Flowers, Swords and France

"Char, congratulations to you. It's really enviable to receive the Medal of Honor at such a young age."

In the study, the great banker Baron de Beauvain said to Charles with a gentle smile. "And the first time it was Level 4, I'm only Level 4!"

"That's just because you are too humble and low-key. Judging from your contribution to the country, if you want a higher-level Medal of Honor, the government will not refuse you." Charles complimented the other party with a hint of sincerity.

"Maybe so, but what's the meaning of title and honor to me? If it weren't for the convenience of entering your living room, I wouldn't even bother to get this baron's badge!" The baron smiled and shook his head, "As long as I still have it Money, I am still running my own bank, then I am the uncrowned king, and any other honors cannot add half a cent to my glory; if I have no money, I am bankrupt, what if I win the Grand Cross? "

"This is quite a pragmatic view." Ciel agreed with the other party's opinion.

"Bankers can only be pragmatic." The baron replied in a low voice, and then drank a cup of coffee. "Okay, let's not talk about this. Xia [top] [click] novel, I heard that you are about to be transferred?"

"Indeed, the president plans to transfer me to the Ministry of War." Charles nodded immediately, and then added as if to reassure the other party, "But don't worry, although I left the Ministry of Railways, My old influence will not disappear so quickly. Even if I am gone, my previous ideas and plans will continue to be implemented..."

"Oh, that's quite good." Baron de Beauvain was still very calm. "However, I am actually not worried, because the president plans to transfer you to the Army Department. He also gave you a medal. In itself, he still trusts and relies on you...your transfer and your cooperation with us It doesn’t have much impact on the overall situation.”

Charles was not surprised by his accurate analysis. As an accomplished banker, it would be strange if the Baron did not have a good enough political sense.

So he easily picked up the coffee and took a sip.

"However. Since I want to transfer a confidant like you to the Ministry of War, it means... Mr. President has decided to speed up the progress. After all, time is still limited... Charles. I'm afraid you will have even more important responsibilities on your shoulders in the future. "

The implication of the baron's words is also very clear - the president has a term. Once the term is up, whether he can win again is still a big question. Louis Bonaparte will definitely not be willing to entrust his destiny to another election. . He definitely wants to fulfill his dream during his term. To realize this dream, we need the help of the Army. Naturally, Charles was also entrusted with such ardent expectations, hoping that he could become a key figure in the connection between the Bonapartists and the army.

"To serve the country and the people, we will never be afraid of hardships." Charles still smiled.

"Hahahahahaha," looking at Charles's expression, Baron de Beauvain couldn't help but laugh, "That's right. That's right! We will never be afraid of hardships when serving the country and the people."

After laughing for a while. Only then did he stop laughing and waved to Laura, who had been standing next to him. "Laura, tell me about the project you are responsible for."

That's right, his daughter, Miss Lola de Beauvain, had always been standing behind her father, without any expression on her face or making any noise, watching her father chatting with Charles like a sculpture.

It wasn't until she was summoned by her father that she picked up the document in her hand expressionlessly and prepared to hand it to her father.

"No, just give me a concise report. This will save you some time."

"Okay, Dad." Laura nodded slightly, and then continued directly, "According to the investigators' report, judging from the current situation, the progress of this project has been very smooth, and the first phase of the project has basically been completed. It is almost completed, and those blast furnaces will start operating soon. It is expected that within a month or two, the first batch of products will be completed as planned... In short, there are no unexpected risks currently, and the condition is very good. Father."

"Very well, thank you for your hard work, Laura." The baron nodded, obviously very satisfied with his daughter's report.

Then, he turned to look at Ciel, "Congratulations to you again, Ciel, your efforts have not been in vain after all."

"Thank you, but I think this is our joint efforts." Charles nodded, "In addition, judging from the current progress of the railway project, everything is going very smoothly. It is expected that in a while, the branch line I designed will be able to As soon as the railway is laid to Giverny, I will be able to exert influence within the Ministry of Railways to designate our steel plant as one of the designated suppliers..."

"Very good, Charles, I like people like you. You are smart, cautious, calm and follow the plan strictly." The baron smiled with great pleasure, "I can see with my own eyes that a young man can become something from nothing. It’s so touching to accomplish such a big thing, it really makes me see myself in my youth! Oh, people named de Treville, maybe you don’t think this is a compliment?”

"No, on the contrary, I feel very honored." Ciel replied very sincerely. Because that's what he thought.

"Well, that's good. Now our cooperation is going well, and I sincerely hope it will be equally smooth in the future."

"I hope so."

"Well, I have no opinion on cooperating with you, but I have another question that I would like to ask you for help." The baron put the cup in his hand on the table, and then looked at Charles lightly, "I hope you can give me a free help..."

"What kind of help do you want?" The sudden words made Charles a little nervous, but he quickly calmed down.

"Haha, look at how nervous you are!" The banker laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to do anything difficult, I just want to help you."

"Please go." Charles spread his hands.

"Charles, do you remember last time? I told you that I sent an exploration team to the west coast of America to find gold mines..."

"Well? Did the exploration have results?" Charles responded. He seemed to understand something in his heart.

"Yes, the exploration went very smoothly. The engineers I sent have found a piece of land with rich gold resources. And our people have already set up camp there. But now we are facing some problems in development..."

"What's the problem? Is it a shortage of manpower?" Charles answered immediately.

"Oh, you are worthy of being Charles!" The baron gave Charles an approving smile, "Yes, we are indeed facing a shortage of manpower now - even if the gold content over there is relatively rich, panning for gold sand is not an easy job, and it requires a large number of manpower. So Charles. I wonder if you can give us a way to get a large number of people from France to pan for gold?"

"How many people do you need?" The smile on Charles' face disappeared, and he became serious again.

"The more the better. It would be best if there were thousands of people. Although the freight to transport all these people to America is very high, as long as there is gold, this cost is nothing." The baron replied in a low voice. "Charles. Can you find enough manpower for us? The price is easy to deal with..."

From the baron's hint, Charles understood the banker's intention. He wanted Charles and Louis-Bonaparte and others to pull people from the country to work as coolies for them to dig for gold sand.

After figuring out everything, Charles fell into deep thought.

He didn't have any moral scruples. Even if the prisoner was tortured to death in America, he didn't care much. He estimated that if he did so, once it was exposed, it would be a huge scandal for Bonaparte and himself. Even a political blow - there would always be people who accused the French government of deliberately using merchants to execute prisoners.

Because he understood the risks of doing so, he hesitated and hesitated.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

"What's wrong? Is it impossible, Charles?" Seeing that Charles had been silent. The banker asked beside him.

Charles was still thinking. He didn't want to fall out with the baron at the moment, but he didn't want to risk his political reputation.

Is there any way to have the best of both worlds?

Maybe he could recruit unemployed workers - after the previous economic downturn, there are now a large number of unemployed workers in France. It shouldn't be difficult to find thousands of them who want to go to the New World to pan for gold and change their fate. As long as the government helps to promote it... Then how can we get the government, that is, Louis-Bonaparte, to help? In other words, how can we make him feel that helping is beneficial?

Charles suddenly came up with a good idea.

"So, how about we issue a lottery?"

"Hmm?" The baron was a little surprised, not understanding why Charles said that.

"We can issue a lottery ticket, and the price is set at one franc. This lottery ticket is to help people realize their dreams of getting rich. As long as they win, the issuer will give them a ticket to the New World to help them go to the gold rush." ​​Charles looked at the banker calmly, "There are so many unemployed people now, there should be many people willing to go. With so many people, we only need to pick out one or two thousand of them."

The banker's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's a good idea. As long as this lottery ticket can be sold, I can save even the boat ticket money, and maybe I can make a fortune!"

"It should be a lot of money." Charles nodded, "But I think you should give this money to Mr. President, because it is illegal to issue lottery tickets privately without the consent of the government. In other words, this is a lottery ticket issued by Mr. President to help the poor, and we are just executors."

After listening to Charles's idea, the baron looked at Charles quietly and laughed.

"Hahahaha, yes, that's it, I just need to break even."

"Anyway, you know about lottery tickets, who wins and who doesn't win is still up to us, right?" Charles took another sip of coffee quietly, "For those numbers that are destined not to win, we will issue ten or twenty tickets and sell them all to him! As long as these lottery tickets can be sold, Mr. President will be very happy, because he can make a lot of money from it, and he can also get a good reputation among the workers..."

"Yes, that's right. Charles, I didn't misjudge you." The banker looked at him with a smile. "This is a really good idea! Kill two birds with one stone! I save money on the boat ticket, the president can also make a lot of money, and you... you can also make the president happier, and everyone will be happy."

"It's also good for the people." Charles also smiled and replied, "We can give many people the opportunity to make a fortune, right? In France, they may have been starving and cold, but in America, they can at least have the opportunity to dig for gold."

"That's right!" The banker still laughed, "We have always served the country and the people."

Both of them tacitly did not talk about the death rate of gold diggers in the western United States at that time. After all, this was not a problem they needed to care about.

Then, Charles and Baron de Bovan were discussing the specific details in order to turn this idea into a feasible reality later.

And behind the banker, neither of them noticed that Miss Laura de Bovan was also looking at Charles with eyes without any emotion. (To be continued...)