Harry Potter Morning Light

Chapter 1701 The Secret Words of the Goddess (46)

In June 1815, Waterloo, 20 kilometers away from Brussels, Belgium, was in summer.

This kind of weather is very unfriendly to the gun car, because the ooze in the swamp will sink the wheels and damage the axle.

The soldiers had to stop every once in a while to fix the axles. Soldiers from peasant backgrounds almost always followed their fathers to do some handicraft work on the farm since they were young. Simple things like repairing axles were no problem at all, but it took two steps. It still feels exhausting and frustrating to just fix it.

The sound of hammers echoed everywhere above the swamp. This situation is different from the battle of Austerlitz 10 years ago.

It was winter at that time, and the weather was also very bad. There was heavy snow in the sky, and the slush was about knee deep, which was similar to the swamp near Waterloo. .

The fluttering snowflakes looked no different from Russian snow, except that it was not so dense and the wind was not so biting.

How could there be such a hellish place on this planet?

How many people died of cold during the retreat? How many people died of starvation? How many other people died in battle?

In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte had other options before it ended like that, such as retreating earlier, instead of waiting stupidly for peace talks. The Russians burned Moscow, so there is nothing to talk about.

Or confiscate the remaining unburned food. As for what to do with the Russian civilians, it is not the French's consideration.

After remarrying and having children, Napoleon's heart seemed to soften.

Perhaps the great comet that appeared in the sky in 1811 was not a good omen for sending troops, but a warning.

By the way, a comet also appeared that year. An astronomy soldier still remembered that Nelson died a few days before the comet appeared.

Isn't it said that astrology can predict the future? How did it become a report?

The old soldier's joke caused a lot of laughter, and after the car was repaired, they continued on their way, and the episode was soon forgotten.

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"Have you ever heard of CFA francs?"

Just as Severus stepped on a ladder conjured by Transfiguration and touched the glass balls on the dome one by one, Lucius, who was standing on the ground with nothing to do, asked leisurely.

Severus ignored him, so Lucius spoke to himself.

"That is the currency issued by the Bank of France to West Africa, which is only recognized by France, which means that the goods produced in the former French West African colonies can only be sold to the French, until Germany and France abolished their national currencies and began to use the euro. "

"I don't have time to tell you that right now," Severus said without looking back.

Afraid that Lucius would say something like "Monsourie" again, Severus used the earplugs to stop the other two Muggles in the stone room from hearing what they were saying.

"Do you still remember what my friend told me about the US real estate crisis?" Lucius said, "In addition to silver, I also want to find other safe-haven currencies."

"I don't think CFA francs are safe," Severus said.

"Do you know what a CFA franc is?" Lucius asked again.

Severus looked back at him.

"No." Severus said coldly.

"It seems that not only do you not listen to people, but you don't usually like to read books." Lucius said in a long tone, pretending.

Severus shook his head, turned his head and continued to touch the glass balls, each of them was about the size of a snowball, and there was not only white mist in it, but there seemed to be other things in the mist.

"The Germans wanted to cover the whole of Europe with the euro and replace the dollar, but after France abolished its own currency, the CFA franc could no longer be used, but although the CFA franc was no longer exchangeable with the French franc at a fixed ratio, it could instead be exchanged with the euro exchanged at a fixed rate."

"Wait, so the rest of the Eurozone countries can exchange CFA francs?" Severus asked.

"This is a rule that has not been put on the table. Other people's colonies cannot be touched. Anyway, I heard that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer said that he would not exchange euros with the CFA franc area. And you also know that the currency is not safe due to the war situation there. If the CFA franc can be exchanged with the euro at a fixed ratio, it is crucial for those countries that have rebuilt order from wars and coups, but the CFA franc is indeed a legacy of the colonial era, especially after France decolonization, most of West Africa The foreign exchange is in the hands of the French, which limits the trade of those colonies and other trading areas. Every time the French economy declines, the countries in the CFA franc zone will suffer, and the economic decline will cause a coup, so the CFA franc The regional countries want to get rid of the control of France, the suzerain country, have you heard of Niger?"

"Yes." Severus said.

"This country produces oil. Niger has no refinery. After selling crude oil to the French at a low price, they have to use the CFA francs to buy agricultural products from the French. The French did not build infrastructure or irrigation facilities there. This year, due to the drought in Niger There was a famine."

"I haven't heard of gas prices going up," Severus said.

"But diesel has been taxed." Lucius said. "Do you believe it's really for the environment?"

"Of course I do," Severus said falsely.

"Someone has appeared to disrupt the situation." Lucius said with emotion, "The infrastructure madman is going to build an oil refinery in Niger."

"Africa is so far from Asia," Severus said.

"I told you, they are infrastructure madmen. The French are really too lazy now. I remember that Napoleon did a lot of infrastructure construction when he was in Egypt."

Severus' face darkened.

"If the Niger refinery is successfully built, they can directly exchange oil for food and other supplies without CFA francs, which will have an impact on France's crude oil resources." Lucius said, "This summer will be very uneventful."

"Are there no other refineries in France?" Severus asked.

"Of course, they voted against the Iraq war, but once the domestic crude oil crisis breaks out, they will most likely be stationed in the Middle East like Britain and the United States. The only way for oil tankers to pass is the Suez Canal. If there are too many oil tankers, running aground in the canal is also a problem." Risk. The United States has always hoped to bring France into NATO, because of Gaullistism, and the French are unwilling to hand over military power to the Americans, so it has not been successful."

"Who are they going to pass the responsibility on to?" Severus asked.

"Who else is, of course the 'culprit'." Lucius said with a smile, "If Niger no longer sells crude oil to the French at a low price and buys French grain at a high price, then the interests of French farmers and French exports, There will be problems with tariffs. To obtain stable tax revenue and reduce fuel consumption, the diesel tax must be increased. I remember that France advertised the benefits of diesel vehicles everywhere, and now it is promoting gasoline, and some roads have speed limits. It means that people who drive to work will spend more time on the road, less time for them to rest and spend time with their families, and what's worse is that the subway will go on strike, so I fully believe what you said that there will be riots in France this fall and spread As far as the whole of Europe, there may be other driving forces behind this, such as our friends across the ocean, they will delay the promotion of the euro through this incident, but others don’t believe me.”

"The undersea tunnel is not so easy to close." Severus said indifferently, "I still want to thank you for your support, Lucius."

"France has not suffered from famine for a long time." Lucius said lightly, "However, sometimes the cause of famine is not natural disasters, but man-made. In the past, the French smuggled grain for gold, and now they can trade grain for oil. You can get cheap, tax-free diesel."

"They don't have a refinery," Severus said.

"That's why I told you that the spoiler appeared. Once the Niger's oil refinery and power station are built, the entire CFA franc region will shake. Do you know how much tax revenue and resources this will cost France?" Lucius said.

Severus thought about it.

Just as Lucius was about to speak, a glass ball suddenly fell from the dome.

It fell to the ground with a "snap".

As a puff of white smoke slowly dispersed, a silver scorpion raised its tail.

This is obviously not a living creature, it looks like a product of alchemy, Baldwin and Arlette quickly backed away.

Lucius used flying sand and rocks on it, but it had no effect. In an emergency, Severus used shattering on it, which was also ineffective.

"It doesn't look easy," Severus said.

"Do you want to use the Fiercefire Curse?" Lucius asked.

"Do you want this to be like the Room of Requirement?" Severus said dryly, casting another spell.

A piece of sticky phlegm stuck the silver scorpion.

Severus looked up at the glass spheres on the dome.

Now they look like worm eggs, if they all hatch...