Chapter 320: , Purchase land

On the second day after receiving the order from Madrid, Ambassador Juan came to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs again to visit Foreign Minister Talleyrand.
At this time, Talleyrand had in fact been clear about Juan's intentions. The people from the Ministry of Truth had already put the sorted information into Talleyrand's hands yesterday. Talleyrand had read the reliable documents that were supposed to be obtained from the Spanish side, gave Lucien a thumbs up in his heart, and then rushed to visit Napoleon and discussed with him. Ready to respond.
In the luxurious reception room of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Juan met Foreign Minister Talleyrand again.
"Your Excellency, I am instructed to make a proposal to your country." Ambassador Juan said.
"My friend, I am listening." Talleyrand spread his hands.
"We hope to buy a batch of weapons from your country." Juan said.
"This is not a problem." Talleyrand said with a smile, "We are an ally, and our arsenal can be opened to our allies."
"But your Excellency Foreign Minister, you also know that it is difficult for us to get so much money at a time." Ambassador Juan said.
"This is not a problem, we can lend you money." Foreign Minister Talleyrand said with a smile, "For the allies, we are always willing to help as much as we can. I know a lot of bankers, and I want to share the status of Spain with Credit, you can get loans with relatively good conditions from them."
In fact, Spain's economic situation is not much better than that of France before the revolution. After all, they are all from the Bourbon dynasty. Before the French Revolution, King Louis XVI also used to borrow money from bankers to maintain his finances. It's just that His Majesty the King played too much, and in the end he couldn't pay the money, so he had to borrow new debts to repay old debts. Well, if you are in the later life, this is also a good way, for example, the later life of the lighthouse country will always play like this.
But there is a big difference between this era and future generations, that is, loan interest rates in this era are generally higher. When the lighthouse nations of later generations played this hand, the annual interest rate of borrowing was generally two or three percent. Even taking into account the influence of the most powerful forces in the universe, this pattern can still be maintained for a long time.
But in this era, bankers can basically be equivalent to lending usury. The interest rate on borrowing is not a problem of two or three percent. If it is not done well, 23 percent is conscientious. At such an interest rate, and considering the most powerful force in the universe, this hand won't last long at all. The subsequent result is naturally a debt default. The result of default is that it will be very difficult to borrow in the future, and the conditions are more stringent.
Although Spain has not yet reached the level of Louis XVI, its creditworthiness in the debt market is also very average. This also means that for the same borrowing, Spain can only attract people who are willing to lend to them if they offer a higher interest rate. Therefore, the so-called "loans with relatively good conditions" are purely fools.
As for the assistance of the French government, well, the Napoleonic Code clearly stipulates that France implements the rules of free market and free trade. The French government has no power to intervene in these matters.
Of course, this is only theoretical. In fact, the ever-expanding Union of French Banks has gradually gained a taste of a central bank, and considering the Bonaparte family's position in this union, they can completely let this union cooperate with French policies. Of course, it is also said that it is not the French Banking Union that cooperates with the French government, but the French government has been cooperating with the French Banking Union.
In short, just listen to what Talleyrand said. As for borrowing money, whether it is from a French or an Englishman, the interest rate is basically not low.
"My Majesty does not intend to borrow too much debt, because it is also a heavy burden for the people." Juan said, "Our King is a benevolent king. He is not willing to increase the people's debt too much. burden."
"It's not that you are unwilling to increase the burden on the people, but that the Spanish people will learn from the French to make a great revolution." Talleyrand thought in his heart, but said, "Your Majesty's love for the people is really It is admirable. I believe that the people of your country, under the wise leadership of your king, will be able to overcome the little difficulties in front of you."
This sounds very good, but the actual meaning is "I can't help you, you can bear it yourself. It's up to you to die or live."
"Your Excellency, we have a suggestion." Ambassador Juan said.
"I listen with sincerity, if we have the opportunity to help our allies, we have always been obliged." Talleyrand said.
"You have always been very positive, allies," Ambassador Juan said in his heart, but the smile on his face became more sincere.
"We intend to sell some of the territories in North America in order to obtain the corresponding funds." Ambassador Juan said.
"Ah." Talleyrand asked with a surprised look, "Where is your country going to sell the land?"
"We plan to sell Florida. Don't you know your country's intentions," Juan replied.
Florida was still Spanish territory at this time, but the Americans had already penetrated very strongly here. If this piece of land is bought by the Americans, the Americans will have a very good point of support in the Caribbean. This is not good news for the French who are planning to develop Louisiana and are obviously eager to advance north. Therefore, when Talleyrand and Napoleon were discussing it yesterday, they both agreed that it is best not to let it fall into the hands of the Americans.
However, Talleyrand and Napoleon also believed that selling Florida was more to force the French to spend more money. Because once Florida was lost, the Americans directly approached the Caribbean, and the threat to Spain's interests was even greater.
In addition, the Spaniards declared that they would sell Florida, and they also wanted to further provoke the conflict between France and the United States. Although Florida is a Spanish territory, it has only been twenty years since the Spanish acquired it. Before, before this, it was the territory of the British. So the white people there are mainly Saxon Anglo people. These people immediately hooked up with the United States, another Saxon Anglo country to the north, after Britain withdrew from the area. Although this land is legally Spanish, the Spanish simply cannot control it. If there were no other spoilers, it would be almost a matter of time before this land fell into American hands.
If this part of the land falls into the hands of the French, with the current strength of France, it will naturally be more difficult for the Americans to infiltrate. This way, other parts of Spain, especially Cuba, will be much safer.
"Florida is a very rich place, and your government should be able to get a lot of income from here. It's a shame to sell it like this," Talleyrand said, "and because of the composition of the residents on this land. . To be honest, we are not very interested in it."
For the time being, the US Navy is not enough to cut off the ties between France and Louisiana. Therefore, when Joseph and Napoleon discussed the Spaniard's plan to sell Florida, he said that even if Florida falls into the hands of the Americans, the temporary threat is still relatively limited. And taking over this place, on the contrary, there are a lot of troubles. Therefore, Talleyrand's statement at this time was not a bluff to lower prices.
"If your country is not interested, then we can only sell this piece of land to the Americans." Ambassador Juan said.
"This is your country's internal affairs, and we have no intention of interfering." Talleyrand said, "but considering that our country and your country are allies, we are still willing to help your country in this matter. I think, any business , If there is only one buyer, it is difficult for the seller to sell at a good price. We can cooperate with your country and make the appearance of actively participating in the purchase of Florida to help your country raise the price. Of course, we will offend this America, for this, we also need some compensation."
This request exceeded Ambassador Juan’s expectations, but he still asked, "What kind of compensation do you need?"
"We also hope to buy some of your country's land in North America." Talleyrand said, "We hope to obtain several ports in the Pacific Ocean to expand our business routes. You know, since the setback in India, we Trade with the Far East was forced to be interrupted, and we hope to resume it in this direction. Therefore, we hope to purchase Panama from your country. In addition, in order to facilitate whaling activities in the Pacific~EbookFREE.me~we I hope I can buy San Francisco and San Jose from you."
Needless to say, Panama’s strategic significance even though there is no canal. As for San Francisco, it has a familiar name "San Francisco" that is commonly known to Chinese people. And this name is because, near it, there is a large gold mine that is very shallow. This big gold mine even triggered the famous gold rush. Many westerns that Joseph saw in his last life involved related content. Joseph felt that if he could take advantage of the Mexican Revolution and put these places into his own pocket, no matter what, he would make a profit.
It is not difficult for him to persuade Napoleon and Lucien to support him. Because before that, he had organized several expeditions to North America in the name of the French Academy of Sciences to investigate the geology, flora and fauna there. Then he told Napoleon "Our people have found gold veins in the area around San Francisco."
This is not a lie, because when Joseph sent these expeditions, he aimed at these locations.
"The expedition leader, Mr. Jones, found Golden Sands in the river near San Francisco. But he was very cautious and did not expose this secret. Therefore, this secret has not been revealed for the time being. Now these places are wild places, we At this time, it won't take a few money to get these sites down. It must be earned." Joseph said to the two younger brothers.