As soon as Charles said this, the whole room suddenly fell silent again.

There is no doubt that if such a major war breaks out, it will be impossible to bear the ordinary financial expenditures of the government, and it will have to raise funds through the financial circles, and it will have to borrow money on a large scale from domestic and foreign markets, which may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Although it is not entirely certain at the moment, I think that most of the conditions have been gathered, and gentlemen, a great war in Europe is imminent, and it is an expedition, an expedition of rare proportions, and the Imperial Government must be adequately prepared, both militarily and financially." Before they could recover their strength, Charles continued, "In any war, the better prepared and better prepared side has the advantage, and now is no exception. We need to be prepared in advance, and you are no exception. ”

"Sir...... May I take it as the implication that if someone does not finance your idea today, then it will not be able to fund the country in the future? After a long silence, it was again Josdam Cappafler who asked, perhaps because of some excitement, his already ruddy face suddenly became even redder, and his gray goatee trembled slightly, "You see this fundraising as a precondition?" ”

"We welcome everyone who contributes to the country." Charles was noncommittal to his question, "Whoever is more loyal to the country will surely be more favored by His Majesty." ”

"Your Majesty's Favor ......," Alphonse de Rothchild repeated, then looked at each other with a few people next to him.

These people are all important people or representatives of the financial world, and they are no longer the kind of people who need honor and title to embellish themselves, so they are naturally not very enthusiastic about 'Your Majesty's favor'. But the Chancellor had hinted almost explicitly, or might say, threaten them, and they would have understood the weight of Charles's words.

"How much more do you expect to invest in the new construction plan?" After staring at each other for a moment. Jostang Cappafil asked again.

"I've already prepared a specific plan, you can take a look." Charles beckoned, and Gaston stepped forward and handed the papers in his hand to everyone present. "There's a detailed plan that tells us which lines are essential to us and that we should speed up. Which lines require additional investment......"

"Your Excellency, I'm not a professional, so I don't understand you even if you tell me that." Alphonse smiled politely, "So, your Excellency, why don't you just ask us something we can understand - how much do you expect to add?" ”

"You're really ...... directly," Charles smiled slightly, "According to the calculations of our specialized department, the total amount of additional funds required in two years is about 186 million, and if everything goes well, there may be a slight savings." ”

"180 million!" Although his tone was very flat. But it was like a shock bomb that made everyone here look at each other again, and even Jostang Cappafil, the director of the Banque de France, could not sit still.

At present, the state expenditure is only about 1.5 billion francs a year, and about 3 billion in two years, and an additional 180 million yuan is equivalent to a sudden 6 percent of the state budget into this construction plan.

"All or nothing." Lola, who had been silent, suddenly commented coldly.

"It's insane. No, it's utter madness! "Jostang Cappafiler put it more bluntly." Where do we go to raise and invest so much money at once? Sir, I understand your love for the country's railways, but you cannot do so without the balance of the budget. ”

"Your Majesty has agreed to this action, so it must not be crazy, sir." Charles replied unhurriedly.

Jostang Cappafil was speechless for a moment, after all, he did not dare to accuse His Majesty the Emperor in front of everyone. So I had to stop talking, but the dissatisfaction was still overflowing.

It is clear that they are both reluctant to achieve Charles's hopes. They were willing to pay some money to the government in order to participate in the follow-up war debt program, but now it seems that the price of this admission ticket is too high.

Charles's opinion was indeed approved by His Majesty Napoleon III, Emperor Emperor. In fact, he accelerated the construction of railways. In line with Louis Bonaparte's philosophy of "expanding government spending, expanding employment, and boosting the economy", it soon became the established policy of the empire before the war.

There is no doubt that this will increase the government's debt and further increase the burden on the already heavily indebted imperial government, but they don't think about it so much now - as long as the war is won, the government with great confidence in the financial circles and the people will have the means to continue to govern according to the established policy, and there will always be a day when the finances will make up for the shortfall, and if the war does not go well or even fails, then the regime is doomed to collapse anyway, everyone is doomed, and there is no need to deal with the flood.

"Looks like you all have opinions......" Charles sighed, "I know that such a large amount of money is not easy to raise, even for you. However, I think that all of you have an extremely important position in the financial world, and if you put in a certain amount of effort, you may not be impossible......"

"I'm afraid not, Your Excellency." Although still very polite, Alphonse de Rothhilde politely declined the request, "I think you know that our family has many investment projects, and we do not have sufficient liquidity, so I am afraid it will be difficult to meet your needs. ”

"No, it's not Rothschild's style, is it?" Charles asked with a smile. "Who doesn't know that your family is sitting on a mountain of gold?"

"We don't have a mountain of gold, the mountain of gold belongs to someone else, we just keep it on our behalf, not only to pay interest, but also to keep and even multiply their wealth." Alphonse replied with a smile, tactfully fitting refusal into etiquette, just like his famous father, "So, Your Excellency, we are responsible. As much as we love this country, we can't love it at the expense of our clients. ”

"The interests of France are the interests of those of your customers." Charles said this, then shrugged, "Well, I know this kind of pretty words won't impress you. Believe me, though. Everything we do is for the benefit of France...... Rather than harming everyone. ”

Before people could taste the true meaning of this sentence, Charles continued, "Actually, Your Majesty has also taken into account the difficulties that the sudden increase in funds will bring to the country and the financial community, so he wants to solve this problem in a way that everyone is happy with, he is a friend of the financial community, and he is by no means an enemy. ”

"How?" Alphonse could now see that something was wrong. Hurriedly asked.

"Under my initiative and practice, the Empire's railroad industry will be managed by the Imperial Government in a unified and direct manner in a standardized and standardized manner, which requires the full cooperation of private enterprises...... "Therefore, I think it is necessary to establish a private enterprise organization, which will integrate all relevant enterprises, standardize technology and standards, and regulate human and financial resources with each other." Well...... I've got a name in mind. Federation of Imperial Railways. ”

"The Federation?" Jostang Cappafil was now in the mood again, "What kind of institution is it?" It has only an advisory role. Or is it decisive? ”

"Decisive." Charles immediately replied, "In fact it will be a semi-official body, and the government can guarantee its authority, and it can also assist the government in integrating all the relevant private enterprises." In addition, as far as I seem, for the development of the Imperial Railroad business. Any enterprise that does not meet the standards must eventually be eliminated or the way it does business must be changed. ”

This was one of Charles's real aims, to launch a construction plan that was in line with Louis Bonaparte's wishes, but he was bound to face the dilemma of not having enough money, so he wanted to curry favor with the financial world. It is logical to set up a federation.

His words caused another commotion.

The people exchanged glances again, and although His Excellency was secretive, it was clear that the Imperial Government would assist the private sector in achieving a monopoly on the railroad industry, and at the same time ...... It seems to be linked to this additional investment?

"So who can enter this federation?" Alphonse was really young, and his mind was the fastest, and he was the first to ask, "Do you mean that whoever will fund your plan this time will be able to participate in the federation?" ”

"It's not impossible if you have to understand it that way." Charles replied with a smile.

"Can you be sure that everything you say is true and has official guarantees?" Another person asked, "Your Excellency, can I ask for a written guarantee?" ”

"If you ask for a written guarantee, I can't give it, and I can even say that not giving a written guarantee is the purpose of our secret summoning you." "However, I can assure you now that what I am saying is the official attitude, and as long as I am not down, as long as I am still in office, everything I have said can be counted - and Your Majesty is on my side." ”

Then, as if thinking of something, "By the way, in order to increase the enthusiasm of the business community for investment in railways and to accelerate the promotion of the railway business, I have obtained His Majesty's consent, and from now on, tax exemptions will be granted for transactions related to the railway business and bond transactions, and it will only need to be reported by the federation and submitted to the headquarters for approval." ”

These business people have thoroughly understood what a surprise the minister has brought to them today.

"Railroad business-related transactions and bond transactions" is a very broad word, as long as there is this tax reduction and exemption, they can find a way to link a lot of unrelated transactions to it, and at the same time strive for relief, anyway, the federation is their own business, and it is easy to approve it themselves, and His Excellency the Minister himself ...... It's also very talkative.

Now that we've got that to the point, it's pretty obvious.

"Your Excellency, what you said is very important, I need to go back and think about it." Josdowne Capafil pondered for a moment, then suddenly said.

"Your Excellency, I think we can be part of your plan." Alphonse de Rotheschild, on the other hand, is much more direct. "I hope you can give us the honor of serving our country."

He made a request with a fervent face, as if he had just refused.

This ability to change positions at any time according to needs is a must for almost every financier, and it seems that he has learned well, and it is indeed a family history.

"I understand you very well, sir." Charles smiled at him sincerely.

"I have always believed that you are the most outstanding young talent in our country, Your Excellency." Alphonse stood up and saluted him, "It's a real honor to receive your teachings. (To be continued.) )