Chapter 883: Since It's in My Hands, Did You Really Think You'd Get It Back?
Another twenty million francs in gold was cycled in and out by "shills" arranged by Laffitte, which didn't affect the actual inventory at all.
The remaining portion consisted of exchange applications held back by the Remote Transfer Clause, meaning no actual gold had been paid out yet.
As a result, while it appeared on the books that the French government had exchanged over a hundred million francs' worth of gold, the actual payout had not even come close to depleting the Bank of France's reserves.
It was then that Joseph allowed the Italians to enter the fray.
Ross slapped his thigh with gusto and turned to his subordinate. "Simon, write this: 'France faces a gold run of over a hundred million francs; financial markets remain stable.' This news is bound to stir up some serious interest!"
Hearing this, the other foreign journalists nearby also felt their eyes light up.
Since they were already here, they had to report some kind of news to send back home.
Just then, officials from the Paris Futures Exchange began posting a new announcement on the wall.
Ross gestured for Simon to go take a look.
Before Ross could even process this, he saw the last two hundred or so people still waiting outside the Bank of France to exchange their paper for gold suddenly disperse in an uproar.
If sugar could only be bought with francs from now on, they actually needed to keep some paper currency in their pockets.
The citizens in the square began to grumble in dissatisfaction. "Those damn financial experts—no, those liars—actually said the government wouldn't honor the exchange."
"The Bank of France has already paid out over a hundred million in gold. The government is as good as its word."
"I knew the franc couldn't be in trouble. I wasted three days standing in line for nothing!"
"You're telling me? If I'd known the bank had such massive gold reserves, I wouldn't have lost several days' worth of wages..."
Once Ross and the other foreign journalists had gathered enough material, they returned to their respective lodgings to prepare their drafts.
As they took in the sights of Paris along the way, they were all struck by the pervasive rail transport, the gas streetlights, and the clean, orderly streets. Many were already planning to write a special column on "The Prosperity and Fashion of Paris."
...
In the eastern suburbs of Rouen.
Lord McGovern sat in his carriage, calculating the losses from this operation. His eyelids couldn't stop twitching.
Indeed, the moment he realized they couldn't break the French gold reserves, he had fled Paris immediately.
On the ledger before him, the interest on the loans alone amounted to over four million francs—and that didn't even include the loans to be paid to Württemberg, Upper Hesse, and other states; it was just the interest on what he had borrowed within France.
Then there was the fee for converting those 800,000 pounds into francs, which cost another 1.7 million francs.
In addition, there were the expenses for hiring Bruni's team, the foreign journalists, and other overhead, totaling 170,000 francs.
McGovern closed his eyes and leaned his head back with a long, weary sigh. "We spent 230,000 pounds and ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it.
"When I return, Mr. Wilberforce will surely punish me severely..."
Two hundred and thirty thousand pounds was equivalent to 5.8 million francs—enough money to build four of the most advanced third-rate ships of the line.
The servant sitting opposite McGovern spoke up. "My Lord, you didn't come away entirely empty-handed."
"Oh?"
"You caused serious panic in Paris at the very least. Their banking sector has been in chaos for over a month. I estimate this cost them at least four or five million francs in losses."
McGovern looked at him and nodded slowly. "You're right. At most, it could be considered a draw!"
He immediately picked up his pen and began drafting his report to Wilberforce.
He had just started when he heard a servant knocking on the carriage window. "My Lord, Martin has an extremely urgent matter and needs to see you."
McGovern frowned instantly.
Martin was his trusted aide left behind in Paris to handle the aftermath. Why had he suddenly chased after them?
The carriage came to a halt, and the aide climbed in, dripping with sweat. He was too breathless even for a proper greeting. "Your Lordship, the French Tax Bureau has seized five of our companies... specifically the ones involved in the loans and the currency exchange."
McGovern's heart sank. "What happened?"
"Supposedly, the French Tax Bureau discovered massive capital movements and determined they were evading taxes," Martin said, swallowing hard. "Now the Tax Bureau has frozen all assets associated with them, including those loans and the gold..."
McGovern felt a roar in his ears, nearly fainting on the spot.
He had brought nearly 40 million francs from the South German states and borrowed another 20 million in France. All of that money was sitting in the accounts of those front companies...
Those shameless Frenchmen had actually frozen all sixty million!
He clutched his chest tightly, taking a long time to catch his breath. He secretly thanked the heavens that the francs converted from the 800,000 pounds hadn't been used yet and were stored in a secret warehouse, otherwise the loss would have been even more catastrophic.
He knew very well that while the French Tax Bureau called it a "freeze," that money was likely gone for good.
Even if he could use lawyers to sue for the release of the funds, the Tax Bureau could still slap them with astronomical fines.
In the end, he'd be lucky to get back even two-thirds of it.
If Joseph knew what he was thinking, he would have told him with utter contempt, 'Keep dreaming.'
First of all, it would be difficult to explain the source of those funds. The court could spend a year or two just "verifying the evidence of the source of capital."
Then there was the Tax Bureau's investigation into the tax evasion itself.
They would have to audit everything starting from the day those companies were founded. Auditing that many accounts would take two or three years at a minimum.
Only after that could you even begin a lawsuit to lift the freeze. The court would deliberate, the Tax Bureau would appeal, and the case would be sent back for a retrial.
They could easily drag it out for another two or three years.
By the time seven or eight years had passed, the French government would have already made full use of that money.
Then the Tax Bureau would find some pretext to set the fine at eighty percent of the total assets.
You don't agree?
Fine, then continue the litigation.
And that was playing "clean."
If they didn't care about their financial reputation, they could simply slap a "espionage" charge on the company shareholders and make the people themselves disappear!
That night, Lord McGovern fell gravely ill. By the time he reached London, he was unable to even leave his bed.
Meanwhile, news of the gold run spread across Europe through the foreign journalists McGovern himself had invited.
The old impressions of "French finances on the brink of collapse" or "France facing a massive debt crisis" were completely overturned.
Every nation began to realize that France's financial health was recovering rapidly.
What Joseph hadn't expected was that after this incident, the franc became exceptionally strong. Everyone now knew that the franc could truly be exchanged for gold at any time, even if over a hundred million francs were demanded at once.
Many merchants from Russia, Austria, Prussia, and even the Ottoman Empire were now willing to accept franc banknotes as payment when trading with France.
In Stuttgart, the capital of Württemberg.
In the palace hall, Talleyrand sat across from Crown Prince Ludwig Eugen with a grim expression, speaking in a low, stern voice.
"Because your country violated our loan agreement, my nation has suffered immense losses!"
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