125: Chapter 125 The Hellish Frenzy of Tens of Thousands of Mobs

"To completely cut off J.P. Morgan's retreat of begging European financial magnates for help and to prevent Wall Street from being penetrated by European capital..."

Rockefeller summarized earnestly, "I believe temporarily locking this vicious wolf in Umbrella's cage is an extremely cost-effective strategic choice!"

"I understand, Uncle Rockefeller. I will give this matter serious consideration." Lin Tian nodded slightly, acknowledging the proposal.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was May.

Not only was there no sign of the economic crisis easing, but it also snowballed, becoming increasingly brutal!

In the New York metropolitan area alone, over a thousand small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises declared bankruptcy and liquidation within just two months.

More than a hundred local banks were forced to shut down due to bank runs by panicked depositors.

Among them were even several established, mid-sized banks with decades of history and excellent credit.

The total collapse of the financial system directly caused tens of thousands of industrial workers to lose their livelihoods in an instant.

Miserable scenes began to spread across the bustling streets of New York.

Walking down the street, one could see formerly well-dressed, respectable gentlemen who used to frequent high-end restaurants, now leaning numbly against brand-new Lin's Model Ts, hoarsely peddling to passersby:

"Two hundred dollars! Only two hundred dollars in cash! You can drive this brand-new car, just bought a month ago, right away!"

However, the hurried pedestrians on the road all clutched their empty pockets tightly, not even bothering to spare a second glance.

They could barely afford food, so who had spare cash to buy such a gas-guzzling luxury?

At the entrances of some dark, damp, narrow alleys,

one could even see many respectable women who had once lived decent lives, now doing whatever it took to put a piece of black bread in their children's mouths.

Holding back their humiliation with red-rimmed eyes, they would secretly pull at the sleeves of passing men and whisper in trembling voices:

"Fifty cents... Kind sir, for just fifty cents, I'll stay with you all night..."

In this crisis,

the vast number of grassroots farmers in the USA had it slightly better.

Although the crops grown in their fields couldn't be sold at all and rotted in the warehouses, at least their families wouldn't starve.

But the unemployed urban workers who had nothing were the ones who truly fell into hell.

One early morning,

Lin Tian rode in his bulletproof sedan, slowly driving through the bustling main streets of New York.

Through the car window, he saw a sea of people ahead, the dense crowd almost completely blocking the entire street.

Countless gaunt, bloodshot-eyed unemployed workers held up crude protest signs, roaring frantically in the streets like a pack of desperate beasts:

"We need jobs! We need bread! We want to live!!!"

Immediately after,

tens of thousands of unemployed workers pushed to the brink completely lost their minds.

They began looting, smashing, and burning on the streets of New York, triggering a massive riot of terrifying proportions.

Seeing this, Lin Tian knew very well in his heart: the crisis had finally reached its bloodiest and most brutal moment of reckoning.

"Stop! Abandon the car immediately!"

Lin Tian decisively gave the order, shouting to the bodyguard in the driver's seat, "The road ahead is blocked. We absolutely cannot let ourselves be surrounded by this irrational mob. Evacuate immediately!"

No sooner had he spoken,

seven or eight elite bodyguards dressed in custom black suits, their waists bulging, quickly pushed open the car doors.

They highly-trainedly shielded Lin Tian tightly in the center, forming a human wall to escort him quickly back into a nearby secluded alley.

Less than three minutes after they evacuated,

Lin Tian's priceless bulletproof vehicles were instantly engulfed by the tide of raging workers. Under the frantic battering of countless iron bars and bricks, they quickly turned into piles of scrap metal.

...

The sparks of the riot, like wildfire fanned by strong winds, rapidly spread across the country.

New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco...

In almost all major industrial cities across America, extremely violent labor riots erupted one after another within just a few days.

The news reached Washington.

Sitting in the Oval Office of The White House, President Benjamin Harrison looked at the telegrams for help flying in from all over like snowflakes, growing so anxious that a large portion of his hair turned white.

His presidential term still had a year and a half left, and he was still dreaming of reelection.

But he never expected that, at this exact critical juncture, the USA would suffer an unprecedented economic collapse!

He hurriedly called the Secretary of the Treasury to his office, slamming the table as he demanded emergency funds from the treasury to rescue the market.

However, the Secretary of the Treasury's response instantly made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave:

"Mr. President, there is... not a single penny left in the treasury."

Not only was there no money, but what was even more fatal was that the Federal Government's remaining gold reserves had plummeted to a pitiful dozen or so tons!

The USA of this era was not the rogue nation of later generations that could harvest the world's wealth relying on "dollar hegemony."

In later generations, whenever The White House faced an economic crisis, the Federal Reserve's printing presses could run at full throttle, frantically printing green dollars.

Because countries all over the world reluctantly held US dollars as foreign exchange reserves, they were forced to passively help the USA distribute its inflation risks.

But in 1893, this rogue tactic simply wouldn't work!

The current financial system was a solid gold standard.

For every dollar of paper currency the government printed and put into the market, the treasury had to hold a corresponding value of gold as hard currency reserve collateral.

If they frantically printed "fiat currency" without any value backing and without sufficient gold reserves,

once they faced malicious short-selling and financial attacks from international capital,

the entire country's monetary system would face an instant catastrophe, and the currency would directly turn into waste paper!

By then, all the wealth and foundation accumulated by the USA over the decades would be plundered overnight by European capital!

No matter how eager President Harrison was for quick success, even with a hundred times his courage, he would never dare to risk the destruction of the nation to start up the printing presses.

However, even though he clearly knew where the problem lay,

Harrison, as the president of a nation, was at his wit's end and could not come up with any solution to break the deadlock.

Originally, he had hoped that the financial giants of Wall Street, who could summon the wind and rain, would throw him a lifeline.

But soon, top-secret intelligence from the front lines shattered his illusions:

Wall Street was already in a complete mess, "strewn with corpses"!

Those bankers and capital magnates who usually threw their weight around could barely save themselves in this storm.

Countless established banks and trust institutions were lining up to cry to the federal court for bankruptcy protection.

The financial nerve center of the entire nation was completely paralyzed!

Just when Benjamin Harrison was so desperate that he wanted to submit his resignation,

the red secure presidential phone on his desk suddenly rang urgently.

"Report, Mr. President!"

The voice of The White House's confidential secretary carried a hint of hard-to-conceal excitement:

"We just received a call on the hotline! Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Bruce Lin of New York have jointly extended an invitation to you. They request that you come to New York as soon as possible to attend an extremely important closed-door dinner!"

Hearing these two names,

a burst of ecstatic light suddenly erupted in Benjamin Harrison's previously dead eyes.

Perhaps in the face of this catastrophe, everyone else in America was at their wits' end.

But regarding these two unfathomable super-giants, Harrison still held onto a final, unrealistic sliver of hope.

Most importantly, they had chosen this exact moment of national survival to proactively call and invite him to New York.

Even a fool could guess that this was definitely not as simple as having dinner. They must have the ultimate bargaining chip to turn the tide in their hands!

"Quick! Notify the Secret Service to prepare the cars immediately! Arrange the presidential train at once!"

President Harrison stood up abruptly and impatiently gave the highest order: "I must head to New York immediately for a top-level secret investigation!"

"Yes, Mr. President!" The secretary responded loudly, turning and running out to arrange the itinerary.

...

The distance from Washington to New York was around four hundred kilometers at most.

When Benjamin Harrison's presidential train secretly arrived at the New York station,

Lin Tian had already arranged the top-tier motorcade to pick up the exhausted president directly and take him to the newly opened, outrageously luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

To ensure absolute security, Lin Tian had even booked the entire presidential suite on the top floor of the hotel.

This allowed Harrison to take a comfortable hot bath and have a peaceful night's sleep.

The next evening,

the dinner jointly hosted by Rockefeller and Lin Tian reached the highest level of security.

Aside from President Benjamin Harrison, they did not invite any other political or business figures.

The location was set inside the dining room of the heavily guarded main building of Lin Manor.

In front of an expensive mahogany banquet table that was over ten meters long,

sat only Rockefeller, Lin Tian, and Elizabeth and Anna as accompanying guests.

Luxurious tableware made of pure gold gleamed under the lights, and exquisite European silver candlesticks burned high-grade seaweed candles that emitted a faint fragrance.

The setup of the entire dinner exuded an indescribable high-end quality in its quiet luxury.

A row of maids in clean maid uniforms pushed elegantly styled food carts, weaving like butterflies to serve top-tier delicacies meticulously prepared by Michelin-level chefs onto the table in a steady stream.

Once all the dishes and fine wines were in place, the maids quietly exited the dining room, closing the heavy doors behind them.

Sitting at the head of the long table, Lin Tian elegantly picked up a glass of crimson high-end red wine, looked around, and said clearly:

"Everyone, please raise your glasses. Let us welcome President Benjamin Harrison with our warmest sincerity!"

Hearing Lin Tian's toast, Rockefeller and the others raised their glasses with smiles.

"Thank you for your warm hospitality, Mr. Bruce and Mr. Rockefeller. It is my honor!"

Benjamin Harrison immediately stood up, keeping his posture extremely low, and toasted back with both hands before draining his glass of red wine.

Everyone took their seats in turn, and the dinner officially began.