Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 580 The Harvested Leon

"The Kingdom of France missed a great opportunity!"

This sentence quickly spread in the streets and alleys of Paris in the middle and late April. Every Parisian who spread this message always expressed it in a sarcastic tone as much as possible. Mr. Mo San, the diplomatic envoy of the Republic, gave a merciless mockery.

Isn't it?How absurd that a wild and remote New World country founded by the Tartars should want to enter into an alliance with the Kingdom of France!How many people do they have?Thirty thousand or fifty thousand?How many cities are there?One or two?How many ships are there?Five or ten?How many troops are there?One thousand or two thousand?It is the most shameless lie that they should boast that they have repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Spanish navy and army, and that they have captured several cities.

Although some well-informed businessmen pointed out that the fleet of the people on the east coast seems to have severely damaged part of the Spanish Mediterranean fleet in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the sales of cotton cloth on the east coast are very hot in many southern provinces-this is still in the Kingdom of France. The result of raising the import tariffs on textiles from the east coast twice, one can imagine how flooded textiles from the east coast were in the south before that.Therefore, such a country should not be so underestimated.But their remarks were quickly submerged in more gossip, and most people were unwilling to believe these things beyond their imagination. The inexplicable sense of superiority prompted them to embarrass the East Coast special envoy outside the Louvre. And the way he walked was used as a joke after dinner.

It is said that after Mo San separated from the noble boy named Talon that day, he began to look for a way around Paris.He first visited the in-laws of the Baron of Toulouse—a minor nobleman in Paris, but his status was not high, his social circle was limited, and his attitude was not very enthusiastic, so Mo San quickly stopped making breakthroughs from him. thoughts.

After bumping into Paris like a headless chicken for several days, Mo San, who was almost caught as a spy because of wandering around, decided to go to the Louvre to try his luck, maybe that way he could meet His Majesty Mazarin Maybe.It's just that the reality quickly gave him a cruel response. The diplomatic letters he submitted through the guards did not know whether it was due to the slackness of the handlers or some other reason, but there was no news at all like mud cows falling into the sea.Unwilling to fail, he wandered outside the Louvre for a few more days, accosting every nobleman or official who entered and left the palace, but his poor French pronunciation made him suffer endless ridicule. In patience, he even wanted to attack him.

Dejected, Mo San knew that he would not make any progress in Paris.Maybe if you continue to wander outside the Louvre, you will be able to meet Queen Mother Anne or Cardinal Mazarin one day, but so what, Prince Condé and Prince Gaston also control the power of this country. Where do their temple gates go? I don't know yet.Besides, continuing to stay outside the Louvre will only damage the country's image. Although Mo San doesn't care much about personal honor or disgrace, he still pays great attention to maintaining the country's image.The Frenchman is so arrogant, so there is no need for us to put our hot faces on our cold asses, we people from the east coast can't afford to lose that guy!

Determined to pay attention, Mo San left Paris, a city that made him feel very uncomfortable, and arrived in Lyon on May 5.After arriving in Lyon, he found Mario Doria, who was still staying here, and said directly to him: "Mario, do you want to go to the east coast? I can write you a letter of introduction. I can introduce you to us The Minister of Trade of the country can introduce some officials of the Ministry of Finance to you, and you will definitely not let you go away empty-handed."

Mario, who was flirting with the maid, immediately looked at Mo San with a smile that was not a smile, and smiled lightly after a long time: "I knew you would be frightened by those Parisians, they usually don't let go of people from other provinces In my eyes, let alone you? Also, in Paris at this moment, no matter whether it is the royal faction headed by Mazarin or the parliamentary faction headed by great nobles and businessmen, I am afraid that there is no time to greet you. It's such a joy to pinch, I can't even take care of things on the battlefield, let alone you."

"So you foresaw the result before I set off?" Mo San sat down a little dejectedly, then grabbed a glass of red wine on the table and drank it down in one gulp.

Mario's face twitched when he saw Mo San drinking his fine wine like this: "I guess you won't have much gain in Paris, so I'll wait for you here after finishing my family affairs, let's see if you will." Come to me. Sure enough, God has sent you here again. So, do you need me to give you a good news to comfort you?"

"Let's talk." Mo San poured some more red wine into his glass, and continued to drink it down.

Mario's face twitched again, and then I saw him say: "My family has coordinated, and the current Genoa government has in principle allowed your country to issue no more than 1000 million bank lire (about 164 million yuan) in the financial market. Bonds. The term of the bond is five or ten years, and it will be paid in one lump sum at maturity, with an annual interest rate of 7.5%. Of course, whether to issue bonds or not, how many bonds to issue depends on the needs of your government, and we will not interfere in any way.”

"The interest rate of 7.5% is okay. It is lower than the interest rate you lend to Spain. But how did I hear that the interest rate on the lifetime annuity bond of St. George's, the most prosperous commercial bank in your country, has dropped to 2%? Your country is seriously overcapitalized." , Now we are looking for cooperation opportunities all over the world, our East Coast Republic will definitely win this war, and you don’t have to worry about the bonds on hand turning into waste paper, so why set such a high interest rate?” Mo San shook his head, and said with some dissatisfaction: "The total interest of the 750-year bond has reached [-] million bank lire, which is too dark, and I cannot accept it."

"God, you must know that our family has provided guarantees for you to issue bonds. The 7.5% interest rate is already the most favorable terms we can get, and you are still not satisfied." Mario patted the plump buttocks of the maid beside him. He made a note, signaled her to leave, and then said to Mo San in an exaggerated tone: "You must know that we have provided such a huge guarantee for you before we even went to the east bank for any inspection. It is a big risk. risk. We even negotiated extremely low bond sales fees for you, and promised to subscribe for 30% of the war bonds issued by your country, so the interest rate of 7.5% is quite appropriate.”

"Don't tell me that your family didn't put forward any additional conditions, then I will be very surprised, because it does not conform to the character of the Genoese I know." Mo San ignored Mario's eyes and continued to pour wine into the glass .

"Of course, we have prepared a package of cooperation plans." Mario restrained his exaggerated smile, and then said in a slightly formal tone: "The prerequisite for the public issuance of bonds is that your country accepts some cooperation plans of our family, such as cooperation factories, monopolies on certain commodities, and above all financial reforms.”

"The first two are easy to understand. What about the financial reform?" Mo San picked up his glass and was about to drink it down. Hearing this, he asked Mario vigilantly.

"The so-called financial reform means that the government of your country authorizes us Genoese to go to your country to open a bank, um, or form a joint venture with a businessman from your country to open a bank. As everyone knows, your country lacks professionals in the financial industry. We in Genoa The Republic can provide you with professional advisors, train you bank staff, and even provide you with the provision and license to open a commercial clearing bank. You know, in Europe, international bulk trade is generally settled in commercial paper. I see At present, your business stations are still using the original cash settlement, which is too backward. In Italy, the Netherlands, and North Germany, no wholesaler will carry a large amount of silver coins with them. They generally use all kinds of silver coins issued by reputable banks. Bills are traded, but if banks in your country want to join this system, the first thing they need is to be recognized and recommended by others..."

"So you plan to take this opportunity to control our country's financial sovereignty? No, I will not agree to this!" Mo San drank the wine in his glass again, and then said: "It is in our country to allow foreign capital to open factories. It would be controversial, let alone open a bank. IMHO, not likely, unless it is of great benefit to our country."

"Don't be so anxious to deny it, my dear Mo." Mario snatched the wine bottle over with a twitching face, poured himself a small glass, and then said with peace of mind: "The energy of the Genoa banking world is as strong as yours." Unexpectedly, we have a large number of branches in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea. We have even established many trading stations or bank branches in New Spain and Peru. We have accumulated a large number of branches over hundreds of years. If we want, we can of course turn these connections into commercial interests. In other words, as long as you get our help, your country’s commodity exports will definitely increase greatly. Trust me, Mo, In your terms, it's a win-win."

After seeing that Mo San was still silent, Mario chuckled again and said, "Well, I know you can't decide this matter. Next, I will bring a mission to visit your country. I hope to reach a cooperation agreement with your government at that time. Don’t worry about it. At least you have obtained a promise from us that you can open financing, and it’s not nothing, right? We charge 10% interest on loans to the King of France Please be content, Mr. Mo. Of course, before you go, you have to give me a letter of introduction, and it is best to send one or two capable assistants to go with us, it will be very helpful to us."

(End of this chapter)