"Yes, Your Highness."
Gaudin acknowledged first, carefully jotting it down in his notebook before saying hesitantly, "But wouldn't that seem to slow the expansion of our financial system?"
Joseph nodded. "It will indeed slow things down somewhat, but the benefits will be greater as well.
"First, we need to create a situation of 'hunger marketing.' Oh, you needn't concern yourself with that phrase. In short, we artificially create scarcity in the qualifications for joining the settlement bank, thereby drawing more countries to submit applications.
"The order in which applications are reviewed, and the speed of those reviews, will also reflect our country's degree of closeness toward the applicant nations."
He took a sip of Coffee and continued calmly, "Second, you must understand that this is an opportunity the Security Bureau has been waiting for for a very long time."
Though he had only mentioned it in passing, Gaudin immediately understood.
This was a perfectly legitimate opportunity to penetrate the financial systems of every country. So long as they placed a few Security Bureau experts among the auditors, they could at the very least obtain intelligence on the makeup of each country's financial powers and the rough extent of their assets.
This would be enormously valuable for France's continued expansion of its financial dominion in the future.
As the two spoke, cheerful music and the clamor of a crowd drifted in from outside the window.
Joseph rose and looked out, only to see several hundred people gathered on the street opposite, excitedly shouting around a "shop" festooned with ribbons.
Eman hurried over and looked toward the distant crowd. "Your Highness, that appears to be the opening ceremony for the Saint Carlos National Bank Branch."
Joseph nodded.
Saint Carlos National Bank was Spain's largest bank. A few years earlier, at the request