The situation was even more embarrassing for him, as he himself had tens of millions of livres invested and was stuck in several banks that had run into trouble.
He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. Did he have to turn to the Industrial Development Fund as well?
The door opened, and the butler Donadian walked in and bowed, “Master, all the guests have arrived.”
The Duke of Orleans nodded, rose from his seat with extreme fatigue, and walked toward the grand hall on the second floor.
The two-story-high doors were pushed open by guards, but the scene behind them sent a chill through his heart—apart from about ten people from the Banking Guild, there were only seven or eight nobles, sparsely standing in the vast hall.
Just a few days ago when he had convened the nobility to counteract Necker’s policies with “not borrowing money from the government,” the hall had been bustling with people, hardly any space to stand.
The morale of the people had dissipated…
As the “pillar” arrived, those in the hall quickly gathered around to pay their respects.
The Duke of Orleans was about to say something to boost their spirits when the Marquis of Ludo, looking anxious, spoke up, “Your Grace, I heard from a friend that Necker’s interrogation is over, and he must have told them everything.”
He glanced behind him and asked, “What are we to do?”
Of course, the Duke of Orleans already knew about it. If there had been a solution, he would have used it already. Why would he wait until now?
Seeing that he didn’t respond, the Marquis of Ludo asked carefully, “Your Grace, do you think we should discuss terms with the Royal Family?”
The Duke of Orleans, feeling helpless, looked up at the crystal chandelier. Just then, someone came in and whispered something to the butler, who immediately reported to him, “Master, we’ve just received news that a large number of police are heading to the City Trade Bank.”
The owner of the City Trade Bank, De Lachaussee-Poulet, immediately turned pale and without even excusing himself, he turned and ran out.
…
In the streets and alleys of Paris, people were talking about the recent succession of bank bankruptcies.
“Today, the City Trade Bank was also seized; I wonder if it will go bankrupt.”
“It’s as certain as the sun not falling from the sky. The bank managers have been arrested; I even saw the police stuffing them into a carriage at noon.”
“It’s said that there are many more banks involved. Who knows when it will all end…”
“Oh God, my 60 livres in the bank, just gone like that!”
“What? Don’t you read the newspapers?”
“Read the newspapers?”
“The paper says the bankrupt banks have been acquired by the Bank of France Reserve. Previous deposits can be withdrawn there.”
“Really?! You’re not joking, right?”
“It’s in the papers; just submit an application, and you can withdraw the funds in no more than half a month. Or you can also convert it to a deposit with the Bank of France Reserve.”
“That’s great, thank you! I’ll go apply right away!”
…
At the Palace of Versailles.
Joseph was reviewing the latest acquisition report.
In recent times, the Bank of France Reserve had completed the acquisition of four bankrupt banks and was currently tallying accounts and receiving various assets.
Just the branches of the Bank of France Reserve in Paris had increased to more than a dozen overnight, although most of them hadn’t even had time to change their signs.
Joseph frowned as he read the report, which mentioned the problem of staff shortages—mainly a severe lack of management.
The management of the banks involved in Necker’s case were mostly arrested, and the Bank of France Reserve couldn’t possibly provide that many managers at such short notice.
He had intentionally slowed down the pace of blowing up the banks involved; if all thirteen banks were to be demolished at once, it’s feared that a good half of France’s financial market would fall into chaos due to management problems.
“The foundation is still not solid enough,” Joseph shook his head in private, realizing that it would take at least half a year to fully absorb these financial assets.
However, time wasn’t an issue. For these bankrupt banks, nobody was willing, nor dared, to compete with the Bank of France Reserve.
The Bank of France Reserve didn’t have much money, but the shareholder lineup was intimidating enough to deter any competitors—the King and the Queen each owned 5%, the Prince of Conde 4%, the Count of Artuwa 4%. The Finance Minister, the Minister of the Interior, and the head of the Secret Police also owned shares. Of course, the largest shareholder was still the Crown Prince of France.
However, to establish the French Industrial Development Fund, the French Treasury had now become a major shareholder of the Bank of France Reserve.
After Joseph himself made a substantial additional investment, other shareholders’ stakes were diluted somewhat. The current shareholding structure was as follows: the French Government held 40%, the Crown Prince 41%, the King and Queen 4% each, Conde and Artuwa 3% each, Mono 2%, and Brian and Robel each held 1.5%.
Following the acquisition of four major banks, the nominal assets of the Bank of France Reserve had reached an astonishing 190 million livres!
However, the bulk of that was loans to the government. The bank’s debts were transferred to the Industrial Development Fund through an investment agreement with the nobility. In other words, the Bank of France Reserve now owed the Industrial Development Fund hundreds of millions of livres.
Fortunately, the agreement stipulated that withdrawals could not be made within five years, otherwise the Development Fund would almost immediately collapse.
In the future, France’s finances would invest in various industrial industries in the name of the Development Fund, and all this money would be considered as repayment for the loans from the Bank of France Reserve.
The Bank of France Reserve would then transfer these investments to the Development Fund, and once the investments yielded returns, the Development Fund would also profit.
In this way, the expenditures of the French finances would no longer all flow into the pockets of bank capital, but would be used to support industrial development. The profits from the industrial industries would in turn support the finances, creating a truly virtuous cycle.
Of course, this was just Joseph’s theoretical design; actual operation would surely encounter many problems, but these were the unavoidable tuition fees of industrial development.
At least, after the Bank of France Reserve took over the loans from the bankrupt banks, it would renegotiate the loan agreements with the French Government, significantly reducing the interest rates.
As for how much the interest rate should be reduced, Joseph planned to wait until all the acquisitions were complete before having Brian calculate the total amount of loans the Bank of France Reserve would acquire, then deduce how high an interest rate would allow the French finances to maintain a balance.
Then, the new agreement would be signed according to this interest rate.
No matter what, it would absolutely be much lower than the current staggering interest rate of over 15% on loans from the French finances.
After completing the acquisition of the thirteen banks involved, Joseph’s next plan was to gradually take control of the French financial industry using the massive scale of the Bank of France Reserve—although it didn’t have actual cash, the nominal loan amount was astronomical—and then step by step, transform the Bank of France Reserve into France’s “Central Bank.”
This process was bound to encounter some administrative issues, as well as resistance from the existing banking capital, but if it could be accomplished smoothly, then the French Royal Family, or rather, the Crown Prince of France, would firmly grasp the financial lifeline of France!
Joseph signed the operational plan submitted by the manager of the Bank of France Reserve, contemplating when would be an appropriate time to detonate the next bank when Eman gently knocked on the door, saying, “Your Highness, Archbishop Brian has arrived, and he’s brought three bankers with him.”
“Oh? Bankers?” Joseph was somewhat surprised but still got up and said, “Please show them to the sitting room.”
Shortly after, in the spacious sitting room, Brian and others successively paid respectful homage to the Crown Prince, and then Brian gestured toward the people behind him: “Your Highness, please allow me to introduce them. This is the Marquis of Ludo, this is Count Capefield, and this is Mr. Bouvarandere.” Enjoy more content from M-V-L
Joseph narrowed his eyes; he had been frequently reviewing the Necker case files lately and was very familiar with the banks involved. These three men were the owners of three of those banks. At the same time, they had another identity, that of the leaders of the Bank of France Guild.
He invited them to sit down and asked with a smile, “May I know why you gentlemen are here to see me?”
Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Ludo and the others were so agitated they were near tears.
The Duke of Orleans couldn’t save them, so they decided to compromise with the government, or rather, beg for mercy.
However, they couldn’t even find a place to beg. First, they went to the Secret Police, who told them they were just cooperating with the arrests. Then they went to the Police Headquarters, and through it found a mysterious department called the Police Affairs Department, only to be advised that they were just following orders.
Afterward, the Marquis of Ludo and his associates turned to the High Court, the internal administration system, but both were clueless. Finally, they found the financial system, and after paying a considerable amount of “benefits,” they learned that the real mastermind behind the Necker case was the current Crown Prince.
Then, after spending more money, they finally managed to see the Crown Prince with the help of Brian.
The Marquis of Ludo spoke very nervously, “Your esteemed Highness, the Crown Prince, the things we did with Necker before were grievous mistakes, oh no, severe crimes! We have come to deeply realize our errors.
“We dare not seek your forgiveness, only to atone for our previous misdeeds.
“Your merciful Highness, from now on, we are your most humble servants. Just nod, and whatever you command us to do, we will agree without hesitation!”