Shadow of great britain

"Bank?"

It can be seen that Mr. von Kromer was very interested in this topic, and even accidentally stuck the fork he used to fork the steak into the wine glass.

As a respectable Austrian nobleman, a highly respected diplomat, born in Vienna, living in Paris, pursuing the most beautiful Parisian ladies, taking them to the most expensive luxury stores and the most famous concerts all day long, such a life experience can allow Mr. von Kromer to brag to people unscrupulously in social occasions.

However, the price is that if you want to maintain such a decent life, it is far from enough to rely solely on the public office income of being a cultural counselor.

Although he can also get a special imperial allowance that only intelligence personnel can get, compared with his huge expenditure, that little money still seems to be a drop in the bucket.

In order to satisfy his material desires in life, von Kromer had to do some obscene things that upper-class gentlemen did.

For example, borrowing money from big bankers like the Rothschild family in the name of loans, but delaying the repayment date with various excuses.

Or, occasionally exchange some information that is not very important to Austria with foreign intelligence officers like Schneider, and get some gratitude money from them as a symbol of friendship.

Of course, he also controls some personnel appointment rights, and if there is a suitable price, Mr. von Krommel does not mind cashing them out.

However, most of these industries are too low-profile.

In order to make decent money, von Krommel often engages in some risky investments.

In today's Europe, this kind of venture capital business is not uncommon. Whether it is Vienna, Paris or London, as long as you are willing to invest money, there will always be someone who dares to pat your chest and guarantee you a return of hundreds of points a year.

Of course, there are many scammers here, or it can be said the other way around, there are not many guys doing business here seriously.

Take banks for example, even those banks that are doing the hottest business at present, only a few can guarantee how long-term their plans are.

Most speculative banks do not have sufficient capital support when they are established, and rely on deposits and short-term loans to maintain operations. Since the deposits they absorb are all high-interest deposits, in order to ensure a balance of income and expenditure, these banks often take the money to participate in high-risk speculative activities, trying to make up for the lack of capital through high returns.

And this way of operation means that almost every step they take is a gamble. As long as a high-risk investment fails, they will soon go bankrupt.

However, compared with fraudulent banks, the transactions made by speculative banks can be said to be serious experience.

Fraudulent banks, as the name suggests, these banks attract investment and deposits through false statements and false financial statements, exaggerate assets and profits, and attract investors and depositors, but in fact they do not have enough assets to support their operations.

However, even if these banks are operating in a deceptive way, many investors are still flocking to these businesses.

Because as long as no one exposes their tricks, everyone can still cover their eyes and pretend to be blind, because as long as the bomb does not explode in their hands, as long as they can sell the shares before going bankrupt, they can still make money.

When Schneider saw that von Krommel was interested in the bank, the eyes of this cunning pure German-British gentleman could not help but widen slightly.

He glanced at Arthur beside him with his peripheral vision and read the same idea from his eyes.

The strategy of analyzing von Krommel's financial situation in advance worked. They didn't even throw the bait into the water, and the Austrian was ready to bite the hook.

Schneider waved his hands and said, "Arthur, you shouldn't mention the bank in this situation. It's our private matter."

Arthur pretended to be anxious. He slammed the table and stood up and said, "August! You promised me before that this would definitely work! But if Mr. von Krommel doesn't get involved, this mess can't be solved anyway! Think about it clearly. It's a small matter if we can't get our investment back. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs investigates it later, both of us will be in trouble!"

Schneider pretended to be impatient and said, "Arthur! Give me some time, okay? You said this in front of Mr. von Krommel now, how can we talk later?"

Von Krommel held the wine glass and looked at Schneider first, then at Arthur, who was red with anger. He took a sip of wine, then put down the wine glass, crossed his fingers and asked on the table.

"Excuse me, can I ask what happened to you two? It sounds like you have encountered something, and only I can solve it?"

Arthur was about to speak, but Schneider stopped him first: "Arthur, you can't do this."

Arthur ignored Schneider's obstruction, he pushed Schneider away and said: "I've had enough! August, if you don't want to talk, then I'll start. Your Excellency, I'll be frank with you, we are indeed in some trouble at the moment, not only about the financial situation, but also about our future development. But if you are willing to participate in this trouble, then not only will the trouble be eliminated, but even the three of us can get a lot of money."

"Hmm..."

Von Krommel leaned back in his chair and relaxed. He pinched his chin and thought for a while: "Let me guess, are you involved in a bank fraud case?"

"Worse than that!"

Arthur pointed at Schneider and roared: "This fraud is still led by August!"

"Oh?" Von Krommel laughed and rubbed his face: "August, I haven't seen it before, so you still have this ability?"

Schneider was as embarrassed as a bereaved dog. He bit the bullet and said, "Damn it! Since Arthur has said it, I won't hide it from you. Mr. Cromel, you know how we discovered Young Italy." Detailed plan?"

"How did you find out?"

Schneider lit his pipe and took a long puff to adjust his breathing.

"As you know, I have stayed in Paris for several years, so I have made many friends here. When I came to Paris on business last year, a friend of mine in the banking industry told me that he opened an investment bank. A bank is bidding for the mining rights of a large coal mine in the Alsace-Lorraine region. According to him, once they win the bid, the return on investment will definitely be more than ten times.

But at present, the turnover of their funds on hand has reached a difficult point, so several major investors plan to sell part of their equity to help the bank's turnover. Because he and I are old friends, so when such a good thing happens, he will think of me immediately. After all, the good news should not go to outsiders.

I was so fooled by his deception that I invested all the money I had and even sold the property in London. But even so, the money is still not enough for them to fill the hole. So after I returned to London, I told Arthur about it and persuaded him to join me in investing. In this way, we both invested nearly 70,000 francs in this bank..."

"Seventy thousand francs!" von Cromel exclaimed: "This is not a small amount."

"It's really not a small amount."

Schneider continued: "But when we returned to Paris this year, we found that except for the bank's office and a few beautiful female tellers, there was nothing left there. There was not much money left on the bank's books, and the little money was just It was enough to cover the salary of the employees this year, and there would never be an extra sou. I asked the beautiful ladies, and they told me that several directors went to India together to travel, and several directors left them for me before leaving. A letter containing the remaining bank stocks in their hands."

At this point, Arthur yelled and cursed: "Go to hell! If they really go to India, then I will immediately write to the Governor of India, Lord Bentinck, and ask him for Shiva's sake. Go ahead, allow those Indians to set up the pyre again, and roast those liars till they are charred on the outside and tender on the inside according to the method they used to burn the widows!”

When Von Cromel heard this, he couldn't help but almost laughed. He took out his handkerchief and covered his mouth and said: "Sir, according to the old British saying, it is really inappropriate for you to speak like this."

Arthur waved his hand and cursed angrily.

“Property be damned, I’ve had enough of British propriety!

In Britain, it is inappropriate for you to hang out with a woman you know well at a dance or some other event in the evening, and then the next day you meet her on the street and say that you know her!

It is inappropriate for you to walk up to a beautiful woman at a dance and ask her to dance!

You are blushing, you are arguing, you are laughing, you are frankly speaking your mind during the conversation, this is inappropriate!

You use your intelligence, you express your emotions, you play cards with your legs crossed at the gambling table, you are absent-minded when talking, and you talk too much while eating, which is inappropriate! It's unbecoming! It’s all in disgrace!

It is not unbecoming of a British lady to cause a scene in her chamber, but she considers herself in disrepute if she receives a male friend in the same room.

Thanks to the law of indecency, the inhabitants of London will one day become immobile.

It is because of his decency that when Auguste came to Paris, he was like a young man who didn’t understand shit. He was tricked by Parisian swindlers in just a few words, and he even lost my coffin book! "

Arthur's impromptu performance made Schneider dumbfounded. He had only known that the former Scotland Yard Assistant Superintendent could play the piano and catch thieves, but he really didn't expect that he was even so good at acting.

Fortunately, von Crommel's attention was entirely drawn away by Arthur, so he didn't notice anything strange about him.

Von Cromel comforted: "Sir..."

Before he finished speaking, Arthur interrupted him rudely: "Mr. Cromel, all my hopes are now pinned on you. I used to be a policeman. Logically speaking, if I encounter such a case, , then Auguste and I can only wait to go to debtor's prison. But God bless us, just when we were in despair, a few fools from Italy actually came to this shell bank to handle deposits. Opened several accounts with us.”

"Italian? Deposit business?"

Von Cromel was stunned at first, and then he couldn't suppress the joy in his heart and asked: "You mean the party members of Young Italy?"

Schneider said in a conspiratorial tone from the side: "It's not just that, you said it was a coincidence. Not long after, we found that someone had made a large sum of money to the Italian account. You must have heard of that guy's name." Said."

"Who is it?"

"Louis-Adolphe Thiers, Minister of the Interior of France, with whom you must have drank at banquets."

"this……"

As Schneider said, von Cromel did have a drink with Thiers, and the two were not generally familiar with each other.

Before Thiers became prosperous, he had already met this little dwarf from the provinces.

At that time, von Cromel was as troubled by his financial situation as he is today, so he once asked the other party for advice on how to deal with rich women.

But later von Cromel discovered that he really couldn't achieve the level of Thiers, so he had to give up the easy way to get rich by relying on women.

For a man of noble birth and a high self-esteem like him, simple things like taking his lover for a walk in the woods and accompanying her to the theater were okay. But he couldn't stand it and spent a lot of time reading cheesy chivalry novels and writing love letters every day.

Not to mention, he saw with his own eyes that Thiers was scolded for trivial matters, and he looked as embarrassed as a drowned dog.

When the lady was happy, Thiers was also in high spirits. But when the lady is depressed, Thiers must also be dejected. She had a headache and he had to endure her tantrums. She wanted to find someone to talk to, and he had to listen patiently, and not ignore every word that seemed like nonsense, in case the other person asked questions unexpectedly.

This guy spends all his time, every minute and every second, along with his precious youth, filling the emptiness and boredom of his current lover. Perhaps Thiers would have to stay with her all afternoon, holding a meeting with her that was more grand than a high-level diplomatic meeting, to discuss which necklace would best match her evening dress.

To von Kromel, this was simply ridiculous. If he was asked to do these things, he might as well be in debtor's prison.

The ancestors of the Cromel family worked so hard, went through life and death for the King of Bohemia, and fought for the Holy Roman Empire, not just for him to spend time in a place like this.

When Von Cromel thought of the little man, besides complaining about this guy's unscrupulousness behind his back, he also sighed: "Adolf has survived it! But with his temper, this is probably It was his 'new lover' who asked him to do it."

"New lover?" Schneider replied: "You mean Louis Philippe?"

"Of course." Von Cromel blinked: "He will submit to whoever can help him go further. When he reaches a higher place, he will kick his original lover again. Talleyrand It's not without reason that you are optimistic about this guy, because the methods they used to climb up are very similar. However, his starting point is too low, so the climbing process is much longer than Talleyrand's. He has been suppressed longer than Talleyrand, so he must be more despicable than Talleyrand.”

At this point, he changed the subject and said: "Now I believe your intelligence. Regardless of whether it is true or false, it is at least more reliable than the reports of those informants, and at least worthy of being read by the big shots in Vienna. But I still don't Do you know what Young Italy has to do with your loss-making business?"

Arthur took a deep breath and held Von Cromel's hand: "Sir, this is of great concern. If you report the information to Vienna, we can confirm that this bank was founded by Young Italy. Since it was founded by Young Italy, it is normal for the shareholders to flee with their money after the uprising was exposed, right?

In this way, we can blatantly swallow up all the funds sent to Young Italy on the books, and as long as the Vienna side raises this matter, the French government will not worry about their funding of Young Italy being exposed. Carefully review the bank's accounts and ownership structure.

In this case, Young Italy did not receive the funding that should have been used for the uprising, and their power was weakened, which was Austria's benefit. And August and I, we both get our upfront investment back. As for you, you have made such a big contribution, I think it is very reasonable for you to get a share of it. "