112: Chapter 112 The Greed of the Tycoons, the Empire's Gamble

Hearing these words, Kato Tomoya's eyes instantly lit up like two thousand-watt lightbulbs.

One must know that ever since 1886, when the Qing Dynasty's Beiyang Fleet, relying on its newly purchased treasures of the sea—the ironclads Dingyuan and Zhenyuan—had swaggered into Japan's Nagasaki Port.

After more than five hundred Beiyang sailors went ashore, a large-scale bloody clash broke out between them and the local Japanese police and ronin, resulting in casualties on both sides.

This was the "Nagasaki Incident" that shocked the Far East.

At that time, Japan lacked the strength and could only swallow its pride, choosing to bow its head and back down.

But this immense humiliation thoroughly stimulated all of Japan, making them resolve to expand their navy frantically, even if they had to sell everything they owned.

But the problem was that Japan was a tiny island nation with barren land and extremely scarce resources.

Coupled with a heavy population burden, the country was dirt-poor. Even the Emperor took the lead in saving money by eating only one meal a day. Where would they get the spare cash to buy expensive ironclads?

Having endured until now, their budget for buying warships was still light-years away!

But now, this legendary heir to the Rothschild Family had actually taken the initiative to reveal to him the insider news about the USA issuing canal bonds, a guaranteed money-maker!

Seeing that the other party was tempted, George Parker struck while the iron was hot and continued to entice him:

"Your Excellency, you are a sensible man. Once the Nicaragua Canal is completed, the voyage from New York to San Francisco can be shortened by sixteen percent, and the voyage from Liverpool to San Francisco can save nearly half!"

"What kind of economic value does this represent for global trade? Don't forget, this is a mega-project that the British Empire and the USA, the world's number one and number two economic powers today, are both keeping a close eye on!"

To be honest, Kato Tomoya was truly tempted this time.

He swallowed hard and carefully probed, "Then, may I ask what Mr. Rothschild's specific intention is?"

"I plan to buy up all the Nicaragua Canal bonds in one go. As for the budget, it will probably require a cash flow of two hundred million dollars!"

George Parker casually stated an astronomical figure.

"Hiss—" Kato Tomoya gasped, so startled he almost lost his footing.

"Two hundred million dollars!"

"Converted, that is nearly thirty-three million pounds, equivalent to a full one hundred and sixty million taels of silver!"

"Let alone raising the money, even if they packaged and sold the entirety of Japan, they couldn't even scrape together a fraction of this massive sum!"

"There is no need for Your Excellency to be nervous. Two hundred million dollars is an astronomical figure to ordinary people, but to our Rothschild Family, it is merely a drop in the bucket!"

George Parker raised his chin slightly, his tone carrying a sense of arrogance that looked down on the world.

Kato Tomoya's mouth practically watered as he listened, his eyes filled with undisguised jealousy and envy.

"If Japan had even a tenth of that wealth, they would have rushed to European shipyards long ago to place deposits and buy dozens of super steel warships with displacements that utterly crushed the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan!"

"Baka! These damn European plutocrats are simply filthy rich!" he cursed frantically in his heart.

Just then, George Parker shifted the topic.

"However, Your Excellency, you are also aware. Our family's industries span the globe. Although our assets are vast, most of them are fixed assets and stocks. Trying to mobilize a cash flow of two hundred million dollars within a few days is indeed somewhat difficult!"

"That is indeed true! Let alone mobilizing it in a short time, even if we sold our Empire of Japan, we couldn't produce so much cash!"

Kato Tomoya nodded in deep understanding.

"Therefore, I plan to borrow a bridge loan from your country's national bank. With the gold-standard reputation of Rothschild, this bit of pocket change shouldn't be a problem, right?"

George Parker looked at him with a faint, knowing smile.

"As long as the funds are in place, I can pay your country an annualized interest rate of up to twenty-five percent!"

Hearing this terrifying interest rate, Kato Tomoya's heart pounded wildly, but he did not lose his head. After all, he was a diplomat, not a banker. Although the interest was outrageously high, he still keenly sensed that something was slightly amiss.

"Mr. Rothschild, with all due respect, given your family's status in Europe and America, with just a word from you, those major European banks and even the Wall Street syndicates would line up to lend you money. Why did you choose Japan of all places?"

George Parker seemed to have anticipated this question and immediately wore an unfathomable smile.

"Your Excellency is indeed shrewd. Yes, if I just beckon, those major banks would indeed swarm like sharks smelling blood.

"But to be honest, the reason I am bypassing the closer options to seek a loan from you is that I am extremely optimistic about your country's future development potential. This is a long-term political investment!"

He paused, his tone becoming very sincere.

"I have heard that your Emperor Meiji is vigorously promoting reforms, fully learning Western advanced systems, and has already initially established a complete industrial system.

"In my view, your Emperor's grand talent and bold vision are not inferior in the slightest to those of Kaiser Wilhelm I, who unified Prussia! Looking across all of Asia, only Japan is qualified to receive investment from our Rothschild Family!"

George Parker's half-true, half-false flattery was a precision strike.

Kato Tomoya was overjoyed to hear this, his face wrinkling with a massive grin as he repeatedly nodded in agreement.

He even felt secretly smug: it seemed this heir to a top European dynasty indeed had an eye for talent. Japan's rapid development over these years had actually caught the attention of such a prominent figure standing at the pinnacle of world wealth!

"Therefore, I hope to use this loan as a stepping stone to establish deep economic ties between our two sides."

George Parker continued to paint a grand picture. "By the way, I hear your country has always yearned to shed the label of Asian backwardness and formally integrate into European high society? Believe me, as long as the Rothschild Family mediates in European politics, this is but a trivial matter!"

These words were like a spark falling into a powder keg, thoroughly detonating the fanaticism in Kato Tomoya's heart.

"Then, may I ask how much Mr. Rothschild intends to borrow from our country?" Kato Tomoya's voice trembled slightly with extreme excitement.

"Let's start with thirty million dollars to test the waters. I firmly believe Japan has this capability. If you can't even produce this bit of pocket change, then this cooperation is quite meaningless!"

George Parker deliberately stiffened his face, wearing an arrogant expression that seemed to say, "This is a test of your strength."

"This sum is too..." Kato Tomoya was about to say that the amount was too large for him to make the decision.

But hearing George Parker's dismissive tone, which seemed to say, "If you can't even handle this, don't blame me for turning my back on you,"

Kato Tomoya instantly swallowed his words of retreat.

He swore fiercely to himself: No matter what, even if he had to kneel to death before the Emperor and the cabinet, he had to get this loan approved!

This was absolutely a once-in-a-century, heaven-sent opportunity for Japan!

As long as he facilitated this loan, not only could he cling to the super-strong thigh of the Rothschild Family, but he could also completely open the channel for Japan to integrate into Europe!

A mere thirty million dollars was only equivalent to just over twenty million taels of silver!

As long as the citizens back home tightened their belts further, starved for a few years, and scraped the copper coins from between their teeth, they could absolutely scrape together this sum!

The most fatal temptation was that the Rothschild Family had offered an annual interest rate of up to twenty-five percent!

As long as they survived these few years, just by living off the interest, they could effortlessly buy back several super warships capable of blowing the Beiyang Fleet to smithereens!

...

Actually, the "thirty million dollars" that George Parker casually quoted was not something he had just pulled out of thin air.

This was the bottom line that Lin Tian had spent a fortune hiring a group of top economics professors from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania to calculate, through repeated deductions and precise computations based on Japan's economic data.

In 1890, the USA' GDP had officially overtaken that of the Great Qing Empire.

And what about Japan? Their current gross national product, at its absolute best, was not even a tenth of that of the USA.

According to the economic accounting standards of this era,

thirty million dollars was roughly equivalent to the sum of all the wealth created by the entirety of Japan working for a whole year without eating or drinking!

Hearing this figure, many people might find it absurd.

Japan usually cried poverty and claimed they couldn't afford a single warship worth a million taels of silver. How could they possibly produce thirty million dollars in cold, hard cash all at once?

This was actually a colossal misconception!

In Japan, those who were truly wealthy enough to rival nations were never the high-and-mighty Emperor, nor the military government that shouted slogans all day long.

Rather, it was the bankers and large corporate capitalists who hid behind the scenes sucking blood!

Starting from the Meiji Restoration in the 1850s, the country gradually moved toward industrialization. The vast majority of profits generated during this period had all fallen into the private vaults of these zaibatsu.

Even the foreign wars of aggression they launched later were, in essence, frantically fueled by these corporate capitalists behind the scenes.

Because with the primitive accumulation of capital, the measly resources and narrow market of the Japanese home islands had long since been unable to feed this pack of greedy wolves; they urgently needed to plunder more overseas markets.

Therefore, when George Parker opened his mouth like a lion demanding thirty million dollars, Kato Tomoya was not immediately scared off.

Because he knew perfectly well in his heart that while the government's treasury might be poor enough to host mice, the domestic zaibatsu giants only had to leak a little grease from between their fingers, and raising this sum would absolutely not be a problem.

Thus, Kato Tomoya hurriedly sent a top-secret telegram to Japan's Tokyo headquarters.

As soon as the telegram arrived, Tokyo's entire high-level circle was completely in an uproar!

A massive loan granted to the European hegemon, the Rothschild Family!

A heaven-defying annual interest rate of up to twenty-five percent!

More importantly, this could also win Japan the friendship of the Rothschild Family!

The other party had even personally promised that they could use resources in European politics to help Japan achieve its long-cherished dream of "leaving Asia and entering Europe"!

This kind of pie-in-the-sky good fortune practically sent those zaibatsu tycoons into a collective climax.