From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The next day, the weather in Paris was a bit gloomy, with continuous drizzle.

The moisture and dust in the air mix together, making people all sticky and sticky, which is really unpleasant.

For the financiers and investors active in Exchange Square, their day has become more depressing since they saw the morning newspaper.

In a bar near the square.

Due to the bad weather, there weren't many customers in the bar.

The bartender was whistling boredly while wiping the glass.

At this time, the welcome bell at the door rang loudly, and a man wearing a woolen coat and gold-rimmed glasses stepped into the store cursingly, hanging the umbrella in his hand aside impatiently.

He also held a wet financial news newspaper under his arm. Judging from his clothes, he looked like a standard Parisian investor.

"Hey there you go old buddy."

The bartender glanced at the visitor and recognized that he was an old customer. He greeted him as usual:

"Still the same thing? A small glass of white wine with chocolate?"

"No"

The investor shook his rain-stained coat, sighed and sat in front of the bar and said:

"I want triple distilled whiskey."

Triple distilled whiskey is whiskey that has been distilled three times and has a higher alcohol content among spirits.

"Oh my God, you have to drink strong alcohol in the morning? Are you going to start your vacation in the afternoon?"

The bartender looked at the investor in surprise and said.

Normally, these savvy investors would just get tipsy in this bar for a while in order to keep their heads clear.

It is extremely rare for people to drink alcohol like today.

The investor grabbed a handful of wet hair, waved his hands in a depressed tone and said:

"No, it's the market. The situation is really bad. I might as well get drunk and go home and sleep."

"What happened? I feel like there hasn't been any big news lately."

The bartender poured half a glass of whiskey for the investor and asked in confusion.

The investor reluctantly slapped today's financial news report on the bar, pushed it to the bartender, and explained:

"There is big news in the financial world. Our Crown Prince has arrived in Paris, and yesterday he met with two financiers at the Tuileries Palace, namely Montmartre, President of the Bank of Commerce of France, and Lord Mery, Chairman of the Stock Exchange. ”

"Really? I think I heard someone say, does this have any impact?" The bartender glanced at the newspaper and continued to ask. After all, he didn't know much about politics or economics.

"Oh man."

The investor let out a long sigh, not knowing where to start.

After pouring a sip of spicy whiskey into his mouth, he shook his head and said:

"You may not have read the newspapers a few days ago. Justice Mopp said that the financial industry must be strictly controlled."

The bartender then vaguely noticed some connections, and said in a vague way:

"In other words, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's visit to Paris this time is also for the financial industry?"

"Yes, even though there is no evidence, it is basically impossible to escape."

The investor vowed:

"And the first thing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did when he came to Paris was to summon the two financiers. This political signal has been clearly released. His Royal Highness is here for the financial industry."

After that, the investor held the glass in his hand tightly and gritted his teeth and said:

"And you may not know that the relationship between Justice Mopu and the royal family is very close. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is probably here to echo Justice Mopu."

"So that's what it is. In other words, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally represents the royal family to rectify the financial world. This is a really heavy blow."

The bartender said in realization, and patted the investor on the shoulder to express relief.

"well"

The investor's face was already a little red, as if he was drunk, he covered his forehead and complained:

"The latest news now is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will summon newspaper reporters at noon tomorrow. Inside the stock exchange, it seems that the news of control will be officially announced. This news has made today's stock and bond markets plummet. I can't wait to Turn all your securities into cash, damn it.”

The bartender also nodded to himself and murmured softly:

"Looks like I'm going to have to buy some triple distilled whiskey these days."

Conversations like this are commonplace throughout Paris' financial circles.

Financiers even reached a consensus last night that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's move to meet with the two financiers when he first arrived in Paris was a clear move to target the financial community.

There are already rumors that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince discussed specific measures to control the financial market with Lord Mellie at last night's dinner.

There are even more exaggerated claims that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will order the arrest of those financiers and confiscate all their properties to supplement France's current fiscal deficit.

Although these rumors were all groundless, their widespread dissemination further undermined market confidence.

If the Observation Daily revealed a few days ago that Justice Mopu was preparing to control the financial world, everyone was still a little lucky, thinking that Justice Mopu's unreasonable measures would be stopped.

So now, the personal visit of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made many investors begin to suspect that the royal family and the government are going to be ruthless in the financial market.

Under this consensus, pessimism in the market has become more widespread, and the prices of bonds and stocks have also plummeted.

Investors began to sell securities in large quantities in exchange for cash, and even formed a small-scale run.

Lord Mellie also hurriedly stepped forward this morning, saying a set of cliched official words and using the power of the stock exchange to suspend trading of some stocks that had fallen seriously, which barely suppressed the spread of panic.

Even so, the average stock price on the Paris Stock Exchange today is only about 80% of the normal level in previous weeks.

Except for a very small number of gamblers and people like Mr. Montmartre who know the inside story, I am afraid that no one will be willing to invest real money in the illusory financial market during this period of time.

If you walk around the Exchange Square at this time, you will definitely hear endless complaints and wailings.

However, one cannot blame the financiers and analysts for drawing such a wrong conclusion.

After all, the logical chain of this conclusion is quite clear:

As soon as Justice Maupp expressed his intention to control the financial industry and stopped the listing of the National Silver Company, Crown Prince Louis arrived in Paris. The first thing he did after arriving in Paris was to summon two financiers. After summoning the financiers, he also A press conference is to be held.

These four stages are intertwined and linked together, which makes them believe that the financial market is about to change.

However, no one can find it.

Behind these four things, there is the shadow of the same person.

At the same time, inside the Tuileries Palace.

"Very good, everything is as expected."

Lawrence carefully read the Financial News in his hand. The reports and professional analysis above were exactly as he expected.

In the eyes of the public, Justice Maupp is a loyal servant of the royal family. In fact, he does have a close relationship with the royal family, so everyone thinks that Prince Louis's trip is to echo Justice Maupp.

Since everyone is pessimistic, it is natural for the market to go down and the stock market to fall.

There was also a thick stack of newspapers placed on Lawrence's desk, and they all used a considerable amount of space to report and analyze this event, even those non-financial newspapers.

At this time, Prince Louis walked into Lawrence's room with a tired face, still complaining about something.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lawrence stood up, saluted, and said with a smile.

Early this morning, the great aristocrats living in Paris rushed to the Tuileries Palace to meet the crown prince. This is also a kind of etiquette custom.

However, Crown Prince Louis seemed a little overwhelmed. Throughout the morning, he had to maintain a stiff smile and chat with the endless stream of visitors, while also paying attention to the extremely detailed red tape and royal etiquette.

This made Prince Louis, who locked himself in the lock-making workshop every day, really uncomfortable.

Prince Louis fell directly on the sofa, sighed and said:

"We've dealt with all the visitors in the morning. I really don't know what these people are here for. I can't even remember their names. And there was that Marquis just now. His French was mixed with a strange Austrian accent. What he said I couldn’t understand half of it, it was so annoying.”

"You will get used to this, Your Highness." Lawrence shrugged and said:

"After you become king, PR activities like this will fill your schedule if you want to be a diligent king."

Although Lawrence also takes pains to treat those PR treats, he will not deny their significance.

Long before Lawrence became Governor of Corsica, he often, even deliberately, created opportunities to appear in public and interact with people from all walks of life.

For politicians, popularity is never too high.

"Okay, I guess I can get used to it."

Prince Louis curled his lips, stood up, glanced at the newspaper on Lawrence's desk, and said curiously:

"This is the Paris newspaper? Can I read it?"

"Of course." Lawrence nodded.

Prince Louis picked up the top financial news newspaper with great interest and read it, but after only a moment, he couldn't help but frown.

"I have no idea about financial markets."

Prince Louis frowned and said dissatisfiedly:

"Besides, I don't like Marquis Maup either. People here are talking nonsense. I want to punish them."

"Oh, don't worry, Your Highness, these are just speculations from the newspaper."

Lawrence quickly explained with a smile:

"And we'd better not casually convict people from newspapers. Those bourgeoisie value freedom of speech more than anything else. There's no need to anger them over such trivial matters."

"Really?" Prince Louis scratched his head, blinked and asked:

"My grandfather said that the bourgeoisie are cowards and weaklings. They can't do anything if they are provoked, right?"

"Well, most of the time, yes, but it's best not to push them too hard."

Lawrence looked strangely and said:

"There was a king in England who did that, you know, Charles I, and he became the first king to be guillotined."

As for who the second one is, Lawrence feels there is no need to show off this knowledge in front of Prince Louis.

Hearing the story of a king being sent to the guillotine, Crown Prince Louis also felt a chill on his neck, shook his head and said repeatedly:

"Oh Lawrence, you are so sharp."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but in our place, there is a saying that good medicine tastes bitter but good advice hurts the ears." Lawrence also smiled and lowered his head and said.

"Okay, okay, I remember this sentence, it makes sense. Thank you, Lawrence."

Prince Louis smiled wryly and nodded.

Then he picked up several other newspapers and read them, but the reports about him were all the same.

"This is so unfair. I obviously didn't want to do those stupid things, but these guys insisted on pushing it on me."

Crown Prince Louis was obviously dissatisfied with these reports and complained.

"Don't worry, Your Highness." Lawrence also quickly explained:

"Don't forget that we have a press conference tomorrow. By then these rumors will be self-explanatory. Moreover, these rumors are actually very beneficial to our company."

Lawrence deliberately emphasized the word "we" to indicate that Prince Louis is also a member of the company.

This also allowed Crown Prince Louis to temporarily put aside these unhappiness and asked puzzledly:

"Huh? Why? I saw in the newspaper that the current market is very bad. How can this be beneficial to us? I heard that listings are for selling stocks, but no one wants to buy stocks now."

"You are progressing so fast, Your Highness. For ordinary companies, this is indeed the case. They need to look at the face of the market, but we are not. In the dance with the market, we are the leading dancer."

Lawrence nodded approvingly and said.

"We are the lead dancers? What do you mean?" Prince Louis swallowed his saliva and asked excitedly.

"You can think about it from another angle. The entire financial market is in a recession, so investors will only choose the most conservative and stable investment projects, and they will even hold large amounts of cash."

Lawrence explained slowly.

Crown Prince Louis naturally didn’t know much about these deeper market operating mechanisms, so he asked confusedly:

"Holding a lot of cash? Does this have anything to do with our company?"

"Your Highness, money can only be called capital when it flows, and the nature of capital is to desire flow. No investor is willing to lock their money in a safe, only to watch it depreciate."

Lawrence chuckled and said:

"Now, there is a large amount of money in Paris that is waiting for support and is shrouded in gloom, and the Corsican National Silver Company will be the only light to break through this gloom."

"Lawrence, are you talking about the press conference tomorrow?!"

Prince Louis said excitedly. He couldn't help but licked his lips and felt a heat all over his body.

Lawrence nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:

"In the sea of ​​​​the market, those investors are just sailors fighting desperately against the strong winds and waves, but we are the ones who make waves and make waves."