Chapter 318 The “Bankers”’ Counterattack (Part 2)

Since then, most experts no longer dare to speak directly, but choose to play the emotional card, saying that "the life of a loan shark is also a life, and he also needs to live."

Of course, this nonsense was directly ignored.

In short, during several chaotic wars, the royal family gradually took control. Although it was denounced as retrograde and autocratic, Austria's economy was generally in a recovery stage, tax revenue increased significantly, and people's consumption capacity continued to rise.

Just when some things were moving in a good direction, someone saw the flaws in this model.

The so-called installment payment is actually a way of eating the grain of the next year in advance, but as long as the income meets expectations and is not overdeveloped, there will be no major problems, and it can reduce the pressure on consumers to a certain extent and promote the vigorous growth of the economy. Compared with usury, it is definitely a major progress in financial history.

But the current market lacks regulations and corresponding laws and regulations, and there are still gaps, which allow financiers and speculators to take advantage of loopholes.

Due to Franz's strategy, the sales price of goods in Austria is much lower than that of the international market, and even if the tariffs are paid again, there will still be a small part of the profit left.

This loophole was left intentionally to benefit the people, but in Soros's eyes it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He first took the initiative to contact Solomon Rothschild, and then gathered a huge amount of capital to prepare to monopolize some important industries in Austria, such as steel, rails, rifle barrels, sewing machines, clocks, rubber shoes, raincoats, glass, etc.

However, Franz and the bigwigs he recruited had long anticipated this situation, so they could easily deal with it by raising prices and expanding production.

Although this move will cause some losses to the people, it is still more conscientious than the capitalists who wantonly raise prices after monopolizing.

However, the unwilling Soros soon found a breakthrough; that is, to use the royal family's installment payment mechanism to allow ordinary people to participate in the stock speculation feast.

In fact, Franz was also prepared for this. In order to prevent too many retail investors, he set the investment threshold at 1,000 florins per share. But Austrian experts think that his approach hinders the concentration of capital.

Under the advice of a number of well-known financiers and bankers such as Solomon Rothschild, the amount per share was lowered to 5 florins, so that investment could be attracted to the greatest extent.

This approach really brought a huge amount of funds to the stock market of the empire. At the same time, Solomon and other bankers temporarily opened a new business, that is, ordinary people can use installment payments to mortgage items to banks to obtain funds.

That is to say, people can first go to the royal store to buy goods in installments, and then resell them to private banks in exchange for funds to invest in the stock market; of course, banks will extract money from it.

But at this time, the crazy stock market prices continued to soar, coupled with the exemplary effect of the first phase of the railway project in Neletania, everyone's confidence doubled, thinking that it must be a sure thing to have the royal family as a guarantee.

At the same time, major newspapers, banks, and all kinds of so-called professionals once again hyped up railway stocks. Of course, the chicken soup for the soul that Franz had poured out before also played a role in fueling the flames.

Even if the stock market was suspended every other day, and even the maximum increase was set (left as a back-up), large sell orders still could not extinguish the Austrians' enthusiasm for railway stocks.

After a huge amount of wealth entered the stock market, all stocks deviated from their original true value. This is exactly what Soros wants to see.

They only need to wait for them to continue to rise, and their wealth will continue to rise, which is equivalent to the whole country paying for them. When they reach the highest point, they only need to sell them all to complete the harvest of 38 million people in the country.

Of course, in theory, the empire will not suffer any losses, and it only needs to collect the debts on time. But all the risks and notoriety must be borne by it. The desperate people will not only fail to benefit from financial investment, but also bear heavy debts.

It's just that at this time, the top leaders in Vienna actually contacted the bankers to discuss when to sell their stocks. After all, only by selling at the highest point can the empire earn the greatest profit.

Ajani could only write countless letters to Franz for help, but with the current means of communication, in addition to the plans that were repeatedly deduced and discussed before the incident, it was difficult for him to effectively get information and make corresponding decisions in the first place while he was still drifting on the sea.

A financial tsunami that was about to swallow the world seemed inevitable

In the calm Indian Ocean, a fleet flying the black and gold flag of the Austrian Empire was slowly moving.

Friedrich stood alone on the flagship "Venice" surrounded by the crowd, looking around with a telescope from time to time.

As a soldier with aspirations and the son of Archduke Karl, Friedrich always held himself to the most stringent standards, not as casual as Franz.

However, the naval commander was disappointed that he failed to test the combat effectiveness of his new flagship during this long voyage.

And he discovered an embarrassing fact, that is, every time he went out with his nephew, he gained land combat experience, which made him, the commander of the Austrian Imperial Navy who dealt with ships and sailors every day, feel embarrassed.

Friedrich wanted to target the Dutch stronghold in West Borneo in order to help the Southern Ming Dynasty seize the base more quickly, but he was quickly stopped by Franz, because doing so would be tantamount to declaring war on the Dutch East India Company.

According to Franz's plan, Zhu Qiongying and her Nanming should seize Kalimantan Island by their own strength. But compared with the past, this time he seemed too stingy.

Not only did he not provide the other party with a single latest breech-loading rifle, but he only took out four four-pound cannons as a coping mechanism. He did give 2,000 revolvers, but this light weapon was of no use at all.

It has too many limitations; although it has the advantage of fast firing rate, its range, accuracy and power are far inferior to rifles.

And that kind of light cannon can barely deal with wooden doors and earth walls, but it is completely helpless against thick stone walls, gentle slopes and bastions.

Of course, there are also factors of Franz's own plan. Strictly speaking, the armed conflicts and wars between Nanming and Lanfang, Dagang, Sanjiaogou and even the Dutch have nothing to do with each other, and are almost gang fights.

Besides, there is a weapons factory in the neighboring Zhenla, and as long as the Nanming has sufficient financial resources or has items to exchange with it, it can get weapons.

Since it is similar to gang fights, street fighting is inevitable. And this kind of close-range confrontation is obviously more advantageous for revolvers with fast firing rate, light weight and easy to carry.

Speaking of heavy firepower, it is difficult to transport heavy artillery in the complex jungle terrain of Kalimantan Island.

And according to Franz's estimation, he did not think that the scattered organization of Lan Fang could put up a decent resistance.

Although those people showed great courage in front of the Austrian army with the flag of the Ming Dynasty, he believed that it was just fear that dispersed their reason.

And compared with support in weapons and money, support in righteousness and program is more important. Of course, with Austrian weapons and equipment, this process will be much faster, and the possibility of accidents will be reduced a lot.

When the real Ming army returns, how many people are willing to be buried with the Qing Dynasty? Compared with Lan Fang, which is not recognized by the Qing Dynasty, Franz thinks that the orthodox Southern Ming Dynasty is obviously more attractive.