Flowers, Swords and France

As soon as Charles said this, everyone in the room fell silent again.

There is no doubt that if such a war breaks out, it will be impossible to bear it with the government's normal fiscal expenditures. Funds must be raised through the financial sector, and large-scale borrowing from domestic and foreign markets will be required, which may amount to hundreds of millions. For any powerful financier, underwriting such bonds and debts will be a huge piece of cake, which is really tempting.

"Although I am not completely sure now, I think most of the conditions have been assembled. Gentlemen, a European war is imminent. This is an expedition, an expedition carried out by two countries on a rare scale. The imperial government must Make adequate preparations, whether military or financial." Before they could recover, Charles continued, "In any war, the side that is better and more prepared has an advantage. Today is no exception. We must prepare in advance, and everyone is no exception.”

"Sir...can I understand that your words imply that if someone does not raise funds for your idea today, then they will not be able to raise funds for the country in the future?" After a long silence, it was Ruos again. When Capafele asked, perhaps because of his excitement, his already very rosy face suddenly became even redder, and his gray goatee also trembled slightly, "Will you donate this time?" Consider it a prerequisite?”

"We welcome everyone who contributes to the country." Charles did not comment on his question. "Whoever is more loyal to the country will definitely be more favored by His Majesty."

"His Majesty's favor..." Alphonse de Rothschild repeated, and then looked at each other with the people next to him.

These people are all important people or representatives in the financial world. They are no longer the kind of people who need honors and titles to decorate themselves, so naturally they are not very enthusiastic about 'His Majesty's favor'. But this minister has almost clearly hinted - or can be said to threaten them, and they will naturally understand the weight of Charles's words.

"How much additional investment do you expect to put into the new construction plan?" After looking at each other for a moment, Josédan Capafelle asked again.

"I have prepared a specific plan, you can take a look." Charles waved, and Gaston stepped forward and handed the documents in his hand to everyone present. "Here is a detailed plan that tells us which lines are indispensable to us and should be accelerated, and which lines require additional investment..."

"Your Excellency, I am not a professional, so I probably won't understand you even if you say this to me." Alphonse smiled politely, "So Your Excellency, you might as well ask some questions that we can understand." Well - how much additional money do you expect?"

"You are really direct..." Charles smiled slightly, "After calculation by our specialized department, the total amount of additional funds required within two years is approximately 186 million. If everything goes well, there may be some savings. ”

"One hundred and eighty million!" Although his tone was very calm, it was like a shock bomb, making everyone present look at each other again. Even Josdan Capafelle, the director of the Bank of France, could not sit still. .

Everyone here is a business person, and of course they are very familiar with the country’s financial situation. Today, the country’s expenditure is only about 1.5 billion francs a year, and about 3 billion francs in two years. An additional 180 million francs is equal to For no reason, 6% of the national budget was suddenly invested in this construction plan.

"A desperate move." Laura, who had been silent all this time, suddenly commented coldly.

"It's simply crazy, no, it's completely crazy!" Josédan Capafelle said more bluntly, "Where can we raise and invest so much money at once? Your Excellency, I understand your concern for the national railways. You love your career, but you can’t make such a move regardless of budget balance.”

"His Majesty has already agreed to this action, so it must not be crazy, sir." Charles replied calmly.

Josédan Capafelle was speechless for a moment. After all, he did not dare to accuse His Majesty the Emperor in front of everyone, so he had to stop talking, but his dissatisfaction was still clear in words.

It was obvious that none of them were willing to fulfill Ciel's wishes. In order to participate in the subsequent war debt plan, they were originally willing to pay some money to the government, but now it seems that the price of this ticket is too high.

Charles's opinion was indeed approved by His Majesty Emperor Napoleon III. In fact, his acceleration of railway construction was in line with Louis Bonaparte's policy philosophy of "expanding government fiscal spending, expanding employment, and boosting the economy", so it soon became the established policy of the empire before the war.

There is no doubt that doing so will increase the government's debt and further increase the burden on the already heavily indebted imperial government, but they don't think about it that much now - as long as the war is won, confidence in the financial world and among the people will soar. The government will have the means to continue to govern according to the established guidelines, and the finances will always be able to make up for the deficit. If the war does not go well or even fails, then the regime is destined to fall anyway, and everyone is doomed. There is no need to control the flood.

"It seems that you all have opinions..." Charles sighed, "I know that such a huge amount of funds is not easy for you to raise easily. But I think that you all have extremely important positions in the financial world. An important position, if you put in a certain amount of effort, it may not be impossible..."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Your Excellency." Although he was still very polite, Alphonse de Rothschild declined the request. "I think you know that our family has many investment projects and we have limited liquidity. I am afraid that it will be difficult to meet your needs.”

"It's not Rothschild's style to say no, right?" Charles asked with a smile. "Who doesn't know that your family owns a golden mountain?"

"We don't have the gold mountain. The gold mountain belongs to others. We just keep it for them. Not only do we have to pay interest, but we also have to work hard to preserve or even increase their wealth." Alphonse answered with a smile, smoothly integrating his refusal into etiquette. Just like his famous father, "So, Sir, we have to be responsible. Although we love this country deeply, we cannot love at the expense of the interests of our customers."

"The interests of France are exactly the interests of your customers." Charles said this first, and then shrugged, "Well, I know that such beautiful words cannot impress you. However, please believe that everything we have done It’s for the good of France… and not to everyone’s detriment.”

Before people could taste the true meaning of this sentence, Charles continued, "Actually, His Majesty has also considered the difficulties that the sudden additional funds will bring to the country and the financial community. Therefore, he wants to use Some way to solve this problem in a way that everyone is happy with. He is a friend of the financial community, not an enemy."

"In what way?" Alphonse already saw that something was wrong and asked quickly.

"Under my initiative and practice, the empire's railway industry will be uniformly and directly managed by the imperial government in a standardized and standardized way. This requires the full cooperation of private enterprises..." Charles smiled slightly. He said, "So, I think it is necessary to establish a private enterprise organization, which will integrate all related enterprises, standardize technology and standards, and regulate human and financial resources with each other. Hmm... I have also thought of a name, Imperial Railway Union meeting."

"The Federation?" Josédan-Capafelle became interested again. "What kind of organization is it? Does it only have an advisory role, or does it have a decisive role?"

"It has a decisive role." Charles immediately replied, "In fact, this will be a semi-official organization. The government can guarantee its authority, and it can also assist the government in integrating all related private enterprises. In addition, in my opinion, , For the development of the imperial railway industry, any enterprise that does not meet the standards must eventually be eliminated or - change its business methods. "

This is one of Charles' real purposes. He launched a construction plan that suits Louis Bonaparte's wishes, but he will definitely face the dilemma of insufficient funds. Therefore, in order to please the financial circles, it is logical to set up a federation. .

Now his words caused commotion again.

People exchanged glances again. Although the minister spoke in a cryptic manner, he clearly meant that the imperial government would assist the private sector in monopolizing the railway industry. At the same time... it seemed to be linked to this additional investment?

"So who can enter this federation?" Alphonse was indeed young and had the fastest thinking. He was the first to ask, "Are you saying that whoever injects funds into your plan can participate?" Union?"

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"It's not impossible if you insist on understanding it this way." Charles replied with a smile.

"Are you sure that everything you say is true and has official guarantee?" Another person asked, "Sir, can I get a written guarantee?"

"If you want a written guarantee, I can't give it. It can even be said that not giving a written guarantee is the purpose of why we secretly summoned you all." Charles was still smiling, but his tone became slightly more serious. "However, I can assure you now that what I say now is the official attitude. As long as I do not fall, as long as I am still in office, everything I have said can count - and His Majesty is also on my side. of."

Then, as if he thought of something, he said, "By the way, in order to increase the enthusiasm of the business community for railway investment and at the same time accelerate the advancement of the railway industry, I have obtained His Majesty's consent. From now on, all railway industry-related transactions and bond transactions will be closed." Tax exemptions are available and only need to be reported to the federation and then submitted to the ministry for approval.”

These business people have fully understood what a big surprise the minister has brought them today.

"Related transactions and bond transactions in the railway industry" is a very broad term. As long as there is this tax reduction and exemption, they can find a way to link many unrelated transactions and strive for tax exemptions. Who says, anyway, the federation is They opened it themselves, and it was very easy to approve it themselves, and the minister himself... was also very talkative.

Now that it comes to this, everything is very obvious.

"Your Excellency, what you are talking about is very important. I need to go back and think about it." Josdan Capafelle said suddenly after pondering for a moment.

"Your Excellency, I think we can participate in your plan." Alphonse de Rothschild was much more direct. "I hope you can grant us the honor of serving our country."

He made the request with enthusiasm, as if he was not the one who just refused.

This ability to change one's position at any time according to the need is a must for almost every financier, and it seems that he has learned it well, as expected, it is a family tradition.

"I understand you very well, sir." Charles smiled at him sincerely.

"I have always believed that you are the most outstanding young talent in our country, sir." Alphonse stood up and saluted him, "It is really an honor to receive your teachings." (~^~)