December 24, 1859

On the outskirts of Paris, there is a small country house tucked away among clumps of cypresses, aquatic plants and tall weeds. The exterior of this villa is made of the usual red bricks, and the gray joints are plastered white. The doors and windows are painted bright green, and the wood is painted with a brown paint that is close to light yellow. The eaves of the roof protrude forward, and the second floor is surrounded by a cloister, with a small balcony protruding from the middle of the front.

It looks unremarkable, remote and shabby, like a place where small merchants in Paris spend their summers, but the villa seems to be so large that it is impossible to see the other villas in the vicinity.

It was already noon, and the cold wind was blowing, making the trees rattle, and there was not a single ray of sunlight in the sky shrouded in thick dark clouds. The whole world seemed to be gray, making people feel extremely bleak and lonely.

Looking at this situation, the person standing on the balcony couldn't help but sigh deeply, and the breath he exhaled quickly turned into white mist, and then dissipated into the void like green smoke.

The man was dressed in a heavy double-breasted coat, his short blond hair was neatly combed, he was about thirty years old, his face was no longer young, but it was still angular and handsome, he looked at the sky expressionlessly, as if the whole person was immersed in thought, indifference and perseverance were mixed together, and there was an inexplicable momentum, which made people want to stay away.

However, even so, there were still people who dared to approach him.

"Is it the bitterness of swallowing failure alone? Dear Your Excellency Duke Kerson, What do you think? It doesn't feel good to be kicked away by His Majesty the Emperor, right? ”

A slightly mocking greeting suddenly came from behind him.

Many men who had not been ridiculed in person frowned slightly. But soon calm was restored.

"Well, yes, quite bitter. It's very uncomfortable. He replied slowly, and although his tone was as calm as possible, he still couldn't hide the deep loss and resentment.

"Huh, hahahaha!" The people behind him laughed, as if they were very happy to see him so embarrassed. "It's really joyful to see that you were once high-spirited, but now you are so depressed!"

Lola continued to laugh for a moment before she stopped laughing rather sharply. Look at the Charles again.

"So, what are we going to do with you now?"

Charles turned and looked at the woman in fine dress in front of him. Then sighed again.

"He plans to send me to Vienna as an ambassador, and let me go as soon as the New Year is over."

The woman in front of her was wearing a thick white dress. Lined with intricate gold thread patterns. It shimmers in the dark sky, and the diamond bra on the chest also shines with a misty light. Although he is in his thirties, his face is still very delicate after careful care and maintenance, as if it has not been eroded by the years at all. He put his hair in a bun high and was as arrogant as a queen.

Lola's face froze when she heard Charles' answer, and she looked at Charles again, before bursting out into a louder laugh.

"Hahahaha! It's so beautiful! Well done! It's really worthy of our majesty. How can I come up with such a perfect way to deal with you! I almost admired him. ”

In Lola's laughter, Charles was unmoved. Just shrugged his shoulders regretfully.

"It's really a perfect blow, and I'll admire it too."

In the summer of 1859, at the insistence of Emperor Napoleon III, the French Empire led its ally, the Kingdom of Sardinia, to war with the Austrian Empire, which, after months of fierce fighting, failed to sue for peace and ceded substantial rights in Italy to the Kingdom of Sardinia. After winning the Austrian Empire, Emperor Napoleon III's fame in Europe reached its peak, but France did not gain anything.

Because he strongly opposed the war with the Austrian Empire but was not adopted, the Duke of Kerson, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the eminent Cabinet of Governors, Charles de Treville, resigned in anger, and after several attempts to save face, His Majesty the Emperor approved his resignation on the spot.

After the war, the emperor planned to send the well-known pro-Austrian Duke of Quercesson to Austria as an ambassador, probably with the intention of mending Franco-Austrian relations. However, because he had just been humiliated by France, the new ambassador must have been given a cold shoulder there for a long time - and his majesty inadvertently punished the duke for disobeying his will.

"If you want to laugh, just laugh, Lola, and we'll have to get down to business when we're done." She laughed for a moment before Charles spoke again.

"Business? I don't remember anything serious with you? I'm just inviting you to come and take a break in this villa......" Lola replied with a sneer.

Charles was slightly stunned, and then quickly reacted.

Very good.

"Well, yes, I'm just here to take a break, so, Lola, take me to see your villa?"

"Of course, Mr. Duke." Lola replied with a sneer, then turned away. "Then please."

So, the two of them walked inside again.

The interior of this small dwelling is very incongruous with the exterior. The living room is all made of hardwood floors, and under the careful care of the servants, it looks like a layer of glazed lacquer. The surrounding walls are covered with murals, and on the black background and gold framed picture, there are colorful flowers and birds and a lake of green grass, and the magical pictures embroidered vividly shine in them, I really don't know how much effort was spent in the creation process.

The restaurant is entirely covered with fine wood brought from the Baltic Sea coast, and the finely cut wood and the carvings around it make you feel like you're in a wonderful fantasy world. The staircase aisles and stairwells form a small vestibule, painted in the shape of old wood and decorated in a Gothic style.

If you look at the simplicity of the exterior alone, no one will believe this humble country house. It was so lavishly furnished, but it was the only way to be worthy of being the residence of the richest man in the entire French Empire, though she would not have lived here many days a year.

Under Lola's leadership, the two did not stop on their own feet. Follow the stairs and hallway to a small, nondescript room downstairs.

This room is very simply furnished, with only a few pieces of ordinary furniture, and it looks like it is furnished for the guests' accommodation.

Then, Lola walked over to the closet, put her hand on the handle, and tugged lightly......

"Hoo ......"

A cold wind blew the charr with chills.

In the dim light of the candles, the stairs continued downward. To the depths of darkness, it was like a road to hell.

Accompanied by the cold wind, the sound of talking and the sound of the machine running also rushed out of it. Straight into the ears of the two men.

"This is it." Lola said coldly.

"Okay." Charles nodded.

So, the two of them walked down the steps again.

Perhaps to block out the sound, the steps leading to the ground were made very tortuous, making several turns. Charles followed Lola step by step. And the original noise became louder and louder, almost like a march.

After reaching the last step of the stairs, Lola pushed open a door.

Then, the entire underground scene was revealed to Charles.

Exiting the doorway is a platform that extends to the ground with more than a dozen steps and a flat and spacious hall underground.

Yes, a very spacious hall.

This hall is surrounded by wall lamps and many machines are placed on the ground. It's running in an orderly manner, making loud and low sounds. Next to the pile, there are also some people walking around in oil-stained overalls, while others are sitting on their seats, holding the paper in their hands and gently depicting something, looking very attentive and serious, as if they are students in the Academy of Fine Arts who are studying painting seriously.

In the illuminated underground hall, the machines and workers are running in a nervous and orderly manner, no different from the scene on the floor of any factory on the ground.

The only thing that is different is one thing - and that is the products of this factory.

It is precisely because the product is so special that they can only set up this factory in the dark underground and carefully maintain the operation of the factory.

After inspecting the underground workshop, Charles nodded in satisfaction and followed Lola down the steps to the surface.

Immediately, a middle-aged man wearing only a shirt and a big brown beard greeted him and saluted Lola.

Lola just nodded her head in return, then pointed at Charles and said to him.

"Show this gentleman what you have done."

The middle-aged man bowed again in silence, and then led Charles and Lola to a cubicle without saying a word.

Then, they saw the products of this underground workshop.

Piles of paper were scattered everywhere.

The colorful pieces of paper, stacked in layers and placed on the shelves, seemed to still exude the fragrance of freshly made ink, and then mixed with the turbid air underground, becoming an indescribable smell.

Charles stepped forward, then pulled out a piece of paper from it and looked at it carefully.

The texture of the paper, yes.

Coding in the corners, yes.

The font and signature of the word, yes.

A large line of de-mille-francs on the paper lifted Charles' spirits.

Only the last one remains.

Charles cautiously looked at the portrait on the edge of the paper, on the pillar of the twin serpents, the goddess was looking at him, her face was expressionless, but she seemed to be smiling slightly, as if to congratulate the group on their hard work, and as if to wish Charles success in the future.

Charles's hands trembled slightly.

Or that's right.

"We ...... It worked! Under the shock of great joy, Charles barely managed to maintain his composure.

That's right, this piece of paper is a copy of the bank notes issued by the Banque de France, which is commonly referred to as ...... Banknotes. Banknotes with a face value of 1000 francs.

"The same machine, the same printing method, the same process. Even people with the same training have spent so much time that it's strange that they don't succeed......" Lola next to her. If you reply meaningfully, "Isn't it, Your Excellency the Chancellor of the Exchequer?" ”

"I'm not anymore." "Besides, I wouldn't have been able to do it without the legacy of your father, who was president of the Banque de France, and the late Baron de Beauwon's help to me." I'm toothless and unforgettable......"

After hearing Charles mention the word father, a cold light flashed on Lola's face for no apparent reason, and she even paused her breathing slightly. And this is also the result that Charles deliberately said this to see.

But Lola quickly regained her composure.

"Now there is no de Beauvan, only the Duchess of Ricarnisit." She replied indifferently, "Okay, we've made the counterfeit money you want now." What do you want to do next? ”

"It's not counterfeit money. It's just a banknote that has been produced without legal procedures...... In other words, it's an additional injection of liquidity into the market. ”

Lola looked at Charles coldly, as if she wanted to see how thick the man's face really was.

But she miscalculated, and Charles didn't show any embarrassment, but continued.

"How much can you do in a month?"

"In order to shock the economy and the market as much as you envisioned, we can't just do 1,000 francs, 500 and 200, 100 as well. In addition, the workers are still fresh, so they can't do much. Besides. What can such a small workshop do if it is really running well? In the future, I will only be able to make one or two hundred million francs a month. ”

"That's enough." Charles nodded.

That's enough, indeed.

One or two hundred million a month, a dozen or two billion a year, if it is in the 21st century, this money is nothing at all, and the government's banknote printing factory can even supply so much money to the market in a day or two. But in 1859, when the gold standard was still in place, this meant a rather horrible meaning - the paper, the seemingly worthless paper that had been discarded haphazardly, was worth hundreds of tons of gold, if no one found out that it was counterfeit.

It doesn't matter if they find out, if they can't tell the difference between genuine and counterfeit banknotes, if they stop the payment of banknotes altogether, it will only bring more panic.

"Next, you should carefully spread this money into the market through the guò banking system, and then use it to exchange it for real money and hoard it, and when the time comes, we will run together!" As long as we take the lead in setting off a trend, the people will definitely panic and run to the banks, and suddenly there are so many banknotes in the market, they will definitely not be able to pay so much gold, I don't know about them? That's when they're in trouble! ”

"When the time comes, they will either announce the depreciation of the franc or simply stop the payment of banknotes." Lola replied calmly, apparently having figured out Charles's train of thought.

"That's right! Whichever way they choose, they can only cause more panic. When the time comes, everyone will want to spill all the paper money in their hands, and the financial system of the empire will be in a big mess. "I don't think they can solve this problem." ”

"So I'll have to invite you back then?" Lola glanced at Charles, half mockingly, half admiringly. "Only Monsieur de Treville, of great repute, can save the empire from a crumbling financial and financial crisis?"

"That's it." Charles nodded, "When the time comes, he can only call me back and let me solve this crisis, I will wait for this day in Vienna, and this time, I will no longer depend my fate on the whims of the monarch, and I will never let myself suffer this disgrace again...... He doesn't want to trip me again, I'll let him know the price!" ”

The determination contained in these words made Lola stunned slightly.

It's good, it's good...... That's great.

"That's right, that's right!" She couldn't help but laugh out loud again, "Even His Majesty the Emperor has no right to stop us. If we are detached from the world, of course we cannot be bound by the world, even the emperor! ”

In this way, the two of them initially reached the next action plan.

As for how many people will be bankrupt or even ruined in this artificially created trend? Neither of them remembered, and neither of them even cared.

After inspecting the counterfeit money factory underground, Charles and Lola return to the villa's dining room.

Lola made a gesture casually. The servant began to serve the dish slowly.

To Charles' surprise, there was an extra person next to Lola.

A little girl, to be exact.

The little girl looked like she was about four or five years old, and she was wearing a dress. He has long chestnut hair, fair skin, and a delicate face. Her brown eyes were just looking at the plate in front of her, and her expression was very indifferent, almost like a trumpet Lola.

"Why did you bring her here?" Charles was taken aback.

"Since you're here too, I'm bringing our daughter over to play, what's wrong?" Lola replied as if it were a matter of course.

"But is this the place to play?"

"Isn't it?" Lola asked coldly.

Lola looked right. Charles was short of words for a while, and he didn't know what to say.

And the little girl was just eating quietly, as if she hadn't heard the two adults arguing at all.

"Liana?" Charles gave up on continuing the argument with Lola. looked at the little girl in front of him and said hello with a smile.

But the little girl just glanced up at Charles, and then nodded slightly, as if to say hello to Charles. Then she retracted her gaze and continued her meal.

Look at this child so believing. Charles's heart ached, and an unspeakable sense of guilt made him feel very uncomfortable.

"How did you bring Liana like this!" He looked at Lola with some annoyance.

"What's wrong with that?" Lola replied with a sneer, "Liana is very smart, and she never wastes useless feelings, which is like my daughter." ”

"You ......," Charles froze for a moment.

However, Liana's concerned gaze finally made Charles feel better. The child was not without feelings. I just don't like to show it.

Because of the small amount of food, Liana quickly finished eating. With her mother's permission, she bowed gracefully to the two of them, and then slowly withdrew from the restaurant. Obviously only at this age, she actually looked as calm as an adult, which made Charles not know what to say.

The lunch was not very pleasant, and Charles suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and finished it, and then planned to say goodbye to Lola.

However, Lola stopped him.

"Mr. Treville, you seem to have forgotten to reward me for the hard work I have done for you."

"Reward?" Charles was a little confused, "Do you think I'm just doing this for myself?" ”

"Anyway, at least I'm taking a big risk to do you a favor." Lola remained calm, "Since I helped, you should be paid, right?" ”

“…… Okay, so tell me how you want me to get in return. Charles gave up arguing with her.

Lola was silent for a moment, then smiled strangely.

"This time, I want a son."

This sudden smile was so contrasting with his usual cold expression that it turned into a wonderful sense of charm, which made Charles suddenly feel a little stupid in his heart.

"Your husband is seriously ill." He hurriedly suppressed this sudden desire to suppress himself. "Shouldn't you have gone back to be with him sooner? Besides, we've been so many times in the past few years, aren't you still not pregnant? There are some things that can't be forced too hard......"

"What the hell? That old guy should have died a long time ago, as long as he left the title. Even if he died before I got pregnant, I could have found another one, anyway, in Italy there are poor dukes and princes, as long as they pay a little money, whatever they care? Despite the cruel words, Lola's smile didn't change at all, "After all, this kind of person is just a worm, he has no ambition or brainpower, he only knows how to have fun, but he doesn't even know how to control his own life, just a poor worm with an empty title." There are still 30 million of these bugs in this country, which is really uncomfortable...... Charles, we are different, we are destined to be above them, and my son, like us, will wear the title of Duke or Prince, born on the head of this swarm of bugs...... Charles, let's try harder......"

Looking at Lola's smile, Charles suddenly had an irrepressible fire of desire again.

There was nothing more intense than a woman's arrogance, and he, as before, could not help but want to throw this conceited woman to the point of surprise and ravage her on the bed, so that all her wild words would turn into moans.

Well, maybe even this was what she expected.

Well, no matter so much.

"Okay, then come on!" He gritted his teeth and stood up, then walked up to Lola, forcibly hugged her, and walked slowly towards the bedroom as if he were picking up a large doll. (To be continued......)