Chapter 514 Euro

Everyone came to the bank's meeting room.

Yannick, who was sitting in the chairman's seat, asked. "Mr. Clement, since the fleet anchored in Canada has been detained, will India's Eastern Fleet still obey orders? Or have they also been detained by India?"

Hearing Yannick's tone was a little unfriendly, Deputy Prime Minister Clement hurriedly shook his head. "Your Highness, the Eastern Fleet has set sail three days ago and will arrive at Alexandria, Egypt in two days."

Yannick nodded. "That's good."

Because the defeat was too rapid, many advanced weapons of the British Army did not have time to be developed, such as the 17-pounder cannon, which was not famous in later generations, and was still in the design stage. Many weapons and equipment were at the level of the last war, and most of them were useless. At the beginning, with the annihilation of the expeditionary force in the French Campaign, the demand for weapons in Britain rose sharply, but at that time Britain's industrial production capacity had begun to be stretched, and the top leaders only wanted quantity, not quality, and the quality of many products was no longer guaranteed. The performance of many newly produced artillery was not as good as that of products before World War I.

The situation of the Air Force was not much better than that of the Army. At this time, the advanced fighter units of the British Royal Air Force were almost completely destroyed, leaving less than 50 Spitfire fighters captured by the Germans, and a large number of damaged and scrapped aircraft bodies that were waiting to be repaired or disassembled into parts. Most of the bomber units were retained, but due to the lack of spare parts and fuel, they were parked on the runway and rusted, and most of the models were old and dilapidated.

Originally, the navy's equipment was the main target of the Germans, but now part of it has been seized by Canada. The so-called Eastern Fleet is probably just a few old warships. Fortunately, the military port base shipyards in the UK, various design institutes, research institutes, military academy research institutes, equipment laboratories and other scientific research institutions are also a considerable amount of property, which can make up for some of the losses.

Yannick sneered. "Canada is so bold." The straight-line distance between Canada's capital Ottawa and Greenland is more than 2,500 kilometers, which is completely within the combat radius of the German long-range bombers. However, in order to avoid irritating the United States, no military bases were built on Greenland before, and only a few weather stations were established on several coastlines. Therefore, even if Yannick wants to bomb Canada, he has to wait until the military base in Greenland is built before he can do it.

However, compared to military action, he now has a better way to deal with these ignorant bastards. "Since the gold is gone, the pound can no longer support its value. And as far as I know, since the outbreak of the war, the pound has depreciated wildly. Now the purchasing power of the pound is less than half of that before the war, right?" Germany has put tons of counterfeit money, it would be strange if it didn't depreciate. Fortunately, Britain surrendered quickly, otherwise it would have held on for another two or three years, and the value of the pound would have been no different from toilet paper. "If you don't find a way to solve it, the British economy may not last long and will collapse. Tsk tsk, the two prime ministers have really committed an unforgivable crime against Britain. They should be nailed to the pillar of shame in history forever."

The British high-level officials were a little embarrassed by these words, and could only smile and nod in agreement.

Yannick ignored their reactions and continued. "In this case, in order to save the British economy and prevent the world economy from falling into chaos, we have an obligation to solve this big problem, right? We issue a new currency that can replace the British pound, mark, franc, lira and other European currencies. We can call it the euro, which is our own currency in Europe."

"New currency? Euro?" Everyone was stunned when they heard it. This is not a trivial matter. If it is not handled properly, it will cause economic chaos around the world!

Yannick nodded. "Yes, it is the euro. I know some of you will be unwilling. But think about it, the British treasury is so empty now. Once a country with rich reserves of pounds wants to come to the UK to exchange, or there is a run on the bank, the pound will collapse immediately."

"..."The people present are not fools. Of course, they know that if there is a run on the pound in this predicament, the pound will immediately become waste paper, and it will be followed by a catastrophic blow to the British economy; this blow will be more fatal than the economic crisis ten years ago.

Everyone quickly discussed it and thought that if they wanted to save the British economy, this method might be the most effective and direct. There are disadvantages, for example, Britain will lose its currency dominance and become a vassal of Germany, but there is nothing they can do about it, because they are the defeated country.

"Your Highness, when will the euro be issued?" the finance minister asked.

"We have already prepared enough euros for exchange, and they will be shipped this afternoon. From tomorrow, the exchange will last for half a month, and after half a month, we will no longer recognize the original banknotes."

The euro was officially used in 11 countries (Eurozone countries) including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain on January 1, 1999, and replaced the currencies of the above 11 countries on January 1, 2002.

Now is a time of war. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Coupled with Yannick's one-stop dictatorship, it only takes half a month for the euro to replace the currencies of most European countries. "I know this is not an easy matter." He also knows that it is definitely a big project for people across the country to go to banks to exchange currency. "But I believe that if we all work together, we will be able to complete it successfully." If it cannot be completed, then it will either have different intentions or it will be a waste. No one will cooperate with a waste, let alone someone with different intentions. Everyone knows what will happen.

Deputy Prime Minister Clement hurriedly took the lead and assured. "Please rest assured, Your Highness, we promise to successfully complete the mission."

"Not only Europe, but also other countries have to exchange them, and they also don't wait for expiration." Yannick continued. "But there is a premise. If Canada wants to exchange, it must first return the British gold and fleet. Similarly, if the United States wants to exchange, it must return France's gold. If it refuses, then the European foreign exchange in their treasury will be lost. All turned into waste paper.”

As early as July 1, 1867, after the British North America Act (later renamed the "Constitution Act 1867"), Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Quebec), as well as New Brunswick The Canadian federation composed of the provinces and Nova Scotia already has the right of local self-determination in essence and does not belong to the colonial area. Therefore, the Canadian Constitution and foreign, economic, monetary and other autonomy, the official currency is not the pound, but the Canadian dollar.

However, as a quasi-colony or dependent country, Canada hoards a large amount of sterling foreign exchange. In addition, European countries naturally have a lot of foreign exchange.

The same is true for the United States. This is not the era of dollar hegemony in the future. The United States also holds a considerable amount of foreign exchange from European countries. If France's gold is not returned, then there will be no chance of converting the foreign currency and it will be left in your hands as waste paper!