Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Loan Crisis
“You will certainly not regret your decision today.” Manager Brent tipped an imaginary hat in a grand gesture, speaking with an enticing tone, “Viscount Boduan, congratulations on becoming a member of the Paris Angel Company!”
Count Albrow hadn’t expected this young viscount to be so daring, but he reacted very quickly, immediately saying, “I also decide to invest in a franchise.”
“Oh, this is wonderful, my Lord Count, your investment insights are as sharp as ever.”
The others were momentarily stunned. Just a second ago they were still haggling, so how come in the blink of an eye, the three stores in Paris were already divided up?
You see, there’s a saying that goes, “France actually has only two provinces, Paris and the rest.” As the political, economic, and cultural center of all France, Paris’s consumer spending power is far greater than other regions.
When someone invests a large sum, it undoubtedly means the business is extremely profitable! Those who had hesitated to act were now berating themselves, regretting their lack of courage.
But one cannot miss the opportunity a second time!
Duke Lavalier followed, “I would like to open a store in Reims, my hometown is there, after all.”
“Ahem, I’ll join too. I have some property in Marseille; I’ll invest in two stores there.”
“I will invest in a store as well…”
That night, in Brent’s home, he kissed the seven franchise contracts in his hand fervently and began jumping around and shouting like a madman.
Joining the Paris Angel Company was undoubtedly the best decision he had made in his life; earlier that afternoon, he had achieved financial freedom—Joseph had promised a commission of 3000 livres for each franchise signed.
In other words, he was now a wealthy man worth over twenty thousand!
He poured himself a glass of wine, took a big gulp to accompany the contracts, and happily calculated: he would buy a villa first in either the Louvre District or the Saint-Germain District and then go to Viscount Machievi’s residence to propose a marriage for his son! That old miser could no longer mock his family for being poorer than his, ha ha!
…
Joseph signed his name on each of the contracts Brent brought, not feeling too surprised.
Any discerning person could see the profitability of Paris Angel Company, and though the French Government was poor, the people were quite wealthy. Such a promising project would have no lack of investors.
The seven stores were just the beginning; he predicted that after these franchises opened, the demonstration effect would bring at least double the number of franchisees.
After Brent left, Joseph, the second in command of France’s finance, set out towards the Finance Minister’s office.
As soon as he entered, all the officials in the room gathered around to warmly greet and congratulate him, “Your Highness, congratulations to you!”
“It was Your Highness who saved the Dutch!”
“The Prussians just retreated in such a meek manner, ha ha.”
“The blessed son of France!”
Finance Minister Brienne approached the front of the crowd, earnestly saying, “Your Highness, I’ve heard about the matter with the Netherlands. I must say, I am astounded by your diplomatic skills!”
Joseph smiled and said, “This is a victory for France, I merely gave a slight push from behind.”
The room erupted again with high praise before gradually dispersing.
Brienne’s expression turned serious, “Your Highness, from what I’ve inquired, the verdict from the High Court should come out in the next few days, and it will likely still be a refusal to register.”
Joseph was not surprised, as the legislation submitted was made with the expectation of being rejected.
He said indifferently, “Archbishop Brienne, there’s no need for concern. This is just the beginning—I haven’t made my move yet.”
Brian thought of the Crown Prince’s brilliant maneuvers in the Netherlands and felt a sense of assurance. He nodded in encouragement and casually added, “By the way, I saw yesterday’s financial report; it seems that your loan has not yet been finalized?”
“Indeed, thank you for the reminder. I shall take care of it promptly.”
Upon returning to his office, Joseph glanced at the important matters of recent days and asked his assistant, “Has tomorrow’s loan negotiation with Ravel Bank been postponed again?”
The latter replied with a sense of helplessness, “Your Highness, they said they need to audit their accounts and currently lack the capacity to handle other matters.”
Joseph frowned. “What about the arrangements with Labod Bank?”
“No reply yet, but I’ve heard they’ve invested a lot of money in England’s automatic loom industry and might not be able to provide a loan of several millions in the short term…”
“Hmm?” Joseph’s eyes narrowed immediately.
As he understood, the French Government had been obtaining short-term loans through partnerships with both banks for over a decade. Previously, even without the aide of the Finance Minister, the banks would prepare and send the agreements two months in advance.
Yet, with just half a month left until the government bonds matured, both banks were still giving the runaround. If there wasn’t a problem, it would be a miracle!
In this era, the efficiency of the banking system was very low. It would take several days to process a staggering amount of over six million livres from the signing of an agreement to the availability of funds. This means that delaying another eight or nine days could lead France into a debt default!
He had to think of another solution.
Joseph immediately signaled to Eman, who was standing by the door, “Please prepare my carriage; I need to go to the Paris Discount Bank.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
By noon, Joseph had arrived at the headquarters of the largest bank in France at the moment, the Paris Discount Bank.
The manager of the discount bank greeted the Crown Prince with great fanfare, leading the entire management team and even offering to host a luncheon for him.
However, as soon as Joseph mentioned the loan, he was politely rejected by the other party, “Your Highness, we have an early agreement with Ravel and other banks that they are responsible for the government’s large short-term loans; it is inappropriate for us to involve ourselves in such business.”
After multiple attempts, the discount bank was only willing to offer medium to long-term loans with collateral, and even then, raising the funds might take a considerable amount of time.
Joseph left with no other choice and proceeded to the Paris Bank, only to receive a similar response.
His final destination was the Royal Bank.
Only… this bank truly had no money.
Although it was a major bank, ever since John Law concocted the Mississippi Company pyramid scheme, causing hyperinflation and ruining the reputation of the Royal Bank, this government-backed bank had been as impoverished as the French Government.
Ultimately, only two medium-sized banks were willing to loan 600 thousand livres to the French Government, and that too at a high interest rate of 25%. As for the smaller banks, many had capital of only one to two million livres and couldn’t offer much in loans.
Back in the carriage, Joseph’s expression was as dark as still water. It seemed most of these banks had acted deliberately, and not just to raise the interest rate.
He turned to the Finance Assistant accompanying him, “Is it possible to use administrative pressure on those banks?”
The latter immediately grimaced, “Your Highness, given the current financial situation of the government, it would not be suitable to fall out too badly with the banking sector…”
Joseph took a deep breath and looked out the carriage window at Cano Bank, saying in a deep voice, “So they think they can play with the nation’s finances just because they control the money?
“Very well, then I shall just start my own bank.”