From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Thirty million livres? What are you talking about?!"

Even King Louis XV was stunned for a moment when he heard this number, wondering if he had heard something wrong because he was old and frail.

Even if he has no idea about money, he still knows how much wealth thirty million livres is.

On the order of tens of millions plus the unit of livre, Louis XV had only seen this kind of figure in those national financial reports that he hardly read.

Duke Aiguillon was completely stunned, his head filled with the number three and the countless zeros that followed.

"How is it possible that one company could amass such an amount of money?"

As a duke with a prominent position in the political arena, Duke Aiguillon knew very well how exaggerated this wealth was.

Thirty million livres can fully support the entire cost of a small war, and can even directly wipe out France's two-year fiscal deficit.

Even if the market value is not equal to the actual wealth, this number still made Duke Aiguillon break into a cold sweat.

There was even silence at the banquet table. Everyone, including Madame Du Barry, couldn't help but cover their mouths and quickly thought about what this number meant in their minds.

"Your Majesty, I didn't believe this news at first. I only reported it to you after confirming it several times."

The press officer kept saying:

"And based on the royal family's share of the company, nearly six million livres belong to the royal family."

"Six million livres, complete royal property?"

Louis XV said in disbelief.

Although he did not understand the difference between market value and actual value, this astonishing number already made Louis XV feel slightly dizzy.

After all, this is a complete windfall for the royal family.

The royal family paid nothing, relying solely on the thin piece of paper signed by Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, and took this huge sum of money into the Palace of Versailles legitimately and without any exploitation.

Even Louis XV himself felt that the name of the National Silver Company of Corsica was becoming more and more pleasant to the ears.

By this time, no one at the banquet table was stupid enough to attack Crown Prince Louis as a director of the company.

The face of Duke Aiguillon, who took the initiative to attack, was livid. He also knew that there was no point in making a fuss about this matter. After all, he could not afford six million livres to send to the Palace of Versailles.

As for possible criticism from foreign courts, Louis XV was in a good mood and didn't care at all.

If any king really pointed out this, Louis XV would probably retort directly:

"Send all your princes and princesses to the market and see if they can bring back six million livres!"

Although this asset could not be realized for a while, Louis XV was still very happy about it and hummed a little tune and said:

"Laurence and Choiseul are really capable ministers. In just a few days, they have sent me another great gift. You are right, Duke Aiguillon."

Duke Aiguillon gritted his teeth and nodded reluctantly.

He and the Duke of Choiseul were not only politically opposed, but also had a personal grudge. Even the superficial acknowledgment made the Duke of Aiguillon feel sick to his stomach.

"I don't know what Marquis Mopu thought, but he wanted to stop such a company from going public."

Louis XV suddenly thought of the matter that Justice Maupe had stopped the listing of the National Silver Company a few days ago, frowned and muttered:

"Fortunately, I didn't let him mess around. I hope he won't make such mistakes in his future work."

The Duke of Aiguillon on the side couldn't help but shudder after hearing this, and even Madame Du Barry, who was not interested in politics, showed unwillingness and worry.

It was obvious that Louis XV deliberately said this to them.

Both of them also understood that the Duke of Choiseul, who was gradually alienated by the king, would definitely regain a lot of status because of this matter.

As for Lawrence, who was already highly regarded by Louis XV, there is no doubt that he will become even more powerful.

At the same time, in the Paris Stock Exchange, Lord Mellie's private office.

"Cheers! Old friend, and Monsieur Bonaparte, I must toast you!"

Mr. Montmartre raised a goblet filled with champagne and said to Lord Melly and Lawrence beside him with great joy.

Judging from his rosy face and the smile he couldn't hide, Mr. Montmartre may have never been so proud and happy in his life.

As for the reason, you only need to go to the exchange hall downstairs to understand.

The huge hall is full of investors, even during the lunch break.

Mr. Montmartre swore that this was definitely the hottest day he had ever witnessed on the Stock Exchange.

And these people came to the stock exchange for almost one purpose - the Corsican National Silver Company.

After yesterday's press conference, various newspapers rushed to treat the content of the press conference as the undisputed front page, and began to contact the printing factory to print in advance in the afternoon.

And this morning, as the first batch of newspapers smelling of ink were delivered to the hands of Paris citizens, the financial market in Paris instantly exploded.

The originally despairing mentality of investors took a 180-degree turn like a roller coaster.

They first took the newspaper glumly, then glanced at the title with confusion and shock, and then greedily and crazily read every word on it.

Even a fool can see that since Monsignor Bonaparte has rejected Justice Maupp's intention to control the financial world, the downturn in the financial market that has lasted for several days will inevitably end.

In other words, now is an excellent time to buy the dip, because the market is bound to see a rise.

After reading the newspaper, investors immediately rushed to the Paris Stock Exchange desperately, just like famine victims smelling endless delicacies.

Funds that had been idle due to the market downturn suddenly became active and rushed into the financial market.

Especially those leading investors who personally attended yesterday's press conference. They were already ready to go, tied their napkins, and were ready to enjoy this feast of capital.

As for the protagonist of this feast, there is no doubt that the Corsican National Silver Company.

Each newspaper obtained the company's disclosure data from the stock exchange and placed it on the front page as second only to the front page news.

Investors who read the newspaper suddenly realized why this company was favored by so many politicians - an unprecedented giant silver mine.

And it is a silver mine that is almost completely unexploited.

In other words, as long as this silver mine starts to be mined and the National Silver Company starts to make profits, its stock price will inevitably rise.

And what this means, every investor also understands: investment in the National Silver Company is absolutely guaranteed to make a profit, and the more you invest, the more you make.

With this idea in mind, people gathered at the entrance of the Paris Stock Exchange early in the morning and formed several long queues waiting for the opening of trading.

The queue stretched to the other end of the square on St. Paul's Avenue, and many people even got into fights because of the problem of jumping in line.

After all, at this critical juncture, if you step into the door of the stock exchange earlier, you can earn ten more livres.

At 9 o'clock this morning, the Paris Stock Exchange officially opened.

The carnival also begins.

A large number of people rushed into the exchange hall. Many of them were not professional investors, but ordinary citizens or working class people who had gotten wind of the situation.

Waving remittance orders and money bags in their hands, they loudly urged trading brokers to complete their orders.

The billboard in the center of the hall used to announce prices changes almost every five seconds, and the numbers on it are also rising, indicating to everyone the fact that the stock market is recovering.

As for the protagonist in the exchange hall today, the National Silver Company, it has attracted everyone's attention.

Its stock price even has a separate billboard hanging above the lobby.

And every time the price on this billboard changes, it will attract a wave of cheers from investors in the hall.

Some ordinary people who took advantage of the situation bought National Silver Company stocks when the market opened and sold them all before the market closed. This way, they added hundreds of livres to their pockets and walked out satisfied. Exchange.

More people stayed at the desks of trading brokers, and once there was a surplus in the stocks of the National Silver Company, they immediately took it without hesitation.

In their eyes, this is just a matter of money.

In this morning alone, all the shares of the National Silver Company contracted by the French Commercial Bank were sold.

"It's just wonderful."

Mr. Montmartre took a deep breath of the mellow aroma of champagne, as if he smelled the smell of silver coins, and said with a face full of intoxication:

"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. I will make today my lucky day."

As an original shareholder of the National Silver Company, Mr. Montmartre naturally benefited greatly from the hot stock market.

Lawrence took a sip of champagne and asked with a smile:

"So, what's the financial situation of the company now?"

Mr. Montmartre laughed and said:

"It's quite wonderful, Your Excellency Bonaparte. Our market value is now more than 30 million livres, of which."

"I'm not interested in market value, I'm more interested in knowing how much cash the company has on hand."

Lawrence shook his head and interrupted.

In Lawrence's eyes, no matter how large the market capitalization figure is, it is still false.

Because the silver mine's report and the company's financial statements are fictitious, the calculated market value naturally has no meaning.

Moreover, Lawrence had no intention of operating the National Silver Company as a normal enterprise, but only as a complete tool for making money.

After all, there is no giant silver mine in Corsica that only exists in reports, but only a mediocre silver vein with average reserves.

"Oh cash, of course, let me see."

Mr. Montmartre put down his wine glass, flipped through a stack of documents on the table skillfully, nodded and said:

"Our disclosed cash flow is 18 million livres. This figure is exaggerated, but it is actually reasonable, because the company has just gone public, and it must be full of liquid assets."

"Actually?"

Lawrence shook his head and asked. He knew that the number disclosed to the public included those fictitious asset items in the financial statements and had no meaning to him.

"Actually hehe"

Mr. Montmartre laughed bitterly. Although there were only three of them in the office, as a banker, being mentioned about such a fraudulent behavior still made him a little ashamed:

"Actually, there is a discount, because all the company's cash comes from today's raising of shares, and of course my meager one million livres. The total is almost ten million livres."

"Ten million? It's indeed better than I expected. At least there will be no shortage of funds for Corsica's construction."

Lawrence then nodded with satisfaction and said.

These ten million livres are equivalent to several years of Corsica's gross national product, and more than ten years of fiscal revenue.

With this funding, Lawrence won't have to worry about finances for a while at least.

As for misappropriating the company's money for financial purposes, it's just a matter of left hand and right hand.

"Hahaha, come on, let me toast you again."

When Mr. Montmartre saw Lawrence finally showing a satisfied expression, he also laughed and raised his glass and said:

"Merry, old friend, you want a drink too. Hey, why are you looking so sad?"

Only then did Mr. Montmartre notice that there was no smile on the face of Lord Melly.

On the contrary, his face was quite solemn and his brows were furrowed, as if he was troubled by deep sorrow.

Lawrence glanced at Lord Mellie and probably knew why he was so solemn, but he did not take the initiative to speak.

"Old friend, what's wrong with you? Why are you looking like this?"

Mr. Montmartre patted Lord Melly on the shoulder, then put his arm directly on his shoulder and said with a smile:

"The commission and stamp duty collected by the stock exchange this morning alone must be hundreds of thousands of livres. This is your political achievement. Why are you still looking so sad?"

"well"

Lord Melly let out a long sigh, glanced at Lawrence carefully, hesitated for two seconds and then said:

"I'm just a little worried. To be honest, I didn't expect the National Silver Company to be so popular. Almost 80% of the investors came to this company today."

"Isn't this a good thing? Don't you yourself own several thousand shares of the National Silver Company?" Mr. Montmartre said nonchalantly.

"It's a good thing in the short term. The National Silver Company has boosted the enthusiasm of the entire market. But..."

Lord Melly glanced at Lawrence again, bit his lip and said:

"This company's statements contain so many fictitious elements. If they are exposed in the future, it will become a bomb that destroys the entire financial world."

As Chairman of the Stock Exchange, Lord Mellie was naturally very concerned about the risks of the National Silver Company.

Originally, he thought that this company would just become an ordinary company with good momentum, so he didn't particularly care about assisting Lawrence in committing fraud.

But he really didn't expect that the National Silver Company had become a benchmark in the entire financial world.

Under such circumstances, if something goes wrong with this company, the responsibility cannot be shouldered by Lord Mellie alone.

If Lord Mellie knew that even the report on the silver mine was false, he would probably faint on the spot.

"Don't worry, Lord Melly." Lawrence said with a smile:

"There won't be any problems in the short term. Investors will be more and more enthusiastic about the company."

For Lawrence, as long as a part of the investment funds are returned to investors as profits and create the illusion of high profit margins, more investors can be attracted to enter and thus maintain this situation. It is just a simple Ponzi scheme.

"Yes, there should be no problem in the short term." Lord Melly nodded, probably guessing what Lawrence was doing, but he still said worriedly:

"But in the long run this bomb is bound to explode eventually, and when that happens, we all..."

Mr. Montmartre also reacted immediately, and his mind, which was overwhelmed by the huge profits, finally sobered up a bit, and his face became solemn like Lord Melly.

If these inside stories are really exposed, the fate of the two of them will go without saying.

And Lawrence suddenly stood up, patted Lord Melly on the shoulder and said with a chuckle:

"Mr. Lord, a bomb is a dangerous item that makes us dig our own graves. It is also an extremely efficient tool and a weapon with huge destructive effects. The difference between these is that it explodes at the wrong time."

"What do you mean?" Lord Mellie asked uneasily.

“The National Silver Company is bound to explode, but given the right timing, not only will we all be safe, but we’ll be able to make a fortune again.”

Lawrence looked at the two people and said in a deep voice:

"And until the right time comes, please take good care of this bomb. Don't let us dig our own graves."

Lord Melly and Mr. Montmartre glanced at each other in unison, and then nodded heavily and helplessly.

Not only are they now tied to the same ship by Lawrence, but it is also a dangerous ship that may sink at any time.

The two had no choice but to believe and obey Captain Lawrence's command.