Faced with Jérôme Bonaparte's division of labor, Achille Fuld was not very willing.
In his heart, Baros was a shameful betrayer and a capricious villain.
“Your Majesty, I think this task only needs to be left to the Ministry of Finance to complete independently. We are confident that we can complete it!
As for the Department of Public Transport, (Achille Fuld glanced at Baros from the corner of his eye and snorted softly) there is no need to intervene at all!" Achille Fuld said with a hint of resentment in his tone.
To Jerome Bonaparte.
"Minister Fuld, it's not that I don't believe in your ability!" Jérôme Bonaparte replied kindly. "This task originally requires the joint efforts of the Ministry of Public Transport and the Ministry of Finance."
Only by working together can you complete the task faster and better!
Please do not bring your personal grudges into your work. You are all the pillars of the empire. I believe you should have a measure that matches your position!!
So I don’t want to see you affecting the progress of the project because of some personal issues, okay!”
Although Jérôme Bonaparte's attitude was more polite, Achille Fuld heard a bit of reprimand in his words.
Obviously, the emperor was determined to let him cooperate with Baros to complete the plan.
Seeing that Jerome Bonaparte's attitude could not be reversed, Achille Fuld had no choice but to obey the emperor's will.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to follow your arrangement to discuss the plan with Minister Baros, and then submit the joint plan to the legislative group!" Achille Fuld responded to Jérôme Bonaparte respectfully.
"now it's right!"
Jerome Bonaparte suddenly beamed with joy. He took Achille Fuld's hand, and then took Baros's hand over.
"Ministers and ministers should work together! Now if you two shake hands in front of me, won't all this be over?"
As Jérôme Bonaparte spoke, he brought the hands of Achille Fuld and Baros close to each other.
In the end, Achille Fuld and Baros "shaked hands and made peace" under the compulsion of Jérôme Bonaparte.
The report of the Ministry of Public Transport also officially came to an end after Achille Fuld shook hands with Baros.
Next came the report of Bemini, the governor of the Bank of France. Bemini first handed the financial summary information of the Bank of France last year to Jérôme Bonaparte, and then quietly waited for Jérôme
· Bonaparte saw all reports.
After Jérôme Bonaparte briefly scanned the document (he did not read it at all, but only glanced at the title and opening content of each page), Bemini roughly recounted the content of the document to Gérôme.
M. Bonaparte listens.
Overall, the amount of savings in the Bank of France was higher in 1858 than in 1857, indicating that French people preferred to keep their money in the bank rather than invest it.
This was not over yet. Jérôme Bonaparte also learned from Bemini that the number of investments by domestic companies willing to borrow from the Bank of France had also decreased to a certain extent compared to 1857.
It stands to reason that after companies were hit hard by the economic crisis, the number of companies looking for investment from the Bank of France to maintain their operations should increase.
However, the reality was exactly the opposite, which made Jerome Bonaparte have to wonder whether the company was financing from private banks.
After all, the Banque de France is more stringent than some private banks in reviewing additional investments.
So, in order to find out whether it is a problem with the Bank of France or a general problem in France.
Jerome Bonaparte solemnly asked Bemini: "President Bemini, can I ask a personal question?"
"Your Majesty, please speak!" Bemini responded respectfully to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Did the amount of foreign investment made by your private bank last year decrease or increase compared with 1857?" asked Jérôme Bonaparte.
After Bemini calmly organized his words, he answered to Jérôme Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, according to the report my assistant gave me a few days ago!
The amount of foreign investment of the banks under my control last year was not only less than last year, but the vast majority of the investment was from abroad!"
After listening to Bemini's report, Jérôme Bonaparte turned his attention to Achille Fuld, "Your Excellency Fuld, where is your bank?"
"The situation of Fuld Bank is the same as that of Bemini Bank. At present, the bank's foreign investment is mainly foreign, and domestic enterprises have rarely been willing to lend money in the past year!" Achille Fuld told Jérôme Bona
Ba replied.
After hearing the answers from Fuld and Bemini, Jérôme Bonaparte vaguely guessed the foreign investment projects of Fuld and Bemini.
In order to verify the guess in my mind, I asked again, "Then... I would like to take the liberty to ask! What are the main foreign investments of your two banks?"
"National debt!" Achille Fuld and Bemini responded in unison.
My guess was indeed correct!
Jérôme Bonaparte cursed in his heart.
No one is more interested in the government debt business than the French bankers.
No matter how untrustworthy the national debt is, it can always turn decay into magic in their hands.
Although only two banks, Bemini and Fuld, were sampled this time, they already represent the situation of large and medium-sized banks in France.
Immediately afterwards, Jerome Bonaparte turned to the amount of foreign investment of the Bank of France.
As expected, the main foreign investment business of the Bank of France is also treasury bonds.
Among them, the US national debt and the national debt of the German region (including the Austrian Empire national debt) are the main ones, and they are showing a growing trend.
Obviously, the economic crisis of 1857 did not affect the Bank of France's enthusiasm for investing in government bonds.
Jerome Bonaparte lowered his head and thought silently, while Fuld and others did not dare to say a word.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After a while, Jerome Bonaparte raised his head again.
He turned his attention to Bemini again, "Bemini, why do you think domestic companies are unwilling to borrow money from the Bank of France?"
"Your Majesty!" Regarding Jérôme Bonaparte's question, Bemini had already anticipated, "Domestic enterprises are unwilling to borrow money from the Bank of France. The final analysis is that the vast majority of enterprises in France are small and medium-sized enterprises!
Their ability to resist risks is also higher than that of large enterprises. In addition, most small and medium-sized enterprises are small workshops that implement the family system. They are naturally wary of banks. Therefore, after suffering an economic crisis, they always choose
Fight through it.
Therefore, after the economic crisis, companies that have relied on their own funds to survive are even less willing to borrow money from banks."
"If banks lower loan interest rates, will there be more business loans?" asked Jérôme Bonaparte.
"No! Your Majesty!" Bemini responded to Jérôme Bonaparte, shaking his head, "For those companies that want to obtain financing, the interest rate of the Bank of France (5%) is low enough!"
"What if we lower the review standards of the Bank of France!" Jérôme Bonaparte once again proposed a solution, "I remember that you (the Bank of France) are always very generous in terms of financing, but you are indeed more strict in terms of borrowing!
Can the review standards for borrowing be relaxed so that more companies can flourish?"
"No!" Bemini's expression changed, and he hurriedly said to Jérôme Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, the reason why banks maintain strict relations in terms of borrowing is to prevent some fraudulent companies from destroying the stability of the bank!
"
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Fuld also persuaded with earnest words, "The reason why the Ministry of Finance can successfully issue public bonds every time is entirely due to the support of the Bank of France!
If the credibility of the Bank of France is damaged, it will be difficult for the Empire’s public bonds to be issued as smoothly as before!”
Under the dual opposition of Achille Fuld and Bemini, Jérôme Bonaparte had to give up his idea.
Immediately, Jérôme Bonaparte asked Bemini about the amount of gold held by the Bank of France and the circulation of Bank of France notes (paper francs).
Bemini told Jerome Bonaparte that the Bank of France has currently issued nearly 500 million francs (about 145 tons) of gold in its reserves (nearly 200 million francs more gold than the same period in history), and bank notes have only issued
More than 400 million francs.
After listening to the data reported by Bemini, Jérôme Bonaparte couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"You are the richest bank in France... No, it should be said that you are the richest bank in Europe!
I remember that the Bank of England’s reserves are only about 16 million pounds, which is about the same when converted into francs..."
"400 million francs, Your Majesty!" Bemini answered immediately.
"Since you all have so much gold, are you afraid that you won't be able to redeem the bank notes you gave away?
The proportion of bank notes should be larger, there are still many places in France that need them!" Jérôme Bonaparte hinted that Bemini should continue to spend money to stimulate the economy.
"Your Majesty, I will discuss it carefully with the directors of the bank!"
Bemini said casually that he really did not want the Bank of France to fall into the "embarrassment" of the Ministry of Finance.
The emperor spends money too fast!
…
The long imperial meeting lasted from 3pm to about 7pm.
After nearly four hours of discussion, the four people present felt both mentally and physically exhausted.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Jerome Bonaparte expressed his gratitude to the three people present.
"Your Majesty, this is what we should do!" The three people present responded to Jerome Bonaparte almost at the same time.
Immediately afterwards, Queen Augusta also appeared in the room.
"Thank you very much for being able to accompany Jerome to work until this time. I have already asked the kitchen to prepare dinner!
If you don’t mind, you can have a meal together!”
At the warm invitation of Queen Augusta, Achille Fuld and others went to the restaurant.
