Chapter 1163 Capital Injection
"In this great era, we stand at the intersection of history.
We Egypt, as an ancient civilization between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, today calls on the world to seek the support of wise and visionary people to jointly open a new era of prosperity.
We are honored to announce that the Suez Canal Company is now officially established!
Our purpose is to build a canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, which will be an epoch-making project in world history.
This move will not only significantly shorten the sailing distance from Europe to Asia and create countless economic benefits, but will also benefit the whole world! All mankind!
In order to better benefit the world, we will put aside past grudges and sincerely invite investors from all over the world to complete this great initiative together and enjoy the best return on investment! "
Muhammad Ali was obviously very confident in his plan, but the initial response was not very strong, especially the reaction of the Italian states could be described as cold.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on the Apennines, the Papal States, and a series of small states under the control of Austria were not surprised or interested in the Suez Canal plan of the old Ali.
The reaction of the great powers and German states was huge, especially France and Spain, who almost jumped on the table and cheered.
In fact, the European continent has suffered from Britain for a long time. The British have long occupied a dominant position in the East trade and artificially raised the prices of Indian and Far Eastern goods.
This has long caused dissatisfaction among European countries, and it is not that no country has considered skipping the British middleman and going directly to the East for trade.
But it is difficult to implement. India has become a forbidden fruit for Britain, and the goods in Southeast Asia are really scarce, so they can only seek business opportunities in the Far East.
However, to go to the East at this time, you have to bypass the African continent, and the main trade nodes along the way are almost all under the control of Britain.
Just the Cape of Good Hope can make most countries retreat in the face of difficulties. Even if there is no need to deliberately suppress them, the invisible increase in transportation costs will make those countries lose their competitive advantage.
After the world trade center shifted from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, the major powers on the European continent suffered varying degrees of blows, and Britain became stronger and stronger.
Once the Suez Canal is opened, the distance of trade between the East and the West will be greatly shortened, and European countries will be able to avoid being fleeced by Britain.
If the world trade center can return to the Mediterranean again, it will be a good thing for the major powers on the European continent.
The British naturally could not sit idly by and watch this happen. Viscount Stratford immediately contacted Muhammad Ali and asked him to stop this crazy plan.
First, he threatened to occupy Egypt. Seeing that old Ali was unmoved, he turned to bribery and proposed to allocate 100,000 pounds to Egypt every year.
Generally speaking, under the coercion and inducement of the world hegemon, it is difficult for a country's leader to maintain his original intention and he will most likely choose to succumb.
But who is old Ali? The more others oppose him, the more he is convinced that he is doing the right thing. The more others don't let him do it, the more he wants to do it.
In desperation, the British can only jump out first and try to acquire the Suez Canal Company.
Viscount Stratford is not a man without courage. He immediately proposed to use one million pounds to acquire the Suez Canal Company.
But how could Muhammad Ali's appetite be limited to this?
Muhammad Ali had already come up with a countermeasure for raising funds and investing in shares, but it was originally used to deal with the Austrian Empire, and now it was used on the British.
Viscount Stratford had no choice but to use the one million pounds to invest in the Suez Canal Company. In theory, Britain only needs to hold more than 50% of the shares to control the Suez Canal. In this way, even after the Suez Canal is opened, no one can shake Britain's position as the overlord of the sea.
However, Viscount Stratford still underestimated the heroes of the world.
"We, the Second French Republic, are willing to invest and invest 20 million francs!"
"My Kingdom of Spain is also willing to invest and invest 21.6 million reais!"
Tocqueville and Blas Osmeno announced the investment in the Suez Canal without asking for instructions from the country. They all knew the importance of the Suez Canal to their country, and they knew that it was impossible for Viscount Stratford to succeed in what the British wanted to do.
The rapid follow-up of France and Spain caught Viscount Stratford off guard. He thought the enemy would be Austria.
At this time, Prince Schwarzenberg still looked nonchalant, but the Russian ambassador, Duke Uvarov, took action.
"Since it is related to the well-being of the people of the world, how can Russia be left out? Russia is also willing to invest 9 million rubles."
Duke Uvarov was actually not very interested in shortening the route to the East and the transfer of the world trade center.
At present, Russia's business competitiveness is weak, and given its historical economic performance, the outlook for the future is not very optimistic.
However, Duke Uvarov is convinced that it must be profitable to invest in the Suez Canal, and it must be a good bargaining chip whether it is to make friends with Austria or Britain.
At this time, the eyes of the audience turned to Austria, and Prince Schwarzenberg nodded.
"Our Austrian Empire is willing to invest 10 million florins."
This time it was Prussia's turn to be embarrassed. They really didn't have such a big interest in this canal because they couldn't benefit directly.
Franz Eichmann adjusted his monocle.
"Our country is willing to invest one million thalers."
With the great powers as an example, other small countries followed suit, but these countries had no hope of controlling the Suez Canal. They only wanted benefits in return.
Viscount Stratford's plan was shattered at the beginning. Now the investment of France, Russia, Austria and Spain alone has reached 4 million pounds.
In addition to the small countries participating in the conference, even if these countries do not make additional investments, the total investment will be nearly 6 million pounds.
What's more hateful is that the Egyptian government will invest 20% of the total shares in land and labor. At this time, Britain must invest more than 6 million pounds to ensure its position. If it wants to control the Suez Canal, it needs to invest at least 10 million pounds.
10 million pounds is not a small number at this time. Even for Britain, it needs to be cautious, not to mention that Britain is still in an economic crisis.
In addition, Viscount Stratford had to admit that Muhammad Ali was really good at disgusting people. On the one hand, he received benefits from the British, and on the other hand, he secretly tripped the British.
Viscount Stratford did not want to let the Albanian take advantage of him again, and the crazy bidding that Mohammed Ali had expected did not happen, but how could the latter allow this to happen?