Buying and Selling Land, Respecting Freedom!

United States, Chicago.

At this time, Chicago was nothing more than a desolate little town.

Yet a young man from the European continent arrived and, with a single stroke, spent 200,000 US dollars to purchase half the town, along with the wasteland surrounding it.

The young man was immediately elected mayor of the town. He found the situation quite helpless; he was, after all, an official of the Austrian Empire sent by Baron Bruck to purchase property for the empire.

As a result of being inexplicably elected mayor of an American town, he had no choice but to write a letter to Baron Bruck in Austria to let him decide the matter.

Austrian special officials responsible for purchasing land, who appeared in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other places at the same time as this young man, also attracted people's attention.

Someone recognized the young man who had spent 1.5 million US dollars in New York to buy land on a massive scale; he was the nephew of Baron Bruck, a special advisor to the Austrian Emperor.

It was said that Baron Bruck was the actual helmsman of the Austrian Empire's finances. As more information was unearthed, the influence of the event grew increasingly significant.

Due to the expanding influence of these events, the identities of others who were buying land on a massive scale were also exposed one after another.

Among them were descendants of great European aristocrats, descendants of major bankers, and even descendants of the Sina family, who had once rivaled the Rothschild family.

This was exactly the effect Baron Bruck wanted; he was buying land specifically to hype it up.

Almost all bankers knew that land prices in the United States were rising too quickly, yet they were all bullish on the American land market.

It was just that no one had pierced this layer of window paper yet. What Baron Bruck wanted to do was to pierce it and let the wind blow in.

Just as he had expected, after this incident, Americans also began to value their land and would no longer sell it easily.

What followed was a wave of bandwagoning. It started in the United States, then the news spread back to Europe, and capitalists arrived one after another, following the scent.

At this time, the government of the United States was also fanning the flames, launching a series of policies to attract foreign capital while simultaneously printing a large amount of paper money due to an overheated economy.

Banks issued massive loans, and the capitalists speculating on land used that land as collateral to continue borrowing from banks to buy even more land. Naturally, land prices soared to the heavens.

Although the inflow of precious metals into the United States had indeed increased at this time, the amount of paper money issued still far exceeded the upper limit that the United States could redeem.

Philadelphia, headquarters of the Second Bank of the United States.

"Damn it! Andrew Jackson is a short-sighted fellow, a bandit with a gun. We must print more banknotes so that more Europeans will come to invest. When we face a massive fiscal surplus, let's see what that bandit can say then!"

The person speaking was none other than Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, and Andrew Jackson, whom he cursed as a bandit, was the seventh president of the United States.

Because Andrew Jackson came from a military background and had made a name for himself by seizing land from the Indians, the name "bandit" was well-deserved.

Biddle's resentment stemmed from the fact that Andrew Jackson had refused to extend the federal charter of the Second Bank of the United States and planned to shut it down.

Andrew Jackson had once said to the then-Vice President Martin Van Buren, "That damn bank is trying to kill me and the United States, but I will kill it first!"

Cutting off a man's wealth is like killing his parents; this hatred for one's parents is irreconcilable, so Biddle naturally would not speak well of Andrew Jackson.

In fact, Andrew Jackson was correct; the Second Bank of the United States was indeed influencing the economy of the United States, and it was moving in a direction that would soon spiral out of control.

In the early 19th century, the federal government of the United States did not have its own central bank and therefore did not issue paper money.

The federal government's money supply was limited to various coins, while paper money consisted of banknotes issued by thousands of state-chartered banks.

These banks varied in quality, ranging from completely reliable, reputable institutions to outright frauds.

At this time, although the Second Bank of the United States acted as a central bank, it believed in so-called free-market economics and printed paper money frantically. In two years, the paper money it issued caused the total volume of currency to rise by nearly 50%.

Yet such insane behavior was merely the beginning of its path to destruction.

The headquarters of the Second Bank of the United States was completed in 1824 and was built in imitation of the Parthenon, signifying a temple of finance.

However, it was this very temple that witnessed the first true economic crisis in the United States.

In 1834, more than 30 million acres of land were sold (the historical figure for the same period was 27.92 million acres); there was no doubt this would greatly alleviate the debt pressure of the United States.

And according to this momentum, the finances of the United States would see a huge surplus; when that time came, Andrew Jackson would only be able to apologize to Biddle for what he had said.

Biddle was smoking a cigar and drinking red wine, watching the busy crowds outside, and couldn't help but sneer.

"A bunch of idiots. Why don't they come to me for investment? Nowadays, if there isn't a hundred percent profit, I'm embarrassed to even collect a commission. Don't you agree, Mr. Martin?"

"Mr. Biddle, you are right; your predictions are truly accurate. The land you had me purchase in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has doubled in price in just one week." Martin Van Buren was answering cautiously.

The reason he was so subservient to a speculator was entirely because he had even greater ambitions.

What Martin Van Buren wanted was not money, but to become the next president of the United States.

However, Andrew Jackson was a hero of war, and those who slander heroes are usually villains, and a villain cannot become the president of the United States.

Thus, there was no one more suitable to play this villain than the genius before him, who had obtained a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 13 and controlled the largest bank in the United States before the age of thirty.

With Biddle and Andrew Jackson attacking each other and both suffering, his own path to becoming the next president of the United States would be just around the corner.

Biddle blew a smoke ring, causing Martin Van Buren to cough repeatedly, when suddenly a sentence shocked him into standing still.

"Mr. Martin, what do you think if I ran for president of the United States?"

But before Martin Van Buren could answer, Biddle said to himself.

"That would be too boring, wouldn't it, Mr. Martin?"

Martin Van Buren broke out in a cold sweat, but he remained calm and reminded him.

"Andrew has never given up on the idea of closing the Second Bank of the United States. If the Second Bank of the United States is closed, it will be a disaster for all citizens of the United States who love freedom."

"Don't worry, I will make him admit with his own mouth that the Second Bank of the United States is the pride of the United States."

Martin Van Buren raised his glass.

"To freedom!"

Biddle extinguished his cigar on the table and picked up his glass.

"To freedom!"

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Thalia was gazing at Franz with eager eyes; Franz knew what she wanted—nothing more than a French feast.

Franz took out a bag and pulled a tin of foie gras from it, handing it to Thalia.

"Foie gras."

"Thank you, Archduke Franz. This is my first time eating foie gras." Thalia could not hide her joy.

As for foie gras, Franz did not like it at all; it was far too rich.

In truth, Franz knew that Thalia was not necessarily a glutton; it was merely her idle vanity at play.

He simply brought back everything he could, letting her eat her fill.