In Paris, in a luxurious club that wasn't open to the public, several oligarchs of the French financial world gathered together.
A kind-looking old man asked with a smile, "I heard that Nino ran into some trouble. How is he now? Did he complete his mission?"
If one wasn't familiar with him, no one would know that this kind-looking old man was the biggest vampire in the French financial world.
The most frightening thing was that no matter what the situation was, he always had a smile on his face, including when he killed people.
"Enough, Duque, put away your face. We're all old friends, we all know each other! Acting every day, don't you find it tiring? We're all tired of it. "
The one who spoke was Dumas. Because of their interests, the two often clashed.
Although they had conflicts, it didn't affect them working together to make money. For the Panama Canal project, everyone was sitting together again.
In order to prevent the conflict from escalating, the host of the gathering, Baiers, went straight to the point. "Business is more important, let's talk about the canal project first!
Everyone knows that the Suez Canal project, which was originally thought to be a loss, recovered all the investment in less than seven years after it was opened.
Now, it can provide investors with generous returns every year, and the profits will continue to grow with the development of overseas trade. If there are no accidents, the profits will continue for hundreds of years.
Of course, this is an exception. The Mediterranean Sea is a special terrain that can't be found everywhere, and it's almost impossible to replicate the success of the Suez Canal.
The Panama Canal should be the closest to the Suez Canal. Once it is opened, the distance between the east and west coasts of the Americas will be shortened, and the profits can be imagined. "
Duque shook his head. "It's not that simple. The Panama Canal is different from the Suez Canal, and we won't get political support.
The Austrians don't want to see the canal open to traffic, and the British don't want it open to traffic either. Even the Government of Paris might not support the Panama Canal.
You should be clear about the reason behind this. The Mediterranean countries benefit the most from the opening of the Suez Canal, and the Fao and Germany both benefit. For strategic needs, the two countries pushed the project against the British pressure.
What about the Panama Canal? The biggest beneficiary is the United States of America, followed by the Republic of Colombia, and other American countries more or less benefit.
But we and the British and Austrians get too little benefit. Other than the canal itself, France has almost no benefit.
The Austrian Central American region was not large, and the railway was enough to meet the transportation needs. If there was no need for this, they would have dug it themselves. The Nicaraguan region could also dig a canal.
Needless to say, British Canada was typically sparsely populated and did not have that many goods to transport.
In the politicians' view, it's better not to start a project that benefits others.
As for the revenue from the Panama Canal, I'm sorry, but I don't think the Panama Canal can match the Suez Canal.
Judging from the economy of America, it is probable that the number of ships passing through the Suez Canal each year does not exceed that of our family.
If the economies of the American countries develop in the future, they might be able to make a profit. However, based on the current situation, the loss of this project is almost 100%. "
This was a fact. There were indeed hidden interests behind the Panama Canal, but the hidden interests were not something that the government could obtain.
Compared to the high investment, the opening of the Panama Canal in this era was indeed a huge loss. Otherwise, the original timeline would have been delayed before the First World War.
Baiers smiled. "What does it have to do with us if the Panama Canal is profitable or not?
As long as the outside world thinks that this project has potential, like the Suez Canal, it's enough to make a lot of money.
As long as the outside world thinks that this project has a lot of potential, just like the Suez Canal, it will be enough to make a lot of money.
It's enough to make the outside world think that this project has potential, just like the Suez Canal. If we add in the surrounding profits, the number will be even higher.
We just need to take a bite out of it. Whether the canal project succeeds or fails, that's up to God. "
Everyone calculated how much profit they could make. This was undoubtedly a scam, but it was also the most basic operation of capital. If they didn't create a beautiful dream, how would investors be willing to fall for it?
For financial capital, they never cared about the success or failure of the project. As long as the project could go public, they could get rich returns. Long-term operation was never a problem they needed to consider.
Old Duke nodded. "You're right. We're not God, how do we know if the Panama Canal project will succeed?
I think it's better to get the rights to develop the canal as soon as possible and go public.
If possible, it's best if we can pull in Ingau Capital. Only by making the cake bigger will we be able to get the most delicious portion.
Especially in Austria, someone has to persuade the Government of Vienna to at least delay their intervention. "
Baiers: "This is also the reason why I invited everyone here. There are too many relationships that need to be coordinated for such a big project. We need everyone's sincere cooperation to complete it."
Obviously, this wasn't as simple as it seemed. A Panama Canal project wasn't worth the cooperation of so many big shots in the French financial world.
As long as they boasted, it wouldn't be a canal project anymore. It would also involve maritime transportation, manufacturing, banking …
Maybe when this project starts operating, it will be a new round of bull market; when the project is finished, it will be the time for the stock market to crash.
…
There were still a lot of smart people. Morgan, who was far away in New York, used his sharp nose in the financial market and quickly realized that something was wrong.
The Panama Canal project didn't need the United States to participate at all. Even if they did participate, they couldn't do anything other than provide money.
The United States was full of internal conflicts, and the federal government was weak. They didn't have the ability to mobilize the country's true strength. Also, the United States was watching from the side, so they didn't dare to act rashly.
If they were to go against Austria, the Federal Government would be powerless to do anything other than protest. Without the government's intervention, what could the consortia do? Organize mercenaries to defend Panama?
It wasn't that Morgan underestimated himself. Consortia were indeed powerful, but it depended on what they were doing. If they organized mercenaries to fight against a superpower, they would probably die miserably.
Not just the United States, but even Spain wasn't much better. It seemed that Spain had a lot of power in the Caribbean, but in fact, the United States had been eyeing the colonies in this area for a long time.
They didn't take any action because they were afraid of the strength of the United States, Fao, and the European countries. On the other hand, if they rashly sent troops, it would be easy for the enemy to take advantage of them.
No matter how rich the Panama Canal was, Spain couldn't offend Austria right now and cause big trouble for themselves.
Not to mention, the Philippines was right under Austria's nose. Spain was able to protect this land because of the good diplomatic relationship between the two sides, not the so-called military strength.
Since the two friends weren't good, and the French still wanted to pull them in, the problem was very obvious.
Morgan speculated the truth, but it increased his determination to cooperate with France. It would be a waste not to earn money. As for who tricked who in the end, it would depend on each person's means.
The Morgan Consortium was able to develop to this point by tricking the British. If they could trick the British, there was no pressure to trick the French.
…
Vienna Palace. Franz hesitated as he looked at the information in his hand. He didn't know if he should cooperate with these consortia.
Purely from the perspective of interests, he didn't seem to have any reason to refuse. The benefits promised by the French were very generous.
But if he did, it would cross his bottom line. Although the Royal Power Consortium was also engaged in financial business, they had never played a scam.
After hesitating, Franz made a decision, "Tell the people below that we can cooperate with the French, but the Panama Canal can't be listed in Austria. Let them decide what step to take."
There was no reason not to take the money that was delivered to his door. As long as the Panama Canal wasn't listed in Austria, even if there was an impact, the consequences wouldn't be too serious.
If investors went to Paris to buy stocks, they deserved to be sheared.
The Austrian Securities and Exchange Commission was very strict. This kind of company without a single hair could not pass the listing review unless it was endorsed by the government.
Franz didn't think that the Government of Vienna would endorse the Panama Canal. The senior government officials were very clear that unless Austria changed its national policy, the project would never succeed.
The French tried to pull the Austrian consortium in, but the most important thing was to prevent Vienna from sabotaging the project. They never thought of listing in Austria.
The reason was very simple. According to the latest securities law of the Government of Vienna, companies listed in Austria had strict performance requirements. Unless it was a project approved by the government, other companies must have a profit of more than 100,000 ND for three consecutive years.
No matter how the Panama Canal project played, it was impossible for the capitalists to come up with financial statements that showed profits for three consecutive years before the canal was open to navigation.
Of course, the benefits weren't that easy to get. There must be additional conditions. It was impossible to get money for free. As for what needed to be done, further negotiations were needed. This wasn't Franz's concern.
The cost was proportional to the benefit. This plan was planned by the French, so they would naturally take the lion's share. The other participants would be divided according to their contributions.
This was only the preliminary distribution intention. How much profit they could get in the end depended on their own means. Capital was stained with blood. Competition was everywhere.
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