Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 780 - 688 International Diplomatic Pressure

Chapter 780: Chapter 688 International Diplomatic Pressure

Chapter 780: Chapter 688 International Diplomatic Pressure

French merchants suddenly burst into ecstasy, waving franc banknotes and elbowing foreign competitors aside.

Many British, Dutch, and Italian merchants watched the contract board with a mournful gaze, as sugar futures for a month later had already reached 2 francs and 1 sou, with the quote for three months later having soared to an astonishing 2 francs and 3 sous!

Weiger’s eyes shone like those of a man trapped in the desert for half a month who had just spotted a water source.

However, the Dutch guilders in his hand could not be used to buy water…

Suddenly someone grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, “Why are you still standing there dumbfounded?”

Weiger turned his head to see Van Schaeck.

“But I don’t have…” he began.

The other man whispered in his ear, “Have you forgotten? Right downstairs is the Bank of France Reserve!”

“?”

“France operates on the gold standard.”

“Oh, my pea-brained head!” Weiger had an epiphany and turned to run downstairs, “Thank you so much!”

The gold standard meant that anyone could exchange franc banknotes for gold at the Bank of France at any time and vice versa, gold could be exchanged for francs at any time!

The counter at the Bank of France Reserve was relatively empty, as most people had yet to realize what was happening.

Weiger immediately exchanged over 10,000 Dutch guilders in his possession for francs.

Even though Dutch guilders, as currency, couldn’t possibly be of full equivalent value—officially, 1 guilder should contain 3.75 grams of gold, but in reality, it was just under 3.7 grams—he could only treat them as gold rather than face value when exchanging for francs.

Fortunately, exchanging actual gold for banknotes had a 2% subsidy, which lessened his loss somewhat.

Weiger then returned to the futures trading hall with great momentum, passed by a host of foreign merchants, and bought 4 contracts in one fell swoop.

Others soon took notice of this Dutchman, and then, as if struck by an epiphany, surged downstairs like a tidal wave.

The counter at the Bank of France Reserve experienced the same scene as the futures exchange from the day before, with the counter collapsing. Fortunately, there were plenty of police maintaining order today, so no casualties occurred.

By 5 p.m. that day when the futures exchange closed, the Bank of France Reserve had taken in more than 8,000 ounces of gold, approximately equivalent to 900,000 francs.

This was even with the Bank of France Reserve having to suspend operations for 3 hours to repair the counters; otherwise, breaking 1 million would have been effortless.

Half a month after the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange began operating, countries across Europe started to feel the severe market turmoil triggered by the soaring prices of sugar.

Thus, at the summons of England, representatives from various countries gathered in Frankfurt to attend the “European Sugar Crisis Special Conference.”

Without much pleasantries, the British representative, Lord Marquis, stood up, arrogantly scanned the room, and declared loudly, “Clearly, the main responsibility for this sugar crisis lies with France!”

The conference hall fell suddenly silent; some delegates looked towards the French representative Bailly, while others bowed their heads in silence.

Lord Marquis continued, “As we all know, the core reason for the sugar shortage is the outbreak of a slave rebellion in the Caribbean Sea, which has led to a significant reduction or even total loss of production in many plantations.

“And the earliest area to experience such an uprising was the French colony of Santo Domingo.”

“I have ample evidence to prove that the uprisings in other parts of the Caribbean are all related to the Abolitionist Organization in Santo Domingo,” he said, tossing several documents forcefully onto the conference table. “These are the records of the Frenchman Jacques-Pierre Brissot’s activities in Santo Domingo. We have reason to believe that it was he who led the abolitionist movement there.”

“That damn Vincent Ore has been following Brisso’s orders all along!”

This wasn’t necessarily because the British intelligence agency was particularly capable, but rather it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Abolitionist Organization in Santo Domingo to keep their information confidential as their numbers grew.

“Moreover, the weapons used by the blacks in the Caribbean have been supplied mostly by France.

“I believe that the French Government must give an explanation to all nations regarding the situation in the Caribbean, as well as the current severe sugar shortage!”

The British were clearly well-prepared, intending to use international diplomatic pressure to make France, currently the largest source of sugar in Europe, commit to stabilizing sugar prices.

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England is the world’s largest consumer of sugar. The price of sugar has risen by 67% compared to the same period last year, and futures in half a year have increased by as much as 160%!

Even though the British Government has started to implement measures such as tax exemptions for sugar merchants, the price of sugar continues to soar uncontrollably.

It was foreseeable that the British, especially the lower classes, would soon be unable to afford sugar.

To the British, sugar was their greatest daily amusement, even a spiritual crutch—tea and coffee without sugar were completely undrinkable. Dark bread had to be dipped in syrup, porridge had to be sweetened, fried fish had to be sprinkled with powdered sugar.

It could be said that without sugar, British housewives wouldn’t even know how to cook a meal.

Given the current trend of skyrocketing sugar prices, a British public uprising was inevitable!

Several of England’s “old friends”—Prussia, Denmark, Portugal, and others immediately joined in the clamor, together condemning France for “disrupting the international environment and trade patterns.”

Bailly and the others had almost finished their performance, then leisurely took out a stack of pamphlets and signaled for his assistant to distribute them to the representatives present: “Perhaps everyone has already learnt from other sources that it was the Duke of Leeds who was the first to incite the black revolt in Santo Domingo.

“You can look at these materials, clearly indicating how he made contact with Ore and others, and provided them with a substantial sum of 300,000 British Pounds. Subsequently, the Duke of Leeds also orchestrated the delivery of Book and that group of thugs to the United States.”

He gestured around the conference table, “If the United States had sent representatives, he would have given everyone details on this matter.”

The delegates from various countries opened the evidence provided by the French and after only casually flipping through a few pages, all looked towards the Marquis with peculiar expressions.

The evidence was too detailed!

As a joke, the evidence provided by Ore, being a direct participant in the Duke of Leeds’ plan, was naturally solid. It even detailed the remittance channels for the 300,000 in funds, making them crystal clear.

Bailly continued, “As for Brisso, everyone knows he is a fanatic abolitionist madman.

“It was only after the Duke of Leeds triggered the black revolt in Santo Domingo that he became attracted and went to the Caribbean. Oh, the time he left Europe can be easily verified by you all.

“My country also finds this man very troublesome. You must know, his actions in Santo Domingo have caused us losses of over 50 million francs annually!

“In light of this, I hope the British Government can give my country an explanation!”

Lord Marquis saw that all the countries were glaring at him furiously, especially Spain, and suddenly felt his heart tighten.

He had not expected that the French were even better prepared than himself, and even though he knew that the French were muddying the waters, he was utterly unable to defend himself.

Suddenly, he thought of something and exclaimed loudly, “No, France has not suffered losses at all. On the contrary, you have gained enormous benefits from the situation in the Caribbean.”