Flowers, Swords and France

The club that Charles was talking about was, of course, the club that he bought and operated for his department. Since he bought it, he turned it into a secret gathering place open only to his own people, so that all parties with interests related to him could have a comfortable and private place to conduct private talks and transactions.

Today is the usual day for the club to be open, and Charles also deliberately invited some people to have dinner, so a group of people have come here. They chatted with each other in twos and threes, and tasted the fine wines carefully collected in the club's basement.

However, when the carriage specially equipped for Charles by the government arrived at the club, the atmosphere here immediately changed, from the previous leisure to a little serious.

Charles and Fran walked out of the carriage together, and then walked into this unprepossessing building. Even after arriving here, Fran still did not let go of her hand.

"Your Excellency." Whether it was the staff of the Ministry of Transportation, the people invited by Charles, or the staff of the club, they all stopped and greeted Charles immediately after seeing him, and Charles nodded in response humbly, his gait and demeanor were impeccable, and his demeanor was like a lord inspecting his castle.

The lady next to Charles attracted some people's slightly surprised gazes.

To be fair, this lady and the minister had similar demeanor and were a perfect match, but everyone knew that the minister's wife was resting at home because of her second pregnancy, and it was absolutely impossible for her to come here - the figure was completely different.

So some people speculated that this beautiful woman was the minister's new favorite, until they asked others and found out that she was the minister's sister, and they were relieved.

"You are finally here!" When they came to the back of the hall, Mary, who had been waiting for a long time, came to greet them immediately. "I'm so anxious waiting. It's so hard to gather people. What if the protagonist doesn't show up?"

Recently, in order to show her professionalism and reduce others' doubts about her, she deliberately wore men's clothes, and even her long golden hair was pinned up with a hairpin. The black coat, black vest and white shirt, coupled with a serious attitude, looked like a handsome young man with long hair.

As she spoke, she smiled and looked at Fran.

"Oh, you look so beautiful today, your face seems to be glowing!" She said half teasingly and half flatteringly, "I am so happy that I can't even open my eyes!"

After she said that, Fran, who was originally radiant, suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but she continued to hold her brother's hand tightly, "You are dressed very well."

"Hey, don't laugh at me, these clothes are so monotonous, it's really uncomfortable to wear them." Mary pointed to her coat and vest, "If it weren't for letting people see something other than my face, I wouldn't bother to wear it like this."

"That's really hard for you." Fran felt a little apologetic, "Don't worry, it won't be long before no one can question you, you can show yourself however you like..."

"With you here to support us, I believe this day will come soon." Mary also agreed with this. "As long as the two of us stand together, no one can get any benefit."

After taking over from Laura and entering this place where wealth is piled up, she was very excited at first, and wanted to make a name for herself here and let everyone look at her with new eyes. However, after participating in it for a while, she realized that some things cannot be achieved by hard work. Although everyone was polite to her for the sake of the minister's face, she could clearly feel that everyone was not convinced by her, and did not completely regard her words as orders that must be followed - even if Charles gave her support several times, the situation did not change much.

She was a smart person, of course she understood the reason - everyone suspected to varying degrees that she would not always be trusted and relied on by the minister, and was afraid that she would only be the minister's mistress who could be replaced at any time, so they were unwilling to get too close to her, so as not to cause trouble to themselves.

Even though she knew the reason, Mary was still at a loss, because she herself had no way to guarantee that Charles would always favor her - although he made many promises, for an imperial minister, even a written promise was meaningless, let alone a verbal promise?

So she could only restrain her original arrogance, try to treat others with a sincere attitude, and use actions to prove that she was not a vase that was occasionally held up by the minister, while at the same time she was looking forward to getting stronger support.

And Fran's arrival was such support - when she heard that Charles finally decided to let Fran come forward to represent him in the Railway Federation, Mary cheered uncontrollably. She was happy for her friend and for finally getting what she wanted.

As long as she had this friend by her side as her signboard, she would be almost invincible. After all, people might suspect that the minister would abandon his mistress, but no one would suspect that he would abandon his own sister.

It was for this reason that Mary wanted to flatter the brother and sister so much that she took the initiative to control the situation for them and waited for them to arrive and bring honor to herself.

Under Mary's guidance, the Treville brothers and sisters came to the restaurant together, and several important guests were already in place.

When they saw the Minister and Ms. Treville, the others stood up and signaled to them, and Charles and Fran also greeted them politely one by one, and then sat together.

"Ms. Treville, congratulations." When Fran had just sat down, Eugene Schneider smiled and greeted her again, "You are so radiant today."

"Your words are really embarrassing." Fran nodded at him with a smile, "My brother and I are very grateful for your help to us all the time... I mentioned you to him today, and he said he would do his best to help you."

Although her voice was very low, it sounded like heavenly music to Eugene Schneider - since accepting Charles' proposal and closely connecting with the Treville family, he has received many benefits from the Minister, which has brought his family business, which was originally on the verge of extinction, back to life and given him a great opportunity for development. It is precisely because the Minister kept his word that he changed his previous defensive attitude and cooperated with the Minister's plan so well.

And he was specially called by Charles today, and he still wanted to use him to endorse himself and play a role of waving the flag and shouting - he also understood his responsibilities very well.

"Please rest assured. If you need me, just tell me." Eugene Schneider winked.

"It's great to have your help." Fran smiled even more happily, and her eyes were on Charles who was sitting in the main seat, and Charles was whispering with another person at this time.

However, unlike these two people, the expressions on their faces were not so happy.

"Minister, I'm really glad to see you again." Alphonse de Rothschild whispered to Charles, "Or, I'm really glad to have the opportunity to meet you again."

Although he was smiling on the surface, his face was a little ugly, as if he was worried about something.

And his words seemed to be pointed, questioning whether Charles was deliberately avoiding him.

"I'm so sorry, I followed the emperor to the Palace of Fontainebleau before, and I had the opportunity to return to Paris recently, so I can meet my friends again today." Charles also smiled, as if he didn't hear the other party's secret accusation.

Alphonse's face became even uglier when he heard Charles evade the main point.

"I have to say that I was also greatly shocked, just like those people that day." After hesitating for a while, Alphonse decided to set up his position. "If you didn't intend to give us such a shock, then you could at least give us some information before, even if you wrote us a letter in Fontainebleau."

This was very impolite, pointing out that Charles had made a surprise attack on other financiers in addition to suspending repayments, and then made another surprise attack on them, opening his territory completely to Baron de Bovan, and even without notifying them in advance, so of course he was very shocked.

However, although he wanted to meet Charles several times to ask him about the situation, Charles had been in the Palace of Fontainebleau at that time, so he had no chance to meet the minister until now.

And he also knew that it was too late to say anything now, but he was still angry in his heart. The feeling of being manipulated was too uncomfortable.

With the wealth and strength of the Rothschild family, they certainly wanted to participate in the booming railway industry in France, so they also regarded making friends with Minister Treville as the top priority to achieve this goal. Alphonse always thought that he had achieved this goal well, but when this sudden attack broke out, he was unprepared and messed up.

What made him even more embarrassed was that he had always regarded himself as "a good friend of Minister Treville", and it was precisely relying on this status that he was quite popular with the outside world and favored by the family. However, when this incident broke out, he was unaware of it beforehand and had no preparation at all, so of course he would be hit, and even some blame appeared in the family.

Because the blow was so great, he could hardly maintain his original demeanor now, and began to question Charles in public - although his voice was low, his expression and attitude could not deceive people.

"What do you mean?" Charles asked back.

"This... Don't you know?" Alphonse frowned again, looking even more unhappy. "Well, I'll dare to remind you that you let Baron de Bovan monopolize the loans to these companies. Excuse me, I don't see the necessity and superiority of it at all..."

"Of course it is necessary. Didn't I make it very clear before? This is the will of His Majesty." Because the other party's words were not too annoying, Charles also became serious, "Your Majesty's will, we have no way to question it, and we can't question it. We can only resolutely implement it."

"It is His Majesty's will to suspend the project and suspend the repayment of debts. Is it His Majesty's will to treat Baron de Bovan as the God of Wealth?" Alphonse certainly didn't believe Charles's casual explanation, "Minister, please be frank. I think you made the wrong decision."

With Alphonse de Rothschild's face-to-face questioning, the atmosphere in the restaurant became tense from the beginning. He put aside the usual etiquette and seemed to insist on asking Charles to give an explanation.

Some people were also dissatisfied with Ciel's actions, so although they did not say it with their mouths, they were secretly cheering for Alphonse in their hearts. However, Ciel's supporters were very dissatisfied with his attitude and wanted to scold him. It's just that Ciel didn't interrupt because he didn't express his position.

In such a strange atmosphere, Ciel raised his hand and made a gesture to signal others not to interrupt.

Then, he looked at Alphonse kindly again, "Don't worry, my friend, we got together today to connect with each other, not to hurt each other's feelings, right?"

Ciel asked this question, and Alphonse also felt a little restless.

He himself also knew that he had spoken indiscriminately just now in a hurry, and he also knew that it would not be good for him to really fall out with the minister, so he had no choice but to suppress his excitement and smiled reluctantly.

"Your Majesty, you are right. We value our relationship with you very much, so we have always supported you without hesitation. It is precisely because of this that we are so sad when something bad happens... …”

"I greatly admire the minister's tireless efforts to revitalize the empire's railway industry and help us industrialists." At this time, Eugene Schneider suddenly spoke, "There is no doubt that due to the changes in the current situation, we have to face It’s a difficult time, but your Excellency’s approach has made it easier for us to get through this difficult period, so for me personally, I am very grateful for your enthusiastic help.”

In this slightly stiff atmosphere, Eugene Schneider knew that now was the time for him to come forward and cheer for the Minister.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

His statement also made Alphonse feel even more uncomfortable, because he found that even though he was furious, he could not attract enough allies, and if a strong wave of opposition could not be formed, he would not be able to shake the minister. decision.

This young man who has been pretentious since birth, after a smooth journey, rarely experienced the feeling of being unable to do anything, and that feeling was particularly uncomfortable.

"My dear friend, there are not so many things in the world that are worth being sad about. Believe me, everything is not that bad." Charles still smiled, "After all, it is a lunch. Let's have lunch first and then talk."

"Okay, Your Excellency." Alphonse could only nod in agreement.

In this way, under the care of the waiters, lunch finally started, and there was a lot of drinking and drinking. Although there was constant chatting and laughing, everyone always had reservations between talking and laughing, and it was obvious that they still had grudges.

However, Ciel didn't care about the slightly awkward atmosphere. He chatted and laughed with the people around him while eating, showing the demeanor of an imperial minister. He also used this method to show his unshakable determination. Alphonse, on the other hand, changed his usual ingratiating attitude and just ate without participating in anyone's conversation.

After lunch, as usual, today's guests began to rest in various boxes of the club, or engage in various entertainment activities in the lounge, and Charles took Fran and Mary to a lounge.

The interior of this lounge was as luxurious as the outside, with several pool tables placed in the center of the room.

"That Alphonse is so arrogant, he actually dares to talk to you like this!"

As soon as he arrived here, Charles's crony, the young Duke Gaston de Choiseul-Praslan, couldn't help but cursed, "These Jews are so ignorant! Who do they think they are?" ?”

This young man has been working with Ciel for a long time. After following him and starting to implement each plan, this young man admires Ciel even more and thinks that he is an indispensable and important figure in the empire. It is really because of this The reason is that when he saw the Rothschild family talking to the minister like this, he was naturally indignant.

"Yes, sir, he is so arrogant that people can't stand it." Fran also felt very dissatisfied, "He has no right to treat you like this!"

"After being manipulated by us once, and it doesn't make people angry, aren't we being too domineering?" Charles didn't care about himself. He walked to the pool table, picked up a cue, and then put The other one was handed to Gaston next to him, "Come on, Gaston, play billiards with me."

"Huh?" The young Duke was obviously a little surprised, "Want to play billiards...?"

"Poor Gaston!" Charles couldn't help laughing. "We just had lunch. Shouldn't we exercise to digest the delicious food? Besides, you have been so busy recently, so take a break and have some fun. It’s appropriate to go down, isn’t it?”

"But aren't you going to meet that Rothschild later?" Gaston seemed a little confused, but still subconsciously reached out and took the club handed over by Charles.

"Who said I was going to see him?" Charles picked up the cue, walked to the stage, and then used the cue to gesture to the white cue ball in front of him. "It's not me who wants to see him, it's my sister."

"Miss Treville...?" Gaston was really surprised and looked at Fran in surprise, "You plan to let her deal with that Jew? Is... is this okay?"

Even Fran was very surprised. "You...you want me to see him?"

"What's wrong?" Charles asked. "Since you are going to participate in such an undertaking, it is most ideal to start with Rothschild. In a sense, they are the most reasonable people - because they never have anything other than money in their minds. It's always convenient to talk to reasonable people. Besides, as long as you can control them, you won't have to be afraid of anyone in the future."

"Is this... like this?" Fran almost understood what her brother meant, but she still felt very strange.

"Don't be afraid. Although you have no experience, this is a trivial matter. With Marie and Gaston helping you, you will know everything you need to know." Charles whispered, "Besides, if you come forward, you can represent both me and others." It allows him to speak freely - besides, he will never yell at a lady, and the atmosphere between you will not be so bad."

Then, his tone became more serious, "This is an important lesson for you. You have to learn to subdue an ambitious, pretentious and wealthy person, because you will definitely follow many people in the future. When dealing with such people, these people think very highly of themselves and would like to devour the entire earth. They have never thought of surrendering to others. They have a very rigid personality and will never change their views for anything. Such people are very difficult to resist, but you have to face them - and you can only learn how to do so. Only by knowing how to deal with them can you really do your job well, do you understand?”

"Okay, I understand." After hearing her brother's explanation, Fran felt very happy.

Of course she understood what it meant to take on this important responsibility as soon as she came out.

She nodded immediately.

"But how do you want me to talk to him?"

"I want to suppress his arrogance in front of everyone, but I don't want to do this in private meetings, because no matter what, the Rothschild family is indeed a very influential and financially powerful family. It won't do us any good if they're too tense. You have to take a stand, but you also have to reassure him that everything is not completely screwed up."

"Okay, I will be nice to these Jews." Fran asked. "But how exactly are you going to appease them?"

"For the time being, we have to make these Jews think that they still have a chance, let them think that they and the Baron are competitors." Charles lowered his head and leaned into Fran's ear, "Otherwise they will make trouble. If they give Although I’m not afraid of us causing trouble, it will be difficult to handle. I don’t like causing trouble.”

While Ciel was explaining, Fran had been listening attentively. After he spoke, she turned to look at him. From her brother's smile, she understood his intentions and gained enough courage and strength.

"Okay, please leave it to me! I won't let you down!"

"I believe so too." Charles shrugged, then turned to look at the pool table, then picked up the cue and hit the cue ball hard.

The white ivory ball rolled on the carpet, and then with a bang, a dozen balls were knocked around.

"Gaston, let's continue playing billiards and relax!" (~^~)