"Your Majesty, my colleagues are very willing to serve the government!" Bemini responded reservedly to Jerome Bonaparte: "If the price sold by the government can be lower, I think there will be more enthusiastic banks
We are willing to take on this great mission.”
Although Jerome Bonaparte still didn't know exactly what method Bemini used to sell the bankrupt railway at a value higher than the railway itself, he was sure that the bankers were definitely holding back a lot of bad water.
.
However, none of this has anything to do with Jerome Bonaparte.
"I am very glad that you have a heart to serve the empire! The empire will never forget this precious friendship!" Jérôme Bonaparte first praised Bemini and other bankers for their actions in taking over the country.
Then he paused for a moment, then changed the subject and said, "But I hope you don't forget! You are not only an excellent banker, but also a capable government official!"
Maintaining the stability of the government is not only my responsibility, it is also your responsibility.
I can let a certain company/enterprise go bankrupt due to debt disputes or poor management.
But I will never allow economic turmoil across the country.
Once such a crisis occurs, the government will inevitably take the most stringent measures!
have you understood!"
Jerome Bonaparte's naked warning made Bemini extinguish the remaining luck in his heart, and he quickly promised Jerome Bonaparte that he would never let this happen.
"Please send these words of mine to the directors on the board of directors!
If something happens, don't say I didn't tell you in advance!" Jerome Bonaparte warned again.
"Understood! I will definitely convey your words to the members of the board of directors!" Bemini assured Jérôme Bonaparte again.
Then, Jérôme Bonaparte turned his attention to Achille Fuld again, smiled and said to him: "Your Excellency Fuld, please continue!"
After explaining the whereabouts of the public bonds, Achille Fuld then told Jérôme Bonaparte about the main expenditures of the empire.
Excluding officials' salaries, annuities, annuities on national debts, and the cost of updating equipment for the army and navy, the largest expense in 1858 was the huge public infrastructure debt owed by the Paris City Hall during the urban reconstruction period of Paris.
After listening to Achille Fuld's report, Jérôme Bonaparte understood that Achille Fuld was going to give George Haussmann eye drops again.
When Jérôme Bonaparte learned from Achille Fuld that the government had repaid nearly 60 million francs in principal and interest for the Paris City Hall last year (of which 15 million francs were interest), his face showed
He showed a hint of pain.
"Why is there so much?" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Achill Fuld, "I remember that the debt of Paris should only be about 1 billion!"
"Your Majesty, this is only a debt on the surface!" Hill Fuld told Jérôme Bonaparte. "According to the recent inspection of the city hall by the Ministry of Finance, we found that Paris still has nearly 500 million francs in debt.
Former high-ranking official Baron Georges Haussmann concealed the fact that the interest rates on bonds issued by the Paris City Hall through certain bank financing were as high as 6%!”
"6%!" Jerome Bonaparte's face twitched slightly.
In the entire France, except for the bonds of Austria (7%) and the United States (6%), no country's bonds have ever exceeded 5%, and France's national debt is as low as 4%.
Even if France has such a low interest rate on national debt, countless people will come to grab it.
An interest rate of 6% is enough to make a large number of people lose their minds.
Historically, the Russian Empire's national debt defaulted on a daily basis, and it can be said that its credibility has reached its lowest point.
However, there are still countless people willing to buy Russian government bonds.
The reason is not because the interest rate on the Russian Empire's national debt is 8%.
The ones with higher interest rates than Russia are the small Balkan countries of later generations, whose government bond interest rates of 10-12% have attracted a large number of short-term investors.
"So... what should we do now? Continue to pay the 6% interest rate, or..." Jérôme Bonaparte asked Achille Fuld.
"My suggestion is to lower the interest rates on this batch of bonds at the appropriate time!" Ashil Fuld proposed his own solution.
"Would this lead to economic turmoil?" Jérôme Bonaparte was worried.
"Rushly lowering interest rates will indeed cause some turbulence, but we will do it slowly!" Achille Fuld said to Jerome Bonaparte. "The government can first spread the news that is not beneficial to these banks to the outside world, and continue to
Retail investors who have those bank bonds will definitely rush to redeem them."
"This will cause them all to go bankrupt!"
When he thought of the crazy years in 1848, Jérôme Bonaparte had lingering fears.
"When the banks are about to collapse, the government announces a bailout for them!" Ashe Fuld continued, "In this way, the government can not only gain the gratitude of the people, but also lower the interest rates on the bonds they hold.
After all, compared with all the bonds in your hands turning into waste paper, lowering interest rates is not unacceptable!"
"This..." Jérôme Bonaparte hesitated for a moment and then spoke again, "You can guarantee that it will not cause large-scale turmoil!"
"Of course!" Achille Fuld said to Jerome Bonaparte firmly.
"Okay! Just do as you say!" Jerome Bonaparte absolutely let Achille Fuld do it.
“But don’t let those gutter rats (referring to the Republican Party) know the truth!
Otherwise, they will be unable to bear it any longer."
"As you command, Your Majesty!" Asher Fuld replied.
Next, Achille Fuld reported to Jérôme Bonaparte on education, medical care, provincial infrastructure, colonial construction and other expenditures.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Other expenses are not so surprising compared to the previous ones.
However, there were still several projects that made Jérôme Bonaparte feel that they were overspending.
After Achille Fuld finished speaking, Jérôme Bonaparte spoke again, “What is going on in Algeria?
How come their expenditure (nearly 40 million francs per year) is greater than the civil expenditure of the two provinces? The government we established in Algeria does not seem to need to bear military expenditures!"
Achille Fuld tactfully told Jérôme Bonaparte that Algeria's expenses were increasing for two reasons.
On the one hand, this is because there are more immigrants living in Algeria. The number of people who have been "forced" to relocate from Russia, Croatia, and Italy under the leadership of the government alone has reached around 100,000.
Not to mention those who spontaneously want to go to Algeria for a try.
By the end of 1858, the number of immigrants in Algeria had reached 400,000.
If we include the more than 80,000 troops originally stationed in Algeria, the number of immigrants in Algeria is nearly 500,000.
According to the census conducted by France in 1857 (mainly censusing the population in coastal areas), Algeria’s total population was only about 2.5-3 million, which means that the number of immigrants was equivalent to one-sixth of Algeria’s native residents.
Too much immigration will inevitably lead to conflicts, which will also increase the cost of maintaining stability.
On the other hand, it is also related to the military, because the Governor-General of Algeria is not only the highest military officer of Algeria, but also the highest civil officer of Algeria.
Only part of the money allocated by the Ministry of Finance to the Algerian government was used for civil affairs, and the remaining part was used for the military.
After Jerome Bonaparte was silent for a moment, he responded calmly, "I will handle it with Governor Montauban!"
After Achille Fuld reported all expenditures, Jérôme Bonaparte shifted his focus to the empire's import and export trade.
"The empire's current iron ore is still imported from Sweden?" Jérôme Bonaparte pointed to the import tariff of iron ore in the data and asked Achille Fuld.
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Achille Fuld replied to Jérôme Bonaparte, "The iron ore in our coastal areas is all high-quality iron ore imported from the Kingdom of Sweden, and the coal is also shipped from the Kingdom of Britain.
!”
"What about the coal from Alsace and Lorraine? Is it also shipped from Britain?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked again.
"No! Most of the coal used in Alsace is mined from the Saar Coal and then transported to Alsace by rail!" Achille Fuld answered for Jérôme Bonaparte.
"That's right!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and looked through the information again.
After a while, Jérôme Bonaparte discovered in the export trade column that the French Empire's textile exports in 1858 were unusually lower than in 1857.
You must know that 1857 was the year when the economic crisis occurred. Logically speaking, the export volume in 1858 should be higher than that in 1857.
Achille Fuld respectfully told Jérôme Bonaparte that the decline in the Empire's textile exports was due to the increase in the price of cotton in the international market, and was not a problem with the Empire itself.
The reason for the rise in cotton is naturally related to the U.S. economic crisis.
Achille Fuld also told Jérôme Bonaparte that the French Empire consumed nearly 200 million pounds of cotton, 90% of which was imported from the United States of America.
"That is to say, once the United States of America changes drastically, our textile industry will be in a state of no cotton available!!"
Jerome Bonaparte frowned, and there was a hint of anxiety in his tone.
