In the 19th century, France definitely wanted to be a huge influence in the world, and its position as the world's second most powerful country was really not just a boast.
The first industrial revolution emerged from the United Kingdom, and France and the United States followed in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and also completed the initial industrialization of the country during the first industrial revolution and accumulated a large amount of capital.
Later, during the transition period between the first industrial revolution and the second industrial revolution, France took a completely different development path, that is, usury capitalism.
In the international society at that time, there was a very common loan business between people and people, countries and countries, and countries and people.
At that time, European countries wanted to open up colonies, launch a war, and build a brand new army. It was very common for European countries to have no money to borrow money. Anyway, there was national taxation as the final safety valve. This kind of business was safe. The sex is still very high.
France had tasted the sweetness of usurious capitalism during that period. They made a lot of money through this kind of financial lending business. Then Napoleon III used the abundant capital to develop the army and win several battles to expand some colonies. This made it even more difficult. Increased France's national credit.
The richer France is, the more money it can make from housing loans. The stronger France is, the better it can ensure the security of loan recovery.
Until the late second industrial revolution, that is, before World War II, France's economic model should actually be called usury imperialism, while the United Kingdom during the same period should be called colonial imperialism, the United States should be called trust imperialism, and Prussia and Germany should be called Juncker imperialism. .
Imperialism is actually a stage of capitalism, a monopoly stage. This goes without saying, as basically everyone knows it.
Since France can be labeled as usurious imperialism, you can imagine how rich this country is. According to historical records, France's foreign investment in 1914, that is, housing loans, reached 60 billion gold francs.
This is not a credit currency printed casually by the central bank. At that time, this kind of franc was locked in gold, and paper money was equivalent to gold. In that era, deflation was often heard, and no one knew what inflation was.
From this point of view, the 5 billion gold francs compensated for the Franco-Prussian War were really a drop in the bucket for France.
Such a strong national power is indeed not something that the current Chinese people can afford to offend. Wang Huaiyuan and Sima Yun's concerns are not unreasonable.
Xiao Letian fell into deep contemplation, not just because of Molière's small life, that didn't matter, but because he wanted to make a good judgment on his relationship with France, and how to squeeze more money out of France without driving France crazy. , this is the key issue.
Historically, France paid 5 billion gold francs in compensation during the Franco-Prussian War. How much silver was this money equivalent to in the Qing Dynasty during the same period? There were indeed scholars who studied it in previous lives.
According to the currency exchange rate at that time, using the British pound, the most stable currency, as a ratio, some people have calculated that 5 billion gold francs is equivalent to about 200 million pounds, and 200 million pounds converted into Qing silver is equivalent to 72.1 billion taels of silver.
It can be seen that the world in the 19th century completely followed the law of the jungle. Europe was cruel to the Qing Dynasty. They were not polite to their own people, and the knives they used to kill people were sharpened.
But what amazes the world even more, and what makes Bismarck regretful for the rest of his life, is that France paid off the compensation with interest in just three years.
After the reparations were paid, Europe was in an uproar and Bismarck was shocked. The iron-blooded prime minister originally wanted to blackmail France so much that France could not afford the money in exchange for the Prussian army's long-term garrison in France and the acquisition of Al Saas-Lorraine region.
However, France's foundation was too strong. All capital and profits were wiped out in three years, forcing Bismarck to issue an order to withdraw all troops.
Some people say that the money was paid off because France played that kind of game of randomly handing out banknotes? After the end of World War I, Germany used this method to pay back money.
It's really not the case. The French relied on their own strength to replace it. At that time, the compensation repayment plan was divided into three parts. The first was three-year fiscal revenue. They tightened their belts and saved money from the fiscal revenue.
The second part is the deposits of the National Bank of France, which is the cash surplus.
The third part is the patriotic bonds.
There is no evidence to prove whether the French civil servants lived on food for three years. Anyway, 72.1 billion taels of silver were paid off in three years in exchange for the Bismarck withdrawal. This is an undoubted historical fact.
Of course, there is also a possibility that it was only after this incident that France left the title of usurious capitalism in the history books. This unique classification of capitalism was actually contributed by France.
Xiao Letian knocked on the table and frowned, thinking to himself, I have already placed my bet on Prussia. Although Prussia is the victor in history, history has changed, and I was not there in the original history.
What if it fails? After France removes the threat from the north, I will definitely be the next to take revenge. It will definitely be the craziest and bloody revenge.
If that lunatic Napoleon III really mobilized five billion gold francs to expand the navy, I would not be able to compete with him. The game of arms race is not something that the Chinese can play.
France is using all its might to deal with the Chinese, so what else can I do besides running away? Die in battle?
But it won't work if we don't kill Molière. He has touched the bottom line of the Chinese people several times in a row. How can we calm down the angry public opinion if we don't kill him?
More importantly, if I don't kill Molière, will it give Bismarck a bad impression? Will he think that I, Xiao Letian, am trying to play both sides?
Bismarck is not easy to deal with. It was so easy to win his trust. Is such a precious alliance going to have cracks because of this?
The three kings watched Xiao Letian's expression change and did not dare to breathe loudly for fear of interrupting his train of thought. After a long time, they saw Xiao Letian punching the table and cups and plates jumping around.
"Damn it, do you want me to toss a coin? I relied on this breath in my chest to fight all the way. If we let this breath out, we will not be able to catch up. Damn it! Three days later, the War Temple will hold a public ceremony, and the Far East War will I will preside over the ceremony for a group of heroic spirits to enter the temple!"
"I'll bet on this one!"
As soon as the three of them saw that Xiao Letian had made up his mind, there was no need to be verbose. The best ministers are like this. When the lord has not made up his mind, he must bravely state the truth and consider all the dangers that the lord will encounter when making his decision. arrive.
However, there is no such thing as 100% perfection in governance. Every benefit will inevitably lead to disadvantages. Ministers can only try their best to seek benefits and avoid disadvantages.
