"Charles, congratulations, it's enviable to be able to get the Medal of Honor at such a young age."

In the study, Baron de Beauvan, the great banker, said to Charles with a gentle smile. "And the first time it was level four, and I only had level four!"

"That's just because you're too modest and low-key, and judging by your contribution to the country, if you want a higher Medal of Honor, the government won't refuse it." Charles complimented the other with a little sincerity.

"Maybe so, but what does knighthood and honor mean to me? If it weren't for the convenience of entering your living room, I wouldn't have bothered to ask for this baron's emblem! The baron smiled and shook his head, "As long as I have money, and I am still running my own bank, then I am the uncrowned king, and no other honor can add half a point to me; If I don't have money, I'm bankrupt, scared, even if I get the Grand Cross? ”

"That's a pretty pragmatic view." Charles agreed.

"Bankers can only be pragmatic." The baron replied in a low voice, then took a cup of coffee, "Alright, let's not mention this, Charles, I heard that you are about to be transferred?" ”

"That's true, the president intends to transfer me to the War Department." Charles nodded immediately, and then as if to reassure the other party, he added, "But don't worry, although I have left the Ministry of Railways, my old influence will not be eliminated so quickly, and even if I am not there, my previous ideas and plans will continue to be implemented......"

"Oh, that's good." Baron de Beauvang remained calm. "I'm not worried, though, because the President intends to transfer you to the War Department. He also gave you a medal, and he still trusts and relies on you...... Your reassignment will have little impact on the overall situation of our cooperation. ”

Charles was not surprised by his accurate analysis, and as an accomplished banker, it would be unusual if the baron did not have a good enough sense of politics.

So he easily picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"Still. Since you are going to transfer a henchman like you to the War Department, it means that it ...... Mr. President has decided to speed up the process, after all, time is still limited...... Shire. After that, I'm afraid you will have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. ”

The implicit meaning of the baron's words is also very clear - the president has a term, and once the term is over, whether he can win the election again is still a big question, and Louis Bonaparte will certainly not be willing to entrust his fate to another general election. He definitely wants to fulfill his dream during his tenure. And to fulfill this dream, the help of the Army is needed. Naturally, Charles was also entrusted with such high expectations, hoping that he would be a key figure in the thread between the Bonapartist elements and the army.

"To serve the country and the people, we will never be afraid of hardships and dangers." Charles was still smiling.

"Heha," Baron de Beauwong couldn't help but laugh out loud at Charles' expression, "That's right. That's right! To serve the country and the people, we will never be afraid of hardships and dangers. ”

After laughing for a while. He stopped laughing and waved at Lola, who had been standing next to him. "Lola, tell me about the project you're responsible for."

Yes, his daughter, Miss Lola de Beauvan, stood behind her father all the time, without any expression on her face or making any sound, watching her father talk to Charles like a sculpture.

It wasn't until she was summoned by her father that she picked up the text in her hand with a blank face and prepared to hand it to her father.

"No need, you can report to me concisely and concisely, so as to save some time."

"Okay, Dad." Lola nodded slightly, and then went straight down, "According to the investigators' report, judging from the current situation, the progress of this project has been very smooth, the first phase of the project has basically been completed, those blast furnaces will soon start operating, and it is expected that within a month or two, the first batch of products will be completed as planned...... All in all, I don't see any unexpected risks at the moment, and I'm in very good condition, father. ”

"Very well, thank you, Lola." The baron nodded, clearly pleased with his daughter's report.

Then, he turned to look at Charles, "Congratulations again, Charles, your efforts have not been in vain. ”

"Thank you, but I think it's a joint effort." Charles nodded, "In addition, judging from the current progress of the railway project, Yiqiē is also very smooth, and it is expected that after a while, the branch line I designed will be able to be laid to Giverny." As soon as the railway is opened, I will be able to exert influence within the Ministry of Railways and designate our steel plant as one of the designated suppliers......"

"Very well, Charles, I like people like you, who are smart, cautious, unhurried, and strictly follow the plan." The baron smiled with great satisfaction, "It is so touching to be able to see with my own eyes that a young man has accomplished such a great undertaking from scratch, it simply made me see myself in my youth!" Oh, the person with the surname de Treville probably doesn't think I'm complimenting, right? ”

"No, on the contrary, I feel very honored." Charles replied very sincerely. Because that's exactly what he thinks.

"Well, that's fine. Now that we are working together, I sincerely hope that we will be able to do the same in the future. ”

"I hope so, too."

"Well, I don't have any opinion on working with you, but I have another question that I would like to ask for your help." The baron placed the cup in his hand on the table, and then looked at Charles lightly, "I hope to be able to give me a favor without much help......

"What kind of help do you want?" The sudden words made Charles nervous slightly, but he quickly settled down.

"Haha, look at your nervous look!" The banker laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to do anything embarrassing, I'm just trying to do you a favor." ”

"Please." Charles spread his hands.

"Charles, remember the last time? I told you I sent an exploration team to the west coast of the Americas in search of gold......"

"Huh? Exploration results? Charles answered. I seem to understand something.

"Yes, the exploration has been very smooth, and the engineers I sent have found a piece of land with rich gold resources. And our men are already encamped there. However, now we are facing some problems with development......"

"What's the problem? Is it a shortage of manpower? Charles replied immediately.

"Oh, what a Charr!" The Baron gave Charles an approving smile, "Yes, we do have a shortage of manpower right now - even if the gold content is relatively abundant there, mining the sands is not an easy job, and it requires a lot of manpower. So Charles. I wonder if you can give us a way to get a lot of people from France to go and pan for gold? ”

"How many people do you need?" The smile on Charles's face vanished, and he became stern again.

"The more the merrier. Preferably a thousand. Although the freight of transporting all these people to the Americas is very high, as long as there is gold, the cost is nothing. The baron replied in a low voice. Shire. Will you be able to find enough people for us? The price is easy to manage......"

From the baron's hints, Charles understood the banker's intentions, and he wanted Charles and Louis Bonaparte and others to pull people from the country to work as coolies to dig sands.

After figuring it out, Charles fell into deep thought.

He didn't have any moral scruples, and he didn't really care if the prisoner was tossed to death in the Americas, and he estimated that if he did so, it would be a huge scandal for Bonaparte and himself if it was exposed. Even the political crackdowns - there will always be people who accuse the French government of deliberately executing criminals by the hands of merchants.

It was precisely because he understood the risks of doing so that he hesitated and hesitated.

"What's wrong? Isn't it okay Charles? "Seeing that Charles has been silent. The banker asked next to him.

Charles was still pondering, he didn't want to fall out with the Baron for now, but he didn't want to risk his political prestige either.

Is there a way to get the best of both worlds?

It may be possible to recruit unemployed workers - after the previous economic downturn, there are now a large number of unemployed workers in France, and it should not be difficult to find a few thousand of them who want to go to the New World to pan for gold and change their fortunes, as long as the government helps to publicize it...... So how can the government, that is, Louis Bonaparte, help? In other words, how can you make him feel that it is advantageous to help as well?

In a flash of inspiration, Charles suddenly came up with a great idea.

"So, how about we issue lottery tickets?"

"Huh?" The baron was a little surprised, not understanding why Charles would say that.

"We can issue a lottery ticket and set the price at one franc. This kind of lottery is to help people realize their dream of making a fortune, as long as they are selected, the issuer will give the winner a ticket to the New World to help them pan for gold. Charles looked at the banker calmly, "There are so many unemployed people now, there should be many people who are willing to go, so many people, we only need to pick one or two thousand of them." ”

The banker's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's a good idea, if this ticket can be sold, then I can even save money on the ferry ticket, and maybe even make a fortune!"

"I should be able to earn a lot." Charles nodded, "But I think you should give this money to Mr. President, because it is illegal to issue lottery tickets without the consent of the government, in other words, this is a lottery issued by Mr. President to help the poor, and we are just executors." ”

After hearing Charles' idea, the baron looked at Charles silently, and then laughed.

"Hahahaha, yes, that's it, I just need to save my capital."

"Anyway, you know the lottery, who wins and who doesn't, or do we have the final say?" Charles quietly took another sip of coffee, "For those numbers that are destined not to win, we will send ten or twenty tickets, and sell them all to him!" As long as these tickets are sold, Mr. President will be very happy, because he will make a lot of money from them, and he will be able to get a good reputation among the laborers......"

"Yes, it does. Charles, I did not misread you. The banker looked at him with a smile. That's a great idea! Kill more than one stone! I save money on the ferry ticket, and the president can earn a lot of money, and you ...... You'll also make the president happier, and everybody will be happy. ”

"It's also good for the people." Charles also smiled and replied, "We can give a lot of people a chance to get rich, can't we?" In France they may be hungry and cold, but in the Americas they will at least have the opportunity to dig sands. ”

"That's that!" The banker still laughed, "We have always served the country and the people." ”

Both men tacitly agreed not to talk about the mortality rate of the gold prospectors in the western United States at the time, which was not a concern at all.

Charles and Baron de Beauvang then worked on the details in order to turn the idea into a viable reality at a later date.

Behind the banker, neither of them noticed that Miss Lola de Beauvang was also looking at Charles with unemotional eyes. (To be continued......)