Chapter 196: Preparation
Under Charles's various persuasions, Richard finally gave up his attitude of resistance with anger for the time being, and talked to Charles as usual, although his attitude was still reserved, but this made Charles secretly relieved, because it meant that his task of reconciling with Austria had been completed. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
Of course, he also paid the price, he took the initiative to make a promise to Richard, and also saddled himself with the obligation of "never let France choose between Prussia and Austria", which he must fulfill, otherwise he would have no credibility before the Austrians.
At the end of the day, he has already received too much from Austria, and now it's time to give back a little so that his plans don't suffer an unprecedented blow.
It was evident that Richard was not very sure that the Greil of Tréville would keep his promise, but since he was willing to make such a promise, he had reason to persuade the country to put aside his distaste for the Treville Chancellor for the time being, and to wait and see what the French were going to do.
Anyway, the time to test his promise will soon come.
The Prussians had already changed a new minister to France, and it was conceivable that they would certainly want to win over the French to suppress Austria, and if France and Prussia were to join forces and encourage the Prussians to act, then the promises of the other side would naturally fail, and it would not be too late to make other plans.
After all, as a dedicated Franco-Austrian friendlilist, he could not bear to see the relationship between the two countries collapse in front of him, so he preferred to give the Tréville minister another chance to fulfill his promise.
In any case, it is true that Austria has come to a point where it is very dependent on the French, and at this juncture, he can only go this way.
In this way, under the impetus of the two men, the two friends were "reconciled", and Richard stayed in the mansion to have dinner with the Trevilles, and both of them talked very happily, especially Mrs. Charlotte, who was even more interested in Richard's new wife, asked many questions about her, and warmly asked the couple to come to their house.
Richard had not left the Tremor Minister's Mansion until after the dinner, and it was approaching the end of the night.
Charles escorted him all the way to the door, watched him leave, and then returned to the dining room, where he sat back in his seat, eating the dessert that had been brought to him after the meal, thoughtful.
Although the news that Richard brought to him was not official, it must have been justified, so it seemed that Bismarck would soon come to France as 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 delegates of the Imperial Council of Frankfurt and officially becoming a player on the European stage, although at this time people certainly do not think that this man is very powerful, they will certainly not believe that this small country landlord in Pomerania has the ability to turn the world upside down.
His aim should also be clear, that is, to persuade the French to be friendly with Prussia, and then to jointly suppress the Austrians.
In the original history, he did relatively successfully, and Emperor Napoleon III was beaten and pulled by him, and unconsciously embarked on the road of assisting in the unification of Germany. And now, I can only change all this.
"Your Excellency, it's time for you to live your private life."
Just as he was thinking about it, his wife Charlotte couldn't help but complain and pushed his hand affectionately. "Everyone is gone!"
"I'm sorry, Charlotte, I just have something on my mind." Charles finally came to his senses, then smiled apologetically.
"If you have time to think nonsense, why don't you come and spend time with your children?" Charlotte gestured to the two children at the table.
Both of the little ones seemed to be very energetic, especially the eldest son, who was already more than two years old, and was now teasing his younger brother in swaddling clothes, wiping his face from time to time, and then observing his slightly strange purple eyes, which seemed to be happy.
Lelouch, on the other hand, looked around with wide eyes, and although he was only half a year old, he put on a good shelf, as if he did not bother to pay attention to his brother's boring games.
In the eyes of the parents, the two good-looking and fair-skinned children are full of cuteness, which is enough to make them feel satisfied.
"Clovis, come here!" Charlotte had a smile on her face and shouted at her son.
"Mom!" Clovis immediately left his brother behind and hurried back, and his milky greeting was really endearing.
At this age, Clovis was naturally very naughty, and of course the servants did not dare to control the eldest young master too much, but after suffering a few times, he was completely obedient in front of his mother, and the shrewdness of the child made him understand that his mother was the only one here, and he must not disobey - as for his father, he was not so afraid, because they had not been together for a long time.
When she arrived, Charlotte scooped a little soup from the bowl with a spoon, and then handed it to her son with chopped oysters.
"Hurry up and eat! I've been running around there, and the food is going to be cold! ”
Clovis often doesn't like to eat, but after being beaten a few times, he also knows that his mother's orders cannot be resisted, so he has to eat with a bitter face.
The mother's interaction with her eldest son made Charles a little jealous, and he also hugged Lelouch to himself, and then began to tease his son.
LeRouche frowned as he pinched his nose, then glared at his father, causing Charles to burst into laughter.
Lelouch, the purple-eyed and black-haired child, used to make him feel weird and uncomfortable at first, but now, under the effect of father-son affection, he has long since given up his previous mustard and treated him with the attitude that a father should have.
In this way, the couple each teased the child, but they were also happy.
In most aristocratic families, because the male and female hosts are busy with their own careers and social interactions, they often neglect to take care of their children, which makes the family relationship between the children and the father weak, and because she has seen many similar things, Charlotte pays special attention to interacting with the children, and often takes them with her, for fear that the kinship between mother and son will be cut off by indifference.
"Shire, the clean-up of the Giverny plant is almost complete, and the situation is quite optimistic, our capital has multiplied many times." Just as Charles was teasing his son for a while, Charlotte suddenly spoke, "When the cleanup is completed, I'm going to take some money out of the factory to invest......"
"Investment?" Charles was a little surprised, "What investment?" ”
"Isn't the country at war now, and the finances are tight? I heard that the Ministry of Finance is preparing to issue several additional batches of special treasury bonds, and the interest rate is quite high. Charlotte replied in a low voice, "I don't like risk, and buying Treasury bonds should be the least risk-free." I know the Chancellor's wife, and if she cares about her, and you take care of me, then I should be able to apply for these government bonds first, right? ”
Charles thought about it, but didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Compared with other means, the purchase of government bonds is indeed quite simple, and it is also easy to operate, and it does not need to rely on a large number of people to handle it, which is indeed a good investment, not to mention that the interest rate of new government bonds issued because of the war will be slightly higher than others.
It's just that it's a little strange for Charlotte to say such a thing, after all, Charlotte hasn't interfered with the operation of the factory for so long.
"Why make such an investment?" He couldn't help but ask.
"I must save a big business for Lerouche, otherwise I won't be able to feel at ease in my life." Charlotte replied immediately, and then fed her eldest son a mouthful of soup, "Clovis is our eldest son, and our title and family estate are inherited by him, but how do we know that this little guy will always take care of his younger brother in the future?" People are fickle, and we've seen this kind of thing for a long time, so I think it's best to be prepared for him while I'm alive. We couldn't embezzle the family's money, so I decided to invest as much as I could, and pool all the proceeds of the investment for LeRoche...... In this way, his future life is guaranteed, and I can rest assured. ”
"We're so young, what do we want to do so far?" Charles couldn't help but laugh.
"If you don't plan for a rainy day when you're young, how can you be in time when you're old?" Charlotte shook her head, "I'm already a mother, how can I not think about my children?" And maybe we'll have ...... in the future There will be other children, the pressure will only get worse, we have seen too many poor prodigals, can we still let our own children become like that? ”
In ancient times, the aristocracy implemented a strict primogeniture system, only the eldest son could inherit the family territory and property, and the second son could only fend for himself, either joining the army or becoming a priest; In today's era, although Napoleon's legal code has stipulated that children should divide property equally, in the habit of the aristocracy, they still like to use various means to pass on the family property to the eldest son (which is also an important way to maintain the family family and status).
So whether in ancient times or today, there are a large number of young sons of aristocratic families who have become propertyless vagrants, and their lives are difficult and difficult, Charlotte has experienced so many years in the social world, of course, she has seen many such prodigals, so she wants to leave the family business for the other children, so that they will not suffer.
Charlotte's words moved Charles a lot.
Unlike most noblewomen who only care about themselves, Charlotte is a qualified wife and mother, who is dedicated to the family and children.
And he is not a qualified husband.
He had hidden a large part of Giverny's factory assets from Charlotte, and now the assets that Charlotte had cleared out were just a tip of this huge asset.
Charlotte didn't come to collect money for herself, she really wanted to plan for her children, and I hid the truth from her for my own selfish reasons. Thinking of this, Charles couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
However, he also knew that the matter had come to this point, so he could only continue to hide it from his wife.
"Charles, what do you think?" Seeing that Charles's reaction was a little strange, Charlotte couldn't help but ask, "If you think it's okay, write a letter to Your Excellency the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I think as long as you speak, he should give face." ”
"Okay, no problem, I'll write tonight." Charles came back to his senses, nodded repeatedly, and then comforted his wife, "Charlotte, you don't have to worry so much, I also love our children, and I will plan for them as much as you do." ”
"Since you love them, then spend more time with them? Always take care of your own business! Charlotte couldn't help but laugh and scolded her husband, and then leaned on Charles's shoulder, "As long as the two of us work hard, we can at least leave a few million for every child except Clovis...... That should be enough for them to live. ”
In the turmoil brought about by Lelouch's birth, Charles stood firmly beside his wife, gave her great spiritual encouragement, and also moved her greatly, and the relationship between the two people, which had been somewhat rifted, was also bridged, even stronger than before.
Just as Charlotte was immersed in the company of her husband and son, suddenly her goddess came up to her nervously and whispered a word to her.
Charlotte's face changed slightly.
"What's wrong?" Charles hurriedly asked.
"Her Majesty sent a female officer beside her to say that she had something to tell me." Charlotte replied.