NOVPUBIn the era of Imperialism, foreign embassies of the major powers also served the role of gathering intelligence. After seeing Nino off, Envoy Tom got busy checking the relevant intelligence materials.
There was no helping it, France had limited interests in Colombia, ranking very low in diplomatic activities there.
Being an envoy here generally meant idling one’s time away. Over time, Envoy Tom had become negligent. The intelligence was still being collected, but whether he looked at it depended on his mood.
How could he move forward with getting the development rights to the Panama Canal from the Colombian Government without knowing their weaknesses?
As time ticked away second by second, Tom had gained a general understanding of the recent events in Colombia.
As for detailed intelligence, he was sorry to say that due to the embassy’s limited funds, they lacked the capability for thorough investigations. The intelligence they had was pretty much the same as what could be seen in the newspapers.
Putting down the intelligence report in his hand, Envoy Tom’s brow furrowed, clearly indicating that the information was not what he wanted.
"Disfu, get me the intelligence on Austria’s activities in Colombia and information related to the Panama Canal project."
Secretary Disfu calmly replied, "Your Excellency, the embassy only has intelligence on Austrian activities; the Panama Canal project is not within our intelligence collection scope. If needed, we can access the Colombian Government’s public documents within a week, but deeper investigation will require additional funds."
Envoy Tom’s face darkened. The French government was wealthy, but the French embassy in Colombia was poor.
This could be seen in the small number of staff the embassy had, totaling less than ten including a cleaner, a chef, and two guards.
In this era where communication was inconvenient, envoys abroad held great powers, and hiring ordinary staff was one of their prerogatives.
The main reason for such few embassy staff was the lack of office funds. Otherwise, Envoy Tom wouldn’t mind hiring a few more personnel.
No money meant many tasks couldn’t be done, such as intelligence gathering—only the essential could be given priority, and the rest had to be abandoned.
Normally, the Republic of Colombia’s canal project wouldn’t be related to France, as their influence here was too weak to gain any benefits.
The current situation was obviously abnormal. Envoy Tom had internally criticized capitalists more than once for their blind actions without considering the real circumstances.
Out of respect for the Franc, since he had promised, Envoy Tom was still to honor his word—that was his professional integrity.
"No problem, I’ll authorize a special grant of 10,000 Francs. You must investigate the detailed information about the Colombian canal project as quickly as possible."
Secretary Disfu was puzzled; such generosity was uncharacteristic of the Envoy he knew.
In his experience, Envoy Tom would always save when he could, especially the intelligence department, which didn’t even have one professional spy, and intelligence was collected personally by embassy staff.
10,000 Francs might not seem like a lot, but for the intelligence department, it was a record-breaking sum.
Over the past three years, the total operational funds of the intelligence department hadn’t even reached 5,000 Francs.
You get what you pay for. Given the small funds, it was natural not to expect much. Usually, copying some information from the newspaper and adding hearsay from parties, compiling it together was considered completing the task.
Curious though he was, Disfu didn’t mean to probe further. At any rate, he had to first secure the operational funds.
"As you wish, Your Excellency. In no more than three days, you will see the relevant documents."
Money makes things easy; with the operational funds in hand, the efficiency suddenly increased.
Disfu had mingled here for many years and had established a wide network of contacts. Moreover, the Colombian Government was like a sieve with no concept of confidentiality—getting hold of some unimportant intelligence was too easy.
If one was willing to spend the money, even bringing out original documents was possible. Without a doubt, Disfu had no intention of splurging.
Using his status, if he wanted to see unimportant documents, he just needed to go to the Colombian Government archives.
If anyone dared to refuse, he could create a diplomatic conflict—it was an infallible strategy, and the Colombian Government feared disputes the most.
...
Nino’s background wasn’t particularly distinguished, belonging just to the middle class. To climb higher, he had exerted a lot of effort. This canal project was for him an opportunity of a lifetime.
The patrons behind the scenes had promised, as long as he could complete the initial work and persuade all parties to restart the canal project, he would be the first President of the Canal Company, in full charge of the canal’s excavation and operation.
The credibility of this promise was quite high; the big shots would not renege on such a small matter, and there were existing examples to prove it. The first President of the Suez Canal Company was one example.
High rewards naturally came with high difficulty; if it were easy, it wouldn’t hold such value.
Based on the materials in his hands, Nino soon realized that the Panama Canal wasn’t very important to the United States; their coastline was concentrated on the East Coast.
On the other hand, the United States of America, with territories spanning both coasts, was eagerly constructing railroads to enhance commercial trade.
If the Panama Canal were to open, reducing the distance between the East and West Pacific, the United States could gain enormous economic benefits and strategic value.
In an era where interests dictate international relations, it is clear that the interests of the United States align with the canal project, therefore the cooperation partner can only be the United States.
Having weighed many times in his mind, partnering with the United States and Spain, the chances of triumphing over Austria in Colombia were very high.
Compared to joining forces with Anglo-Austria, it was easier to gain a dominant position by collaborating with US-West, and even if there were problems, France had the power to suppress them.
After sending a telegram back home to explain the situation, Nino set off by boat without delay to the United States, ready to pull people into the scheme.
...
Impacted by the failure of the Civil War, the United States had been dealt a heavy blow, and its government finances were once on the brink of bankruptcy. The consortiums that supported the government during the war naturally suffered huge losses.
After the war, the prestige of the Central Government was greatly diminished, and the Federal States did as they pleased, with regional protectionism prevalent. What were once a few dominating consortia in the original timeline, had now evolved into a multitude of competing powers.
The task facing Nino this time was weighty, not only did he have to convince the Federal government, but he also needed to garner the support of these capitalists.
Though a camel may starve, it’s still larger than a horse; as the ruler of Wall Street, the Morgan consortium was still the leading consortium of the Federation, though its influence was not as absurd as in the original timeline.
To show the importance he placed on it, Nino chose the Morgan mansion as his first stop.
...
"Mr. Nino, I acknowledge that what you are saying makes sense, the opening of the Panama Canal will indeed benefit the economic development of the United States, but what can we gain from it?" Morgan asked directly.
Morgan was not interested in this uninvited guest. As far as he knew, there was no one of Nino’s caliber in the French financial world; if it weren’t for the recommendation of the French Ambassador, he might have thought he had encountered a scammer.
Nino smiled slightly, put down the coffee in his hand, and replied calmly, "I hear that regional protectionism is rampant in your country. In recent years, the Morgan consortium hasn’t been flourishing, has it?
If the Panama Canal is opened, the situation will be different. With commerce and trade thriving on both the East and West coasts, if the Morgan consortium had a say in the canal’s operations, would you fear these enterprises not cooperating?"
An empty promise, yet if control of the canal were achieved, this wouldn’t be difficult.
But the question remained, with the limited power of the United States, how could the Morgan consortium assert dominance over the canal after its opening?
Just because they have money?
Sorry, at this time, many French finance groups are wealthier than them. In the European Continent, the Morgan consortium is at best a second-tier finance group.
Without dominance, as a minor shareholder, the proper thing to do would be to quietly wait for dividends. Should there be any attempt at mischief, the dividends might be forfeit.
Lest you think of shearing other enterprises, the Morgan consortium itself might even have to accept shares from French capital, losing autonomy once again.
Morgan shook his head, "Mr. Nino, this matter is too complicated; our one consortium alone simply cannot push it through. We must find others to join us, and with more participants, how much say will we even have?
Allow me to ask frankly, how much of a stake are you willing to offer? If it’s too little, then there’s no use wasting time."
After hesitating for a moment, Nino offered what he believed was a generous answer, "To develop the Panama Canal involves many countries; we must have more partners. The United States can at most receive 21% of the shares."
Development of the Panama Canal would not be possible without the cooperation of the local snake, and the Colombian Government had to have a share, just as one had to be allocated to the Spaniards.
From the perspective of the French, having control over the canal without a majority share was not feasible; thus, only a small part of the remainder was left to be divided among the three countries.
In reality, this was still an idealistic number, and if other European nations’ capital were to get involved, a portion of the shares would inevitably have to be released,
The 21% was an empty promise; the actual shares the United States would receive could only be less, and after going public for financing, this percentage would be further diluted.
Morgan waved his hand dismissively, "Sorry, Mr. Nino. Morgan will not be part of this deal.
With only 21% of the shares, it’s impossible to persuade all parties, as the risk we would have to bear is disproportionate to the potential gains.
As I understand, Austria has always been quite invested in the Panama area. They have a large number of immigrants there who could change the situation in Panama at any time.
If Panama falls into Austrian hands, our investment would have no guarantee. Would your country really go to war with Austria for our interests?"
Nino frowned, "Mr. Morgan, the likelihood of such a scenario is very small. The Panama Canal affects the interests of Colombia, Spain, us, and your country; four powerful entities are involved.
Together, the four nations can deploy a force to the Panama area that is in no way inferior to the Austrians.
The Vienna Government is not reckless; if they aren’t confident, even if they have ambitions for the Panama area, they wouldn’t rashly make a move."
Nino did not make any rash promises. They were all pragmatists; fooling each other was just too difficult.
If he had carelessly promised that France would protect everyone’s investments, Morgan would have probably sent him packing.
What authority does a representative of capitalists have to represent the French government? Even with the immense power of French capitalists, they were not at liberty to arbitrarily decide the direction of national politics.
Not now, and not even during the peak of consortium power, could they do more than influence government decisions, rather than make decisions for the government.
