A Way to Borrow Money

Of all the business partners, the Spain weren't the first to place their orders, but they were certainly the most anxious. After more than a week, they finally received news from Mexico. Their news arrived a little slower, but it was more detailed than Lucien's —after all, they were on the side of the conflict themselves.

Of course, precisely because of this, their messages inevitably contain a lot of information used to shift blame. Generally speaking, after something goes wrong, the most important thing is never to clean up the mess or minimize losses, but to quickly find someone to shift the blame onto!

But no matter how you try to shift the blame—whether it's to the church (the rebel leader was a church member who had studied at a church seminary), the Native Americans, or the disloyal and unjust native-born whites—shifting the blame doesn't solve the problem. It's like how no one knows better than Trump how to shift the blame across the Pacific Ocean.

But while blame can be shifted, the COVID-19 pandemic cannot. The same applies to Mexico. The blame can be shifted to the Catholic Church, to "the damn France," but if Mexico City is lost, it's truly lost.

Yes, just as Joseph had predicted, Mexico City was simply indefensible. Moreover, the Spain demonstrated a high level of military skill for the first time, immediately adopting the strategy advocated by Joseph, abandoning Mexico City and advancing towards Veracruz. However, their actions were so swift that they forgot to destroy the artillery left behind in Mexico City that was difficult to move quickly.

However, they at least remembered to requisition all the horses they could find, regardless of whose they were, in the name of God and the King. This action caused considerable trouble for the Mexico Revolutionary Army. But these guys' actions created a lot of problems for the Revolutionary Army, as they couldn't find enough horses to transport artillery and supplies in time.

However, the Spain did this not for military reasons; their sole purpose was to transfer their assets as quickly as possible. The Spain retreating to Veracruz carried numerous wagons, each loaded with boxes of all sizes. Needless to say, these boxes contained valuables.

Shortly after the Spain withdrew from Mexico City, Father Hidalgo led his revolutionary army into the Mexico City. The fleeing Spain weren't actually running very fast—they were carrying too much valuables. However, Father Hidalgo didn't immediately send troops in pursuit. This wasn't because Hidalgo hadn't considered this, but because Hidalgo and his friends hadn't been able to control their forces.

Just as Napoleon had predicted, the ill-fated victories not only failed to increase Father Hidalgo's prestige, but instead drastically reduced the influence of Father Hidalgo and Allende within the army. The soldiers generally felt that their superiors were idiots and that only by ignoring them could they win. Meanwhile, those company and platoon leaders who were close to the lower-ranking soldiers gained greater authority, and the army quickly became fragmented into factions.

After capturing Mexico City, Father Hidalgo, unprepared for the bloodless Mexico City, was left to his men's discretion. They were busy looting—or rather, collecting—the various items left behind by Mexico City Spain. Commander Allende repeatedly urged an immediate pursuit of the Spain, but once inside Mexico City, the troops scattered and became impossible to find. In fact, if the Spain had been bold enough to launch a counterattack, things could have escalated dramatically.

It took Father Hidalgo a great deal of effort to regroup the army, only to find that after liberating Mexico City without firing a single shot, the revolutionary army had suffered a staggering loss of manpower—nearly half of its original strength had been wiped out!

Such casualties were certainly not due to fighting, but rather because a large number of people deserted.

The reason for so many deserters is said to be that after entering Mexico City, some soldiers confiscated a lot of valuables from the homes of the Peninsulars. They figured they could just take these things, run to Louisiana, sign a document pledging allegiance to France, and live a happy life—why bother fighting? And so, well, that's how it happened.

Fortunately, Mexico had many poor people, so it wasn't difficult to recruit new soldiers. However, those damned deserters still ran away with their weapons, resulting in a significant decrease in both the number of revolutionaries and their equipment. This decline, in turn, further dampened morale. In short, it confirmed Napoleon's prediction that "winning is worse than losing."

However, the situation on the Spain side was also dire. Following their crushing defeat, Spain was low, and high-ranking officials increasingly distrusted their subordinates, who were predominantly white and of mixed race. These white men were indeed not exactly loyal to Spain. Therefore, after fleeing to Veracruz, the Spain did not immediately organize a counterattack, although in Mexico there were still many troops who theoretically obeyed the governor's orders. Governor Gomez understood that these troops had not yet rebelled only because Spain was still paying them. If they were dragged into battle now, considering that the lower ranks of these troops were almost entirely white, they might very well defect on the battlefield.

Of course, it's impossible to reorganize the troops now; doing so would likely trigger a mutiny immediately. The only way to maintain the appearance of Spain rule in these regions is to keep them in their posts and continue receiving their pay. As for retaking Mexico City and suppressing the rebels, that depends on when reliable troops are transferred from elsewhere, preferably from the mainland.

The Spain urgently transferred troops from Cuba and Colombia. This force was slightly more reliable than the troops in Mexico, since they were foreigners. However, they certainly weren't willing to sacrifice themselves for Spain. So, they could only be used for defense at best; as for a counter-offensive, that was a different story. Governor Gomez believed that an expeditionary force would be dispatched from the homeland soon.

Indeed, Spain could not afford the consequences of losing the Americas. Therefore, sending an expeditionary force was almost certain. Considering that Governor Gomez's message emphasized that the rebels' weapons were far more advanced than those of the troops still loyal to Spain, the Spain decided that this time they would grit their teeth and equip the expeditionary force with new weapons, or at least new civilian weapons.

So Ambassador Juan met with Talleyrand again early the Qing Dynasty and told him that Spain was willing to discuss with the France the transfer of land in Panama and the transfer of ports along the Pacific Ocean coast. The two sides reached an agreement in about half an hour and then began to discuss the issue of investing in the Panama Railway.

This matter was much more complicated. They talked until the afternoon, when the two left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together, got into a carriage and went directly to the Moulin Rouge, where they met with Lucien. They then talked all night before finally managing to reach an agreement.

What followed was swift; the Spain quickly dispatched an expeditionary force of 30,000 men. Meanwhile, Father Hidalgo finally established an independent Mexico government, but he immediately encountered a major problem: their government was short of funds.

Where does the government's money come from? Generally speaking, it comes from taxes. But collecting taxes is actually a very laborious task. Moreover, the Spain had already collected this year's taxes, and if the revolutionary government wanted to collect more, how would everyone survive? If they collected too little, it wouldn't be enough; if they collected too much, what would be the point of the revolution? As for things like seizing land from the wealthy and distributing it to the poor, that wouldn't be easy either, because many native-born whites were themselves small landowners. If you wanted to do that, the revolutionary government itself would have to start fighting first.

Hidalgo initially wanted to solicit donations from the people who supported the revolution. However, the most impoverished members of the revolution had no money at all, while those who had money were reluctant to contribute. Some so-called intelligent people who supported the revolution even offered Hidalgo this suggestion:

"Mr. President, do you know why people are unwilling to lend money to your government?"

"Why?" Hidalgo asked.

"Because the risk is too high. You must understand, you haven't truly defeated the Spain yet... I know you're going to mention the last battle, but in that battle, your army only defeated a small portion of the Spain forces. Spain will definitely send an expeditionary force, and that force will certainly be stronger than the Spain armies you defeated before. So people don't have high hopes for you. Unless you can defeat the Spanish Expeditionary Force, they won't dare lend you money."

"If I can defeat the Spanish Expeditionary Force, why would I need to borrow money?" Hidalgo said.

"Indeed, Mr. President. You see, there's a vicious cycle here. But it's not without its problems," the clever man said with a smile.

"What method?"

"First, you need to get loans from reputable large banks. If they're willing to lend you money, it means they believe in your prospects, and lending you money is a worthwhile deal. Only then will other smaller banks be willing to lend you money."

"So, how can we expect those big banks to lend us money?"

"For example, you reach a loan agreement with the Louisiana Development Bank at an annual interest rate of 15% for a loan of one million. Once the news gets out, other banks will be willing to lend you money. After that money arrives, you repay the Louisiana Development Bank the principal and interest in full, and split the money borrowed from other banks 30/70. Hmm, you see, you get the money, don't you?" the clever man replied.