When the oldest and most prestigious of the group chose to retreat and surrender, the others no longer had the desire to continue to fight against the will of His Excellency and the Empire, and they no longer insisted on opposing their views. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

However, even if they could no longer stop the will of the Empire, they still wanted to gain a little benefit for themselves, and they asked to participate in this overseer as well, hoping to use this method to avoid the inevitable trend and its losses.

However, Charles was not so easy to talk about this time, and he only expressed his position in very vague words while eating, and no longer expressed support for a specific person.

After all, this was a surprise attack, and someone had to suffer from it, and after protecting the interests of the Emperor and himself, he had to find a way to even out the losses as much as possible, so as not to really cause too much of a storm. If he lets everyone here escape this time, then the people will definitely suffer huge losses, and it will affect the next war in the empire.

And by this time, everyone also understood that His Excellency the Minister had made up his mind to make some people bleed.

There was no doubt that they were very angry about it, but in the present situation, no one dared to show this anger again, and the air in this hall suddenly seemed to be depressed, and everyone was in a dull mood, and their faces were very ugly.

"Why don't you seem to have any appetite?" When the banquet came to an end, Charles, who had already eaten and drunk, looked at the frustrated people with unfinished eyes, "Isn't today's dish to your taste?" If that's the case, I'm ashamed......"

"No, Your Excellency, the dish today is very tasty, and I am satisfied. We are grateful for the warm hospitality you have always provided to us. Before he could speak, Josdan Capafil immediately complimented His Excellency, and now, because Charles had just given him a chance to climb ashore, he had now swept away the gloom of misery just now, and had become the usual funny, gentle, and merry old man.

However, his pleasure only deepened the pain of the other people present, and for a moment his gaze was cast on the old man who had rebelled against his position, but the old man was at ease, and continued to take a sip of wine without care, obviously very glad that he was lucky.

Seeing that the heat was almost over, Charles decided that he would carry out the next part of his plan, which he had not even spoken to His Majesty the Emperor himself.

"Well, you are all elite people with great reputation and deep pockets, so why do you put on such a picture now? It's just a little bit of a loss, haven't you ever suffered a setback in so many years? Is this an unbearable loss to you? Charles put down his glass, and then looked at the group of people across from him rather sternly, "Since we are all here, then I will not tell lies, let's be honest, since Your Majesty and I came to the stage, how many things have we done to benefit you?" Didn't the empire bring you enough wealth before? If so, then the Empire is in need now, and it's not too much for you to contribute a few sons to the Empire, right? ”

"Your Excellency is right!" As soon as Charles finished speaking, Alphonse de Rothchild immediately echoed him, "How much has the Empire helped us in our business over the years?" When she needs our loyalty, why shouldn't we pay for it? ”

His Excellency the Minister reprimanded him so harshly, and the heir of the Rothchild family jumped out to endorse it, which was enough to scare everyone, but this feeling of being attacked by someone was too uncomfortable, so some people still couldn't help but defend themselves in a very aggrieved state.

"Your Excellency...... You, you are right, we are grateful that the Empire has put an end to the revolution, it has put an end to the chaos, and it has allowed us to expand our operations. If the Empire needs us to repay her now, and needs us to give money to help her, we are more than happy to ......," one of them whispered to Charles, "but now that the Empire has given us a stick when we were caught off guard, can we still be grateful?" Now that we've come to this point, we'll acquiesce to reality, but I beg your pardon for not being able to laugh with you right now......"

The man's words of courage also resonated with the others, who whispered in agreement, and then put their faces back on their faces and used this cold eye to make a soft protest.

"Is it necessary for you to do this?" Charles frowned slightly, "We can take a long-term view and don't worry about the little things now!" ”

"But the reality is that we have been hit hard by the Empire, and we no longer dare to believe in the future credibility of the Empire......" The other person was obviously very distressed, so he couldn't help but protest to Charles, "Your Excellency, you are now victorious, and we would like to congratulate you, but while you are enjoying the pleasure of the victor, you must not ask us to flatter you with a smile on our faces, right?" No, maybe someone can do it, I can't. ”

Hearing others openly and secretly ridiculing him for his unruly flattery of the minister, a flash of anger flashed across Josdown-Capafil's face, and his beard trembled and he tried to speak, but Charles stopped him with his gaze.

"I really don't understand why you are so entangled in this little issue, can't you just take a long-term view?" Charles frowned, threw the handkerchief directly on the table, and looked like he was about to get angry, "The empire is indeed in trouble now, and it is coming to you, but do you think the empire will treat you badly?!" What the Empire did to you before, it will do to you in the future! ”

Hearing His Excellency's meaningful words, for a while, these people were no longer angry or arguing, but looked at Charles with a strange expression.

Whether the Lord Charles is good or bad, but no matter what, in the past few years, he has built up his prestige through various means, and these people cannot disrespect him. He gave these people such a big surprise today, and in addition to resentment and chagrin, these people would also feel the horror of this young minister's Excellency even more.

And, listening to his tone, His Excellency seems to have prepared some way for others to recover their losses.

"I said it before, and I want to emphasize it now, this is an extraordinary measure, an inevitable move before we face a serious war crisis, even we ourselves don't like to do this kind of thing often, so you don't have to think about it so much, this is an isolated case, and it will definitely not become a normal behavior!" Charles first gave another assurance, so that the people understood the good intentions of the Imperial Government, and then immediately changed the subject, "And, I must say, war is never a disaster for you, but a good opportunity!" ”

"Opportunity?" As Charles spoke, the men looked at each other, and then began to talk in a low voice, guessing the Chancellor's intentions, and at the same time making the atmosphere a little more lively.

"In a war of this magnitude, especially if we need an expedition, then there is no doubt that the government will spend a lot of resources and money, and the imperial government will need to expand its debt, and it will need to expand the production of arms, and this will be an act of economic stimulation in any case, and it will be in your favor."

"Your Excellency, are you saying that the government will issue a special war bond for this war?" One person roughly understood something, and asked Charles with his head tilted.

"Of course, it goes without saying, and the Empire will definitely do it." Charles nodded.

"So do you mean you're going to give us priority to underwriting these bonds?" The man immediately asked.

"I am not the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Empire, and I have no way to give you a definitive answer to this." Charles smiled slightly, and quickly evaded the obligation to reply positively, "But I can be sure that as long as you are sincere in your contribution to the Empire, then the Empire will definitely not forget your contributions. And...... We don't need to look at just a corner of France, we can see a much longer future with more opportunities. ”

"What do you mean by that?" At this time, even Alphonse was a little strange and asked Charles.

"Obviously, we are now at war with Russia, and we will be enemies and hate each other, but ...... This hatred must be short-lived, and it must be changeable. Charles poured himself another glass of wine unhurriedly, "The Russians will fail, and may be full of resentment, but they will soon forget or endure this resentment, and come to us for help." ”

"Asking for our help?" Jostang Capafler asked with a frown.

"Isn't that obvious? Russia is a huge country, but it is also a poor country, a country that will have to work a lot of effort to modernize - and the war will make them poorer and more bearable. Charles picked up the glass, then gently brought it to his mouth and took a sip, "Perhaps the defeat of the war will even bring a civil strife to the Russians, making them pay more blood and greater losses, and this ...... There is no doubt that it is also giving us some kind of opportunity. ”

"You seem pretty sure that Russia will be defeated?" Alphonse de Rotheschild asked with interest.

"I'm pretty sure it's inevitable, because it's against the Empire, it's against us!" Charles slammed the empty cup on the table, causing a snap that shook everyone else's hearts.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please trust my judgment, for I have not lost so far, so I can come here and speak to you in the name of the Minister." He stood up suddenly, and then looked at them without hesitation, "The Russians will not survive the war, but they will survive the war and seek a new life, whether it is to alleviate the wounds of the country or to rebuild their country, they will need a lot of money, even incalculable money - and they will have enough resources to pay the interest on this capital, if we help them." ”

"That is, you think the Russians will lose, and then after losing, they will turn to France for help?" Josdown-Cappafil finally understood what Charles meant.

"That's how I see it." Charles nodded, "And I think that if we had prepared in advance, we would have been able to achieve some kind of expectation from such a future, and you think, folks, that Russia is now sitting on a mountain of gold as a beggar, and we can develop those places, and finally give us the mountain of gold, if we do it properly." ”

"Is that so......" Charles' words again caused whispers from everyone present, but unlike the slightly irritated and frustrated atmosphere just now, the atmosphere was much more lively, because these people were again in the air of profit, and they sincerely looked forward to the prospects that Charles had spoken.

Russia will lose, Russia will lose so much, Russia will make overtures to the Empire, Russia will need to rebuild to the point that it would rather turn to France for capital help, these events can only be described as speculation, but when His Excellency the Minister himself said it, it seemed particularly convincing.

After all, as he said before, he had never lost when gambling on the future, and it was precisely because of this vision or luck that he was able to stand proudly here as a minister at such an age.

That said, no matter what, this can be expected.

"What if...... If...... If all this can come true, then ...... We look forward to your help...... Well...... To serve the diplomatic interests of the empire, but also to the prosperity of both countries. After a moment of silence, Alphonse spoke, and he seemed to have made up his mind to follow in Charles' footsteps. I hate the Russians, but I don't see any reason why they shouldn't lend to them if they are willing to borrow money from us at a higher interest rate than the market - of course, their repayments must be trustworthy and stable. ”

"War is terrible and necessary, but it is only a means and not an end, and in the end, peace will come after all, and it will be according to everyone's heart." Charles smiled slightly, not giving any definitive answers, but like a promise.

He was sure that the Russians would lose the Crimean War, and now he was sure that Russia would be plunged into civil strife at that time, and that whichever faction won the victory, they would certainly come to France for help -- just as the Russians had done in the original line of history.

And then he will be an old friend of the Russian people again. And these people will also forget about today's unpleasantness and follow him to profit from it.

With this in mind, he quietly refilled himself with wine, and then lifted it up, "Then let's toast to the prosperity of Europe!" ”

"Cheers!" (To be continued.) )