Holy Roman Empire

Egypt, the Suez Canal also reached a critical moment, after nine years of construction, and finally came to an end.

This time there was no stoppage of work, and there was no shortage of labor.The French and Austria jointly built the Grand Canal. The British did not make trouble, but instead let their Egyptian cotton planting plan die.

There is no other reason for the construction for so long. The main reason is that the design depth of the canal is four meters higher than the original Suez Canal.

Later, in the actual construction, the engineer sent by the Austrian side asked to make sure that it was foolproof, and placed another two meters down.

The depth increases, the width naturally increases accordingly, and the engineering volume naturally increases accordingly.In an era of lack of machinery, the increased volume of earthwork is not a small project.

The increase in engineering volume and construction costs have also increased. The original time and space Suez Canal was finally navigable after several twists and turns, and the cost was as high as 18.6 million pounds. Now it is as high as 37.7 million pounds without navigation.

The rising costs have kept the Suez Canal's stocks all the way lower, and many people doubt that this canal will pay for itself.

This happened to be cheap, Franz, and someone took the stock if he sold it.Anyway, you can't lose money, profit is just a matter of time.

It was he, the pick-up man, that the Suez Canal stock did not fall into the price of cabbage.Of course, falling below the issue price is inevitable.

After issuing two more shares, seeing the stock downturn seemed like it could no longer be sold. The Canal Company directly borrowed from the bank with the canal property mortgage.

The cold in the financial market, fortunately, this is a strategic project, which is regarded by the French and Austrian governments as an opportunity to break the British monopoly on the Strait of Putuoluo.

The banks are only willing to provide loans under the guarantee of the two governments.Originally Franz planned to take over the business himself, but was opposed by bank staff.

After all, the outside world is not optimistic about the Canal Company. The issuance of such huge loans is likely to trigger a chain reaction, and it will be troublesome if it affects the Royal Bank's ability to absorb reserves.

You know, most of Franz ’s investments are actually made using loans.In this context, it is essential to ensure the Royal Bank's ability to absorb reserves.

Loan from his bank, left hand to right hand, the capital cost he needs to pay is only the deposit interest rate.In fact, it is lower than the deposit rate.

Rolling funds used.Even if the money is spent, often an account is transferred to another account, and it is not withdrawn from the bank.

There is no UnionPay in this era, and cross-bank transfers all need to be done by yourself.In general, few people do this.

This is an opportunity where a bank can recycle a fund many times.As long as there are no financial crises or run-ups, there will be no problem in looping dozens of times.

Even if it is a financial crisis, it will not have a big impact on Royal Bank, and credibility is a good thing.

Over the years, the Royal Bank has received a lot of gold, some of which has been sold, and most of it has been stored. There is also a reserve of one hundred tons of gold at the headquarters in Vienna.

This is the credibility of the Royal Bank. On the surface, it seems that there are a lot of gold in one hundred tons, and the actual value is 273.224 thousand shields.

It just sounds domineering, making people feel wealthy and secure.

Of course, the most reassuring is the "royal" brand.As long as the royal family does not fail, the Royal Bank will not fail.This is equivalent to Franz's face, it is impossible to bankrupt it.

Most of the funds are used for self-investment, and naturally the funds used for lending are less.In fact, so far Royal Bank has not done small business.

Simply put, it is the loan business of less than one hundred thousand Aegis. There is no reception here, and there is no reception if there is collateral.The deposit limit is much lower, and Five Aegis can open an account.

There is no way, this era is limited by technology, all rely on manual business.The deposit is okay. The problem is loan review, and it is very troublesome to investigate the information.

Royal Bank makes small loans, except for policy loans entrusted by the government.The government is responsible for guaranteeing the repayment ability of customers, and these problems naturally disappear.

In this era of real small loans, only small and medium-sized banks are doing it, and the interest rate is much higher than ordinary commercial loans.Not much money was made, and the usury's infamy came first.

The Royal Bank was initially positioned to serve Franz himself.I am not keen on lending. Most of the business I do is conservative.

In this way, Royal Bank has developed very generally in personal loan business, but there are not many bad debts, and overall it is only a small profit.

Most of the profits come from corporate loans, government loans, and international loans. These large-scale comprehensive loans and small banks do not play, and market competition is much smaller.

The interest rate may be lower, but the management costs that need to be invested are also lower, and the profits are more abundant.

Especially for international loans, the apparent interest rate is not high, but the actual income is very rich.

For example: handling fees, exchange fees, usually these are three or four points.When a loan is issued, the principal and interest that should be repaid in the first year are generally deducted, and some loans are also deducted at once for three to five years.

Often banks also promote products on a part-time basis, especially restricted loans.Banks can bundle a certain amount of merchandise to customers and earn the difference.

Generally speaking, when a loan of 10 million Aegis is issued, the debtor can get 9 million Aegis, which is a conscience loan.If the conditions are harsh, it is not impossible to get a 50% off loan directly.

The worst thing is to pay in installments, but you have to bear full interest.This kind of loan, the funds actually obtained in the end, may be less than four layers of the total loan.

Without these pitfalls, international loans will not be disgusting.With just a few points of interest, this too underestimates the appetite of capitalists.

...

"Mr. Lesseps, the canal project passed the inspection and the water can be released."

Lesseps was the chief engineer of the Suez Canal. His main achievement was that the Egyptians sent people to dig the canal.

You should know that this time it was more excessive than the same period in history. The Egyptians did not get the shares of the Canal Company, but only got the right to benefit dividends.

In fact, it is the same, even if the shares are given, the Egyptian government should not want to get the money.

In the original time and space, the Egyptian government did not win the annual treatment of 300,000 pounds in 1937. As for their initial 44% stake, who admits this?

Now the same is true for dividends, but in the end, you won't get any money.Lesseps was able to fool the Egyptian government's active cooperation and was naturally recognized by the Canal Company.

Although the Canal Company pays a sum of money to the Egyptian government every year, it is not worth mentioning at all compared to labor costs.

The Suez Canal is not so much repaired as it was filled with human life.However, the Egyptian government does not care about casualties, and the Canal Company naturally does not care.

Without dragging water, Lesepps ordered: "Then let the water go!"

With the order, the water-blocking dam was exploded in the "roaring" explosion.The turbulent seawater rushed past, and the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea merged.

Along with a loud noise, the news of the Suez Canal's navigating quickly spread throughout the European continent, and everyone's reactions were different.

Happy, surprised, worried, unbelievable ... all kinds of expressions.

The port of Venice, as the most prosperous commercial port in Austria, the public's attention to the Suez Canal is much higher than other regions.

In the tavern, there has been discussion.

A young man proudly coquettishly said: "The Suez Canal has opened, have you heard of it? It is said that it can navigable a huge ship of 50,000 tons, is this a joke? There are no such big ships in the world, it is a waste!"

A middle-aged man next to him retorted: "What do you know? That's the maximum navigable capacity. The Suez Canal is located on the Eurasian main road. There must be many ships coming and going, of course, multiple channels are parallel.

Moreover, now that shipbuilding technology is so advanced, it is said that there are people working on a 20,000-ton giant ship.If such a giant wheel appears, can it just be staggered?"

The young man refused to accept the air: "Come on, the Suez Canal is to be charged. There are so many ships passing by. The big deal is to bypass the Strait of Gibraltar and run a long way without paying the wrong money.

The real purpose is still military, but we dug this canal with the French.The obvious problem is to get rid of the British control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

As for the Suez Canal Company, I am afraid it will be lost.To build such a large canal is to run a few warships."

Another young man came in and sat down and said, "Philver, it seems that you are going to buy a map and have a good look.

After the Suez Canal opened, the voyage to the Indian Ocean was greatly shortened. How could it be of no commercial value?Take our Venice as an example, there are more than 1,000 ships going to and from the Indian Ocean every year.

After the Suez Canal opened, this number will increase.Perhaps Austria alone has tens of thousands of ships traveling to and from the Indian Ocean every year. All Mediterranean countries add up, and there are probably tens of thousands of ships traveling.

Even if a vessel charges between three and five hundred Aegis, Canal Corporation's annual toll revenue is tens of millions of Aegis.This number will also increase with the increase in international trade, and it is possible to charge hundreds of millions of Aegis navigation fees in the future.

As long as the navigation fee does not exceed the cost of the bypass from the Strait of Gibraltar, it is expected that everyone will be happy to reduce a sea journey."

In this era, sea life is an adventure. Thousands of ships are finished every year, and sea navigation is a risk.

Whether the distance can be shortened or sailed is a good thing for every capitalist engaged in marine transportation, which means that their sunk cost is reduced.

Compared with the military value of the Suez Canal, ordinary people still care more about economic value.From the map, this canal has the most effect on Austria.Whether it's to the Indian Ocean or the Western Pacific, this is the best choice.

This has already affected Austria's economy, especially for port cities like Venice.After shortening the voyage, it has a great effect on trade promotion.

This is undoubtedly a good thing for those who are here to discuss life.The increase in overseas trade volume means that the number of ships going in and out also means that the local economy will become more prosperous, and everyone's income will also increase accordingly.

Different people care about different things.In the Vienna Palace, Franz did not care about the economic impact of the Suez Canal, he was more concerned about strategic value.

Looking at the basic parameters of the canal: the width of the water surface is 138 meters, the width of the river bottom is 48 meters, and the depth of the water is 15.4 meters. It is expected to accommodate ships of 50,000 tons for navigation.

This means that even in the era of the Intrepid Ship, the Suez Canal can be freely navigable, which is an unknown increase from the strategic value of the Suez Canal over the same period of time.

This relieved Franz, the effort he made was in vain.This value is enough in the era of the Dreadnought Ship, and the era of the aircraft carrier does not need to be considered, and the British should fall by then.

Looking at the cost of the canal, Franz couldn't help but sigh.More than double the original time and space, it is indeed a high investment project.If it is not a prophet, Franz may not dare to invest so much.

This huge investment means that it will be difficult for the Canal Company to recover its investment in the next ten years.But it didn't hurt either. Canal Company was still a golden rooster laying eggs.

With the development of maritime trade, Qianjing of the future canal company can be expected.The investment in the short-term is totally worth it. Perhaps the cost of construction can be recovered from the toll of the year after 20-30 years.

In this respect, the courage of Napoleon III is also admirable.Without the advantage of the prophet, he dared to follow the large investment.

With regard to the Suez Canal, the strategic vision shown by Napoleon III was completely impeccable.

The butterfly effect is indeed terrible, without the aura of the victory of the Crimean War. For the French, it should be considered a good thing, their emperor did not float.