Holy Roman Empire

Affected by the big dumping, market competition has become more brutal.Smart capitalists have reacted and joined the ranks of discount promotions one after another.

The capitalists who are reluctant to cut their flesh and choose to die are falling into the abyss.

The Kingdom of Prussia was the first to fail. Affected by the war, Prussia lost a large area of ​​its territory, and domestic industry and commerce were severely damaged.

It was already struggling, and before it had time to breathe a sigh of relief, and was affected by the dumping in Austria, the small and medium-sized enterprises could not hold on.

Since November, layoffs, bankruptcy, and debt collection have become the hottest topics in the Kingdom of Prussia.

In front of the Berlin Palace, a large number of protesters have gathered.

There is no doubt that this was the work of the capitalists, holding high the banner of "debt collection" one by one, demanding payment from the Berlin government.

This is a problem left over from the war. Too much currency was printed during the war. If the war is won, this is naturally not a problem.

It is a pity that the Kingdom of Prussia lost, and a large number of marks returned. Coupled with the short selling of capitalists, the mark depreciated rapidly after the war.

Before the war, 1 mark could buy 2 kilograms of high-quality bread, but now 1 kilogram of the worst black bread costs 7 marks. This is just the beginning, and the purchasing power of marks is still declining.

After determining that the value of the mark was untenable, the Berlin government made a broken decision to try to repay domestic debts by printing money.

The capitalists naturally refused to agree, and they asked the government to make up for the losses caused by inflation. Now everyone is no longer quantifying marks, but asking for gold to be converted.

Some people even directly refused to accept the mark, asking the Berlin government to pay sterling, Aegis or gold.

This request was naturally rejected by the Berlin government.

The Berlin government itself is jingling poor, and it has already been ethical without declaring financial bankruptcy or reneging on debts. How is it possible to refuse to accept Mark?

The current protest crowd outside is agitated by capitalists who are unwilling to lose their interests.

The sound of protest had sneaked into the Berlin Palace with the wind, and Frederick III asked with a sullen face: "I have found out, who are the people who are playing tricks?"

Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi replied with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, the current situation is very serious. Nearly half of the big capitalists in the country have participated, including various interest groups.

It is said that they are also preparing to set up a debt collection committee to fight against the government.In order to force the government to make concessions, they are planning to organize a large-scale strike in the near future. "

Hearing this answer, Frederick III had a headache.

"The law does not hold the public accountable" does not mean that the law cannot hold everyone accountable for crimes. The main reason is that the impact is too great, and the investigation will affect the stability of the country.

After hesitating for a while, Frederick III sighed: "It seems that our persuasion work has failed. The capitalists want the government to pay for their losses, but who will pay for the government?"

No one pays the bill, which means that the door to compromise has been closed.The Berlin government was unable to bear the huge debt and had to rely on currency devaluation to survive the crisis.

The rapid depreciation of the mark, in addition to the return of a large number of previously issued currencies, causing inflation, and capitalists shorting the mark in the financial market, the Berlin government's wanton printing of money is also an important factor.

If you can't solve the problem, solve the person who created the problem.This is a common law all over the world, and deep down in his heart, Frederick III has already made plans to overturn the table.

The capitalists may be very strong in the future, but it is not their turn to become kings and hegemony. Originally, they were only planning to take the Jews, but now they can only expand.

Chapter 3 Frankfurt

Austria was not the only one who realized that the crisis was coming. The Vienna government only took the first step. After Austria opened the dumping valve, British capitalists quickly followed up.

In the overseas trade these years, Britain and Austria combined accounted for three-quarters of the market share. The so-called international competition was mainly carried out between the two countries.

The market is so big, if you occupy more, I will occupy less, and no one can make concessions.

Britain and Austria did not directly turn their faces, because their respective development directions are different.

Britain's largest export is textiles, and Austria's largest export is agricultural products, which are also the two commodities with the largest share in international trade.

They accounted for 68.3% and 21.6% of the total international trade respectively. It is worth mentioning that the proportion of textiles is increasing year by year, while the proportion of agricultural products is decreasing year by year.

Such a disparity in the proportion of occupation is not only related to the difference in industrial and agricultural scissors, but also related to the trading model.

The British textile industry imports raw materials and exports them after processing; most agricultural products in Austria are self-produced, and imported raw materials are relatively small.

In terms of industrial scale, the field of agricultural products must surpass that of the textile industry.This is determined by the demographic structure. More than 80% of the world's people are agricultural population.

But in terms of making money, agriculture is definitely not as good as the textile industry, even after processing.

In the field of textiles, the biggest competitor of the British is France. They had previously fiddled with the Egyptian cotton plantation plan, and finally made wedding dresses for the French.

Only when the problem of raw materials was solved, the French cotton textile industry developed rapidly and became a pillar industry in China.In the African development plan of the Paris government, the expansion of cotton plantation area is ranked first.

If the French plan is successful, the dominance of the British cotton textile industry will be severely impacted, which is one of the main reasons why the relationship between Britain and France has turned cold.

Austria's biggest competitor in the field of agricultural products is the Russian Empire.Because of the war, Russia's nascent national industry was hit hard.

Limited by technology and capital, it is unable to complete all the processing of agricultural products in the short term, so it has to temporarily act as a raw material producing area in Austria.

"Temporary" does not mean permanent, and the Russian Empire is also one of the biggest potential competitors in the field of Austrian agricultural products.

The competition between Britain and Austria is still concentrated in the field of industrial manufacturing. The British are the overlords of traditional industries, while Austria is the leader of emerging industries.

From the perspective of future generations, these are the most important industries.However, in the short term, the market for these industries is still very small.

This is determined by the particularity of the industry. The infrastructure is not in place, and the cost of blindly adopting new equipment can be overwhelming. It is not as cost-effective as using an old steam engine.

……

Frankfurt, the traditional financial center in Germany, has a new glory after joining the new Shinra Empire.

Today, it has become one of the world's four major financial centers, surpassing Vienna, second only to Paris, France and London, England.

Of course, the statement of the four major financial centers has not been widely recognized, because London, which ranks first, is approximately equal to the sum of Paris + Frankfurt + Vienna.

This is still based on the premise that Austria has grabbed a lot of gold producing areas, otherwise London's advantages will be more obvious.

The background of the world's hegemony cannot be wiped out in a short time. For a long time to come, London will be the world's financial center.

The British are devoting all their efforts to raising a city, which is different from the Austrian development model.In the case of insufficient resources, there are also special reasons why Frankfurt can surpass Vienna.

The first is influence. Frankfurt is well-known in the German region, and many banks are located here with strong financial strength.

The second is the geographical location, just in the heart of the German region, on the German-Austrian border area, and very close to Prussia, which is conducive to gathering the capital of these countries.

Finally, and the most critical factor, Austria's national policy does not engage in super cities, and Vienna, the capital, did not jump out to grab resources.

With so many advantages, Frankfurt, which was originally the financial center of Central Europe, naturally soared into the sky.

There are advantages and disadvantages. While gathering capital from China and Europe, it is also inevitably affected by the economies of various countries.

After the defeat of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Frankfurt stock market was the first to be hit.

Fortunately, the Vienna government refused to lend to the Berlin government, and the financiers in Frankfurt did not jump into this huge pit.

The main ones affected are some listed Prussian companies, especially those that fell into the Russian-occupied area, almost without a blade of grass.

According to statistics, in the past six months, due to the impact of the Russo-Prussian War, more than 30 people have jumped from buildings in Frankfurt.

This is the norm. Every financial center will not lack unlucky people. Even when the market is the best, there will be people who lose money and jump off the building.

In the early morning, the autumn wind whipped up the fallen leaves on the ground and hit Flores on the face, giving rise to an ominous premonition.

As a senior stock speculator, Flores has already owned his own securities company in Frankfurt. Although the scale is still very small, he has escaped the tragedy of being completely reduced to a leek.

Like a casino, the odds of winning a banker are always higher than the gamblers.After establishing a securities company, Flores also joined hands with others to speculate on several stocks, felt the demeanor of a banker, and made a fortune.

If nothing else happened, with a few more visits, Flores could go one step further, and even have a chance to become one of the masters here.

However, when people are unlucky, under the leadership of a financial tycoon, Flores joined the speculation in the Russo-Prussian War.

Unfortunately, this time they pressed the wrong treasure, and the defeat of the Pubo Federation brought them heavy losses, and they also locked up a large amount of capital.

It is normal to have losses and gains in the financial market, and Flores' psychological quality is good enough to withstand such fluctuations.

It's just locked up. As long as the company is not bankrupt, after the aftermath of the Prussian-Russian War has passed, a few good news can be released successfully.

Similar things often happen in the stock market.If the capital invested is too large and there is no good news, it can be artificially produced.

As a qualified speculator, Flores has always insisted on diversifying his investments. As long as he does not catch up with the stock market crash, he can withstand one or two failures.

Covering it with his hand, Flores quickened his pace.He believed in his hunch very much, and relying on this intuition allowed him to survive two stock market crashes safely.

When Flores arrived, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was buzzing.Without wasting time in the lobby, Flores went straight into the office where his company was located.

It is said to be an office, but in fact it is just a small house of less than [-] square meters, and it is shared by three securities companies.

There is no way, there is no electronic trading these days, and stock trading is all manual, so first-hand information becomes extremely important.

The housing prices inside the exchange are really priceless. For such a small house of less than 2000 square meters, the monthly rent is as high as [-] Aegis, and it is not for sale.

In another place, the money is enough to buy a big house.

If it wasn't for attracting customers and showing strength, Flores would never be so extravagant.

Chapter 3 and Three Big Deals

Berlin, an international metropolis, suddenly became deserted. It was almost past 11 o'clock, and rows of shops were still closed and locked.

A familiar yet unfamiliar term came into Hans' mind - "market strike".

Seemingly thinking of something, Hans immediately ran to the telegraph company.

Looking at the oncoming protest parade, Hans stopped involuntarily, turned around and left after seeing a few familiar figures.

There is no way, the employees of the telegraph company took to the streets to protest, and it is impossible to send the news back at this time.

On the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Flores is staring at the constantly updated transaction data analysis.

This is also one of the benefits of renting a house. You don’t need to go to the lobby to look at the data, just send someone to the backstage to make a list.

Recently, the stock market has tended to be stable on the whole, except for the few stocks that were locked up, the others are growing slowly.

At this time, a middle-aged man walked in with a smile. The person who came was Fei Lun, the boss of another securities company in the office.

It goes without saying that the three companies in the same industry can squeeze into one office.

In this stock market where big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp, grouping together is also the way for small securities companies to survive.

Flores asked with concern: "Phelan, seeing that you are in a good mood, what good news did you bring?"

Information sharing is also part of cooperation.For securities firms, it is necessary to keep an eye on market changes and intelligence gathering is essential.

Large securities companies have dedicated teams in charge. Small securities companies like Flores have limited financial resources and cannot afford such a team, so they can only jointly collect intelligence.

First-hand information is also a key factor for securities firms to outperform retail investors.Tie Hanhan, who didn't know anything, just plunged into it, would basically be cheated out of nothing.

Phelan laughed and said, "There's news from Berlin that the Prussian government has decided to compromise, and our locked-up stocks will be released immediately."

Flores frowned, seemingly unmoved by the "good news".

"How is this possible? With the finances of the Prussian government, it is simply unable to bear so many debts. What do they take..."

Flores swallowed the latter words involuntarily.He didn't think Felan was lying on this issue, and it was only a matter of telegrams to verify.

Fei Lun said to himself: "Don't worry, the Prussian government has no money, but it doesn't mean it can't get money.

It is said that more than a dozen major banks, including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Austria, and the Bank of England, are forming a banking syndicate and negotiating with the Prussian government.

At present, a preliminary agreement has been reached. All parties will join forces to form a new bank to issue 2 million Aegis bonds for the Berlin government. In return, they will represent Prussia in issuing banknotes. "

Having said this, Fei Lun showed envious eyes.Issuing currency is definitely the dream business of people in the financial world.

Everyone knows that the closer to money, the easier it is to make money.As long as the bank can get the right to issue banknotes, it doesn't have to worry about funding.

Flores also knew about the bank syndicate.It's just not because of the negotiations with Prussia. The main reason he noticed was "shorting the mark".

It is the norm in the financial world to start cooperating after just cheating others.

After contemplating for a moment, Flores said, "What are you going to do, don't you want to buy the bottom?"

Before Fei Lun could answer, a staff member hurried in: "Mr. Flores, the good news is that the stocks we have locked up have started to rise."

Fei Lun's face changed greatly: "Oops, the news has leaked. We must hurry, and we won't be able to drink the soup anytime later."

……

Many people made the same choice, and the stock exchange became crowded.

What they didn't know was that the top four securities firms at the top of the food chain were starting to evacuate.

An old man sitting on the sofa and smoking a cigar asked, "How long can the news be blocked?"

The middle-aged man in Tsing Yi replied: "Mr. Will, you can last for two days at most, or you may be exposed today.

Although we used the telegraph company to release fake news, the sudden interruption of the telegraph between the two places will still attract the attention of those who care. "

This is inevitable. Both Berlin and Frankfurt are metropolises, and the business exchanges between the two sides are very frequent. There are hundreds of telegrams exchanged every day.

Line maintenance, it's okay to fool ordinary people.Since the telegraph was connected between the two places, there has never been a signal interruption of more than 8 hours.