, which increased the technical difficulty of legal tender counterfeiting.
However, what really dealt a fatal blow to the Japanese puppet "cedar workers" was serious inflation.
Before the war, the total circulation of legal tender just exceeded 100 billion yuan, and 1944 reached 189 billion yuan, which increased by more than 100 times in seven years, which surprised the Japanese.
The Japanese have been focusing on counterfeit money with denominations of 1 yuan, 5 yuan, 10 yuan, and the constant appearance of legal tender with denominations of 1000 yuan, 10000 yuan or even10000 yuan has made them very embarrassed:
On the one hand, the time is too short, and Japanese counterfeit banknotes can't keep up with the pace of discovering new banknotes;
On the other hand, people all over the street take out 10,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan banknotes from their pockets, and small denomination banknotes are not as valuable as toilet paper.
Therefore, a large amount of counterfeit money just printed by the Japanese has become waste paper before it is shipped to China.
The Japanese dream failed again, and Kenzo Yamamoto lamented: China is really a daunting country!
The crime was exposed in broad daylight.
Forging other countries' legal tender is prohibited by international law, so Japan's counterfeiting activities have been carried out in a very secret state.
Note: At that time, the plan was top secret. Within the army province, only the minister, deputy minister, director of military affairs and several related military directors know. The printing of counterfeit banknotes is specifically the responsibility of the Army's Ninth Scientific Research Institute. With the approval of the military province, "private factories can be used", but it must be absolutely confidential. The area where counterfeit money is printed is surrounded by a wooden wall more than 3 meters high. Even within the institute, ordinary people have no access to the core.
On the eve of Japan's surrender, the Japanese General Staff was worried about the incident, ordered the destruction of all relevant equipment and materials, and ordered those who had worked in the "boarding house" to remain silent and not to tell the truth.
Unlike crimes such as forced labor and comfort women, counterfeit money has no specific victims. Therefore, no one filed a compensation lawsuit with the Japanese government after the war. Most of the relevant evidence has been destroyed, and the Japanese government is even more reluctant to publicly admit this disgraceful history.
In the 1970s, the campus of Meiji University was built on the site of the original "Denghu Institute", and the ugly crimes of the Japanese army seemed to disappear without a trace.
However, Skynet is long and slow.
In 2006, a paper mill in Japan planned to compile enterprise history, and found a batch of special paper for printing money in the process of collecting information.
This batch of 279 pieces of paper is about 30 cm square, each piece of paper is printed with the watermark on the side of Sun Yat-sen, and silk fibers are embedded in the middle of the paper.
After expert appraisal, it is confirmed that this is the special paper for printing counterfeit banknotes by Denghu Research Institute. Later, Meiji University opened the "Museum of Peace Education Visiting the Institute", which further exposed the crime of "visiting the Institute" to the world.