Flowers, Swords and France

As the music ends, the two people's dance finally comes to an end.

Laura still looked calm, holding up her skirt and saluting Charles.

"Mr. Treville, thank you for being the backup dancer. It was a very pleasant evening." Her face was uncertain, as if she had a deep meaning. "Besides, it was indeed a pleasure chatting with you. I very much hope that we can do the same in the future." Opportunity to continue talking with you.”

"Really? I'm very honored." Charles replied with a smile.

"Oh, that's good." As if recalling Charlotte's displeased look just now, the smile on Laura's face grew thicker. "It seems that I have taken up too much of your time. I will not accompany you on the next song. I hope you and Miss Treville can have fun, and then be in a good mood to talk to my father about important things." things.”

"According to your auspicious words, I think that will be the case." Charles replied humbly.

Then, Laura nodded, turned around and left. She walked forward without looking away, as if she completely ignored the crowd and noise around her.

"...Everyone in this family is so arrogant," after the next piece of music started playing again, Charles's dance partner was changed to Charlotte, who complained softly in Charles's ear, "Sooner or later we will Make them look good, Ciel. ""At least now, they have the right to be arrogant, Charlotte." Ciel still smiled and hugged Charlotte gently, "Didn't you just tell me to be happy? ? Come on, let’s dance again?”

"You just know how to make me happy..." Charlotte glanced at him. Then she gently held his waist.

………………

After the hustle and bustle of the banquet came to an end, Charles and Charlotte were taken to the baron's study and were cordially received by the big banker. After seeing the two of them. He smiled very kindly, and it was as if the previous unpleasantness between them had never happened.

"Miss Treville, Mr. Treville, did you two enjoy yourself tonight?". In the luxuriously decorated study of Baron de Beauvin, the baron, wearing a pair of monocles, looked at Charles with a smile. "I hope our hospitality will satisfy you."

"Very pleasant, sir." Charlotte replied with the same smile, trying hard to suppress her hatred for this family. "Your family's banquets are so attentive. No wonder your place has become a major resort for the upper class."

"To receive such praise from you, it seems that the money we spent on the banquet was not wasted after all..." The Baron looked even happier, "I am already old and can no longer enjoy the fun of you young people. It's just that Let's see. Hahahaha..." Although he looks so gentle and kind, Charles completely understands what kind of person this big banker is deep down, he is just like a tiger and a leopard. Therefore, it was completely impossible for him to relax his fear of him.

"Okay, no more gossip. Since you two came to me, you must have a lot of serious things to discuss with me. I won't waste everyone's time..." smiled After a while, Baron Beauvain became serious again, and then he turned to look at Charles, "Mr. Treville, I don't think you drank too much in the bar just now? That's a lot of words."

"Oh, of course, I'm very conscious now, don't worry." Charles responded to the other party's teasing in the same relaxed tone, "I will never make a mistake."

"Oh, that's good, that's good." The Baron nodded with relief, "I'm glad that you can know what is most important."

Without Laura's previous explanation, Charles would probably have thought that the other party was speaking purely politely. However, after hearing the other party's true or false explanation of "My father really appreciates you", Charles couldn't help but feel a little moved. .

Of course, this kind of emotion only lasted for a moment, and it did not affect his judgment at all.

"Mr. Treville, I have carefully read the plan you gave me before." After saying these polite words, the Baron's tone became cold and stiff again, and he seemed to have returned to his usual banker mode. "I have to say, this is a good idea, very innovative and very ambitious."

Then, he pointed to the document on the table, "As you said, I also have this hunch. Judging from the future development trend, the country will definitely vigorously develop industrial sectors such as steel, railways and shipping. A series of supporting policies will be introduced to encourage companies to invest in this area.”

"Even if the country does not intend to do this, I intend to force her to do so." Charles replied firmly.

"Well, I believe what you say. I said you have a bright future." Looking at the other party's firm look, Baron Bowen smiled and nodded. "But since you are a smart person, you will naturally see your shortcomings in addition to your advantages. Your shortcoming is that you do not have enough capital."

"Yes, that's why I need your help." Charles also smiled, "I guess you won't be stingy about sending funds to a high-quality customer, right? That's a lot of words."

"We have always been generous to high-quality customers, and our treasury is now sufficient, but the funds you require are not a small amount after all..." The Baron tapped the desk lightly, as if he was thinking about something, " In fact, money is not a big issue. The question is, should we discuss the shareholding ratio between us? Don’t forget, I am the one who is mainly responsible for paying? "

"I'm afraid this won't work." Charles, who had always been polite, sternly refused on this issue and did not give any room for accommodation. "It's true that you pay more, but we don't pay nothing. I have to find a way for the company to grab a share of government orders, and I also want people to run the business carefully. I think we should split it half and half." Totally reasonable.”

Charles' resolute attitude made the banker fall into silence.

"Mr. de Beauvin, I came to you sincerely to cooperate. I sincerely hope that the two of us can grasp the times. We can ride the wind and waves together." Seeing that he was still pretending to be reserved, Charles simply showed off his cards. . "But if you find the conditions unacceptable, then I won't force you to do anything. I will find another way..."

The banker immediately changed his tune.

"Oh, don't worry, I just thought about it. Well, since you insist so much, let's do it in half. Mr. Treville, I wish you all the best."

Really successful?

Ciel and Charlotte looked at each other, and then saw the joy in each other's eyes.

Even if it was expected in advance that this would be the result. Ciel still felt a little excited.

Very good……

"However, from the perspective of a collaborator, I still want to remind you..." After making Charles happy for a moment, Baron Beauvain spoke again. "Mr. Treville. It seems that everything is going smoothly for you, but you still have to be careful about the dangers in your future. You already owe me a large amount of money for building the steel plant. When we start cooperating on this matter, you will definitely You will owe me more and more money. In this case, if you encounter any big problems and even accidentally lose your position, can you bear this blow? "

Then he waved his hand. Stopped Charles who wanted to say something, "Sir, if I didn't have confidence in you, I would never lend you so much money... However, although I have absolutely no doubt that you will be able to repay this debt in the end ability, but I think the more smoothly you can do it, the better ——After all, our interests are the same now. Therefore, I think you should be more energetic in your career and not accidentally capsize on a reef. This is my warning as an elder. I believe you understand what I mean.”…

"Well, I understand what you mean." Charles's heart trembled, and then his expression became serious. "Don't worry, I will never let a few petty officials in the ministry interfere with my affairs. Even if it is the behemoth Party of Order, I will work with Mr. President to overthrow them!"

"It's good that you understand this." The big banker nodded happily, as if he was satisfied with the performance of his political agent.

It seems that he also knows the news that my reform plan in the ministry has been temporarily frustrated... Ciel smiled bitterly in his heart and sighed.

Isn't it precisely because of this that he will find a way to solve this problem once and for all?

Jean-Calvert's accusation against Charles caused him great embarrassment in front of his staff, but it also made Charles discover a very serious problem in advance: if he develops in the political world while also obviously failing in the business world, If he shows his ambition, it will definitely arouse widespread resentment among people, not to mention that he has indeed violated the law overtly or covertly, and there are too many shady things. Not to mention that if the fuss gets too big, it's easy to get the envy and jealousy of colleagues.

Therefore, motivated by this sense of crisis, for the sake of his future future, he must find a way to make his ambitions in the business world "less obvious".

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

In order to achieve this goal, after much thought, he finally decided to learn from the experience of later generations and implement his plan in a relatively secretive way.

He plans to first establish an unnoticed company, and then use this company as a parent company to invest in and control companies in other industries, and then let these subsidiaries cross-shareholdings with each other and achieve absolute control of the company in an unobtrusive way Power - for example, if you start several companies and let them each hold one-tenth of the shares, you can have these companies absolutely controlled by yourself without an obvious major shareholder. .

Then, these companies develop their own subsidiaries, and then let these new subsidiaries cross-shareholding... Until the end, people may not feel at all that most companies that appear to be behemoths are actually controlled by some insignificant companies. In the hands of an eye-catching parent company.

Until the end, these companies formed a secret combination, influencing the lives of everyone in a country under the command of those behind the scenes.

Yes, his plan is actually to adopt a common monopoly enterprise system in the future - Concern, with unobtrusive enterprises or institutions as the center, and through mutual shareholding between related enterprises, to achieve the secret of a large number of enterprises. control.

In that world, with the development of the industrial revolution, various monopoly organizations began to appear in various capitalist countries from the second half of the 19th century, such as trusts, cartels, syndicates, etc., and Concern can be said to be the longest-lived form among them.

Until the 21st century, the economies of major capitalist countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany were still actually controlled by such monopoly organizations - antitrust laws can destroy large trusts, but cannot solve this monopoly organization that does not seem to be a monopoly at all, such as Citi, Mitsubishi, or Siemens, which are all representatives of them.

And after his plan was transferred to Baron Bovan, it was naturally appreciated by the other party - this was a very natural thing. If it weren't for Charles, they would naturally do so in a few decades.

It was precisely because of this that he extremely resolutely rejected the other party's request to increase the shareholding ratio and resolutely proposed to split it in half - because he did not have the habit of working hard for others, and now Baron Bovan just needed him, so the two of them finally colluded with each other.

"Mr. Treville, in order to make our cooperation smoother, I ask that my two children be directors, help you closely, and solve the difficulties you face as soon as possible. What do you think?" After a moment of silence, Baron Bovan made his latest suggestion, "My two children are now at this age, and I should think of a way to let them learn something... I will have to rely on them to manage the family business in the future... What do you think, Mr. Treville, you can't be unable to meet my only request? Not a few words"

Monitor me nearby and let me be a teacher by the way?

Charles' heart shuddered.

Well, it's nothing, come if you want, I'm not afraid of the old ones, so why should I be afraid of the young ones? He sneered in his heart.

He has already estimated Baron Bovan's family. The old ones are of course scary and are tigers that can't be provoked, but the young ones are not so good. As for the daughter... Although it's a bit interesting, isn't it just a daughter after all? After all, it can't cause too much threat.

When he thought of this, his heart was secretly relieved.

"Oh, of course I won't oppose your proposal." Charles nodded with a smile, "It's right to help your younger generations. Let's do this, we will set up six director positions for this parent company, you and your children can be included."

"And you and the young lady? Then who is the remaining one?" asked the baron.

"My sister."

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