Once he had set his goal, Zhong Shi began to formulate his plans.
The Latin American debt crisis that erupted in 1982 had already happened, and it might be too late to make a fortune from it. However, the "Plaza Accord" of 1985 and the subsequent appreciation of the Japanese yen, the unprecedented prosperity of the Japanese capital market, the "Black Monday" of 1987, and the bursting of the Japanese stock market bubble in 1989—all these major events would present him with opportunities.
The Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s can be traced back to the two oil crises of the 1970s. In 1973, the Fourth Middle East War broke out, and to strike at Israel and its backer, the United States, Arab countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an oil embargo, halting exports, which caused a sharp rise in global oil prices. The price of oil soared from less than $3 per barrel at the time to $13. The Arab countries that initiated the oil war quickly strengthened their economic power, with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into these countries.
The second oil crisis occurred in 1978, triggered by political turmoil in Iran and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War. Iran's oil production plummeted, disrupting the global crude oil market's supply and demand balance. Oil prices surged from $13 per barrel in 1979 to $34 per barrel in 1981, and OPEC countries once again reaped enormous profits.
However, while these countries were raking in money, they also had their troubles. OPEC countries generally had small domestic economies, and after using the dollars for domestic economic development, they still had a large amount of "petrodollars" left over. These funds needed to find suitable investment channels. If they were not allowed to continue to flow and appreciate, it would undoubtedly be a huge waste.
These dollars eventually flowed into the "Eurodollar market" and the U.S. capital market, becoming bank deposits and securities such as stocks and bonds. With the influx of a large amount of "petrodollars," U.S. financial institutions began to expand aggressively, and banks like Citibank, Chase Manhattan, and Bank of America became giants during this period.
Considering national strategy, the United States began to vigorously support pro-American Latin American developing countries in the 1970s. U.S. financial institutions saw the opportunity and began to lend to these countries at extremely low interest rates and purchase government bonds. Since the debtors were national governments, with foreign exchange reserves and fiscal revenues as collateral, these U.S. financial institutions acted recklessly. In the short term, the rapid economic development of these Latin American countries also brought them benefits.
Walter Wriston, the head of Citibank at the time, had a famous saying: "Countries never go bankrupt." Under this ideology, U.S. large financial institutions became even more aggressive, issuing one huge loan after another to European and American countries.
However, the more night walks one takes, the more likely one is to encounter a ghost. The international trade of Latin American countries, which mainly exported primary products, was heavily hit by market price fluctuations. To balance their international payments, these countries had to continue borrowing, which further increased their debt burden.
With rising interest rates, deteriorating trade conditions, and the erroneous monetary policies of Latin American countries, the debt crisis finally erupted in 1982. Mexico's finance minister, Jesus Silva Herzog, sought help from the United States, thus拉开 the curtain on the Latin American debt crisis.
The country might go bankrupt!
Zhong Shi silently recalled the situation of the Latin American debt crisis in his mind, sighed lightly, and felt a sense of helplessness at being born at the wrong time. However, thinking that there would be opportunities in the future, his mood improved.
Now, he faced a practical problem: he had no money!
In the 1980s, how much money could an ordinary rural family have? The reform and opening-up had only been in place for a few years, and rural people had just escaped hunger and had enough to eat, but they had no extra money. In the southern part of Jiangzhong Province, township enterprises were developing vigorously, creating a group of people who became rich first, but in the northern part of Jiangzhong Province, the economy was still stagnant.
The first pot of gold was always a challenge for entrepreneurs, and Zhong Shi was no exception. If he obtained it through illegal means, it would carry the original sin, and he would never be able to wash it off. Zhong Shi did not want that.
However, in this place that was almost a primitive agricultural society, making money was extremely difficult. Zhong Shi had been thinking for over half a month and still had no clue.
One day, while eating, Zhong Shi absentmindedly stared at the sweet potatoes in his bowl, lost in thought. His mother, seeing this, looked worried and kicked her husband's leg under the table, signaling him to pay attention to Zhong Shi's strange behavior.
Noticing his wife's hint, Zhong Shi's father finally noticed his son's odd behavior. He gave Zhong Shi a piece of stir-fried eggs, patted his head, and said affectionately, "Eat more good things, so you can get better quickly!"
In the 1980s, eggs were undoubtedly very nutritious, and most families could not afford to eat them, selling them at the market instead. Only during festivals and holidays could ordinary families have eggs and meat on their tables.
Zhong Shi forced a smile, put the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it in a few bites. He then said softly, "Dad, Mom, you should eat too!" This made Zhong Shi's parents beam with joy, praising their son for being considerate, but they did not reach for the stir-fried eggs.
After finishing a bowl of sorghum rice, Zhong Shi's father handed the bowl to his wife and said, "Wife, give me another bowl. I'm too tired to move today!" He then reached for a bowl of cornbread. He was clearly very tired and hungry, and his appetite was much larger than usual. Zhong Shi's mother took the bowl and prepared to serve him more rice.
"Wait!" Zhong Shi suddenly shouted, startling everyone. Zhong Shi's mother's hand trembled, almost dropping the bowl.
"Mom, let me see the bowl in your hand!" Zhong Shi was also startled. He quickly stood up, walked unsteadily to his mother, and took the bowl, then ran out quickly.
"What is Little Stone doing?" Zhong Shi's parents were puzzled and stopped eating, following him out. They found Zhong Shi squatting by the well, carefully washing the bowl.
"Father, where did this bowl come from?" After washing the bowl, Zhong Shi examined it carefully for a long time before asking his father, who was squatting in front of him, looking confused.
"What's wrong with this bowl? It was a gift!" Zhong Shi's father did not understand why his son was asking. He often used this white porcelain bowl to eat, and apart from its smooth surface, there was nothing special about it.
"Who gave it to you? Did they give you anything else?" Zhong Shi carefully put down the white porcelain bowl and asked anxiously.
Hearing this, Zhong Shi's parents noticed his unusual behavior and became serious. Zhong Shi's father thought carefully and said hesitantly, "This bowl seems to have been given by a young educated person (知青) back then. It's said that a group of young educated people were sent to this area to work in the countryside. They worked hard and were often hungry. Your grandfather felt sorry for them and often gave them some cornmeal. Later, one of them gave this bowl, saying it was a family heirloom, and your grandfather gave it to me."
"What happened to that young educated person?" Zhong Shi continued to ask.
"He died!" Zhong Shi's father sighed, regretfully.
"He died?" Zhong Shi was somewhat surprised by this answer.
"What do you need to know about this, child? Go eat your meal!" Zhong Shi's father lightly tapped his son's head and stood up, returning to the house without looking back.
The reason Zhong Shi's father did not want to talk about it was because something shocking had happened to that young educated person. In 1977, when the national college entrance examination (高考) was restored, it gave many young educated people a way back to the city. They picked up their books and studied day and night, hoping to achieve good results in the exam and escape the hardships of the countryside. However, just before the exam, the village party secretary suddenly notified the young educated person that he was not allowed to take the exam, saying that the children of "black five categories" and rightists were not permitted to participate.
The news was like a bolt from the blue, shattering the young educated person's dreams. Everyone knew that the village party secretary's son was pursuing a female young educated person, who liked this male young educated person and thus ignored the village party secretary's son. The village party secretary was clearly retaliating out of personal spite, but since the quota for taking the exam was in his hands, the young educated people dared not speak out.
On a dark and windy night, the male young educated person broke into the militia's warehouse, stole a hunting rifle and several bullets, and sneaked into the village party secretary's house, killing his entire family. Knowing that he could not escape, he committed suicide in a secluded cornfield.
This incident caused a sensation at the time, but in the era of limited information dissemination, it only spread to nearby villages. The incident had happened less than ten years ago, and Zhong Shi's father, who was in his twenties at the time, remembered it clearly.
Although Zhong Shi did not know the details, he was satisfied to know that the young educated person had passed away, meaning the original owner would never come back to claim the bowl.
Although he was not entirely sure, Zhong Shi was now 80-90% certain that the white porcelain bowl in front of him was produced by the Ding kiln, one of the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty.
The five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty were Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding, named after their locations. They represented the pinnacle of ancient Chinese ceramics. Among them, the Ru kiln was the most prestigious, with each piece being unique and extremely rare. The Guan kiln was the most mysterious, with no known site. The Ge kiln was known for its beauty in imperfection. The Jun kiln produced flower plates for the royal family. The Ding kiln was known for its white and celadon porcelain.
During the Song Dynasty, Chinese ceramics reached their peak, surpassing even the later Yuan blue-and-white, Ming polychrome, and Qing famille-rose. In his previous life, Zhong Shi had studied these antiques and knew a bit about them. At that time, Chinese antiques frequently set new records at auctions like Sotheby's and Christie's, with prices that even he, as a fund manager, found astonishing.
For example, on November 11, 2010, a Chinese buyer paid 51.6 million pounds (including commission, approximately 550 million RMB at the time) for a Qianlong famille-rose porcelain vase, making it the most expensive Chinese and Asian artwork.
In fact, few collectors were interested in art; they were mainly interested in making a profit by selling the items at a higher price in the next transaction, engaging in a "hot potato" game. To cater to these bored rich people and raise more funds for his fund, Zhong Shi had to lower his standards and study these antiques, hoping to find common topics in conversations with them.
He never imagined that the skills he learned in his previous life to please others would now come in handy and might even help him find his first pot of gold!