Chapter 433： Opening of the Suez Canal

In Egypt, the Suez Canal also reached a critical moment. After nine years of construction, it finally came to an end.

This time there was no stoppage, and there was no shortage of labor. France and Austria jointly built the Grand Canal, but the British failed to make trouble, but their Egyptian cotton planting plan was aborted.

The construction took so long for no other reason, mainly because the design depth of the canal was four meters higher than the original Suez Canal.

Later, during the actual construction, the engineer sent by the Austrian side asked to ensure foolproofness, and dropped another two meters.

As the depth increases, the width naturally increases, and the amount of engineering naturally increases. In the age of lack of machinery, the increased earthmoving volume was not a minor project.

The cost of construction increased along with the increase in the amount of work. The original Suez Canal was navigable after several twists and turns, and the cost was as high as 18.6 million pounds. Now the cost is as high as 37.7 million pounds.

Rising costs have pushed the Suez Canal stocks all the way down, and many people doubt whether the Canal will pay back.

This happened to be cheap Franz, and someone would sell the stock and take it. Anyway, you ca n’t lose money. Profit is only a matter of time.

It was with his picker that Suez Canal shares did not fall into the price of cabbage. Of course, falling below the issue price is inevitable.

After issuing two additional shares, seeing the downturn in the stock is like selling it out, and Canal Company directly loaned the bank with the canal property mortgage.

It was cold in the financial market. Fortunately, this is a strategic project. It was regarded by the governments of France and Austria as an opportunity to break the British monopoly on the Zhibudra Strait.

Only under the guarantee of the governments of the two countries were the banks willing to provide loans. Franz was prepared to take over the business himself, but was opposed by bank staff.

After all, the outside world is not optimistic about the Canal Company, and issuing such a huge loan is likely to trigger a chain reaction, in case it affects the Royal Bank's storage capacity.

You know, most of Franz's investments are actually made with loans. In this context, it is vital to ensure the Royal Bank's capacity to absorb reserves.

From his bank loan, left-handed and right-handed, the cost of funds he has to pay is only the deposit interest rate. In fact, it is lower than the deposit rate.

Rolling use of funds. Even if the money is spent, it is often transferred from one account to another and is not taken out of the bank.

There was no UnionPay in this era, and cross-bank transfers need to be done by yourself. Generally, few people do this.

This is an opportunity for banks to recycle a single fund multiple times. As long as it does not encounter the financial crisis and run on the run, there are no problems in cycling for dozens of times.

Even if it is a financial crisis, the impact on the Royal Bank is not great, and credibility is a good thing.

In recent years, the Royal Bank has collected a lot of gold, some of which have been sold, and most of them have been stored. There is still a hundred tons of gold reserves at the headquarters in Vienna.

This is where the Royal Bank's credibility lies. On the surface, there are a lot of 100 tons of gold, and the actual value is 273.224 million Aegis.

It just sounds domineering, making people feel rich and safe.

Of course, the most reassuring thing is the "Royal" brand. As long as the royal family does not fall, the Royal Bank will not fall. This is equivalent to Franz's face, and it is impossible to make it bankrupt.

Most of the funds have been invested in themselves, and naturally there is less money to lend. In fact, so far RBC has not done small businesses.

In simple terms, it is a loan business that is less than 100,000 Aegis. It is not accepted here, and no collateral is accepted. The deposit limit will be much lower, and the Aegis can open an account.

There is no way, this era is limited by technology, and all rely on manual handling of business. Deposits are okay. The problem is loan review. It is very troublesome to investigate the information.

Royal Bank makes small loans, except for government-entrusted policy loans. The government is responsible for guaranteeing the customer's repayment ability, and these problems naturally disappear.

Real small loans are only made by small and medium banks in this era, and interest rates are much higher than ordinary commercial loans. Not much money was made, and the infamous usury's infamous topped first.

Royal Bank's initial positioning was to serve Franz himself. Not keen on lending, most of the business is conservative.

In this way, Royal Bank's development of personal loan business is very general, but there are not many bad debts, and generally it is a small profit.

Most of the profits come from corporate loans, government loans, and international loans. These large comprehensive loans are not used by small banks, and market competition is much smaller.

Interest rates may be lower, but the management costs that need to be invested are also lower, and the profits are more substantial.

Especially for international loans, the surface interest rate is not high, but the returns are actually very rich.

For example: handling fees and exchange fees are usually three or four points. When issuing a loan, the principal and interest that should be repaid in the first year are generally deducted, and some loans are deducted for one or three or five years.

Banks usually also promote products on a part-time basis, with limited use of loans. Banks can sell a certain amount of goods to customers in a bundle and earn the difference.

Generally speaking, when a loan of 10 million SHIELD is issued, the debtor can get 9 million SHIELD, even if it is a conscience loan. If the conditions are harsh, a 50% off loan can be obtained directly.

The worst thing is to make installments, but you have to bear the full amount of interest. This kind of loan, the funds actually received in the end, may be less than four layers of the total loan amount.

Without these pitfalls, international loans would not be disgusting. Just a few points of interest, this is too much to underestimate the appetite of the capitalists.

...

"Mr. Lesseps, the canal project has passed the inspection and can be drained."

Lesseps is the chief engineer of the Suez Canal. His main achievement is that the Few Egyptians sent people to participate in the excavation of the Grand Canal.

You should know that this time is even more excessive than in the same period in history. The Egyptians did not get the shares of the Canal Company.

In fact, it is the same. Even if the shares are given, the Egyptian government should not want to get money.

In time and space, the Egyptian government did not win the treatment of 300,000 pounds per year until 1937. As for their initial 44% stake, who will admit it?

Dividends are the same now, anyway, no money. Lesseps was able to fool the Egyptian government's initiative to cooperate and was naturally recognized by the Canal Company.

Although the Canal Company pays the Egyptian government a sum of money each year, it is not worth mentioning at all compared to labor costs.

The Suez Canal is not so much repaired as it was filled out with human life. However, the Egyptian government itself does not care about the casualties, and the Canal Company naturally does not care.

Without sloppy water, Lesseps ordered: "Let's put water!"

With an order, the dam was blown up in the sound of a "roaring" explosion. The turbulent seawater rushed directly to the past, and the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea merged.

With a loud noise, the news that the Suez Canal was opened quickly spread throughout the European continent, and everyone's reactions were different.

Rejoicing, surprised, worried, incredible ... a variety of expressions.

The port of Venice, as the most prosperous commercial port in Austria, people pay much more attention to the Suez Canal than other regions.

In the tavern, discussions have already begun.

A young man proudly coquettishly said: "The Suez Canal has been opened, have you heard? It is said that it is possible to sail 50,000 tons of huge ships, isn't this a joke? There are no such large ships in the world, it is simply waste!"

A middle-aged man next to him retorted, "What do you know? That is the maximum navigable capacity. The Suez Canal is located on the Eurasian main road. There must be a lot of ships going to it, of course, there must be multiple channels in parallel.

Moreover, now that shipbuilding technology is so developed, it is said that everyone is developing 20,000 tons of giant ships. Wouldn't it just be possible to stagger such a giant wheel? "

The young man was unconvinced: "Come on, the Suez Canal is tolled. Where can there be so many boats to cross. It's a big deal to bypass the Gibraltar Strait and run a long way without paying the wrong money.

The real use is military. We dug this canal with the French. The obvious problem is to get rid of the British control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

As for the Suez Canal Company, I'm afraid it will be dead. To build such a large canal is to run several warships. "

Another young man came in and sat down and said, "Philfer, it seems that you want to buy a map and take a good look. Don't be pretentious, and show off here.

After the Suez Canal was opened, the voyage to the Indian Ocean was greatly shortened. How could it be of no commercial value? Take our Venice as an example, there are no less than a thousand ships to and from the Indian Ocean every year.

After the Suez Canal passes, this number will increase. Perhaps Austria alone has tens of thousands of ships traveling to and from the Indian Ocean each year. If all Mediterranean countries add up, there are probably tens of thousands of ships to and from.

Even if a ship charges three or five hundred SHIELDs, the annual canal revenue of the Canal Company will be tens of millions of SHIELDs. This number will also increase with the increase in international trade. It is possible to collect hundreds of millions of SHIELD navigation fees each year in the future.

As long as the navigation fee does not exceed the increased cost of bypassing the Strait of Gibraltar, everyone will be happy to reduce a sea journey. "

At this time, life at sea is an adventure. Thousands of ships die every year, and sailing at sea is a risk.

Whether it is possible to shorten or sail the distance is a good thing for every capitalist engaged in maritime transportation, which means that their sunk costs are reduced.

Compared to the military value of the Suez Canal, ordinary people are more concerned about economic value. On the map, this canal has the biggest effect on Austria. Whether traveling to the Indian Ocean or the Western Pacific, this is the best choice.

This has affected Austria's economy, especially in port cities like Venice. After shortening the voyage, it will play a significant role in promoting trade.

This is undoubtedly a good thing for those living here. The increase in overseas trade means an increase in the number of ships and vessels, and it also means that the local economy will be more prosperous, and everyone's income will also increase accordingly.

Different people care about different things. In the Vienna Palace, Franz did not care about the economic impact of the Suez Canal, he was more concerned about strategic value.

Looking at the basic parameters of the canal: the width of the water surface is 138 meters, the width of the river bottom is 48 meters, and the water depth is 15.4 meters. It is expected to accommodate 50,000 tons of ships for navigation.

This means that even in the era of Dreadnoughts, the Suez Canal can be freely navigable, and the strategic value of the Suez Canal has increased by some amount compared to the original time and space.

This relieved Franz, and the effort was finally in vain. This value will be enough in the era of the fearless ship. It does not need to be considered in the era of aircraft carriers. By then the British should also fall.

Looking at the cost of the canal, Franz couldn't help but sigh. More than double the original time and space, and it really is a high investment project. If it weren't for the prophets, Franz wouldn't necessarily dare to invest so much.

This huge investment means that it is difficult for Canal Company to recover its investment in the next ten years. But this is not harmful, the Canal Company is still a golden chicken laying eggs.

With the development of maritime trade, Qianjing of the Canal Company can be expected in the future. The short-term investment is completely worthwhile. Perhaps the navigational expenses one or two years later can recover the construction costs.

In this respect, Napoleon III's courage is also admirable. Without the prophet's advantage, he dared to follow suit.

On the question of the Suez Canal, Napoleon III's strategic vision was completely impeccable.

The butterfly effect is really terrible. Without the aura of victory in the Crimean war, it should be considered a good thing for the French, and their emperor did not float.

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