His Excellency the Count of Grandet

Ferdinand did not take the lead in expressing his opinion, but looked at Charles' reaction without any trace.But there was really nothing to be seen from Charles' face... He couldn't help being a little surprised.

If it is said that Shire was trying to save face in front of the crowd before, now that the number of people present can be counted on one hand, is it still holding on?And if not, is it because the father's vision is really good enough to pick a one-in-a-million good candidate all at once?

Charles didn't say anything for a while, he was thinking about the Duke's intentions.

The first possibility is that the demand for the army is rising (the probability is not too high); the second possibility is some kind of temptation for which he does not know the purpose (the probability is relatively high).In any case, it was impossible to be the third type—the Duke wrote an exaggerated number in the contract just to scare him—that would be too shabby and not in line with the status of the Duke.

"Five years, 180 barrels, the order price per barrel is between 220 francs and 250 francs, the specific amount is determined according to the market price fluctuations of the year and the quality of the wine," Charles repeated several key points in the contract. "Hand over three-quarters at the beginning of the year, which is [-] barrels; in June, hand over the remaining quarter?"

"That's right." Ferdinand nodded.His face was as expressionless as ever, but he had already started to look at Charles with admiration in his heart: Is this calm reaction really well-thought-out?

Charles' attention was temporarily not on Ferdinand's reaction.

Although the number of this contract exceeded his estimate, the purchase price given was really kind-you know, two hundred francs a barrel was already the highest price in bulk transactions, and the duke even offered 220 francs; even if it was the lowest At 180 francs, the price is definitely not low.Then, the money paid by the duke comes from the treasury and military pay, no matter how high the purchase price is, there is no situation where gold cannot be produced.

In other words, as long as the business can be eaten, anyone will make money; on the premise of ensuring the quality, if the wine can be received from the vineyard owner at a low enough price, the profit will be doubled Growth - which is why everyone is desperately trying to sign the army's wine specialist.

Charles quickly weighed the previously proposed countermeasures and felt that the risk was worth taking.Anyway, it's too late to retreat now, so it's better to give it a go; as long as they do well, the original four-point chance of winning can be increased to six or seven points-this is enough, no investment can guarantee 100% profit without risk. "Well, I'm all right," he said, and looked at the two notaries present.

Charles nodded, and it was even more impossible for Ferdinand to take the risk of damaging his reputation and say that he had to think about it again. After all, he was the one who came up with the entire contract.So he happily took off the family seal ring he was wearing, dipped it in the ink pad, and signed it one by one; Charles signed it without any hesitation.

It took less than 15 minutes before and after, and without seeing the usual war of words on the negotiating table, the two notaries witnessed the successful signing of a large deal worth about 300 million francs, and they couldn't help looking at each other for a second.But neither party said anything, and it was even less likely for them to express their opinions, and they only signed their own chapters one by one.

"The first deposit of 50 francs will be delivered by the end of the year." Ferdinand stood up from the round table first, and offered his right hand to Charles. "I look forward to your good news. I wish us a happy cooperation."

His attitude more or less explained something, and Charles' heart moved. "You are too kind," he said politely. "We should be grateful for your generosity in giving us this opportunity. We will not disappoint you."

"That's wonderful."

The two exchanged some more polite words, and then they had a glass of champagne together, and Ferdinand left early.Charles led the two notaries to the entrance of the garden, and turned to Guillaume—there was something odd about this, and he needed someone to confirm his conjecture.

Sure enough, when Guillaume saw the contract, he almost hit the wine glass in his hand. "Ten thousand...five thousand barrels?" he asked in disbelief, "how could this be?" And Shire really signed it!This is really a little bit more courageous, right?

"I think the Duke probably has other considerations for such a change." Charles explained some reasons for his guess, and then added: "Looking at the attitude of Your Excellency the Duke today, maybe the [-] barrels It's negotiable."

"Since you found out, why didn't you mention it then?" Guillaume was still shocked.In his opinion, this amount is almost destined to bankrupt the Grandet family!

"Of course I can mention that His Excellency the Duke will probably agree half-heartedly, but this is an obvious favor." Charles smiled slightly. "Father, we're in business, and there are certain things we don't owe—you know I'm not talking about money."

Having worked in the business circles of Paris for many years, Guillaume certainly knows this truth, not to mention that he himself pays the most attention to reputation. "Yes, Dad understands, this is indeed a very big favor..." Then he realized.With the Duke's status, why sell this favor to the Grandet family?It's definitely not fun to say that there will be things that require them to devote themselves to their deaths in the future.

After thinking about this, Guillaume began to worry about other things. "That is to say, at the beginning of the year, we'd better get 1 barrels of wine?" The subtext, these wines are worth about 240 million francs, and only half of their family's property is mortgaged!

"That's exactly what I want to tell you." Charles replied, "I plan to go to the interior to buy wine myself. If we can tell the price at the source, we can save more than half of the cost." At 150 francs There is a big difference between buying a barrel and buying it at fifty francs a barrel, okay?

Guillaume was still worried.He was at ease telling Shire about all the family affairs, because those things were destined to belong to Shire; since he had to take over sooner or later, why didn't he learn a little earlier?But today he discovered that his son is not just a little newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers.Look, it's just that I haven't seen him for a quarter of an hour, so I played him the big game, and if I lose, I'll go bankrupt...

But at this time, it's a done deal, and it's too late to regret it.If he wants to be safe, shouldn't he secretly save some capital, at least enough to earn a fortune for traveling to the Far East?

Guillaume, who was thinking about the way out, naturally didn't know. An hour later, the Duke of Orleans also felt a little regretful.He instructed Ferdinand to add [-] barrels to the original base, because it would better realize his plan.But he didn't expect that Charles signed without frowning.

"If Shire fails, it's just a matter of my misjudgment. If Shire succeeds..." He paused, his voice became low and slow because of thinking: "It means that I underestimated him from the beginning." So that in vain Made a wedding dress for someone.

Ferdinand felt the same way. "I have asked Colonel Roschild to keep an eye on this matter." He said in a deep voice, "Whoever is more skilled, let time tell."