The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1239: Chapter 149: The Original Instigator Was Nightingale

As a long-standing historical early university, the campus of the University of Gottingen is entirely open-plan.

Apart from a small core of teaching buildings and administrative departments focused on a small area in the city center, since the 19th century, new expansions like laboratories, student dormitories, and classrooms have been scattered like stars across various corners of the city.

Therefore, every time the sun sets, you’ll see many students in robes emerging from the quaint residential houses.

Some of them have just finished classes at professors’ or private lecturers’ homes, while others come out hungry after an afternoon’s play, looking for food.

And every time the busiest period of crowd flow arrives in Gottingen City, many small vendors catering specifically to students appear on this small city’s streets.

They either push small carts laden with seasonal fruits and vegetables, or spread out a piece of cloth on the cobblestone street, carefully displaying small items like pipes, tobacco, and belts they purchased from nearby cities for sale.

Of course, there are naturally also stalls selling various handmade snacks. Although there are several beer houses in Gottingen and a cafeteria in the school, wealthy students who are tired of the usual options will always line up here to satisfy their cravings.

Schneider walked with Arthur on the streets of Gottingen, with the British diplomat still in a state of excitement due to the prospect of sudden wealth.

”Railway investment! That’s really good business, I wanted to get involved in similar projects when I was in London, but you know how many scammers there are on the London Stock Exchange, many companies there are unreliable.”

”Arthur, you know? Prince Leopold, oh, perhaps it’s not appropriate to call him that now, since he has become the King of Belgium, but you know who I’m talking about. Do you know why he visited Britain last year? This former British son-in-law naturally wasn’t just here for family ties.”

”You know the Chancellor of Rites, Marquis of Salisbury, right? I have some acquaintance with his nephew. That gentleman told me that his uncle said King Leopold came to Britain to inspect the passenger railway from Manchester to Liverpool. Yes, that’s right, Arthur, you indeed get it at once. He indeed wants Belgium to build a railway from Brussels to Liege, modeled on the Manchester-Liverpool Railway.”

”A train accident? State Minister Hesketh? Please, Arthur, can you not mention such unlucky things at times like this, it was just a minor accident, people have unfortunate moments, it just happened to be Mr. Hesketh’s turn. What? You almost became the head of safety for that railway inauguration? Tsk! Arthur, you really have extraordinary luck.”

”Why inspect railways in London? Can’t private companies in other places undertake this project? Yes, you’re spot on. You probably also know the situation in Belgium, they’ve just gained independence from the Dutch, so King Leopold is worried that if private capital is allowed, wealthy Dutch might dominate Belgium’s economy by controlling the railway lines.”

”Compared to the Dutch, King Leopold, as the widower of Princess Charlotte, is naturally closer to us Britons. Therefore, he specifically came to London to raise funds for railway construction, inviting British companies to participate in the railway construction in Belgium. Do you know how much Belgium plans to issue in railway construction bonds in London? A full eight million pounds, to be repaid within fifty years!”

”I wanted to get involved at the time, after all, Belgian bonds are not the same as those junk bonds from South American countries, with King Leopold’s guarantee, coupled with Belgium’s fairly decent industrial strength, there’s almost no chance of these bonds defaulting. But...sigh, you know good things always have to be snatched, and I missed out on this good business.”

”Those eight million Belgian bonds were basically absorbed internally by the Financial City, everyone saw it as a surefire profitable business, those bankers with eyes only for money didn’t even require Belgium to provide much collateral, the railway companies bidding didn’t need any government subsidies from Belgium either.”

”Sigh, I was upset about this for quite a while, but... haha, if Mr. Liszt’s railway plan can be approved, obviously your side has stronger credibility, and we’re not taking bonds but shares instead...”

It’s true, one can be oblivious until they ask, and then they are startled.

Arthur just broached the topic of railway investment with Schneider, and this guy unloaded so much insider information regarding Belgian railway construction in one go.

It was clear that he was truly upset about missing out on high-quality financial products, and his words contained intense criticism of the bankers in the Financial City for their monopolistic behavior.

However, Schneider’s words offered Arthur a very good line of thinking.

Setting up a railway company and recruiting industry talents naturally were matters for professionals like Liszt to worry about, but how to help the company secure projects was a skill of its own.

He was unfamiliar with Hanover, and even though the title of constitutional reform consultant was impressive, just relying on this identity wouldn’t be enough to get the Hanover Council to approve the construction of a railway line.