stjorthotic Chapter 348 Larry's Liquidity Depletion and the Reversal of the Judicial Gamble
Chapter 348 Larry's Liquidity Depletion and the Reversal of the Judicial Gamble
Chapter 348 Larry's Liquidity Depletion and the Reversal of the Judicial Gamble
Larry spent the rest of the week dealing with his own affairs.
Larry scraped together the money he "lent" to King Astor III. The 20 [units of currency] previously paid to the Reynolds Tobacco Company...
After losing $10,000, only $647,000 remained in the New York bank account. Citibank had only $1,090,000 left.
After the $150 million was transferred, $14.7 remained in the New York bank account, and $9 remained in Citibank.
Larry then took some time to visit Rockefeller Jr., and learned that the latter had already prepared the "Oil and Gas Chemicals Research Institute" and had gathered a project team of two professors from the University of Chicago and MIT to begin studying the subsequent use of gasoline.
The research project is on track. Larry invested $30, giving him a 75% stake in the institute. John D. Rockefeller Jr. invested $10, holding a 25% stake.
Previously, the two had only had a verbal agreement, but today, Larry finally received his shareholding contract.
As they parted, Rockefeller Jr. specifically told Larry, "My father has learned about your research project—"
He wasn't optimistic about the project's prospects, but he thought it was a good idea not to waste gasoline.
Larry said solemnly, "Thank you. Please give my regards to your father! I will visit him in person if I have the opportunity."
After completing the project, Larry went back to his good friend Logan, through whom he received payment from the Boers in South Africa.
Larry had already received a portion of the advance payment in gold coins and diamonds, worth $150,000.
The South Africans have now paid the remaining prepayment—a total of £6, equivalent to about $30. This included gold coins, diamonds, and US dollar cash.
The initial agreement stipulated that 25% of the Boer's advance payment would be made in gold coins and diamonds, with the remainder in cash; however, the final value of the gold and diamonds was $23, with only $7 in cash.
Bohr was worried that Larry wouldn't agree to pay with such a large proportion of gold coins, but Larry didn't care at all.
If possible, he even wanted to pay all the debts in gold coins.
Among them are 36,000 Sovereign gold coins, each worth $180,000 and costing one pound sterling.
Larry kept 2 gold coins in his safe at his Dakota apartment, and the remaining 6 gold coins were stored in Morgan Bank's private vault.
Unfortunately, even though my own vault is quite large, its space is ultimately limited. Besides, I can't put all my eggs in one basket.
In addition to the gold coins, the Boers paid a $5 advance in diamonds—Larry kept only the five largest-looking diamonds as original souvenirs, and gave the rest to Mr. Porter to transfer to Tiffany & Co.
An unexpected situation arose: the Boers valued diamonds using the price recognized by the Commonwealth of Nations, but the price of diamonds in the United States was higher than that of the Commonwealth.
Ultimately, Tiffany & Co. valued Larry's diamonds at $62050. In addition to paying Mr. Porter a 1% commission, Larry received $11500—plus the five diamonds in the safe.
In the end, the $5 from selling the diamonds, plus the $7 in cash from the South Africans, totaled $12.
Larry withdrew another $18 from his bank account—the money he had swallowed in gold coins—and then transferred the $30 to Browning Brothers Firearms Company's account.
This was, after all, public funds from a firearms order. He simply passed it around in his own hands, leaving behind 36,000 gold coins and 5 diamonds, as well as an additional $11,500 in exchange revenue.
Currently, Morgan Bank's private vault contains $400,000 in American Eagle gold coins and 30,000 Sovereign gold coins contributed by Cecil Rhodes. Adding to this the current 26,000 Sovereign gold coins given by the Boers, the total value of gold coins is $680,000.
However, Larry now has far less cash on hand, aside from the $18 he transferred to Browning Brothers Arms Company. He also paid the remaining $2.7 for furniture.
Now there's only $4 left in the New York bank account and $1 left in Citibank. That's just over $5 in total.
It's practically a liquidity crunch —
Larry remembered that not long ago, he had a lot of money in his account—now his bank account was in such a desperate state!
Being rich is really tough; there are so many expenses. Some money, once converted into stocks, becomes stagnant and can't circulate; some money, once converted into gold coins, is never used again. This leads to a huge loss of cash.
Of course, there's still money in my stock account.
Paine Weber had $43 in cash in his stock account.
Reading Company had even more money in its account, including the original $120 million in bank drafts as collateral, an additional $100 million injected by itself, and 24 shares of American Tobacco stock.
This money was used to get Baruch to help him buy American tobacco.
In addition, he had $246,000 in his futures account at Lehman Brothers.
This money was also used to have Baruch buy and sell futures on his behalf, setting a trap for that expert.
Therefore, if you want to make money, you can only look at whether there are opportunities in the stock market — but you can't rush it. If you force it when there are no opportunities, the greater chance is that you will lose money.
Larry deposited the $1 in cash he had received from the diamond exchange into a safe and carried the remaining $1500 with him.
Larry plans to live a frugal life for a while, mainly because he's hesitant to make any big, impulsive investments. Equity investing is just too expensive!
In addition, the first trial of Huang Meitang's case has concluded.
In the US judicial process at this time, the core task of the trial is to complete the selection of the jury, with both sides having no objections to the jury.
Afterwards, both sides made their statements in court, with the prosecution presenting evidence and the defense cross-examining each other.
Once all evidence has been presented, both sides will make their closing arguments. The judge will then instruct the jury to deliberate, and the jury will ultimately determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.
The facts of this case were particularly complex, with numerous witnesses. The first trial lasted two days, during which the prosecution called several witnesses, including the deceased's friend Robert, the old chef from the Chinese restaurant, police officers, and a forensic doctor.
The defense called expert witnesses from a third-party forensic department and presented independent physical evidence, such as a table with brass corners and the deceased's alcohol report.
Over two days, the jury heard multiple rounds of testimony, and the complex facts had caused the jury's brains to collectively crash.
Therefore, the trial proceedings never progressed to the closing arguments and jury deliberations stage, and as a result, no verdict was reached.
The judge announced in court: The case is adjourned and will be reopened on July 20, 1892.
Although the first court hearing has concluded, the extensive newspaper coverage, the issuance of gambling tickets, and especially the deep involvement of Harvard Law School—
This has led to increasingly intense public attention on the case among elites, ordinary citizens, and university experts.
Larry had anticipated this outcome, but his focus remained on the betting odds.
The bonds representing Huang Meitang's guilt had already been issued in 15 during the trial, and were all issued within two days after the first trial.
The New York area is still dominated by no bonds, but speculators have started to go long on yes bonds for arbitrage.
But in Boston, a large number of people, including laundry workers in Chinatown, restaurant workers, and the lower classes, bought yes bonds that found Huang Meitang innocent.
With the encouragement of social activists, people have come to realize the absurdity of the case. The Boston Globe went even further, expressing its opinion bluntly:
The headline reads: "Were the Chinese acting in self-defense? Key testimony shakes the prosecution's case."
The testimony mainly comes from Robert, a friend and Chinese colleague of the deceased: "Tom attacked the old man first, and Huang Meitang was only trying to stop him. The conflict only occurred afterward."
The argument is that if this incident involved a conflict between two white people resulting in one of them hitting a table corner, it would certainly be ruled an accident. The reason this case remains unresolved is due to discrimination against Chinese people.
But what brought about a crucial turning point in the market was something else entirely—Harvard Law School students who had just attended the court hearing raised 2...
$000 was used to purchase Yes bonds.
Law students verbally agree not to interfere with the judiciary or express opinions. But in reality, they've been betting on the judiciary.
Even a fool could deduce the facts they believed from their behavior.
Awakened, New York investors began buying Yes bonds in droves, and a week after the trial concluded, the Yes bonds were sold out.
However, most of the "yes" bonds were still held by lower-class individuals who sympathized with Huang Meitang. 717 convenience stores were an important channel for the sale of these gambling tickets, and the store clerks' sales pitches became increasingly blatant.
Customers leaving convenience stores often share a common opinion: buying now is like getting free money!
Feedback from the Dead Rabbit Gang issuers indicates that some people have begun buying Yes bonds at high prices on the black market.
Larry was very pleased with this change.
What he wanted was never Huang Meitang's acquittal itself, but rather for people in New York and Boston to believe that "he might be acquitted."
Once the market starts pricing tickets based on "possibility" rather than race, the first crack appears in the dam of prejudice.
And the gap will only get bigger as you tear it open.
The laundry worker, formerly known as the "yellow-skinned devil," begins to set the wheels of fate in motion.
The price of the bets fluctuates, but what truly fluctuates are the millions of hearts that begin to think.
Larry understood one thing: when prejudice becomes a tradable risk, rationality should step in.
But things were never going to go smoothly. On July 11, the issuer of the Dead Rabbit Gang sent a telegram to Mr. K, requesting the issuance of more No bonds.
It is said that a major client from Boston believes that the Chinese are unlikely to overturn the verdict and is preparing to acquire a large amount of No. 1 bonds.
When Mr. K called Larry to report on the matter, he also provided an additional piece of information: local newspapers, led by the Boston Globe, began to change their tune.
Newspapers began to viciously attack the Irish community, accusing them of being cowardly and submissive. In particular, they criticized a certain high-ranking official who considered himself a protector of the Celts, claiming he had betrayed his people to protect himself.
Upon hearing this news, Larry instantly understood that the person investigating him in Boston had made their move.
Secondly, his target wasn't just himself, but rather Senator Kennedy. The opposing side intended to escalate the conflict, hoping to force the Irish constituency to abandon Kennedy.
Larry asked, "Has anyone volunteered to step forward?"
"Yes, a man named Thomas Shee stood up and published an editorial in the newspaper saying that Huang Meitang's problem was not a racial issue, but an issue of order."
If violence can absolve one of responsibility, then tomorrow and the day after, every outsider will dare to punch the order. He publicly purchased $2 worth of NO bonds in his personal capacity to defend the rule of law in Boston.
"Is he a Republican?"
Larry thought the Republicans would be the first to speak out, and Senator Adams was particularly suspicious.
Unexpectedly, Mr. K said, "No, that person is a Boston banker, a real estate tycoon, and also the finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Northeast District."
How could this be? Is this a staged performance, or is the financial backer publicly expressing their dissatisfaction with Kennedy?
Larry thought for a few seconds and quickly made a decision: who cares who has a conflict with whom, this is taking sides.
"Tell the Dead Rabbit Gang that Yes bonds will no longer be issued, and 10 No bonds will be issued instead! Anyway, we're already in an invincible position, so we don't mind if they jump out and take sides now —"
Larry said firmly.
Two days later, 10 new No. bonds flooded the market and were immediately snapped up.
This time, not only did the Irish community collectively subscribe to No bonds, but even many Democratic and Republican elites with a strong desire to perform publicly stated that they would buy No bonds, firmly believing that Chinese people must be sentenced to death by hanging.
Under the new circumstances, the odds for both sets of betting tickets have changed.
Some people who bought Yes bonds secretly sold them on the black market, fearing being labeled as "unpatriotic."
The situation where yes bonds were in high demand and short supply a few days ago has disappeared.
Especially in Boston, whether to buy a yes or no has become a sensitive topic.
Friends often get into fights over which betting side to take, and friendships can capsize in an instant.
Larry couldn't help but think of the internet in his previous life, where whenever a social hot topic emerged, especially topics like genetically modified organisms and traditional Chinese medicine, it was easy for discussions to turn into confrontations and attacks between two sides.
Thinking of the great debates on taking sides 100 years ago, Larry couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking to himself, "That's just how people are."
Everyone believes they see the truth and are right. But in reality, this issue was used by behind-the-scenes manipulators (such as Larry Livingston and Thomas Sheey from Boston) to incite social conflict.
Each individual may be rational or irrational, but when it escalates to group thinking, especially when it comes to taking sides in a black-and-white manner, it is 100% likely to become a "mob".
Because individuals lose their rationality in a group, succumb to suggestion, are swayed by emotions, and may use the name of justice to carry out prejudices.
Starting July 16, a strange frenzy permeated the streets of Boston.
Many of those who were spurred on flocked to 717-Eleven stores not to buy bread or newspapers, but for that crudely printed gambling ticket marked "no"—as if pulling out 75 cents would prove they were on the right side of order, law, and white dignity.
They chanted their slogan, "Convict! They must be convicted!"
At that moment, no one cared whether the evidence was sufficient or whether the defendant's self-defense was justified. Everyone wanted to use the blood of a foreigner to quell the flames of anxiety within their own community.
In this escalating identity crisis, some people who were complaining about the deceased Tom's drunkenness and disorderly conduct yesterday are now raising their fists and chanting "revenge for white people."
Some people used to publicly praise Huang Meitang Milk Tea Shop for being clean and punctual, but now they tell their neighbors that "Chinese people are ultimately untrustworthy."
Even the city hall clerks, who privately admitted that "the evidence in this case is weak," publicly took the lead in subscribing to no-bonds. When asked why he made this choice, they replied...
He replied helplessly, "I have to choose sides, otherwise I'll lose my job!"
Thus, two months after the Huang Meitang case, a European doctor who knew the whole story wrote the following in his manuscript: "The masses never crave the truth. Faced with facts that do not suit their tastes, they choose to turn away; if illusions are more alluring, they are more willing to worship them as gods."
Within a group, individual intelligence gradually dissipates, while emotional factors are amplified, and the group's influence spreads like a plague.
People can be executioners, or martyrs—but they can never be thinkers.
This doctor was named Gustave Le Bon, and his manuscript eventually became a book—"The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind".
After public sentiment was deliberately inflamed, the court postponed the second hearing to August 1.
day.
Throughout the entire affair, only Larry, who orchestrated the whole thing, remained calm and composed.
Because he knew that only by pushing this madness to its extreme could the crowd discover that the idol they worshipped was actually a clay sculpture.
Only clay statues of gods can crack, and only through the cracks can light shine through!