Chapter 901: A Turmoil Begins
Chapter 883 – A Storm Begins
The door to the office closed once again, and the crowd retreated. One of the two bank representatives stayed inside, while the other guarded the door, seemingly prohibiting others from approaching to eavesdrop.
Baron Fidorian frowned, this was clearly a sign of distrust, but considering the terrible situation he was in now, he had to curb his fire.
“Tell me, what is it that needs to be made so mysterious? To be the first to say, if you want to hit the machinery factory, you don’t need to waste your time here.
The Machinery Works is my child, and I won’t hand it over, even if it falls on hard times. You, the Bank of Paris, are not yet qualified to take it from me!”
When he said this, Baron Fidorian was bottomless. Although the power of the aristocratic group had declined, it still held the power of the French government.
Although the capitalists were rich, their political say was still no match for the nobility.
As a rare successful businessman in the aristocracy, Baron Fidoron has a strong network, once mobilized even the consortium will feel a headache.
Against this background, there were many people who spied on the machinery factory, but very few who actually dared to pay for the action.
The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly, ”His Excellency the Baron is overly concerned, how could we dare to hit you?
In the recent week, the stock market has fallen continuously, and the market has reached the brink of collapse. I have come on behalf of the Bank of Paris this time to discuss with you about getting through this economic crisis that is about to break out.”
There was no doubt that the Bank of Paris had also hit on the idea of the machine shop, only to find that it was a hard bone, with all the meat in the crevices of the bone, and that it would be a pain in the neck to gnaw on it hard.
Baron Fidoren rolled his eyes, “Enough, the old man is still self-aware. If the economic crisis was something I could decide on, I wouldn’t be worrying about money now.”
Suddenly suffering a large-scale default, the lack of cash flow in the machinery factory was something that was common knowledge in the capital market.
It was impossible to hide it, and Baron Fidorian wasn’t prepared to beat around the bush, much less think that he could fool those vampires at the bank.
The middle-aged man collected his smile and said seriously, “Your Excellency the Baron, what comes next is very important, and if you decide to listen to it, then you must make sure that the content of the conversation does not leak out.
I can guarantee that the content of the next chat will only benefit you and do no harm. Including the trouble you are experiencing right now, it can all be solved.”
Nakedly provocative, but seeing as there was a chance to solve the funding gap, Baron Fidorian decided to continue listening.
As for whether or not to keep it a secret, it depended on what kind of news it was. As long as the benefits were great enough, secrecy was a joke.
“Say, if it’s beneficial to me, do you still have to worry about the news leaking out!”
The middle-aged man nodded and slowly said, “Your Excellency the Baron, you should have noticed. Right now, all European countries are experiencing overcapacity to varying degrees, and only France has suffered the most.
It boils down to the fact that our industrial production costs are too high, and there is no way to compete with Britain and Austria.
In order to solve the problem of industrial raw materials, we have also made a lot of efforts, but still with little success.
The main problem is that the energy issue has not been solved, and we have to buy coal from the international community at sky-high prices, and there is often a shortage of supply, and all industries are suffering from this.
In order to solve this problem, we hope that the industrial and commercial sectors in China can join hands and make concerted efforts to persuade the Central Government to implement the Central European Strategy at an early date.
As long as the energy problem is solved, the domestic industrial and commercial sectors will soon see a spring.
By then, I’m afraid that Your Excellency’s orders can be lined up directly for several years, and the enterprises that have defaulted and canceled their orders now will be begging to pay you the final payment.”
To implement the strategy of Central Europe, just rely on the mouth to say is not a solution to the problem, the French government will certainly have to carry out the expansion of the army to prepare for war. When the time comes, the domestic lagging strategic materials will be digested immediately.
If Austria intervenes and a European war breaks out, then the strategic materials needed are even more astronomical.
As the upstream machinery and equipment production enterprises, Baron Fidoron’s machinery factory is naturally also the beneficiary.
Although the interest is big, Baron Fidoron is frowning, silent for a long time before slowly said: “You are playing with fire, once an accident occurs, it will destroy the French Empire!”
Although the interests are big, but the accompanying risk is bigger. The French government’s Central European strategy has been treated as an ideal strategy since its inception.
From the time of Napoleon III to the present, it has been more than thirty years since the plan was formulated, and the French government still has not put it into practice.
It is not that we don’t want to do it, in fact, successive French governments have wanted to accomplish this great strategy, but the key is that the strength does not allow it.
Although France is powerful, but compared with the United States of Europe, there is still a huge gap. Once the operation is not good, triggering a new round of anti-French war, it would be fatal.
The middle-aged man shook his head, ”Your Excellency the Baron, high risk leads to high gain. If we don’t want to take risks, how can we possibly solve the predicament we are facing now?
Besides, now is the best time to make a move. Britain and Russia are in a fierce battle in Central Asia and have held each other back, the only roadblock in front of us at this time is Austria.
If we miss this opportunity, once the Anglo-Russian war is over, we won’t have another chance.
Don’t look at the last few years, our economy is recovering well, but compared to other countries in Europe, our development speed is at the bottom of the list.
As time goes on, this situation will get worse. If we take action now, we still have a few chances of winning, and the later we go, the lower our chances of winning will be.
As a matter of fact, we should have acted as early as 1880, during the Russo-Prussian War. Unfortunately, because some people looked ahead, an opportunity was wasted.”
Based purely on comparative strength, 1880 was indeed the most successful time for France to challenge the European order.
Immediately following the shot of the Paris Revolution, France’s economy suffered a severe blow and has only now recovered.
Unfortunately this is not the end of the matter, merely the beginning of the disaster. Looking at the economic crisis, the French economy will be hit hard again if there is no way to get through it.
In the long run of history, ten years is not worth mentioning at all. But for France, this wasted decade has been one of total economic fallout.
As early as a dozen years ago, the total economic output of mainland France surpassed that of the British Isles, and now it has been overtaken back by the British.
Comparing with Austria, the economic strength gap is even bigger. Further so tossed, perhaps to the next decade, the gap between the two sides is not in percentage points, but changed to times.
These days everyone underestimates the importance of the economy, and in the calculation of the comprehensive national strength, the weight of the economy is negligible.
With the prestige left over from the Napoleonic era, after years of government propaganda, in everyone’s subconscious mind France is still the world’s number one land force and the world’s second naval power, the general public does not feel the pressure.
But the consortium is different, they are the most economic and sensitive. Economic prosperity means more money, if the economy is at a disadvantage for a long time, it will gradually open the gap between them and the strength of the British and Austrian capital.
Whether from the long-term development or short-term interests, the consortium has the need to promote the strategy of Central Europe.
The main reason for attracting Baron Fidoron is that the capital sees his network of contacts, which can influence the government’s decision-making to a certain extent.
These things are not something that can be exchanged for money. Even now, the French consortium’s voice in politics is not high.
It’s okay to influence some small decisions, but if you want to promote the Central European strategy, then you have to enlist the support of the nobility.
“Alas!”
After a sigh, Baron Fidorian closed his eyes and fell into a fierce heart struggle.
The more one knew, the more troubles one had. The current situation of France could not be hidden from them, the elites. The more in-depth the understanding, the more difficult it was for Baron Fidoron to make a choice.
Seeing Baron Fidoron in hesitation, the middle-aged man added: ”As long as Your Excellency is willing to promote the Central European strategy, no matter whether it is successful or not in the end, the bank’s loan can be extended until next year.
If the Central European Strategy passes in the government, we can also provide another loan to the machinery factory.”
The implication of “bank’s loan” instead of just “Bank of Paris’ loan” was very clear to Baron Fidoron, which was that several large consortiums in France were jointly promoting this plan.
Unlike the aristocrats and France tied together, once the empire is destroyed, everyone’s good days will be over.
The capitalists have always had a very large margin of choice. Even if they lost the gamble, they could likewise pull back to develop in another country.
It’s just that they need to start from scratch, and it costs a bit more. If not necessary, people will not easily give up France.
Baron Fidorian sneered, ”You guys are really generous! Alright, I know what to do. I have a meeting next, so I won’t keep Your Excellency much longer.”
Being treated rudely, the middle-aged man wasn’t annoyed, he knew it was done and left the office courteously with a full smile on his face.
To the very end, Baron Fidorian did not ask the middle-aged man’s name or identity. It wasn’t that he was arrogant, but there was really no need to care about a small person.
Making decisions for the government and promoting the Central European Strategy was also something that was taboo. The bigwigs simply wouldn’t venture out, and the ones who came out to engage in tandem were all dispensable pawns.
If the plan succeeds, these pawns are ready-made scapegoats in case the plan fails and attracts the hostility of the French government.
Looked out the window, after a long time Baron Fidoron connected to the phone line, took out the phone book, began to connect ……
……
Being lobbied not only Baron Fidoron, from the outbreak of the stock market crash, capitalists have secretly begun to conspire.
First the industrial and commercial sector, then members of parliament, government officials, a powerful public relations campaign was kicked off.
Without realizing it, French public opinion also began to change. Experts and scholars attributed a series of problems such as the stock market crash, the wave of unemployment, and the low treatment of workers to the speculation of coal prices in Belgium and Germany.
To summarize: the despicable and shameless Bi-German two countries, by raising the price of coal exports, plundered the wealth of France.
Of course, part of the street tabloids, in order to attract attention, also piggybacked on John Bull. After all, these days Britain is the world’s number one coal exporter.
This is all a small problem, Britain and France conflict is not a day or two, and it does not matter if it is written down one more time.
In line with the principle of persimmon looking for soft pinch, experts and scholars decisively chose not to see, but just asked the government to take a tough approach to the two countries than Germany, to avoid the loss of national wealth.
(End of chapter)