I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1123 The Tycoon's Feast

Prince Poniatovsky hurriedly asked, "What do you mean?"

“I know the Russians’ tricks all too well,” Koschushko said, waving his hand so that the medals on his chest swayed. “They are probably currently amassing troops in the country.”

“Once they are ready, they will take advantage of the chaos in our eastern provinces to launch an invasion, just like they did a few years ago.”

Ignach Potocki immediately retorted angrily, "What do you suggest we do?"

Koschushko looked at his old comrade-in-arms: "Your Highness, I suggest that we immediately reinforce the Mozyr and Minsk lines. We must ensure that there are at least 7 troops on the eastern front for defense."

"At the same time, conduct a full investigation into those in Great Tham who still harbor illusions about Russia. Their presence will only undermine the morale of the citizens!"

A few days later, Poland's Grand Sem overwhelmingly rejected the proposal to restore diplomatic relations with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Polish 3rd Guards Infantry Division left Warsaw and headed to the Dnieper River defense line in the east.

About half a month later, Prince Poniatovsky received a message from intelligence personnel in St. Petersburg, saying that Russia was indeed carrying out a large-scale mobilization, with dozens of truckloads of supplies being transported out of warehouses every day from Moscow, Kasimov and other places.

Well, this was actually Paul I preparing for an invasion of India, but in Prince Poniatowski's view, it just confirmed Koschuszko's earlier judgment—that the Russians were about to launch a full-scale invasion of Poland.

As Gorzakowski and another member of parliament from the eastern province were giving a speech on "restoring trade with Russia" in the square outside the Royal Castle, several investigators from the Polish Freedom and Security Committee approached them and shoved them into a carriage.

Over three days, all 21 Orthodox or less anti-Russian members of parliament were placed under house arrest, after which Grand Theam issued a national mobilization order.

Meanwhile, Russian negotiating envoy Igorstrom had just arrived in Smolensk when he received a notification from the Polish government that he was refused entry.

……

London.

The armed merchant ship "Gassen" slowly sailed into the Port of London from the Thames.

On the dock, Salomon Rothschild hurried to meet the familiar figure, smiling and embracing him tightly: "My dear brother, what brings you here? Frankfurt is quite a distance from here."

Amschel, the "head" of the Rothschild family, patted him on the back, immediately pulled him towards the carriage by the roadside, and whispered, "For God's sake, why didn't you discuss such a big matter with me beforehand? Was the agreement signed?"

Salomon nodded with a bright smile: "Yes, it was signed five days ago. I wrote to you, but I didn't expect you to come to London instead."

Amsher paused, looked at him, and asked, "What is the total amount?"

£800 million.

Salomon spoke as if he were talking about £8.

Sweat beaded on Amsher's forehead. He and his brother climbed into the carriage in a few strides, slammed the door shut, and then growled, "Eight million pounds? God! Are you crazy? Putting aside the risks, we simply don't have that much money!"

Salomon loudly instructed the coachman to return to London, then smiled at his brother and said, "It's not a lump sum payment, but a three-year installment loan."

“The first payment only requires £50, which I have enough money on hand. You know, I made a pretty good profit investing in sugar futures last year.” Amsher tried to calm himself down and continued, “So what about next? What about next year’s payments? The family’s cash flow will probably be exhausted by the second half of the year!”

“Don’t worry, dear brother, if things go smoothly, we might not have to give the British government a single penny in the second half of the year,” Salomon waved his hand. “They might even give me some money.”

How do you plan to operate this?

Salomon picked up the sugar packet from the wooden table, opened it, and poured it into a teacup: "The British need a lot of sugar. But as you know, sugar can only be bought with francs now, so the British government can only exchange gold for francs at French banks and then trade it on the futures market."

"But the British government did not want to give up so much gold."

"So I lent them the sugar at a discount to pounds sterling. That was about 8% higher than the market price. You see, we made a profit before the interest was even due."

Amsher narrowed his eyes: "You used your family's French government bonds?"

"Yes, I used them as collateral to buy futures contracts with longer delivery periods, such as those with delivery periods of more than six months."

"Then these contracts were handed over to the British. To them, it was like buying sugar."

"And during these six months, we will continue to collect interest on French government bonds. At the same time, the British will also have to pay interest."

"If the British want more sugar, they have to pay me in cash."

French government bonds are denominated in francs, so it is easy to exchange them for sugar.

Amschel nodded thoughtfully. For the British government, this was equivalent to exchanging pounds for sugar, so a slight premium was acceptable.

Salomon continued, "The portion paid in sugar will be approximately £1.8 million over three years. This means we only need to provide the British with an additional £2 million loan each year."

“After deducting interest and sugar price difference income, the actual annual payment is approximately £170 million.”

"Yes, I know, even so, the family's money is still not enough. I have reached an agreement with the Wallenberg and Hopden families, and they will provide us with financing at an 8% interest rate if necessary."

"Oh, by the way, the interest rate on our loan to the British government is 16.5%."

Amsher's face darkened again: "Have you ever thought about why others don't go and earn this high interest?"
"Because the risk is too high!"
"I heard the news in Frankfurt: 12 dead, over 70 injured, and hundreds arrested in Manchester. If it weren't for the swift action of their 9th Cavalry Regiment, Manchester City Hall might have already been occupied by rioters. This is already the third large-scale riot in Britain this year!"

He was referring to the riots that occurred in Manchester two weeks ago, protesting another increase in income tax—now, income tax in the UK is 35% higher than last year—the rioters somehow managed to get hundreds of flintlock rifles from the militia's warehouse, which at one point deterred the militia sent to quell the unrest from getting close.

However, these men did not have enough ammunition, and after a burst of indiscriminate firing, they fell silent and were quickly dispersed by the cavalry regiment.

“There are already people in the British Parliament preparing to impeach their Prime Minister,” Amsher said, waving his hand. “No, that’s not the worst of it. You should know that Britain is very likely to go to war with France again.”

"Judging from the current situation, they failed to hold Lisbon, completely withdrew from the Caribbean, and even failed to eliminate the natives of the Cape of Good Hope."

(End of this chapter)