His Excellency the Count of Grandet

In fact, Mrs. Le Maire had already hinted at the reason in her letter.The reason why she invited Charles to Chateau Lafite was because of her husband, Mr. Van Leburg.

Charles had heard of the name a little.Charles had only heard of it because M. van Lenberg was a well-known grain merchant and supplier of arms in the Napoleonic period;

Obviously, this is another businessman who rose to power through an unstable situation.Everyone knows that Mr. Van Lenberger's fortune is also dependent on the army-this is the largest customer that the current situation has created, and no other thing or person can compare.

To be honest, Grandet also took the opportunity to make a lot of money back then—including [-] to [-] hectares of vineyards, hundreds of hectares of pastures, and several roads leading directly to his property; he also did what Shire is doing now to provide wine to the army, but the quantity is far from enough.The benefits brought to him by these things go far beyond the savings in purchase costs; those uncertain productions still bring him a steady stream of income.

Therefore, it is reasonable for Mrs. Le Maire to invite her through her relationship with Mr. van Leburg, old Mr. Compon, Alphonse and Shire.Even as a landlord, entertaining Paris guests from afar is beyond reproach.However, even Shire had to admit that the relationship was a bit remote; and the tone of the letter was relatively unmatchedly courteous.

Ciel didn't know her specific intentions.But what is certain is that this lady must be very well informed about Paris, and now hopes to make friends with him.Because Mr. Van Leburg is in Paris, he only bought Lafite Castle this year, and Mrs. Le Maire has just arrived in Bordeaux not long ago.

As for why this manor belongs to Mrs. Le Maire, there are also reasons.Mr. Van Lenberg's first wife died early, and Catholicism does not advocate second marriage; coupled with the sensitive current situation, although they have a son under their knees, the two have not formally entered the church.In other words, this relationship is not so legal, and Mrs. Le Maire can't live too comfortably in Paris; at least one advantage of staying in Bordeaux is that it can avoid meeting many acquaintances or unfamiliar people, and being caught in a smile The probability is greatly reduced.

It is conceivable that Mr. Van Leburg's financial resources can buy Lafite Castle.So after getting a general understanding of the situation, Charles readily agreed——

Just kidding, such a great opportunity!He went to just a few friends, and it didn't affect his intention to buy Myron Castle; if he didn't go, he would still appear to be conceited.And there is no reason to refuse at all——

That's right, from the bottom of my heart, of course Shire would prefer to buy Lafite Castle.But with his current strength, he can only think about it.This is not a big sin, after all, people are going to high places, and as the saying goes, people who have no long-term concerns must have near-term worries, right?

At this time we must mention again that good wines have strict requirements on the age of the vines; usually only the fruits of vines that are at least 20 years old or above are used, while the standard for Lafite is 40 years about.Therefore, if you want a good vineyard, you have no choice but to buy ready-made ones——

Even if Shire starts to plant vines now, the first batch of qualified grapes will not be available until the age of 60; plus the aging time, at least 20 years...is it appropriate to drink the first barrel of good wine at the earliest age of 80?

Charles wanted to clear the family's debts in the shortest possible time, but of course he didn't have the patience.As far as quick money comes in, the most lucrative business at this time is of course not in China, but in India, Africa, and the Americas—gold panning, tobacco farming, or human trafficking.Especially the last item, close to nothing.

Charles knows all this.It's just that compared to these businesses, he would rather continue to do his own wine business.He wanted to make money, that's right; but it wasn't at the expense of his conscience.

The topic is far away, let's continue to talk about Lafite Castle.After Charles asked the messenger to bring the reply back, Antoine began to pack his luggage.When everything was sorted out, Madame Lemaire wrote back again, saying that the room had been packed and was waiting for him to come to the castle for a short stay; at the same time, she generously hinted that she could stay as long as she wanted.

Charles didn't have persecution paranoia, but he felt more and more that the other party was too enthusiastic, and he looked like he wanted him to hurry over.But at this time, he was asked to explain why, and he didn't know, so he had to go and talk about it.Madame Lemaire couldn't have killed him anyway, could she?

That's right.Madame Lemaire, with her curvaceous figure and sweet smile, looked completely harmless.Although she was old, she was well maintained, petite, and soft-spoken. Any Parisian man would feel pity for a woman like her.

Charles is very good at dealing with this kind of lady, and he got acquainted within a few days.But to his surprise, apart from irrelevant topics like the weather, Madame Le Maire never mentioned anything to him, whether it was wine or the Duke.In fact, her focus was more on a well-behaved 12-year-old boy, Umega Vanleburg, her only son.

On the one hand, this makes Charles live more comfortably than he imagined, after all, he doesn't need to take care of this end from his business; How about letting him live in?

There was no result for the moment, so Charles put it off and thought about the wine first.

According to his thinking, buying a manor that can produce [-] barrels of wine a year is a bit of a nonsense (now the unit yield of grapes is generally not high, and grapes grown on [-] hectares of land can produce [-] barrels of wine is considered a good harvest), But at least it relieves some of the stress.

In the long run, of course; in the present situation, he wanted to buy a manor, but only to make people think that the Grandet family was rich and had no shortage of money.

This sounds like a swollen face to pretend to be fat, but the creditors will accept this.When they think you are rich, even if the bond expires, they will only think about continuing to lend you interest; and when they think you are about to go bankrupt, sorry, you should pay back the money with interest in advance!

In order to buy wine, to be on the safe side, Charles must collect at least 220 million francs in the next two months (the price of wine is calculated at an average of 150 francs per barrel).In the best case scenario, if the bond is extended and the interest is deducted, there is still a cash gap of about 100 million francs.With this kind of pressure, he still has to convince everyone that he will soon spend 50 francs to buy a winery. The difficulty can be imagined.

But no matter how difficult it is, there is always something to do.After Charles got acquainted with Mr. Myron next door, he tried his best to hope that in the heart of this old gentleman, he was a reliable young man.Because although Mr. Myron's grapes are average, but his personality is a bit old-fashioned, it is not easy to get the old man to agree to transfer the manor.Fortunately, he has always been very popular with his elders, and he soon got permission to visit Castle Myron at any time.

On this afternoon, Charles and Mr. Myron were sitting in the open courtyard drinking tea.This is a compulsory course for Mr. Myron's country life. He visits from time to time to listen to the old man's recollection of the past (mostly the history of the changes in Bordeaux's manor), and occasionally add some life in Paris to amuse the old man.It was a job that required patience, and he happened to have a lot of it.

The old man has lived such an old age, of course he knows that this is boring to young people. "Even in this area, there are not many young people who can listen to me." After rambling on about the grand occasion when the Segur family ran Lafite Castle, he sighed, "You Hardly a Parisian! And I don't mean that in any way demeaning!"

The vineyards of the Myron Manor and the Lafite Manor are next to each other, and Charles is looking at the boundary line in a daze, wondering why Myron can’t grow as good grapes as Lafite—the land is almost the same, isn’t it? ?At this moment, Mr. Myron sighed, and he returned to his senses and said, "This is because you praised me too much."

Mr. Myron looked at Charles from under his monocle, as if he could see what Charles was thinking. "I'm old, how many years can grapes be planted. After all, I love this land, and I am willing to dedicate my life to it..." He looked up and wanted to say something, but suddenly noticed something else : "Someone is here again... Mrs. Le Maire has so many guests recently, isn't it?"

When Charles heard the words, he also looked over and found that what he said was true—two men were walking along a row of vines.The distance is too far, and only the outline of the face can be vaguely seen.One of them carried a cane, which Charles was sure he had never seen before; the other wore a bowler hat, which seemed strangely familiar...

Charles was only stunned for half a second, and a name jumped out of his mind without hesitation, accompanied by a usual smile that seemed to have no deep meaning.

He wanted to put a long line to catch big fish and find a reliable investor; but this is too big, right?And then again, could it be him who bit the hook?