Chapter 624

In the era of imperialism, foreign embassies of foreign powers also collected information part-time. After sending Nino away, Minister Tom got busy looking up relevant information.

There is no way, France has limited interests in Colombia, and Colombia ranks very low in diplomatic activities.

Being an envoy here is basically a matter of eating and waiting for death. After a long time, Envoy Tom will degenerate. The intelligence is still being collected.

Now, if you want to get the right to develop the Panama Canal from the Colombian government, how can you do it without understanding the weakness of the other party?

As time passed by, Tom had a general understanding of what had happened recently in Colombia.

As for the detailed information, I am sorry that the embassy has limited funds and is unable to conduct in-depth investigations. The information collected now is actually similar to what is seen in the newspapers.

Putting down the information in his hand, Minister Tom frowned. Obviously, the information on this was not what he wanted.

"Disff, find out the information about Austria's activities in Colombia and the information related to the Panama Canal plan."

Secretary Disff replied calmly: "Your Excellency Minister, the embassy only has information on the activities of the Austrians, and the Panama Canal plan is not within the scope of our intelligence collection.

If necessary, within a week we can find the information published by the Colombian government, and additional funds are required to search for in-depth information. "

Minister Tom's face darkened. The French government was rich, but the French embassy in Colombia was poor.

This can be seen from the staff of the embassy. All the members add up to less than 10 people, including a cleaner, a cook, and two guards.

In this era of inconvenient communication, ministers stationed abroad have great powers, and hiring ordinary staff is one of their powers.

The main reason for so few embassy staff is the lack of office funds. Otherwise, Minister Tom wouldn't mind hiring a few more staff.

Many things cannot be done without money. For example: to collect intelligence, you can only selectively focus on collecting, and you can only discard secondary intelligence.

Under normal circumstances, the canal plan of the Republic of Colombia will not have anything to do with France. They have too little power here, and they can't get the benefits.

The current situation is very obvious and is an abnormal situation. More than once, Minister Tom complained about the capitalists' tossing, completely ignoring the actual situation.

For Franc's sake, since he has promised others, Minister Tom still has to fulfill his promise. This is his professional ethics.

"No problem, I will give you a special grant of 10,000 francs. You must investigate the details of the Columbia Canal plan as soon as possible."

Secretary Disfu was puzzled, and suddenly became generous. This was not like the minister he knew.

In his impression, in normal times, Minister Tom always saves what he can save, especially the intelligence department. There is not even a professional spy, and the staff of the embassy personally collect information.

10,000 francs may not be a big number, but it is a record for the intelligence services.

In the past three years, all the activities of the embassy's intelligence services have been spent on less than five thousand francs.

You get what you get for every penny. Since the funds are small, you naturally don’t expect much gain. Generally speaking, excerpting some information from the newspaper, adding hearsay at the banquet, and sorting it out is the completion of the task.

Doubts return to doubts, but Disff has no intention of getting to the bottom of it. In any case, get the event funds first.

"As you wish, Your Excellency. You will be able to see the relevant information in three days at most."

Having money makes it easy to do things. Not only did the activity funds come out, but the efficiency was improved all of a sudden.

Disff has been here for many years, and the network of contacts has long been established. Moreover, the Colombian government is like a sieve. It has no sense of confidentiality at all. It is too simple to get some unimportant information.

As long as you are willing to spend money, you can directly bring out the original data. Undoubtedly, Disff is not ready to throw money at it.

With his identity, to view unimportant materials, go directly to the Colombian government archives.

If anyone dares to refuse, he will engage in matters to create diplomatic conflict. This is a tried-and-true trick, and the Colombian government is most afraid of diplomatic disputes.

...

Nino's background is not high, can only be regarded as the middle class. In order to climb up, he put in a lot of effort. This canal project, for him, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The big guys behind the scenes have promised that as long as he can complete the preliminary work and persuade all parties to restart the canal plan, he will be the first president of the canal company and will fully preside over the excavation and operation of the canal.

The credibility of this commitment is very high. The big man will not default on this small issue, and there are ready-made cases. The first president of the Suez Canal Company is an example.

High returns are naturally accompanied by high difficulties. If anyone can do it, it will not be worth the price.

According to the analysis of the information in hand, Nino soon discovered that the Panama Canal was dispensable for the Confederate countries, and their coastlines were concentrated on the east coast.

On the contrary, it is the United States of America, whose territory spans the east and west coasts. In order to strengthen commercial exchanges, it is still busy building railways.

If the Panama Canal is opened, reducing the distance between the East and West Pacific Oceans, the United States will gain enormous economic benefits and strategic value.

In this era when interests determine state relations, from the point of view of interests, it is obvious that the interests of the United States and the canal plan are consistent, so this time the partner

Only the United States.

Nino has calculated many times in his mind, pulling the United States and Spain, the three countries united to fight against Austria in Colombia, the odds of winning are still very large.

Compared with joining forces with the British Olympics, it is easier to gain dominance by joining forces with the United States and the West. Even if there is a problem, France has the strength to convince them.

After sending a telegram back to the country, explaining the situation, Nino went to the United States by boat without stopping, ready to pull people into the army.

...

Affected by the failure of the Civil War, the United States was hit hard, and the government finances were once bankrupt. The consortium that supported the government during the war was naturally lost.

After the war, the prestige of the central government was greatly damaged, the federal states went their own way, and local protectionism prevailed. Several consortiums in the original time and space dominated, but now it has evolved into a hundred schools of thought contending.

Nino's task this time is very heavy, not only to persuade the federal government, but also to gain the support of these capitalists.

The skinny camel is bigger than Ma. As the king of Wall Street, the Morgan consortium is still the first federal consortium, but its influence is not as perverted as the original time and space.

In order to express his importance, Nino chose Morgan Manor as his first stop.

...

"Mr. Nino, I admit that what you said is very reasonable. The opening of the Panama Canal is indeed beneficial to the economic development of the United States, but what can we gain?" Morgan asked directly.

Morgan was not interested in this uninvited guest. As far as he knows, there is no such person in the French capital world. If it wasn't for the recommendation of the French minister, he would have thought that he had encountered a liar.

Nino smiled slightly, put down the coffee in his hand, and replied calmly: "I heard that local protectionism is prevalent in your country, in recent years, the development of the Morgan consortium has not been smooth!

If the Panama Canal opens, things will be different. Commercial trade on both sides of the strait is bound to prosper. The Morgan consortium has the right to speak in the canal. Are you afraid that these companies will not cooperate? "

It's not hard to do this if you take control of the canal.

But the problem is that the strength of the United States is limited. After the opening of the canal, how can the Morgan consortium gain dominance?

Just because of money?

Sorry, French consortiums are richer than them these days. The Morgan consortium is, at most, a second-rate consortium in continental Europe.

If you can't get the dominance, as a minority shareholder, it is right to wait for the dividends. If you want to be a demon, it is estimated that there will be no dividends.

At that time, let's not talk about shearing the wool of other companies. Maybe the Morgan consortium itself will have to accept the participation of French capital and lose its autonomy again.

Morgan shook his head: "Mr. Nino, this matter is too involved, and our family alone can't push it forward. We must find others to join forces. With more people involved, how much more do we have the right to speak?

Take the liberty to ask, how many shares are you willing to pay, if it is too little, you don't have to waste your time. "

After hesitating for a while, Nino gave a self-confident answer: "The development of the Panama Canal involves too many countries. We must have more partners. The United States can get up to 21% of the shares."

The development of the Panama Canal is indispensable for the cooperation of the local snakes. No matter what, the Colombian government will have a share, and the Spanish will also have a share.

From the standpoint of the French, in order to control the dominance of the canal, it is impossible to have more than half of the shares, and only the remaining half is left for the three countries to divide up.

In fact, this is just an ideal figure. If capital from other European countries participates, it is bound to release some shares.

This 21% is an empty check. In the end, the United States can only get fewer shares. After the listing and financing, the proportion will be further diluted.

Morgan waved his hand: "Sorry, Mr. Nino. Morgan will not be involved in this business.

With only 21% of the shares, it is simply impossible to convince all parties that the risks we need to take are not proportional to the benefits.

As far as I know, Austria has always been very interested in the Panama region. There are also a large number of immigrants in the local area, which may change the Panama region at any time.

Once Panama fell into the hands of the Austrians, there was no guarantee of our investment. Will your country go to war with Austria for our benefit? "

Nino frowned: "Mr. Morgan, the chance of this happening is very small. The Panama Canal involves the interests of Colombia, Spain, us, and your country.

The power of the four countries joining forces to invest in the Panama region is no weaker than the Austrians.

The Vienna government is not a reckless man. If they are not sure, even if they have ambitions for the Panama region, they will not act rashly. "

Nino didn't make random promises, everyone understands, and it's too difficult to fool each other.

If it really promises: France will protect everyone's investment, it is estimated that Morgan will drive people out.

What qualifications does a capitalist representative have to represent the French government? Even if the French capitalists are too powerful, they do not have the ability to arbitrarily decide the political direction of the country.

Don't say that now, even in the heyday of consortium power, it can only influence government decisions, not for the government.