For Jero Bonaparte, if he could independently mine and transport the gold back, who would be willing to share the gold mine with others?
As the United States of Arica is still in its early developnt, the deep-rooted protectionism at the local level makes it difficult for Jero Bonaparte to transport the gold out without using official power.
If he uses official power, it will inevitably trigger strong resistance from the mainland United States.
The reason is that the California area was spoils of the xican-Arican War last year. Once mining begins under an official guise, mainland U.S. politicians will inevitably think that France is playing the disruptor role again, which would be even more unfavorable for capital plunder.
[From 1846 to 1849, the French Fleet intervened in the Argentine civil war, and before that had waged war in the Central and South Pacific over what is now French Polynesia. If Great Britain is the top disruptor, then France can definitely be rated as the second.]
"Pure" capital must enter California, Jero Bonaparte thought of Count Algou and his group.
"Your Majesty, did you really discover a gold mine in California?"
Count Algou asked Jero Bonaparte again, then, realizing the offense, quickly added, "I didn’t an to question you. I’m just afraid you might be deceived by so irresponsible survey teams! I’ve heard of many con artist survey teams, who under the guise of gold mine discovery, demand additional funding from their employers, and once they receive funds for further mining, they vanish without a trace!"
"They wouldn’t dare!" Jero Bonaparte sneered, as if talking to himself: "If they dare, I wouldn’t mind sending their families to Arica!"
Jero Bonaparte made a gesture of striking a decisive blow.
To prevent being cheated by survey teams, he chose those with families, whose wives and daughters were controlled by Jero Bonaparte in Paris.
Of course, this was just the first layer of insurance asures taken by Jero Bonaparte.
To prevent any "danger" from befalling the survey teams, Jero Bonaparte also inserted a batch of loyal guards into the survey teams, under the guise of "protecting" their safety, but actually to monitor them.
These guards were mostly descendants from the fallen days of the Empire, loyal to the Bonaparte Clan, and combined with his nephew, whom Jero Bonaparte had never t, he believed it would be difficult for these three forces to conspire against him.
Hearing Jero Bonaparte’s firm response, Count Algou decided to place his trust in the President’s integrity, his usually murky and yellowish-blue eyes bursting forth with fiery passion.
A competent banker can turn worthless things (like jade, diamonds) into grand and valuable commodities, then attract a crowd eager to buy them.
A shrewd banker can even create sothing out of nothing, turning non-existent assets into tangible assets in the form of stocks, and finally, when the tangible assets face bankruptcy due to mismanagent or debt issues, the banker stands unhard on the shore, watching the struggling victims in the sea of bankruptcy, mocking them, "You’re poor because you’re not working hard!"
A masterful banker can even harvest profits while simultaneously feeding the public so spiritual confections.
Of course, when the tide finally recedes, and people awaken from the "chicken soup" and see themselves "swimming nude" on the beach, the confections lose their effect.
After confirming Jero Bonaparte’s information was true, Count Algou had already thought of "a hundred ways to speculate on the gold mine."
As long as the President’s mines can produce gold, he can leverage capital to influence the finance of France and Europe as countless investors buy their stocks.
As for how much gold the mines actually have, that will be theirs to dictate.
Oh! Those western gold diggers are no match for them; as long as the stock prices keep rising, they have enough artillery to attack those gold diggers.
"Your Majesty, how much money do you need?" Count Algou imdiately inford Jero Bonaparte that his bank could completely et Jero Bonaparte’s needs.
"Mr. Earl, please don’t rush!" With the atmosphere reaching a climax, Jero Bonaparte instead remained calm, glancing at his pocket watch.
After a while, there was a knock at the door.
Jero Bonaparte cleared his throat and said, "Co in!"
The door opened, and Emile Pereire, Mane, and Adolphe Schneider appeared in the doorway.
Count Algou’s expression tightened, realizing that there were likely to be more people at his table.
"Look! Our friends have arrived!" Jero Bonaparte revealed a cunning smile, fully capturing Count Algou’s grave expression.
For Jero Bonaparte, the more people involved in the plan, the better.
This way, he could gather a large group of bankers to serve his plan.
Once aboard the ship of Jero Bonaparte, there’s no chance of disembarking.
Jero Bonaparte and Count Algou moved from the desk to the sofa.
Jero Bonaparte smiled as he repeated what he had told Count Algou to the others present.
The expressions of those present were varied: Emile Pereire and Mane were serious and excited respectively, while Adolphe Schneider appeared shocked.
"Your Majesty, what do you want us to do?" Emile Pereire imdiately asked.
Jero Bonaparte, crossing his legs, said unhurriedly, "I want you to join in a big venture!"
Although Jero Bonaparte’s tone was very calm, everyone present could sense the restless mind of Mr. President from his speech.
"Your Majesty, could you explain in detail?" the cautious Adolphe Schneider asked, looking at Jero Bonaparte.
"I plan to invite you all to invest with in the establishnt of a company to collectively mine from the gold mines in California!" Jero Bonaparte explained to those present. "We can turn the gold mines into stocks and sell them across Europe! As long as we have enough gold, there’s no fear they’ll lack confidence in our stocks, as many countries have long been fed up with the Russian Empire’s deanor!"
At this point, Jero Bonaparte paused to look at this group of "Pioneers of the Tis" before him.
Because half of the world’s gold cos from the Russian Empire, Nicholas I, who controls the gold mines, holds the power to set gold prices, forcing European countries to endure this fellow.
Furthermore, the Tokugawa Shogunate hadn’t opened its country to the world yet, leaving Europe in a vague state regarding Japan.
A company with gold mines is often highly anticipated by shareholders. In the minds of shareholders, a stock backed by gold ans security, and at its worst, it won’t be too bad.
Overall, the first part of Jero Bonaparte’s thinking didn’t differ much from Count Algou’s.
For Jero Bonaparte, what ca next was the main point. He looked at the bankers present and continued, "According to my survey team’s report, the gold mines in California might exceed the total gold reserves of all European countries combined. You should know what this ans!"
Everyone’s expression changed drastically.
If what the President said was true, the influx of a large amount of gold would inevitably impact the market value of gold in Europe.
Due to the delay in information between the European and Arican markets, coupled with the speed of information flow,
the price of gold in the European market wouldn’t fluctuate in the short term due to the large gold discoveries in California.
"We need to purchase a batch of gold before the market reacts! At the right ti, we will sell off this batch of gold!" Jero Bonaparte said to the "Pioneers of the Tis" present. "Just with this montum, we can depress the price of gold once again! Would the banks of European countries calmly accept such fluctuations?"
Count Algou instinctively shook his head. Of course, the Bank of France wouldn’t want to see such fluctuations, as it would affect its control over financial matters.
Jero Bonaparte continued, "No, they won’t! Banks across Europe will unite to collectively suppress this volatility to stabilize the price of gold, but those gold diggers in California can’t wait for the European banks to act. I will gather the gold in their hands and sell it off gradually. Every fluctuation can make the European banks pay for our actions!"
Jero Bonaparte’s blueprint made everyone present swallow hard.
If Jero Bonaparte’s strategy could truly succeed, then the more than 100,000 miners in California would be at their service.
Of course, this also considers the local autonomous situation of the United States Federal Governnt.
During this era, the power of the U.S. central governnt couldn’t be compared to that of later tis, with state powers resting in the hands of the state governnts, i.e., the representatives they elected.
Bribing a representative was much simpler than bribing a whole country.
If the United States could implent centralization like France, Jero Bonaparte’s plan would have been severely cracked down on as soon as it appeared.
"Your Majesty, I’m willing to follow your commands!" Mane imdiately joined Jero Bonaparte’s plan.
Emile Pereire, Adolphe Schneider, and Count Algou followed suit and joined as well.
To fulfill Jero Bonaparte’s plan, Mane contributed 8 million francs, Adolphe Schneider contributed 6 million francs, Emile Pereire contributed 10 million francs, Count Algou contributed 10 million francs, while Jero Bonaparte used the gold mine as collateral to "invest" a discount of 10 million francs.
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