The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 69



< Life and Death >

Juan Millan who ran a small commercial bank in the Bronx near Manhattan.

He too was attending a meeting at Morgan’s house.

Because Morgan called every single banker doing business near New York.

‘It’s not like we’re having a class reunion. There are just familiar faces here.’

The conference room was filled with New York’s biggest names.

There’s also Stillman the president of National City Bank who is one of the top three banks.

Paul Warburg head of the Kuhn Loeb Company was also there.

The federal treasury secretary was also seated.

‘The author….’

Of course there were some people I was seeing for the first time.

Like the Asian guy who just sat down next to Morgan’s empty seat.

“Is that the oriental guy? He’s the prince from the rumors right?”

“Did you say your name was Lee Kang?”

They had all been living in semi-captivity in Morgan’s house for several days and speaking was their only pleasure.

In a situation where there were no interesting things to do the only thing we could do was talk.

That’s why new things tend to attract that much attention.

The New York celebrities were chatting as they looked at the strange Asian man who had just entered the conference room.

“Is that the prince who gave the speech in The Hague?”

“Probably so.”

“I heard that he was stripped of his princely title because of that speech…”

“What about deprivation… Once a prince always a prince. I heard he didn’t commit a crime.”

“I heard he has quite a bit of wealth.”

“property?”

“Yeah. Rumor has it he’s got fifty million dollars in cash on him.”

“Crazy fifty million dollars?”

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“Yeah. So you’re probably sitting next to Morgan.”

Seating in a conference room may seem like nothing special at first glance but it has a very symbolic meaning.

The closer you sat to Morgan the owner of this house the more noble you felt.

Those who were placed in the corner and couldn’t even see Morgan’s seat looked at Lee Kang who was in the right seat and they were all envious.

“It’s because of the author’s wealth that Livermore or something was able to short so heavily this time.”

“I really envy that guy Livermore. He catches fools from the East.”

Juan Millan memorized the information about Lee Kang by listening to the conversations of the bankers sitting next to him.

Because I didn’t know when or how I would meet Lee Kang and receive help.

It was best to learn this type of personal information in advance.

“Ahem…..”

The owner of the empty seat in the center of the meeting appeared.

The ruler of New York.

No it was JP Morgan who turned into a dictator.

“It looks like everyone is present since there are no empty seats.”

Morgan glanced around the conference room and then took his seat in the center.

Then he declared the opening in a deep voice.

“I’m sure you all know this so I’ll skip the introduction. Let’s get to the main point. Oh one person! There’s someone here for the first time today. I’ll give a brief introduction. This person here is Prince Lee Kang.”

Morgan quickly finished introducing Lee Kang.

He dominated the conference room with his charismatic expression and the celebrities of New York gathered there.

“The reason I have gathered you here today is… to determine the fate of the Knickerbocker Trust.”

Information about the Knickerbocker Trust poured out of Morgan’s mouth.

From how big the trust is to how much debt there is.

In reality everyone knew but Morgan poured out all the information as if to show that he was leading the meeting.

“The Knickerbocker Trust is the second largest trust in our country. If it were to fail it would have a huge impact on the market.”

Morgan looked around the conference room exchanging glances with the bankers seated within.

After that I took a deep breath and got down to the main topic I was going to talk about today.

“Is there a hero among us who can save the Knickerbockers?”

As Juan Millan expected no one raised a hand.

The liquid funds released into the market have completely dried up.

Existing financial institutions are also going bankrupt so who will bail out whom?

‘Is the Knickerbocker over?’

Juan Millan saw the true face of Wall Street colder than the Amazon jungle and was skeptical about the survival of the Knickerbocker.

That was when.

“This prince.”

Morgan the host of the meeting turned his head to the right and looked at the Asian man sitting next to him.

“What does this prince think?”

“….”

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“This prince is the only one here in this room who can save the Knickerbocker Trust together with Treasury Secretary Corteleu.”

As Morgan argued Treasury Secretary Cortelho was a ray of hope for New York financiers.

The problem if there is one is that the ammunition he carries is limited.

This was because due to the nature of the government once they help they have to take full responsibility for it.

Because we can’t defend a specific company.

I heard the finance minister is taking a wait-and-see approach until things calm down a bit.

‘In this situation…’

If that Asian guy was truly rich he was the only one who could have played the role of the relief pitcher in this crisis.

“The Knickerbocker Trust…”

The prince from the East took his time and teased Morgan’s heart.

“It’s just like this glass.”

The prince took a glass of water in his hand and shook it slowly as if he was trying to smell the wine.

It was an answer that had nothing to do with the question Morgan had just asked.

“What does that mean Prince?”

“Oh I forgot to say a word. To be exact it will be the same fate as this glass in five seconds.”

The prince took his hand away from the glass.

At this the glass that was in the air fell to the floor.

Ding-ding-

The glass that hit the floor shattered into pieces.

New York financiers including Juan Millan focused on Lee Kang’s sudden performance.

“If revenues decline the CEO is abusive or the future of the industry becomes uncertain the company loses the trust of the market.”

Lee Kang tilted his head slightly and looked at the broken glass.

“The things that were there before can be improved with effort. The stock price will probably plummet a bit. But… sometimes there are things that can’t be fixed. Like that broken glass over there.”

“….”

“In my country there is a saying that you can’t put spilled water back in. It’s similar to your proverb that says “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” There are some mistakes from the past that cannot be forgiven.”

The oriental prince continued his speech quite nicely spouting out some plausible words.

“Knickerbocker has completely lost the confidence of the market. Didn’t they help manipulate the stock price of United Cooper? And rumor has it that they even tampered with the accounting.”

The prince snapped his fingers for emphasis.

“Stock manipulation and accounting fraud. These are two crimes that can never be forgiven. They shake the very foundations of capitalist society. Look… because of the Knickerbocker’s fraud market participants no longer trust banks.”

All sorts of measures have been put in place to try to resolve this panic but no one has listened to Morgan.

Instead the media was calling on Morgan to take more practical measures.

Lee Kang burst into sardonic laughter as he pointed out this reality.

“If I were to save this I would rather give to the beggars. Then at least I could fill the stomachs of the hungry.”

Morgan glanced at Lee Kang’s face and nodded.

“That means the prince is not interested.”

“Well… I guess that’s what it is.”

Lee Kang was different from the average prince.

To this extent it is said very directly.

“Mr. Morgan Bank Manager.”

After a while.

Morgan’s right-hand man Benjamin Strong came into the conference room with some papers and whispered something to Morgan.

Morgan jumped to his feet at this.

“The results of the Knickerbocker investigation have been released. I will share the relevant information with the distinguished guests here immediately.”

As Prince Lee Kang claimed Knickerbocker not only manipulated the stock price but also took part in accounting.

In a word it is a lump of bad debt.

“It’s trash.”

The words came out naturally from Juan Millan’s mouth.

Although the other bank presidents did not curse as openly as Juan Millen their expressions darkened.

Because it seems unlikely that Morgan will save the Knickerbocker.

“Knickerbocker. Is there anyone who would like to take over?”

“….”

“If there are no more let’s end today’s meeting here.”

As expected.

Morgan left without saying anything.

The oriental prince sitting next to him and the federal treasury secretary also left the conference room empty-handed.

virtually.

The Knickerbocker Trust was sentenced to death.

* * *

As the golden hour continued to pass the identity of the conference participation fee that JP Morgan had mentioned was quickly revealed.

‘Are you interested in acquiring the Knickerbocker Trust Company? Huh….’

How do you take over that piece of shit?

If you do that you’ll be ruined.

‘It reminds me of the financial crisis in the 2000s.’

Didn’t the Industrial Bank of Korea try to acquire Lehman Brothers but back out at the last minute?

If they had acquired it they would have suffered for a long time under the weight of Lehman Brothers’ debt.

I would have ended up in the same situation if I had taken over Knickerbocker.

『Your Majesty you seem to have a mysterious insight into the future. I am sure you are also interested in the next hegemony of American finance… Before this situation ends you must own several financial institutions.』

Yesterday Morgan asked me this:

Because it currently does not own a single financial institution headquartered in New York.

Plus he was the cash richest person with the most cash.

I bet you asked for something like that.

‘I will continue to attend meetings as a potential buyer.’

We need to sort out the jade from the stone and take care of the good companies.

Yeah that’s right.

Wouldn’t it be possible to be an early member when the Federal Reserve System is established?

“This is breaking news.”

I was briefly recalling what we had said yesterday when some bad news came into the conference room.

Financial institutions that were not rescued by Morgan began to fail one by one.

“Charles Barney president of Knickerbocker died early this morning. The cause is suicide but it seems likely that the company went bankrupt.”

* * *

The news of Chairman Knickerbocker’s suicide further darkened the mood in the conference room.

Because many of you here could be next.

As deposit assets decreased day by day all the financiers in New York looked at Morgan Bay with pitiful eyes.

“President Morgan have you heard about the Knickerbocker Trust’s failure?”

“of course.”

“Please come up with a plan. The entire trust industry is in jeopardy because of the Knickerbocker Trust Company’s bankruptcy.”

Everyone started to murmur because their lives depended on it.

Squeak-

In the midst of this the conference room door opened.

Four people who were not invited to this meeting had come here in a hurry.

“David? Macus?”

“How are you guys?”

Next up after the Knickerbockers.

Obviously.

Morgan said he did not allow them to attend the meeting.

I clicked my tongue as I looked at Morgan who was laughing bitterly.

‘That Morgan guy is starting to… play politics again.’

As I expected.

The four representatives looked at each person’s face then turned to the Secretary of the Treasury who was there representing the federal government.

“Cotelio Cotelio Minister of Finance….”

“Please save me.”

“I don’t think I can stand it any longer.”

The four presidents grabbed the finance minister by the cuffs and hung on.

Because their company had to close due to a bank run.

“I’m sorry. If I help you I’ll have to help other organizations when the same situation arises.”

“Minister of Finance!”

“The federal government should come up with some kind of solution.”

Kotelyu refused.

I don’t know when or how this situation will end but I haven’t been able to use up all my ammunition yet.

“Morgan!”

“You save us.”

“Now it’s just you.”

Yes to your bank manager’s ugly behavior.

“Tsk tsk.”

“Let’s save up some money.”

“What I mean is…..”

Those who were relatively well off were shocked.

The New Yorker’s characteristic contempt for the weak was also practiced here.

“….”

“….”

Of course not all of them did that.

Because most people are too busy taking care of themselves.

They watched in silence to see how the situation would be resolved as it could be their turn next.

“Benjamin.”

“Yes Mr. Morgan.”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes. All four of you please come this way.”

If you disclose all your financial information a bailout review will be conducted.

Benjamin led the four presidents out of the conference room.

thud-

Morgan locked the conference room door and signaled the severity of the situation.

“I don’t have time to be exact but I have already investigated it. I will let you know the exact extent of the damage as soon as I know.”

Morgan’s men shared with those gathered the information they had researched in advance.

It seemed like the report had already been written because they had roughly figured out which companies were vulnerable.

“American Trust. Is anyone interested?”

“What about the Lincoln Trust?”

“What about the First Trust? Next….”

Four companies were named after Knickerbocker.

When I said nothing he looked at me again.

“Your Majesty the curtain has risen on the stage.”

Morgan asked me with a different more friendly expression than before.

“Today four main characters have just appeared on stage. How many of these four can this prince save at his discretion?”

Morgan scolded me when I didn’t answer.

“Please save me Prince.”

“A play… When you say it like that I too am reminded of a line from literature.”

“Yes? A scene from literature?”

Morgan frowned as he blurted out another nonsensical statement.

“What literature are you talking about?”

“You know that Shakespeare novel. There’s that one where it’s like to be or not to be. I guess the question is whether to live or die.”

I who held the power of life and death pretended to think for a moment and fell into deep thought.

Everyone gathered in the conference room held their breath and watched what decision I would make.

“one.”

I said holding up one of my right index fingers.

“I guess I can probably save at least one.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I think we can save the American Trust.”

I quickly added a comment afterwards.

“But there is one stipulation that must be made first. And then… I will spend three million dollars.”

“Three million dollars.”

Those gathered in the conference room focused on the $3 million.

But Morgan.

“It’s a promise…..”

They were more interested in the word promise than in relief or the specific cost of relief.

He leaned toward me and asked.

“Let’s start with the conditions. What kind of agreement do you need?”

“Here are the defects listed….”

I looked at Morgan waving the piece of paper in front of me.

“Aside from that there are additional junks (trash-bad debts) that are being identified.”

“yes.”

“I will guarantee it. If any additional defects are found I will write off the entire amount.”

In short it meant that he would only eat the best.

“….”

It is a condition that can be requested but it is difficult to approve.

I thrust this at Morgan.

“It doesn’t matter who the subject is. But it must be guaranteed in writing by a trustworthy person.”

As with immigration law he stressed that it is not enough to just talk.

Because verbal promises are things that can easily be broken.

The contract must be certain.

“hmm….”

Morgan sighed deeply.

Maybe it’s because he’s been under a lot of stress lately but the wrinkles on his forehead seem to have gotten deeper.

“It’s a reasonable request. We need to bail out one financial institution urgently.”

“yes.”

“Yes. I understand your request Prince.”

Morgan banged the table.

“Ah! Minister Kotelyu did you hear that?”

The name of the Minister of Finance was called.

“huh?”

Kotelyu who was standing next to Morgan nodded his head out of habit then opened his eyes wide when his name was called.

Morgan blinked and looked at Kotelyu again.

“Huh?”

Kotelyu looked at Morgan thinking “What is this atmosphere?” and soon realized why his name was called.

“Huh? So….”

Yes that’s right.

Morgan….

I pushed my claim for guarantee onto Kotelyu.

And that too very cleverly.

<Life and Death> End