Chapter 172 Earn 100 Million Francs (Third update, please subscribe)
Facts have proved that everyone can become a sucker as long as they cater to their preferences. But even a sucker needs time to consider.
For Napoleon III and IV, he still needed time to make a decision. Although he was tempted, the two sides did not reach an agreement at the first time. After all, this was an extremely huge investment.
Of course, Buffett and his friends did not expect to reach an agreement at the first meeting. The conversation with the emperor had ended at some point.
Amid the sound of cheerful music, Buffett and Field were walking towards the ballroom.
"What do you think? Will he accept our proposal?"
Phil asked.
"The question is not whether he will accept it, but how much he is prepared to pay!"
Buffett laughed.
"I am sure that there will be no discussion for less than fifty million francs!"
"What? Fifty million francs, English, English..."
Before Field could finish, Buffett spoke again.
"The stock price has increased a lot today. If I guess correctly, someone will come to us soon, such as Ambassador Cauley. The British will not want the French to control the company. We can give them this offer and say it is from the French!"
"What! Frenchmen... Englishmen, you want to..."
Looking at the dumbfounded Field, Buffett just smiled.
"The highest bidder wins. One hundred million francs... that's about enough to cover this year's expenses!"
In fact, the franc is worthless. The gold content of the franc is only 0.2903225 grams, while the US dollar is 1.50466 grams. One hundred million francs is less than 20 million US dollars, which is about 30 tons of gold. It is less than 20 million pesos or oceans.
However, Buffett knew Zhu Xianhai's goal was to maintain the balance of the company by introducing the British and French. The British and French were not on the same page, and only with them in the company could the company always control the telegraph company, even if they controlled 50% of the shares, and the American Company still controlled more than 45% of the shares of the telegraph company. In other words, the controlling rights were still in the hands of the company. In the future, this telegraph company would be a continuous cash cow.
After all, historically, the British government received hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds in profit dividends from the Atlantic Telegraph Company every year with its 25% stake. And every pound contains 7.32238 grams of pure gold!
How could Zhu Xianhai give up such lucrative profits? The introduction of the UK and France is nothing more than to better control the company and to keep this cash cow.
After all, neither of them would accept the other controlling the company.
“This year’s expenses…”
100 million francs is only enough for this year's expenses! Even a country can't spend so much money.
While Field was astonished, Buffett had already walked into the ballroom and walked straight towards a well-known socialite.
It seemed that to him, the "100 million francs" deal was not worth mentioning at all.
In fact, the reason why Buffett no longer considers this issue is that he no longer needs to consider the remaining issues, and there is no point in considering them. After all, the next game is no longer a game for businessmen, but a game for the country. Neither he nor American Corporation is good enough at the moment.
Instead of worrying about this problem, it is better to communicate with the socialite and enjoy the charm of French girls.
By the way, collect some information from them and develop a few useful "lovers".
After all, intelligence is extremely important to businessmen. Of course, this is also one of the reasons why he came here.
…
10 Downing Street, London, the Prime Minister's official residence.
"One hundred million francs!"
Pasmedon frowned.
"If I remember correctly, they mortgaged 25% of the shares to the bank for 200 pounds. Now, are they raising the price again?"
Foreign Secretary Lord Russell smiled and said:
"Mr. Prime Minister, don't underestimate the power of the capital market. I heard that the problem for the stock markets in London and New York now is not how much the shares of the Atlantic Telegraph Company are worth, but how to buy its shares. As we all know, as the only telegraph line between the Old World and the New World, its importance cannot be overemphasized! In fact, the market is full of expectations for it... It is basically certain that the company's future profits will be extremely considerable. According to the calculations of the Colonial Office, it will save Britain 500,000 pounds in expenditures each year, and the company's direct dividends will be no less than 200,000 pounds. Moreover, as the number of telegraph users increases in the future, its dividends will increase greatly!"
Who would have thought that the jokes and scandals of the past would become the goose that lays golden eggs overnight? The problem is that many people missed this opportunity.
“We all laughed knowing it was important.”
Pasmedon nodded and said.
"But 50 million francs! That's close to 2.1 million pounds. For the UK, this is a considerable expense, even a huge sum of money."
"It should be 1.5 million pounds. After all, we still hold a portion of the shares. But Mr. Prime Minister, the problem now is that the involvement of the French has made the situation of this company a little complicated, especially since the Americans have been kicked out and the French are now intervening in Mexico..."
"American……"
Pasmedon lit up his cigar, took a puff, thought for a while,
"The expansion of the French in Mexico probably makes the Americans the most nervous. How did the French respond to the American protests? They went to buy cotton from the South. Now the traditional friendship between the United States and France during the War of Independence has been completely destroyed by our dear Napoleon III. My friend, what do you think, if the Americans are excluded from the Atlantic Telegraph Company, will it further intensify the conflict between the two countries?"
"That's for sure."
Lord Russell nodded heavily and said:
"However, we don't know who will be the ultimate winner of the American Civil War, nor do we know whether the French will eventually go that far!"
“It doesn’t matter!”
Pasmedon said.
"The important thing is that we need to plant a fuse in advance and detonate it at the right time in the future, the French..."
Shaking his head, he took another puff of his cigar.
"They are neither our friends nor our enemies. Of course, there is also the American company..."
Looking up at Lord Russell, Pasmedon said.
"I heard that they used us to force Mitre to make concessions, right?"
"It's not that they are taking advantage of us, but we need Mitre to focus on other things. As for America, it's not time to deal with it yet, but I believe that in the near future, we will need to consider their problems. Now... they are just a franchise company."
After thinking for a while, Lord Russell said again.
"Mr. Prime Minister, according to the intelligence we have, after the American Company purchased the Great Eastern, they sent the ship to the Far East. In addition, many merchant ships they purchased in the UK were converted into extremely crowded immigration ships. It seems that they are planning to introduce a large number of Chinese coolies to solve the problem of labor shortage."
"Import Chinese coolies? You mean, all their ships are used to import coolies from China? Very few immigrants from Europe?"
Pasimeton looked at Russell in surprise, as if he didn't quite believe it, and even his expression became a little unbelievable. His eyes were full of doubts, as if he didn't believe it was true at all.
"Yes. As far as I know, sixteen of the twenty-three old ships they bought have sailed to China after being refitted. It seems that they are more willing to introduce Chinese coolies than European immigrants."
(End of this chapter)
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