Flowers, Swords and France

After Charles's various persuasions, Richard finally gave up his angry resistance and talked to Charles as usual. Although his attitude was still reserved, Charles was secretly relieved because it meant that he had completed a big step in his task of reconciling with Austria.

Of course, he also paid a price. He took the initiative to make a promise to Richard and took on the obligation of "never letting France choose between Prussia and Austria". This obligation must be fulfilled, otherwise he would no longer have any credit in front of the Austrians.

In the final analysis, he has received too much from Austria, and now it is time to give back a little to avoid an unprecedented blow to his plan.

Obviously, Richard did not believe that Minister Treville would keep his promise, but since the other party was willing to make such a promise, he had reason to persuade the country to temporarily put aside their disgust for Minister Treville, temporarily hold back, and observe the next actions of the French.

Anyway, the time to test his promise will come soon.

The Prussians have already replaced a new ambassador to France. It is conceivable that they definitely want to win over the French to suppress Austria together. If France and Prussia collude and encourage the Prussians' actions, then the other party's promise will naturally fail, and it will not be too late to make other plans at that time.

In the final analysis, as a dedicated advocate of Franco-Austrian friendship, he really couldn't bear to see the relationship between the two countries go to pieces in front of him, so he would rather give Minister Treville another chance to fulfill his promise.

In any case, Austria has indeed reached a time when it is very dependent on the French, and at this juncture, he can only do this.

In this way, driven by the two people's own thoughts, the two friends "reconciled" again. Richard stayed in the mansion and had dinner with the Treville couple. Both sides had a good chat, especially Lady Charlotte, who was more interested in Richard's new wife, asked many questions about her, and enthusiastically asked the couple to come to her home as guests.

Richard left the house of Minister Treville only after the dinner, and it was already late at night.

Charles sent him to the door, then watched him leave, and then returned to the restaurant, sat back in his seat, and ate the dessert served after the meal, thinking about something in his heart.

Although the news Richard brought to him was not official, it must have been well-founded, so Bismarck would soon come to France as an ambassador.

In a sense, this means that he has made a big step forward in his career, getting rid of the cold bench of the Frankfurt Imperial Conference representative and officially becoming a player on the European stage, although people certainly don’t think this person will be so powerful at this time, they certainly don’t believe that this small country landlord in Pomerania can actually turn the world upside down.

His purpose should be very clear, that is, to persuade the French and Prussia to be friendly, and then jointly suppress the Austrians.

In the original history, he was quite successful. Emperor Napoleon III was beaten and pulled by him, and unconsciously embarked on the road of assisting the unification of Germany. Now, he would have to intervene and change everything.

"Minister, it's time for you to live your private life."

Just as he was lost in thought, his wife Charlotte couldn't help but complain and pushed his hand affectionately. "Everyone is gone!"

"Sorry, Charlotte, I'm just thinking about something." Charles finally came back to his senses and smiled apologetically.

"Instead of thinking about it, why don't you come and accompany the children?" Charlotte pointed to the two children at the dining table.

The two little guys seemed to be very energetic, especially the eldest son who was more than two years old. He was now teasing his younger brother beside the cradle, wiping his face from time to time, and then observing his slightly weird purple eyes, as if he was enjoying it.

But Lelouch looked around with his eyes wide open. Although he was only half a year old, he was very arrogant, as if he didn't care about his brother's boring games.

In the eyes of their parents, the two children with delicate looks and fair skin were very cute, enough to make them feel satisfied.

"Clovis, come here!" Charlotte shouted to her son with a smile on her face.

"Mom!" Clovis immediately left his brother behind and ran back quickly. His babyish greeting was really endearing.

At this age, Clovis was naturally very naughty, and the servants certainly did not dare to discipline this young master too much. However, after suffering a few hardships, he was very obedient in front of his mother. The child's shrewdness made him understand that there was only his mother here and he must not disobey her - as for his father, he was not so afraid because they didn't spend much time together.

After arriving in front of him, Charlotte scooped a little soup from the bowl with a spoon, and then served it to her son with chopped oysters.

"Eat quickly! You keep running around there, and the food is getting cold!"

Clovis often didn't like to eat, but after being beaten a few times, he also knew that his mother's orders could not be resisted, so he had to eat with a bitter face.

The interaction between his mother and his eldest son made Charles a little jealous. He also hugged Lelouch to his body and began to tease his son.

Lelouch frowned when his nose was pinched, and then glared at his father, making Ciel laugh.

Lelouch, this child with purple eyes and black hair, made him feel weird and uncomfortable at first, but now, under the influence of the love between father and son, he has long since given up his previous grudge and treated him with the attitude that a father should have. Looking at him.

In this way, the couple teased their children separately, and they were enjoying themselves.

In most aristocratic families, because the male and female owners are busy with their own careers and social interactions, they often neglect to take care of their children, resulting in a weak relationship between the children and their fathers. Precisely because they have seen so many similar things, Charlotte is particularly She pays attention to interacting with her children and often takes them with her, fearing that the bond between mother and child will be severed by indifference.

"Charles, the cleanup of the Giverny factory is almost completed. The situation is quite optimistic. Our capital has increased many times." Just as Charles teased his son for a while, Charlotte suddenly spoke, " After the cleanup is completed, I am going to withdraw some funds from the factory for investment..."

"Investment?" Charles was a little surprised, "What investment?"

"Isn't the country going to war now and the finances are tight? I heard that the Ministry of Finance is planning to issue several more batches of special treasury bonds, and the interest rates are quite high." Charlotte replied in a low voice, "I don't like risks, so buying treasury bonds should be the best option. There is no risk. I know the finance minister’s wife. If I have her care and your care, then I should be able to purchase these government bonds first, right?”

Charles thought about it and didn't think there was any problem.

Compared with other methods, buying government bonds is indeed quite simple and easy to operate. It does not require a large number of people to handle it. It is indeed a good investment. What's more, the interest rate of newly issued government bonds due to the war will be slightly higher than others. a little.

It's just that it's a little strange for Charlotte to say such things. After all, Charlotte has not interfered with the operation of the factory for such a long time.

"Why make such an investment?" he couldn't help but ask.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"I must save a big business for Lelouch, otherwise I won't be able to rest assured for the rest of my life." Charlotte replied immediately, and then fed her eldest son another mouthful of soup, "Clovis is ours. The eldest son, he will inherit our title and family property, but how do we know that this little guy will always take care of his younger brother? They are all fickle, and we have seen this kind of thing countless times, so I think it is best to prepare for him while I am alive. We cannot misappropriate the family's money, so I decided to make as many investments as possible. , and concentrate all the investment income to Lelouch... This way his future life will be guaranteed, and I can feel at ease."

"We are still so young, why do we want to go so far?" Charles couldn't help laughing.

"If you don't prepare for a rainy day when you are young, how will you have time when you are old?" Charlotte shook her head, "I am already a mother, how can I not think about my children? And maybe we will have... There will be other children, and the pressure will only increase. We have seen too many poor sluts, can we let our own children become like that?"

In ancient times, nobles implemented a strict primogeniture system. Only the eldest son could inherit the family territory and property. The second sons could only find their own way, either joining the army or becoming priests. In today's era, although Napoleon's code has stipulated that children The property is equally divided, but among the aristocratic habits, they still like to use various means to basically pass the family property to the eldest son (this is also an important method to maintain the family lineage and status).

Therefore, whether in ancient times or today, there are a large number of young sons of aristocratic families who have become homeless without property, living in poverty and hardship. Charlotte has experienced so many years in the social world, and of course she has seen many such libertines, so she He only wanted to leave a family fortune for other children so that they would not suffer.

Charlotte's words moved Charles quite a bit.

Unlike most ladies who only care about themselves, Charlotte is a qualified wife and mother who cares about her family and children.

But he is not a qualified husband.

He has hidden a large part of the factory assets in Giverny from Charlotte, and the assets that Charlotte has now cleared out are just a fraction of this huge asset.

Charlotte was not looking for money for herself, she really wanted to make plans for her children, but I hid the truth from her for my own selfish reasons. When he thought of this, Ciel couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

However, he also knew that the matter had reached this point and he could only continue to hide it from his wife.

"Charle, what do you think?" Seeing Charles's reaction was a little strange, Charlotte couldn't help but ask, "If you think it's okay, just write a letter to the Chancellor of the Finance. I think as long as you If you speak up, he should give you face.”

"Okay, no problem, I'll write a letter tonight." Charles came to his senses, nodded repeatedly, and then comforted his wife, "Charlotte, you don't have to worry so much, I love our children too, and I will Plan for them just like you do.”

"Since you love them, why don't you spend more time with them? You always only care about your own things!" Charlotte couldn't help but laugh and scold her husband, then leaned on Charles' shoulder, "As long as the two of us work hard, we can at least leave a few million for each child except Clovis... This should be enough for them to live."

In the turmoil caused by the birth of Lelouch, Charles stood firmly by his wife's side, gave her great spiritual encouragement, and moved her deeply. The relationship between the two people, which had some cracks, was thus bridged together, and even stronger than before.

Just as Charlotte was immersed in the coexistence with her husband and son, suddenly her maid walked in front of her with a nervous look, and then whispered something to her.

Charlotte's face changed slightly.

"What's wrong?" Charles asked hurriedly.

"Her Majesty sent a lady-in-waiting beside her, saying that she had something to tell me." Charlotte replied.