Chapter 163: The arrogant homeroom teacher (Part 1)

Arrogant!

This is the first reaction in the hearts of all the students in the finance class after hearing Zhou Ming's declaration. They are all elite students selected from all over the country. They all consider themselves to be the saviours of the country. They feel that their future is to become the pillars of the country's financial and capital industries. They want to help this poor country fight off the invasion of foreign capital. They feel that they are heroes!

For people like this, they are the most arrogant. If they weren't, they wouldn't have driven away so many class teachers before, leaving the central government with no choice but to bring in Zhou Ming. For this reason, even if it was a finance professor saying this today, they would not be convinced, let alone Zhou Ming, a young man of about the same age as them. This made the students in the finance class immediately explode.

'Who do you think you are? Take a good look in the mirror, you're nothing but a maggot in the toilet... I'll give you a piece of my mind, you little punk, four-eyes with buck teeth and a protruding chin, twisted like shit... What's wrong with your brain, you've been taught nothing and brought up badly, heartless and inhumane little brat... You little bastard, the older you get the more of a jerk you become, a complete jerk...'

As he listened to the insults below, Zhou Ming felt a little amused, because he heard the insults in dialects from all over the country, and he couldn't help but be impressed by the breadth and depth of this culture of insults.

'It seems that I was right, you really are rubbish.' Zhou Ming held out his hands, "Look at what you're like now, where do you look like carefully selected elite students? I think if I just picked any old lady from the farmers" market, she could do it!'

After Zhou Ming said this, the curses below became even more intense. In the end, the monitor Chen Shu stood up and told everyone to be quiet. He said to Zhou Ming, 'My friend, as the saying goes, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When you were talking about us, could you reflect on yourself first? Think about it. Who started this situation? Who actually cursed first? Now you're still here arguing with me. I've never met someone as brazen as you!'

Zhou Ming spread out his hands: 'But I'm just an ordinary businessman, I'm not a selected financial elite, I don't consider myself a saviour defending the country's financial system, and I don't want to be a saint. Don't you think that's rather unfair to me?'

When Zhou Ming asked him this, Chen Shu froze for a moment, not knowing what to say. After all, he was still a young student, and even if he was an elite, he could not possibly talk his way past an old fox like Zhou Ming. Don't look at Zhou Ming, he may only look to be in his twenties, but as a reborn person, his actual age is already over fifty. To say that he can't win against a bunch of young people, then these fifty years have really been wasted.

But there is also the impulse of youth. Li Yang, the vice monitor, stood up while Chen Shu was in a daze and said, 'What the hell are you? It's got nothing to do with us. Is that all you can say here? If you've got the balls, show us something real, and stop talking shit here!'

After Li Yang said this, the rest of the people in the finance class suddenly reacted, and they also yelled at Zhou Ming to show his real abilities.

Facing the shouts of these students, Zhou Ming's smile grew even wider, because what they were saying was exactly the result Zhou Ming wanted. Zhou Ming then said, 'Okay, since you want me to show some real skills, I will do as you wish. I just hope you won't cry then.'

After a teasing remark, Zhou Ming continued, 'When I came in, I heard you discussing the issue of currency?'

'Of course we are. We all study finance and economics, and currency is the most basic thing in finance and economics. This friend can't even know that?' A student asked sarcastically in response.

Zhou Ming was unfazed by this level of mockery. He said calmly, 'You all say that our country should open up the currency to a free exchange rate, and that our country's currency should go global and face the market, right?'

'Isn't that the case? A currency can only prove its value in the real market, and as our country's position in the world becomes stronger and stronger, our currency must also go global. Being able to become the core currency of the region and a universal currency internationally is the true symbol of a country's strength, rather than just shutting the door and blowing our own horns like we do now.'

Someone said this next, and it was met with unanimous applause from the other students. It's not that they had just been arguing heatedly and now they were on the same side, but because this was what they had always advocated.

Just like those so-called 'minzidoushu' on the Internet in later generations, everything is the system's fault in their eyes. They yearn for the freedom of the West but want the human touch of the country, yearn for the rule of law in the West but want special policies and special treatment in the country. Anyway, no matter what happens, the country is always wrong. If it happened in a minzhi country, there would be no such thing as poisonous vegetables.

Now these students think the same way, and they may even be more radical now, otherwise there wouldn't be so many things going on.

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said, 'My dear students, first of all, I am very happy that you can pay so much attention to the development of the country. This is a blessing for the country! However, you seem to have overlooked something, and that is the essential problem of the world's common currency.'

'I believe that the term 'US dollar' is not unfamiliar to any of you. Since the US dollar is pegged to gold, and other countries' currencies are pegged to the US dollar, the US dollar has achieved the status of a world currency. Is this the perfect state you imagine? Is this the best reflection of a country's strength? But have you really forgotten the constant crises that have been occurring with the US dollar, and ignored the huge hidden dangers that exist?'

Zhou Ming answered his own question: 'Think about it. As the international currency, the US dollar must be used as the settlement and reserve currency by all countries in order to develop international trade. This will lead to a continuous accumulation of currency flowing out of the United States and a long-term trade deficit for the United States. The premise of the US dollar being the core of the international currency is that the value of the US dollar must remain stable and strong, which in turn requires the United States to be a country with a long-term trade surplus.'

After saying this, Zhou Ming paused for a moment before continuing, 'So don't you all think this is a completely contradictory demand? You are all elites in finance and economics, and I think you can definitely understand what I'm saying.'

Faced with Zhou Ming's words, the students below suddenly fell silent. It wasn't that what Zhou Ming said was abstruse, or that Zhou Ming was arguing with words, but that what Zhou Ming said was exactly the Triffin dilemma that economists all over the world were having trouble with.

Zhou Ming did not stop there. He continued, 'Then let's get back to the issue of our country's currency. I think it is necessary for our country not to open up the internationalisation of its currency at this time.'

'The reason is very simple. The reason the United States was able to launch the Bretton Woods system was because the United States was the country with the world's largest gold reserves, and it had enough gold to support the credibility of the US dollar. Apart from gold, the developed industrial systems and international trade in the United States and other countries were also a guarantee of the national currency. So I would like to ask everyone, what does our country have? Gold or developed international trade?'

No one could answer Zhou Ming's question. Zhou Ming continued, 'So since our gold reserves and international trade are not good enough, what makes you think you should internationalise the currency? What if the Western countries do something at this time to force the currency to appreciate in value, what would be the consequences?'

'To give a very simple example, at present our country's exchange rate against the US dollar is 1:8. An American who comes to China with one million US dollars can exchange it for eight million RMB. Let's say he spends one million RMB a year on food, drink and entertainment, and still has seven million RMB left. If at this time the RMB's exchange rate is liberalised and it is speculated upon by hot money from abroad, causing the exchange rate to rise to 1:7, then when this American goes back to the US with seven million RMB, won't he still have one million US dollars?'

Zhou Ming said, 'Put simply, because of your stupid idea, this American can go to China and spend a whole year eating, drinking and having fun without spending a single penny, and he can even make money!'

'And this is just one American. What would happen if this were applied to the whole country? Our entire country of one billion people could be working for the Americans for no reason for several years because of the appreciation of the RMB! The lesson of the economic collapse of the island country to the east due to the Plaza Accord is still vividly fresh in our minds. How dare you mention this now? Do you really consider yourselves the guardians of the country? Or do you really know nothing at all, and just go on and on about nonsense here?'

Zhou Ming became more and more agitated as he spoke, and finally he was shouting. He calmed down a little and said, 'That's why I say you're rubbish, because you really know nothing at all. You just keep opening your mouths and spouting this and that, without considering whether what you say is feasible. You just want to feel good about yourselves. People like you are really the cancer of the country, the rubbish that the people keep on feeding!'

Zhou Ming's words were like pearls, and every sentence pierced the hearts of the students below, making them unable to lift their heads.

After all, these passionate students nowadays are not the rogue intellectuals of later generations; they simply scold the country for the sake of scolding, and they are utterly shameless. These students nowadays, on the other hand, are truly concerned about the future of the country and have a sense of propriety and integrity. Therefore, Zhou Ming's words deeply moved them.

We want the country to develop better and better. We don't want to see the country work for the Yankees. We want the country's financial economy to reach a higher level! But why has it become like this?

These students were at a loss, because no one had ever said these words to them before. Now that Zhou Ming mentioned them, the impact was no less than a category 10 hurricane.

Of course, for these students, there was an even more important question: who was this Zhou Ming?