novelraw Chapter 147: Treasure-hunting Partnership
Chapter 147: Treasure-hunting Partnership
As a former colonial empire, Spain actually possesses no small amount of gold reserves. But due to the decline in national strength, plus the fact that a large amount of wealth belonged to the former royal Bourbon family, after the Bourbon family fled north to France, they took away a large amount of gold and other property.
The gold reserves currently under the control of the Spanish Government are only less than 200 tons, and the gold reserves in Carlo’s hands are even fewer, adding up to not even enough to reach ten tons.
No way around it, gold this thing in the era of the gold standard was really not that important to various countries.
Possessing gold allows for printing currency, and the proportion between gold and currency cannot possibly be a fixed 1 to
Even in some countries with relatively more gold reserves, the actual proportion of gold to printed currency is as high as 1 to 10 or more.
What does that mean? Holding gold worth 100 million pounds sterling, the share of paper currency issued externally could be as high as over 1 billion pounds sterling.
However, printing currency is not done without restraint. First, there is concern about currency devaluation and inflation caused by a large amount of currency flowing into the market; second, there is worry that too frequent gold exchanges will lead to a sharp reduction in domestic gold reserves, triggering a currency crisis with no gold to redeem.
To put it bluntly, the money supply is also related to currency credibility. And gold reserves are a major factor that can support currency credibility, and one of the most important methods.
Currency itself does not possess value, but only gains actual meaningful value after being pegged to gold for exchange. Without gold, currency is actually just waste paper, fundamentally unable to circulate in the market.
The Royal United Bank and the Spanish National Bank, as Spain’s only two legitimate currency issuance banks, have also accumulated certain gold reserves during these years of currency issuance. But the gold reserves accumulated by the two major banks together are only just over a dozen tons. Although this is already no small gold reserve for the banks themselves, for Spain, a dozen tons of gold is just a drop in the bucket.
The gold reserves in the hands of the Spanish Government may be able to cope with this economic crisis, but who would complain about having too little gold?
Every additional ton of gold in hand can create millions of pounds sterling, which is over 30 million pesetas in value.
Whether it is the Spanish Government or the two official banks, the more gold reserves in hand, the better, naturally.
Where to obtain sufficient gold reserves to cope with this economic crisis?
Carlo thought of many methods, but most of them were not very reliable, at least for Spain, basically impossible to achieve.
For example, salvaging treasure from sunken ships. Not to mention anything else, during Spain’s colonial America period, there were multiple ships transporting treasure that sank in the Atlantic Ocean.
Although the money transported on a single ship was not too much, the various sunken ships added together would probably amount to no small wealth.
But the problem is that the locations of these sunken ships are not completely unchanging. Plus due to current salvaging technology, even if the locations of these sunken ships can ultimately be found, it is not certain they can be salvaged.
Moreover, the Atlantic Ocean is so vast; finding the location of sunken ships is extremely difficult. Current technology is not suitable for salvaging sunken ships; otherwise, countries with even stronger technology like Britain and France would have done it long ago.
Besides salvaging sunken ships, there is another relatively reliable method: prospecting for gold mines and mining. But doing so first requires a very long time, and second, the existing prospected gold mines are basically all owned; prospecting for gold mines in other places takes too much time again.
Carlo does indeed know that many places have large gold mines, but the problem is, how to ensure that other great powers do not intervene, and Spain exclusively occupies this gold mine?
Moreover, even if Carlo points out that a certain region has a gold mine, it still requires mineral prospecting teams to confirm the location of the gold mine, and then massively mine gold ore to extract gold.
Such a long time obviously cannot keep up with the pace of the economic crisis, and for current Spain, it is also not a relatively suitable method.
After thinking it over, Carlo ultimately set his sights on the Indians. This region of India has the world’s second-largest population, and similarly possesses a large amount of unknown treasures.
The temple treasures of India, which have various rumors in posterity, Carlo is naturally aware of. Even the temple treasures of India are not just one; the largest temple treasure contains countless wealth, and smaller treasures also have much gold and silver treasure. Taking any one could obtain no small gold reserves.
But the current problem is that India is British territory, and the relationship between the British and Spain is not so good.
Moreover, excavating temple treasures in India requires complete secrecy throughout. With the current forces under Carlo’s control, it is hard to perfectly execute the entire plan, after all, this requires dispatching personnel to India for treasure excavation, and concealing it from the entire Indian colonial government and British Government, transporting the excavated treasures from India to Spain.
But to simply abandon the Indian temple treasures would be too regrettable.
Although in history, the temple treasures would only be discovered 100 years later, who can be sure there won’t be any changes?
After all, the process of the Franco-Prussian War has already been changed; whether future events will be changed is something Carlo fundamentally cannot determine.
Since it cannot be determined, then the temple treasures should naturally be obtained as early as possible. This rich treasure, whether left to the British or future Indians, is not cost-effective for Spain and Carlo.
Now is a relatively good opportunity; the market changes before the outbreak of the economic crisis will certainly attract the attention of the British Government. This is also the most suitable time to go to India for treasure excavation.
By the time the British refocus their attention on India, it will not be easy to dispatch personnel for large-scale action again.
After careful consideration, Carlo ultimately decided to cooperate with Prime Minister Primó, using the power of the Spanish Government to obtain this batch of treasures.
Of course, in cooperating with the Spanish Government, this batch of treasures will definitely have to give a portion to the Spanish Government. Even if Prime Minister Primó is a bit forceful, the Spanish Government will get the lion’s share, and Carlo can only get a small share.
But this is also unavoidable, after all, at this time the royal family’s power is too weak. Those nobles although possess certain influence, but the matter of temple treasures is of great importance and cannot completely rely on those old aristocrats.
New Aristocrats naturally go without saying. The power in their hands all comes from the royal family; Carlo does not have the ability to conceal the Indian colonial government and British Government to excavate treasures, let alone these new aristocrats who have no power at all.
Although cooperating with the Spanish Government means giving the government the lion’s share, the good news is that the Spanish Government does indeed possess sufficient power. Moreover, India’s temple treasures are not just one; as long as more gold and other valuable treasures from several treasures are obtained, the benefits Carlo ultimately gains will still not be few.
Moreover, for Carlo, it is also beneficial for the Spanish Government to obtain these treasures. Although Spain’s development is relatively smooth, all of this is premised on loans from the Italian Government and the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Government.
Including France, the loans France provided to Spain amount to 500 million francs; just the interest requires repaying 100 million francs.
The Spanish Government’s financial pressure is still very great. If a batch of temple treasures can be obtained to expand gold reserves and financial reserves, it will undoubtedly alleviate a large part of the financial pressure, allowing greater investment in development and construction for better results.
Since cooperation with the government has been determined, the next matters are easy to handle.
Carlo only needs to confirm the relevant plan with Prime Minister Primó, and leave the specific actions to the government; at most, the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau can provide some assistance.
January 15, 1873, inside the Madrid Royal Palace.
“Your Majesty, what matter requires summoning me so urgently?” Prime Minister Primó hurried over, his gaze carrying some curiosity and doubt.
Since Carlo ascended the throne these past few years, he had not summoned him so urgently and mysteriously. This also made Prime Minister Primó somewhat curious, and he hurried over without much thought.
“Prime Minister Primó, my subordinates have found a mysterious treasure outside Europe, which may contain a large amount of gold and silver treasure and other priceless rare items.
But as you know, the royal family does not have too many personnel to retrieve these treasures. I wonder if the government has any interest. If possible, I am willing to give three-tenths of the treasure to the government as reward for the government’s participation in this action.” Carlo got straight to the point and proposed his suggestion.
However, regarding more private institutions like the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Carlo did not tell the full truth, but simply summarized them as subordinates.
“A priceless treasure outside Europe?” Prime Minister Primó was somewhat doubtful; this sounded not so reliable.
“Your Majesty, where did you hear this news? Please forgive me, but if our action ultimately yields no harvest, it will be hard to account to the government.” Prime Minister Primó pondered for a few minutes and raised his question.
Although Carlo is the King of Spain, the Spanish Government clearly will not take actual action just because of a few words from Carlo.
The risks involved and the interests that can be harvested are all things Prime Minister Primó needs to consider. Unless it is confirmed that the government can obtain actual benefits, the Spanish Government will not go far beyond Europe to search for so-called treasures just because of one sentence from Carlo.
“There’s nothing to say about the intelligence source, but what can be confirmed is that the intelligence is very likely true. Even if the intelligence is not true, the royal family is willing to bear all expenses of this action.
If the intelligence is true, the specific expenses of this action will be deducted from the share of the obtained treasure. Prime Minister Primó, I hope you will carefully consider my opinion. This is a treasure that absolutely cannot be missed; it is huge wealth for both the royal family and the government.” Carlo would not foolishly reveal the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau he established in full.
Although the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau may not necessarily fool Prime Minister Primó, he definitely would not know too much about its current development.
As the King of Spain, it is only natural for Carlo to establish his own forces. Unless Prime Minister Primó wants to fall out with Carlo, he will not inquire too much about the situation of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau.
The facts indeed turned out as Carlo had predicted.
After hearing Carlo say that the intelligence source cannot be revealed, Prime Minister Primó immediately linked this intelligence to the previously rumored intelligence bureau established by Carlo.
Regarding the intelligence bureau established by Carlo, Prime Minister Primó did not have too much opposition. After all, the government cannot possibly stop the king’s actions; although Carlo does not have too much power, the King of Spain is not just a figurehead.
If pushed too hard, it would not be good for either Prime Minister Primó or Carlo. Maintaining the current balance is the most suitable choice, neither delaying Prime Minister Primó’s reforms for the government and Spain, nor delaying Carlo’s own power layout.
Regarding the current situation of the Spanish Government, both Prime Minister Primó and Carlo are naturally clear. The current Prime Minister Primó is the unquestioned controller of the Spanish Government, and Carlo’s influence is far inferior to Prime Minister Primó’s.
But such power will still have to be returned to Carlo in the future. Before completing their respective plans, neither Carlo nor Prime Minister Primó is willing to destroy their relationship with the other.
Since Carlo has indicated willingness to bear the expenses of this action, Prime Minister Primó naturally has nothing to say. Even if there is no so-called treasure, at worst it can be treated as a bit of play between the government and the young king.
The king does not propose many suggestions each year; Prime Minister Primó naturally cannot frequently reject the king’s opinions.
Moreover, such a proposal has no great loss for the government; it is nothing more than selecting some reliable personnel from the military to cooperate with the king for an action.
“If that’s the case, then there is no problem. But Your Majesty, according to the plan you described, the government will act as the actual manager of this action.
If the treasure share is too small, the government will have no harvest. I suggest changing the split proportion to fifty-fifty; for the royal family and the government, this allocation is fair.” Prime Minister Primó continued: “
The government is willing to cooperate with Your Majesty the King’s action. If this batch of treasures really exists, no matter on whose territory, we can bring this treasure back to Spain.”
Carlo of course knew that a thirty-seventy split was impossible, and Prime Minister Primó would absolutely not agree to a thirty percent allocation.
The reason for proposing a thirty-seventy split was actually to achieve a fifty-fifty split. If fifty-fifty had been proposed from the start, Prime Minister Primó had a high probability of pressing for even less, and the royal family’s share would be lower.
This is just like doing business: start with a high price, then slowly negotiate down. Prime Minister Primó of course also knew that thirty-seventy was not Carlo’s bottom line; his meaning was also very clear: the government can cooperate with Carlo’s action, but the split must be a relatively fair figure.
A fifty-fifty split is completely acceptable to Carlo. The Indian temple treasures are rumored to be mythical, with estimates of billions, tens of billions, or even trillions.
Although Carlo is not certain of the exact amount of the Indian temple treasures, the royal family’s half share will absolutely not be small.
The royal family’s total assets currently add up to only a few tens of millions of pesetas; if this treasure is obtained, it might directly multiply the royal family’s assets several times.
For such a treasure obtained for free, what is there not to be happy about? The share obtained by the Spanish Government will be used to develop the entire Spain; the stronger Spain is, the more beneficial it is for Carlo.
Carlo pretended to be very hesitant, ultimately nodded, and said somewhat reluctantly: “Then fifty-fifty it is, Prime Minister Primó.
But I hope there will be no changes; the royal family accepts at least fifty-fifty. I hope our cooperation will be very pleasant.”
“That is of course, Your Majesty the King.” Having obtained a fifty percent split, Prime Minister Primó’s mood was also quite satisfied. He smiled and nodded, saying to Carlo as if making a guarantee: “Our cooperation will be very pleasant. I hope to see this treasure soon; I am somewhat impatient already.”