Is the Suez Canal profitable? Anyone who has this question, please remove the word "?" and replace it with an affirmative tone.
It connects Europe and Asia, saves tens of thousands of nautical miles, and is a miracle in the history of world transportation... Under such a halo, it is difficult for this canal not to make money.
It should be said that since the opening of the canal, all merchant ships of suitable tonnage will choose to transit here. Even though the toll is extremely high, compared with traveling around the entire African continent, the price is still very reasonable.
Moreover, historically, the Suez Canal Authority is also a well-known company that is very good at management in the global business community. Except for some impact during the war, the entire canal has been making crazy profits in all the remaining years.
Xiao Letian remembers very clearly that in the previous life, the control of this canal was in the hands of the British and the French. At first, the French took the majority and were the first shareholders. However, after careful plotting by the British, they slowly plundered the shares held by the Egyptian government. In the 20th century, the majority shareholder of the canal company suddenly became a British person.
Instead, the Egyptian government became a third party in the shares, and the number was only slightly larger than that of retail investors.
Since then, the canal company has become a joint operation of Britain and France, operating entirely in accordance with the model of a Western joint-stock company.
It is difficult to find out how much money the canal company made, but history can provide circumstantial evidence. When the canal was really lost, Britain and France even hesitated to provoke a war to maintain their colonial rule.
After the end of World War II, the nationalist revival movement intensified. As a British colony, Egypt's civil independence and liberation forces became increasingly powerful.
At this time, it was the Egyptian lion Nasser who took charge. In 1956, he ordered armed workers to forcibly take over the canal management company. Under the dumbfounded eyes of British and French officials, he restored the nationalization of the canal.
Just three months later, Britain and France instigated Israel to invade Egypt, and the second Middle East war broke out.
Only on the third day after Israel started the war, the British and French coalition forces began air strikes on Egypt, and concentrated 160,000 regular troops, more than 100 warships, and more than 2,000 aircraft to cooperate with Israel in besieging Egypt.
At that time, a massive post-World War II urban street battle broke out in Port Said. The British and French coalition forces encountered strong resistance from the Egyptian military and civilians. During the street battles, countless civilians turned into sniper squads to resist the British and French aggression. There were even children aged 12 or 13 during the war. He also took up arms and joined the war.
That war ended with Egypt's victory under the mediation of the United States and the Soviet Union. Britain and France finally realized that the world after World War II was no longer theirs.
Attempting to restore the international status it enjoyed before World War II is already wishful thinking.
For the sake of a canal, Britain and France dared to launch a war brazenly just after World War II and when their national strength was recovering. This was not only because of the strategic location of the canal, but also because money was also very important.
As the saying goes, cutting off a person's wealth is like killing his parents. How could he be willing to throw away a chicken like Canal that can always lay golden eggs?
In 1869, when the canal was just opened, the British-French canal management company had not yet been established. The French had the final say over the entire canal. Only the insiders knew what it felt like to be left alone.
Why did Ferdinand try every means to support Counselor Raku to take over after he retired? Not only because of personal emotions, but more importantly, the financial resources of this canal must be controlled by his apprentice.
Let alone ugly tactics such as falsifying accounts, how many industries are privately invested in the canal based on the influence of the minister and counselor?
How many leather companies are there under the Canal Company? How many businesses have been outsourced? Catering, accommodation, ship repair, coal, ordnance repair... including the annexation of land on both sides of the river are all sources of revenue.
In order to prevent the British and the Egyptian government from receiving too many dividends, the French outsourced many businesses that the canal company could originally operate, layer by layer. In the end, the profits of these outsourcing companies fell into the hands of the French. of small treasury.
Viscount Ferdinand and Counselor Lacu may not even know how many such secret treasury they control. Perhaps only their financial advisors can tell clearly.
But the two knew that in just half a year, the funds that could be mobilized in their small treasury had reached more than five million gold francs. After a few years of careful management, the amount of funds they could control in their small treasury every year would have to be at least More than 15 million gold francs.
This was Raku's confidence. When the negotiations were least successful, he had no choice but to use money for surgery for the sake of his career.
Of course, these more than 10 million yuan cannot be monopolized by Ferdinand and the two of them. The money is actually shared by a huge aristocratic circle in France.
Ferdinand could end up with six or seven hundred thousand a year, while Lacu's top income was about two hundred thousand gold francs a year. Although the money does not belong to either of them, the management rights do belong to them.
Isn’t it just seven million? As long as we can get through this crisis, we can make up for it in half a year.
Moreover, Lacu was still full of confidence in France. He was very sure that the money was only temporarily stored in the hands of the Chinese. When the French Emperor freed up his hands, he would definitely defeat the arrogant Xiao Letian.
By then the war reparations will be a hundred times a thousand times, and they will have to pay out the interest on this little money!
Lacu and Xiang Ying discussed the details of the compensation like divided businessmen, and finally they came up with a plan of seven million gold francs, of which four million were paid in cash, and the remaining three million was issued by the canal company in IOUs.
But the money could not be obtained now. The two first wrote a contract with very simple terms, requiring the payment of four million in cash when the combined Chinese and British fleets left Port Said.
When the combined fleet arrives in London, the subsequent three million in cash will be paid, whether it is an IOU or cash, it doesn't matter.
The two foxes each have their own plans. Lacu is afraid that Xiang Ying will stay here until he takes the money, but Xiang Ying doesn't want to leave even after taking the money. He will never give up until he gets an apology.
The sky was getting darker and darker, the stars in the sky began to shine brightly, and the night in Port Said finally arrived. At the moment when the two parties signed the temporary compensation agreement, there was suddenly a loud noise outside the consulate.
"What's going on? Why is it so noisy..." Raku said in an angry tone.
"I am reporting to you, Counselor, that the followers of the Chinese general are going crazy! They want to force their way into the consul's office. If our people stop them for a moment, they will beat them with their fists..."
"It's a fight now!"
"Asshole! What happened? Why are you fighting? Don't you know these people are guests?"
"Counsellor, it wasn't us who made the first move, it was the Chinese who made the first move. They are all crazy!"
Note: I have seen some information by chance before. It seems that the Suez Canal charges at least about 40,000 US dollars for every 10,000 tons. The annual revenue of the Suez Canal should be about 5 billion to 6 billion US dollars.
This information may not be accurate, but it is roughly the same.
