Make France Great Again

"Ahir, I knew you would make this request!"

As Jérôme Bonaparte spoke, he touched his pocket, took out two cigarettes, and handed one to Achille Fuld.

Achille Fuld took the cigarette from Jérôme Bonaparte with both hands, and then took out the matches he carried with him from his pocket.

Just when Achille Fuld stood up and wanted to praise Jerome Bonaparte, Jerome Bonaparte pressed his hand, and then took out the matchbox from his pocket: " No need! I have it!"

Achille Fuld sat back to his original position. Jérôme Bonaparte took out a match and gently scratched the matchbox. The orange flame ignited, and then he slowly came closer. cigarette.

White smoke appeared at the position between Jérôme Bonaparte's thumb and index finger, and his face also showed an intoxicated expression.

Achille Fuld, who was sitting next to Jérôme Bonaparte, also lit his cigarette, took a puff and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!

If George Osman is allowed to continue to serve as a senior official in the Seine Province, the entire Seine Province and even the entire empire will be brought down by his plan!

So far, senior official George Haussmann has spent 1 billion francs on the renovation of Paris!

It is estimated that another 1 billion francs will be spent to truly complete the transformation of Paris! "

"Achille, think on the bright side!" Jérôme Bonaparte took another puff of the flue. "A large part of these expenses are not paid by the Seine provincial government, but by the bankers and real estate developers who contracted the land. !

This virtually reduces the pressure on our government! "

"I admit that the methods of George Osman's senior officials have indeed effectively reduced the government's debt, but the remaining debt is still a huge number!" Ahil Fuld argued with reason, and then added: " Your Majesty, I am not against the transformation of Paris!

In terms of transforming Paris, my opinions are actually the same as those of George Haussmann, a senior official, but I don't think George Haussmann is right to do this!

The transformation of Paris was originally something that would take at least 30 years to complete, but senior official George Haussmann insisted on completing it in 15 years!

This will only add huge debt to the government out of thin air!

In order to pay off debt, we have to do things we don’t want to do. "

"What are we not willing to do?" Jérôme Bonaparte muttered, and then asked Achille Fuld: "You mean adding new taxes?"

"That's right! Your Majesty!" Achille Fuld said to Jérôme Bonaparte, "As far as the current finances of the Seine Province are concerned, it will take us at least about five years to pay off our debts!

If you neither choose to stop work nor add new taxes, the Seine department's finances will be in dire straits!

Especially at this critical moment when the economic crisis may be coming! "

Achille Fuld specially added the phrase "economic crisis" in order to make Jerome Bonaparte make up his mind.

"If I do not agree to remove George Haussmann, but also want the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of France to help the Seine to tide over the difficulties, then what should I do?" Jerome Bonaparte asked with a slightly threatening tone Achille Fuld said.

"Your Majesty, there is only one way!" Achille Fuld looked at Jerome Bonaparte with firm eyes, then stood up and said to Jerome Bonaparte: "Your Majesty, please allow me to resign as finance minister. The positions of ministers and the Treasury should be in the hands of more capable people."

After hearing Achille Fuld's answer, Jérôme Bonaparte showed an unhappy expression, "Mr. Achille, are you putting pressure on me?"

"No!" Achille Fuld shook his head and said to Jérôme Bonaparte, "I am not putting pressure on you! I just think that I am not capable enough to control the current situation!"

"Will you be able to control the current situation by deposing George Osman and stopping all reconstruction projects in the Seine Province?" Jérôme Bonaparte frowned and asked Achille Fuld.

"Your Majesty, I don't want to stop the transformation of Seine Province, but I want to slow down the speed of transformation!

The speed of the Seine department is so fast that often the planning of new urban areas has already begun before all the old urban areas have been demolished!

This resulted in many residents raising prices after seeing the opportunity to make a fortune, and the grassroots had to agree to all their conditions in order to meet their performance!

Some of the land acquired by the Seine department is twice as expensive as the market price... As long as we can slow down, people who have hoarded large amounts of land and want to sell it to the government will be anxious, and the value of the land will also decrease!

We can also save a lot of money! "Achille Fuld explained to Jérôme Bonaparte.

"What you said makes some sense!" Jérôme Bonaparte nodded and said to Achille Fuld.

"Your Majesty, so you agree!" Achille Fuld asked Jérôme Bonaparte.

"If I don't agree, then Achille Fuld, will you resign?" This time Jérôme Bonaparte's expression became particularly serious, and he asked Achille Fuld.

"Your Majesty, I will submit my resignation to you!" Achille Fuld responded to Jérôme Bonaparte still firmly.

"In this case, then I can promise you to let George Osman leave the Seine Province as a senior official!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Achille Fuld.

After hearing this, Achille Fuld showed a look of joy on his face, and he quickly bowed to Jerome Bonaparte.

"But!" Jérôme Bonaparte changed the subject and said to Achille Fuld, "You still have to agree to two conditions!"

"Your Majesty, what two conditions!" Achille Fuld asked Jérôme Bonaparte.

Jérôme Bonaparte raised a finger and said with a particularly serious expression: "The first condition is that George Haussmann only resigns as a senior official in the Seine Department. His alternate of the Ministry of Public Works does not want to be with the Seine Department Municipal Committee member. The position will be retained, which means that George Haussmann still has the right to guide the development of the Seine Province. You should be able to explain this condition!"

Ahir Fuld hesitated for a moment, and he understood that His Majesty the Emperor had already made the greatest concession by agreeing to remove George Osman.

Retaining the alternate minister of public transport and the municipal council members of the Seine department should be close to the emperor's bottom line.

Then, Ashil Fuld raised his head and responded loudly: "Your Majesty, I can agree to this condition!"

"The Bank of France also has to bear the subsidies to the five major railway bureaus!" Jérôme Bonaparte put forward the second condition.

"Your Majesty, the financial situation of the five major railway bureaus is still good and there is no need for subsidies!" Achille Fuld said to Jérôme Bonaparte.

"But if the economic crisis comes, can you guarantee that the finances of the five major railway bureaus will still be good?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked rhetorically.

Achille Fuld fell into silence. After a while, he responded to Jérôme Bonaparte: "Your Majesty, if the Railway Administration (to be precise, the five major railway companies under the Railway Administration) If our finances are really unable to support it, then the Bank of France and the Ministry of Finance will definitely not stand idly by!”

"With your words, I feel relieved!" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Achille Fuld with a smile.

Later, Jérôme Bonaparte and Achill Fuld threw the cigarettes in their hands into the ashtray respectively.

After Achille Fuld left, Jérôme Bonaparte sighed again.

…

Time flies, and soon more than a month has passed.

In more than a month, France quickly sold half of the treasury bonds of the Kingdom of Prussia and the railway bonds of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and then used the profits from selling the bonds to trade with the Kingdom of Britain. The purchase of gold forced the Bank of England to raise its discount rate.

When selling the Austrian Imperial Railway bonds, Richard Metternich, then the Austrian ambassador to France, came to Jerome Bonaparte and begged Jerome Bonaparte to suspend the sale.

Richard Metternich told Jerome Bonaparte that the Austrian market today has become panicked because of Jerome Bonaparte's selling.

If the French Empire continued to sell Austrian Empire railway bonds, then bankers in the Austrian Empire and bankers in Britain and Prussia would follow suit and sell railway bonds.

In this case, the Austrian Empire's railway bonds will become the trigger of the Austrian Empire's economic crisis.

Jerome Bonaparte, who had already sold half of the Austrian Empire's railway bonds, decided not to sell the Austrian Empire's railway bonds anymore, considering that the friendship between France and Austria was far greater than those railway bonds.

(More importantly, most of the railways in the Austrian Empire currently controlled by the French Empire are railways near Bohemia and Vienna. Jérôme Bonaparte believes that it is difficult for railways in industrial areas and near the capital to make losses because they are The selling did not continue.)

At the same time, Jerome Bonaparte also assured Richard Metternich that although the French Empire was currently disinvesting in the railway field, it was willing to invest in the Austrian Empire in other fields.

Richard Metternich hurriedly asked Jerome Bonaparte where he was willing to invest so that he could allow the Austrian Empire to introduce preferential policies.

Jerome Bonaparte told Richard Metternich that he wanted to establish a mining company in the Kingdom of Romania (the Austrian Empire merged the two principalities into the Kingdom of Romania for the convenience of governance, and was notified by the Emperor of the Austrian Empire), and in Hungary. Establishing a food processing company.

"Your Majesty, the gold mines in the Kingdom of Romania have been mined out over the long years!" Richard Metternich reminded.