Chapter 957 Prologue

Felt Manor, as the situation in Paris became increasingly tense, the atmosphere in the manor also became tense.

In the garden, Maxim Sidorov said with a serious look: "Tom, take your younger siblings to London for a vacation. We will leave tomorrow. I have already arranged the boat."

The cruelty is for outsiders, and for his own children, Maxim Sidorov is still a loving father. Seeing that turmoil is about to break out in France, a retreat has been arranged for them in advance.

The young man asked suspiciously, "How about you two, why don't you go together?"

There is never a shortage of smart people in this world. The weird atmosphere of Paris has revealed a bit of a taste of the wind and the wind, but everyone who is a little brainy is looking for a way back.

The wealthy find a way to go abroad, and the middle-class with little wealth are going to the countryside. Except for the few who had to stay, the rest were either paupers or idiots.

Without a doubt, Maxim Sidorov was one of those who had to stay.

After hesitating for a moment, Maxim Sidolov said insincerely: "No, you go first. The bank's affairs are inseparable from me, and my mother and I will come back after we are done."

The boss is not easy to be, and while sharing the biggest piece of the cake, he must also take corresponding responsibilities.

Now is the critical moment, Maxim Sidorov must stay and preside over the big picture. There are too many people staring at him. If he runs away at this time, it is estimated that he will be finished before he leaves France.

Neither the capitalists nor the government will let him go.

The consortium is able to wrestle with the government only by joining forces. If the boss runs away, his heart will be scattered, and the torn apart consortium is the meat on the chopping board.

If the government wants to use a knife on the consortium, it must first get rid of the leader. It's not right or wrong, it's all about politics. Who made him the most famous? Only by taking a knife on his boss can truly shock people.

The most important thing is that Maxim Sidorov himself is not willing to run away in such a bleak way. Because once he backs down, the industry he fought for his whole life is gone.

It is not that Maxim Sidorov has not thought about transferring assets and sharing risks. In fact, every consortium wants to diversify investment and share risks.

However, the reality is cruel. All major consortiums are daring to diversify investment, but no one has really succeeded so far.

Naturally, there are many reasons. The core reason is that the era of capital globalization has not yet arrived, and local protectionism is prevalent. This cannot be solved by money.

It’s okay to play small things, invest in it, but not if you want to take root in the local area. The local snakes can accept the influx of capital, but they will not welcome a dragon across the river.

I couldn't do it in normal times, let alone now. Without the support of national power, the difficulty of developing overseas naturally increases geometrically.

Tom asked: "Why, we already have a lot of money, and there is no need to continue taking risks."

"Money", just looking at paper wealth, Maxim Sidorov is about to become the richest man in the world. Of course, this has to be calculated in terms of pre-war values.

If France wins, the consortium led by Maxim Sidorov is the biggest victor in this war.

Taking advantage of this war, they successfully controlled nearly one-third of France's factories, one-half of mines, and an uncountable amount of land and real estate. It is no exaggeration to say that the whole of France is working for them.

The consortium had a big harvest, and Maxim Sidorov, the leader, naturally ate the fattest meat. The personal net worth directly exceeds 100 billion francs, which is something he never dreamed of.

However, this money exists only in theory. Assets are assets, but there is no way to realize them, because the whole of France cannot find a pick-up man.

Seeing that the anti-French alliance is about to fight, as many assets as you hold, you hold as much risk. Including Maxim Sidorov, French capitalists have been selling assets frantically recently.

Even the most sought-after Parisian urban residences in the past can no longer find buyers for sale at a discount, and people have no money in their hands.

The excessive concentration of wealth has led to the intensification of social conflicts, and at the same time, the tens of billions of francs in the hands of Maxim Sidorov are similar to waste paper.

There is no way, what francs can buy, you don't need; what you want, francs can't buy.

Looking closely at the bank branches in Paris, an interesting thing will develop. Foreign currency and gold can be exchanged for francs, but francs cannot be exchanged for foreign currencies.

Before the war, 1 pound was exchanged for 25 francs, and now 1 pound can be exchanged for 100 francs, and the exchange rate can still be negotiated.

If Maxim Sidorov was given a choice, he would rather exchange the assets of hundreds of billions of francs for 100 million pounds in cash, which is not acceptable.

It's a pity that there is no such a big head to take over. There seem to be a lot of high-quality assets, but in fact how much they can keep after the war is unknown.

For example, mines and land in Belgium and the Rhineland, as well as factories and real estate in Italy, seem to belong to Maxim Sidorov, but in fact the future must have nothing to do with him.

These losses alone are enough to shrink Maxim Sidorov's assets by half. The remaining half is equally insecure, and war is the biggest asset killer.

There is no doubt that holding so many assets is certainly not what Maxim Sidorov wants. He is a banker, not an industrialist, so he is naturally not interested in factories and mines with low returns.

Except for a small amount of assets that were purchased actively, most of them are collateral that banks are forced to collect when their loans are overdue. The mines in Belgium and the Rhineland were all mortgaged to them by the French government.

No matter how unreliable these assets are, at least they work better than the franc, which is depreciating every day. If you can't turn it into foreign exchange and gold, you can only continue to hold it.

"Okay, Tom. Time is running out. Now it's time to say goodbye to your mother. As for the rest, you'll understand in the future.

If an accident happens to me, you will take the responsibility of the head of the family, take good care of your younger siblings, and raise them up as adults.

Here is a list of our overseas assets, which are now handed over to you. Basically they are stocks and real estate, the money is not too much, you have to plan and use them reasonably.

There is no way, those idiots lost too fast, disrupting all my plans, and now there is only so much I can prepare for you.

As for the overseas assets of the consortium, you should not know anything. I just want you to be at peace, that's not something you can keep. "

Looking at his immature son, Maxim Sidorov regretted so much that he was playful when he was young, so that the eldest son is only fifteen years old now.

At such an age, it would be unrealistic for him to play with a bunch of old foxes.

As for the others, it is very regrettable that Maxim Sidorov can't trust anyone now that he is used to robbing and robbing magpies.

...

The capitalists are looking for a way back, and the nobles are also not idle. Although Europe has a tradition of not killing nobles, revolutions are an exception.

According to past experience, every revolution, Paris will kill people. No matter how noble or not, there is only one life.

If France is not the three major royal families, but only the Bonaparte Dynasty, the noble class will stand on the emperor's side for their own interests, and Napoleon IV has a very good chance of winning this time.

It is a pity that there are not only three royal families in France now, but the Bonaparte Dynasty's prestige among the nobles is still the lowest among the three royal families.

If there is no this European war, Napoleon IV will be firmly on the throne, and when the next generation rises, the Bonaparte Dynasty can take off the hat of the nouveau riche and be truly accepted by the aristocratic group.

Unfortunately, the reality is not if. In the eyes of the ancient nobles, the Bonaparte dynasty was the source of disaster, which would bring endless trouble to France, and would not support them at all.

The more bizarre the atmosphere in Paris, the more active the nobles who supported Bourbon and Orleans, and many people were ready to emulate Napoleon III and use the revolution to seize power.

In the Palace of Versailles, looking at the gathered information, Napoleon IV gritted his teeth in anger, but he couldn't do anything.

The risk of going to war with the consortium is already very high. If you do anything to the nobles again, the Palace of Versailles will really have to change its owner.

In this noble world, the emperor also needs to obey the rules. As long as people do not raise their flags to rebel, the emperor has no reason to act against them.

Putting down the document, Napoleon IV said fiercely: "Take action immediately, you can't let those guys run away with the wealth of France. If anyone resists, they will be killed on the spot!"

It is inevitable to be discovered. Not everyone is as cautious as Maxim Sidorov. Not only does he attract attention in front of him, but even arranging his children to run away is easy.

And some daring guys didn't forget to sweep the bank's vault while running away, trying to run away with gold and silver.

Thinking about it, I was drunk, and it was possible to run away with a few tons of gold. Those guys with hundreds of tons of silver were just looking for death.

Even if it is not discovered by the emperor, such huge wealth will also arouse the greed of customs bureaucrats. Either eaten up in France or hacked in Britain.

Then, of course, there is no then. If such a big movement could not be found, Napoleon IV would have been ousted long ago.

This scene is being staged at the Paris Docks. A row of luxurious convoys were intercepted by customs before boarding the ship.

A middle-aged wealthy businessman roared aggressively at the staff: "Why don't you let us board the ship, I have legal procedures, who gave you the power to seize my goods?

Quickly get your director, I want to complain! Did you hear me, I'll take your skin off no matter how slow you are. "

In recent years, capital has risen strongly in France, and the social status of the rich has been raised infinitely. Roaring at the staff is just a pediatrician, and even dare to go up and slap the photons directly when encountering powerful ones.

Anyway, they have money, so they are not afraid of lawsuits at all. Even if you win the lawsuit, this kind of civil dispute is only a matter of losing money. Most of the time, damages are not sufficient for litigation costs.

In this context, let alone ordinary people, even ordinary government officials have lost their deterrent power in the face of capital.

The young man explained helplessly: "I'm very sorry, sir. According to the latest decree issued by the government: In order to combat the outflow of gold and silver, from now on, all gold and silver will be prohibited from leaving Hong Kong.

Your procedure was approved before and has now lost its legal effect. If you have any doubts, you can file a complaint with the relevant department.

However, I advise you not to do useless work. The officer who was in charge of the issuance process has now been suspended for investigation, and it will not be long before someone will come to you for questioning. "

The middle-aged man was about to get angry when an army appeared at the dock. Under the command of the officers, the soldiers directly took over the convoy.

As soon as the middle-aged man stepped forward to reason, he was pressed to the ground by the two soldiers approaching, and he didn't give him any excuses at all.

Opportunity.

...