His Excellency the Count of Grandet

Of course, the two people who had already gone upstairs could not see the situation downstairs.But having said that, they did have more important things to discuss—that is, the news that Duke Decaz brought back from England.

The current King of England is George IV of Hanover.He is obsessed with art, and has dabbled in architecture and fine arts. He is known as the first gentleman in England.But to match it, he is more interested in wine and women than in politics and religion, and his ability to govern the country is quite worrying.

With such an immediate boss, the Earl of Liverpool, the First Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Lords (i.e. Prime Minister), is particularly hard-pressed.He should have done a lot of things, and he still has to wipe his ass for the king's shit.

Just think what happened during his tenure!The war between the United States and Britain; the war triggered by Napoleon, who had to mediate between a group of powerful people with strong personalities; workers smashed factory machines in many places in the UK, which eventually turned into the Peterloo massacre; tens of thousands of people went on strike in Glasgow ; he himself was almost assassinated on the way home with the cabinet members...

We have to say that the Earl of Liverpool is quite conscientious, but he really can't handle the waves of things.Add to this the battle between the Tories and the Whigs, and the legality of the Catholic faith (the British aristocracy supported Protestantism), none of which was safe.

At this time, France on the other side of the strait successfully embarked on the journey of industrialization not long after its defeat?Just kidding, why can his French counterparts easily put the whole country on track?

"Your Excellency the Earl would like to know how you managed to appease the workers." Decaz said, "Although I think he wouldn't adopt it even if he knew."

Charles and Victor looked at each other.This is very likely, because the Earl of Liverpool believes that it is a shame to make concessions to workers, and only tries to ease conflicts in some small ways, such as signing the abolition of child labor laws or something.It's a good move, of course, but it's not enough.If you want to achieve complete wages and benefits like Shire, then the Earl of Liverpool is not the Earl of Liverpool.

"That's his own business." The king waved his hand slightly, so he wouldn't be idle and concerned about whether the other prime ministers were tired or what they were thinking. "Tell me about the terms of their cooperation."

"The detailed rules are still being discussed. I can only state a few general directions for you." De Kaz replied respectfully, "One is technology, the other is machinery, and the third is the total amount. The first two, they want to send people to visit us The best factory; the last one involves the import-export trade balance."

"The British are still conservative." Victor analyzed, "They want to control how much they earn and lose before doing business." The abacus is clanging!

Charles nodded, and asked again: "Then what terms did they offer in exchange?"

Decaz carefully glanced at the king's face, and then at Charles. "Currently, the machine embargo is open, and others are still being discussed."

As soon as this was said, even the king laughed. "This is really never a disadvantage," he said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, "Isn't this what happened in recent years? They used it as a bargaining chip?"

"They either overestimated themselves, or overestimated Austria." Victor said, still hitting the nail on the head. "In their imagination, they are superior to other countries. I think they may think that this condition is already a big discount."

Decaz originally planned to come back from the Christmas holiday to ask for opinions in person. Now, seeing that Louis XVIII and Victor were not very optimistic, he asked: "They really take it for granted. This means that my future Should the attitude be tougher?"

"That probably won't be necessary." As soon as Charles said this, everyone else looked at him. "Since they are willing to discuss it, it means that we do have what they want in our hands. Then hang them up, we don't lack time!"

Because in fact, the longer the negotiation drags on, the better it will be for them!

The reason why they want to unite with the United Kingdom is to divide the pressure from the Holy Alliance, especially Austria behind the royalist party.This may seem like an all-out fight for Britain, but it is not.As long as the British show interest in cooperation is enough, Austria has absolutely no confidence to take the initiative to go to war.

Moreover, although Britain is famously conservative, they do not want to change to a republic in one step.In any case, everything they do has the king nodding, and this has already shown their attitude-as long as they are willing to cooperate, the interests of the nobility can still be preserved to the greatest extent, which is just within the final bottom line acceptable to the British.

In a few seconds, the other three people figured out their joints. "This is also a way," Victor said while thinking, "but the requirements for chips are a bit higher." Procrastination also costs money!

"In order to prevent the British from changing their minds halfway, we really need to pay attention to this point." The king said, also considering possible problems, "Although we are not in a hurry, we must be prepared for the other party's consent. No matter what chips we prepare, we will If we can afford it; it’s better not to lose money in formal cooperation, it’s even better to make money.” He paused, “Can it be done? Or to what extent?”

Duke Decaz didn't speak, but he cast doubtful eyes on Charles.

"I'll prepare these things," Charles quickly assured. "You just need to say hello to me before you bring people. I'll let them see what they want to see, and I'll get them what they want." Yes. But how effective it actually is, I don’t guarantee that it will be the same as they imagined.”

Victor stared at Charles as he said this, and was the first to laugh.He knows this too well, because Charles has a backlog of technologies that need to be promoted, and he is waiting for a reason to eliminate them and replace them with new ones!Doesn't this meet the requirements? Others look good, but I don't feel bad if I lose it; because there are better ones!

"Then it's up to you." Decaz understood and nodded in agreement. "I'll take care of the rest."

After initially confirming the details, several people were temporarily relieved.

"You have preserved the value of our country," said the king. "I have not counted on it since the day it was issued! According to my most optimistic estimates, the public debt will be fine if it does not fall!"

This is not entirely exaggerated.Just two years ago, French bond prices were in a precarious state.If it hadn't been for Victor and a few others to resist the pressure from the cabinet and resolutely oppose selling more public debt to ease financial pressure, maybe James would have succeeded at that time!

But now, the price of national debt has been rising all the way, even the Rothschild family can't do it to copy the market and then sell it!In this way, the possibility of Louis XVIII being threatened is greatly reduced!

"I am flattered by your compliment, Your Majesty." Charles bowed deeply.

The attendant knocked three times on the door, and it was time for the banquet.So the three of them left first and retreated, preparing to deal with the others.Duke Decaz went first, Charles and Victor were a few steps behind.

"Did he find you?" Victor asked in a low voice.

He made it clear that it was James. "Yes, but nothing of importance," replied Charles in the same tone. "From my personal point of view, he is probably still hesitating."

From a professional point of view, Victor and James are destined to be wrong.Victor can also be regarded as a capitalist, but his status as the governor of the central bank determines that he cannot only seek personal benefits.

But James is different. There is only one creed of opportunists who operate smuggling and secretly intensify the conflict between revolutionaries and the authorities, money.Even by a Rothschild standard, he is a leader in carrying forward the family philosophy.

If you are not in a country, it means that well water does not violate river water.But just because...then I can only say realistically, conflicts of interest and goals, the relationship will be good!

Because there were guards beside him, Victor only snorted softly. "He has no chance."

Charles, of course, is worth wooing, as he is almost destined for greatness.But James didn't notice Shire at the beginning, which already foreshadowed failure-because from the perspective of the opponent, the most beneficial way for them is actually to intervene before Shire makes the factory bigger, forcing Shire Give up or completely take over Shire's factory.

But maybe it's because of over-belief in its own strength, maybe it's because it underestimates what Shire can do, or maybe it's because it doesn't look down on the profits that the factory can bring (smuggling small profits, speculating on bonds and gold is even more useless) Ben Wanli, not too much trouble), so that James ignored Shire.

So, is it too late to think of saving now?

"Are you glad you got there first?" Charles broke Victor's mind.

"Who says it's not?" Victor glanced at Charles, and readily admitted, with a hint of pride.If Charles changed his mind and didn't make a decision, to put it bluntly, he would have run away with the money when he took out the money order early in the morning?

Charles was amused by his ostentatious tone. "Okay, let's wait and see what he does next." He thought for a while and then said, "I reckon that in the next year, the railway from Paris passing Orleans to Limoges should be built to reach Bordeaux and Lang Tribute." After the completion of the railway in Nancy in the east, he pulled all the construction teams to the south-central.A low-key start, but the completion can not be low-key.

"You say that to make things bigger?" Victor understood.

Bordeaux is such an obvious destination!When the railway is built there, no matter whether it is wine or people, they can travel between the two places at the fastest speed.Less time, lower cost, sure to attract more people!And what does it mean to be human?It is a business opportunity!

"That's right." Charles affirmed, "Try it first. If the situation is good, I will consider building a castle in the south, and the manor will also be renovated." Isn't the only way to get back the cost of a castle or something is tourism? ?By the way, selling local products, souvenirs and the like?

"That sounds good, but it's not quite your style—how did you even think about the castle?" Victor stepped down the last step, asking a final question at the same time.

"It's nothing, I just thought of it." Charles smiled and blinked again. "Or you could try to figure it out yourself?" And he walked away, joining the large crowd that was waiting for him.

Victor stood where he was, and couldn't help touching his chin.Who can make Charles make such a decision?If it wasn't for him, there would only be Guillaume, right?