Eugenie with money [Grandet]

In the darkness, Grandet sighed, his tone was weaker than ever: "Who knows when you will be useless to him."

In the same darkness, Eugenie stared at the invisible distance, hoping to see some light from there, and her tone was very firm: "Please rest assured, Dad. I will keep myself useful, more useful than he imagined ’” until he was pushed off the throne.

When facing Mrs. Taigou, Eugenie did not reveal this determination at all, but only told her that the queen's chief lady-in-waiting would come to visit at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

When Grandet and his daughter were summoned by the king, Mrs. Taigu, who had already come back first, was a little worried: "Miss, you don't look very good. The spirit of the husband is also not good. Did the king make things difficult for you and the husband?" ?”

Eugenie neither admitted nor denied: "The king has his own considerations in his actions."

Mrs. Taigu's worry became more obvious: "But sometimes, the king's thoughts don't take into account the feelings of the person involved."

But that's not the case, you don't say what you want, and others have to take the initiative to contribute.It's so disgusting that the person involved still wants to take Joe after making a contribution.Eugenie asked Elemi to step back, and pulled Mrs. Taigou to sit down: "Mrs. Taigou, I feel that I have encountered a problem, and I still haven't understood the meaning of the king and Count Negeran."

Hearing that there was something about the Count of Niegeland in it, Mrs. Taigou felt a little uncomfortable on her face, and Eugenie didn't go into it. After coming to Paris, she found out that no one who knows the inside story told me that you would never Know who has been with whom.

She briefly recounted the persecution of herself and Grandet by the King of France and the Earl of Négerand, not forgetting to focus on the King of France, so as to prevent Mrs. Taigou from losing her ability to judge because of the previous sex.

After listening to this, Mrs. Teigou fell into deep thought. Eugenie drank the milk that Elemi brought her, and did not rush her—telling these things to Taigu would be more effective in relieving her emotions. Can you help her? Ideas are secondary.

"Miss," Mrs. Taigou said until Eugenie had finished drinking a glass of milk, "I think the king wanted to scare you and sir at first, so that you can smoothly agree to his request."

This is exactly what Eugenie disliked: "You know Mrs. Taigou, as a citizen of France, no matter what the king asks, my father and I have the obligation to agree."

"But what the king wants the people to see is the voluntary actions of the subjects." Mrs. Taigu smiled strangely: "Even if everyone knows what's going on, he still hopes it is like this."

"Until now, I still don't understand whether the king has accepted the shares of Nucingen Bank. These, I made my statement during the meeting, and I will voluntarily donate them to the king." Eugenie bit the word voluntarily. heavy.

"Since the chief lady said that she would come to visit tomorrow in front of the attendant, the attendant might come to visit Mr. after the chief lady left. I will ask him about it then. Even if he doesn't come, I will I will write to him to ask King Ming what he wants." Mrs. Taigu knew that she was completely tied to Eugenie now, and her life would be better only when Eugenie got well.

Eugenie accepted Mrs. Taigou's kindness and asked her about the personal preferences of the chief lady in order to prepare for the courtesy of tomorrow's visit.The coffee and snacks carefully prepared according to personal preferences made the Duchess of Godefeloy thank you very formally: "Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Eugenie."

Mrs. Taigou, who was sitting with her, took the words: "Miss Eugenie attaches great importance to the visit of the Duchess, and asked me about your hobbies as soon as I returned home yesterday."

No matter how high a person's status is, it is a pleasant thing to be valued by others. A short smile appeared on the serious face of the Duchess again, and she glanced at Mrs. Taigu.

Mrs. Taigou got up after this glance: "I have not been in good health for a while, I am afraid I will be absent, please forgive me." He also has a serious look on his face.

"My lord chief lady..." She asked to know why the Duchess came.

The Duchess did not go around in circles, but directly stated her purpose: "Miss Eugenie, do you know the current situation of the Queen?"

Eugenie made a surprised expression: "What is the queen's situation? Your Majesty respects the queen very much, and a loyal person like you serves her..." Isn't that enough?

The Duchess shook her head and expressed that it was not enough: "The relationship between the queen and the king has long since weakened, and she has lost confidence in the king. For the sake of the crown prince, she had to stay in Paris, otherwise she would have gone to her own fief."

The news was quite violent, Eugenie said that she couldn't digest it, she stared at the Duchess with her clear gray eyes.

"It's not a secret, isn't it, Mademoiselle Eugenie." The Duchess did not buy into the shock Eugenie showed: "The Countess La Saunière who had a conflict with you yesterday has a very different relationship with the King. An ordinary friendship. Mrs. Taigu should have notified you of such things in advance."

"It's unbelievable," you say casually.

Eugenie maintained her shocked expression, but defended Mrs. Taigou a bit: "Mrs. Taigou is not willing to tell me these things. After all, in her eyes, I am not engaged yet, and there are some things that I should not know."

Generally, married women gossip and avoid young girls who are not yet married. Mrs. Taigu's approach is in line with basic etiquette.The duchess' accusation just now fell to the ground, and Eugenie could no longer accuse Eugenie of hypocrisy.

"The queen doesn't care about the king's social circle," the duchess didn't mean to avoid the topic: "It doesn't mean that others can trample on the majesty of the royal family. So after hearing that you have been insulted, I think I should talk to you .”

Eugenie could only be grateful for the queen's kindness, taking care of her as the daughter of a subject in her busy schedule.The duchess felt that Eugenie was on the right track, and the two of them had more conversations.

"I heard that you are very optimistic about railway bonds, are you, Mademoiselle Eugenie?" the Duchess suddenly changed the subject.

It is no secret that she has bought a large amount of railway bonds and has not sold them yet. Eugenie did not hide it: "You know Duchess, the situation in the whole continent is not stable now, and the public debts of various countries fluctuate too much. And The steam locomotive is a new thing, I have also tried it, and I think it can be held for a long time.”

"But the annual income of the current railway bond is not as good as that of the national bond." The Duchess seriously discussed with Eugenie.

Eugenie said indifferently: "My funds are always invested, and long-term holding can also reduce the trouble of finding projects again."

Being rich is really capricious.

The duchess felt that Eugenie was not a man of the city.That is to say, a person who really has a city, after making huge profits, will not hold all of them in his own hands and let others think about them.

"According to your judgment, railway bonds can be held for a long time, even if the current yield is not high enough, that's right, Miss Eugenie." The Duchess asked Eugenie for an accurate answer.

Eugenie's vigilant heart raised a level: "This is just my personal judgment." She smiled shyly at the Duchess: "Even if my previous judgment did not make a mistake, no one can guarantee that the next one will be the next one." The judgment is also correct, isn't it?"

The duchess nodded slowly: "The queen trusts your judgment."

Now Eugenie was surprised again: "There are many servants around the queen, how could it be..."

"The queen is the queen of the empire, and it is the queen's duty to understand anything that happens in the empire, especially in Paris." The duchess said as a matter of course: "For the benefit of the crown prince, the queen must do the same."

When it comes to the dispute between kingship and posthumous power, Eugenie can only keep silent.The duchess refused to let her go: "And the queen, I want you to invest in the annual income from the fief for her."

It sounds nice.It seems that the queen has more face than the King of France, so Eugenie can't climb up the pole: "I don't know the annual income of the queen's fief, and how much can be used for investment, and should it also be invested in the railway bond? Also," Eugenie once again showed the embarrassing smile of a country girl who has never seen the world: "I don't know how much profit the queen expects?"

What a vulgar provincial!The Duchess despised Eugenie for always talking about the benefits: "The queen just trusts you..."

Eugenie shook her head resolutely: "Thank you for the Queen's trust, but I must know the income that the Queen expects every year, as well as the principal she can invest. You know, Duchess, after the banquet yesterday, the King summoned me with father."

The topic that was originally planned to be entered after Eugenie agreed to invest for the queen, was caught off guard by Eugenie, and the Duchess lost her mind for a moment, feeling that the conversation was not entirely under her control.

Soon, the diplomatic skills trained by the court were brought into full play by the duchess, and her expression returned to the original: "Yes, it is precisely because the king summoned you that I have the opportunity to finally confirm the time of the visit with you. But How does this conflict with your investment for the Queen?"

The question was kicked back again, and Eugenie just went on: "The king recognized my father's ability and believed that he could do a good job of supervising the collection of military pay." Therefore, when it comes to reaching out to empty other people's pockets, the queen was late some.

The face of the Duchess really changed: "Mr. Grandet will supervise the raising of the military salary? Didn't the king say which side the military salary is for?"

Eugenie would not tell her that if she made up her mind, the drudgery of the pay supervisor might not fall on Grandet's shoulders, and she would just say: "All of it."

The two words weighing more than a thousand catties caused the Duchess's visit to end in a hurry, and even the queen forgot to tell Eugenie how much money the queen could invest each year.

Mrs. Taicourt accompanied Eugenie to send people out, just watched the Duchess' car round the corner, before turning around, she heard Count Niegeland's kind greeting: "Marquise, it seems that you are in good health. gone."

When Eugenie and Mrs. Taicourt turned around, they took a special look at the old lady, and found that her expression hadn't changed at all. She wondered in her heart whether she admired her calmness, or her ability to predict things like a god, or the sympathy with Count Niegerand. Eugenie knew it herself.

"Count de Négerand, I didn't expect you to come here." Eugenie smiled to express her surprise and welcome.

Count Niegeland looked like a good old man: "Yes, there are still some things that the king doesn't understand, and I need to communicate with Miss Eugenie. By the way, I seem to have seen the chief lady's car just now."

"Have you forgotten?" Eugenie's smile remained unchanged: "Yesterday the chief lady made an appointment with me for a visit in front of you."

There was no trace of embarrassment on Count Niegeland's face, which made Eugenie admire again, and the three of them went to the small reception room together.After sitting down, Earl Niegerand once again cared about Mrs. Taigu's body. Mrs. Taigu, who has been cared for continuously, did not take the initiative to go back to her room this time, but quietly listened to the conversation between Earl Niegerand and Ouye. Nie talked to her, and Count Niegeland didn't seem to have anything to hide from her.

After all, it was just a discussion with Eugenie about which colony would issue railway bonds first.Eugenie naturally thought that it was necessary to start with the already stable colonies, while the King of France's opinion was to expand the new colonies faster and build railways directly on the new colonies.

Disagreement, the so-called consultation became empty talk, Nie Rilang made a regretful expression: "It seems that the cabinet needs to meet again before we can re-discuss with you. By the way, the result obtained by the chief female officer is also the same as mine. Well, if that's the case, I have to say, Miss Eugenie, you are a person who specializes in throwing cold water on people."

Madame Taigou looked up at Eugenie, and lowered her eyes again.Eugenie put away the smile she kept all the time: "Your Excellency, I refuse the title you gave me. The chief lady just expressed to me on behalf of the queen that she is a benevolent queen who knows everything right and wrong. Don’t worry about any unpleasantness that happened.”

Eugenie didn't need to say what the unhappiness was.Earl Niezhilang showed a trace of embarrassment just right: "There are some things that we, as subjects, cannot control."

"However, I think, Count Niejran," Madame Taigou said, "there are some things that Miss Eugenie should not know, and it would be too impolite for her to know now."

Regarding Mrs. Taigu's words, Earl Negeran showed more importance, and put away the embarrassment he pretended: "Your Majesty must release himself..."

"Nejran." Mrs. Taigou said in a more serious tone: "Miss Eugenie is not married yet, there are some things that she should not know. But there are some things, you can remind her."

The tone was obviously different from ordinary people's determination, which made Earl Niejran look at Mrs. Taigu one more time before asking: "What are you referring to, madam?"

"For example, the lady offered to offer the shares of the Nucingen Bank to the king yesterday, who should I go to to go through the formalities?" Mrs. Taigu, Mo Ming, gained confidence, and said the words with the confidence that Earl Negeran would definitely answer.

This time Count Niejran looked not at Mrs. Taigou, but at Eugenie: "Miss, it is an honor for the Marchioness of Taigou that you trust so much." It is also your blessing.

Eugenie didn't accept this compliment directly: "Mrs. Taigou trusts me very much, and I can only repay her with trust, just like you repay Mrs. Taigou's trust." So let's answer the old lady's question quickly.

Earl Niegerand heard Eugenie's voice, smiled and said to Mrs. Taicourt: "Your teaching results are very successful, Marquise." After Mrs. Taicourt nodded, he said to Eugenie: "You misunderstood The meaning of the king, the king's thought from the beginning to the end, is how to solve the economic problems of the empire fundamentally, rather than solving the temporary needs by means of hunting down the ministers."

That's really nice to say.Eugenie only thought it was a gust of wind blowing in her ears, but she showed a grateful expression on her face: "Your Majesty is really a benevolent monarch."

Expressing her heart so straightforwardly and unpretentiously made Earl Niegeland smile: "I will convey your words to the king, miss." Eugenie said shyly.

Mrs. Teigou also made a reassuring look: "This is really great. Thanks to Miss Eugenie's kindness, I also invested my meager income in the Nucingen Bank. In order not to cause too much attention to Count Nucingen Guess, we didn't divide it up. If the young lady donates all the shares to the king, I won't be able to keep that little share."

"Please rest assured, Mrs. Taigu." The old lady has helped herself in this way, and of course Eugenie will not let her fail: "No matter what the reason is, I will not let your investment fail."

Promises involving interests are the most reassuring.Count Niegeland simply reminded Eugenie: "However, the king is indeed planning to use Count Grandet to supervise the use of military salaries. I ask him to do his best so that no one will report unnecessary things to the king."

She really wanted Grandet to supervise the military pay, Eugenie felt a little sympathetic to the King of France for a moment. After he really dealt with Grandet, he would be able to let Count Negerand test him so easily, he would be a real genius.

However, Eugenie appreciated Earl Niegeland's kindness: "Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Earl. If there is anything my father doesn't understand, please don't hesitate to enlighten me."

During the day, you really can’t talk about people. No, Eugenie’s voice fell away, and Grandet had already appeared in front of the small drawing room. Seeing that Count Niegeland was here, Grandet originally called Eugenie’s voice loudly. He lowered his voice: "Good day, Mr. Attendant."

Count Niegeland's goal of finding out the intention of the Duchess has been achieved, and he smiled more kindly at Grandet: "How are you in the Ministry of Finance, Count Grandet."

Speaking of this, Grandet will be angry, otherwise Eugenie would not have called Eugenie so loudly just now to complain to her, but now she just changed the object of complaint: "How can it be good, my lord attendant. You must tell the king Let me report to the higher authorities that the Ministry of Finance is in a mess. They are throwing the king's money into the water. Even if they spend one percent of the money to save money for the king, the king doesn't have to pay for the army anymore. Worrying."

Eugenie could not pretend not to know Grandet, so she could only stop him from continuing: "Father, the Ministry of Finance has its own rules of conduct, which are different from the way you manage your own property."

Grandet didn't buy it: "Why is it different? Yesterday the king said that the money from the Ministry of Finance was allotted by him, so isn't the money from the Ministry of Finance equivalent to the property of the king? The king certainly doesn't want to My own money was thrown into the water, and it was thrown away silently, without a sound at all. What do you think, my lord attendant."

Earl Niegeland knew very well that there were people in various ministries who were enriching their own pockets or wasting money.This was originally an open secret in the officialdom, otherwise everyone wouldn't have sharpened their heads and wanted to join in.

Only Grandet, a miser, made such a fuss.It's just that Count Niegeland would not say these words, and he had to praise Grandet for considering the king's money as much as his own money: "You are a good Grandet, just now I was talking to Miss Eugenie. Said, you must do your best when supervising, it seems that you did a good job without me reminding you."

Grandet was a little proud: "Please rest assured, my lord, in less than a week, I will let those people know that the king's money is also money, and they cannot be spoiled like this."

Eugenie had time to remind Grandet after Count Niegeland had left: "Father, those people have been in the Ministry of Finance for a long time, and everyone has a huge network behind them. You can't confront them head-on, as long as Just get by."

"No, you don't know Eugenie." Grandet said to his daughter very seriously: "They made it difficult for me. Today I read the account book, a flintlock, the cost of manufacturing and the cost of maintenance , the transportation is obviously done by the army themselves, and they have to count the money once.”

For a person like Grandet, whose firewood has to be delivered by the tenants themselves, it is indeed unbearable.What else could Eugenie say, except to remind him once again that he must not fight against others?

Now she has a lot to worry about - Earl Niejran came to visit again shortly after returning to the palace, saying that the king thought that the size of the colony should be expanded before the railway could be built.The chief lady also came to visit once, and this time she actually brought the certificate of the queen's deposit at the Nucingen Bank, which contained 500 million francs, and asked Eugenie to invest on her behalf.

The annual income cannot be less than 30.00%!

It seems that the King of France and the Queen had already wrestled their wrists where Eugenie could not see. The Queen still could not overpower the King of France, so she could only choose to give in and give real money.

Eugenie didn't feel relieved. If the public bonds were just held, they could reach 11.00% or 30.00% of the annual income at most, but now the Queen asked for [-]%.

When she got this hot potato, Eugenie articulated her difficulties: "Duchess, you know the average return on public debt. Even if I own shares in the Bank of Nucingen, I can't..."