Chapter 454: Exchange Rate Plunder
It turns out that the beautiful feather is a treasure that all women can't resist. Fang Yan has been waiting for more than three hours, and his wife and daughter are still active in the shopping area. Sylvia didn't care, what Fang Yan didn't expect was that little Alice had become as beautiful as a girl early: she didn't refuse all kinds of clothes, and then asked Fang Yan with anticipation if it was suitable and eye-catching.
Facing his daughter who inherited his and Sylvia's genes, Fang Yan couldn't say a word either emotionally or rationally. And this also made little Alice more and more active and excited, and her full energy was not at all like climbing the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon.
"Sivi, you haven't taught me to practice pronunciation today. Also, we can't let our daughter rest too late. Seeing that the time was approaching midnight, Fang Yan finally couldn't help but ask his wife to end the shopping. Sylvia looked at the wall clock next to her, and her delicate face also showed surprise, and she immediately nodded in agreement. A few minutes later, Fang Yan was stunned by the bags piled high on the sofa next to the counter: roughly counting, there were about thirty!
"The honorable sir, lady and cherub chose 28 sets of trousers, plus a deposit for 9 special dresses, for a total of 2,700,000 francs...... Well, 235,000 marks. The elderly shopkeeper spoke respectfully in English, but there was excitement in his eyes. He had already learned that the family in front of him was from Germany, and that they were much more generous than the German guests who had come before, even compared to the top tycoons from New York before the war. Above all, the lady was a mortal elf, and any garment worn on her was infinitely attractive; This allowed him to sell more than a dozen sets of superb clothing with different styles in a row.
Fang Yan felt dizzy in his mind, and he was almost blown away by the impact of the price quoted by the other party. He couldn't figure out what Sylvia had bought, given that the average German worker earns just over 1,000 marks a year, which is enough for a family of five. Fang Yan turned his head in disbelief, only to see Sylvia grinning sweetly at him, and then shook it like a girl holding her right arm. Seeing this scene, Fang Yan no longer doubted, she must have a good idea of the items she had chosen, and her years of experience in the luxury fashion industry made it almost difficult for her to be deceived by profiteers.
"Sivi, you already have over 300 outfits in your closet, right? Coupled with these today, you can wear them every day for a year. How can you be a mother like this and set an example for little Alice? Fang Yan covered his face with his left hand, and said bitterly after a while. Sylvia's wonderful eyes flashed with brilliance, as if there was tenderness and gentleness quietly revealed, she just pursed her lips and shook her husband's arm silently begging, this was her ultimate strategy to deal with Fang Yan.
Seeing his wife begging like a liar, Fang Yan, who loved her in her heart, had no other way, and after a sigh, she could only choose to give in. When he was about to make the payment, Fang Yan suddenly remembered something, and his gaze at the elderly shopkeeper became smiling: "As far as I know, the Bank of France just announced the new franc-mark exchange rate three days ago, and the exchange ratio was adjusted from 11 to 1 to 20 to 1. That is, if the bill is settled in marks, then the total will be reduced by almost half. ”
Facing Fang Yan's implicit fierce eyes, fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on the elderly shopkeeper's forehead, and at the same time, a feeling of national humiliation arose in his heart, stabbing him with a sharp pain in his chest. At present, the exchange rate of the franc against the mark has indeed been re-established to 20 to 1, as Fang Yan said, but anyone with a little knowledge of economics will see that this is by no means the intention of France, but a move that was forced to be taken under the coercion of Germany.
After such a change in the exchange rate, it would be extremely advantageous for the German occupation forces to sweep goods in France, and one mark would be worth almost two dollars. France, on the other hand, did not take the opportunity to expand its regular trade exports to Germany. Because according to the Compiègne armistice, the materials needed by Germany were collected directly from France, and then the French authorities paid for the occupation money, and the whole process did not involve the conversion of currencies. In the long run, it will inevitably lead to a serious loss of French national wealth, which will become more and more impoverished and weakened, while the material of Germany, a blood-sucking worm, will become more and more abundant.
"That's a good thing for you, though, isn't it?" Fang Yan took out two beautifully printed checks from his inner pocket and handed them to him in the somewhat complicated eyes of the old shopkeeper, "You take them to the bank, and they can also be exchanged for francs at a ratio of 20 to 1, and the wealth you get has not diminished." And due to the depreciation of the franc, how many German customers have come to your store to shop in the past few days? This is just the beginning, and by the time this Christmas comes, you'll be overjoyed by the huge amount of money you've made. ”
The old shopkeeper struggled, as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw the orthodox cheques written by Deutsche Bank in his hand, the emotional national humiliation and hatred were gradually weighed down by this heavy weight to the deepest bottom of consciousness, and were no longer visible. In the present situation, there was no prospect for France to resist any longer: even Marshal Petain had surrendered, what could he do? Now, all the French can do is to continue to live, and if they have the opportunity to make a fortune in silence, they will not be able to fall!
After satisfying his wife and daughter, Fang Yan, who returned to the hotel, finally started his work: receiving Sylvia's singing and voice guidance. Before this, Fang Yan, who had been a soldier for more than ten years, never thought that he would one day enter the music industry and become a well-known singer; And as for the loss of integrity such as singing carols for Hitler, he despised it.
However, realpolitik is enough to smooth out all the edges and corners of human impulses. Fang Yan felt more and more that he was getting farther and farther away from his youth, although this face and body could still pretend to be a young man in his 20s, no matter how young he was, but his heart had become a politician and bureaucrat who only wanted profits.
Sylvia didn't react to Fang Yan's personality change. Her father and brother are both political figures in important positions, and they have long been familiar with the fighting methods in them, and she is even very happy to see the trend of Fang Yan getting involved in politics, so she points out Fang Yan's pronunciation with extra care. To her delight, her husband's voice is so good that with a short period of practice, he can reach the minimum standard, which is to make the average person without a professional music education sound good.
In the days that followed, Fang Yan's experience was basically similar to today's. During the day, she accompanied her daughter to visit the famous places in the neighborhood, and at night, she was pulled by Sylvia to go shopping, and then took free time to practice singing. Little Alice's active attitude towards all kinds of novelties made Fang Yan overjoyed, but Sylvia's vitality made Fang Yan's face twitch - she was extremely enthusiastic about all consumer goods that could be used for her appearance, and in addition to clothes, she also bought a lot of cosmetics, shoes, and jewelry.
In this regard, Fang Yan was helpless and confused: Sylvia didn't need these things to dress herself up at all, her bare makeup was already extremely amazing, what was the intention of buying so many accessories?
Under Sylvia's profligacy regardless of the price, Rao is Mark's purchasing power has been nearly doubled compared to before the war, but she still consumed more than 500,000 in 4 days. And in order to transport these valuable valuables home completely and safely, Fang Yan did not put a lot of effort into it. He first made a special trip to the headquarters of the garrison in Paris, cheekily asked for a landing permit for Sylvia's private jet, and then called his brother Freya, asking him to send reliable people to Paris in order to carry out the goods that had been purchased and later delivered. When Fang Yan couldn't help but ask why his wife was so crazy, Sylvia smiled and didn't answer, just cast a softer and softer eye wave at him.
"A woman's heart is really a needle under the sea, I can't even fathom Xiwei who has been cultivated for 17 years......" Fang Yan was frustrated in his heart and sighed secretly. After pondering the answer to no avail, Fang Yan could only attribute his wife's actions simply to the woman's attention to her appearance. To his slight gratification, Sylvia was not very enthusiastic about furniture and other daily necessities, and in the last two nights, she had stopped and began to teach Fang Yan to practice speaking throughout the whole process.
"My dear, you've mastered your basic skills. As long as you pay attention to the rhythm, there will be no obvious mistakes. After listening to Fang Yan's last set of tone training, Sylvia nodded with satisfaction. After a pause, she spoke again: "However, if you want to sing that Führer's ode, then you also need to put sincere emotions into the song, and the more sincere the worship, the more it will resonate with the audience." Otherwise, the song is a soulless body, no matter how beautiful it looks, it will only be a shriveled and tasteless moan. ”
"Incorporate genuine feelings?" Fang Yan frowned when he heard this. Sylvia Sakura pursed her lips slightly, and glanced at him: "Of course." You know better than anyone the political propaganda significance of the Führer's ode, and if your song has no connotation, how can it be accepted and recited by the people? In fact, since you don't have a professional singing background, you need to use mental depth to make up for the lack of technique. Don't tell me you can't do that, since you can compose such a brilliant and magnificent tune, can you be less loyal to the Führer's worship? ”
Fang Yan was speechless. He understood that Sylvia's words were true, but the song was copied by himself, and there was no believer worship of Hitler in his heart. As his thoughts turned, Fang Yan gradually came up with a hypnotic method that could bring him into the play. At present, the German Propaganda Department is producing a documentary about the victory on the Western Front, and Fang Yan plans to write a narration broadcast script on it, and through this process, his inner emotions will be condensed.