Mediterranean hegemon

Before returning to school, the old Ciano took Contini and whispered: "Although the money given by the leader is a little less, he is indeed in trouble now. He is asking for money from all aspects. Don't be discouraged. I can support you with 150,000 yuan." lira!"

"150,000?" Contini asked in confusion.

Old Ciano thought he was too little, so he coughed in embarrassment, and then said: "It's my personal money. This is the only money I can allocate. Other industries..."

In fact, these 150,000 lire have wiped out almost all of old Ciano's floating wealth. Although he is from a noble family and has a lot of family property, he can only barely survive in this environment, and it is impossible to get property or anything like that. If you go to sell, you really have very little liquidity on hand. Being able to spend this 150,000 is considered outstanding among Mussolini's close men. It is unknown whether the other four generals can collectively come up with so much money without embezzling public funds. In later generations, some people said that Italy was corrupt. In fact, these people were afraid of poverty...

However, Contini was still very happy, which showed that the old Ciano was very supportive, which gave him a deeper understanding of this cheap father: "Father, I need these 150,000, but I won't use him beyond his reach. I have other uses for the newspaper. As for running the newspaper, there will be other ways to make money..."

Old Ciano didn't want to ask what his son was going to use the money for. Now that he had the title of chairman of the alliance, there must be many places to use the money. This money was not so much for the newspaper as it was for the youth. Alliance use. He thought very clearly that he would first use the money to stabilize the team and tide over the difficulties. After 2-3 months, Mussolini would control the situation and it would be much easier to ask for money.

I thought so, but I still told Contini earnestly: "No matter what, the newspaper still needs to be run. At least you have to let the leader see it... At the very least, stick to it for two months."

What he said was very cryptic, but Contini understood immediately. Old Ciano was reminding him that even if the newspaper was published and the print run was only a few hundred or even dozens of copies, he still had to maintain the airs and maintain the air. Let Mussolini see "achievements!"

"Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

"If you have any trouble, you can come to me and I will find a solution for you. As for the special correspondent, I will also go and say hello." Old Ciano took out his briefcase and solemnly wrote the check, "This is all I have at the moment. Save your belongings and spend some money!”

"Thank you, I'll leave first, please take care of yourself."

Watching his son leave, old Ciano nodded repeatedly. His son has finally grown up. Regardless of whether the newspaper can be completed or not, this passion and fighting spirit are still very gratifying - this is the heir of my Ciano family. Look!

"Calais, have you got the money?" In the evening, the 17 directors of the alliance gathered together in the same cafe they often went to.

"I got it. The leader gave me 50,000 yuan. My father personally supported me with 150,000 yuan. Now I have 200,000 yuan."

"The start-up funds are enough, how much will we be supported every month in the future?" someone asked bluntly.

"In the future?" Contini shook his head, "This is all our property. At least we will not be allocated funds until the leader stabilizes the political situation...I estimate it will last at least 3-6 months."

When he said this, everyone immediately became sad. 200,000 yuan is not much, but not much. It is obviously very difficult to maintain a newspaper. Although there are classmates who can help on a voluntary basis, renting a house requires money. , printing costs money, paper costs money, and hiring people to distribute it still costs money. Although you have never run a newspaper, you still know a little about the general market situation-this money is definitely not enough.

"Leo, how much is the alliance membership fee now?"

Originally, the Young Italy League did not charge membership fees, but because Contini stole the show at the welcoming ceremony and Mussolini was about to form a government, more and more people attended the meeting. Therefore, after discussion, the Board of Directors decided to charge a fee per person per year. The 5 lira membership fee is expected to be at least 100,000 lira based on the standard of 20,000 people. The alliance will only send two things to members - one is the alliance badge and the other is the alliance armband. The total cost is expected to be only 1 lira. About 4 lira can be netted. 5 lira is almost equivalent to the price of a lunch in the cafeteria, and it is still affordable for students who can afford to study in secondary or higher education institutions.

As a student of the Accounting Department of the University of Rome, Leo usually works very carefully and is responsible for the league's accounts and fund management. He took out the account book and introduced it calmly, "34,575 lire in membership fees have been collected, and custom-made badges and armbands have been paid in advance. I have paid 6,000 lire, and currently I have 28,575 lire left... The remaining dues are expected to be collected in one to 10 days.”

"Very good. In addition to giving badges and armbands to members, this membership fee will all be used as office expenses. The newspaper running expenses will also come from here. In addition..." Contini thought for a while, "All of us in the process of creating the newspaper. It will be more difficult, but the funds are limited. I propose that the alliance members will not receive manuscript fees for the time being, and the alliance directors will receive a monthly subsidy of 500 lire for transportation, night snacks, etc. As for the expenses advanced by everyone during the creation of the alliance, I will not return it. If everyone suffers, just suffer a little.”

No one had any objections to this proposal. Although there was no need to spend money on anything else when the alliance was founded, at least the money for coffee and meals discussed at the gathering, as well as the leaflets, big-character posters and other printed materials distributed on the streets, cost money. The directors here are more or less willing to pay for it. Contini himself advanced the most money, about 3,000 lire, and the others also advanced 700 lire. However, since there is a monthly allowance of 500 lire, everyone has nothing to complain about. Everyone is very angry now. Gao believes that great things cannot be accomplished by fussing over small things, and talking about money is vulgar.

However, Contini doesn’t think so. It’s okay to rely on enthusiasm and dedication to temporarily organize an event. If you rely on enthusiasm for up to 2 years, you will definitely not be able to sustain it. Giving a subsidy can effectively stabilize the morale of the military-this is his core , the most knowledgeable team.

"I plan to do some speculation for the remaining 200,000 liras..." Contini turned to ask another director, Oliver, a third-year student in the Department of Finance, "I remember you said that public debt and the exchange rate have fallen a lot abnormally recently?"

"Yes, because of the turbulent situation, the exchange rates against the US dollar and British pound have fallen by at least 20% in more than a month, and government bonds have dropped by nearly 30%!"

"Although the Italian economy is not doing well, I am optimistic that the leader will successfully control the situation, and the exchange rate and public bond prices will definitely rebound!"

"I think so too, but the timing is hard to grasp. Public opinion is now skeptical about whether the leader can successfully form a cabinet. Several established political parties are said to be joining forces to attack the leader in parliament..."

"I just met my father. He revealed some news to me. The list of leaders to form a cabinet has basically been prepared. It will include several major parties. The resistance will be reduced a lot. It is basically a sure thing to pass."

Oliver's eyes lit up: "If this is the case, the decline caused by political factors will rebound soon! I dare not say that all the lost ground will be recovered, but at least it will rebound by 10-15%."

"So I plan to invest all 200,000 lire! How many times the leverage can I put in at most?"

"If you have a long-term account, you can get 25 times. We are a new account and it is estimated to be up to 20 times."

"Then be conservative and increase it by 15 times."

Oliver was sweating profusely: "Calais, this is very dangerous. 15 times leverage means that as long as the market drops by 6-7%, you will lose everything! No matter how optimistic you are, 2-3 times is the best. "

"2-3 times is too little." Contini shook his head, "You must have confidence in me and the leader, and don't be afraid of losing the 200,000. If I can get the first one, I can definitely get the second one. "

Although everyone objected to Contini's bold move, considering that Contini had obtained all the money, they would not persuade him if he persisted - the young master's family has a lot of money, and a mere 200,000 lire is really not a problem. Oliver accepted the mission to speculate, but decided to invest in batches so that even if there were risks, he could suppress them.

The central topic discussed that night was mainly money and newspapers. At the end of the discussion, someone suddenly reminded: "No, 200,000 yuan cannot be used for speculation. There is not much left after deducting rent and other office expenses from membership fees of more than 20,000 yuan. These previous issues What about the printing and paper fees for newspapers?”

"Yeah..." Everyone was stunned and turned their attention to Contini.

"Don't worry, I have already thought of a way to deal with it." Contini smiled slightly, "Go and invite Poti over. He, the vice chairman, is going to do some work..."