Chapter 147: Treasure Hunting

As a former colonial empire, Spain actually has quite a lot of gold reserves. However, due to the weakening of national strength, and the fact that a large amount of wealth belonged to the former royal Bourbon family, the Bourbon family fled north to France and took away a large amount of gold and other property.

At present, the gold reserves under the control of the Spanish government are less than 200 tons, and Carlo has even less gold reserves, which are not even enough to make up ten tons.

There is no way. In the era of the gold standard, gold is too unimportant for countries.

With gold, you can print money, and the ratio between gold and money cannot be a fixed 1:1.

Even in some countries with more gold reserves, the actual ratio of gold to currency is as high as 1:10 or more.

What does it mean? With 100 million pounds worth of gold in hand, the share of paper money issued to the outside world may be as high as 1 billion pounds or more.

However, printing money is not unscrupulous. First of all, we have to worry about the depreciation and inflation caused by the influx of a large amount of money into the market. Secondly, we have to worry that too frequent gold exchange will lead to a significant reduction in domestic gold reserves, which will trigger a currency crisis without gold.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the amount of money issued is also related to the credibility of the currency. And gold reserves are a major factor that can support the credibility of the currency, and it is also one of the most important ways.

Currency itself does not have value, but it has practical value after being linked to gold. Without gold, the currency is actually a piece of waste paper and cannot be circulated in the market at all.

Royal United Bank and Spanish National Bank, as the only two legal currency issuing banks in Spain, have also accumulated a certain amount of gold reserves in the currency issuance in recent years.

But the gold reserves accumulated by the two major banks combined are only a dozen tons. Although it is a considerable amount of gold reserves for the bank itself, for Spain, more than a dozen tons of gold is just a drop in the bucket.

The gold reserves in the hands of the Spanish government may be able to cope with this economic crisis, but who would complain about gold?

Every extra ton of gold in hand can create millions of pounds, which is more than 30 million pesetas.

Whether it is the Spanish government or the two official banks, the more gold reserves in hand, the better.

Where can we get enough gold reserves to cope with this economic crisis?

Carlo thought of many ways, but most of them were not very reliable, at least it was basically impossible for Spain to achieve.

For example, salvage the treasure of the sunken ship. Apart from other things, during the Spanish colonization of America, many ships transporting treasures sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

Although the money transported on a single ship is not too much, the various sunken ships added together are probably a considerable fortune.

But the problem is that the location of these sunken ships is not completely unchanged. In addition, due to the current salvage technology, even if the location of these sunken ships can be found in the end, it is not necessarily possible to salvage these sunken ships.

Moreover, the Atlantic Ocean is so vast that it is extremely difficult to find the location of the sunken ship. The current technology is not suitable for salvaging shipwrecks, otherwise countries with more powerful technology such as Britain and France would have done it long ago.

In addition to salvaging shipwrecks, another more reliable way is to explore and mine gold mines. But it would take a long time to do so. Secondly, the existing gold mines that have been discovered are basically owned by someone, and it would take too long to explore gold mines in other places.

Carlo did know that there were large gold mines in many places, but the question was, how could he ensure that other powers would not interfere and Spain would monopolize the gold mine?

Moreover, even if Carlo pointed out the existence of a gold mine in a certain area, it would still require a mineral exploration team to find out the location of the gold mine and to mine a large amount of gold ore to extract gold.

Such a long time obviously could not keep up with the pace of the economic crisis, and it was not a more suitable solution for Spain at present.

After thinking about it, Carlo finally set his sights on the Indians. This area of ​​India has the second largest population in the world, and also has a large number of unknown treasures.

Carlo was naturally aware of the many rumored Indian temple treasures in later generations. There is even more than one temple treasure in India. The largest temple treasure contains countless wealth, and the smaller treasures also contain a lot of gold and silver treasures. You can get a lot of gold reserves by taking any one of them.

But the current problem is that India is the territory of the British, and the relationship between the British and Spain is not so good.

Moreover, it is necessary to keep the whole process confidential when going to India to dig for temple treasures. Judging from the power currently controlled by Carlo, it is difficult to perfect the entire plan. After all, this requires sending people to India to dig for treasures, and hiding the entire Indian colonial government and the British government, and transporting the excavated treasures from India to Spain.

But it would be a pity to give up the treasure of the Indian temple in vain.

Although the temple treasures in history will not be discovered until more than 100 years later, who can be sure that there will be no changes?

After all, the course of the Franco-Prussian War has been changed. Whether the future will be changed is something Carlo cannot be sure of.

Since it is uncertain, the temple treasure is naturally the sooner the better. Whether this valuable treasure was left to the British or future Indians, it would not be cost-effective for Spain or Carlo.

Now is a good opportunity. The market changes before the outbreak of the economic crisis will definitely attract the attention of the British government. This is also the most suitable time to go to India to dig for treasures.

When the British people's attention returns to India, it will not be easy to send people to carry out large-scale operations.

After careful consideration, Carlo finally decided to cooperate with Prime Minister Primo and obtain this batch of treasures through the power of the Spanish government.

Of course, if you cooperate with the Spanish government, this batch of treasures must also be divided into a part of the Spanish government. Even if Prime Minister Primo is stronger, the Spanish government will get the majority, and Carlo can only get a small part.

But this is also unavoidable. After all, the power of the royal family is too weak at this time. Although those nobles have a certain influence, the matter of the temple treasure is of great importance and cannot be completely relied on by those old-fashioned nobles.

Needless to say, the new nobles. The power in their hands comes from the royal family. Carlo has no ability to hide the Indian colonial government and the British government to dig for treasures, let alone these new nobles who have no power.

Although the cooperation with the Spanish government will give the government a large share, the good news is that the Spanish government does have enough power. Besides, there is more than one temple treasure in India. As long as he gets more gold and other valuable treasures in a few more treasures, Carlo will still get a lot of benefits in the end.

Moreover, for Carlo, it is also good for the Spanish government to get these treasures. Although Spain's development is relatively smooth, all this is based on loans from the Italian government and the Austro-Hungarian government.

Including France, France provided Spain with a loan of up to 500 million francs, and the interest alone needs to be repaid 100 million francs.

The financial pressure on the Spanish government is still very large. If a batch of temple treasures can be obtained to expand the gold and capital reserves, it will undoubtedly alleviate a large part of the financial pressure, and development and construction can also increase investment and achieve better results.

Since it has been determined to cooperate with the government, the next thing will be easy.     Carlo only needs to determine the relevant plans with Prime Minister Primo, and leave the specific actions to the government. At most, the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau can assist.

January 15, 1873, in the Royal Palace of Madrid.

"Your Majesty, what's the matter that you are calling me to see so urgently?" Prime Minister Primo hurried over, with a little curiosity and doubt in his eyes.

Since Carlo ascended the throne a few years ago, he has not summoned himself so urgently and mysteriously. This also made Prime Minister Primo a little curious, and he hurried over without thinking too much.

"Prime Minister Primo, my men have found a mysterious treasure outside of Europe, which may contain a large amount of gold, silver and other priceless treasures.

But you know, the royal family does not have too many people to take back these treasures. I don't know if the government is interested. If possible, I am willing to give 30% of the treasure to the government as a reward for the government's participation in this operation." Carlo went straight to the point and put forward his proposal.

However, Carlo did not tell the truth about the more private institutions such as the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, but simply summarized it with his hands.

"Is there a priceless treasure outside of Europe?" Prime Minister Primo was a little confused. This didn't sound so reliable.

"Your Majesty, where did you hear this news? Please forgive me, but if our actions ultimately do not yield any results, I'm afraid it will be difficult to report to the government." Prime Minister Primo pondered for a few minutes and raised his doubts.

Although Carlo is the king of Spain, the Spanish government will obviously not take actual action for Carlo's words.

The risks and benefits that can be gained are all things that Prime Minister Primo needs to consider. Unless it is certain that the government can obtain actual benefits, the Spanish government will not travel thousands of miles outside Europe to find the so-called treasure for Carlo's words.

"There is nothing to say about the source of the intelligence, but it is certain that the intelligence is very likely to be true. Even if the intelligence is not true, the royal family is willing to bear all the expenses of this operation.

If the intelligence is true, the specific cost of this operation will be deducted from the share of the treasure. Prime Minister Primo, I hope you can carefully consider my opinion. This is a treasure that must not be missed. It is a huge fortune for the royal family and the government." Carlo will not be stupid enough to reveal all the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau he has established.

Although the Royal Security Intelligence Agency may not be able to hide from Prime Minister Primo, he certainly does not know too much about the current development of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency.

As the king of Spain, it is natural for Carlo to build his own power. Unless Prime Minister Primo wants to tear his face with Carlo, he will not ask too much about the situation of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency.

The facts are indeed as Carlo expected.

After hearing Carlo say that the source of the intelligence cannot be disclosed, Prime Minister Primo immediately linked this intelligence with the intelligence agency that was previously rumored to be established by Carlo.

Prime Minister Primo did not have much objection to the intelligence agency established by Carlo. After all, the government could not stop the king's actions. Although Carlo did not have much power, the king of Spain was not an empty shell.

If they push it too far, it will not be good for Prime Minister Primo and Carlo. Maintaining the current balance is the most appropriate choice, which will neither delay Prime Minister Primo's reforms of the government and Spain, nor will it delay Carlo's own power layout.

Prime Minister Primo and Carlo are naturally clear about the current situation of the Spanish government. Prime Minister Primo is now the one who has the final say in the Spanish government, and Carlo's influence is far less than that of Prime Minister Primo.

But such power will still be returned to Carlo in the future. Before completing their respective plans, neither Carlo nor Prime Minister Primo is willing to damage their relationship with each other.

Since Carlo has expressed his willingness to bear the cost of this action, Prime Minister Primo naturally has nothing to say. Even if there is no so-called treasure, it can only be regarded as a joke between the government and the young king.

The king does not make many proposals every year, so Prime Minister Primo naturally cannot reject the king's opinions too frequently.

Moreover, such a proposal would not cause much loss to the government. It was nothing more than selecting some reliable personnel from the military to cooperate with the king in an operation.

"If that's the case, then there is no problem. But Your Majesty, according to the plan you mentioned, the government will be the actual person in charge of this operation.

If the share of the treasure is too small, the government will not gain much. I suggest changing the share ratio to 50-50. For the royal family and the government, such a share is fair." Prime Minister Primo continued: "

The government is willing to cooperate with your Majesty the King's actions. If there is really such a treasure, no matter which country's territory it is in, we can bring the treasure back to Spain."

Of course, Carlo also knew that a 30-70 split was impossible, and Prime Minister Primo would never agree to a 30% share.

The reason for proposing a 30-70 split was actually to achieve the goal of a 50-50 split. If a 50-50 split was proposed at the beginning, Prime Minister Primo would most likely continue to push it down, and the share that the royal family could get would be even lower.

It's like negotiating a business deal. Start with a high price and then slowly push it down. Prime Minister Primo certainly knew that the 70%-30 split was not Carlo's bottom line. His meaning was also very clear. The government could cooperate with Carlo's actions, but the split must be a fair number.

A 50%-50 split was completely acceptable to Carlo. The treasure of the Indian temple was said to be worth tens of billions, hundreds of billions, or even trillions.

Although Carlo was not sure about the specific share of the Indian temple treasure, the half share the royal family got would definitely not be less.

At present, the total assets of the royal family only add up to tens of millions of pesetas. If this treasure was obtained, it might be possible to directly multiply the assets of the royal family.

What's not to like about this kind of treasure for free? The share obtained by the Spanish government will be used to develop the whole of Spain. The stronger Spain is, the more benefits it will bring to Carlo.

Carlo pretended to be very hesitant, but finally nodded and said with some pain: "Then let's split it 50-50, Prime Minister Prim.

But I hope there will be no changes, and the royal family will accept at least 50-50. I hope our cooperation will be very pleasant."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Primo was quite satisfied with the 50% share. He smiled and nodded, and said to Carlo as if to assure him: "Our cooperation will be very pleasant. I hope to see the treasure soon. I can't wait."