Flowers, Swords and France

After a rather discouraging discussion with the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister finally cheered up and prepared to use the tax increase method they negotiated to slightly alleviate the current dynasty's governance crisis. .

However, what made him increasingly disappointed was that this proposal encountered strong opposition from all parties when it was just being tested, and it was almost completely unable to gain support in the parliament. The political circles are also lashing out, denouncing this evil act of aggravating the exploitation of the people at a time when the country is in trouble.

Although he has tried his best to coordinate with various parties during this period, the Prime Minister's tax increase proposal is still faced with obstacles and there is no hope of success. Contrary to his hopes, the domestic situation still showed no signs of improvement, so his mood became even worse.

However, since he was appointed by His Majesty the King to the most prominent and important position in the government, he would naturally not be willing to retire sadly, so he planned to meet with His Majesty the King again, hoping to persuade him to take some drastic measures that may have to be taken. .

Under the leadership of the attendant, he slowly walked into the small study of His Majesty the King.

Upon entering, the Prime Minister carefully glanced at His Majesty the King.

His face is very pale now, and his eye circles are a little heavy. It is obvious that his work and rest have not been regular recently, his hair is obviously much grayer than before, and his whole person seems to have lost a lot of energy. Obviously, Ms. Adelaide's death has caused He dealt a huge blow.

He still has not fully recovered from the huge grief of losing his loved ones, but he must face a more frightening crisis as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty," the Prime Minister saluted respectfully as soon as he entered, and then warned him seemingly sincerely, "Please don't indulge in grief too much. The French people still need your wisdom and guidance..."

"Thank you, sir." His Majesty's reply was cold and polite, but he was obviously a little listless. "I will pay attention. So, what bad news are you planning to bring me today? You people, you come to me every time Nothing good comes of it..."

"This just shows that we are loyal to you, Your Majesty." Faced with the king's implicit reproach, the Prime Minister remained unmoved. "If we only say nice things to you, you will be in trouble."

"But, the problem I face now is that even if you don't say nice things to me, I will still have a lot of troubles in front of me." His Majesty the King sarcastically said again.

He was clearly in a bad mood right now.

"Isn't that so? Do you think that the current rule of the dynasty is very stable? Isn't it your efforts that made everything so bad? I was almost killed at home!"

The Prime Minister's face darkened, but he had no choice but to continue bowing his head and allowing His Majesty the King to continue to deal with his bad mood.

"Okay, okay, tell me, what exactly do you want to do?" Fortunately, His Majesty the King finally understood that getting angry with his important ministers would not solve any problems, so he quickly retracted his emotions, "I am here today. There’s still a lot to do, so please tell me as soon as possible.”

"Your Majesty, I met with Mr. Dumont a few days ago, and we discussed the current financial situation of the dynasty together." The Prime Minister still lowered his head, as if he did not dare to look at the king, "The conclusion is very bad. "If you want to hear the truth, I can tell you that I think we have fallen into a very critical situation, Your Majesty."

"What?" After hearing such a sharp statement, His Majesty the King couldn't help but immediately abandon the emotions just now.

"'That's very bad' is my personal opinion, and Mr. Dumont's is that 'our finances are on the verge of collapse,' Your Majesty." The Prime Minister continued to stab His Majesty the King with that shocking bluntness, "According to him "If we continue like this, we will be bankrupt in less than three months."

"How could this happen?!" the king shouted.

"We have an unsustainable amount of debt, and now we can no longer borrow new money. There is a lack of interest in our new bonds on the exchange, so he believes that our fiscal shortfall will be difficult to recover." Go ahead." Even when he was talking about such a thrilling thing, the Prime Minister's tone was still surprisingly calm, "Mr. Dumont told me this."

"What? Can't borrow new money? What's going on?" His Majesty the King's face became even more ugly.

“To put it simply, they are not planning to continue buying government bonds for the time being, and because these important people are waiting and watching, the market has already panicked about public bonds. Not only is the willingness to subscribe for them declining, but the price of existing government bonds is still falling. In a word, we can't borrow any more money." The Prime Minister looked on calmly. His Majesty the King, told him the bad news one by one, "During this period, Mr. Dumont and I have discussed with Baron Beauvain, Baron Rothschild and others, but they all said that their money has been very tight recently. They politely declined the request to purchase treasury bonds and even showed little intention to underwrite new treasury bonds..."

"They are all nervous about money at the same time? How is this possible? The richest people in France are actually nervous!" After hearing the Prime Minister's response, His Majesty the King couldn't help but became furious, "They are making excuses! They want to wait and see!" It’s in vain that we treat them so favorably and give them so many benefits! At this time, they actually want to wait and see!”

"Of course they are looking for excuses. Maybe... they want to whet our appetite and make the government agree to more conditions." The Prime Minister nodded and agreed with the king's statement, "But the crisis we are facing is Really, we must find a way to overcome this difficulty, Your Majesty.”

To be fair, both of them have misunderstood these big financiers. Their statement that "money is tight" at this time is not an excuse, but money is really tight. These big bankers have recently been trying their best to raise funds. A large amount of funds are prepared to make a fortune from the inevitable chaos in the country after the collapse of the dynasty. How can there be spare money at this time to buy government bonds?

"These bastards! They will look good in the future!" In his anger, His Majesty the King couldn't help but cursed through gritted teeth. Then he thought for a moment and spoke again, "What about raising taxes? Is there any way?"

"It's very difficult." The Prime Minister shook his head. "I recently planned to use my brain here, but as soon as I let it out, I attracted attacks from all directions. The parliament did not support my idea. I guess it won't be possible. . Moreover, if taxes are raised, it is likely to make public resentment even more intense..."

"These bastards!" His Majesty the King cursed again, not knowing who he was targeting. Then, he looked at the Prime Minister sternly, "So, what you are going to tell me is that there is nothing you can do?"

The Prime Minister's head lowered even further, and he spoke again after a moment of silence.

"It's not like there's no way..."

"Then let's talk and listen!"

"Your Majesty, do you still remember the suggestion I told you before?" The Prime Minister suddenly raised his head and stared directly at the King, "Forcing those bankers to subscribe for new special national bonds."

After hearing these words, His Majesty the King's eyes suddenly widened.

"This is not my personal suggestion. Mr. Dumont thinks so too. Only in this way can we solve the biggest problem we face in the long term to a certain extent." As if something was touched, the Prime Minister couldn't help but feel a little excited in his tone, " What is the biggest problem facing our country? It is precisely because the country's dire financial situation has been used as a blackmail tool by some people, and these bankers have used their hands to The capital and agents here hold the government hostage, forcing the government to succumb to the conditions they propose, and treat the government as a slave who wants to get whatever they want. Like a python in the jungle, they cling to us and then do nothing. It is mercilessly squeezing out the country's energy bit by bit... Your Majesty, if this situation is not stopped decisively, it will only become more unbearable in the future. "

"But..." After hearing the Prime Minister's suggestion, the king hesitated, "But the risks of doing so...and where is the parliament...?"

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Don't worry about the parliament. Just dissolve the parliament and announce re-election at the end of the year. During this period, we will have a caretaker government to implement temporary governance. Ten months is enough time to accomplish everything." The Prime Minister interrupted him directly.

"You mean a military coup?"

"You are the king, there is no coup, this is armed counterinsurgency!"

"But...but...will the army completely obey us?" His Majesty the King was still hesitating, "What if...what if it turns into a civil war?"

"Civil war is better than the end! You are the king, and the outside world will recognize you after all!" The Prime Minister almost shouted.

"Are you crazy?!" His Majesty the King scolded him subconsciously.

This scolding caused the study to fall into a deathly silence. The Prime Minister lowered his head again and said no more.

After a while, His Majesty the King not only held his forehead with his hands, but seemed to be tortured by these questions.

"Let's talk to those people first and let them finish underwriting the new round of national debt first." After a while, the king spoke again, "It doesn't matter even if the conditions are harsh. Let's get through the recent crisis first. !”

"Is this your final decision?" the Prime Minister asked slowly.

"Yes, this is my decision. Let's get through the current difficulties first." His Majesty the King nodded feebly, sighed suddenly, and ended the conversation without interest. "After I die, there will naturally be people behind me who will have to worry about these problems."

After hearing his words, the Prime Minister couldn't help but sigh deeply in his heart.

"Hey, it's over! What else can be done to save him! He doesn't even want to!"

He realized vaguely and with a premonition that the people who would have to worry about these problems in the future would probably no longer be members of the Orleans family. (To be continued.)