Romanian Eagle

After awarding the medals to those who helped the royal family make money during the rubber crisis, Edeley considers what to do with the money. After deducting the final payment to the power plant of £420,000, and the Ploiesti Mechanical Plant's £630,000, there is a profit of £1.21 million. Just when the crown prince was thinking about how to use the money, someone came up with the idea of ​​a small royal treasury.

At Prime Minister Stulier's house. He is discussing this crown prince harvest with his nephew Caraturi in the study. As the leader of the ruling Liberal Party, Stulier is not only the chief steward of the kingdom, but also takes into account the interests of the party. (The other major political party is the Conservative Party. Now Romania is also a multi-party system, but the basic governance is an exchange between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party.)

"Uncle, the government's finances are too difficult now. Do you want to find a solution from the royal family? I heard that the crown prince recently sent a large sum of money." Caraturi suggested to his uncle, who was struggling financially.

"I probably know something about this. It should be an income of more than 2 million pounds." Stulier did not answer his nephew's proposal directly.

"Uncle, now the Bredianu gang in the party have been connecting together, and it is estimated that they want to be unfavorable to you, uncle." Caraturi expressed his worries.

Bredianu is another giant of the Liberal Party. He is the nephew of the late Liberal Party founder Jan C. Bredianu and has a large number of supporters. However, Stulier is not a vegetarian. After the death of the old Bredianu, he has been suppressing his nephew. In the original history, if it wasn't for the peasant uprising in 1907, he could not have replaced the old prime minister.

However, due to the role of the little butterfly Edel, there was no qualifying for the Great Uprising in 1907. Now that the old prime minister is still in power, he can only continue to dormant. It's just that the old prime minister supported the crown prince to reorganize the army and industrial construction, and the government's fiscal deficit was soaring. It was regarded by Bredianu as an opportunity to start a series of attempts to seize the position of leader of the party. These were all seen by Stulier.

In fact, there has always been a voice in the Liberal Party that the old Prime Minister is too obedient to the royal family and has not achieved the status that the Prime Minister should have. Stulier dismissed these remarks, because he knew that now is the time for the transition of the kingdom's regime, and the old king Carol I wanted to gradually hand over power to the crown prince Edel. During this time period, anyone's irrational behavior will lead to retaliation from the royal family. A political party in Romania without the support of the royal family will not have a ruling foundation.

"I will consider this matter. Karaturi, you have to follow in the footsteps of the crown prince. I don't think you will have much time in power." The old leader expressed his thoughts to his nephew.

"Uncle, in fact, you can still work for several years, and you can consider delaying it for a while." Caraturi was obviously surprised by his uncle's idea.

"This is an idea I've thought about. I've been working for almost ten years, and it's time to retire. Otherwise, everyone will be dissatisfied with me, and by the way, it can also lay a good foundation for your future." Stulier said he explained.

After Karaturi heard what his uncle said, he naturally knew that it was impossible. For him, the time when his uncle was prime minister was smooth sailing. Now that my uncle plans to retire this year, how to position himself will be a problem.

"I will respect my uncle's decision." Although Caraturi said this, there was still a look of disappointment on his face.

Sturlier, who is anyone, can see his nephew's unwillingness at a glance. Looking at the somewhat lost nephew, Stulier comforted. "It's still a while before I retire. You have to continue to lead the family forward, but don't be discouraged."

Facing the encouragement of his uncle, Caraturi cheered up. "Please rest assured uncle, I will bring the family back to the current position."

"I believe you."

After sending off his nephew, Stulier sat on the armchair, and Stulier knew that his nephew's rhetoric was not easy. Don't look at him now as the Minister of Industry, he seems to be very close to the Prime Minister,

In fact, after he retired, he would find that it was impossible for at least fifteen years.

Just now, he couldn't undermine his nephew's confidence too much. He had seen too many times when he stepped down from a high position, and the family was in a mess. It's much better than their own family, at least there is enough friendship with the crown prince, and Karituli is also of great use to the crown prince now, which is not bad.

The next morning, Prime Minister Stulier came to the Prime Minister's Office by car. After entering the office, the secretary Feyanscu stepped forward and spoke to him. "Sir Prime Minister, the army has come to ask for funds again. They said that we should have allocated 8 million lei at the end of last month, but there has been no movement so far."

"What did Listerine say?" Stulier asked the secretary. Feyanscu knew what the Prime Minister meant and replied. "The Minister of Finance said, 'After deducting the emergency funds and daily expenses that cannot be used, there are only two million lei in the account. And now the issuance of government bonds, the Minister of Finance is not optimistic. Mainly except for Germany, countries do not support our issuance of government bonds. Germany is now It's not a good time, and it's too late.' And the autumn agricultural tax is still three months away. Now the chief of the general staff is sitting in the lounge waiting for you."

After hearing the secretary's words, Stulier was also secretly worried. Before Britain, France, and Russia were all right, Romania was very old-fashioned in cooperating with Germany and Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It would be a ghost if they could still issue government bonds in the financial markets of the three countries, and Austria-Hungary and Romania were recently in Rantsilvalia because of the oppression of the local Romanians. The only Germany that can help them, because the battle with the British in the dreadnoughts is also financially tight. At present, the domestic financial market cannot meet the needs of the government at all, so they can only pull up their belts to live a hard life.

Thinking of this, Prime Minister Stulier can only appease the first person in the military now and is trying to solve the financial problem.

"Invite the Chief of General Staff to me," the old Prime Minister said to the secretary.

Fyanscu, who was instructed by Stulier, went out to invite Pleshan, and after a while Pleshan opened the door and entered.

The chief of the general staff stated his purpose directly. "Your Excellency, I am here for the payment last month."

In the face of Preshan's straightforward speech, Stulier said without rushing. "General Presan, the government can't get this money now."

In the face of the Prime Minister being so rude, Preshan almost couldn't help but scold his mother. Whoever dared to talk to him like this in the army would have been kicked out of the army long ago. Fortunately, I knew that the Prime Minister's Office held back, so I asked directly. "When will I get the money?"

"Now we can only wait three months after the agricultural tax is collected." Stulier replied slowly.

Preshan almost jumped when he heard that it would take three months, and directly refuted it. "This can't be done. After a month, the army's salary will not be paid. Do you know the consequences of this?"

Preshan took a breath and said the bottom line of the army. "I have to see the funding for at most half a month, or I will let the soldiers come to the Prime Minister's Office to receive their salaries."

After finishing speaking, Pressan strode out of the Prime Minister's Office, leaving behind a group of people attracted by the quarrel. The news of the quarrel between the Prime Minister and the Chief of the General Staff came out like this, and Eder got the news at noon, and was surprised by the embarrassment of the government's finances.

In the evening at Stulier's house, Caraturi was also questioning the old Prime Minister about what happened in the Prime Minister's House this morning.

"Why does my uncle make a big fuss with General Preshan? It doesn't do us any good."

In the face of Karatuli's question, Stulier looked at his nephew, who was young and inexperienced. The old prime minister sat on the armchair with his hands on his stomach, and asked his nephew with a calm face. "Are you surprised?"

Seeing that his uncle was calm and didn't look like someone who had quarreled in the morning, Karituri was a little hard to answer.

Seeing that there is a nephew who is a little confused, Stulier can only explain why he did it. "General Preshan is here this time because I spread the news the day before yesterday that the government's funds were not enough, and the cost of reorganization of the army should be reduced, and the reorganization should be completed one year later."

Caraturi looked at his uncle, not expecting such a result.

"Why use this method?"

In the face of his nephew's question, Stulier continued to explain. "Otherwise, Priesan will not come, or the news of the big quarrel between the army and the government will not spread so quickly. How can I use enough reasons to ask the crown prince for that money? ."

Looking at his uncle in front of him, Karaturi suddenly felt that he still had a long way to go. Still a little suspicious. "Uncle, how can you be sure that General Preshan will come?"

Facing his nephew's question, Stulier said with a smile. "Because he's a smart guy, it's good for him too."

Hearing his uncle's answer, Karatuli was still a little confused. Seeing that his nephew was still a little confused, the old prime minister could only elaborate. "Preshan was known for his composure 20 years ago. Five years ago, he became more and more angry. Don't you think it's strange? This time I give him such a good stage, and he will definitely come over."

Hearing Stulier's explanation, Calituri was surprised by his uncle's sophistication.

Seeing his nephew's surprised expression, Stulier continued. "But this method can only be used once, and it can only be used when I am about to retire. Otherwise, the king will be unhappy."

"Uncle, what do you mean..."

Stulier nodded to his nephew, indicating that he was right. "Yes, this method can't hide from the king. But I'm going to retire, and he won't be too concerned about it. After all, I have no credit and hard work."

Early the next morning, Sturlier came to the palace to meet Crown Prince Edel.

"I have seen Your Highness."

Edel looked at the prime minister in front of him and asked. "I don't know what is the matter with the Prime Minister coming to see me?"

"Now the government's funds cannot be revolved, and it wants to issue government bonds."

Eder has long known that the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff had a big fight at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday over funding. He also understands that the government does not have enough funds, and the purchase rate of issued treasury bonds is also low. This time, I specifically asked him to report on the issuance of national debt, fearing that he had taken a fancy to the funds in his hands. After all, there is no precedent in Europe for the royal family to lend money to the government, and there are examples to be found when the accommodation is changed to the purchase of government bonds.

Even if he knows it is not a last resort, the Prime Minister will not use this method. Edel was still a little unwilling, and planned to ask again. "Is there really no other way?"

"His Royal Highness really has no choice but to issue treasury bonds. Otherwise, it will go bankrupt after less than three months of collecting the agricultural tax." No money.

After hearing what the Prime Minister said, Edel thought for a while and said it. "You can issue a batch of 250,000 lei two-year national debt, but it requires an annual interest rate of 10%. I heard that the Navy intends to buy a 2,000-ton cruiser, and it should also support it."

In the face of the crown prince's bid, the prime minister is not ambiguous in cutting the price. "The annual interest rate of this national debt is too high. If the annual interest rate is 5%, the navy does not need such a large ship. It would be good to have a 500-ton warship."

"This can't be done. Coastal defense is also the key point of Romania. A 2,000-ton cruiser can ensure the safety of Romania's sea frontier. The annual interest rate can be reduced a bit, and the annual interest rate of 8% is very reasonable." Speaking of. I don't know who it is, and I haven't raised funds for the Navy for many years.

After some haggling, the Prime Minister finally got the result. Issue 25 million lei national debt, the annual interest rate is 6%, the navy can get part of the funds from this national debt to buy a 2,000-ton cruiser to supplement the fleet.

After the crown prince got the results, Stulier went back to the Prime Minister's Office and the Minister of Finance to discuss the issuance. On the third day, the Romanian government issued a batch of two-year bearer government bonds worth 25 million lei to the domestic securities market, with an annual interest rate of 6%. As soon as it was put into the market, it was eagerly snapped up and sold out within a week. Among them, the largest buyer is the Romanian Industrial and Commercial Bank, which bought 81.6% of this batch of government bonds, which is inexplicable.

In the palace, Edel listened to Wariochi, President of ICBC, reporting the results of this time.

"His Royal Highness, we have purchased 1.124 million pounds worth of government bonds, of which 500,000 pounds of bank funds and 62.4 pounds of royal funds have been used."

After listening to Wariochi's return, Edel thought that fortunately there is a bank that can help to buy government bonds, otherwise all the funds earned will be lent to the government.

After negotiating the terms with Stulier, Edel did not intend to use all the royal funds. As a royal industry, ICBC should also do its part. After returning 1 million pounds to the bank, there is no pressure to ask Wariochi to buy 500,000 pounds of government bonds. With the remaining funds, Edel can do other things.

While Edel was listening to Treasury purchases, Carroll I was listening to the report in the old King's Office. But it was the report of the secret probe Milok.

"Your Majesty. After our investigation, there was no contact between the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff. It should be the Prime Minister's own temporary decision."

After listening to the report of the secret probe, Carol I asked again. "Is it reliable?"

"It is completely reliable. We found out the information four days ago, and it took four days to review the reliability."

"Go down."

After Milok stepped down, Carol I was relieved. The actions of the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff made him very uneasy. That's why he asked Milok to investigate. In the face of power, no one can take it lightly. This is the tradition of the Hohenzollern family, and of course the old king will not forget it.