From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

“Establishment of the Corsican National Silver Company?”

Duke Choiseul frowned and looked at Lawrence. Although Lawrence's half-and-half shareholding proposal instantly attracted Duke Choiseul, setting up a company in a poor place like Corsica still made Duke Choiseul feel very strange. .

Limited by traditional and backward production relations, there are only a few companies in Corsica. The few companies that are located in Ajaccio are engaged in overseas trade and were established in order to integrate with trade partners.

Although he felt strange, Duke Choiseul considered Lawrence's proposal carefully.

Lawrence's request for the Corsican government to hold 51% of the shares undoubtedly meant that he wanted absolute control in order to achieve full operating rights over the silver mine.

The Duke of Choiseul didn't care about this. As long as France could get half of the profits, participating in the development of silver mines would require additional investment to help the Corsicans.

And if they just divide the profits, the French only need to send a few auditors to the national silver company.

"interesting."

Duke Choiseul kept touching his chin, obviously very interested in Lawrence's proposal, but he still asked with some concern:

"But is it necessary to set up a company in Corsica? Given Corsica's national conditions, it is of course more economically feasible to let farmers come to the mines to work as corvees. You don't want to hire specialized miners, right?"

"It's not a labor issue."

Lawrence clapped his fingers and said that he still had more than a thousand prisoners of war from Britain and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Although these two countries would definitely try to negotiate with Lawrence to redeem these soldiers, as long as the negotiation process dragged on long enough, they would be able to Been working for Corsica for a long time.

Duke Choiseul rubbed his head. He was not well versed in financial issues. After thinking for a while, he had no answer, so he asked directly:

"What are you doing for that?"

"You just said that the development of silver mines is extremely slow at present, and there are not even a few mines."

Lawrence's expression became solemn, he drew a circle on the map where the silver mine was located, and said:

"Including clearing forests and clearing roads in the deep mountains, building houses, transporting supplies for workers, and even maintaining the garrison in the mines, this is a huge upfront investment."

"Yeah, that's right."

Duke Choiseul glanced at the map. The silver mine was indeed located deep in the mountains. If you want to develop it, you will undoubtedly need to improve the surrounding infrastructure, which will indeed require a large amount of start-up capital.

Naturally, the Corsican government itself cannot afford such a large sum of money.

"In other words, Governor Bonaparte, you want an investment?"

Duke Choiseul nodded, understanding what Lawrence meant, but shook his head and rejected:

"But I don't think the royal family would be happy to invest without even seeing a piece of ore."

Lawrence smiled and nodded. He had never wanted to get start-up capital from the French royal family, and even if the royal family was willing to invest, the amount would not be too high. Instead, it would change the equity structure designed by Lawrence.

So Lawrence said as expected:

"Of course, I can understand that. After all, it doesn't sound very wise to leave a lot of livres in the mountains of Corsica."

"Oh? Then where do you want to get investment from?"

Seeing Lawrence's confident look, Duke Choiseul couldn't help but ask curiously.

Lawrence looked into Duke Choiseul's eyes and said slowly:

"Paris Stock Exchange."

"Paris Stock Exchange? Hiss"

Duke Choiseul was stunned for a moment, but soon realized Lawrence's purpose and why he set up the Corsican National Silver Company.

The Paris Stock Exchange was founded in 1724. The French chose to establish it after realizing that the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the world's oldest stock exchange, had greatly contributed to the development of the financial industry.

After decades of development, the Paris Stock Exchange has become the facility with the largest daily wealth flow in Paris and even in France.

At this time, Duke Choiseul finally understood Lawrence's intention. Once the Corsican National Silver Company is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and issues shares:

With its shareholder background from the Corsican official government and the French royal family, coupled with the solid fixed assets of the Ajaccio silver mine, no one will doubt its operational stability, and this will be a stock with extremely low risk.

Not to mention that the Ajaccio silver mine is currently in a state of waste and has almost no development. This means that the stock price of National Silver Company still has considerable room for growth, and National Silver’s stock will undoubtedly become a bullish stock. stock.

The savvy investors on the Paris Stock Exchange will soon discover this. By then, whether they are speculators seeking high profits, businessmen seeking asset preservation, or even nobles and nobles with large amounts of spare money in their hands, The Padres, they're all going to join the rush to buy the stock.

"I see, there are a lot of extremely rich people in Paris, as long as they get together and invest in the country's silver."

Duke Choiseul nodded in enlightenment and couldn't help but look at Lawrence a few more times. He didn't expect that this young man was not only involved in politics and military affairs, but also was so deeply involved in finance.

"However, Your Excellency, although I don't know much about Paris, there should be strict regulations for a company to issue shares on the Paris Stock Exchange, right?"

Lawrence suddenly smiled and said to Duke Choiseul.

Duke Choiseul frowned and nodded, saying that he was right. After all, the Paris Stock Exchange had only been established for more than 40 years, and it had adopted relatively conservative measures and attitudes towards various financial behaviors.

Lawrence sighed deliberately again, shook his head helplessly and said:

"Moreover, the National Silver Company is technically a foreign company, and it was even just established verbally between the two of us. It will be very difficult to list it on the Paris Stock Exchange."

Duke Choiseul narrowed his eyes, relaxed his body and leaned back on the chair, looked at Lawrence with a smile, and said:

"That's true. If you follow the process, you need to reach an agreement with the bank first. There are a lot of procedures to go through between the bank and the stock exchange, which will be troublesome. So Governor Bonaparte, do you want...?"

Lawrence also smiled, shrugged and said:

"Rules are dead, people are alive. For the famous Duke of Choiseul, it is not a problem to exert influence on the Paris Stock Exchange, right? After all, the French royal family also controls half of the national silver company."

The smile on Duke Choiseul's face became even brighter. At this time, he also knew why Lawrence was so generous and directly gave away 49% of the shares. The National Silver Company naturally needed to operate in the French financial market. Some additional cost.

Then Duke Choiseul nodded without hesitation and said:

"Oh, the rules of the Paris Stock Exchange are indeed a bit rigid. I think there is no problem with occasional changes."

Seeing Duke Choiseul's clean agreement, Lawrence also smiled with satisfaction and sighed secretly:

"If this kind of thing were left to future generations, it would be a complete financial scandal."

After speaking, Duke Choiseul stood up on his own initiative, shook his clothes easily, and said with a smile:

"Ah, it really makes me feel happy to talk to a young talent like you. I hope your party is not over yet. Let's go and have a few glasses of brandy together?"

"certainly."

Lawrence smiled and looked at Duke Choiseul. Looking at the smile on his face, he couldn't help but think to himself:

"I hope that His Excellency the Duke will still be able to smile in a few months."

No one except Lawrence himself knew that what he wanted to get on the Paris Stock Exchange was not at all the start-up capital for the Ajaccio silver mine.

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