To Baron Haussman’s disappointnt, Jero Bonaparte did not have much reaction to the achievents he had made during his tenure, only said in a bland tone, "I understand, please have a seat first!" ending Baron Haussman’s speech.
After everyone at the Imperial Council finished their speeches, Jero Bonaparte began to make a summary speech.
He first collectively praised all the ministers attending the Imperial Council, then proceeded to critique certain issues present in various departnts, such as the Ministry of Railways employees’ extravagance and the safety incidents caused by the Ministry of Public Works during road construction.
All the ministers who were criticized bowed their heads and humbly accepted the critique, assuring Jero Bonaparte that such incidents would never happen again.
Jero Bonaparte gently replied, "Let it not be repeated."
After all the praise and criticism were concluded, the ti was around twelve noon.
"You have all worked hard this morning! Just in ti for lunch at the Tuileries Palace, you can stay here and have a al with !" Jero Bonaparte said casually, then glanced askew at those present, "If anyone really has sothing urgent, you can leave first!"
No one left among those present, and they all expressed to Jero Bonaparte that they had nothing urgent.
"Then let’s go!" Jero Bonaparte finished speaking, then rose from his chair and proceeded towards the door of the Imperial Conference Hall.
Everyone else also stood up, pushed back their chairs, and followed Jero Bonaparte to the dining room.
At twelve o’clock sharp, the dining room began serving lunch.
Seated around the round table, everyone dined with the service of the Tuileries Palace stewards, and the essential Bordeaux Red Wine was naturally a must-have.
Led by Minister Fuld, everyone present raised their glasses with the slogan, "Wishing His Majesty the Emperor health and longevity."
Hearing the slogan, Jero Bonaparte’s mouth twitched slightly, then he too raised his glass.
The entire banquet lasted around an hour, during which 3 bottles of Bordeaux Red Wine cherished by Jero Bonaparte were consud.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, everyone began to bid farewell to Jero Bonaparte, who shook hands with them one by one.
When it was Minister Fuld’s turn, Jero Bonaparte said to Fuld, "Minister Fuld, I would like to talk to you individually; can you wait a little longer before you leave?"
Fuld nodded, indicating he understood.
The remaining ministers, seeing Fuld being left behind, thoughtfully accelerated the pace of their farewells.
"Your Majesty!" As the last person to shake hands with Jero Bonaparte, Baron Haussman spoke humbly.
"Baron Haussman, you have done very well!" Jero Bonaparte shook hands with Baron Haussman, one hand holding Haussman’s and the other patting Haussman’s shoulder in praise.
"Your Majesty, I will continue to work hard!" Baron Haussman replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Rest assured! The Empire will never disappoint those who work hard for it!" Jero Bonaparte assured with heartfelt sincerity.
"Understood!" Baron Haussman nodded vigorously with excitent.
Standing next to Jero Bonaparte, Fuld couldn’t help but reveal a serious expression upon witnessing this scene.
After bidding farewell to everyone else, Jero Bonaparte said to Fuld, "Minister Fuld, let’s go to the study to talk!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Fuld slightly bowed in response to Jero Bonaparte.
Subsequently, Jero Bonaparte and Fuld went to the study.
After entering the study, Jero Bonaparte guided Fuld to sit on the sofa and asked Fuld whether he needed coffee or tea.
Fuld shook his head and refused, expressing thanks to Jero Bonaparte.
After exchanging a few simple words, Jero Bonaparte got to the main topic.
"Fuld, what do you think of Governor Ottoman?" Jero Bonaparte inquired, crossing his hands and slightly reclining his body to pose a relaxed stance.
"Your Majesty, do you want to be honest?" Fuld asked with a serious expression.
"Of course!" Jero Bonaparte shrugged in response to Fuld, "If I didn’t want to hear your honest opinion, there would be no need to call you over!"
After hesitating for a mont, Fuld reorganized his words and responded to Jero Bonaparte, "I am quite dissatisfied with Mr. Georges Ossman’s ongoing reconstruction of Paris."
"Oh? Which aspect of Baron Haussman has left you dissatisfied?" Jero Bonaparte curiously asked.
"Your Majesty, please forgive for being blunt!" Fuld responded to Jero Bonaparte in an unusually solemn tone: "Georges Ossman’s recent years regarding the reconstruction of Paris, has been sowhat overly hasty!"
"He wants to use a very short period of ti to renovate the entire Paris!"
"Isn’t that great?" Jero Bonaparte said puzzled to Minister Fuld, "Paris should indeed be developed into an international city, and it is not unreasonable for Baron Haussman to do so!"
"Your Majesty, I do not disagree with renovating Paris!" Fuld hurriedly explained to Jero Bonaparte, "On the contrary, I strongly agree to build Paris into an international city to attract more people.
However, Georges Ossman is trying to complete a project in 10-15 years that would take at least 20, or even around 30 years to finish, which will inevitably cause significant risks.
Moreover, the Paris City Hall itself doesn’t have much assets, Georges Ossman was able to scrape together money for Paris’s construction entirely by offering concessions to real estate investors and then driving them to develop Paris, while issuing local bonds in Seine Province to entice citizens to invest."
"I think that’s still pretty good!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Fuld, "Don’t you also support the governnt taking on debt for developnt, and then using profits after construction to pay off the debt!"
"Your Majesty, I do support that viewpoint!" Fuld nodded to Jero Bonaparte, "But I do not support unlimited overdrafts by the governnt!
The current situation in Seine Province is a classic example of a debt scale far exceeding the governnt’s repaynt capability!"
Fuld’s remarks reminded Jero Bonaparte of a situation from the past, where an area spent billions on construction of marvels with no effect whatsoever.
Eventually, it relied on special privileges from higher authorities to catch a breath.
Fuld continued to say to Jero Bonaparte, "If this continues, the entire Seine Province will beco a landmine ready to explode.
If any link in the middle goes wrong, the entire Seine Province will be blown away.
At that point, Georges Ossman might co crying to us for help!"
Fuld’s words made Jero Bonaparte recall that historically, Seine Province indeed fell into a state of distress due to the bankruptcy of dynamic loan real estate banks.
Ultimately, amid internal and external troubles, Georges Ossman was dismissed.
However, now the Imperial Governnt is providing Georges Ossman with far more money than in history, and real estate growth is controlled within reasonable bounds.
Logically speaking, the chance of an explosion is almost zero.
"Minister Fuld, aren’t you being a bit too alarmist!" Jero Bonaparte inquired Fuld.
"Alarmist?" Fuld shook his head at Jero Bonaparte, "No, Your Majesty! I have no intention of being alarmist!
If Governor Georges Ossman does not handle things well, it might bring about a debt of 800 million francs for the entire Empire.
Such enormous debt would be extrely detrintal to the economic developnt of the Empire!"
Fuld looked earnestly at Jero Bonaparte, hoping to hear a promise from Jero Bonaparte that he would stop Georges Ossman’s reckless actions.
Unfortunately, Fuld didn’t hear the good news he anticipated.
Instead, he heard Jero Bonaparte’s plea, "Fuld, I’m not asking you as a monarch, but as a friend to request you to show so leniency to Georges Ossman. The construction of Paris cannot do without Georges Ossman.
I also know his thods might burden France with enormous debt, yet the system he is currently implenting is operating fairly well.
So I hope you can wait a while longer!"
Fuld’s expression went blank, stunned for a few seconds, he felt both disappointed and gratified inside.
Disappointed that Jero Bonaparte didn’t accede to his request to suspend Georges Ossman’s duties,
Gratified that Jero Bonaparte respected his authority as Minister of State.
"Your Majesty, what do you want to do!" Having guessed the outco, Fuld still asked Jero Bonaparte.
"Fuld, I want Georges Ossman to be nominated as Deputy Minister of Public Works!" Jero Bonaparte said to Fuld.
"If that is your command, I will abide!" Fuld said to Jero Bonaparte, then added, "However, I personally still oppose Governor Georges Ossman! I hope you understand!"
"I know! Thank you for your hard work!" Jero Bonaparte felt relieved.
"Your Majesty, if there’s nothing else, I shall leave!" Fuld responded to Jero Bonaparte and then added, "The position of Deputy Minister of Public Works will be announced in a few days!"
Minister of State Fuld left Jero Bonaparte’s study.
A few days later, news of Governor Georges Ossman’s nomination as Deputy Minister of Public Works spread throughout the Paris City Hall.
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