"So it looks like you're ready?" Adjani could still feel Franz's opinion.

"Of course. These self-righteous guys are still laughing too early. As everyone knows, I have already raised the export tariff on the resale of royal goods, and I believe that it will not be long before their capital chain will be broken. ”

Franz looked proud, and couldn't help but disappoint the female subordinate who had been with him for a long time.

"That's what you've gotten up your sleeve for?"

"Yes."

"Don't you know that they have already thought of a countermeasure? Even if they stop now, these financiers will make a lot of money, and the only ones who will be really hurt will be those civilians who follow the trend. Adjani was incredulous at Franz's indifference.

"Then let them snowball?" Franz asked.

"At least if you don't puncture this emperor's new garment, the apparent prosperity can be maintained.

Otherwise, once the window is pierced, the entire country's economy will plummet, the wealth of the people will suffer huge losses, and the people will lose hope for their own destiny and future. Is that what you want to see? ”

Adjani said worriedly, after all, the more she understands this crisis, the more clearly she can feel the horror of the whole body.

"What's the stock price now?" Franz abruptly changed the subject.

"It has risen to 40 florins, and the market value has reached 2 billion." She didn't know why, but she still answered truthfully.

"Almost, because there is no goods worth 3 billion florins in the Empire."

Franz's conclusion left Adjani a little confused. In fact, these financiers play so hard that they even allow installments with products that have not yet been produced as collateral.

There is a lot more money and commodities in the market that would not otherwise exist, which is why the stock market can be pushed to such heights. Franz began to drive down the international prices of monopoly goods while raising export tariffs on their resale.

Because Austria's industrial capacity has increased considerably over the years, it is entirely feasible to use a low-price strategy to better defeat competitors.

And Adjani naturally doesn't understand these truths, she only knows that the goods manufactured by Franz's manufacturers over the years are very tight, and they can get loans in the hands of merchants as general equivalents.

June 1, 1842.

As mentioned earlier, after Franz's two heavy blows, the financial consortium's capital chain was immediately broken, and they could no longer play this trick of spiraling up with the left foot and the right foot.

The first to be unable to resist was the Belken family, whose roots were not in Austria in the first place, and they were invited by Solomon to get a piece of the pie.

Since he had already made money, there was no need to continue to take risks, so he took the lead in ignoring the opposition of other financiers and directly emptied the stock arbitrage and left the market.

On the same day, this bombshell news spread from Vienna, and Soros and Solomon held several meetings in order to stabilize the morale of the army to discuss the next response policy.

And the newspapers were full of accusations against the Belken family and articles about the continued popularity of the stock.

However, starting on June 2, the major players tried to flee, and the stock price plummeted. Among them, the one who took the lead in the charge was Solomon, and the big guy shouted not to run while clearing his own warehouse and leaving the field.

As for Soros, he has already cashed out successfully before, and has even completed the transfer of some assets. After a week-long circuit breaker, trading opened on Monday, June 13, with the royal family and the government jointly issuing a statement announcing a bailout.

Immediately after a brief rally, the stock market plummeted and ended up in the lower limit again. As of June 15, the price of the second phase of the railway project in Neletania had dropped to 59.8 per cent.

(Previously, due to concerns about the stock market crisis, Franz and his subordinates negotiated and set the upper and lower limits of 5% for the rise and fall.) Therefore, after ten falling limits, it still maintains 59.8% of the original market value. If it is a 10% upper and lower line, the market value is only 38.64% after ten down limits. ）

Since these financiers have long used their connections to bribe a large number of politicians in the securities industry, all those who have fled are big capitalists with backgrounds.

Of course, if there are big nobles or royals who want to sell, those people will also give them the green light. However, in order to be encouraging, Franz reaffirmed the attitude of the Habsburgs that the Habsburgs would not sit idly by and watch the country fall.

Of course, with the exception of a small number of die-hard loyalists, they would not believe in the effectiveness of this Austrian "reassuring pill" under such circumstances.

Evening of June 15, 1842.

The government, the royal family, the second phase of the railway construction authority and the imperial railway company issued a joint statement to merge the five territories of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Togo, Cameroon and Namibia in West Africa with the second phase of the railway construction authority to form the Austrian Royal Family Overseas Development Company.

The direct sale of these five pieces of land shows the determination and attitude of the Vienna side.

Those shareholders who were almost desperate suddenly felt like they had been given a new lease of life. At the same time, the newly established company issued a notice announcing that it would pay dividends of 50% of the profits of the West African territories from now on.

This attraction is more "stimulating" than any economic stimulus, and thanks to the nearly four months of publicity by financiers, nearly 4 million more retail investors have been added to the second phase of the railway's stock.

Although the population of the empire is now about 38 million, the average family at this time has four to five people; As a result, these 4 million people, who cover almost all walks of life in the territory, especially in the Neletania region, have become shareholders of the Royal Overseas Development Company.

As we all know, the first thing needed for colonial development is financial resources, so these financiers happened to give Franz a big gift - to gather wealth.

Due to Austria's peculiar circumstances, its internal market was flooded with a large number of banknotes that had been exchanged for real money or commodity collateral.

Except for Soros, no one has really cashed out, and what they get from selling their shares is just some expected banknotes. During this time, on the contrary, due to the talents of financial tycoons, Austria's precious metals have been in a state of inflow.

But Franz didn't intend to play a role in its credibility, so the financiers didn't have to worry about running out of money.

But the idea that they want to exchange those expected banknotes for real money to bring to other countries requires patience. This process can take three or five years, or it can take as long as ten or eight years.

In short, they don't turn into waste paper, but it is very difficult to transfer assets.

Of course, it is not completely impossible, that is, to buy goods and bear the high monopoly goods tax.

The establishment of the Austrian Crown Overseas Development Company also had the added benefit of raising domestic interest in the development of the colony several times.

At the same time, the number of people willing to work in West Africa is increasing. After all, many of them have become shareholders who can enjoy dividends, so they naturally have the motivation to work hard.

This was the second encounter between Franz and Soros, and the "bandits" sent by the former did not succeed in capturing the latter. And the latter's strategy failed to kill the former's empire, which can only be regarded as a draw.

As for other financial consortia that seem to have earned but don't seem to have made money, there is also a feeling of losing to grandma's family lingering. Of course, a small number of die-hard people who stood firm were more convinced of their beliefs through this incident.

That is, the Habsburg royal family would not abandon his subjects.

(End of chapter)