Chapter 1144: 1050: The Truly Lucrative Business

Chapter 1144: Chapter 1050: The Truly Lucrative Business

The hall suddenly fell silent.

The only sound in the ears of Charles IV and others was the wild thumping of their own hearts.

It wasn’t because they were “unworthy”; after all, Spain was still a major power in Europe, and they had seen significant events.

But, 300 million Escudos in gold coins was truly unheard of.

Not to mention seeing it, they didn’t even dare to dream of such a number in front of the gold coins.

Last year, Joseph had helped the Spanish government obtain millions of Escudos from the Church, and these Spanish ministers were as happy as if the goddess they secretly adored suddenly agreed to marry them.

And just now, the Crown Prince of France mentioned “300 million”!

Equivalent to having over 100 goddesses appear all at once…

It took several seconds for Campos to cautiously ask, “Is it, really?”

His demeanor was as if he was afraid to be awakened from a dream.

Joseph nodded very seriously, “Absolutely.”

Campos’ voice grew louder, “Will this mine lead us into a struggle with other countries?”

“Of course not. You have absolute rights to that location.”

The hearts of the Spanish ministers beat even more wildly.

They exchanged glances and confirmed with Charles IV, before Count of Florida Blanca cleared his throat and said, “Your Highness, Crown Prince, if what you say is true, then this is enough to negotiate for Louisiana.”

Compones could no longer care about diplomatic etiquette and impatiently asked, “Where exactly is it, Your Highness?”

“West Coast of North America, in the California area.”

Joseph did not hide it and directly stated it.

Firstly, in this formal diplomatic occasion, Spain certainly wouldn’t act dishonorably, as that would basically amount to declaring war on France. Secondly, the California colony was over 200,000 square kilometers, with vast unpopulated areas, and even mobilizing tens of thousands to search for it would take five to eight years without success.

“Once the agreement is signed, my exploration team will provide you with a detailed map.”

Indeed, when the New Orleans crisis had just occurred, Joseph had already sent a large number of geologists to California in the far west of North America to search for gold mines.

Under his vast clues and instructions, the prospecting team soon mined gold particles in streams near what would come to be known as San Francisco in later generations. Right now, it’s just a small fishing village called Yerba Buena.

Then, by expanding the scope along the streams, it would become the historically famous large gold mine exploited during the “California Gold Rush” in the American West.

Charles IV immediately put his arm around Joseph’s shoulder, smiling broadly, “Then let’s sign the agreement right away.”

Swapping bird-droppings Louisiana for a massive gold mine worth 300 million Escudos and letting France take over the task of guarding against Americans advancing west was undeniably a great deal for Spain.

Joseph nodded, seeming to remember something, and smiled, “You see, I’ve expended a lot of time and expenses in finding this gold.

“Could you allow me to invest some funds into mining, thus obtaining some shares of the gold mine? Ah, just 10% shares.”

Count of Florida Blanca hurriedly signaled frantically at his king, meaning “Absolutely not.”

A joke it is, 10% shares equate to 30 million Escudos! The total national fiscal revenue of Spain isn’t even that much.

“Well,” Charles IV looked hesitant, “It seems not…”

Joseph quickly responded, “7%, 7% would do.”

“…”

“What about 5%?”

Count of Florida Blanca, seeing the situation, quickly came to his king’s aid, “Respected Crown Prince, as you know, the trade franchise on the North American West Coast is granted to the Chamber of Commerce in Seville, which also includes mines. So, the issue of shares might involve complex authorization matters.”

Campos looked at the ceiling, muttering, “The gold mine is being exchanged for Louisiana…”

Joseph sighed and said helplessly, “Well, if acquiring shares of the gold mine is not possible, then at least could you permit me exclusive rights to operate mining tools in California?

“You see, our ironworks face fierce competition from the British, and this could boost their sales.”

Count of Florida Blanca breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, “That’s certainly possible. Isn’t it, Sire?”

Charles IV immediately nodded in agreement, “Yes, absolutely possible.”

Spain currently lacks a decent iron industry and largely needs to purchase mining tools from France, so it might as well let the French directly sell them to North America.

Joseph’s mouth curled into a smile too.

He was well aware that the Spaniards would never allow him to join the gold mine; saying that was merely a setup for the mining tools later.

Yes, his goal from the beginning was to sell tools!

The California gold mine is not regular mountain gold, but river sand gold, making it extremely troublesome to mine.

It requires a great amount of manpower to sift gold particles from the sand. Therefore, every gold prospector needs to be equipped with at least an iron shovel, an iron pan, and a bottle of mercury to begin operations.

In addition, auxiliary items like straw hats, water bottles, small iron boxes are needed.

And most importantly—jeans.

Moreover, due to the harsh environment of gold mining, the likelihood of these items being damaged or lost is very high, requiring continual replenishment.

This will be a very huge market.

During the California Gold Rush in the 19th-century US West, hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to California for gold mining, but due to the extremely low efficiency of manual gold mining, over 90% made little to no profit.

Instead, among the merchants selling tools to the gold miners, several became millionaires. That’s millions of dollars in the 19th century.

If France can monopolize the tools for the California gold mines and casually engage in some catering and lodging business, three-fourths of the gold mine revenue could end up in France’s pockets.

While Spain still has to bear mining and transportation costs, the final net profit could be less than what France gains.

Historically, it wasn’t until the mid-19th century, when the high-pressure washing technology driven by high-power steam engines became widespread, did the California gold mines truly entered their boom period and start making large profits.

Yes, once France completes the development of high-power steam engines, it can also sell washing machines for the gold mine.

But by then, California might no longer be under Spanish rule—

Currently, the Mexican independence movement is in full swing, and within ten years at most, Spain’s colonies in North America will fall into turmoil, eventually having to give up its Mexican colony.

California is now within the coverage area of “New Spain”, which is under Mexico’s range. After Mexico gains independence, the Spaniards also withdraw from California.

Then, Joseph could talk about gold mining cooperation with the Mexican government using the latest technology that boosts mining efficiency dozens of times over.