Chapter 974: Professional Black Hands
Chapter 955 – Professional Black Hand
Ever since the French army’s defeat on the front line, the internal contradictions in the country were gradually exposed. Increasingly high prices and the meager income of the general public have become irreconcilable social conflicts.
It was impossible to pacify prices. In addition to hoarding by capitalists, the rise in international prices was also an important factor leading to the rise in prices in France.
After the outbreak of the Continental War, the domestic industrial and agricultural production in France all experienced a substantial decline, and it was necessary to import a large number of materials to meet the basic needs of the people.
Prices went up, but wages did not rise, and conflicts arose. No matter how good the reason for the price increase is, it is a problem that the people can’t have enough to eat.
According to incomplete statistics, in the first half of 1891 alone, the French working class staged 126 strikes, of which the number of strikers exceeded 100,000 on three occasions. As a revolutionary mecca, demonstrations broke out almost every week in Paris.
Since it has become a powder keg, it is natural that revolutions will break out. In the last month, the French government has put out four riots.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that if things go on like this, France will have to go wrong. The French government has also tried to take action a few times, but unfortunately it is easy to see the problem, but it is difficult to solve the problem.
There is no way, the interests of the people. The government wants to force prices to calm down, will inevitably cut the meat of the interest groups.
Don’t look at the Austrian leaflet that puts the black pot on the heads of capitalists and consortia and think that it is all the bourgeoisie’s responsibility. If there were no aristocrats and bureaucrats involved, and if the capitalists alone were playing this game on their own, they would have been pulled out and shot at long ago.
How many people are involved is anybody’s guess. In short, the collusion between government and business interests has become a persistent problem in France.
In order to solve these persistent problems, the French government has also made a lot of efforts. During the time of Napoleon III, the power of the bourgeois consortium was limited, and he was even named “Socialist Emperor”.
Unfortunately, the Revolution destroyed the government’s efforts. The concessions made to the consortia also allowed them to spread their tentacles to every corner of France.
To this day, every industry in France is filled with the shadow of the consortium, and France has surpassed all European countries, taking the lead in entering the era of monopoly.
No monarch likes this kind of uncontrolled power, and Napoleon IV was no exception. The seeds of conflict were planted from the beginning, just waiting to take root.
The leaflets that fell from the sky simply picked the various conflicts within France out in the open, and incidentally gave a bad idea to solve the problem.
In the evening, the Fürth manor was brightly lit, and under the cover of a banquet, the financial emperors of France were having a secret gathering.
As the number one person in the financial world, Maxim Sidorov was the unquestioned presiding officer of the meeting. There were no long speeches, coming up with dry facts
“I’m sure you’ve all sensed that since the outbreak of the war, the economic situation in the country has deteriorated drastically, and business is getting harder and harder to do.
The war bonds are not selling, and the British are refusing to grant us loans, and the government is already desperately poor.
Even the most profitable arms trade has now become chicken feed. No one can guarantee whether the franc in his hand will be currency or a piece of scrap paper in the future.
As things stand, our chances of winning the war are slim to none. And if France loses, we will not be able to survive.
I invited you all here today to discuss countermeasures. To find a path for France and a path for ourselves.”
The people’s pockets were running out of money, and it was inevitable that business would be bad. Behind the hoarding, the same purpose of capital preservation, after all, the franc devaluation of that speed is a fast.
There is no way things, in order to raise enough money for the war, the French government had to overissue money.
In fact, not only France in the overissuance of money, as the enemy of Austria is also in the overissuance of money.
The capital market is the most sensitive and has its own judgment.
Austria has enough gold reserves, itself is the world’s largest gold-producing countries, the outbreak of war and no large-scale foreign procurement of supplies, the government spent out of the money or in their own cycle.
Coupled with the continuous military victories, looking to become the hegemony of Europe, the Vienna government is ready to annex French Africa and the German Confederation, a series of good news, has been enough to offset the evils of currency overissuance.
There was no massive loss of wealth, the market for S.H.I.E.L.D. had increased again, and the current monetary excess was only temporary; once the nascent market was integrated, these problems ceased to exist.
The market has confidence, and the value of the S.E.D. naturally can’t fall anywhere. In contrast, the franc is completely tragic.
Everyone knows that once France loses the war, the Italian region will become independent, and the overseas colonies will change hands, and the franc will naturally withdraw from these regions.
The market has shrunk significantly, issued out of the franc can not be reduced, then these currencies will be returned to the French mainland, thus triggering greater inflation.
International capital is not optimistic, can not hold the franc, but as the domestic capital can not be avoided, the people present can not be alone.
In order to fight against greater inflation, everyone had to hold more real assets, originally playing the Lord of the financial, and now are fast becoming industrial tycoons.
We all have a sense of crisis, after holding a large number of physical industry, paper wealth is certainly increased, but the corresponding risk has increased.
Not to mention, the difficulty of running away alone has increased n times. People can leave, but the industry can not take away. Even if it is discounted and realized, it is useless to take a bunch of francs out, and it is impossible to exchange them.
Even if someone was prepared and left a back way in advance, but who would mind too much money?
Moreover, before we all think that France will win, leave the back way is also the last few months only began to prepare, there is no time to transfer a large number of assets out.
In a sense, the people present have been passive and France has been tied together. Once the allied forces were allowed to fight their way in, everyone would suffer heavy losses.
A middle-aged man sighed and said, ”Mr. Maxim, at this point, even if we lend all the money to the government, we won’t be able to win this war.
Since we are destined to not win the war, in order to minimize unnecessary losses, then we can only stop the losses in time.
There is a little news I don’t know if you have heard of, some people in the Antifa alliance have proposed: confiscate all our assets after the war as war reparations.
Together with the leaflets thrown by the Austrians and the consistent behavior of the Vienna government, I think the chances of this happening are very high.
If we don’t want the worst to happen, then we can only end this war through negotiations before we lose all the chips in our hands.”
The more one knows about one’s own family, the more one knows, the more one despairs about this war. Money, naturally, was lacking in the French government, but it was not the franc that was lacking.
Foreign exchange, gold, were certainly in everyone’s hands, but these things were the most valuable wealth at the moment, and no one could possibly contribute them.
If you can’t win, then negotiate, this is the European practice, everyone has no heart pressure, the only thing that makes everyone feel headache is “confiscation of assets” rumors.
This kind of thing, Austria is a professional. When suppressing the rebellion, the Vienna government confiscated the assets of all the participants, even if they were only involved, they did not escape.
Later, when the Ottoman Empire was destroyed, this tactic was carried forward, and the assets of all the people up and down the Ottoman Empire were confiscated.
With the contradiction between France and Austria, who can not guarantee that Austria will not repeat the same trick, so that the Ottoman Empire’s old things in France to repeat. After all, in front of France in the two countries of Belgium and Germany to take the same means, the anti-French alliance to retaliate is not impossible.
Maxim Sidorov nodded: ”Mr. Roman is right, it is better to believe in this kind of thing. Lest it’s too late to regret it if it does happen.
It’s just that ending the war is not something we alone can decide. Those assholes in the government, still fantasizing all day long about a comeback, are really thinking of ways to push France into the abyss.”
Point blank, from beginning to end Maxim Sidorov made no mention of Austria stirring up trouble and trying to stir up infighting in France.
It was a phallic plot, and there was no way for anyone to reject it, knowing that it was the enemy’s calculation.
Someone always has to take the blame for losing a war. Either let the Emperor and the government take the blame, or take the public’s wrath themselves.
If they didn’t want to be the unlucky one, everyone had to jump out and fight for dominance. And do it fast, if you’re late, you’ll only have grass growing in your grave.
“Mr. Maxim, the current situation is very unfavorable to us. If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone has been trying to suppress public opinion, I’m afraid that we would have been everyone’s ass.
Without the support of the people, with just our strength, once we launch ……”
Without waiting for the old man to finish his sentence, Maxim Sidorov interrupted, “Your Excellency Sith, you are mistaken. This kind of thing is not our strong suit, and to get directly involved in it would be irresponsible with one’s life.
Just because the populace hates us doesn’t mean there’s no way to capitalize on it. Paris right now is a powder keg that will explode with a single spark.
All we have to do is provide the spark that will ignite the powder keg and let the revolutionaries do the rest.
By the way, we can also talk to the Bourbon and Orleans dynasties, and I’m sure we’ll have a common language.”
Rebellion is too unskilled, this kind of high-risk work is not suitable for them, such as the status of noble lords, behind the scenes to do the black hand is what they should do.
Obviously, Maxim Sidorov knew this well. Gathering the crowd together was just to get everyone to contribute money and effort.
Didn’t expect to lead a rebellion with a bunch of capitalists, but gave that task to the more professional revolutionaries. Just to be sure, he was also going to agitate the other two royal families.
Push book: “Entry into the New Americas”, Recommendation: the Great Age of Sail, the New Great Ming Conquest of the Americas ……
(End of chapter)