His Excellency's words made these merchants still scratch their heads, but at least they reassured them a little, and understood that this time he really did not summon himself to ask for an offering. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

However, the phrase "run their iron mines in a more modern way, and serve the country in a unified manner" is full of too much room for reverie, so they don't know how to answer for a while, and they are even more afraid of what evil intentions the imperial government hides under these words.

"I know, I said these things, you still don't quite understand them." Charles knew what was in their minds, so he immediately began to explain, "But please rest assured that the Imperial Government has no ill will towards you, on the contrary, His Majesty hopes that you will all be able to run your own mines well and make a more outstanding contribution to the economic prosperity of the Empire." ”

"Please tell us more about it, Your Excellency." "As loyal supporters of the Empire, we are more than happy to obey Your Majesty's orders, and as long as Your Majesty shows us the way, we will continue without hesitation." ”

"First of all, we need to expand the size of the existing mining associations so that all the mines under our name can accept a unified organizational arrangement." Charles immediately explained to them, "Secondly, the Mining Association, under the guidance of the Imperial Government, will determine the size and method of raising funds from the market every year, and then the various financial institutions will finance it, and these financing will be guaranteed by the government for the maintenance of old mines and the development of new mines, and the Imperial Government will not interfere with your actual operations, but must send representatives to supervise the operation of the Association......"

In essence, this move by the Imperial Government was a replica of what the Shire had done in the railway and shipping industries, which promoted the monopoly of the industry through capital support and the power of the state administration.

The aim is to form a large mining-steel complex, with the support of the government and the financial community, to monopolize both industries. Because of the special attributes of the mining and steel industries, their monopoly can almost be said to be the basic monopoly of the entire industry, and the entire national economy will be strongly affected and controlled.

And because of the peculiarities of the mineral and smelting industries, and the extreme dependence on large-scale railway transportation, and thus the inextricable links with the railway enterprises, so according to such a plan, it will soon be possible to realize a group of industrial giants.

This kind of monopolistic organization is naturally the inevitable direction of capitalist development, and because of the huge resources possessed by these industrial giants, they will naturally be indistinguishable from politics, and they will also rely extremely on the protection and support of political power.

In other words, with the careful efforts of the emperor, the state power will be integrated with the big business owners, the financial aristocracy and the industrial magnates, forming a new ruling group that excludes the old landed aristocracy, and this newly integrated ruling group must be concentrated around the supreme ruler of the empire and become a ruling tool that the emperor can rely on.

His Majesty the Emperor deliberately wanted to prop up a new ruling group created by the industrial age, which would be the main pillar of the long-term maintenance of the empire, for the use of the Bonaparte empire.

The chaebols, industrial magnates, military aristocracy, and a huge bureaucracy will become the three pillars of the empire, which together maintain the rule of the empire.

And Charles, as one of the main executors of His Majesty's ambitious plan, is of course not only to maintain the rule of the Bonapartes, but he is also slowly supporting his own power in the system, so that the Trévilles also become a core member of this new ruling group, and so far, he is doing very well.

After all, although the Tréville family does not control these iron mines in the east, and has no intention of competing with these land snakes, he controls the empire's railway network, and without his words, these mine owners can only guard a pile of dug iron ore and worry, and in the end they can only flatter in front of him.

The words of the Minister provoked a commotion among the mine owners, whose doubts had subsided by this time, and they rejoiced at the sight of His Majesty's supportive attitude towards them.

"We are very grateful for Your Majesty's concern for us," and soon the owners of the mines became loyal to the Charles, "Your Excellency, please tell Your Majesty that we will cooperate with His Majesty's will and all his ideas with all our might, and that we will be absolute supporters of the Imperial Government." ”

"I will, ladies and gentlemen." Charles smiled and nodded, "Of course, it may not be long before you can go directly to Paris to meet Your Majesty, and maybe someone will even be knighted - you know, Your Majesty is a very generous person." ”

"Of course, of course!" Everyone cheered.

"Let's toast to Marshal de Treville! Thank you, great commander, for clearing the shame of France! In the midst of this festive atmosphere, one of the guests took up his glass and shouted to everyone, not only to compliment the marshal who was far away in the Crimea, but also to please His Excellency the Minister of Trevil, who was now sitting before them.

And in the midst of this cheerful atmosphere, Mademoiselle de Léorent, who had been sitting silently beside Charles, accompanied Her Excellency the Chancellor, and had been conversing merrily with the guests, who, after several years, had become accustomed to the great spectacle, and had been able to cope with such spectacles, and had enjoyed the compliments of the miners with ease.

However, these miners were from the provinces of the east, and were not immersed in the refined circles of Parisian social circles, so it was inevitable that the compliments were a little rude, but Marie was not disgruntled, but enjoyed their flattery, which was almost flattering.

And just as the afternoon was in the middle of the feast, His Excellency the Chancellor, as if something was wrong, left the second-floor platform, while Madame de Léoland was left behind.

"I'm sorry, but on a charre whim, I invited you here...... I hope it doesn't affect your schedule. After Charles left, Mary, who had been silent, finally smiled and spoke, "But please understand, Charles has too many things to do every day, and he is really busy, so he hopes to take this opportunity to relax." ”

"No, we are honored to meet with His Excellency the Chancellor and to listen to his guidance." A mine owner hurriedly replied.

"However, he said that he was relaxing, and in the end he was not doing things for His Majesty the Emperor, originally he promised me to take me for a walk in the mountains and forests in the next few days, but what was the result? In the end, I was so busy, I was able to understand that these ministers are not living for themselves, it's really boring. Mary suddenly frowned, sighed, and seemed to be a little worried, "You know, the minister's life is hard, and he has to support so many people, and he is entangled in affairs all day long, but he is not as beautiful as you seem......"

"Uh......" For a while, no one answered her words, and the mine owners looked at each other alertly.

After all, these mine owners are also human spirits, and they have all seen that His Excellency has brought his mistress here not to put on a show, but to talk about something that is inconvenient for him to talk about.

Some people are lamenting in their hearts, saying that although this powerful person in the capital, although it looks like a spring breeze, the blackmail that should come is inevitable after all.

In the same way, His Excellency the Minister did it elegantly and never came forward in person, which was really aristocratic.

"Yes, we all admire His Excellency's contribution to the Empire," the prepared men said beforehand, "and we all think that he deserves more for his contribution to the Empire." ”

"Hey, where did you think you went? I'm not asking for anything for Your Excellency, I'm just complaining. Mary frowned again, and seemed even more upset, "Charles is a man who is dedicated to his country, and his integrity should not be tarnished. ”

To be honest, if it was in Paris, she wouldn't need to talk about this step at all, but it's a pity that these provincial tyrants don't know the capital, so she has to pick it so clearly, but this doesn't make her feel disgusted, but more interested.

Fortunately, after a few glances at each other, the men finally understood what the lady meant.

"Madam, of course we will not doubt His Excellency's desire to serve the country, we admire His Excellency very much, and we will not damage his reputation." "However, we appreciate your continued care for His Excellency the Minister, so we hope to be able to give you some gifts so that you can take better care of him in the future......"

"It's my duty to take care of him, and you're so kind." Mary finally smiled, as if to pass the answer. Then, she looked up at the mansion, "This place has been given to me by the Charles, I like the scenery here, I plan to come here every summer, and I will ask you to give me more cheers when the time comes......"

"Of course it should be, as it should be!" Everyone nodded their heads one after another, which made Mary smile even more.

In Paris, she needed to be wary of the rumors of the social world, and even more so of the gossip that would reach Madame Charlotte's ears, so she was a little restrained, but when she ran outside, there was no need to have so many scruples, she was simply pretending to be Madame Tréville in front of others.

And although the others knew that she was not Madame Treville, they did not dare to slack off because of this, for fear of offending this lady who was obviously very popular with the minister, so she enjoyed the courtesy of a lady here, almost as requested.

This, of course, greatly satisfied Mary's heart, and every time she was so carefully complimented by the crowd, she felt more and more the beauty of power—and of course, the more she felt the importance of being by Charles's side.

Soon the feast came to an end, and the miners either dispersed or stayed here to hunt, while another group disembarked from the nearby railway station and arrived at the country house.

As the host, Marie received them very politely and unreservedly demonstrated her close relationship with Charles, but this time the atmosphere was awkward, as Charlotte's brother, the eldest son and heir of the Duke of Treville, Mr. Philippe de Treville, was among them.

After a setback in his career, he moved to his brother-in-law's account, and was entrusted with the task of supervising the production of munitions throughout the country, where he had been inspecting the land. And after Charles came to the east, Philip, who happened to be in the east, did not dare to slack off, and rushed here to report to his brother-in-law.

At this time, he was quite proud, and after both Kong Ze and Fran left France for the Crimea, he could be called proud, and finally got rid of two people who were nominally lower than him but could actually interfere with him, and enjoyed the wonderful feeling of power.

Today, however, his feelings were not so good, for in the halls of the mansion, when he was about to go upstairs to find Charles, Mary suddenly appeared and stopped him.

"Sir is resting, please stay." Mary looked at Philip with a smile, "Mr. Treville, tell me if you have anything to say now, or you wait for me to report it." ”

"I want to see Charr and I need your information?" Philip couldn't help but laugh, and then, half-teasingly, half-sarcastically, said, "Ma'am, you're a bit of a mess. ”

After coming to Charles's account, he immediately learned of Mary's existence, and saw that his brother-in-law had some unclear relationship with her, but Philip, who was used to being a prodigal child in Paris, didn't care much about this, and never blamed Charles for this, but sighed with a kind of "It turns out that Charles can also play...... ".

However, when it was discovered that the Mademoiselle de léoland seemed to be in some pretension in front of him, the situation was different, and Philippe had always considered himself the heir of the Treville family, and although his position was a little awkward now, he did not think that a mistress would dare to dictate in front of him.

"As Charles' long-standing assistant, of course I can inform him, sir." Mary still smiled, "Besides, Charles has been so busy that he can finally rest, how can you bear to disturb him?" ”

"Charles? You're calling that too intimate, aren't you? I don't know if people think you're my sister! Philip laughed again. Miss, I know you're a smart man, but many smart people in this world like to get carried away, can't you learn from them......"

In an instant, although the two of them were filled with the usual smiles in the social arena, the atmosphere was tense, and both of them were obviously a little angry.

Of course, Philip was not angry at all that the other party had seduced his brother-in-law and became his brother-in-law's mistress, and what he was really angry about was that this woman was arrogant, and he had the posture of not taking himself as the heir of the duke in his eyes, and he was even more unwilling to succumb to this woman in this small group of Charles.

In the final analysis, this is not just a battle of will, this is also a battle of status.

Philip's sarcastic words made Mary's eyes twinkle, but she quickly endured it.

"Is it only your sister who deserves that name? I don't think so. Mary smiled slightly, "I have always been close to Charles, and his career has been grown up with the help of what I have witnessed and assisted, and it is precisely because of this that Charles rely on me so much, as for your sister...... Well, I envy her in peace. Aren't you the same? But not everyone has the opportunity to ask Charles to take care of the disaster himself......"

As soon as he said this, he poked Philip's sore spot, making his expression suddenly become hideous.

"I'm sorry, who called us members of the Trevill family? Our path will always be a little easier than others. After a moment of silence, Philip said with a slight threat, "Mademoiselle, in the spirit of our friendship, I sincerely advise you, you better be more restrained, I just came here and I know that you are blatantly asking for bribes from those mine owners, which is ruining the reputation of the Charles!" If Charles found out, he wouldn't know how angry he would be? Again, don't get too carried away......"

"What about you, didn't you ask for a bribe from the company?" Mary asked coldly, "Or do you think I don't know?" ”

This sentence made Philip's eyes widen all of a sudden.

"Oh? Do you really think you're doing it secretively? I don't want to think about how many people I've known over the years, and there's really not much I can't know about what I want to know. Mary sneered, "You say that people should not be clever, and that's true. ”

Philip didn't speak anymore, just glared at Mary with wide eyes.

"It's okay that you're asking for favors from the business world, and no one is going to blame you for that." Mary continued, and instead of the rippling smile she had in front of Charles, she was cold and her tone was tough, "But I want to warn you that you'd better do things nicely, so as not to cause trouble for yourself and Charles." Alright, now you go and rest, I'll let you know when Charles is rested, and then you can see him. ”

Philip still didn't leave, still looking at Mary coldly.

"What, don't you give up?" Mary glanced at him and asked a little defiantly, "Shall we fight and see who is unlucky in the end?" ”

Philip was already furious at this time, but the only reason he had left did not fully vent it.

At this time, he really didn't have the confidence that he could replace this young lady, after all, she was really favored.

Little goblin, you wait for me, sooner or later you will look good. He said viciously in his heart, but a smile appeared on his face, and he took a step back in compromise.

"Hey, we're all at the service of the Charles, so why do you want to talk about this?" He bowed slightly to Mary, "Okay, I'll rest first, the scenery here is really good." ”

After all, he was a child of a family, and Philip could afford to put it down, and suddenly he seemed very familiar with Mary, as if he were an old friend.

"This is indeed a fun place," Mary smiled again, "rest assured, as the owner of this place, I will treat you well." ”

Then she turned and walked upstairs.

Soon, she found herself in the room where Charles was.

At this time, Charles was lying in bed with his eyes closed, he had drunk a lot of wine at noon, and he had been a little tired lately, so he wanted to rest.

"Sent Philip away?" As soon as he heard the footsteps, Charles asked directly.

"Yes, just a few words." Mary nodded, "Don't you know him yet?" is usually high-spirited, but he is strong on the outside and dry in the middle, and he will shrink as soon as he comes hard with him. ”

"Hey, don't talk about him like that, he's my brother-in-law anyway......" Charles couldn't help but smile bitterly. But it's time for Philip to be beaten, he's gone a little too far lately, and several people have already sued me. ”

"He also said that he wanted to sue you against me, saying that I was asking for a bribe." Mario looked aggrieved and said, "But he was not wrong, I was indeed asking for a bribe...... For you, of course. ”

As she spoke, she took off her shoes as well, and then lay down directly on the bed, snuggling up to Charles's side.

At this time, her expression was gentle, and her tone was full of softness, not at all arrogant in front of those mine owners and Philip, just like a kitten.

"Hmm......" Charles let out a comfortable muffled grunt as her soft body leaned over her, then opened her eyes and looked at each other apologetically, "Hey, I'm sorry...... It's all for me, and it's made you work hard. ”

"It's nothing, I'm happy to play the villain for you, at least you gave me what I wanted." Mary laughed heartily, and then put her arms around Charles's waist, "Actually, I'm enjoying it, I've always liked to dictate to them, but unfortunately I haven't had a chance." ”

"Don't worry, you'll have a chance in the future, I'm afraid you'll get bored." Charles chuckled and teased, "It's easy to get tired of dealing with these people a lot, because it's all about interests." ”

"I don't think I'm bored of anything, but I think it's funny." Mary shook her head, then buried her head in Charles's chest, "Fighting these people always makes me feel good. ”

Charles shrugged his shoulders, perhaps because of her early experience, Mary had a strong vindictive mentality, and was very obsessed with power, but he was not disgusted, because Mary actually knew a lot of measure, and she knew even more what the source of all power was.

Being snuggled up to her side, feeling the heat coming from his chest, he suddenly felt a little interested.

He hugged Mary tightly, then rolled over and pressed down.

"Lightly, don't hurt the child......" Mary closed her eyes, as if whispering in his ear.

"What?!" Charles' movements stopped.

He softened.