I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 77



Only Noblemtl

Central Bank and Navy (4)

Senator Robert knew what Chairman Raphael, who had come without notice, would say, because things were going as His Highness the Crown Prince had said.

– Senator Robert, if they can’t find another way to divert the attention of the people from the bonds, then the battle of public opinion will be ours to win. Then there is only one thing they can do. Since they can’t turn the public opinion that wants a central bank, or more precisely, naval bonds, they will try to adjust the conditions instead of supporting the establishment.

-Yes, I guess so. But even if you don’t accept it, there’s nothing they can do.

-But I will accept the deal.

Senator Robert did not immediately understand his lord’s instructions to accept the deal.

-If the election is held like this, the imperialists could win over half of the seats, Your Majesty. They will absolutely not tolerate that risk, so this law has to be passed before the election, right?

– Let’s look at it a little longer. If we push it that far, this incident will be an opportunity for the landowners and the republicans to unite and fight against us. Then, the conflict between the church and the republicans that we worked so hard to create will cool down.

Only then did Senator Robert understand. The conflict between the church and the Republicans over the establishment of a secular university was so intense that it almost led to a full-scale armed conflict.

Eventually, the two sides compromised through the mediation of the royal family, but as a result, the church power also began to invest more effort in the parliament.

I felt a sense of crisis.

Somehow, even among the imperial and republican deputies, those with strong religious beliefs or families with strong ties to the church converted to the landowning faction.

Although there were only a few such members, the repercussions were significant. It was a signal that the Catholic Church, which had enormous influence but was straddling several political factions, was openly allied to the landlords.

The conflict between the Republicans and the Catholic Church ultimately accelerated the political movements of the Catholic Church, which led to the conflict between the Republicans and the landowners.

– In any case, to pass a law, only one of the landowners and the republicans is needed. So, if you choose one of the two and try to unilaterally pass the law, the other side will not be able to trust the side that betrayed them first, right?

-Yes. Even though we are not on good terms with each other now, if we want to continue this situation in the future, we cannot continue to support only one side. If we do, the side that is ignored will likely become more extreme. Last time, we supported the Republicans, so this time, it would be better to make a deal with the landlords. However, if they do not request a deal, there is no need to go first. Deal with the one who comes first.

-Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.

I thought it would come about a month before the election, but it came much sooner than expected.

‘I guess political sense is still alive.’

Congressman Robert welcomed Chairman Raphael.

“I am honored that Your Majesty has come to my house.”

Chairman Raphael also smiled lightly and responded to the unexpected hospitality.

“Haha, as expected from the famous Mendoza family’s mansion, it’s really cool.”

The mansion was home to the Emperor’s right-hand man, Lieutenant General Fernando Mendoza, and Senator Robert Mendoza.

As the servants began to bring out tea and refreshments, Senator Robert asked.

“I assume you came to talk about the law on establishing a central bank?”

When he said this as if he had expected it, Chairman Raphael answered obediently.

“Yes, that’s right. Our landowners would like to support that law.”

“There must be conditions, right?”

“Yes, first of all, I hope that the central bank will be an independent organization, not under the executive branch. The head of the bank will not be decided by the executive branch, but will be appointed by the prime minister and the parliament, just like ministers, and then submitted to His Majesty the Emperor.···I hope you will also provide sufficient provisions for our landowners to purchase sufficient naval bonds.”

The terms of the deal were exactly as His Highness the Crown Prince had anticipated: if it was going to be established anyway, he wanted to make sure that the candidates were as neutral as possible.

The governors and chief justices who were openly appointed by the emperor were classified as completely pro-Emperor, but the ministers of each department of the executive branch were evaluated as being close to neutral, although it was difficult for them to refuse the emperor’s orders.

If it is going to be established, it would be a good idea to secure naval bonds, which can be a good money-making tool for landowners.

“great.”

“Yes?···Can you decide like that right away?”

When Rep. Robert coolly agreed, Chairman Raphael was taken aback.

“Yes, I can accept those conditions.”

“Um… I understand. Thank you for the good deal.”

“Thank you too.”

Chairman Raphael achieved his goal easily, but left the mansion feeling uneasy.

The next day, Rep. Robert once again introduced a bill to establish a central bank.

Republican lawmakers opposed it as before, but soon they could not help but feel that something was strange.

“You landowners, why don’t you oppose it?”

“By the way, at this point, wouldn’t it have been better to just hold a vote and end it?”

Something had changed. A thought crossed the mind of Congressman Pedro Gonzalez, who was sensing it.

“Those guys, they made a deal with the Emperor’s faction.”

I know because I tried. Didn’t you make a deal with the Crown Prince about introducing the metric system and establishing a secular university?

Hearing that, his fellow lawmakers were outraged.

“I knew they were untrustworthy people to begin with, but···.”

“Damn it. Don’t you know that if you pass this bill through bargaining, you’re essentially strangling yourself?”

The landowners thought the same thing about the republicans, but people are inherently hypocritical.

The Republican deputies were more hostile to the landlords who had suddenly reversed their position on an issue they should have been united in opposing than to the imperialists who had proposed the law.

Meanwhile, the leader, Senator Pedro, was gathering his thoughts.

‘If the imperialists and landlords made a deal, this law would pass. If they oppose it to the end, it will be a blow to the election.’

Senator Pedro had his own expectations for the election. It is true that the Crown Prince’s achievements were increasing the support of the people, but the rapidly increasing immigrant population and the non-proprietor class self-employed farmers and urban workers were divided between the imperialists and the republicans.

It is not that the Republicans did anything right, but rather that resentment against the landlord class led to support for the opposing party, and the Republicans were closer to the opposite side of the landlords than the Emperors.

That is, in this election, the imperial faction would win more seats than the landowner faction, but the republican faction was also hoping to not only keep its seats but also expand its seats a little.

‘If the landlords had any sense, they would have agreed to make the central bank independent from the government as a condition of the deal.’

“We have no choice but to agree.”

“It’s because of the election.”

“Yeah, if it’s going to pass anyway, there’s no need to do anything that could be a weakness in the election.”

His colleagues also understood what Rep. Pedro said.

Thus the law establishing the central bank was passed.

***

As previously agreed, the candidate to head the central bank was submitted to the National Assembly, and a nearly neutral expert was selected.

The central bank’s staff was filled by people who had studied finance in Europe, employees of commercial banks, and employees of the Ministry of Finance.

The staff moved into the central bank building that had been arranged in advance in Mexico City, and their first task was, as usual, to issue naval bonds.

“Oh, did you prepare this in advance?”

When I presented what I had prepared, the governor of the central bank asked in admiration.

I am not a financial expert, but I know what bonds are and how they work. At that time, bonds were issued as physical documents like stock certificates, and the design was prepared in advance.

“What do you think? Doesn’t it make you want to buy it?”

“I originally wanted to buy it, but I want to buy it even more.”

It is a naval bond issued by the state. People will buy it because of the interest rate, but as it is the first bond of our empire, we paid special attention to the design.

The front side features a border with the unique pattern of the Mexican Empire and various information written in neat font, while the back side features a stylish drawing of a warship that people of the time would think of when they thought of a ‘battleship’.

At this level, it will have value as a collectible in the future.

“I’ve given you the details and design of the bond, so please do the rest of the work as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, I understand.”

***

January 1836.

Although cold winter weather covered much of the world, most of Mexico was not so cold.

The townspeople now headed to the Rios Express branch that was a given in most towns.

“Is it today? I came yesterday too but was disappointed.”

“Oh, I told you I got the date wrong yesterday, but you don’t know by looking at all the people gathered here now?”

Today is the day when the Navy bonds, which have been advertised in various newspapers, go on sale. In particular, a newspaper called ‘The Sword of Simplicio’ even revealed the design of the bonds and used a strategy of stimulating patriotism by claiming that these bonds were for the cost of building the Navy.

When the two men, who were neighbors, arrived at the Rios Express branch, there was already a long line of people waiting.

“His Highness the Crown Prince bought bonds worth one million pesos!”

“Huh, 1 million pesos! But it’s on sale starting today. How do you know that?”

“It’s written in today’s newspaper?”

“Oh, I see. So you’ve already decided to buy it.”

As I listened to what other people had to say, I became more and more confident in buying the bonds, and after waiting for hours, I finally bought two bonds for 200 pesos, and they looked exactly like the ones I had seen in the newspaper.

“If I hold this, you’ll give me 4 pesos per year for 10 years, for a total of 40 pesos in interest? You’ll also return the principal at maturity?”

“Yes. It’s a bond with a face value of 100 pesos, with an annual interest rate of 4% and a maturity date of 10 years.”

A friend who had heard it somewhere answered in a term that seemed to make sense, but the friend was already looking at the picture on the back of the bond and did not listen.

“Wow, this is being built with the money we paid. It’s kind of satisfying.”

“···It’s cool.”

People bought bonds to receive interest, but when they saw the picture of a battleship on the bonds, they felt a sense of pride that they were helping the country.

***

In just two weeks after the bonds were issued, 5 million pesos were raised. This was the result of not only ordinary citizens but also landowners buying the bonds with their spare cash.

At this rate, we will reach our ultimate goal of 10 million pesos within two months.

Huge amounts of pesos were pouring in through the railroads that stretched from the Mexican highlands to California, Texas, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Central America.

“That’s really amazing.”

The sight of the train’s cargo cars filled with glittering pesos was a sight even to Emperor Agustin I.

Workers hired by the central bank were trudging along, carrying sacks full of pesos onto carts.

As the amount of money was enormous, the warehouses hastily prepared by the central bank were being filled one by one, under strict guard, even with the military mobilized.

“If we could really raise 10 million pesos, we could allocate enough money to build warships, and even build a third port and a shipyard.”

Augustine I said to the Crown Prince.

“Father, not yet. I plan to call this money again.”

“···You have other plans?”

Agustin asked with a slightly bewildered yet expectant look on his face.

“Yes, we created a central bank, so we should use it.”

If we were only going to issue bonds in the first place, there would have been no need to create a central bank.

As the Emperor admired the mountain of silver coins, the Crown Prince thought again about the inefficiency of metal currency.