#878 - Financial War
Chapter 874 Financial Undercurrent
Pope Pius VI first led the bishops in a brief prayer, then clasped his hands and lowered his head, saying, "Everyone should know what's happening. What should we do?"
Cardinal Gardini of Venice immediately exclaimed angrily:
"We should hand over Muzarelli to the French first! It was his foolish... Oh, may God forgive my rudeness, it was his attempt to appease Vienna that angered the French..."
The middle-aged cardinal next to him interrupted softly, "Don't you know? Father Muzarelli fled Rome last month."
Cardinal Edler of Naples, sitting beside Pius VI, suddenly chanted a passage from scripture:
"O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance..."
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A heated discussion immediately arose around them. "Let the Pope call for a crusade! Believers from all over Europe will come to fight for God!"
"Let the Habsburgs increase their troops. The Holy See has given them enormous support; now is the time for them to repay us."
"Archbishop Desterro, the Viennese army couldn't even hold Lombardy. I say, we should ask Madrid for help..."
"Are you confused? Spain is a member of that 'Mediterranean Military Organization.'"
"It's the 'Mediterranean Security Organization,' Archbishop Pazzini..."
"No country's army can help us," the elderly Cardinal of Genoa said, raising his hand to quiet them. "Now we should summon martyrs to assassinate that blasphemer in the Palace of Versailles..."
"Enough," Pius VI said, raising his wrinkled face, his complexion pale. "Terror has eroded your minds. These thoughts are more blasphemous than the French bayonets."
He looked at Archbishop Edler. "Can the Papal Guard hold them back? Oh, and the Roman militia and customs officers."
The latter hesitated. "That, I'm afraid, will be difficult, Holy Father."
The core fighting force of the Holy See, the Swiss Guard, numbers only about 400. Including other guards and paramilitary forces, the total strength is less than 2,000.
Pius VI looked around at the crowd, and when no one spoke, he sighed. "Archbishop Gardini, please go to Paris immediately to negotiate with the French King on behalf of the Holy See."
"Tell him that all this was done by Muzarelli. The Holy See is willing to cede the Marche region as compensation to France and compensate them with..."
He paused, then uttered a number with difficulty, "One million ducat gold coins. Let them withdraw their troops as soon as possible."
One million ducats is almost 9 million francs, which is quite sincere.
The cardinals immediately protested vehemently, "Holy Father, how can we bow our heads to blasphemers?"
"One million ducats is too much!"
"This will only embolden those secular monarchs..."
Just then, a senior cleric walked in along the wall and whispered a few words in Archbishop Edler's ear.
The latter was immediately shocked and said to Pius VI in a trembling voice, "Holy Father, the guards just interrogated a relative of one of Muzarelli's servants. According to that person, Muzarelli has gone to France, and his destination is likely Paris."
"What?!" Pius VI stood up abruptly, stunned for a moment, then turned to Edler and said, "Please prepare, I will go to France myself."
...
Paris Financial Center.
Headquarters of the French Central Bank.
In a luxuriously decorated VIP room, Lafont, a senior executive of the French Central Bank, signaled the servant to place hot tea in front of the middle-aged client, then smiled and said:
"Why do you suddenly want to exchange so much gold? Oh, please don't mind, this is all for the security of our VIP accounts."
Just half an hour ago, this businessman, who claimed to be from Reims, said he wanted to exchange all 500,000 francs for gold.
According to the relevant laws of France's gold standard, the bank must meet the customer's requirements.
"I want to invest in business in South America," the middle-aged man said in a cold voice. "People there don't accept francs."
"Or, you can try using our bank's exchange business," Lafont said with a smile. "We have 'free bill' remittance cooperation with some Spanish banks..."
The middle-aged man waved his hand impatiently. "I want to buy the Saint Vincent mines. Please exchange gold coins for me as soon as possible."
Saint Vincent is a Portuguese colony.
Lafont's smile froze for a moment, and he nodded. "Okay, esteemed Mr. Colin.
"But you know, identity verification and large-amount authorization require 5 days, excluding Sundays."
"Okay, I'll come in 6 days," Colin signed the application form, left his accountant, and got up to leave.
Lafont sent him out the door, and a clerk quickly ran up behind him and whispered in his ear, "Director, a lady wants to exchange 650,000 francs for gold coins..."
After dealing with the noble lady, he immediately returned to his office and wrote a report on the anomalies of the past two days.
The next day.
As soon as the French Central Bank headquarters opened, a gorgeously dressed nobleman requested to exchange 600,000 francs for gold.
Lafont immediately realized that something was wrong. While receiving the young nobleman, he told him that this transaction required the activation of the "remote transfer clause," which would not be completed until 22 days later.
The so-called "remote transfer clause" means that the demand for gold exchange exceeds the bank's inventory in the short term, so it must be transferred from remote banks, which takes 15 to 22 days.
After seeing the client off, Lafont hurriedly instructed his subordinates to announce "bank statistical accounting" externally, and all large-amount transactions were suspended.
Then he slipped out of the back door of the French Central Bank, got on a carriage, and rushed to the office of Jacques Laffitte, the general manager of the French Central Bank, located in the Tuileries Palace.
The news that the French Central Bank had suspended its exchange business spread, and immediately more than a dozen pre-prepared "financial experts" began to attack everywhere, spreading "terror" rhetoric in the stock exchange, futures exchange, and even large salons. "As I said before, France's paper money has been over-issued by more than a dozen times!"
"The French Central Bank exhausted its gold reserves before the New Year, and today's suspension of exchange announcement is just the beginning..."
"We fought a great war, but unfortunately, the consumption of the war was also huge. In order to meet military expenditures, the government can only print paper money to make up the numbers..."
"Please believe me, I have worked in the banking and finance industry for 30 years. If you don't want the francs in your hands to become waste paper, hurry up and exchange them for gold."
"Have you forgotten John Law's scam? Look at the current situation and how similar it is to then..."
That night, some newspapers with small circulations also began to publish news that the "French Central Bank is suspected of facing difficulties."
...
Palace of Versailles.
Joseph was looking at the security organization's report on the siege of Ferrara when Brienne and Jacques Laffitte, the general manager of the French Central Bank, knocked on the door and entered under Eman's lead.
