Chapter 179 Central Bank of France

Bastille, in the interrogation room on the third floor.

Kalona sorted out Necker's confession with satisfaction, glanced at Necker from the corner of his eye and said: "Mr. Necker, thank you for cooperating with my work. Now, my task is completed. What's left is you and the royal family. It’s a matter between representatives.”

As he was speaking, the door opened, and a nobleman wearing silver-rimmed glasses and a gorgeous long blue coat walked in surrounded by several secret police officers.

"Look, Count Hermann is here."

Kalona stood up, greeted Hermann, and made way for the presiding judge. However, the latter did not sit on it. Instead, he took a document from his assistant and placed it in front of Necker.

"Mr. Necker, based on the information reported by the interrogation committee, the total amount of your previous corruption was 8.927 million livres."

He said and looked at Kalona, ​​who immediately nodded to indicate that the amount was accurate.

Count Hermann continued: "Her Majesty the Queen decided to give you a lighter punishment in accordance with her previous promise, so she only fined you 2 million livres. So the total is..."

"11.927 million livres." Carlona answered with a smile.

"Oh, yes. Thank you, Viscount Carlona."

Hermann turned to Necker and said: "So, you only need to return the stolen money and pay the fine, and then you can leave here.

"Her Majesty the Queen is particularly gracious and allows you to choose whether to go to Lorraine or Foix."

He patted the document on the table: "Look, this is the pardon signed by His Majesty."

Based on the circumstances of Necker's case, exile in France is definitely considered an amnesty.

Necker had long lost any thoughts of resistance. He took a pen and paper and wrote down an address and a series of numbers.

He handed the piece of paper to Herman and said dejectedly: "Go here, there is a safe with bank notes and withdrawal methods. This is the password.

"I'm not sure if it's enough for 12 million livres, but it should be more than 10 million... That's all it really is."

The royal representative took the paper and nodded: "Thank you for your cooperation. Then you will have to stay here for a while until the money is paid. In addition, I have to inform you that the shortfall will probably be spent on your property and manor." It’s deducted.”

"It's up to you..."

Hermann left, and Kalona curled his lips with some dissatisfaction. Unexpectedly, Necker was just exiled in the end. He originally thought that this guy would stay in prison for at least a few years.

However, how did he know that Joseph had no intention of letting Necker go just like that.

Necker's previous French finance minister was Jacques Turgot, a very capable economist. During his tenure, he laid the foundation for France's capitalist economy through a series of fiscal reforms, which was known as France's economic "golden age" in the 18th century.

After Necker took over, he quickly suspended Turgot's reform policy and turned to relying on large amounts of borrowing to maintain finances, which ultimately led France into the abyss of debt.

For such a "worm", how could Joseph let him simply be exiled? France's tradition of tolerance and light punishment for the upper class doesn't work here!

Of course, everything will have to wait until Necker spits out all the money, and at the same time, the royal family will not be given the bad reputation of going back on its word.

…

Palais Royal.

The Duke of Orleans looked at the newspaper in his hand with a livid face - today almost all newspapers in Paris published the announcement of the French Industrial Development Fund.

In addition to some basic information about the fund, this announcement mainly states the composition of the fund committee, the sole management body of the fund.

The committee has a total of 10 seats, 6 of which are elected by the clients with the highest investment amounts, 1 is held or appointed by the Chancellor of Finance, 1 is appointed by the French Reserve Bank, and the last 2 are appointed by the royal family.

All matters related to the fund are decided by the committee, and the royal family and the government have no right to interfere. Of course, what he didn't know was that Joseph had left a "back door" in this - the client with the highest investment amount was the French government, followed by his crown prince, and then the royal family, so he could get at least 4 of those 6 seats. . Coupled with the two seats inherent in the royal family and the one seat held by the French Reserve Bank, he can ensure that he has absolute control over the fund.

The Duke of Orleans threw the newspaper aside in annoyance.

He expected that the bank's malicious bankruptcy would cause panic among the nobles, and he also expected that the French government would be unable to pay for the nobles' investment. All he had to do was wait for the nobles to unite to force the palace to force the royal family to surrender, thereby interrupting the Necker case.

But he never imagined that the government would actually set up an "Industrial Development Fund"! With just one concept, all the money invested by the nobles in the banking industry was "sucked in", thus quickly calming the panic of the nobles.

When he first heard about this fund, he planned to use the incident of the "Mississippi Company" to lead the nobles to think of "scam".

However, when he saw this "fund announcement" information, he immediately knew that this method would not work.

The management and operation model of the "Industrial Development Fund" is too transparent. It is managed by a committee. Investors can check the accounts at any time. Investors can set up an independent review committee, and if losses occur, the investment will be returned immediately...

There is no gap left for "blacking" at all. This is also inevitable. After so many years of development of later generations of funds, the obvious loopholes have basically been plugged, and Joseph only needs to copy them.

The Duke of Orleans knew very well that if he could not rely on the power of the nobles, the banks involved in the Necker case would be blown up one by one. And if he fails to keep these big banks, his influence in the banking association will plummet in the future.

What's even more embarrassing is that he himself has tens of millions of livres in investments and is stuck in several banks that have gone bad.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Should he also switch to the industrial development fund?

The door opened, and the butler Donadian came in, bowed and said: "Sir, all the guests are here."

The Duke of Orleans nodded, stood up extremely tiredly, and walked towards the hall on the second floor.

The two-person-high door was pushed open by the guard, but the scene behind the door made him feel chilled - except for a dozen people from the banking guild, there were only seven or eight nobles present, standing sparsely in the empty hall. .

And when he summoned the nobles to fight the Necker case by "not borrowing money from the government" a few days ago, the place was so crowded that there was almost no place to stay.

People's hearts are scattered...

Seeing the "backbone" coming, those in the hall hurriedly came over to salute him.

The Duke of Orleans was about to say something to boost his morale when he saw the Marquis of Ludo speaking anxiously: "Your Majesty the Duke, I heard from my friends that Necker's interrogation has ended. He should have said everything."

He glanced behind him: "What should we do?"

The Duke of Orleans has naturally known about this for a long time. If he had a way, he would have used it long ago. Why can he wait until now?

Seeing that he remained silent, Marquis Ludo asked cautiously: "Do you think we should go and negotiate terms with the royal family?"

The Duke of Orleans looked helplessly at the crystal chandelier above his head, and saw someone coming in and whispering something to the butler. The latter immediately reported to him: "Sir, I just received news that a large number of police are rushing to the City Trade Bank."

The owner of the Trade Bank, Drachabod, suddenly turned pale, turned around and ran out without even saying goodbye.

…

On the streets of Paris, people are talking about the recent series of bank failures.

"City Commercial Bank was also sealed today. I don't know if it will go bankrupt."

"This is as sure as the sun will not set. All the bank clerks were arrested. I even saw the police stuffing them into carriages at noon."

"It is said that there are many banks involved in the case. I don't know when it will be over..."

"Oh my God, the 60 livres I had in the bank are just gone!"

"What? Don't you read the newspaper?"

"Read newspapers?"

"The newspaper said that all bankrupt banks have been acquired by the French Reserve Bank, and the previous deposits can be withdrawn from the French Reserve Bank."

"Really?! You're not joking!"

"The newspaper said that you only need to submit an application, and you can withdraw it in up to half a month. Or it can be converted into a deposit at the French Reserve Bank."

"Great, thank you! I'll apply now!"

…

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph is reviewing the latest acquisition status report.

In recent times, the French Reserve Bank has completed the acquisition of four bankrupt banks and is currently counting the accounts and receiving various assets.

The number of Bank de France stores in Paris alone suddenly increased to more than ten, but more than half of them didn't even have time to change their signboards.

Joseph frowned and looked at the report mentioning the problem of insufficient manpower - mainly a serious lack of management.

Most of the bank managers involved in the Necker case were arrested, and the French Reserve Bank could not provide so many managers at a time.

This is because he deliberately slowed down the speed of blasting the banks involved. If all thirteen banks were blasted at once, most of the French financial market would probably be thrown into chaos due to management problems.

"The foundation is still not solid enough." Joseph shook his head secretly. It seemed that it would take at least half a year to absorb all these financial assets.

But time is not a problem. For these bankrupt banks, no one is willing or dares to compete with the French Reserve Bank.

Although the Bank of France doesn't have much money, its shareholder lineup is enough to scare off any competitors - the king and queen each hold 5% of the shares, the Prince of Condé has 4%, and the Count of Artois has 4%. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary and the head of the secret police also have shares. Of course, the largest shareholder is the French crown prince.

However, in order to establish the French Industrial Development Fund, the French National Treasury has now become the major shareholder of the French Reserve Bank.

After Joseph himself made a large additional investment, the shares of other shareholders were partially diluted. The current shareholding structure is: the French government holds 40%, the crown prince holds 41%, the king and queen hold 4% each, Condé and A. Tuva accounted for 3%, Monod accounted for 2%, Brian and Robert each accounted for 1.5%.

After acquiring four major banks, the nominal assets of the French Reserve Bank have reached an astonishing 190 million livres!

However, the vast majority of these are loans to the government. The bank's debts were transferred to the Industrial Development Fund through the agreement of the investment aristocracy. In other words, the Bank of France now owes hundreds of millions of livres to the Industrial Development Fund.

Fortunately, the agreement stipulates that withdrawals cannot be made within five years, otherwise the development fund would collapse almost immediately.

In the future, the French finance will invest in various industrial industries in the name of development funds, and all the money will be used to repay loans from the French Reserve Bank.

The French Reserve Bank transfers these investments to the development fund. When the investment generates income, the development fund will also receive income.

In this way, all French fiscal expenditures will no longer flow into the pockets of bank capital, but will be used to support industrial development. The profits from the industrial industry will then feed back into the finance, truly forming a virtuous cycle.

Of course, this is only Joseph's theoretical design, and there will definitely be many problems in actual operation, but this is also an inevitable tuition fee for industrial development.

At least, after the French Reserve Bank takes over the loans from bankrupt banks, it will re-sign a loan agreement with the French government and significantly lower the loan interest rate.

As for the specific amount to be reduced, Joseph plans to wait until all acquisitions are completed and ask Brian to total the total number of loans obtained by the French Reserve Bank, and then calculate the high interest rate that can keep the French finances in balance.

Then a new agreement will be signed based on this interest rate.

No matter what, it will definitely be far lower than the current French fiscal loan interest rate of over 15%.

After completing the acquisition of the 13 banks involved in the case, Joseph's next plan is to use the huge size of the French Reserve Bank - although there is no cash, the amount of loans on the book is absolutely astronomical - to gradually control The French financial industry will gradually transform the Bank of France into the "central bank" of France.

This process will definitely encounter some administrative problems, as well as resistance from existing bank capital, but if it can be completed smoothly, then the French royal family, or the French crown prince, will firmly grasp the financial lifeline of France!

Joseph signed the operation plan submitted by the manager of the Bank of France. When he was thinking about when to detonate the next bank, he saw Eman lightly knocking on the door and said: "Your Highness, Archbishop Brian is here. I brought three bankers with me.”

"Oh? Banker?" Joseph was a little surprised, but he still stood up and said, "Please take them to the living room."

Not long after, in the spacious living room, Brian and others saluted respectfully to the Crown Prince, and then Brian gestured behind him: "Your Highness, please allow me to introduce you. This is Marquis Ludo, and this is Marquis Ludo. Count of Cape Fear, this is Monsieur Boislandal."

Joseph squinted his eyes. He had frequently read information on the Necker case recently and was very familiar with the banks involved. These three people were the owners of three of the banks. At the same time, they also have another identity, that is, they are the leaders of the French Banking Association.

He invited a few people to sit down, smiled and asked, "I wonder what business they came to see me for?"

When Marquis Ludo and others heard this, they were so excited that they almost cried.

The Duke of Orleans could not save them, so they decided to compromise with the government, or beg for mercy.

However, they could not even find a place to ask for mercy. First, I went to the secret police and was told that I was just cooperating with the arrest. Then he found the police station and followed it to a mysterious department called the Police Intelligence Department, and was told that they only acted under orders.

Then, Marquis Ludo and others approached the High Court and the internal affairs system, but they all failed. Finally, they found the financial system, and after paying a lot of "favor fees", they learned that the real person behind the Necker case was the current Crown Prince.

Then, they spent another sum of money, and finally, under the leadership of Brian, they were able to meet the crown prince.

Marquis Ludo considered it very nervously: "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the things we did with Necker before were extremely serious mistakes, oh, no, they were serious crimes! We have deeply realized the mistakes. .

“We dare not ask for your forgiveness, we just want to make up for our previous mistakes.

"Your merciful Highness, from now on, we are all your most humble servants. As long as you nod your head, no matter what you ask us to do, we will agree without hesitation!"

The young author begs for a wave of monthly votes, comments, and follow-up reading. The young author is grateful.

In addition, because readers are very helpful, the monthly tickets for this book have exceeded 1,000 this month. According to previous promises, more monthly tickets will be updated in the past two days. The author sincerely thanks you all again!