Dressed in white silk robes, Muhammad bin Al-Saud walked down the corridor leading to the conference hall with his secretary, surrounded by diplomats from Europe and America. Even now, Muhammad could not be entirely certain why China had invited a representative of the Saudi Arabian head of state to attend a conference gathered with the Great Powers. What was more, the initial invitation had come from an American businessman named Rockefeller. Even so, Muhammad bin Al-Saud had accepted his brother's orders to come to China.

The conference hall was rectangular, with a round table in the center surrounded by four chairs. On the table before each chair stood a national flag. Muhammad could clearly distinguish the British Union Jack, the French Tricolor, and the American Stars and Stripes. The remaining one was naturally the Chinese flag.

It took the Saudi Arabian special envoy Muhammad a few seconds to connect the red five-star flag with China. In the British books he had read previously, China's flag was the Five-Colored Flag of horizontal stripes. After Saudi Arabia was invited, Muhammad bin Al-Saud, as the special envoy, had naturally chosen British diplomatic materials, which misled him due to their lack of updates.

Special Envoy Muhammad did not mind this much. On January 8, 1926, Abdulaziz became the King of the territories he ruled. The *Treaty of Jeddah*, signed on May 20, 1927, made Saudi Arabia formally independent of British rule. Using British materials was an instinctive choice for Saudi Arabia.

China was not entirely unfamiliar to Muhammad. There were several lines about China in the scriptures, the most famous being, "Seek knowledge even as far as China." To be able to arrive in the China spoken of by the Prophet to attend this conference gave Muhammad a sense of solemnity. Although he had mistaken the style of the Chinese flag, Muhammad had heard of the major events of the past few years. China had defeated Japan and, under French mediation, had accepted Britain's peace proposal, choosing to cease hostilities with Britain.

In French propaganda, Britain had been beaten by China into throwing away their helmets and armor, collapsing almost completely in Asia and about to flee back to Europe. Out of love for Europe, France had stepped in to mediate the war between China and Britain. To end the war, the British Empire had been forced to cede Upper Burma and the Assam region to appease the anger of He Rui, the Chairman of the Republic of China whose status was equivalent to a Great Emperor of China, thus establishing peace talks.

Saudi Arabia had only been able to establish its state after achieving unification with British acquiescence; naturally, they held a sense of admiration and respect for China, a country capable of forcing Britain to cede territory and sue for peace.

Outside the central round table was a semi-circular long table. Flags, including Saudi Arabia's, were placed at equal distances on the table, with seats behind them. Guided by staff, Muhammad bin Al-Saud sat in the seat behind the Saudi flag. Looking left and right, he found the spacious interval between seats very comfortable.

At this moment, a staff member picked up headphones from the table and taught the Saudi envoy delegation how to use them. Putting on the headphones with their soft padding and hearing a familiar Arabic voice coming from them, Muhammad felt a sense of warmth. He had thought he would have to listen to foreign languages that sounded like bird calls and watch the diplomats gesturing, essentially sitting there dryly waiting for news from others.

Now, the Arabic voice in the headphones said to him, *'The speeches of various countries will be directly translated into Arabic. Please listen with ease, Mr. Muhammad; you will understand what the diplomats of each country are saying in real-time.'* This made Muhammad unable to resist asking, "Brother, can you let me see who is speaking to me?"

The staff member politely invited Muhammad to stand. Soon, the Saudi Arabian envoy delegation arrived at the area beneath the visitor's gallery through another passage. This turned out to be a large room partitioned into multiple small rooms. Once inside a small room, they could hear absolutely no sound from outside. The front of the small room was a glass window, through which they could see who was speaking.

Seeing that the three people inside the small room were all Chinese, Muhammad bin Al-Saud felt very surprised. But as soon as they opened their mouths, one of their voices matched the voice from the headphones perfectly. This prompted Muhammad to step forward and embrace this brother. In Saudi Arabia, no one understood Chinese. He had not expected that in distant China, there were quite a few brothers who understood Arabic.

Although the Saudi envoy delegation experienced various surprises, the other countries attending the conference did not pay much attention to Saudi Arabia. In previous diplomatic communications, the countries had gathered that the Chinese government had invited Saudi Arabia—where oil fields might potentially exist—because of the activities of the American oil magnate Rockefeller.

On May 26, 1908, a scientific expedition conducting geological surveys for Britain discovered the first massive oil field in the Middle East at the border of Iran and Iraq—the Masjid Suleiman oil field. The historical course of the Middle East changed from that point. In the following twenty-plus years, Britain and France discovered quite a few oil fields in the Middle East. These oil fields were basically located in places like Iraq and Iran. Saudi Arabia, covered in desert, had shown no signs of oil fields up to now and was considered an oil-poor country.

Because Britain believed Saudi Arabia had no oil, speculators saw an opportunity. The American oil tycoon Rockefeller, through his investments in China, had reached a cooperative relationship with the Chinese government. Rockefeller, whose style in the commercial field was arrogant, had formed a personal friendship with He Rui. Therefore, in June 1930, the Saudi government signed a concession agreement with the Standard Oil Company of California (the predecessor of Chevron) and the China Petroleum Investment Company under the China Petroleum Corporation. They established the Saudi Arabian-American-Chinese Joint Oil Company. This joint venture, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, obtained the rights to conduct oil exploration in most parts of the Saudi Kingdom.

For this reason, the Chinese government invited Saudi Arabia to send a delegation as observers to attend the Four-Power Economic Conference of China, the US, the UK, and France. Other countries considered this merely a major overseas investment by China and did not care much about the appearance of this young country, Saudi Arabia, on the international stage. Making money was business; there was nothing shabby about it.

During his visit, Muhammad bin Al-Saud had read all available materials regarding the relations between China, the US, the UK, and France. According to the introduction by the British advisors traveling with him, Muhammad concluded that Britain and the United States believed the agreement between China and France constituted unfair trade, preventing British and American investment in China.

Muhammad could not quite understand the thinking of Britain and the United States regarding this explanation. Since China could beat Britain until it cried for its father and mother, then who China wanted to do business with, and who it didn't want to do business with, was China's affair. What did it have to do with Britain and the United States?

China, which could have told Britain and the US to get lost with a single sentence, had actually decided to hold such an international conference. In Muhammad's view, China was also constrained by the power of Britain and the US and had to agree to the meeting. As to whether China was truly afraid of Britain and the US, Muhammad prepared to see the results at the conference.

As the meeting was about to begin, Muhammad put on his headphones, waiting somewhat anxiously. When the translator's Arabic finally came through the headphones, Muhammad felt much more at ease. The Minister of Economic Affairs spoke: "Respected gentlemen, welcome to Shanghai, China, to attend the Shangri-La Economic Conference..."

After a lengthy introduction of the representatives from various countries, the Chinese Minister of Economic Affairs finally entered the main topic. "...China has always believed that the Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement is not an exclusionary agreement. Both China and France have always been willing to invite countries around the world to participate with an open and inclusive attitude. However, the foundation of the Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement—that is, the Chinese government's use of the Franc as the currency for China's limited international use—conforms to the customs and economic interests of both China and France, so the Chinese government will not make adjustments. Apart from this, China is willing to negotiate with all countries with an open attitude..."

Hearing this, Muhammad felt that China was being coerced by Britain and the United States. France was also an important participant in the Middle East and had many colonies there; Muhammad felt that the French side would likely express opposition. But when the French Foreign Minister spoke, Muhammad listened to more than half of the content and couldn't help but be disappointed. "...Therefore, based on France's lofty moral standards, France believes there is reason for China and France to listen to the opinions of all countries. Because neither French nor Chinese culture is an island culture, and neither aims at aggression. As heirs to great civilizations, France believes that China and France have an obligation to the world economy and even the development of human society..."

If the Chinese Finance Minister's words allowed Muhammad to understand China's thinking, the French Foreign Minister's speech sounded simply baffling to him. But looking at the representatives of various countries, Muhammad discovered that these people were actually listening to this nonsense very seriously. This forced Muhammad to suppress his impatience and continue listening.

Unlike Muhammad's feelings, the diplomatic corps of other countries felt that China and France were very sincere. This meeting had almost no wrangling and went straight to the point. What Britain and the US looked forward to most was breaking up the foundation of Sino-French economic cooperation—China using the Franc as the main international trade currency. Both China and France expressed resolute opposition to this. Apart from this unshakable foundation, China and France did indeed make compromises. China expressed willingness to allow countries to conduct larger-scale investments in China, and the scope of investment was also loosened.

When China stated that since it was willing to purchase equipment from the United States and Britain, China would borrow funds from the UK and the US, the representatives of observer nations other than Saudi Arabia felt their opportunity had finally come. At this stage, China mainly allowed French companies to invest in China. Now, by borrowing money, China was essentially lifting restrictions on investment from countries around the world. All countries in the world had the opportunity to invest and make money in the Chinese market, which meant that the world could finally share the fat meat that had originally belonged only to France.

Hearing this, and seeing the delightful expressions of the representatives around him, Muhammad felt baffled. China borrowing money from Britain and the US seemed to Saudi Arabia like something inexplicable and problematic. According to Saudi daily life, Muhammad believed that when the time came for China to repay the money, it was very likely to break out into conflict with Britain and the US. So he felt there must be something wrong with this agreement.

But after a day and a half of meetings, the first joint statement of the four nations—China, US, UK, and France—was released: "While adhering to the Franc as the priority currency for international payments, China will not renew the Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement. Britain and the United States will both establish Special Drawing Rights accounts for China's use in procurement. The Sino-French Investment Bank, headquartered in Shanghai, will provide services to investors from all countries in the world."

After the first joint statement came out, the meeting felt dull to Muhammad. The words of the representatives of the four nations, after being translated into Arabic, were already unrecognizable and completely confusing. Muhammad found that the other observer delegations also gradually lost interest. Conversely, the visitor's gallery was packed; many people who were not reporters had come to audit the meeting. Judging by their attire, many seemed to be students.

The meeting went on for five days before the second joint communiqué was submitted: "The Bank of China will establish a Financial Management Bank targeted at foreign investment to handle international settlement work."

At this time, Muhammad bin Al-Saud did not yet understand the international diplomatic habit where the fewer the words, the bigger the matter. The British and American reporters, however, sent this news back to their countries first and immediately began sending back their own observations and comments.

The BBC's news was: "Major Financial Breakthrough: Sterling Gains Equal Treatment with Franc in China!"

The Wall Street Journal's headline was: "Restrictions on Dollar Investment in China to be Fully Lifted; American Investment Will Have Unimpeded Access to China From Now On!"

Reporters from both Britain and the US knew their reports leaned towards exaggeration. But from the end of 1929 to early 1932, for more than two years, the economies of Britain and the US had been struggling in the Great Depression. Both were powerful industrial nations with huge advantages in technology, capital, and finance. What the two countries needed now was not real profit, but the confidence to make other countries believe their economies were bound to improve. It didn't matter if the headlines were exaggerated; as long as the citizens of both countries had confidence in their own economies, all problems could be solved.

Just as the reporters of the two countries expected, after the convening of the Four-Power Economic Conference, speculative trends appeared in the stock markets of London and New York. Especially in New York, the US stock market, which had already fallen by 90%, finally saw a batch of buyers.

At this moment, Bush and his friends were among these buyers. On the roof of the Morgan building, Bush and his friend held wine glasses, looking down at the street scene of New York below. Two years ago, this building was full of stock traders working through the night, and the streets of New York below were feasting and reveling. Now the building was empty; those financial sector staff had mostly been fired. The remaining small portion was less than one-tenth of before; these people only needed to work during the day to handle the Morgan consortium's financial business.

On the streets of New York, the neon lights were less than one-fifth of what they were two years ago, and there were far fewer streetlights. The New York City government now shouldered massive debt and had to save expenses by every means possible.

The two old classmates from the Skull and Bones society stood on the roof looking down, only to see the muzzle flash of a pistol shot in the dark street. A moment later, a faint gunshot reached the roof. It proved that a crime was taking place in the dark streets.

"My brother, do you think Mr. He Rui will really conduct large-scale procurement from the United States?" Morgan asked, smoking a cigar.

Bush nodded. "I believe Mr. He Rui is a very wise statesman; he understands what the United States needs right now."

Morgan, however, was somewhat disappointed. "Our Morgan consortium is willing to provide offshore settlement services for the Chinese Yuan, but looking at Mr. He Rui's meaning, he hopes that a bank established by China in the United States will be responsible for this. I think the Federal Reserve will very likely refuse."

Bush shook his head. "I don't think the Federal Reserve will refuse the establishment of an offshore settlement bank for the Chinese Yuan. They might worry that China will use such a situation to leverage gold out of the United States."

"You must be joking!" Morgan sneered. His remark was not directed at his old classmate but at the sheer absurdity of such a view.

But the next day's newspaper almost made Morgan, who was eating breakfast, spit out his fried egg. Morgan hurriedly looked away from the newspaper, quickly chewed and swallowed the egg, and washed it down with a mouthful of coffee. Only then did he pick up the newspaper again.

"...With the completion of the credit line between China and the US, Chinese ships coming to the US to transport gold have already set sail from Shanghai port!" Reading this paragraph again, Morgan's first reaction was that this local New York newspaper, which focused on tabloid news, had gone mad. After thinking for a moment, Morgan began to feel that someone must be playing tricks. Immediately, Morgan suspected that people opposed to Sino-US economic cooperation within the Federal Reserve had fabricated this news.

Putting down the newspaper, Morgan immediately called his friend at the Federal Reserve. Hearing the content of the newspaper Morgan recounted, the friend on the other end was stunned. He hesitated for a good while before asking, "You don't believe there's really such a thing, do you?"

Morgan retorted angrily, "Please don't joke with me! Have you forgotten that Morgan Bank is also a shareholder of the Federal Reserve?"

The Federal Reserve System, or the Fed, is a private central bank in the United States. The First and Second Banks of the United States were eventually forced to close because they were not accepted by the public; one important reason was that both banks were located in Philadelphia in the Northeast and were believed by many to serve primarily a few wealthy merchants in the Northeast rather than all Americans. The Fed seriously learned from this lesson when it was established.

In terms of organizational form, the Fed adopted a dual structure of a federal government agency plus non-profit institutions, thereby avoiding the complete concentration of monetary policy in the hands of the federal government. One of the initial intentions of the Fed in setting up 12 Federal Reserve Banks as non-profit institutions rather than government agencies was to hope that when formulating monetary policy, the voices of both the government and the private sector could be considered simultaneously. Although the Federal Reserve Board in Washington is part of the US federal government, the 12 Federal Reserve Banks do not belong to federal government agencies but are non-profit private organizations. But it needs to be emphasized that Federal Reserve Banks are different from general private organizations. Federal Reserve Banks do not aim for profit and, together with the Federal Reserve Board, assume the public functions of the US central bank.

J.P. Morgan & Co. is one of the shareholders of the Federal Reserve. Although it cannot decide the policy of the US central bank, it has a significant voice in the US banking business.

Theoretically, the possibility of China shipping gold away from the US did exist. But in practical operation, there was absolutely no possibility. Morgan had already sensed a threat from such news; obviously, someone wanted to deliberately sabotage Sino-US cooperation. So Morgan asked, "Please be sure to investigate who exactly wants to do this!"

The friend on the other end hesitated for a while before answering, "Do you think it could be the British?"