Chapter 1028: Bank of Conscience

  Chapter 1008 – Bank of Conscience

Unlike the stirrers of chaos, as a pacifist, Franz has always been the most averse to chaos.

Seeing that the European continent is about to be in chaos, as a responsible European hegemon, Franz knows that he should do something.

In essence, this European unrest is because of the economic crisis. The crisis was artificially slowed down, but the floodgates were not properly drained, so that the situation was out of control after the crisis broke out.

Previous economic crises were usually caused by one or both of economic policy mistakes, currency supply and demand imbalances, overheated investment, stock market bubbles, debt overhang, natural disasters, financial turmoil, and overcapacity …….

This economic crisis is different, in addition to natural disasters and other complete. The consequences are naturally unprecedented.

Governments have no experience in coping with this kind of large-scale economic crisis, and all of them have adopted a laissez-faire attitude and watched the situation deteriorate to such a point.

According to the information gathered by the Government of Vienna, after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the unemployment rate in all countries had exploded.

Although all of them were sending immigrants overseas to ease the employment pressure at home, immigration was not an easy task.

Shinra had a lot of experience in immigration, and there was a large group of noble lords who grabbed for people. A one-stop service is proper, and even the entire German-speaking cultural circle of countries are benefited, and there are people who take care of it from the beginning to the end.

Other European countries are different, not every nobleman is a linguist, language and culture do not understand the immigrants people do not dare to want.

There is no team initiative to pull people, immigration is mainly by private initiative, even if the government provides a convenient, not many people left. What’s even more tragic is that most of the people who run out are middle class, and the general public can’t even afford to buy a ticket to the colonies, and they also rely on their friends and relatives to put together the money.

Against this background, the progress of immigration was naturally not fast. If they were all like Shinra, who had just lost their jobs and had people coming over to pull them out, where would there be any risk of revolution?

Getting out of the economic crisis was not something that could be done overnight. Hanging on won’t work either, the laws of natural market regulation must be observed. Relying on policies to mandatorily stimulate the economy can only address the immediate needs and will leave serious after-effects.

Since the problem can not be solved, then solve the people who create problems. Don’t look at the gang of minions in crisis, in fact, they are not many people to produce problems.

If you count with your fingers, you will know that the total population of the seven states in the Italian region together is only about fifteen million, Greece has more than one million people, Belgium is now only about four million, Switzerland is about two million, and the population of Spain is only about eighteen million at most, which is only about forty million when all together.

According to this percentage of the population, the maximum number of young adults of working age who are in the labor force is only 20 million, and the actual number may be even smaller. Even if the unemployment rate is as high as 20 percent, there are only four million unemployed.

Unemployment could not be higher, except for Belgium, which is slightly more industrialized, and the rest are agricultural countries. Less than thirty percent of the population is industrialized, so they can’t all be unemployed, can they?

Even if they are unemployed, not all of them are facing difficulties in life, and those who have emigrated and run away don’t need to be cared about. A little rich to survive the economic crisis, the same does not need to care.

Considering the actual situation, as long as the employment problem of three million people is solved, the social order can be initially stabilized.

Franz definitely didn’t have any jobs, but it didn’t matter, the colonies of the Shen Luo Empire definitely had them. So many noble lords, even if they were to help them build castles, manors, and farms, they would still be able to create three million jobs out of it.

Not hiring overseas laborers was not that the noble lords didn’t want to hire them, the key was still the language barrier and the inability to command flexibly.

For individuals, this was a big problem. But for the government, it is not a problem. As long as the management can be unified, whether it is to conduct language training or to have language interpreters, it is a good choice.

It didn’t even need the government to step in, letting the labor dispatch company step in could take care of it. It was important to know that in recent years, several labor dispatch giants had appeared in the Shen Luo Empire.

Accumulatively providing tens of millions of laborers to the American continent, they have made outstanding contributions to the economic development of the Americas, and have accumulated rich experience in labor dispatch.

Now that the Americas line is out of business, these guys have already exported to domestic sales, constantly organizing immigrants from the European continent to the colonies, and obtaining commissions from the hands of noble lords.

Frankly speaking, if it wasn’t for Franz, the boss, who was powerful enough, these fiefdom nobles of Shinra would never have been so generous as they are now.

The construction of a territory is very expensive, and even though the nobles are rich, if they don’t know how to plan, it’s very easy to bankrupt themselves.

In order to help everyone to build their territories, Franz had specially hired the sons of nobles who had experience in building territories to act as their territorial development consultants, helping them to formulate development plans according to the actual situation.

Obviously this is still not enough, in addition to the development program, there are also bank loans with low enough interest rates. Compared to the commercial loan interest rate which is more than ten points or dozens of points in the market, the policy loan provided by the Royal Bank only charges a symbolic two points.

Really symbolic, without any additional conditions, charging only two points of interest, even the operating costs are not enough, there is no profit to speak of, it is not too much to say that it is doing charity.

As a matter of fact, from its inception, the Royal Bank’s special attributes dictated that it could not pursue high interest rates and high returns like ordinary commercial banks.

Therefore, the Royal Bank has never accepted ordinary commercial loans, only engaged in international loans, or policy loans, the interest rate has never been high.

Of course, the royal consortium enterprises were excluded. Their own businesses can still get preferential loans from the Royal Bank, after all, the emperor also needs to eat. For the sake of the royal family’s reputation, the Royal Bank does not aim to make profits, but it doesn’t say that it can’t make money indirectly through other channels!

Including low-interest loans to the nobility, it seems that there is no gain, but in fact the hidden interests behind it are extraordinary.

If Franz is not the emperor, such a deal is not his turn to do. Loans are indeed inconspicuous, but behind the loans are the economic lifeblood of many fiefdom nobles in the Shen Luo Empire.

Franz was able to see it, and others were naturally able to see it as well. As early as the beginning of the partition of the nobles, there were capitalists who were not willing to be left alone to intervene, only that the end of these people was not very good in the end.

There is no way, Shen Luo’s fiefdom nobles are all killed out with a knife and a gun, wanting to control people’s lifeblood through economic means, is not looking for death is what?

Especially a bunch of guys who fantasize about turtling up through loan traps, now every grave has long grass. Contracts play but no matter, as long as the gun can play over the line.

Fiefdom aristocrats are equal to vassal kings, not a joke. To other people’s territory, they want to flip, and is not a few capitalists can flip?

Debt is not paid, that is the tradition left by our ancestors. As long as you open a history book, you will know that not being able to pay back the money to take out the debtor is never a new thing.

The Royal Bank can do this business, that is because Franz is the nobles of the feudal monarch, and provide the loan interest rate is also very low, can be declared in the help of the little brother through the financial difficulties, fame and fortune, there is no trouble.

Others will not be able to do, who came is not good. Seniors have made an example, there is no problem in borrowing usurious loans, and then harsh loan conditions, they dare to sign, as long as the debtor is killed afterwards.

It doesn’t matter even if they can’t get rid of them, in their own territories, the lords have the right to make laws and taxes, as long as they don’t contradict the decrees of the central government.

For example, there is a lord made “usury debt exemption law”, people directly to the legal situation, all loans with interest rates of more than 8% of the commercial loans, are not protected by law.

Completely comply with the spirit of the Constitution of the Shen Luo Empire, only to remove a number in the standard of usury, and then the standard interest rate of usury from 48% down to 8%, legally the debt to rely on.

As for the spirit of contract, it’s not like that’s food for thought. As long as they let go of their modesty, the capitalists can’t do anything about these vassal kings who can make rules.

Learn from your mistakes, and you will be wiser. With the martyrs blood lesson, bankers have learned smart, early these vassal king in the loan blacklist.

Even if the commercial banks really want to lend money, it is also necessary to come back to the mainland to sign the loan contract, even the collateral must also be in the mainland, is afraid that these guys can not pay the debt table.

Take out the political potential gains, in fact, low-interest loans can also be profitable, but this time cycle needs to be stretched to twenty or thirty years, or even a longer period of time.

The Royal Bank does not accept personal business loans, but it’s not like it doesn’t accept personal deposits. Don’t look at these noble lords poor, but once the territory is developed, everyone is a big tycoon in the future.

With these people’s deposits, the Royal Bank will be the bank with the most sufficient cash flow in the world in the future, not one of them.

Otherwise, two points of loan interest ghosts, especially also in the colonies to open branches, even with the support of the central bank, it is also a proper project to lose money. The political gains alone are the same as if they were pushed to a state-owned bank.

According to the Royal Bank’s public financial report, only overseas colonial branch operations, every year to lose millions of guilders.

If it were not for value-added businesses such as agency bond issuance and helping companies go public to raise capital, this bank, which ranks among the top ten in the world, would have to dominate the top of the World Bank’s loss list for years.

Making money has the benefit of making money, not making money also has the benefit of not making money. A not profitable, but also often loss-making Royal Bank, but also for Franz fishing full of reputation.

Even though the size of the bank’s assets, from the beginning of the establishment of the expansion, but because of its unprofitable attributes, so that people can not even be jealous of the heart.

Of course, this was only the thinking of the general public. Those who played with finance had long been red with envy, and they were the only ones who knew best how much potential revenue could be generated by having a bank with sufficient cash flow.

Jealousy is useless, from the surface of the Royal Bank is to do charity, once the “profit”, in addition to fill the previous financial losses, the excess was taken by the emperor to do charity.

Compared to all the banks on the market, the Royal Bank is a model of conscience in the banking industry. If this is to be blamed, other banks will not be able to live.

In a sense, the Royal Bank also acted as an “intelligence organization”, monitoring the colonies’ every move.

Although it could not even know what the nobles ate every meal, but the general development of the colony, but still be able to figure out.

Who is peaceful, who is ambitious, and who wants to make things happen are all recorded.

The prime minister’s belly could hold up a ship, and Franz’s broadmindedness wasn’t bad either. As long as these people do not challenge his bottom line, then it is the king and the minister; if the line is crossed, then it is no wonder that he is the emperor of the pit.

That’s right, it is the pit. In the context of European society, as long as the nobles do not commit a major crime, the emperor can not take them.

Even a strong emperor like Franz couldn’t possibly convict people before they messed up. What the emperor could do was to give people small shoes or dig a few holes in front of them.

Give people wear shoes is too unskilled, but also easy to be criticized. In contrast, digging pits in the dark is much more comfortable. Many people fall into the pit and get buried without knowing who did it.

Only this kind of treatment is not ordinary people can enjoy, ordinary small nobles, unless they raise the flag to rebel, or else they simply can not get into Franz’s eyes.

Death of the nobles, Franz has seen a lot, directly raise the flag to rebel really have not encountered, the most cerebral is also only to join the revolutionary party. The most brain-dead is to join the revolutionary party. “The king and the vassal would rather have the seed”, this slogan is really no one to shout.

Based on the idea of helping others, Franz decided to give his little brothers a hand. Anyway, the colony is now short of young and strong laborers, and the nobles are on the verge of fighting to steal people.

Franz does not dare to absorb millions of foreign immigrants at once, but to provide millions of temporary jobs, there is still no pressure.

There is no fear that the aristocrats will refuse, a rare cheap labor force, once you pass this village, there will be no more this store.

Now is the most serious period of the economic crisis, the average salary of European workers has fallen to the lowest point in ten years, and is still slowly declining.

Don’t look at the French mercenaries being able to get a high salary of almost 15 God’s Guilders per month, but that was wartime money for selling one’s life, and one needed to take one’s life to fight for it. Ordinary workers, even if they went to the colonies, the salary could not be much higher.

According to the current market of the labor market in mainland Europe, hiring a young and strong laborer to go to Africa to open up the land, including food and accommodation can be handled at 5 guilders per month.

Considering the imbalance of the income of the people of various countries, some poor countries can hire someone as long as they provide simple food and accommodation and give a salary of 3 god guilders per month.

Such a cheap labor force is completely unthinkable in the Holy Roman Empire, without doubling the salary, hiring people is a joke.

Influenced by the Great Immigration Policy, without realizing it, the labor cost of the Holy Roman Empire has climbed to the highest in continental Europe, tied with Britain.

“Cheap” labor, that has become history. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Shen Luo Empire’s industry had already developed, the high labor cost alone would have been enough to kill all the labor-intensive industries.

The cost of labor is determined by the level of the economy and the supply and demand relationship in the market. The labor cost in the Shenluo territory is high, and the labor cost in the colonies is even higher.

Without a high salary, who would want to go to a poor mountain lump?

(End of chapter)