France, Paris Stock Exchange.
As the railway company linking Paris to Le Havre, a northern French port, officially went public, eighteen railway companies had been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in less than two years.
This pace was even more frenzied than when the House of Orleans had decided to build railways on a grand scale. According to the current plans, the density of France's future rail network would undoubtedly surpass that of the German states.
Compared with Britain's railway slump and the Austrian Empire's steady, methodical pace, French railway stocks appeared extraordinarily feverish.
"Trading volume has exceeded ten million Francs every trading day. Driven by the railways, steel prices are rising as well."
Baron Mosari, France's newly appointed finance minister, spoke as though presenting a merit report.
Napoleon III nodded in satisfaction. His lobbying everywhere had not been in vain—the railways were finally about to take off.
The Pereire brothers' Crédit Mobilier Consortium, the Rothschild family, and others had all joined his New France plan. Furthermore, the French were brimming with patriotism. Once Napoleon III declared that railways were being built for the motherland, the French had thrown money at them like mad.
The railway boom was merely one flashpoint of Napoleon III's economic policies. With reforms advancing on multiple fronts, France's economy had visibly improved. Domestic demand was vigorous, investment sentiment strong; hardworking yet creative, and filled with devotion to home and country—there could be no better citizenry.
"Every railway and steel company is glowing red across the board. Money is answering your reforms with its most resounding song."
Baron Mosari, France's newly appointed finance minister, kept the flattery flowing. Though Napoleon III knew the man was buttering him up, a surge of heroic spirit still rose in his chest. He walked to the window. The straight