Franz had a sense of national responsibility, and in order to raise funds for the war on behalf of the Kingdom of Prussia, he, the emperor, took the lead in donating 1 million guilders, which was deposited in the Royal Bank of Austria.

(1 guilder ≈11.69 g silver)

Soon the aristocrats, merchants, and students in Austria ...... They all rushed to make donations, but none of these funds were given directly to the Prussian government, but were deposited in the Royal Bank of Austria.

That's right, the Royal Austrian bank was just hatched by Franz, and its main business is to collect donations from the people and oversee the use of the money in the defense of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein.

Now the Prussian army is crisscrossing Jutland, which has already exceeded this line and does not meet the conditions for the use of this contribution.

What the Prussians think Franz doesn't care, anyway, he is very happy now, the Royal Bank, with a registered capital of only 1 million guilders, has absorbed nearly 30 million guilders in deposits in just one month, not a donation.

It's just that the bank issues a receipt to the donor, and all donations are used proportionally, and if they are not used up, they will be refunded.

In order to show his patriotic integrity, the Royal Bank does not even charge the most basic fees, and is completely free of charge.

Since it is a donation, the interest naturally does not exist. Before this huge amount of money was activated, Franz had another amount of liquidity in his hands.

If you keep a lot of cash in your hand, you are committing a crime, so Franz gave himself a loan, which he used to invest in the construction of a comprehensive food enterprise and, incidentally, a large number of good quality mines.

In these years, gold and silver can be used as currency directly, and gold and silver mines are naturally very valuable, even if Franz is the emperor, it is not so easy to get.

In contrast, iron, coal, lead, zinc, manganese, rare earth and other minerals are much cheaper, the industrial revolution is still in progress, even the most basic coal and iron consumption is very limited, many rare minerals, the current industry can not use it at all.

Franz was also too lazy to grab food, taking advantage of the fact that these resources are not worth much now, and pocketed valuable minerals in the future in advance.

It's a pity that the Austrian Empire doesn't have a huge mine, otherwise this wave will be able to eat for a lifetime.

In short, now that you have money in your hands, you have to buy and buy everywhere, and others who invest in mining must first consider the problem of transportation.

Franz doesn't think about it so much, as long as the quality of the minerals is good enough and the reserves are rich enough, do you have to worry about the problem of transportation?

If others don't know, can he not know about it? It won't be long before the Austrian government invests heavily in the country's infrastructure.

Now it seems that there is no development value of the mine, when the road is built, the value will be doubled, coupled with the advancement of industrialization, the demand for mineral resources has increased, and it is difficult not to make a fortune.

In just over a month, more than 5.8 million guilders were spent, and the frightened Franz hurriedly stopped. Even if it's embezzlement, there has to be a limit?

If you spend all this huge amount of money and are discovered, how will it end later?

The Habsburgs did not have so much cash in their assets, and it was difficult for Franz to borrow so much cash in a short period of time, even if Franz was the emperor.

If only part of it is embezzled, Franz still has a way to settle the accounts, after all, he opened a bank. If it weren't for the current shortage of manpower, the Royal Bank would have already begun to attack the city and seize the land.

With a huge sum of 30 million dollars, it is a giant in this era, and it is definitely the largest bank in Austria in terms of cash flow, and it is also one of the top banks in the world.

At present, Royal Bank of Austria has opened more than 30 stores, which can only be regarded as a small and medium-sized bank in terms of scale, and its business outlets are all concentrated in several large cities in Austria.

Johann Stwa, who was originally an executive at Austria's First Savings Bank, was poached by Raul and took up the role of the first industry of the Royal Bank.

It was only at this time that Franz discovered that the Habsburgs had shares in many banks, and he didn't bother to bother with how they came to be.

Anyway, any bank has supporters behind it, otherwise it would not be so easy to survive in this era, or even earlier.

"Your Majesty, the Royal Bank is ready to take in the reserves." John Stewa said with some nervousness

"You are the professional when it comes to banking, and you are the management to decide on this issue. For a short period of time, Royal Bank does not lend to the outside world. Franz said with a blank face

I embezzled such a huge amount of money, but I have to pay it back. God knows how long the Prussians will be able to hold out, and once the Prussian government makes a compromise, the money will be returned.

"Yes, Your Majesty." John Stewa replied

"Do you estimate how much of these donations will be converted into our depositors? How much money will be saved? Franz asked with concern

"Your Majesty, our bank interest rates are set on average terms, but the Royal Bank is far more creditworthy than any of its competitors.

About 20% of donors will become our users, as government donations account for one-third of these donations, and the final funds left behind may be around Rp 3 million. John Sturva thought for a moment and said

Don't think that three million guilders is less, people in this era did not have the habit of depositing money in the bank, and most nobles were used to piling gold coins in the basement.

There is also a threshold for opening a bank account, for example, the threshold set by the Royal Bank is one hundred and fifty guilders. Below that number, sorry, this is not for you.

The total savings of the entire Austrian Empire in 1848 were less than 100 million guilders, and the ability to leave 3 million guilders accounted for more than 3 percent of Austria's total savings.

Franz also thought about reducing this account opening restriction, but considering that it required a large number of counter personnel, as well as increasing management difficulties and operating costs, he decisively gave up.

Banks are also forced, in this era in and out of the bank are the middle and upper strata of society, once the restrictions are opened, a large number of people at the bottom of the influx, if these high-quality customers run away, it will be too late to cry.

The Austrian people are so poor that if they can save a dozen guilders a year, then they can be considered a good income. Against this backdrop, the likelihood of losing money is too high.

"Got it, you will start the storage business as soon as you go back. All salesmen must be strictly trained, require everyone, and must be polite to receive every customer. Franz instructed

"Yes, Your Majesty." John Stewa replied

During this period, the attitude of the bank's service staff was actually not bad, because of the limit on the amount of account opening, those who could handle deposit business in the bank were basically middle-class or higher-level existences.

At the social level, bank staff do not have a sense of superiority, and naturally there is no so-called discrimination.

In addition, it is a private bank, everyone has to fight for performance, promotion with good performance, and get out of with poor performance, if you want to lie down and dream!

Franz is concerned about chaos, and now he still has a hole to fill?

The Habsburgs did not have the arrogance to come up with millions of guilders in cash at any time, and the Royal Bank was still his personal property, and Franz did not want others to join in.

Now the Royal Bank does not lend to the outside world, not because he does not want to do this business, but because he does not dare to do it, and in case the Prussians are cowardly tomorrow, he will immediately usher in a peak of withdrawals.

The Royal Bank has promised to earmark these donations, and if the money cannot be withdrawn and someone finds out to misappropriate the donation, the damage to this credibility will be great.

Secrecy is impossible to keep secret, and now no one pierces the window paper, that is Franz is the emperor, and no one dares to be this bird.

Also, they don't know how much money Franz embezzled, and if the number is small, it is not difficult to fill the hole. When the time comes, the crime of spreading rumors and ruining the emperor's reputation will also be dead.