064 Practical Diplomacy of Financial Conglomerates (1)
Elizabeth opened a map of Africa in front of Lee Hwan.
“Work together, we.”
“… … Africa?”
“You can tell just by looking at the map. Are you interested?”
“It’s like that.”
As always, Africa is a land of opportunity.
However, it only mattered who put the flag there first.
“You, why did you think I met the King of the Netherlands?”
“Yeah… … .”
“Just for marriage?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Of course there was a purpose, but there is another reason why I was so happy to be called by the Dutch royal family. Now I feel like I need to get some other pockets.”
“Pick up another pocket… … . From whom?”
“From all of Europe. War always puts a sword before our eyes. I think that even if Austria becomes ashes, we need a hidden card to protect our Grand Duchy. That’s why I was called by the Dutch royal family.”
“What can King Willem I give you?”
“Second finance.”
“… … Second finance?”
“It can be said that it is investment finance under the name of a borrower.”
“Hey, were you in a hurry to marry me to get a borrowed bank?”
“To be precise, I received a bank in exchange for conducting external activities on the premise of marrying you. I wonder if I was chasing after you because of one of these conditions?”
She was a much hotter woman than Lee Hwan thought.
If he doesn’t want to, he’ll definitely cut his hand off, and if he’s someone he needs to embrace, he’ll show his wide tolerance.
That was the charm of a woman named Elizabeth.
“The Dutch royal family wants to feel close to you. You are the heart of the military, only avoiding Willem I, who is reaching out to befriend him. So, somehow, externally, you have to leave only the image that you and Willem I are having a marriage conversation.”
“Ah, so… … .”
Elizabeth’s plan was to show closeness with the Dutch royal family and to accumulate wealth under a borrowed name by joining forces with Yi Hwan to form a partnership.
Africa was at the center of such a plan.
“Anyway, lately I’ve been looking into African-related businesses. Do you have any thoughts?”
“By the way, why are you in Africa?”
“As you can see through research, Africa is a land with sufficient future value. It’s the perfect land to make a person rich.”
If there was anything to invest in Africa, Lee Hwan knew for sure.
It was a diamond.
He drew a few circles on the map of Africa to point out the points.
“Let’s invest in this area.”
“What is here?”
“A diamond.”
“… … Diamonds?”
Lee Hwan was able to obtain fairly accurate information because he was able to obtain both geographical and geological knowledge through the memory of the dead.
According to his knowledge, there must be diamonds sleeping in this area.
“… … Where the hell did you get this advanced information from?”
“If you beat the pirates, this information will roll in on your own.”
It was a story made up to make Elizabeth understand, but in fact, Lee Hwan was getting quite a wide range of information while the Black Hammer Pirates captured a slave trader.
In fact, based on that information, these facts would have been sufficiently known.
She pointed out some practical problems, even though she was greatly surprised.
“No, it’s an investment. But isn’t that possible only if we receive an investment from the other side?”
“I know our Blackmaul mercenaries are quite reputed in Africa. Recently, thanks to our Black Hammer pirates, the slave trade has been eradicated, and 55 African countries and the UK have agreed to abolish the slave trade. At the same time, these economies need new vitality. Now, it will be possible for us to develop a major mine through real estate investment.”
Since the inauguration of the Royal Voyage Corps, he has continued his expeditions throughout Africa to eradicate the slave trade and induce the influx of blacks.
Until now, the number of slaves Lee Hwan freed alone amounted to about 300,000, and more than 95% of them were imported to the Netherlands.
Recently, about half of the population filling the East Stellar mercenary corps was black, so it is said that Lee Hwan’s performance shone that much.
“how about it? Would you like to invest?”
“No, why are you giving me such advanced information?”
“Let’s do business together.”
“So, why are you giving me information that can make you rich enough to eat alone?”
“Let’s say you mine diamonds. What good is it if it doesn’t sell?”
“Ah, to open a market?”
“To be precise, it’s to open up a safe market.”
Austria was the de facto leader of the German Confederation, and it was a group that not only had a strong influence, but also encompassed numerous nobles within the empire.
Such a princess of the Austrian Habsburg family would be able to safely distribute diamonds without outside interference.
She tapped Lee Hwan on the shoulder.
“Oh oh… … . Are you smarter than you think?”
“sure. I am not always indebted to you.”
The atmosphere was quite warm.
Working together, the two felt a little closer than before.
However, there were some problems in running the business.
“By the way, if you want to get your money back, you’ll have to run a business with that money, so how do you raise slush funds?”
“It’s a slush fund.”
It’s ironic, but to get the back money, you have to have the back money that is the seed money.
If you openly distribute funds, you will surely be caught by the eyes of the Netherlands or Austria.
Lee Hwan quietly fell into thought.
Five minutes later, he quickly came up with a solution.
“Our East Stellar Company will provide guns to America. I know that there are many troubles due to border issues between Mexico, Spain, and the United States. So is France. If we pay the guns now, I think it will probably be a timely benefit.”
“Ah, then Spain will also buy guns to solve the problem, so it’s just to take advantage of both sides. Spain has been experiencing a huge lack of liquidity lately, so if you ask for land, they will spit it out. Are you trying to make a deal with it?”
Lee Hwan shook his head.
Currently, as the imperialism of France and Spain is slowly fading in North America, territorial disputes have not ceased.
All of this was due to the weakening of the powers of France and Spain, but it was not easy to obtain land for free by supplying guns to countries suffering from a lack of liquidity.
The fundamental reason for the territorial disputes was that France and Spain did not let go of their territories.
“Spain and France absolutely need colonies. Because monetization is absolutely essential. So when the US proposed to establish a colony in Texas, it passed.”
“Then, how are you going to make money?”
“I am not making money. War is what makes it.”
“War?”
The way Lee Hwan made money was a bit unusual.
It was that Lee Hwan directly intervened in the war and reaped profits through foreign exchange gains or discount on bill exchange.
“If France and Spain go into a bloody battle in the American colonies, of course they will need funding. Since France and Spain have received powerful weapons from us, they now think they are quite worthy of a fight, so they will try to finance the war somehow. Then we buy Spanish and French bills or bills of exchange, which are valued in silver coins, at a low price, and push money to Spain and France.”
“You distribute money and collect commissions, and you make a profit by buying bills of exchange cheaply?”
“That’s it.”
“No, that requires direct intervention in the war.”
“Now that we have provided guns and created an atmosphere of war, we are now distributing bullets locally and leading to blood clots. Simple, right?”
The circulation of war funds between continents is not as easy as one might think.
In order to raise funds locally, gold must be loaded into ships and converted into coins or banknotes, which is a huge risk.
For this reason, they usually sold the bills at a discount in the financial markets of London or Amsterdam, and financed them from them.
Lee Hwan was a man who traded not only with the United States and Mexico, but also with many countries in South America, so it was not a matter of making money for the war.
Elizabeth seemed a little shocked.
“… … Suwan is good. When did an idea like this come out?”
“I see things that will make money.”
“IM jealous.”
She was genuinely jealous of Lee Hwan.
This is because he thought that Lee Hwan had a natural talent that he did not have.
But it was definitely a pleasure to have a partner that excelled.
“Um, good. Then I will introduce you to a person.”
“Who are you?
“Among the German capitalists I know well, there is a family called Rashchild. They have a lot of Spanish and French bonds. Until now, Spain owed a lot of debt while running its colonies in North America. In the past, they even financed French expeditions to Russia.”
“Rashildra.”
Lee Hwan had also heard of the Rashchild family.
This is not someone’s memory, but the name Lee Hwan himself heard in a liberal arts class when he was studying at university in his previous life.
At that time, a part-time lecturer in the humanities had told Lee Hwan, ‘The Rashchild family is one of the most successful people of German-Jewish capital.’
“As you say, Spain has a lot of debt. The same goes for France. But a lot of that debt is tied to the Rashchild family.”
“Yongke also made money traveling between France and Spain. The two must not be close.”
Due to the recent Napoleonic Wars, the British brought in Spanish and Portuguese troops and paid quite a lot of subsidies, which, of course, forced France and Spain to engage in frequent battles.
Giving money to both sides of a war is usually taboo, and even if successful, it will somehow backfire later.
Hana Rashchild held large amounts of government bonds from both sides.
So, Rashchild was showing somewhat contradictory bond holdings.
“It is true that Rashid used funds during the war to become a source of money for the Allied Forces, but it was right after the war that he got the French bill. They buy French government bonds that have been turned into pieces of tissue paper at ridiculously low prices and have them in their hands.”
“iced coffee! It’s an investment for a profit.”
“It’s a very bold decision.”
“Uh… … !”
“They will be of great help in buying and selling bonds.”
“Surely it is.”
“how about it? Would you like to see me?”
There was no reason not to meet.
Even if you set up a bank under a borrowed name, buying and selling bonds is not an easy task, so it would certainly be of great help if a family like Rashchild existed.
“good. Leave your legs, please.”
“I will invite you to Austria soon. You can respond to that.”
She handed Lee Hwan a handshake.
“From now on, it will be a partnership.”
“Sure.”