Fox of France

On the second day after receiving the order from Madrid, Ambassador Juan came to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs again to visit Minister Talleyrand.

At this time, Talleyrand actually had a clear understanding of Juan's intentions. People from the Ministry of Truth had handed over the sorted information to Talleyrand yesterday. And Talleyrand, after reading the reliable documents that were said to be produced by Nei Ying in Spain, gave Lucien a thumbs up in his heart, and then immediately rushed to see Napoleon and discussed with him, Be prepared to deal with it.

In the luxurious reception room of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Juan met Foreign Minister Talleyrand again.

"Your Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, I have been ordered to make a proposal to your country." Ambassador Juan said.

"My friend, I am all ears." Talleyrand said, spreading 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 allies, and our arsenal can be opened to our allies."

"However, Your Excellency the Foreign Minister, you also know that it is very difficult for us to get that much money for a while." Ambassador Juan said.

"This is not a problem, we can lend you money." Foreign Minister Talleyrand said with a smile, "For allies, we are always willing to provide some help within our capacity. I know quite a few bankers, and I would like to use Spain's status and reputation, you can get loans with relatively favorable terms from them.”

In fact, Spain's economic situation was not much better than that of pre-revolutionary France. It's all Bourbon after all. Before the French Revolution, King Louis XVI also borrowed from bankers to maintain his finances. It's just that His Majesty the King played a little too much. In the end, if he didn't pay the money, he had to borrow new debts to pay off the old debts. Well, if it is in later generations, this would be a good way, for example, the Lighthouse Kingdom has been playing like this in later generations.

But there is one big difference between this era and future generations, that is, the loan interest rates in this era are generally relatively high. When the lighthouse countries of later generations played this trick, the annual interest rate on debts was generally only two to three percent. Even taking into account the influence of the most powerful force in the universe, this trick can still be maintained for a long time.

But in this era, a banker or something can basically be equated with a usury. The interest rate of borrowing is not a matter of 23 percent. If it is not done well, 23 percent is a matter of conscience. With such an interest rate, and considering the most powerful force in the universe, then, this game will not last long at all. The next result, of course, is a default on the debt. The natural consequence of defaulting on a debt is that it will be very difficult to borrow money in the future, and the conditions will be more stringent.

Although Spain has not yet reached the level of Louis XVI, its credit in the debt market is also very average. This also means that for the same debt, Spain can only attract people who are willing to lend money to them by offering a higher interest rate. Therefore, the so-called "loans with relatively favorable terms" are purely deceiving people.

As for the help of the French government, well, the "Napoleonic Code" clearly stipulates that France implements the rules of the 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 the Bank of France has gradually taken on the flavor of a central bank, and considering the status of the Bonaparte family in this alliance, they can completely make this alliance cooperate with French policies. Of course, there are also sayings that it is not the Union of the Bank of France that cooperates with the French government, but the French government has been cooperating with the Union of the Bank of France.

In short, just listen to what Talleyrand said. As for borrowing money, whether it is from the French or the British, basically the interest rate will not be low.

"Our Majesty does not intend to borrow too much debt, because it is also a heavy burden for the people." Juan said, "Our Majesty the King is a benevolent king, and he does not want to increase the people's debt too much." burden."

"It's not that I don't want to increase the burden on the people, but I'm worried that the Spanish people will learn from the French to have a great revolution." Talleyrand thought in his heart, but said in his mouth: "Your Majesty's love for the people, It's really admirable. I believe that the people of your country will be able to overcome the little difficulties in front of you under the wise leadership of your king."

This sounds nice, but what it actually means is: "I can't help you anymore, you should take care of it yourself. It's up to you whether you live or die."

"Your Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, we have a suggestion." Ambassador Juan said.

"I am all ears. If we have the opportunity to help our allies, we have always been obliged." Talleyrand said.

"You are the ones who have always been very active in cheating allies." Ambassador Juan said in his heart, but the smile on his face became more and more sincere.

"We intend to sell part of our territories in North America to obtain corresponding funds," said Ambassador Juan.

"Ah." Talleyrand asked with a look of surprise, "what land is your country planning to sell?"

"We plan to sell Florida. I wonder if your country has any intention?" 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 gain a very good support point in the Caribbean. This was not good news for the French, who were planning to develop Louisiana well and were clearly eager to push north. Therefore, yesterday, when Talleyrand and Napoleon were discussing, they both decided that it is best not to let this position fall into the hands of the Americans.

However, both Talleyrand and Napoleon also believed that the sale of Florida was more to force the French to spend more money. Because once Florida is lost, the Americans will directly approach the Caribbean, and the threat to Spain's interests will be even greater.

In addition, the Spaniards announced that they would sell Florida, which also meant 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 Spaniards got it. Before that, it was the territory of the British. So the white people there are mainly Saxon Anglos. After Britain withdrew from the region, these people immediately hooked up with the United States, another Saxon Anglo country to the north. Although this land is now legally owned by the Spaniards, the Spaniards simply cannot control it. If there are no other spoilers, it will almost be a matter of time before this land falls into the hands of the Americans.

If this part of the land falls into the hands of the French, with the current strength of France, it will naturally be much more difficult for the Americans to infiltrate. In this way, other parts of Spain, especially Cuba, will be much safer.

"Florida? This place is very rich, and your government should be able to get a lot of benefits from it. Isn't it a pity to sell it like this?" Talleyrand said, "And because the residents on this land The composition of the staff. To be honest, we are not very interested in it."

The U.S. Navy is not yet strong enough to cut off France and Louisiana. Therefore, when Joseph and Napoleon discussed the Spaniard's plan to sell Florida, he said that even if Florida fell into the hands of the Americans, the temporary threat would still be relatively limited. But to take over this place, there are a lot of troubles. So Talleyrand's statement at this time is not a bluff to lower the price.

"If your country is not interested, then we can only sell this 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 that any business , if there is only one buyer, it will be difficult for the seller to sell at a good price. We can cooperate with your country and act as if we are also actively participating in the purchase of Florida to help your country raise the price. Of course, we will offend if we do so America, for that, we need some compensation as well."

This request was beyond Ambassador Juan's expectations, but he still asked, "What compensation do you need?"

"We also wish to purchase some of your lands in North America," said Talleyrand. "We wish to acquire several ports on the Pacific Ocean. To extend our lines of commerce. You know, since our setback in India, we have The trade with the Far East was forced to stop, and we hope to resume it from this direction. Therefore, we hope to buy the Panama region from your country. In addition, in order to facilitate whaling activities in the Pacific Ocean, we hope to offer you Buy San Francisco and San Jose."

Needless to say, the strategic significance of Panama - even if there is no canal yet. As for San Francisco, it has a common and familiar name among Chinese people: "San Francisco". And this name is because, near it, there is a large gold mine buried very shallowly. This large gold mine even triggered the famous gold rush. Many of the western films that Joseph saw in his previous life involved related content. Joseph felt that if he could take advantage of the Mexican Revolution and take these places into his own pocket, he would have made a profit no matter what.

And it was not difficult for him to persuade Napoleon and Lucien to support him. Because before that, in the name of the French Academy of Sciences, he organized several expeditions to North America to investigate the geology, flora and fauna there. Then he told Napoleon: "Our people have found veins of gold in the area around San Francisco."

This is not a lie, because when Joseph sent these expeditions, he aimed at these locations.

"Mr. Jones, the expedition leader, found gold sand in the river near San Francisco. But he was very cautious and did not expose this secret. Therefore, this secret has not been made public for the time being. These places are now wild places. We At this time, it won't cost much to get these lands down, and it must be profitable." Joseph said to his two younger brothers.