A huge conference room.

There was an oppressive atmosphere in the air, as if a storm was about to come.

The Director of the Budget, Accounting and Statistics Bureau, Shinsuke Fukuhara's face turned pale, and his eyes were as sharp as knives as he stared at the Central Bank President Yasushi Mieno across from him.

Mieno Yasushi did not back down and looked directly into the other person's eyes and said, "Mr. Fukuhara must have seen the estimates of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The proportion of national taxes and insurance premiums in national income has risen to 27.2%. As the aging society progresses, this proportion will increase year by year.

The long-term debt balance of the central and local governments has reached 321 trillion yen, and each Japanese citizen bears an average of 2.2 million yen in public debt. According to the current marriage rate and birth rate, the national burden rate will exceed 40% in five years, or even rise to 50%.

As the Director-General of the Budget, Accounting and Statistics Bureau, don’t you know how bad the situation will be if the burden ratio exceeds 40%? "

Budget Bureau - one of the core units of the Ministry of Finance.

The responsibilities are to formulate and implement the national budget, manage treasury reserves, draft bills related to finance and accounting systems, investigate and compile information on the implementation of domestic financial systems and foreign financial systems, as well as salaries, allowances, and mutual assistance among civil servants for "national civil servants in special positions".

As the Director-General of the Budget, Accounting and Statistics Bureau, Shinsuke Fukuhara was of course well aware of everything that Yasushi Mieno said.

For the country and individuals, a newborn is equivalent to continuous blood and nutrients, smooth flow of Qi and blood, and continuous blood circulation. A person's disease will be covered up and suppressed by Qi and blood.

But if you lose fresh blood and become old, all kinds of diseases will appear.

The same is true for countries. Japan's biggest trouble right now is that it has entered the aging population trap that all developed countries have experienced, and both consumption and labor force will decline.

Once the birth rate continues to decline and the national burden ratio exceeds 40 percent, the vicious cycle will mean a complete collapse of the economy and population.

He clenched his fists tightly.

Fukuhara Shinsuke's face turned pale as he said, "Since Sanzhong-kun also knows the severity of the consequences, wouldn't raising interest rates make the situation worse? If the already declining manufacturing industry encounters a funding crisis and the economy gets worse, how many people will lose their jobs and it will lead to a vicious cycle."

"Since we are talking about this, please read this news. Compared with unemployment, which may make the situation worse, isn't the current rising suicide rate a problem that needs to be solved immediately?"

A newspaper was passed over.

This is the fourth young man who committed suicide by burning charcoal after Mihiko at a factory in Kobe. It seems like a Pandora's box has been opened and news about charcoal burning suicide has been spreading recently.

Until now, news about young people committing suicide due to debt has been strictly prohibited from being reported.

In fact, since 1985, Japan has been experiencing a completely contradictory social situation.

While young people are spending money like crazy, some are overwhelmed by the huge debts and the number of suicides under the age of 40 continues to rise.

Most of them committed suicide because of overspending, inability to repay, and debt collection by financial companies.

Fukuhara Shinsuke snatched the newspaper without hesitation, but without even glancing at it, he said, "If the economy gets worse because of the interest rate hike, there will be more cases like this!"

"Mr. Fukuhara has also seen the situation of personal debt ratio. If we don't curb the rise in inflation at this time, the possibility of triggering a debt crisis will be an inevitable result. And since we can be prepared, shouldn't we do something as soon as possible?"

“.”

The originally depressing meeting room.

It turned into a fierce battle between the two.

Finance Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who was sitting in the chief seat, remained silent.

For a long time, the relationship between the cabinet government, the Ministry of Finance and the central bank has been very delicate. In name, the central bank is under the management of the Banking Bureau, but successive presidents, starting with Naoto Sasaki, have been in office for a five-year rotation.

The origin of this matter can be traced back to Naoto Ichimanda, the governor of the central bank after World War II. This longest-serving central bank governor in Japanese history was also one of the heroes of Japan's post-war founding, and was known as the "King of Dharma."

The title of Dharma King is enough to feel Yi Man Tian’s supreme authority during that period.

The reason why his prestige is so high is, on the one hand, that he has outstanding abilities and often turns the tide, and on the other hand, he is lucky.

It was the time when the Dodge Plan began and the Japan-US Security Treaty was signed. As a returned sea turtle from the United States, Naoto Ichimanada was deeply trusted by the United States, and as a result, he was even able to override his legal superior department - the Ministry of Finance.

At that time, many people could not tell whether the Bank of Japan was American or Japanese, just like when Naoto Ichimanda said in the Toyota incident that technology like automobiles should be produced in the United States.

For this reason, the Ministry of Finance has always been dissatisfied with this. After Imanda stepped down, it began to reduce the power of the Bank of Japan and parachuted in the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Masamichi Yamagiwa, as the governor of the central bank, which was equivalent to taking full control of the central bank.

Yamagiwa served as president for eight years, second only to Ichimanda, but later resigned due to illness, and was succeeded by Usami Masaru, the president of Mitsubishi Bank.

The reason why this political novice was able to come to power was entirely the result of a power struggle. Because the then Prime Minister Sato Eisaku and the Finance Minister Tanaka Kakuei had a bad relationship, Sato intervened and directly appointed his own confidant to power.

Unexpectedly, this action caused dissatisfaction from both the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, and gave rise to an alliance between Kakuei Tanaka and then-Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Naoto Sasaki, who conspired to establish a "mutual personnel transfer system."

The president of the central bank is rotated by his direct subordinates and the vice minister of finance. Every five years, the president abdicates and is succeeded by the vice president. Since there is only one vice president, it is equivalent to "establishing a crown prince."

On the surface, this system seems fair to both the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, but in reality it is not. For the central bank, this system is equivalent to determining the time of taking office, so it can select the "crown prince" in advance, determine the sequence of succession, and ensure the consistency of established policies.

The officials of the Ministry of Finance were unable to do this at all because they were parachuted in, and they were easily sidelined. All of this came true in subsequent history. It was precisely because of this rotation system that the Princes of Yen were used to describe the direct successors of the central bank, and the airborne troops of the Ministry of Finance more or less became a laughing stock.

So today, the central bank is still nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, but there is not much that can be done to control it.

After graduating from the Faculty of Law of Kyoto University in 1948, Yasushi Mieno joined the Bank of Japan and soon earned the reputation of "Prince of the Central Bank", which means the direct successor to the Bank of Japan.

His predecessor, Satoshi Sumita, has always been sidelined, so Yasushi Mieno is actually the actual person in charge of the Bank of Japan and has a strong influence on the development of monetary policy.

Listening to the argument between Yasushi Mieno and Shinsuke Fukuhara, Ryutaro Hashimoto turned his attention to the director of the Banking Bureau, Tomosuke Sekiyama.

It is obvious that Mieno Yasushi's current goal is to suppress housing prices, which is not good news for him. Neither Dai-ichi Kangyo nor Mitsui wants to see such a result.

The Toshiba incident forced Japan to sign the Plaza Accord, which caused Mitsui to suffer heavy losses. In the following five years, it had to develop aggressively with a heavy proportion of real estate investment. It was supported by two major financial groups and came to power. Whether for personal reasons or out of its duties as the Minister of Finance, he could not watch Mieno Yasushi further raise interest rates.

Tomosuke Sekiyama, the director of the Banking Bureau who came from the central bank, had a very close relationship with the Tsutsumi family. When he became a member of parliament, he was recommended by Seiji Tsutsumi and received the support of the Tsutsumi family's vote bank in Gashi Prefecture.

Once the central bank raises interest rates, the Seibu Group will be the first to be affected. It is also unwilling to see monetary policy further tightened.

"Guan Shanjun, do you have any better ideas on this matter?"

at the same time.

It is called the Benshengbaobendi Department.

Monthly reporting meetings are held as per management.

"As the head of the asset management department, when the media asked why the Japan Life Insurance Association proposed delaying retirement, Nagano did nothing wrong in fulfilling his duty!"

"Asshole! Do you know what consequences this will cause?"

"Nagano will bear all the consequences!"

When Nagano Nao said this, Vice Chairman Hatoyama Yu's eyes suddenly turned cold.

The news originating from Kobe TV put the Ministry of Finance's long-standing land policy on the spot, and Seibu Group and Mitsui Fudosan were therefore criticized by many people.

He couldn't afford such consequences, how could a small minister dare to be so rampant.

"Nagano, your responsibility is truly admirable, but because of your negligence, the company will suffer hundreds of billions of losses. Are you able to bear this responsibility?"

"Nagano, because of your arrogance, the Seibu Group may cut off ties with the company. If you are really willing to take responsibility, please take action."

"I think Nagano Nao is too reckless and not suitable for his current position. What do you think?"

“.”

As if it was discussed beforehand.

Most of the directors present suddenly pointed their guns at Nagano Nao.

Some of them are core members of the Mita Society.

Iida Yoko was also frowning in such a situation. Nagano Nao was one of the successors he had trained, and the positions of major directors were the real power that would enable him to consolidate his position.

This kid is indeed a bit reckless!

Do you want to save him?

Iida Yoko hesitated.

You can find another successor, but it would be bad if the director stood on the side of the opponent.

A pair of eyes, carrying all kinds of pressure on the body.

Looking at the expressions of the people present, Nagano Nao sneered secretly.

Miyashita dared to make huge money in Osaka Asset Management, and Guan Zhixi, a section chief, could make hundreds of billions. He has no idea how many people he has offended since he stepped on the corpses of these people to get to the top. Now they have seized the opportunity to attack him together.

What a bastard!

I didn't make that much money with a fake book, you guys are even more ruthless than me! "Nagano doesn't think there's anything wrong with what happened to the Seibu Group. Today, when young people are crushed by debt, do you think the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet will let the situation get worse?"

Adults? Naive guys! How could they naively think that adults would care about the lives of ordinary people?

When many people heard that Nagano Nao actually made such an excuse, they sneered secretly. The relationship between Seibu Group and Congress has lasted for 70 years, and the interests involved are difficult to cut off and sort out.

The relationship between the Mitsui Group and Takeshita and Hashimoto is even more delicate. As long as Ryutaro Hashimoto is there, who would dare to touch the interests of real estate?

"Nagano, are you making excuses for yourself? Do you think that Seibu Group will encounter a crisis because of some trivial matter, so you made a wise decision in advance?"

"You said you would take full responsibility. Are young people today so cowardly?"

"If someone from our era had caused such a huge loss to the company, they would have committed harakiri in shame and apologized."

"Mr. President, Nagano's actions have caused the company to suffer such a huge loss. Such a reckless guy is really not suitable to stay in the company anymore."

"Not only does he not admit his mistakes, but he is also so irresponsible. This kind of person is a disgrace to our company."

“.”

Everyone was talking at once.

His eyes were fixed on Iida Yoko, which gave him a headache.

Nagano! Don't you have any trump card? Bang bang! There was a sudden knock on the office door.

Then Jingtian Heng's secretary walked in quickly and said, "Sir, the central bank has decided to raise interest rates by 100 basis points starting tomorrow."

“.”

It was too sudden.

It was so sudden that it was unbelievable.

The conference room suddenly became eerily quiet.

Ryutaro Hashimoto looked at Tomosuke Sekiyama in disbelief, and couldn't believe that he actually supported Yasushi Mieno's decision to raise interest rates.

The others were also stunned. No one could believe that Guanshan, who had a very delicate relationship with the Tsutsumi family, would actually turn against them and support Mieno Yasushi.

Doesn't he know what kind of pressure this will put the Seibu Group under ?

After receiving the news, the conference room became eerily quiet.

They are all shrewd people. The interests involved in real estate are huge. If the interest rate is raised by 100 basis points at one time, countless funds will flow back to the banks.

The first is real estate, followed by the securities market, and then manufacturing.

In this case, the central bank can still pass a decision to raise interest rates.

There is only one possibility - things are going to change! Is it because of pressure from the United States?

Or is it the result of a struggle among the major financial groups? Or is it that the inflation rate has reached a critical point and interest rates have to be raised to stop it?

Or is it because the birth rate has reached a point where it is too serious to be stopped? Nagano Nao walked out of the Japanese birth insurance!

The drizzle of rain falls on my face, and I secretly speculate (End of this chapter)