Chapter 81 Government Treasury Bonds (4,000-character chapter)
After giving out medals to those who helped the royal family make money during the rubber crisis, Edelai considered how to use the money. After deducting the balance of 420,000 pounds for the power plant and 630,000 pounds for the Ploiesti Machinery Factory,
There is also a profit of 1.21 million pounds. Just when the crown prince was thinking about how to use the money, someone came up with the idea of a small royal treasury.
At the home of Prime Minister Stuart, he is discussing the results of the crown prince's harvest with his nephew Karaturi in the study. As the leader of the ruling Liberal Party, Stuart is not only the steward of the kingdom, but also takes into account the interests of the party. (Also
The major political party is the Conservative Party. Now Romania also has a multi-party system, but the basic governance is interchangeable between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party.)
"Uncle, the government's finances are too difficult now. Should we look to the royal family for a solution? I heard that the crown prince recently sent a large sum of money." Karaturi suggested to his uncle who was worried about finances.
"I know something about this, it should be an income of more than 2 million pounds." Stuart did not directly answer his nephew's proposal.
"Uncle, now the Bratianu gang in the party have been collaborating with each other, and they probably want to harm you, uncle." Karaturi expressed his worries.
Bretianu is another giant of the Liberal Party. He is the nephew of the late founder of the Liberal Party, Jan C. Bretianu, and has a large number of supporters. However, Stuart is not a vegetarian. In the old Breton
After Nu's death, he has been suppressing his nephew. In the original history, if it hadn't been for the peasant uprising in 1907, he would not have been able to replace the old prime minister.
However, due to the role of Edel, the little butterfly, there was no way out for the Great Uprising in 1907. Now the old prime minister still holds the power, and he can only continue to lie dormant. However, the old prime minister’s support for the crown prince’s military reorganization and industrial construction caused the government’s fiscal deficit to rise.
.Bredianu saw this as an opportunity and began to connect with the party in an attempt to seize the position of party leader. This was all seen by Struer.
In fact, there has always been a voice in the Liberal Party that believes that the old prime minister is too obedient to the royal family and has completely failed to fulfill his due status as a prime minister. Stuart dismissed these remarks because he knew that it was time for the kingdom to change its power.
, the old King Carol I wanted to gradually hand over power to Crown Prince Edel. During this period, anyone's irrational behavior will lead to royal revenge. In Romania, political parties without royal support cannot be in power.
Basic.
"I will consider this matter. Karatuli, you have to follow the footsteps of the crown prince. I don't think I will be in power for long." The old prime minister expressed his thoughts to his nephew.
"Uncle, actually you can still work for several years, you can consider delaying for a while." Karaturi was obviously surprised by his uncle's idea.
"This is an idea I have thought about carefully. I have been working for almost ten years, and it is time to retire. Otherwise, everyone will be dissatisfied with me, and by the way, it can also lay a good foundation for you in the future." Stoyer said to
he explained.
After Karaturi heard his uncle's words, he naturally knew that he couldn't do anything. For him, it was smooth sailing during the period when his uncle was prime minister. Now that his uncle plans to retire this year, how to position himself will be a problem.
"I will respect my uncle's decision." Even though Karaturi said this, there was still a look of disappointment on his face.
Who is Stuart? He can see his nephew's reluctance at a glance. Looking at his somewhat disappointed nephew, Stuart comforted him. "It will be some time before I retire. If you want to continue to lead the family forward, you can't."
discouraged."
Faced with his uncle's encouragement, Karaturi cheered up. "Don't worry, uncle, I will bring the family back to its current position."
"I trust you."
After seeing off his nephew, Stuart sat on an armchair. His nephew's rhetoric made Stuart realize that it was not easy. Although he is now the Minister of Industry, he seems to be very close to the Prime Minister. In fact, he is stepping down on his own.
Only later will he realize that it will not be possible for at least fifteen years.
Just now, we can't damage our nephew's confidence too much. He has seen too many high-ranking people retire, and the family is in trouble. It's much better than their own family. At least they have enough friendship with the crown prince, and
Kalituri is also of great use to the Crown Prince now, which is pretty good.
Early the next morning, Prime Minister Stuart took a car to the Prime Minister's Office. After entering the office, Secretary Feyanscujin came up and said to him. "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, the army has come to press for funds again. They said that we were originally
The 8 million lei that should have been allocated at the end of last month has not been moved yet.”
"What did Listerine say?" Struer asked the secretary. Feyanscu knew what the prime minister meant and replied. "The finance minister said, 'After deducting emergency funds and daily funds that cannot be used, there are only two hundred dollars in the account now.
Wrei. Moreover, the Minister of Finance is not optimistic about the current issuance of national bonds. The main reason is that no country except Germany supports our issuance of national bonds. Germany is not in an easy situation now, and there is no time.' Moreover, the autumn agricultural tax will not be collected for three months. Now
Chief of General Staff Pleshan is sitting in the lounge waiting for you."
After hearing the secretary's words, Struer was also secretly troubled. Now Britain, France, and Russia were all very angry about Romania's cooperation with Germany and Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If only they could still issue national bonds in the financial markets of the three countries.
Ghost, and Austria-Hungary and Romania were unhappy in Lantesilvaria recently because of the oppression of the local Romanian people. Germany, the only country that can help them, is also financially strapped because of the battle with Britain over the dreadnought. Now domestically
The financial market simply cannot meet the government's needs, so it can only tighten its belts and live a hard life.
Thinking of this, Prime Minister Stuart can only comfort the military leader first and think of ways to solve the financial problem.
"Invite the Chief of General Staff here." The old Prime Minister said to his secretary.
After receiving Struer's instructions, Feyanscu went out to invite Puliesan, but Puliesan soon pushed the door open and came in.
The chief of general staff stated his purpose straightforwardly. "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I am here for the payment last month."
Faced with Puliesan's straightforward speech, Struer said calmly, "General Pulieshan, the government cannot come up with this amount now."
Faced with such a shameless Prime Minister, Pleshan almost couldn't help but curse. Anyone in the army who dared to talk to him like this would have been kicked out of the army long ago. But fortunately, he knew that the Prime Minister's Office held back, so he was not polite.
He asked directly, "When can I get the money?"
"Now we can only wait until the agricultural tax is collected in three months." Stuart replied slowly.
Puleshan almost jumped when he heard that it would take three months, and he retorted directly, "This won't work. After one month, the army's salary will not be paid. Do you know the consequences of this?"
Puleshan breathed a sigh of relief and told the bottom line of the army. "I will see the funds in half a month at most, otherwise I will ask the soldiers to come to the Prime Minister's Office to collect their salaries."
After saying that, Pleshan strode out of the Prime Minister's Office, leaving behind a group of people who were attracted by the quarrel. The news about the quarrel between the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff spread out. Edel got the news at noon, and said:
The government's fiscal embarrassment also came as a surprise.
At Stuart's house in the evening, Karaturi was also asking the old Prime Minister about everything that happened in the Prime Minister's Office this morning.
"Why did uncle make such a big fuss with General Pleshan? It won't do us any good."
Faced with Karaturi's question, Struer looked at his nephew. After all, it was the young man who had no experience. The old prime minister sat on the armchair with his hands on his abdomen and asked his nephew calmly. "Are you surprised?
?”
Seeing that his uncle was so calm and did not look like someone who had just had an argument in the morning, Kalituri was a little embarrassed to answer.
Seeing that his nephew was still a little confused, Struer could only explain why he did this. "General Pleshan will come this time. It was me who spread the news the day before yesterday that the government funds were insufficient and that the cost of military reorganization was to be reduced.
, take a step back for one year to complete the reorganization.”
Karaturi looked at his uncle, not expecting such a result.
"Why use this method?"
Faced with his nephew's question, Struer continued to explain. "Otherwise, Plesan would not have come, otherwise the news of a big quarrel between the army and the highest level of the government would not have spread so quickly. What could I do?"
Can you use enough reasons to ask the crown prince for the money?"
Looking at his uncle in front of him, Karatuli suddenly felt that he still had a long way to go. However, he still asked with a little doubt, "Uncle, how can you be sure that General Pleshan will come?"
Faced with his nephew's question, Struer smiled and said, "Because he is a smart man, this matter is also good for him."
Hearing his uncle's answer, Karatuli was still a little confused. Seeing that his nephew was still a little confused, the old prime minister could only elaborate. "Pleshan was known for his calmness twenty years ago, but he started to lose his temper five years ago.
Don’t you think it’s strange that it’s getting bigger and bigger? This time I give him such a good stage, and he will definitely come over.”
After hearing Struer's explanation, Kalituli was surprised by his uncle's scheming.
Seeing his nephew's surprised expression, Sturrier continued, "But this method can only be used once, and it can only be used when I am about to retire. Otherwise, the king will be unhappy."
"Uncle, what do you mean..."
Sturrier nodded to his nephew, indicating that he was right. "Yes, this method cannot be hidden from the king. But I am going to retire, and he won't care too much about it. After all, I have no merit but hard work."
Early the next morning, Stuart came to the palace and met Crown Prince Edel.
"I have met His Highness."
Edel looked at the Prime Minister in front of him and asked, "I wonder why the Prime Minister came to see me?"
"Now that the government cannot make enough money, it wants to issue government bonds."
Edel had long known about the big fight between the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff yesterday at the Prime Minister's Office over funding. He also knew that the government did not have enough funds and the purchase rate of national debt was low. This time, he was specifically asked to report on the national debt.
It was because of the funds in his hands. After all, there is no precedent in Europe for the royal family to lend money to the government. There are examples of accommodating it and changing it to buying national debt.
Even though he knew that the Prime Minister would not use this method unless forced to do so, Edel was still a little unwilling and planned to ask again. "Is there really no other way?"
"Your Highness really has no choice but to issue national bonds, otherwise he will go bankrupt if he can't collect the agricultural tax for less than three months." Sturrier also said with a rogue face, even though he was wily and calculating.
No money.
After hearing what the Prime Minister said, Edel thought for a while and said, "You can issue a batch of two-year government bonds worth 250,000 lei, but it requires an annual interest rate of 10%. I heard that the navy plans to buy a ship with 2,000 lei.
A ton cruiser should also be supported.”
Faced with the Crown Prince's bid, the Prime Minister was unambiguous in bargaining. "The annual interest rate on this government bond is too high. A 5% annual interest rate would be enough. The navy does not need such a big ship. A 500-ton warship would be good."
.”
"This is not possible. Coastal defense is also the key point of Romania. A two thousand-ton cruiser can ensure the security of Romania's maritime borders. The annual interest rate can be lowered. An annual interest rate of 8% is very reasonable." Edel looked like he would not hesitate to build the navy.
Speaking of which, I don’t know who it is, but it has not increased funding for the Navy in many years.
After some bargaining, the Prime Minister finally got the result: the issuance of 25 million lei treasury bonds with an annual interest rate of 6%. The navy can obtain part of the funds from this treasury bond to purchase a 2,000-ton cruiser to supplement the fleet.
After the Crown Prince got the results, Sturrier returned to the Prime Minister's Office without stopping to discuss the issuance with the Minister of Finance. On the third day, the Romanian government issued a batch of two-year bearer certificates in the domestic securities market worth 25 million lei.
Treasury bonds, with an annual interest rate of 6%, were enthusiastically purchased as soon as they were put on the market, and were sold out within a week. The largest buyer was the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Romania, which purchased 81.6% of this batch of treasury bonds, which is baffling.
.
Edel was in the palace listening to the President of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Variochi, reporting on the results.
"Your Highness, we purchased 1.124 million pounds worth of government bonds, including 500,000 pounds of bank funds and 62.4 pounds of royal funds."
After listening to Varioch's return, Edel thought to himself that it was good that there were banks that could help purchase national bonds, otherwise all the funds earned would have been lent to the government.
After negotiating the terms with Stuart, Edel had no intention of using all the royal funds. As a royal industry, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China should also contribute. After returning 1 million pounds to the bank, he asked Varioch to buy 50
There is no pressure on the 10,000-pound national debt. With the remaining funds, Edel can do other things.
When Eder was listening to the purchase of national debt, Carol I was also listening to a report in the old king's office. It was just a report from the spy leader Milok.
"Your Majesty. After our investigation, we found that the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff had no previous contact. It should be the Prime Minister's own temporary decision."
After listening to the report of the spy leader, Carol I asked again, "Is it reliable?"
"It's completely reliable. We found out the information four days ago, and it took four days to review it to ensure reliability."
"Go down."
After Milok resigned, King Carol I felt relieved. The previous actions of the Prime Minister and Chief of General Staff made him very uneasy. So he asked Milok to investigate. In the face of power, no one can take it lightly.
This is the tradition of the Hohenzollern family, and the old king will certainly not forget it.
