Make France Great Again-Chapter 607 - 598 Lowering the Discount Rate

Chapter 607: Chapter 598 Lowering the Discount Rate
When Dr. Ma, with his sharp writing, thoroughly criticized "thief" Jerome Bonaparte and "robber" Nicholas I, and incidentally exposed the essence of Jerome Bonaparte’s establishment of the Second Empire, he immediately gained a large number of fans.
"They" once again generously donated to the relatively "impoverished" Dr. Ma. Just from this one article, Dr. Ma received nearly 2000 British Pounds in succession.
This amount is equivalent to the income of a middle-class person in the London District for six months to a year, and that’s for a relatively affluent middle class.
The suddenly wealthy Dr. Ma once again indulged in impulsive spending, even though his wife’s, Yan Ni’s, dissuasion was to no avail.
Yan Ni, having no way to deal with Dr. Ma, had to write a letter to a second-generation factory owner with the surname En, asking him to advise Dr. Ma to spend rationally.
The second-generation factory owner surnamed En, upon receiving the letter, wrote back to Dr. Ma, sincerely hoping he would spend rationally.
After reading the letter, Dr. Ma looked at the remaining 1000 British Pounds he had left and suddenly became much more lucid about his impulsive consumption habits. He handed all the remaining money to Yan Ni and thanked her for her help.
However, Dr. Ma did not know that the majority of the so-called fans’ donations actually came from one account, the owner of which was none other than Jerome Bonaparte, whom Dr. Ma had "spurned."
Of course, Jerome Bonaparte was also unaware that Dr. Ma even had moments of impulsive spending.
If he knew he was on the verge of cultivating a Dr. Ma brainwashed by consumerism (highly unlikely), he might just reduce his economic aid to Dr. Ma!
After all, it is difficult for someone obsessed with consumerism to write a masterpiece.
At this moment, Jerome Bonaparte was lounging around, sitting cross-legged on the sofa reading, and in his hand was the very article Dr. Ma had published in the newspaper.
After reading the article through, Jerome Bonaparte mused that Dr. Ma was as sharp-tongued as ever, with all sorts of references to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Someone with little education wouldn’t even realize he was being insulted.
However, the "prophecy" Dr. Ma mentioned about the French people needing to rise and overthrow his rule made Jerome Bonaparte a little unhappy. With his high moral fiber and care for the people, how could the people possibly bear to overthrow him?
"Hmph! Foreign forces never rest in their desire to destroy me!" Jerome Bonaparte playfully gave Dr. Ma the nickname "foreign force."
After reading Dr. Ma’s sharp critique, Jerome Bonaparte continued reading, but after a while, he casually tossed the newspaper into the trash.
The rest of the content was just repetitive rhetoric. Rather than letting those articles pollute his eyes, it was better to toss them away.
Some time passed, and Jerome Bonaparte, lying on the sofa, lifted his head again to look at the grandfather clock in the corner.
The time was now five in the afternoon; the tripartite talks among Austria’s Minister of Internal Affairs Bach, Advisor Prince Metternich, Britain’s Prime Minister Palmerston, and France’s Minister of State Fuld were probably nearing their end.
Just as Jerome Bonaparte was preparing to get up and stroll around the room, there was a knock on the door. Jerome Bonaparte adjusted his posture and responded to the door, "Come in!"
Minister of State Fuld and Minister of Finance Mane entered the study, and Jerome Bonaparte got up to greet them, shaking hands and inquiring, "How are things progressing?"
"Your Majesty, everything is going quite smoothly!" Minister of State Fuld responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Tell me, how exactly is this money entering Austria?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Fuld and Mane.
Fuld and Mane told Jerome Bonaparte that 20% of the 5 billion loan from the French Empire to the Austrian Empire was in the form of patented technology, meaning France promised not to charge the Austrian Empire any patent fees. The remaining 80% was in the form of bonds holding Austria’s empire responsible, meaning that the Austrian Empire could issue 4 billion francs of national debt on the Paris Stock Exchange, and then financial institutions within the French Empire would evaluate it and then issue it.
Of course, the Austrian Empire needed to sell collateral assets, such as mines, forests, and the like, as mortgage.
If the Austrian Empire’s short-term bonds failed to pay interest on time, they would seize Austria’s mines.
Moreover, when Fuld heard Prince Metternich mention that the Austrian Empire had cheap labor, he promised Metternich he would certainly introduce them to some industrial capitalists.
"How did the talks with Palmerston go?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired once more about the results of Palmerston’s discussions with Bach.
Minister of State Fuld shook his head at Jerome Bonaparte. "We three parties did not negotiate together. Prince Metternich negotiated with us! Bach negotiated with Palmerston, so we and Britain don’t know what each of us discussed! However, judging from Palmerston’s expression, it seems his negotiations with Bach were quite satisfactory!"
"Able to satisfy that old guy Palmerston?" Jerome Bonaparte clicked his tongue and said, "This Minister of Internal Affairs seems to have some skills!"
At this point, Jerome Bonaparte paused and said to Fuld, "You two have really had a tough time lately!"
"This is what we ought to do!" Fuld and Mane said in unison.
Then, after a few words of encouragement to Fuld and Mane, Jerome Bonaparte inquired about Mane’s negotiations with Palmerston over raising the discount rate at the Bank of England.
"Palmerston has agreed with us! As long as the Bank of France is not intentionally running on them, they can adjust the Bank of England’s discount rate back to only two percentage points higher than the original!" Mane responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Does that mean changing from the original 4 to 4.2?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Mane.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Mane nodded and replied.
"Not bad at all!" Jerome Bonaparte said with a smile.
"By the way, Your Majesty!" Mane suddenly remembered something and quickly responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Lionel Rothschild from the Rothschild Clan also sent me a letter a day ago. He told me that the Rothschild Bank is willing to repurchase the bonds from France at a discount rate of 4.2! They hope France can see it as a favor to you..."
"4.2%" Jerome Bonaparte frowned and said to Mane in a deep voice, "Lionel Rothschild really has his ear to the ground, doesn’t he! Alright then! Give a portion of the bank bonds held by the Bank of France to Lionel Rothschild, and conduct transactions directly with the Bank of England for the rest! Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s order, Mane and Fuld showed a faint, almost indiscernible smile.
Clearly, Lionel Rothschild would give them some kickbacks.
Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte chatted leisurely with Fuld and Mokar for a while until both parties felt there was no suitable topic left. Jerome Bonaparte politely said to Fuld and Mane, "Alright then, it’s getting late, I won’t keep you any longer!"
Upon hearing this, Fuld and Mane bid farewell to Jerome Bonaparte, who personally saw them out of the Tuileries Palace.
That night, Marcel Yale sneaked into Jerome Bonaparte’s study by the cover of darkness and ed to him the "issues" concerning Fuld and Mane.
"I was wondering why Mane suddenly..." Jerome Bonaparte chuckled silently, shaking his head and muttering to himself.
"Your Majesty, should we investigate them?" Marcel Yale asked emotionlessly.
"Let’s not!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and declined Marcel Yale’s suggestion. "No one is perfect! Everyone is driven by their self-interest, and they act for their own benefit. That includes me; everyone has private motives. If we were to investigate each case, not even ten debtor’s prisons could hold them all! Having self-interest is normal, as long as they can keep it moderate! Mr. Yale, can you say you don’t have a single private motive?"
Upon hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s question, Marcel Yale silently shook his head.
His private motive was to remain forever in his position, like his predecessor Fouché, and become indispensable to the Emperor.
In terms of danger, Fuld and Mane were not as dangerous as Marcel Yale.
A person like Marcel Yale is a double-edged sword.
If not handled properly, one could be harmed the next moment.
Fortunately, Marcel Yale himself was older than Jerome Bonaparte.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, Jerome Bonaparte would surely outlast him.
"Mr. Yale, even someone like you has private motives, so why should I demand others have a saintly heart!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and said to him, "Your focus should also appropriately shift from domestic to foreign affairs now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Marcel Yale immediately replied.
After Marcel Yale left the study, Jerome Bonaparte stayed alone in the study.
The pale blue kerosene light shone on Jerome Bonaparte’s stern face, making him look particularly dignified.
After a while, Jerome Bonaparte laughed and sighed, "No one is a saint! No one at all!"