Chapter 42 Loan Crisis

"You will not regret today's decision." Manager Brent raised his hat and said in a very inflammatory tone, "Vicomte Baudouin, congratulations on becoming a member of the Paris Angels!"

Count Alblau did not expect this young Viscount to be so courageous, but he reacted very quickly and immediately said: "I have also decided to invest in a franchise store."

"Oh, that's great, Lord Earl, your investment vision is still as sharp as ever."

The other people were stunned. One second they were still haggling, but the next second all three stores in Paris were divided up?

You know, there is a saying nowadays - France actually has only two provinces, Paris and the rest. As the political, economic and cultural center of France, Paris has much higher spending power than other regions.

If someone invests a large amount of money, it means that this business is definitely profitable! People who were still hesitant to wait and see now began to blame themselves and complained that they had no courage.

But if you miss it once, you can't miss it the second time!

The Duke of Lavalier followed: "I'll open a shop in Reims, my hometown is there."

"Ahem, I'll join too. I have some property in Marseille, so I'll invest in two stores there."

"I also invest in one..."

That night, at Brent's home, he kissed the seven franchise store contracts in his hand vigorously, shouting and dancing like crazy.

Joining the Paris Angel Company is definitely the most correct decision he has made in his life. Just this afternoon, he has achieved financial freedom - Joseph promised to give him a commission of 3,000 livres for every franchise store he signs.

In other words, he is now a rich man with a net worth of more than 20,000!

He poured himself a glass of wine, took a big sip with the contracts, and happily planned: First, he would buy a villa in the Louvre area or the Saint-Germain area, and then go to Viscount Machay's house to propose marriage to his son! That old money geek can no longer laugh at my family for being poorer than his, haha!

...

Joseph signed the contracts sent by Brent one by one, and he didn't feel too surprised.

The profitability of Paris Angel can be seen by anyone with a discerning eye, and although the French government is poor, the private sector is very wealthy, so there is no need to worry about no one investing in such a good project.

The seven stores are just the beginning. He predicts that after these franchise stores are opened, the demonstration effect will bring at least twice the number of franchisees.

After Brent left, Joseph, the second-in-command of France's finance, set off towards the finance minister's office.

As soon as he entered the door, all the officials in the room gathered around him and warmly saluted and congratulated him, "Your Highness, congratulations!"

"It was His Highness who saved the Dutch!"

"The Prussians just retreated in despair, haha."

"The beloved son of France!"

Finance Minister Brian came to the front of the crowd and said sincerely: "Your Highness, I have heard about what happened in the Netherlands. I must say, your diplomatic skills amaze me!"

Joseph smiled and said: "This is a victory for France. I just pushed it a little from behind."

There was another burst of praise from the crowd, and then they gradually dispersed.

Brian suppressed his smile and said, "Your Highness, from what I heard, the results of the High Court's review will be out in the next few days, and registration should still be refused."

Joseph was not surprised. The provisions of the bill submitted this time were intended to be rejected.

He said calmly: "Archbishop Brian, don't worry, this is just the beginning, I haven't played my cards yet."

Brian thought about the Crown Prince's wonderful operation in the Netherlands, and suddenly felt confident. He nodded and encouraged, and then said casually: "By the way, I saw yesterday's financial report. It seems that your loan has not been implemented yet?"

"Yes, thank you for reminding me, I will deal with it as soon as possible."

Joseph returned to his office, took a look at the recent important matters, and asked his assistant: "Tomorrow's loan negotiation with Lavelle Bank has been postponed again?"

The latter said helplessly: "Your Highness, they said they have to check the accounts recently and have no energy for other matters at the moment."

Joseph frowned: "What are the arrangements at Laborde Bank?"

"There is no reply yet, but my subordinates heard that they have invested a lot of money in the British steam loom industry, and they may not be able to get a multi-million loan in a short time..."

"Huh?" Joseph narrowed his eyes immediately.

According to his understanding, the French government has cooperated with two banks to obtain short-term loans for more than ten years. In the past, the assistant to the finance minister did not even need to come forward, and the banks drafted the agreement two months in advance.

But this time there is only half a month left before the national debt matures, but the two banks are still pushing one to push two, and the other to push three. Damn it if there is no problem here!

The banking system in this era is very inefficient. For a huge sum of more than 6 million yuan, it takes several days from the signing of the agreement to the receipt of funds. In other words, if it is delayed for another eight or nine days, the French finance will face a debt default!

We must find another way.

Joseph immediately signaled to Eman who was standing at the door: "Please help me prepare the car, I want to go to the Paris Discount Bank."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

At noon, Joseph had arrived at the headquarters building of the Paris Discount Bank, the largest bank in France.

The manager of the discount bank led a group of managers to greet the crown prince with great ceremony, and even hosted a banquet for him to have lunch.

However, when Joseph mentioned the loan, he was immediately rejected by the other party in a very polite manner, "Your Highness, we have an agreement with Lavelle and other banks. They are responsible for the government's large short-term loans. It is not appropriate for us to get involved in this kind of business."

Joseph tried for a long time, but in the end the discount bank was only willing to provide medium and long-term loans with collateral, and the fundraising time may be relatively long.

Joseph had no choice but to leave and went to the Bank of Paris again, and got the same answer as the Discount Bank.

His final destination was the Royal Bank.

"It's just... this family really has no money."

Although it is also a big bank, this government-owned bank is as poor as the French government since John Law created hyperinflation and ruined the reputation of the Royal Bank by running the Mississippi Company Ponzi scheme.

In the end, only two medium-sized banks were willing to lend 600,000 livres to the French government, and the interest rate was as high as 25%. As for other small banks, many of them only have one to two million livres in equity and cannot provide many loans at all.

Back on the carriage, Joseph's face was as dark as water. These banks were probably premeditated, and it didn't seem like they were deliberately posing to increase interest rates.

He looked at his financial assistant: "Can we use administrative means to put pressure on those banks?"

The latter immediately said with a grimace: "Your Highness, given the government's current financial situation, it is not appropriate to have too much of a stalemate with the banking industry..."

Joseph took a deep breath, looked at the Cano Bank outside the car window, and said in a deep voice: "You dare to play tricks on the national finance just because you control the financial resources?

"Okay, then I'll open my own bank."