Make France Great Again-Chapter 848 - 839: Ossman’s Opponent
To Baron Haussman’s disappointment, Jerome Bonaparte did not have much reaction to the achievements he had made during his tenure, only said in a bland tone, "I understand, please have a seat first!" ending Baron Haussman’s speech.
After everyone at the Imperial Council finished their speeches, Jerome Bonaparte began to make a summary speech.
He first collectively praised all the ministers attending the Imperial Council, then proceeded to critique certain issues present in various departments, such as the Ministry of Railways employees’ extravagance and the safety incidents caused by the Ministry of Public Works during road construction.
All the ministers who were criticized bowed their heads and humbly accepted the critique, assuring Jerome Bonaparte that such incidents would never happen again.
Jerome Bonaparte gently replied, "Let it not be repeated."
After all the praise and criticism were concluded, the time was around twelve noon.
"You have all worked hard this morning! Just in time for lunch at the Tuileries Palace, you can stay here and have a meal with me!" Jerome Bonaparte said casually, then glanced askew at those present, "If anyone really has something urgent, you can leave first!"
No one left among those present, and they all expressed to Jerome Bonaparte that they had nothing urgent.
"Then let’s go!" Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, then rose from his chair and proceeded towards the door of the Imperial Conference Hall.
Everyone else also stood up, pushed back their chairs, and followed Jerome Bonaparte to the dining room.
At twelve o’clock sharp, the dining room began serving lunch.
Seated around the round table, everyone dined with the service of the Tuileries Palace stewards, and the essential Bordeaux Red Wine was naturally a must-have.
Led by Minister Fuld, everyone present raised their glasses with the slogan, "Wishing His Majesty the Emperor health and longevity."
Hearing the slogan, Jerome Bonaparte’s mouth twitched slightly, then he too raised his glass.
The entire banquet lasted around an hour, during which 3 bottles of Bordeaux Red Wine cherished by Jerome Bonaparte were consumed.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, everyone began to bid farewell to Jerome Bonaparte, who shook hands with them one by one.
When it was Minister Fuld’s turn, Jerome Bonaparte said to Fuld, "Minister Fuld, I would like to talk to you individually; can you wait a little longer before you leave?"
Fuld nodded, indicating he understood.
The remaining ministers, seeing Fuld being left behind, thoughtfully accelerated the pace of their farewells.
"Your Majesty!" As the last person to shake hands with Jerome Bonaparte, Baron Haussman spoke humbly.
"Baron Haussman, you have done very well!" Jerome Bonaparte shook hands with Baron Haussman, one hand holding Haussman’s and the other patting Haussman’s shoulder in praise.
"Your Majesty, I will continue to work hard!" Baron Haussman replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Rest assured! The Empire will never disappoint those who work hard for it!" Jerome Bonaparte assured with heartfelt sincerity.
"Understood!" Baron Haussman nodded vigorously with excitement.
Standing next to Jerome Bonaparte, Fuld couldn’t help but reveal a serious expression upon witnessing this scene.
After bidding farewell to everyone else, Jerome Bonaparte said to Fuld, "Minister Fuld, let’s go to the study to talk!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Fuld slightly bowed in response to Jerome Bonaparte.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte and Fuld went to the study.
After entering the study, Jerome Bonaparte guided Fuld to sit on the sofa and asked Fuld whether he needed coffee or tea.
Fuld shook his head and refused, expressing thanks to Jerome Bonaparte.
After exchanging a few simple words, Jerome Bonaparte got to the main topic.
"Fuld, what do you think of Governor Ottoman?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired, crossing his hands and slightly reclining his body to pose a relaxed stance.
"Your Majesty, do you want me to be honest?" Fuld asked with a serious expression.
"Of course!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged in response to Fuld, "If I didn’t want to hear your honest opinion, there would be no need to call you over!"
After hesitating for a moment, Fuld reorganized his words and responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "I am quite dissatisfied with Mr. Georges Ossman’s ongoing reconstruction of Paris."
"Oh? Which aspect of Baron Haussman has left you dissatisfied?" Jerome Bonaparte curiously asked.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt!" Fuld responded to Jerome Bonaparte in an unusually solemn tone: "Georges Ossman’s recent years regarding the reconstruction of Paris, has been somewhat overly hasty!"
"He wants to use a very short period of time to renovate the entire Paris!"
"Isn’t that great?" Jerome Bonaparte said puzzled to Minister Fuld, "Paris should indeed be developed into an international city, and it is not unreasonable for Baron Haussman to do so!"
"Your Majesty, I do not disagree with renovating Paris!" Fuld hurriedly explained to Jerome Bonaparte, "On the contrary, I strongly agree to build Paris into an international city to attract more people.
However, Georges Ossman is trying to complete a project in 10-15 years that would take at least 20, or even around 30 years to finish, which will inevitably cause significant risks.
Moreover, the Paris City Hall itself doesn’t have much assets, Georges Ossman was able to scrape together money for Paris’s construction entirely by offering concessions to real estate investors and then driving them to develop Paris, while issuing local bonds in Seine Province to entice citizens to invest."
"I think that’s still pretty good!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Fuld, "Don’t you also support the government taking on debt for development, and then using profits after construction to pay off the debt!"
"Your Majesty, I do support that viewpoint!" Fuld nodded to Jerome Bonaparte, "But I do not support unlimited overdrafts by the government!
The current situation in Seine Province is a classic example of a debt scale far exceeding the government’s repayment capability!"
Fuld’s remarks reminded Jerome Bonaparte of a situation from the past, where an area spent billions on construction of marvels with no effect whatsoever.
Eventually, it relied on special privileges from higher authorities to catch a breath.
Fuld continued to say to Jerome Bonaparte, "If this continues, the entire Seine Province will become a landmine ready to explode.
If any link in the middle goes wrong, the entire Seine Province will be blown away.
At that point, Georges Ossman might come crying to us for help!"
Fuld’s words made Jerome Bonaparte recall that historically, Seine Province indeed fell into a state of distress due to the bankruptcy of dynamic loan real estate banks.
Ultimately, amid internal and external troubles, Georges Ossman was dismissed.
However, now the Imperial Government is providing Georges Ossman with far more money than in history, and real estate growth is controlled within reasonable bounds.
Logically speaking, the chance of an explosion is almost zero.
"Minister Fuld, aren’t you being a bit too alarmist!" Jerome Bonaparte inquired Fuld.
"Alarmist?" Fuld shook his head at Jerome Bonaparte, "No, Your Majesty! I have no intention of being alarmist!
If Governor Georges Ossman does not handle things well, it might bring about a debt of 800 million francs for the entire Empire.
Such enormous debt would be extremely detrimental to the economic development of the Empire!"
Fuld looked earnestly at Jerome Bonaparte, hoping to hear a promise from Jerome Bonaparte that he would stop Georges Ossman’s reckless actions.
Unfortunately, Fuld didn’t hear the good news he anticipated.
Instead, he heard Jerome Bonaparte’s plea, "Fuld, I’m not asking you as a monarch, but as a friend to request you to show some leniency to Georges Ossman. The construction of Paris cannot do without Georges Ossman.
I also know his methods might burden France with enormous debt, yet the system he is currently implementing is operating fairly well.
So I hope you can wait a while longer!"
Fuld’s expression went blank, stunned for a few seconds, he felt both disappointed and gratified inside.
Disappointed that Jerome Bonaparte didn’t accede to his request to suspend Georges Ossman’s duties,
Gratified that Jerome Bonaparte respected his authority as Minister of State.
"Your Majesty, what do you want me to do!" Having guessed the outcome, Fuld still asked Jerome Bonaparte.
"Fuld, I want Georges Ossman to be nominated as Deputy Minister of Public Works!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Fuld.
"If that is your command, I will abide!" Fuld said to Jerome Bonaparte, then added, "However, I personally still oppose Governor Georges Ossman! I hope you understand!"
"I know! Thank you for your hard work!" Jerome Bonaparte felt relieved.
"Your Majesty, if there’s nothing else, I shall leave!" Fuld responded to Jerome Bonaparte and then added, "The position of Deputy Minister of Public Works will be announced in a few days!"
Minister of State Fuld left Jerome Bonaparte’s study.
A few days later, news of Governor Georges Ossman’s nomination as Deputy Minister of Public Works spread throughout the Paris City Hall.
