Chapter 162： Romania's material reserves

A guard walked into Edel's office and spoke to the crown prince who was immersed in work. "His Royal Highness, the Prime Minister is here."

After hearing the guard's words, Edel raised his head and twisted his aching neck. "Invite him in."

Looking at the guard who left, Edel glanced at the information he had just picked up. The above is the price index of raw materials that Romania needs to purchase in recent years. With the increasing tension in Europe in recent years, the prices of various raw materials are now more or less affected.

Take the rubber that Romania now imports a lot. This kind of tree species spread from Brazil's tropical rain forest to all over the world. Now Southeast Asia is its main production area, and its sap is rubber that is widely used in industry. Now the price of rubber has risen from the lowest of two shillings and eighteen pence three years ago to six shillings and three pence now. Among them is the impact of increased industrial demand, and there is also the current tension in Europe.

"His Royal Highness, you are looking for me."

Prime Minister Bretianu walked in eagerly and asked before breathing. Now the Prime Minister's Office still has a lot of things waiting for him to deal with, especially the personnel arrangements in the newly occupied area, which is related to whether the territories captured by Romania can quickly settle down.

"How about our new territory now?"

After seeing Prime Minister Bretianu, Edel asked regularly.

"Now the personnel of the Bulgarian government are agitating the local people to move to their newly acquired territory." Prime Minister Bretianu answered Edel's question, but he still asked uneasy. "His Royal Highness, we just let them encourage the people to leave?"

"Yes, this can at least reduce the instability factor. Without these people who have a homeland, the remaining local residents can at least be able to guard themselves."

In the face of Crown Prince Edel’s answer, Prime Minister Bretianu still felt a little bit at a loss. Because now Balkan countries are expelling each other’s tribesmen, especially in Macedonia and Thrace. The local Bulgarian government drove about 200,000 Turks to its territory, and more than 100,000 Greeks were driven back to Greece. However, the Greek government is also unambiguous. About 90,000 Bulgarians were also driven to Bulgaria by them. Now the several countries that divided the Ottoman Empire in European territory are doing the same thing, expelling peoples that do not belong to their own countries to their respective countries.

This expulsion operation resulted in nearly one million people forcibly changing their nationalities, of which Ottomans received the most. About half a million natives were driven from Macedonia and Thrace to Ottoman territory. In the face of a sudden large number of local people, they were successively resettled by the Ottoman government to live in various parts of Asia Minor.

At present, evictions in various countries only allow the evicted people to bring their own clothes, banknotes and precious metals and other easy-to-carry items. As for their houses, farmland and other items that cannot be carried, they are directly expropriated, and all countries are expelled for a while. People can only abandon their hard-earned family business and escape to their homeland.

The over 100,000 Romanians living in Macedonia were not driven out, probably because Bulgaria was afraid of Romania’s power. However, Prime Minister Bretianu has sent people to encourage these people who have lived there to return to Romania. According to the Prime Minister's own estimation, there may be 50,000 to 60,000 people who can be instigated into Romania.

"I'm looking for you this time to find out, how much do we have financially?"

Prime Minister Bretianu secretly increased his vigilance when he heard that the crown prince wanted to know about the government's financial situation, fearing that the crown prince would have another idea about the government's finances. But the financial situation, Edel can also find out about the Minister of Finance. He only informed the Crown Prince's government about the financial situation, but he still made a foreshadowing.

"Due to the high expenditure of the war, our Romanian government now has only 20 million lei emergency funds available. Now we still have to face the domestic situation. We need to wait until October when the grain tax comes up to improve our financial situation."

"Do we have any other way?"

When facing the Prime Minister, Edel knew it, but Romania’s fiscal revenue has been rising steadily in the past two years, and there are not a few banks willing to lend money to Romania. Obviously Edel had this idea.

Hearing the crown prince’s unabashed question, Prime Minister Bretianu had no choice but to truthfully say. "If we need to borrow foreign debt now, then several banks are willing to lend us. In the short term, we may be able to borrow 100 million lei of funds. If we are willing to give a high interest rate, then we can also borrow 200 million lei. Borrowed, but it all requires tax mortgage."

After hearing Prime Minister Bretianu’s words, Edel combined with the royal family’s own 110 million lei funds to fully reserve the raw materials needed by Romania’s industry for two to three years. He calculated after excluding coal and iron ore, because both of them can be imported from surrounding Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Ottoman, and the impact on him is not too great.

Thinking that 8 years ago, I could only tie up to Germany for the 300 million lei industrial start-up funds and reorganization of the army. Now Romania can borrow 200 million lei for any purpose. Edel lamented.

"Then borrow foreign debts at 200 million yuan."

Prime Minister Bretianu was taken aback when he heard that Crown Prince Edel would borrow 200 million in foreign debt. In his image, the Crown Prince had only borrowed so much money for the start-up capital of Romania’s industrialization eight years ago. Fortunately, Romania took advantage of its own advantages to develop vigorously, coupled with the completion of the army reorganization, only after two years in power in its own power to ease. Now that he has to borrow foreign debts, what does his Royal Highness want to do?

Looking at Prime Minister Bretianu with a question mark on his face, Edel had to tell him his plan. After all, without government support, Romania's raw material reserves cannot be made.

"Your Excellency, the situation in Europe is becoming more and more tense now. Most of our imports now have to go through the Ottoman Strait. I am afraid that the situation will change like the Balkan war, so that our imports will be interrupted. You must know that by then it will not be our Balkans. The country’s war is so simple, it is probably the European war."

Hearing the worry of the crown prince, Prime Minister Bretianu also thought about the scene of his labors to transport Romania's export goods by land at that time, but whether the 200 million lei funds were too much for preparing raw materials. You must know that the raw materials that countries need to reserve for themselves are at most half a year. The capital of 200 million lei is almost enough for Romania to reserve raw materials for one year. He still does not know that Crown Prince Edel does not plan to reserve coal and iron ore due to insufficient funds. Otherwise, even more surprised.

"Is there too much funds, and the amount of borrowing is enough for us for a year?"

"When the war comes together, none of us knows how long it will be. It is not a bad thing to reserve at all."

Eder could not tell the Prime Minister that this war will take more than four years. Now Europe generally believes that the war between the Allies and the Allies will break out, and it is estimated that it will be fought from June to a year or so. No one thought that the advancement of science and technology would make the war time. Get extended.

Facing the rhetoric of the crown prince, the prime minister is not easy to say anything, after all, no one can tell how long it will last.

"Well then I will let the government start stocking the raw materials we urgently need."

"It's not necessary for me to prepare it here After talking, Edel took out a list from the drawer, which he asked the Minister of Industry to make privately. Now the former Prime Minister Stu Lier's nephew has completely hugged Edel's thigh, and it is of course a piece of cake to ask him to prepare the industrial raw material reserves in advance.

Prime Minister Bretianu took this list, which indicated the various raw materials that Romania needs to import, such as copper ore, manganese ore, nitrate ore, rubber, etc., which are indispensable to Romanian industry, most of which They are all three to four years of reserves, but Prime Minister Bretianu found in this list that there are no reserves of coal and iron ore. This is what he calculated briefly. The raw materials on this list also require 250-300 million lei, and the government's borrowing of 200 million lei is not enough.

Seeing the Prime Minister’s puzzled expression, Edel told his own way. "The royal family can purchase 100 million lei foreign debt issued by the government to help the government purchase these raw materials."

After hearing what the crown prince said, Prime Minister Bretianu asked a little worried. "Can we run out of buying so much?"

"You just do as instructed, and we can continue to use it after the war is over even if we don't use it up."

Seeing that the crown prince decides everything strongly, Prime Minister Bretianu secretly resisted his unhappiness and nodded. "Well, I will arrange for the government department to start purchasing."

In the following period, Romania borrowed heavily from banks in various countries, and then purchased all the industrial raw materials it needed. No country can understand why the Romanian government is doing this, thanks to Romania’s large-scale procurement, which has allowed a small increase in various raw materials.