Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 71: About Several Questions from Book Friends

Chapter 71: About Several Questions from Book Friends

I just looked at the comments on this Chapter and found that some readers have raised a few doubts. Here, I would like to explain:

The first one is about the Indian seamen exchanging Foreign Exchange Certificates for US Dollars, and whether the country has faced any losses due to this.

Before discussing this matter, it is first necessary to understand the foreign exchange management system of our country during different periods.

Back during the anti-Japanese war, China needed foreign exchange to import weapons and ammunition, including hiring Chen Nade’s Flying Tigers.

At that time, there were very few exportable goods, mainly rare minerals, so remittances from Overseas Chinese (mainly in Southeast Asia), also known as remittance capital, became the main sources of foreign exchange.

After the establishment of New China, remittance capital still remained one of the important sources of foreign exchange.

For example, during the Korean War, patriotic businessmen in Hong Kong helped break the blockade and purchase urgently needed scarce supplies, which was a great help, but buying these items required foreign exchange.

Moving on to the period of reform and opening up, in order to promote economic development, it was necessary to bring in a large amount of advanced foreign machinery and technology, which required precious foreign exchange.

At one point, there was a plan to introduce the Mirage aircraft from France. The negotiations were nearly complete, but it fell through because there simply weren’t enough funds or sufficient foreign exchange.

At that time, our products weren’t very competitive in the international market, export earnings were small, and foreign exchange reserves were limited, so it was necessary to tighten foreign exchange management.

Foreigners and returning overseas Chinese could exchange Foreign Exchange Certificates, which the state provided to facilitate their living in China. They could use these to buy various daily necessities, and any unused portion could be converted to US Dollars and taken out of the country.

Specifically, regarding the case involving Salted Fish, the Indian seamen did not exchange US Dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates from national financial institutions. They acquired the certificates from suspects who had exchanged them using RMB, and these certificates were supposed to be spent domestically.

Moreover, they obtained these certificates from the suspects at a rate higher than the official exchange rate, then exchanged them at the official rate, taking away far more US Dollars than the certificates were worth.

In other words, the extra US Dollars they gained and the US Dollars taken away by the suspects were all part of the national foreign exchange reserves!

Some readers may question, since the Foreign Exchange Certificates were exchanged at the official rate, and I exchange them back at the same rate, how does the country incur any losses from the overall account?

This relates to foreign exchange management again. As in China, foreign currency is not freely exchangeable, and it remains so to this day, with each person only having a few thousand US Dollars limit per year.

If this restriction were loosened, on a larger scale, it could affect the national financial stability, and on a smaller scale, it would facilitate those wanting to transfer assets.

As for whether those who buy US Dollars at a high price incur losses, that is a matter of perspective.

If someone truly needs it, any exchange rate would not be considered expensive.

If you choose not to exchange, even the highest black-market exchange rate doesn’t concern you.

Additionally, this period coincided with the most critical phase of reform and opening up.

The dual-track system brought many problems: there were planned supplies for grain and various production materials, negotiated prices, and black market prices.

The foreign exchange market was the same, with an official exchange rate and an official adjustment price.

It’s worth mentioning that individuals weren’t allowed to exchange foreign currency at the time. You needed something like a recommendation letter from your unit to apply.

The second question: Did the 110 emergency number exist in 1988?

Yes, it did. It was first initiated by East Guang in 1986, and the Ministry of Police promoted it nationally in 1987. Back then, it was called the ’bandit police phone’ or ’thief police phone’.

The third question: Some readers feel it’s not satisfying enough, and since Salted Fish has a bit of a golden touch, why not simply be reborn.

This relates to the unfolding of the entire narrative. Due to the nature of the theme, if Salted Fish had foreknowledge and knew everything, he should remember all the major cases that occurred over the decades.

If he doesn’t intervene, knowing yet allowing the culprits to escape justice, then there’s a problem with his morals.

If he intervenes in everything, there would be no story to tell.

Moreover, our book contains strong elements of reality. Rather than saying it tells the story of Salted Fish, it’s more about reviewing an era and savoring a life.

Under the current review mechanism, it’s not easy to share this story with you all. If it involved too much, just dealing with the editor to lift the bans would be overwhelming.

The fourth question: Salted Fish’s brother-in-law being a level 8 worker.

This is indeed a flaw, as there have been no evaluations for level 8 workers for over a decade before Salted Fish appeared due to the new worker incentive system after the reform and opening up, so a young level 8 worker would not exist. However, Zhang Jiangkun was made a level 8 worker for the sake of the story effect.

Lastly, I want to say to the readers that as an author, I can only hope for more comments on this Chapter, unless there are malicious personal attacks, I would be foolish to delete comments.

This matter was also mentioned in the last book; the system often swallows Chapter comments.

If there are comments that disappear, Old Zhuo isn’t to blame.

Finally, thank you for your support.

The upcoming story will be even more exciting!