Francisco shook his head: "He is difficult to stop now, otherwise he would not have telegraphed to me and told me to pass it on to you, he thinks that only you can persuade the leader, and this news is very important to us, if it is not done well, it will hit the group itself." [Refresh after 30 minutes]

He then explained to Contini the economic reasons why he couldn't do this: now the United Group's external debt is nearly 1.1 billion US dollars, and if the local currency is forcibly appreciated, on the surface it seems that the United Group's debt can be reduced by 10% in lira, but the problem is that the lira is not an international currency, and two-thirds of the debt owed by the United Group is in US dollars, more than a quarter is in lira, and the remaining part is in pounds, in other words, about 75% is foreign debt, and must be repaid in US dollars, pounds sterling or real money. There is no way to repay debts in lira, so the overvaluation of the local currency will affect the remaining quarter. What's worse is that once the lira currency is overvalued, a large amount of arbitrage funds will inevitably pour into Italy to borrow the lira in exchange for foreign exchange, which will cause the Italian local currency to tighten and interest rates to rise, which is not conducive to the current rapid development.

Moreover, Francisco made it very clear that most of the $800 million foreign debt of the United Group has been turned into machinery and equipment technology or raw materials, and if the arbitrage funds are allowed to take away the domestic foreign exchange, there will not be enough foreign exchange to repay in the future, and then it will cause a credit collapse - if the credit of a giant like the United Group collapses, Italy will be no less than an earthquake. So Volpi sent a telegram asking Francisco to move Contini to dissuade Mussolini anyway.

"On the one hand, the appreciation of the lira stifles the international competitiveness of Italian goods, on the other hand, it suffocates the loose environment at home, and worsens the domestic foreign exchange environment. Francisco said, "You must tell the leader about this danger." ”

Contini suddenly laughed: "I found that you and the Count of Volpi are both of the same kind, and your expertise is impeccable, but politically ...... Anyway, it's a bit naïve. ”

Francisco put a big question mark on his mind: naïve? This word is almost the same to describe little Betty, who is more than 50 characters!

"If you persuade the leader like this, he will not listen, the leader often pays attention to politics and the country's image more than everything else, in a Chinese witty saying I recently learned, it is called like to slap a swollen face and become fat, you should persuade it like this." Contini thought for 2 minutes and dictated the message:

…… Distinguished Leader, I have heard that you are considering promoting the appreciation of the lira currency in order to increase the purchasing power of the working class and all sectors of society, and to further consolidate and enhance Italy's international image and status, and I greatly agree with and support this, and I also understand your love for the working class, and the more than 7 million working class and more than 30 million middle class in Italy will sincerely support your wise decision, and further sincerely agree with the "Three Banners Great Idea" and further convincingly recognize the "Four Greats", It is the only way for the Party to move from victory to victory, not only to lead the people of Italy to common prosperity.

However, at the moment we have a small problem, the second largest bank in Italy, Union Bank, has just been listed in the United States, with a market capitalization of nearly $900 million, and will soon become the largest bank, where 54% of the shares are held by foreign investors, who are buying shares out of admiration for the leader's ability to govern, out of recognition of the national image of the new Italy, and the main business of Union Bank is all in Italy, which will be made possible if the local currency is appreciated

On the more extreme side, the cost of oil guards, the cost of laying mines, including the use of tanks, is charged to Algerian Oil – which is understandable, but a bit overpriced.

In the final analysis, it can be summed up in two sentences: the United Group used the method of low entry and high output to withdraw funds from Algerian oil and enter other subsidiaries; The Algerian oil company's liquidity has been rapidly drained by adopting a part-of-the-group approach.

Finally, there is the subtle erosion: the crude oil production reported by Contini to France and the crude oil production registered in the company's accounts is only 86-88% of the actual production, and the extra eighth is directly the net profit of the United Group. So the British felt uncomfortable with this, and the French also felt uncomfortable and tried to get it by all means.

Of course, none of this creates any moral guilt in Contini's mind: I was supposed to take you to play, and if it weren't for me, who would have known there was a big oil field here? I haven't released the reserves yet! Moreover, since I have paid a huge political and military price at home to resist the pressure of the French on the oil fields, shouldn't this invisible guarantee and competition be allocated to me an extra piece?

The U.S. side has this consideration, but they have more ideas: they don't want to control the oil field like Britain or France, and Wall Street has no interest in the oil field itself, they look at the capitalization behind the oil field. In other words, as long as the oilfield shares can maintain their independence and IPO under the strong push of the president, and then achieve a strong rise, they don't mind the Italians sneaking some away with small actions.

Are Americans all fools?

Of course not, they see very clearly that whoever is in the hands of the oil fields can get a little more benefit like Italy, which is the natural impulse of the major shareholders who control the company - the British and the French will not necessarily be better than Contini in power, but then again, if Britain and France are in power, then American capital will have no right to speak at all, and the Italians control the oil fields, and in order to compete with Britain and France, they may have to rely on the power of Wall Street, not to mention that the president himself has a large number of loans on Wall Street!

Turning around to discuss the news with Francisco, he first nodded, and then shook his head: "President, what you see may not be everything, we have other hidden dangers." ”

"What do you mean?"

"I have just received a telegram from China that the leader is dissatisfied with the current value of about 100 lira to 1 pound sterling, and hopes to promote the realization of 90 lira to 1 pound, and by the way, to increase the exchange rate against the United States."

"He's going to push for the appreciation of the local currency?"

"Yes, it's a hassle."

At present, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the British pound is about 5:1, so the lira roughly maintains the pattern of 20 lira to 1 US dollar and 100 lira to 1 pound, but if we extrapolate according to this idea, in the future, it will be 18 lira to 1 US dollar and 90 lira to 1 pound, and the local currency will directly appreciate by 10%.

"Who's giving this advice?" Contini's face immediately darkened, "Doesn't the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Count Volpi, understand?" Such an appreciation would be a serious blow to the export competitiveness of Italian goods. ”

Volpi was Fascisty's second Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he succeeded in settling Anglo-American demands for war reparations from Italy, at the cost of trying to keep tariffs and currency stable, and importing as many supplies as possible from Britain and the United States. He has performed well since taking office, and Contini has continued to import complete sets of equipment from the United States, and the import volume of the United States has continued to rise, so he is satisfied with all aspects. All of a sudden, it's a bit of a surprise to push the local currency up.

Francisco smiled bitterly: "The telegram was sent by the Count, and he said that the idea was completely decided by the leader himself, and no one could stop him." ”

"Did he say why the leader did this?"

"Having said that, the leader gave two reasons: first, in recent years, the income has continued to rise, and the appreciation of the local currency is conducive to reducing trade losses; Second, the fascist rule has been in power for 5 years, the lira is still at the same level as before, and the average wage of Italian workers has not risen much, which is at the middle and lower level in Europe in horizontal comparison, which does not match the image of Italy as a great country. ”

He knew that the first reason was not Mussolini's true thoughts, and his understanding of economics may not be clear about the triangular relationship between cash flow, capital operation and foreign trade balance, but what he really cared about was the second - how to maintain the face of a big country.

"It's not an economic or financial issue, it's a political issue." "You call back to the Count and ask him to find a way to stop the leader's impulses," Contini thought for a moment. ”