บท 52: Chapter 52: The French Reserve Bank
Chapter 52: The French Reserve Bank
Two days earlier, Joseph had acquired a small, nearly bankrupt bank, which he then renamed the French Reserve Bank. The renaming and registration process was swift, thanks to having friends in high places.
The bank's premises and staff were already in place, so operations began as early as yesterday.
The next day, at Brent's request—and after receiving a handsome payment—the Paris Stock Exchange assigned five more traders specifically for Paris Angel Company's business.
Stock transactions sped up immediately, and by 4 p.m., just before the market closed, a mysterious buyer snapped up the remaining 430,000 shares of Paris Angel Company.
When the transaction "Buy: Paris Angel Company, 2 livres, 430,150 shares, total 860,300 livres" appeared, the entire trading floor fell silent.
After a few seconds, the board displayed a new entry:
Sell: Paris Angel Company, 2 livres, 2 sous, 40 shares, total 84 livres.
The entry was quickly followed by a record of those 40 shares being bought.
Soon, more sell orders appeared, and in less than ten minutes, the price had risen to 2 livres and 5 sous, with all shares immediately snapped up.
The next morning, Paris Angel's stock price surged to 2 livres and 8 sous but remained in high demand, with trading activity heating up.
In a corner of the trading floor, a young American man, surrounded by seven or eight bodyguards, observed the transaction records.
After a moment, he signaled to his assistant, who then approached a trader and posted 8,000 shares for sale at 3 livres each.
Investors didn't pay much attention at first—the price seemed too high and unlikely to sell.
However, less than three minutes later, all 8,000 shares were sold in three separate transactions.
Every stockholder on the trading floor suddenly realized something was amiss. The stock was evidently worth far more than they had thought, or else every batch wouldn't have sold so quickly. In an instant, everyone began to hold onto their shares, reluctant to sell.
The American then directed his team to conduct more trades—mostly selling and buying back shares under different names, each time at a higher price.
After the market closed, the young American, accompanied by his bodyguards, headed to a nearby luxury hotel, where he locked the door and spread a large stack of transaction slips on the table, preparing to reconcile accounts with Joseph's accountant.
Yes, this man was the stock market operator Joseph had hired, and his "bodyguards" were all members of the Royal Guard.
Thanks to their skilled manipulation, the closing price was now close to 3 livres and 5 sous.
The front pages of Paris newspapers were filled with frenzied reports about Paris Angel's soaring stock price. Now, not just Parisians, but people from nearby provinces were flocking to buy shares, flooding the stock exchange with cash.
By the sixth day of trading, as Paris Angel's stock price reached 4 livres and 5 sous, a wave of sell orders hit the market. However, whenever the price dipped, large purchases would immediately follow, stabilizing the price.
Around noon, the American operator sold off the final batch of 100,000 shares, then left the crowded trading floor with a relaxed expression.
Following Joseph's instructions, he had bought low and sold high, unloading 200,000 of Joseph's original shares, raising a total of 6.15 million livres!
At the Versailles Palace, in the office of the Minister of Finance, Joseph calmly reviewed the loan agreement, feeling slightly amused. He was, after all, representing one party as the Assistant Minister of Finance and the other as the owner of the French Reserve Bank—it was like shaking hands with himself.
In the end, he signed a 6 million livre loan agreement on behalf of the French government, with an interest rate of only 15%.
There were no issues with the payment. The French Reserve Bank currently held over 8.1 million livres in its account.
Meanwhile, at the Palais-Royal, the Duke of Orleans looked at the headline in yesterday's issue of Le Journal de Paris—"Prince Unable to Tackle Financial Crisis, Government Debt Near Default"—and angrily tore the newspaper to shreds.
That morning, he had learned that the 6 million livre government debt had been fully repaid, with funds coming from the French Reserve Bank.
Half an hour earlier, representatives from Laville Bank and Laborde Bank had just left. To placate both banks, he had been forced to grant them a larger share of his British business.
The Duke of Orleans couldn't help but recall the banquet a month earlier when he had convinced France's top bankers to block the 6 million livre loan and ensure no other bank would lend to the Prince.
At the time, he thought it would be easy to leave the Prince with no options. After all, with the entire French financial elite at the table, they could block any large loan.
But somehow, that brat had still managed to secure the money.
Not long after, the Duke's butler entered and bowed. "My lord, we've discovered that the bank in question was originally called Serto Bank, and it was just recently acquired by the Prince."
The acquisition was public information and easy to find out.
The Duke of Orleans frowned deeply. How was it possible? The Prince had actually managed to create a bank with 6 million in capital? How had he done it?
(End of Chapter)
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