Capítulo 1445: Chapter 1351: Chaotic Switzerland
The President of the Swiss Parliant did not find the remarks offensive; instead, he smiled warmly and said, “Count Geselan, as you can see, if this railway can be completed, it will greatly boost trade across Switzerland…”
Geselan appeared sowhat impatient and slightly raised his voice, “Mr. President, our country’s radicals are instigating civil unrest, and the city guards urgently need this money to quell the disturbances. This is a decision of the Congress, please understand.”
Oberhozer paused awkwardly for two seconds, then had to nod and say, “Though it’s regrettable, we will respect the decision of the State Congress.”
He flipped through the docunts in his hand, “The Geneva Republic previously provided supplies valued at 350,000 francs. This money will be allocated to you by the end of next month.”
Switzerland is a very loose confederation in which all thirteen states have their own parliants, laws, and armies, and the Confederation Parliant has no jurisdiction over them.
Additionally, the political models of the thirteen states differ. For instance, the states in the forested areas of the central and southern regions, like Uri State and Schwyz State, are based on self-sufficient farrs and operate a “town eting” style of direct democracy. anwhile, Bern State, Zurich State, and Basel State are governed by nobles and urban oligarchs. Many regions exist in a state of being colonized by larger states.
Thus, as long as the State Congress holds firm, the Swiss Confederation Parliant can only comply.
Especially with Geneva’s situation being more unique, as they aren’t part of the Confederation but are instead a “Geneva Republic” tied with the Confederation Parliant, making them more independent than other states.
Geselan finally nodded with satisfaction and added, “Please pay us in francs. Batzen is hard to accept in the south.”
Batzen is the currency of Zurich State and Bern State.
Oberhozer sighed internally, quickly moved past that point, and continued, “Regarding the distribution of returns on this investnt. We will reference the standards set by the French Governnt, establishing a minimum yield rate of 4.5%. Any surplus will be distributed according to each state’s contribution…”
Below, the representatives of Schwyz State and Uri State exchanged glances, then sequentially raised their hands, “Mr. President, if Geneva State doesn’t participate in the railway investnt, our state will also withdraw its funds.”
“And Uri State…”
They were initially worried that reclaiming their funds would offend the Confederation Parliant and Zurich State, but with the Geneva people leading by example, they had much less concern.
These two states are both located in deep mountainous areas, so even if a railway is built between Bern and Zurich, they would gain no benefits from it.
The Vice President of Bern was imdiately anxious, stood up, and said, “Perhaps you don’t need to decide so quickly, we could…”
He quickly gestured back and forth between himself and the representative of Schwyz State with his finger, indicating a “private transaction.”
The representative of Uri State, a woodcutter turned rcenary officer known for his straightforwardness, gruffly said, “What compensation can our state receive?”
The Vice President of Bern stamred, “For example, lowering tariffs from Uri to the southwestern areas.”
The sphere of influence for Bern State is extensive, with most of southwestern Switzerland under their control.
“I’m sorry, with that, I cannot convince the Congress,” the representative of Uri State shook his head, “Please allocate the funds to us as soon as possible, Confederation Parliant.”
The main revenue of Uri State cos from providing rcenaries to the Germanic Region, with very little trade with other regions, so they are not concerned with tariffs.
The Vice President of Bern was unable to retain Uri State and Schwyz State, causing dissatisfaction among representatives from other states.
A representative from Lucerne State looked at him and said, “Count Elarch, our state can support your railway plan, but we also hope for tariff concessions.”
“Fribourg State also requests a benefit in tariffs…”
By 4 p.m., when the Confederation Parliant adjourned, Count Elarch was already drenched in cold sweat.
Currently, five states have steadfastly refused to participate in the railway plan, and four others demand benefits from Bern State.
If they cannot be persuaded, the funds provided by France will amount to less than 2 million francs, making it impossible to complete the Bern-Zurich Railway.
It’s crucial to rember that the Bern Parliant originally believed that with the support of the Confederation Parliant, they could definitely retain the 6.7 million francs, so they had preemptively raised over 8 million francs from the private sector and abroad.
With the extensive use of virtually free labor from Vaud and Jura States, along with the funding from the Zurich Parliant, the total of 18 million francs was basically sufficient for building the railway.
Unexpectedly, as Geneva’s rebellion intensified and influenced the other states’ refusal to cooperate, this led to a funding shortfall of nearly 30%!
The President of the Swiss Parliant walked over with a grave expression and urgently asked, “Can you still find any investnt on your side?”
Count Elarch shook his head.
Oberhozer’s face grew even grimr.
Zurich previously suffered war damage, and raising over 3 million francs was its limit.
Both the Zurich and Bern Parliants were using the “long-term returns from the railway” to attract investnt, but if the railway could not be completed, both states would have to pay hefty compensation fees.
After a long mont, Count Elarch finally said, “I’ll strive to persuade the State Congress to et the demands of states like Lucerne and Fribourg.
“You exert more pressure on those forest states…”
Neither anticipated that this financing incident would trigger a monuntal shock in Switzerland.
Given the loose nature of the Swiss Confederation Parliant, news quickly spread about various states retracting their material funds.
Upon hearing the news, a Milan Bank, which had invested in the Bern-Zurich Railway, for cautionary reasons, invited two experts from the France Railway Company for an assessnt. Their conclusion was—”The current total funds are far from sufficient to complete the railway construction.”
This bank imdiately approached the Bern State Congress, demanding access to the project’s financial status and construction plans.
The Bern Congress could only make various delays, and then Milan Bank took them to court.
The judge of the Bern State Court, having invested all his assets in this railway plan, also panicked upon seeing the lawsuit docunts and began contacting several allied nobles to try to retract their investnts.
In this way, just over half a month later, all of Switzerland was aware of problems with the Bern-Zurich Railway.
The Bern State Court was almost trampled flat by those suing the Parliant.
The finance officer in charge of the railway project presented the compensation estimate report to the state president, Count Elarch, and other core mbers looked at the horrifying figure of 25 million francs on the report, all of them looking ashen.
Needless to say 25 million, even returning just the 8 million investnt funds was impossible—after the railway plan was set, the project committee ordered 3 million francs worth of rails, leveling instrunts, manpower track cars, and other construction equipnt from France. Of course, a substantial amount of that money had circled around to end up in the pockets of the parliantarians.
Reviews
All reviews (0)