CHAPTER 618: CHAPTER 609: LIMITING EXPANSION SCALE

After listening to the expansion blueprint of the business leaders in Toulon, Jerome Bonaparte did not show a trace of happiness; instead, he furrowed his brows tightly.

The business leaders standing beside Jerome Bonaparte became flustered at this sight, not understanding which of their words had displeased His Majesty the Emperor.

"You... Your Majesty!" the leaders called out nervously.

Jerome Bonaparte, coming back to his senses, relaxed his furrowed brows, and with a reassuring smile, said, "No need to be so tense! I was just thinking about something; please continue!"

The leaders breathed a sigh of relief and continued to introduce the industries and plans under their command to Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte listened attentively to the leaders’ descriptions, nodding from time to time, seemingly in agreement with their plans.

After the banquet ended, Jerome Bonaparte ordered the butler to summon Minister Dico to the study, while he made his way to the study first.

"Minister Dico, His Majesty requests your presence in the study!" The butler respectfully informed Minister Dico.

Minister Dico, after being stunned for a few seconds, asked the butler, "Did His Majesty tell you why he wanted me there?"

"His Majesty did not say! He just asked me to inform you!" the butler continued.

"Then lead the way!"

Guided by the butler, Minister Dico arrived at the door of the study, pushed open the door, and entered the study.

At this moment, only Jerome Bonaparte was in the study, sitting quietly beside the fir wood desk, gazing at the kerosene lamp with its blue flame burning on the desk.

Only upon Minister Dico’s arrival did Jerome Bonaparte shift his gaze from the flame to Minister Dico.

"Your Majesty!" Minister Dico respectfully called out to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Dico, you’re here!" Jerome Bonaparte gestured invitingly, "Have a seat!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Minister Dico, with steps slightly faster than usual, came before Jerome Bonaparte and sat down.

The butler, seeing this, hurriedly closed the door for them, leaving only Jerome Bonaparte and Dico in the room.

"Dico, I remember before you became a minister, you also ran a business, right?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Dico in a friendly tone.

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Although Minister Dico did not understand why Jerome Bonaparte asked this, he honestly answered Jerome Bonaparte’s question.

"How is your shipyard doing now?" Jerome Bonaparte pursued with another question.

"Thanks to Your Majesty! The shipyard is generally running well, and my wife plans to expand the factory again by the end of this year!" Minister Dico replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

Ever since Jerome Bonaparte started the major construction of the navy, all the shipyards in France have ushered in a new spring, with many factories working overtime to rush their production.

And after the Crimean War began, France’s industry centered on naval transportation also took advantage of the winds of war to reach new heights.

If Jerome Bonaparte was the primary beneficiary of the Crimean War, then the second beneficiaries were these entrepreneurs and bankers in the real industry.

"Expand further?" Jerome Bonaparte looked at Dico in amazement, not understanding whether Dico was truly or feigning ignorance. Did he not know that once the war stopped, all the factories might have to lay off workers?

"Yes!" Minister Dico smiled and replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "The current scale still cannot meet our fleet’s manufacturing needs, especially after the development of new warships. I found that many factories couldn’t meet the new warship supply chain requirements (a term taught to him by Jerome Bonaparte), so I want to merge all non-compliant companies into a few larger groups! Just like the Paris Northern Industrial Group so that they can complement each other!"

Good heavens! He thought of the Torus Group so quickly!

Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but praise Minister Dico’s foresight.

In this nation filled with small farmers and a soil of conservatism, to even glimpse the vague outline of the path ahead was already genius.

"Dico, as a businessman and politician, you should understand that this war will eventually end!" Jerome Bonaparte told Minister Dico, "We cannot drag this war out for ten, eight years... No, not even ten or eight years! Even if we drag the war to this time next year, I’m afraid the citizens of Paris will rise in rebellion against us!"

A brief surge of adrenaline can make the French people forget the inflation caused by expansion, but once time prolongs, the whole of France will immediately find itself in turmoil.

The historical French Empire hastily ended the war when the populace began to re-evaluate their gains and losses in this conflict.

Even though Napoleon III acted so swiftly, the French Empire could not avoid facing economic turmoil in the year after the war officially ended (1857).

Then in 1859, Napoleon III continued with his adventurous actions, acquiring Savoy and Nice.

Almost every foreign intervention after the Crimean War began when the French economy was on the brink of collapse.

Jerome Bonaparte did not want to repeat the same mistakes; he wanted to be a promoter of war, not someone who was driven by it.

"I certainly understand!" Minister Dico said sincerely, "But I believe that we have no choice but to do this! The production of new warships can no longer be done in small workshops as before; they must be centralized!"

"I agree with your centralization plan in principle, but you will need funds to acquire them, won’t you? And you will need to arrange their workers, right? What do you plan to do about this money?" Jerome Bonaparte curiously asked Minister Dico.

"Your Majesty, my plan is to mortgage part of the shares of the newly established company to the Bank of France to borrow funds for the acquisition from them!" Minister Dico responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

"But, the Bank of France will hold shares in your company! Aren’t you worried that the group you form will be taken over by the Bank of France?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Minister Dico while stroking his chin.

The issue Jerome Bonaparte described is a common problem for the entire French enterprise, where factory owners fear their businesses being taken over, thus rarely borrowing from banks.

Banks are also unwilling to lend to factory owners as these factories are less profitable than loan sharks and the owners are troublesome characters.

"Your Majesty, the Bank of France is only responsible for investment, not management!" Minister Dico responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "And now that the Bank of France is under government control, pledging the new company’s shares to the Bank of France is essentially pledging them to the government!"

"You’re planning a left-hand to right-hand transfer!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Minister Dico without any hesitation.

Since the new company is under government jurisdiction, Minister Dico, as the Minister of the Navy, naturally has the authority to interfere with its operations.

As long as Dico remains in this position, the company he has established will never fear a power grab.

If Dico were to leave the position...those who lose power have no right to discuss the future!

"Your Majesty! I am using legal means to maintain the Navy!" Minister Dico said with a sly smile.

"Alright! Let’s say you can overcome all difficulties and successfully establish the group you want; how do you plan to meet the impending storm?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Minister Dico again, "I heard those guys are preparing for massive expansion; I can already foresee the post-war scene of ’corpses lying everywhere’!"

The Keynesianism of the gold standard era is not a god; the prosperity brought by large-scale liquidity is merely an abnormal prosperity. Once the war ends, factory orders will experience a large-scale decline, and workers will face massive unemployment. Their paper money could potentially collapse the domestic economic market.

After listening to Jerome Bonaparte, Minister Dico also frowned, realizing the destruction behind the prosperity that had blinded him briefly.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?" Minister Dico instinctively asked for Jerome Bonaparte’s solution.

"The Navy Committee must consciously limit the scale of factory expansion!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Minister Dico.

He does not oppose expansion, but he opposes barbaric and disorderly expansion.

Pushing wildly against the tide, when the tide recedes, many will find themselves facing the situation of swimming naked!

"Also, your Navy Department should learn to develop externally! Rent out... no, sell off the useless ships!" Jerome Bonaparte provided a solution to Minister Dico, "The Kingdom of Sardinia, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Austrian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Governor of Egypt, and Governor of Tunis are all potential clients. For countries that want a navy but have no qualified naval personnel, the Navy Department can send people to provide guidance..."

Minister Dico, enlightened by Jerome Bonaparte, immediately realized that this method truly is the key solution to future problems.

The French Navy, although slightly inferior (actually by a large margin) to the British Navy, naturally has the advantage of crushing other countries’ navies.

"Our hardware conditions may not match Britain’s, but as long as our after-sales service is good, won’t they choose us?" Jerome Bonaparte imparted marketing concepts from future eras to Minister Dico once more.

Although British warships are truly excellent, this also means they are hard to order.

Not to mention, Britain itself is a maritime nation, and they have to build warships for themselves as well.

Therefore, the French Helen only needs to surpass Britain in after-sales and ship delivery speed.