"If nothing else happens, you will know soon. See you then~"
Until the mysterious lady left quietly, Bowang still didn't come back to his senses for a long time.
Although he has been well-informed in his decades-long career as a banker, he has to say that this is the first time he has seen such a woman. She is mysterious, maverick, and at the same time quite close to His Majesty, and she seems to
Possessing some confidential information... This aroused his great curiosity.
This curiosity is not driven by hormones, but by the obsession and desire for money.
Just now, it only took her just half an hour to let Bo Wang discover a huge business opportunity. Compared with this, the one million francs squeezed out of her was nothing.
If we can cooperate with her for a long time, wouldn't it be equivalent to seizing a cash cow?
But no matter what, we must first confirm the authenticity of the entire incident.
He just promised to pay the other party one million francs tomorrow. If this is just a simple scam, then he himself will become the biggest joke in Paris, which is unacceptable.
So, he hastily packed up his documents, then thought about it carefully, and then rang the bell to call his secretary in.
"Get your carriage and horses ready, I'm going to Fontainebleau to see His Majesty!"
His men were always very efficient, so the carriages and horses were quickly prepared. Then Bowang galloped all the way and arrived at the Palace of Fontainebleau at noon.
Logically speaking, even if he is the top banker in the country, in this era where "hierarchy" is still important, Bowang is not qualified to enter the palace. However, in addition to his status as a banker, Bowang is still personally conferred by His Majesty.
The nobles naturally have certain privileges. In addition, they have become His Majesty's "assistant" in promoting financial policies, so they receive more preferential treatment.
But even so, his current position of power in the palace is still not high, and he does not have the "priority" for an audience. He can only come to the palace to submit an application for an audience, and then quietly wait in the audience room for His Majesty to take the time.
Think of it and summon yourself.
Fortunately, he did not wait too long. As soon as Aigron heard the news of his request for an audience, he quickly summoned him.
In fact, when he received the news, Aigron already guessed what was going on.
"Monsieur de Beauvin, long time no see." Because he knew what was going on, he acted more pleasantly than usual after seeing Beauvin, "What do you want to see me about today?"
As expected, Bowang took out the note from his pocket without saying anything and handed it to Aiglon respectfully, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry to disturb you during your busy schedule.
You, but today a woman came to me with something like this, seeking financial assistance. Because the amount she asked for was very large, so in order to verify the authenticity, I had to come and confirm with you..."
While Bowang was rambling, Aigron already understood what was going on. He took the note and browsed it hastily.
"This is what I wrote."
Although Aigron's words were brief, they were enough to give the final word, and the tension and doubts in Bowang's heart were instantly swept away.
That's no problem! Now he no longer doubts the other party's identity (although he still doesn't know who the other party is yet), let alone the business opportunities she secretly provided.
Aigron didn't know there was another story behind it, so he just returned the note to Bowang without thinking, and asked by the way, "How much does she want from you?"
"To tell you the truth, I was shocked at first." Bowang kept smiling, and then replied in a low voice, "She directly asked me for one million, and said that this was just the beginning -"
As soon as these words came out, even Aigron was shocked.
One million francs is not a small amount in this day and age, not to mention that she just opened her mouth immediately after meeting her. It seems that Maria is really rude.
However, after the initial accident, Aigron quickly regained his composure.
After all, money is nothing more than an external possession to him - not to mention that he doesn't pay for it. Assuming that Maria only wanted money, it would not be so troublesome for him...
But unfortunately, what she really wanted in her heart was not money, but to vent her resentment. This was what gave him a headache.
Of course, in order to appease Bowang, Aigron also looked very dissatisfied.
"That's too much! Mr. Bowen, to be honest with you, I wrote that note at first because she complained to me about the lack of money, so I wanted you to help her alleviate her financial crisis.
But I didn't expect that she actually extorted so much money from you! I will definitely reprimand her. If she talks to you like this again in the future, you can refuse - "
Aigron fully thought that Bowang was feeling distressed at the moment, so he pretended to comfort him, but he didn't expect that Bowang was quite satisfied at the moment.
Of course it would be distressing to lose a million for no reason, but it would be another matter to spend a million to buy top-secret information and make a fortune for it.
Of course, he would not be stupid enough to show his traces in front of Aigron, so instead he sighed and put on an impassioned look, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? It's my honor to bear the expenses for you. Don't worry.
I’m talking about one million, even if it’s five million or ten million, as long as you need it, I will raise it for you without hesitation without any delay!”
He has always been an action man through and through. Now that it can be inferred from various clues that the lady really did not lie, he can immediately make plans to buy land, and he will try his best to curry favor with the lady in the future so that
Get more opportunities.
Although both of them knew that the other's words were not true, at least they had the effect of "the host and the guest enjoying each other", and Aigron's mood improved accordingly.
"I originally wanted to ask you something recently. Since you came directly, I will ask you by the way." After finishing the previous topic, he spoke again, "How are you preparing for the railway bonds?
Already?"
What Agron is talking about is the state-owned railway company that he has prepared since he came to power. This is also one of the "national policies" that he attaches most importance to.
He has made a lot of preliminary preparations for this. He asked Agnes's father, Duke Nordlien, to be the first general manager, and also asked him to recruit talents from all walks of life to serve as the backbone of the entire state-owned railway business in the future.
In order to carry out such a huge construction plan, in addition to people, money is also essential, and it is impossible for the government to fully bear these costs - after all, in this era, the government has already shouldered an extremely huge public debt, and it also needs to
To pay the salaries of the huge central bureaucracy and the military, as well as to bear the public expenses of parliaments at all levels, fiscal space is already struggling.
In this case, he naturally could only focus on "private wealth", so after he came to power, he used his temporary absolute control over both houses of parliament to pass a series of laws in an effort to regulate and promote the financing of the railway industry.
Fortunately, after centuries of development, France already has an extremely sufficient bond financial market. As long as the government's credit is bet on the gambling table, and the railway is completed, the profit effects can be quickly seen, whether it is Aiglon
, and the officials in charge are full of confidence in this.
In order to maximize the wealth potential in his hands, Aigron also found several well-known bankers such as Bowang as senior advisers and asked them to help underwrite the bonds scheduled to be issued.
And Bowang, because of his amazing ambition and profound vision of emerging industries, has become the most attentive person among these bankers. He constantly advises Aiglon and proposes a project.
Some of these suggestions were based on public motives and some were based on personal interests, but overall they were extremely useful and practical, so they gained more and more trust from Aiglon.
When talking about anything else, Baron de Beauvin is a short, smooth, unattractive middle-aged man, but when it comes to his professional field, this short, fat man seems to be painted.
Coated with a layer of divine oil, it is filled with amazing contagious energy.
"Your Majesty, we are not talking about small amounts of money, but hundreds of millions or even billions of money, and this is just the initial expenditure. Such a huge expenditure will definitely affect the financial security of the entire country." In Aiglon.
In front of the audience, he explained in a convincing tone, "Unfortunately, there are not many things that the government can mortgage. Except for the land along the line and the expected future benefits, it is difficult for us to take out the mortgage."
Provide other more convincing collateral. Because of this, I think you should provide more credit on these bonds, so as to strengthen the confidence of the people to actively buy them."
"Provide more credit?" Aigron suddenly became interested, "Then what do you think I should do?"
"As your Majesty, you possess intangible assets that are unattainable. After all, in France, everyone is crazy about official positions and titles. During the Bourbon period, the kings supported the treasury by selling their official positions and titles.
A war..." Bowang replied immediately.
As if he was afraid that Aigron would be unhappy, he immediately changed the subject, "Of course, you are in a different era after all, and you cannot be like the fatuous monarchs of Bourbon and put the country's most important official positions for sale at a clear price; but at least you can
You can sell some seemingly glamorous but innocuous things. For example, you can appoint a certain businessman or a certain industrialist as a counselor or national adviser; you can award them honorary titles, and if you donate enough, you can even give them a title of nobility; you can also
Special palace events are held to regularly invite celebrities and wealthy businessmen who actively subscribe for railway bonds. Please believe me, in order to obtain these honors, many people are willing to donate generously. Driven by celebrities, more people will naturally join in the effort.
Purchase – This way you can raise more money to meet your needs without increasing your tax burden.”
Aigron knew in his heart that Bowang himself was a typical example. He relied on huge investments and donations to become his guest and a close aristocrat. Because of this, his words were even more convincing.
My ancestor was a small Corsican landowner, so why not treat someone whose ancestors were a lumber merchant, a pollen merchant, or even a blacksmith cordially? As long as he could get benefits in return.
Although Egerlund grew up in Austria, he does not have the Austrian mysophobia.
"This is indeed a good idea, but even so, I think it will be difficult to completely solve our problem." Eggron responded.
"You are right. The funds we need are so huge that donations alone are not enough. Therefore, the logical approach is to save money and use the limited funds where we need them most." Bowang nodded.
, and then said another solution of his own. "I believe that the state-owned railway company should not be responsible for the country's railway industry, but should use its energy to manage those that are most important to our country's economy and military and are most profitable.
On the lines; for example, Paris to Lille, to Lyon, to Orleans, these trunk lines have huge passenger flow and transportation volume, and are destined to be profitable. As for the lines that go deep into local small cities and villages and towns, you can let qualified private companies do it.
Contracting for construction and operation, and then letting distributors distribute their bonds, can alleviate the pressure on the government's own finances."
Bowang carefully explained to Aiglon that in his concept, the country's Iron Island industry should adopt a model of state-owned trunk lines plus private dedicated lines. The national railway companies are responsible for the construction and operation of lines between big cities, while local ones are like capillaries.
For branch lines like blood vessels, let the private sector raise funds on their own, and the government can at most provide land concessions and financial policy concessions, without having to bear the construction and operating expenses.
Because for government agencies with large personnel, small branch lines are destined to be unprofitable, so it is better to let private enterprises raise money themselves.
"I think you are right." Aigron thought for a moment and agreed with Bowang. "Then in this case, the issuance of bonds should be different, right?"
"Your Majesty, you are indeed amazing. You hit the point right away." Bowang nodded immediately, "Bonds issued by the government have high face value, low interest rates, and stable income; while bonds issued by private enterprises have high interest rates and low prices.
The volatility is extremely high...and there is a high possibility of bankruptcy for various reasons."
Although Bowang said it tactfully, Aigron completely understood what the other party meant.
Because this is the characteristic product of this era, all kinds of inexplicable opportunities to make money, all kinds of inexplicable bonds and stocks, just like opening a blind box. Sometimes you think it is a serious investment, but it turns out to be a fraud, sometimes you think it is a fraud.
But it is an investment that makes you rich, and everything is so dramatic.
The difference between "fraud" and "investment", let alone ordinary people, is probably difficult for professionals to distinguish sometimes?
Railways are also the hardest hit by fraud. Banks colluded with certain "industrialists" to set up railway companies, and then issued bonds indiscriminately in the name of "railway business." After the bonds were bought up by unknowing savers or customers, they were immediately
They announced a shutdown or bankruptcy for various reasons, or even absconded directly with their money. As a result, a large number of people went bankrupt, but the masterminds behind the scenes made a lot of money.
This is also a kind of pain of the times.
Bowang happens to be a veteran at this, so he knows the pros and cons.
"Because of this, the liquidation and management of bonds are also crucial." Bowang expressed his final conclusion, "However, Your Majesty, we cannot eliminate all risks, and we do not need to go to great lengths to do this.
We just need to ensure the overall stability of funding—"
"I understand." Aigron nodded, but immediately hit him again. "But don't forget, I must be responsible for the stability of the country now. I can accept the risk of bankruptcy of a certain enterprise, but I cannot sit back and watch it happen.
The bankruptcy trend that is enough to shake the country - Mr. Bowang, I also ask you to help me do this. I believe that no one is more suitable for this job than you."
If you don't do it well, it's your responsibility - Aigron didn't say the second half of the sentence, but both of them knew it.