Chapter 310: Chapter 306 Digging a Pit for the United States
After Queen Victoria’s private letter arrived at Jerome Bonaparte’s study through the secret channels of the Rothschild Clan, Jerome Bonaparte sitting in the study felt an inexplicable melancholy.
[PS: In the 19th century, the Rothschild Clan established a vast secret communication network in Europe, and historically, Prince Albert used this secret channel to communicate with the European Royal Families.]
The World Exhibition of Britain might rather be seen as Britain itself displaying its own superiority than a place for countries to showcase their industrial products.
Who doesn’t know that in all of Europe and indeed the whole world, only Britain has completed the Industrial Revolution? Massive amounts of industrial crystallizations are shipped out from Britain’s factories, transported via cargo ships to Europe and the world.
After a moment of brief melancholy, Jerome Bonaparte pulled himself together. He clenched his fist and gazed at the letter written in French, secretly vowing that he too would hold a World Exhibition even more glorious than Britain’s.
By then, he would make the whole world be astounded by France.
(World Line +10)
After reading the letter, Jerome Bonaparte put it back in the drawer and then personally drafted a reply.
In the letter, Jerome Bonaparte stated that he would definitely send France’s exhibits to Britain, exchange and progress together with Britain. The two neighboring countries, France and Britain, should support each other to construct a harmonious European order. At the end of the letter, Jerome Bonaparte subtly mentioned that his cousin Valerovsky would accompany the delegation to Britain, hoping that Britain could spare the time for communication.
After writing, Jerome Bonaparte folded and sealed the letter, then ordered Valerovsky to call in Alphonse Rothschild, the President of the Rothschild France Branch.
By now, he was no longer the impulsive person he was a year ago. After more than a year of "life-or-death" power struggle, Alphonse Rothschild, with the help of his father James Rothschild, successfully defeated the "uncles" eyeing the power of the France Branch and consolidated the pseudo-autonomy of the Naples Branch.
Now he’s like a sheathed blade; without drawing it, no one knows its power.
"Governor!" Alphonse Rothschild displayed an unprecedented deference.
To curry favor with this temporary dictator of France, Alphonse Rothschild deliberately bent his body slightly and lowered his head.
"Sit," Jerome Bonaparte said with satisfaction, looking at the "reformed" Alphonse Rothschild. Although he knew Alphonse Rothschild was subdued under power, having power indeed allowed him to do as he pleased.
Alphonse Rothschild sat across from Jerome Bonaparte, straightening his posture like a student attending a lecture.
"Please pass this letter to Queen Victoria!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled as he pinched the sealed letter and pushed it to Alphonse Rothschild, adding, "I believe with the Rothschild Clan’s network, delivering a letter to Buckingham Palace should be an easy task!"
Without even looking, Alphonse Rothschild pocketed the letter, solemnly promising Jerome Bonaparte it would be delivered to Buckingham Palace.
As they parted, Jerome Bonaparte thought of the "interesting" intelligence recently sent from California and gave a light reminder: "Be careful!"
"Governor, you mean..." Alphonse Rothschild asked nervously.
"Your actions in California have already attracted some people’s attention!" Jerome Bonaparte reminded Alphonse Rothschild once more.
Hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s words, Alphonse Rothschild felt as if his heart was being squeezed by someone, even causing his breathing to become rapid.
Jerome Bonaparte’s figure became unusually terrifying in his eyes.
How did he know about our actions in California!
"I understand!" Alphonse Rothschild forced a smile to express his gratitude to Jerome Bonaparte.
After Alphonse Rothschild left, Jerome Bonaparte looked through the letter from California.
The author of the letter was Jerome Bonaparte’s "dear" cousin Jerome Parsons.
Besides explaining that the United States Government might take action against several gold mining industries with European capital, the letter also reported on the amount of gold mined and the stock situation of the gold mining companies on the United States Stock Exchange.
By March, the market value of several of Jerome Bonaparte’s companies had leapt from tens of millions to over a billion.
Backed by the tacit alliance of capital behind major gold mining companies, experts in Europe and the United States were working at full throttle to promote that the U.S. gold mines were rich enough to be mined for half a century.
While the United States Government hit back against certain "foreign" capitals, to stabilize the newly annexed Californian population and dilute Indian descent, it too trumpeted the gold mine production in California.
With both internal and external coordination, the gold mining bubble in California continued to inflate, crazier than California’s actual historical record.
Emile Pereire, skilled in finding "business opportunities," established a series of peripheral companies like those for drinking water and housing based on existing gold mining companies. These companies also leveraged the gold mines as a gimmick to issue stocks and bonds, lobbying bureaucrats in New York and the state government, while declaring in Washington D.C. that they would certainly construct complete housing in California. For this, Emile Pereire even spent "a fortune" hiring a French architectural giant to design the housing.
Grand blueprints emerged on paper and appeared in the streets of New York and Washington through advertisements. Many investors (referred to as "chives" in slang) who saw the investment prospects in California furiously snapped up stocks.
Stocks of California derivatives like tap water and housing were also pushed up to a value of nearly a billion francs.
Moreover, the Government of California specially chose the best plot for them, offering incentives to ensure the rapid completion of town construction and to attract more people.
Little did the state government and New York stockholders know that Emile Pereire had no intention of serving the infrastructure of the United States, as the vast majority of the money was converted into gold and sent out of the U.S. through various means.
As long as the gold mine bubble in the United States remained unburst, their Ponzi scheme would never be exposed.
By the time the gold mine bubble completely burst, causing a tsunami, Emile Pereire and the others would have long since departed from California.
All the mess would have to be paid for by the Government of California and the United States.
After rereading the letter, Jerome Bonaparte also wrote a letter in which he praised both Emile Pereire and Jerome Parsons while warning them to act cautiously.
Though historically the gold rush in California persisted until 1855, given the current frenzy over the gold rush, it seemed likely the gold rush might end sooner.
This also meant they needed to sell off all stocks comprehensively and then, during the gold mine tsunami, buy back gold at low prices while other countries hadn’t yet reacted.
Such a maneuver undoubtedly tested the operator’s skill, but Jerome Bonaparte had great confidence in Emile Pereire.
After handing the finished letter to the Tuileries Palace Chief of Staff Mokar with orders to pass it through special channels to Jerome Parsons in the New Continent, Jerome Bonaparte called Valerovsky over.
"Cousin, you will accompany the exhibition team to Britain! Once the exhibition group arrives in Britain, you will be arranged to stay at a place where my cousin Prince Louis used to live! Someone will lead you to Buckingham Palace then!" Jerome Bonaparte made a series of arrangements for Valerovsky’s trip to Paris, then said to Valerovsky in a half-joking tone, "Maybe you’ll be invited by a member of the Hanover Royal Family to stay at Buckingham Palace!"
[Later, Jerome Bonaparte’s words came true! Valerovsky was indeed invited to Buckingham Palace.]
"Your Excellency, what should I do?" Valerovsky asked Jerome Bonaparte about his mission in Britain with a serious face, seemingly having forgotten what Jerome Bonaparte had previously told him.
"Your task is to make the Britons recognize our government, to negotiate with those damned Anglo-Saxons to contain the even more damned Slavs, and finally to fight for France’s overseas interests with Britain’s tacit approval!" Jerome Bonaparte rattled off all of Valerovsky’s tasks, filled with malice towards Britain and Russia: "Since my uncle, your father, went through that war, France’s overseas interests have been diminishing! Just occupying Algeria is not enough to satisfy France’s interests; we must strive for more!"
Valerovsky was delighted that Jerome Bonaparte acknowledged he was Napoleon’s son. After hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s plans to reach an agreement with Britain, he hesitantly said, "Your Excellency, I think the issue of agreements should be left to more professional people!"
Valerovsky was worried about ruining France’s diplomacy.
"Don’t worry!" Jerome Bonaparte assured Valerovsky, "All diplomacy is determined by the strength of one’s nation. The Kingdom of Britain will not disregard our decisions. You just need to reach a consensus with Britain as much as possible. The rest is up to God Almighty!"
Jerome Bonaparte assigned the task to Valerovsky in an unquestionable manner.
Valerovsky pledged to do his utmost to secure more interests for France.
On May 4, 1850, a World Expo exhibition team, only a few dozen strong, departed from Calais and arrived at London Port in the early morning of the 5th.