CHAPTER 390: CHAPTER 384: MAKE A BIG CAKE, FAIR DISTRIBUTION!

"Your Majesty, haven’t I told you, when you go out, it’s best to bring some guards! What if you encounter someone discontented?"

Jerome Bonaparte, who had returned alone to the Tuileries Palace, had not yet enjoyed the service of his wife before facing her reproach, and crucially, he couldn’t refute her.

After all, Jerome Bonaparte was not a franc, destined not to be loved by everyone. In Paris, there were still some extremists who hoped for Jerome Bonaparte’s immediate death.

Going to the City Hall recklessly without any guard was indeed not a wise choice.

"If you really need to summon George Ossman, you could have him called here! Why go in person?" Empress Augusta continued to murmur complaints to Jerome Bonaparte.

"I saw it was still raining outside! Calling him over would be a bit inconvenient!" Jerome Bonaparte replied with an awkward smile to Augusta.

In fact, he wasn’t concerned about whether Ossman was inconvenienced; it was merely a whim to suddenly raid the Paris City Hall.

"As a subject, he should naturally meet all demands of the monarch! Not to mention rain, even if it hailed or knives fell; they should come!" Compared to Jerome Bonaparte, who displayed little of a nobleman’s demeanor, Augusta was evidently endowed with the aristocratic trait of arrogance.

This quality allowed Augusta to form a small circle in the Tuileries Palace in less than half a year after she became the Empress.

The circle of noblewomen included members from the Orthodox Faction, the Orléans Faction, and a few upstarts of the bourgeoisie.

Even more remarkably, these three factions surprisingly did not fight amongst themselves within the circle.

This made Jerome Bonaparte feel once again that he seemed to have found a treasure.

"Enough! Don’t say anymore!" Jerome Bonaparte gestured with his hand to stop Augusta’s idle words, adjusted his posture on the sofa to make himself more comfortable: "Fortunately! I’ve already gotten what I needed! And, incidentally, sounded a warning bell for that George Ossman fellow!"

"Hmm?" Augusta looked at Jerome Bonaparte puzzled; she didn’t quite understand what he meant. Recently, the Emperor had been mysteriously up to something.

"It’s like this..." Jerome Bonaparte informed Augusta of his plan to build a workers’ community.

Augusta also showed a startled expression, seemingly failing to understand Jerome Bonaparte’s purpose.

"The housing prices and rent in Paris will inevitably rise as Paris undergoes redevelopment, whereas the wages of Paris workers remain a constant value. In Paris, on average, each worker needs to spend 121 francs a year on housing and approximately 935 francs on food expenses, amounting to a total of 1051 francs, while a Paris worker’s wage is around 1300 francs a year. A male worker in Paris cannot support a family of three, while a female worker’s expense is about 635 francs.

After deducting all expenses, they have less than 200 francs of surplus wages each year. This is with Paris housing prices not yet increased!

If Paris rent rises significantly, the required annual expenses will be more, and those who can’t afford housing costs will become unstable factors!

Therefore, we must prepare in advance! I’ve had George Ossman reserve a substantial amount of land in the outskirts of the Saint Anthony District, where a large-scale workers’ community will be built! This way, I can use these low-cost houses to force down the prices of houses in the center of Paris!"

Jerome Bonaparte explained to Augusta and added: "We must try our best to mitigate conflicts between classes while inciting internal conflicts within each class to prevent their unity. Only then can the Empire achieve long-lasting peace and stability."

Augusta looked at her husband with astonishment, suddenly realizing that she did not quite know her husband.

"How did you obtain those data?" Augusta asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"Investigation, and collecting evidence!" Jerome Bonaparte responded mildly, "Without data, policy-making would be like castles in the air!"

"Building a workers’ community requires vast funds; how do you plan to solve these issues?" Augusta asked Jerome Bonaparte again.

"The Tuileries Palace has no money, but the Bonaparte has!" Jerome Bonaparte sneered: "They think I don’t know how much money they’ve secretly siphoned from this country! Now it’s time for them to make a contribution!"

From the time Jerome Bonaparte completely seized power until now, the Bonaparte interest group affiliated with him has extracted no less than 5 billion francs from France.

The Bonaparte Group could be said to have demonstrated in record time what is meant by the movers of nature.

If not for Jerome Bonaparte’s restrictions, these insatiable gluttons would probably have devoured the very foundation of France.

Now is the time to have them make their contributions. Building houses here and renting them to workers isn’t necessarily a losing business.

Instead, it’s a steady, long-term business, but the Bonaparte Group has grown accustomed to making quick profits, so they naturally look down on this slow-money method.

"Won’t this cause their backlash?" Empress Augusta hesitated a bit.

"Backlash! What right do these guys have to a backlash?" Jerome Bonaparte said contemptuously, "They’re just a bunch of blusterers with no backbone!"

...

On May 18, 1853, Jerome Bonaparte gathered all the core members of the Bonaparte Group together.

Since Jerome Bonaparte gathered everyone suddenly, none of those present understood the purpose of Jerome Bonaparte’s actions.

"Here’s the plan! I intend to build a large community outside the Saint Anthony Suburb capable of accommodating one hundred thousand people, and this community will be aimed at all Parisians..." Jerome Bonaparte directly addressed the Bonaparte Faction members present.

As soon as Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, whispers started among the Bonapartes below the stage; they understood that Jerome Bonaparte seemed to be looking for money from them.

"The community has now been approved by the Paris City Hall! I have some savings myself, but it’s still a bit short! So I’ve gathered everyone here to brainstorm and come up with solutions together! However, rest assured ladies and gentlemen, the community’s houses will be rented at market prices!" Jerome Bonaparte described the market prospects to the Bonapartes present; he now resembled a shrewd merchant rather than having the demeanor an Emperor should have.

Seated below the stage were all his potential investors, yet these "angel" investors seemed uninterested in investing in the community that Jerome Bonaparte was working on, eager to cash in their rights as soon as possible.

"On this issue, I don’t intend to force you! You only need to do what you can!" Jerome Bonaparte wore a hypocritical smile at the corner of his mouth.

At the same time, Jerome Bonaparte fixed his gaze on his cousin, Pierre Bonaparte.

Seeing Jerome Bonaparte’s attention on himself, Pierre Bonaparte recalled the day before when Jerome Bonaparte had ordered him to act as a "ringleader."

Initially, Pierre Bonaparte had no intention of agreeing to Jerome Bonaparte; his money too was obtained through his own use of power, so why should he foot the bill for the Emperor’s ideas?

Until Jerome Bonaparte exposed all the dirty things Pierre had done and threatened that if Pierre didn’t heed his advice, he would be directly sent back to Rome, did Pierre Bonaparte grovel at the Emperor’s feet, expressing that he would comply.

"I’ll buy a share in this venture!" Before Pierre Bonaparte could stand, Prince Monfort declared his support for Jerome Bonaparte from within the crowd.

"I’m also willing to invest!" Having drawn a wave of enmity, Prince Monfort left Pierre Bonaparte with no choice but to grit his teeth and stand up to say.

"Excellent!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded with satisfaction at the compliant Pierre Bonaparte.

With the demonstration from two heavyweight figures from the House of Bonaparte, Prince Monfort and Pierre Bonaparte, everyone present knew what they should do next.

Money can be earned again!

If you alienate the Emperor, you’d better not think about turning the tables for the rest of your life.

Next came the ministers and chancellors in prominent positions like Mornay, Percy, and Rue. To them, since the Emperor had already asked them for financing, how could they dare not lend to him.

Emile Pereire, the president of the Paris Industrial Bank, was even more generous, directly injecting 200 million francs into Jerome Bonaparte’s dream.

This money was all painstakingly extracted by miners with blood and sweat from the mines in regions like California and Melbourne.

Thanks to the "generosity" of the Bonaparte Faction members, Jerome Bonaparte quickly completed the first round of financing.

On May 20, a Worker’s Credit Bank with a market value of 350 million francs was quietly established in Paris.

The newly established Worker’s Credit Bank immediately acquired several construction companies and merged them into one company.

Simultaneously, with Jerome Bonaparte’s secret support, Georges Ossman defeated the suburb’s city council and took control of the Saint Anthony Suburb. In the future, large tracts of land in the Paris 12th District would be handed over to this company at the low price of more than 100 francs per square meter.