Flowers, Swords and France

Among the many buildings on Saint-Jacques Street, there is a large hotel. This prestigious hotel is called the Blue Magpie Hotel and has always been known for its luxury.

Today, Charles stayed in a small box in this hotel, quietly waiting for his guests to come.

He had no interest in appreciating the decorative paintings hanging on the walls of the room, nor was he interested in looking at the lawn and flower beds outside the window. He just played with the tableware in his hand quietly, thinking about other important things.

Finally, when he took out his pocket watch for the third time to check the time, the door finally opened, and Kongze, wearing a black casual suit, walked in expressionlessly.

"Is he finally here?"

"Yes." Kongze nodded, "He's already downstairs."

"Almost an hour later than the scheduled time." Charles was a little unhappy.

"It's good that they can come." Kong Ze's tone was still calm as usual. "He is a big official. We still need him. Of course they will show off."

Charles frowned slightly, but the displeasure was quickly suppressed.

"It doesn't matter. As long as the job can be done, he can show off."

Then, he also stood up and went downstairs with Kong Ze to greet today's guests.

Not long after, the short and fat guest was greeted by Charles and others. He was wearing elegant casual clothes, his gray-black hair was neatly combed, and he had a kind smile on his face, but he seemed to be deliberately reserved, and the official style was played to the full. When answering Charles, he always hummed a few times. His slightly yellow face was densely wrinkled. It could no longer be flattened, forming permanent wrinkles with white bottoms, and his brown eyes kept flashing cunning light.

This look was both kind and indifferent. He is extremely good at changing. According to the needs, he can change from being arrogant and bossy to flattering and fawning on his superiors in a second.

"Mr. Calvert, thank you for taking the time to come here." As soon as he sat down, Charles smiled and greeted the other party, and raised his glass gently. After a gesture, he drank it himself.

"Mr. de Treville, you know, we have always spared no effort to help those businessmen who are committed to their careers." The official also smiled, "Don't be so polite."

"Oh, thank you." After hearing his words, Charles laughed even more happily. "It's great to say that. We need help very much. As long as there is help, we can get that thing done!"

Yes, Charles found this official today to seek help.

He wanted his newly established French News Agency to rent the international telegraph line from Paris to Brussels, so he had to get permission from the government because the line was owned by the government.

So, after making a decision. He immediately went through various connections and finally invited Mr. Jean Calvert, a director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, to present his request to him. The director was in power, and if he could nod, he could basically decide the final ownership of the entire lease.

[At that time, the French cabinet departments were not as complicated as they were later. Agriculture and commerce were managed by one ministry at the same time. It was not until the cabinet of Leon Gambetta (a) in 1881 that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce were divided into two ministries for the first time.

After entering the 19th century, France changed its regime almost every ten years on average. In just seventy years, there were two republics, two kingdoms and two empires. Such drastic regime changes made the head of state and the head of government in a state of uncertainty.

In this turbulent state, the country's governance power was largely transferred to the central officials who maintained stability. During those decades, dynasties and governments changed repeatedly, but the officials in the government offices remained relatively stable, as if they had only changed a few names. In the central departments of the government, the form of bureaucratic governance has almost become a routine.

This country, in this era, already has a huge bureaucracy of hundreds of thousands of people, which not only makes the country's control ability unprecedentedly large and can penetrate into every corner of the country; but also makes it difficult for the country to get rid of the shackles and control of the bureaucratic machine. Ministers come and go, but officials are always there.

Even after the Third Republic, the situation did not change much, and even became worse. The frequently changing and often paralyzed cabinet (the prime minister and ministers only have an average term of office of about one year. In the year of 1911-12, the French government changed the foreign minister three times and the defense minister five times) also made it impossible for politicians to effectively control the government. In the Third Republic, it was the government officials who actually presided over government affairs, and the politicians were mainly responsible for quarreling with each other in parliament and venting the anger of voters.

However, Charles certainly did not come to discuss government issues at this time. He and Mr. Calvert seemed to be having a good chat while eating.

"I never thought that he would be so ambitious at such a young age. He is indeed a member of the de Treville family!" Mr. Calvert seemed to be touched when he was drunk. He sighed, "To be honest, I couldn't believe at first that the person who wanted to compete with Mr. Hawass was so young. At this age, I was just a small clerk in the ministry. At that time, the Bourbon family still ruled the world!"

"Look, the surname de Treville can't make our dreams come true. Everything depends on individual efforts. My grandfather was also fed up with it in the previous decades because he was the emperor's supporter. After hearing the faint hint of jealousy in his tone, Charles quickly explained, "Only until now can we come out for air. Hey... we have wasted thirty years!"

While being self-effacing, he hinted that he was just the person in charge of the family, and that the actual controller was the elder in the family, lest the other party doubt his ability and determination because of his age.

Sure enough, after hearing Charles's answer, a glimmer of clarity flashed in Mr. Calvert's eyes, as if he had grasped the entire situation.

"It turns out that the Marquis of Treville is determined to make such a big investment. Let me just say, no wonder! However, since he can persuade the old man to invest in this new business, he must have played a big role in it, right?"

"It's just a few suggestions. It's them who make the decision." Charles smiled modestly, while continuing to use his entire family to make tiger skins. "Sir, in this matter, as long as you are willing to give us We will naturally be grateful for some free help. Even my grandfather's brother, Duke Treville, is very interested in this matter..."

"But...'s grandfather and his brother don't have a good relationship, right? It sounds like the Duke also had a hand in it?" Even such officials know the anecdotes about the two brothers of the Treville family, which shows that they are How widely has the upper class spread.

"Although there are usually some disagreements, who would have trouble with the Golden Franc?" Charles replied with a smile, "As long as you can make a profit, then the obstacles of political views are never a problem."

"So that's it! Haha, I understand..." Mr. Calvert nodded repeatedly, as if he suddenly understood.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Under Charles's induction, he has determined that this business is the investment direction decided by the famous Treville family, and Charles is the specific manager of the family business - but this is not surprising, when they first met Who would have thought that a young man in his early twenties would have such foresight and courage?

To be fair, this official certainly welcomes the appearance of Charles. If the French Press Agency and the Havas Press Agency begin to fight openly and covertly over the lease of telegraph lines, he, as the manager and decision-maker, can of course rely on selling his power. Get a lot of benefit out of it.

"Since it is the Treville family's idea, I think the government will of course be happy to see it come to fruition. After all, the Duke once served as a minister and is acquainted with many people." Mr. Calvert calmly told Xia I cheered up, and then immediately whetted my appetite again. "However... there are also many difficulties. Understand, Mr. Havas has been working in this industry for a long time and knows quite a few people. To be honest, there are many people who want my help to connect the lines. The operating rights were leased to him..."

Watching his performance, Charles couldn't help but feel a little displeased, but since he was willing to speak in an official tone like this, it meant everything was working.

"Of course we can understand the difficulty." Charles immediately replied sincerely, "We have always respected Mr. Havas, although we are now competitors. In fact, we had to compete with him for the right to operate the telegraph line. We also feel very sorry to compete. But since we have decided to get involved in this industry, of course we should go all out, right?”

"Oh, of course, each of us should give our best," Mr. Calvert immediately agreed.

Then, Ciel handed an envelope to the other party.

"This is our detailed plan for line operation, and we promise to cooperate with the government at any time. Of course we know how important the news is to the government, right? So, you can think about it carefully..." He deliberately increased his volume and repeated it. , "Think about it carefully."

After hearing Ciel's hint, Calvert took the envelope and nodded lightly. "Okay, I will consider it carefully, don't worry."

The check in the envelope would allow him to think things through, Charles thought to himself.

He didn't mind bribing officials, because in 19th-century France, it was almost natural for officials to take advantage of their positions.

"Thank you, Mr. Calvert." He smiled and raised his glass. (To be continued...)