Flowers, Swords and France

After sending his son away, the banker buried himself in his documents again, continuing the work that had just been interrupted. He even had his lunch delivered directly to the study by a servant, and finished it hastily. The government was preparing to issue a batch of national bonds to fill the huge fiscal deficit. He was busy lobbying for the government everywhere, and had already given benefits to many wavering congressmen. He also planned to raise a large amount of funds to buy new bonds.

The national deficit is the real object of bankers' speculation and the main source of their wealth. Due to the huge government expenditures (or rather, the huge expenditures must be made), the government has a new deficit at the end of each year. Therefore, a new batch of public bonds must be issued every four or five years, and the country has to borrow money from bankers under the most unfavorable conditions when it is on the verge of bankruptcy.

In addition, every new public debt gives bankers new opportunities to plunder the masses who invest in public bonds through stock exchange activities. Bankers and their allies in parliament and politics, taking advantage of the unstable state of national credit and mastering state secrets, are often able to create sudden and sharp fluctuations in the price of public bonds, which every time bankrupt many smaller capitalists and make big speculators incredibly rich.

It can be seen from this that for big financiers and the big bourgeoisie, it is in their interests and needs for the country to fall into deficit. Precisely because the national deficit is in the direct interest of the bourgeois group that holds the ruling power, in recent years, in addition to normal expenses such as defense and administration, the July Monarchy has had to spend nearly 400 million francs every year, resulting in a huge deficit.

In addition, the huge sums of money spent by the state have provided opportunities for various powerful government offices and entrepreneurs to make a fortune, and various fraudulent supply contracts, bribes, corruption and fraudulent activities have been taken advantage of. When issuing public bonds, state property is defrauded in large quantities, and when contracting state projects, it is defrauded sporadically.

The July Monarchy relied on these people to achieve its rule, and these people also relied on the monarchy to make a fortune.

However, can this symbiotic system really bring loyalty beyond interests?

We will see the answer soon.

In the afternoon, the baron found that the bells on the table connected to the bell rope rang softly.

Good, it's finally here.

Baron Bowen also pulled the bell rope a few times, indicating that they could come in now.

Then within a minute, one of the bookshelves next to the wall slowly opened to the side, revealing a secret passage from the study to the stable, and then, one of the baron's most trusted servants carefully led a middle-aged man into the study and then stepped back.

This middle-aged man was also short and fat, wearing a black velvet tailcoat with a white vest and a black bow tie, with a shiny face and a friendly smile. This was almost the standard image of the famous and prestigious bankers in Paris at that time.

Yes, this middle-aged man is also a banker.

As soon as he came in, he carefully saluted the big banker sitting there.

If Charles had the opportunity to come to this small study, he would probably be stunned first, and then shouted loudly: "Isn't this Mr. Du Ta'ai, whom I have met many times!"

"Mr. Du Ta'ai, you are finally here, how is the matter going?" The baron just nodded lightly, and then asked directly about the business.

"I have given the new money you allocated to the republican organization "Comrade 121 Society", and I have also given all your previous funds to the Bonapartists, sir, everything is going according to your arrangement." Du Ta'ai replied respectfully.

"Very good, you are always able to complete the tasks I have assigned so well, thank you, Mr. Du Ta'ai." Baron Bovan praised Du Ta'ai, "I will not forget to reward you."

However, Du Ta'ai seemed a little hesitant in the face of such rare praise.

"But... Mr. Bovan, forgive me for being blunt, this Comrades 121 Society is a radical republican organization, similar to the Four Seasons Society back then. They hate the dynasty and us equally. It seems that your support for them will bring trouble to yourself..."

[The Paris uprising on May 12, 1839 was launched by the secret republican action organization "Four Seasons Society" under the leadership of Au-Blanqui and A-Barbès. Paris workers and unemployed were its main members. As a result, they were suppressed by the government army and the bourgeois National Guard. After the failure of the uprising, Blanqui, Barbès and some other insurgents were imprisoned and exiled]

The baron did not seem to care about his hesitation. .

"Mr. Du-Taye, I know what's going on, you don't have to worry."

"But..." Du-Taye was still a little concerned, "If you want to bet, I personally think you should find the most promising one, otherwise I'm afraid you will lose sight of one thing and make a fuss..."

His advice did indeed cause the baron to laugh a little sarcastically.

"Bet? Why bet? Sir, you have to understand that we are the banker."

"The banker?" Du Ta'ai was puzzled.

Baron Bovan pondered for a moment, then seemed to have made up his mind and spoke again.

"Well, now is the time to tell you the truth."

Du Ta'ai was startled, then hurriedly sat up straight, and the atmosphere in the study suddenly became a little tense.

"I don't care what bets are made, no matter whether the revolution succeeds or not, no matter what kind of political ax is on the stage, in the end it will still be inseparable from us... But now I need a revolution and use it to make a big deal."

"Big deal?" Du Taai was a little surprised.

"As long as the revolution breaks out and the dynastic government and order are overthrown, there will be great chaos in France in a short period of time, private credit in credit will be paralyzed, smooth communication will be lost everywhere, and production will be disrupted. There will be stagnation. The revolutionary crisis will exacerbate the commercial crisis. Even if there is no such crisis, we will create it." Baron Beauvain's voice is both smooth and infectious, enough to make people think about the future. "What's going to happen?"

Du Taai replied with professional acumen, "Confidence is lost, and people will flock to banks everywhere to run on deposits and bonds."

Baron Beauvain nodded.

"Then, as long as there is a full-scale run, no bank can cope with this situation, so there will be widespread bankruptcy, and the assets of these banks must be sold at high prices." Du Taai said with confidence. The answer came out with a smile, "And you can buy these high-quality assets in large quantities and make a fortune."

"Yes." The Baron nodded, and Du Taai smiled even more.

"But it's not right." But the baron quickly shook his head again, and Du Taai's smile froze instantly.

"Do you have any other plans?"

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"You have some foresight, but you only think of part of it. This is your limitation." Baron Beauvain said calmly, "The political ax that emerged after the revolution-no matter which side it is-cannot sit back and watch all the banks." Simultaneously bankrupt, France regressed back to the medieval era, although at first they would react before A large number of banks went bankrupt, but in the end, in order to prevent the French financial system from collapsing..." Baron Beauvain then said in a surprisingly calm tone, "the government must issue a decree to limit the amount of cash that people can withdraw. . And the remaining deposits can only be converted into non-withdrawable bonds.”

Du Taai looked at the baron in front of him, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He vaguely understood.

"You mean..."

"Then, for the sake of livelihood, people have to go to the exchange to sell these bonds at a discount, then they must..." The banker continued regardless of the other party's reaction. He gently stretched out his hand and made a gesture, "I took this stab."

"Yes! I received this blow!" Du Taai repeated loudly.

For a moment he was filled with admiration for his colleague. No wonder he can climb so much higher than me!

Thinking of how satisfying "that knife" would be in the future, the two bankers couldn't help but smile at each other.

How many people's life-long efforts will be cut off with this sword? Neither one of the two cared.

The Great Revolution used the guillotine to sentence people to death, while bankers planned in their studies and exchanges to make people's life-long efforts go to zero. How different and how similar they are!

"Mr. Du Taai, do you know why I am telling you this?" After a brief silence, the banker suddenly asked.

"Why?"

"To execute such a huge plan, I cannot do it alone. We must have some reliable people who have both brains and courage, and who can not be bound by ridiculous moral concepts..." Baron Beauvain Looking at Du Taai with a smile, "After such a long period of observation, I have found that you are such a candidate, so I have now made it clear to you. Now, the question is on your side... Do you want to How about joining this game?"

"Of course! Of course! Thank you, Mr. Beauvain!" Du Taai responded as if he was about to jump out of his chair, "I want to participate, let me participate!"

"I knew you would agree. Who would shrink in front of Jinshan?"

The baron still had a kind smile on his face.

Hmph, the Treville family was quite alert, so they became suspicious so quickly and came to inquire about the situation. Yes, the mine project does exist, but the Baron and his collaborators have no intention of putting the project into operation and slowly paying out dividends. From the beginning to the end, they just want to use the last opportunity to turn away the investors' investment. , the baron used his fame to attract investors, and who can be blamed if it fails in the end? I can only blame this world-shattering world!

As long as it is delayed until that time, Lorraine's cooperative bank will ride on the trend and "successfully go bankrupt", and then the person in charge will "abscond with the money." So what will happen even if Duke Treville and other investors are unwilling to accept it? You can’t just watch your money go down the drain! It’s good to be able to protect your family and property in the face of the turbulent times, but do you still want to pursue this matter?

"I really hope that day comes soon." With an extremely kind smile, Baron Bowen whispered to himself. (To be continued.)