Charlotte's vicious curse, of course, the Count of Monte Cristo could not hear it, or even if he could hear it, he fell asleep peacefully and had a very good night's sleep after seeing off the angry Charlotte, who usually had a good night's sleep when he saw that his plan was on the right track and had taken a crucial step.

Early the next morning, the Count of Monte Cristo, who had recuperated his spirits, rode in his carriage and came to the house of the great banker, Baron Tangral.

It was not the first time that the Count of Monte Cristo had visited the Baron Tangral, for the servants had already known the name of the foreign tycoon, and the Baron had already instructed him not to wait at the door as long as he came to his house, so he was immediately let in.

His carriage and coachman were taken by the servants to take care of him, and he stepped into the baron's study with ease.

"Mr. Earl, you have been on time!" As soon as he stepped into the study, Baron Tangral greeted him with warm open arms.

With an ugly smile on his shriveled face, his face full of red light, and a smile in his eyes, it was evident that he was genuinely welcoming this very, extremely rich tycoon—when a big financier saw a big investor or a big fat sheep, he would have shown such kind and kind eyes.

"I don't dare to waste your precious time, sir." The Count of Monte Cristo was much more cold, but he still warmly shook the hand of Baron Tangral, "As a great man like you, there are so many important things to do every day, and so many people waiting for you to command, if I waste too much of your time, it will be a crime against France." ”

"I didn't expect you to be so flattering." Baron Tangral's mouth was even more open, his face was wrinkled like a blooming sunflower, and he honestly couldn't give others a sense of pleasure, "Rest assured, my time is tight, but it is more than enough for you, and I have the patience to help you get on the right investment path." ”

He is now indeed ready to help the Count of Monte Cristo invest.

Not long ago, he took the Count of Monte Cristo to the Paris Stock Exchange, originally just at the Earl's request to take him to see the world, but he didn't expect to see the Count of Monte Cristo, who saw the world, actually had the idea of investing and wanted to follow him to trade bonds.

In the spirit of not slaughtering the fat sheep sent to him, Baron Tangral immediately recommended to the other party the Spanish bonds he is currently underwriting -

Although on the surface this bond is reputable, the price is stable, the prospect of appreciation is very good, and the interest rate is attractive, as the mastermind and leader of all this, Baron Tangral certainly understands that everything about this bond is a bubble, and in essence it is just a dream.

However, the bubble will look brilliant before it bursts, and Baron Tangral has plenty of time to blow it up and attract more people to the scam, and then take their excess money with them so that they can learn a lively lesson in finance.

The Count of Monte Cristo was the best student in the class - at the beginning, Baron Tangral felt that the other party was just talking casually, and would not seriously invest; Even if you invest, the amount will not be too large.

As a result, to his surprise, the Count actually moved seriously, and he not only invested, but also invested a huge amount, which exceeded two million, and even according to his meaning, this was only a preliminary fund.

Where to find such a fat sheep? Baron Tangral was a little moved, he didn't expect that someone would be willing to pay so much money to invest with him.

Of course, moving is moving, and the money that should be taken still has to be taken, but until then, Baron Tangral, of course, does not mind giving the Count of Monte Cristo the best service.

His motto is that if you cheat a customer out of their money, then you have to be so attentive to the customer that they forget about it.

"It is precisely because I believe that you can lead me to the right investment path that I will come to you for advice." The Count of Monte Cristo spread out his hands, and then sat down on his own, without any restraint, "You know, sir, I am a layman anyway, and worse, I am a foreigner, so I cannot get through the labyrinthine jungle of Paris without guidance, and I need your guidance—so I ask you not to hide my secrets, and help me with the same attitude as a student." ”

"It's too much for you to say that, Count." Baron Tangral shook his head, "You are our bank's valued customer, we must serve, we have the obligation to guide you to the right investment direction, reasonably increase your wealth, so that you can enjoy our high-quality services, to help you invest, this is our job." Of course, it stands to reason that I don't need to help clients make investment advice, and many of my partners are used to do this - but the amount of investment is too large for your intentions, so I personally escort you, which is also my special service to you. ”

"Oh! It seems that the rumors about you on the market are really ridiculous nonsense, you are such a good person! The Count of Monte Cristo exclaimed, exaggeratedly, "I finally understand, sir, how you have been able to get everything you have from scratch...... You are so professional, so passionate, so dedicated to serving your customers, what reason why you can't succeed in doing this? ”

"I'm just doing my part, you don't have to take it too seriously." Baron Tangral modestly pushed away the count's praise and quietly tested the count, "By the way, who told you when did you tell you that there was a rumor about me?" ”

"It's just some insignificant people, insignificant." The Earl shrugged his shoulders, "You know, I've been to a lot of banquets in these days, and everyone talks about everything, and inevitably there are some topics to talk about you...... Inevitably, I heard some comments about you, which were mostly positive, but inevitably there was some noise......"

"What noise?" Baron Tangral's eyelids twitched, and then asked quietly, secretly ruthless in his heart, to see who dared to speak ill of himself behind his back.

"You shouldn't mind such a trivial matter, do you?" The Count smiled playfully, and then went on to his own topic. "I've heard people say that your bank has a stable reputation and good service, but you run a business that is too big and therefore has a conflict of interest with many people, so there are occasional business disputes that will affect the return on your investment here and even increase the risk to you."

"Nonsense! What kind of nonsense is this! Baron Tangral scolded almost subconsciously.

Then, he himself felt that his reaction was a little too much, so he hastened to make up for it, "Count, I'm sorry to make you laugh, you are right, it is indeed just worthless gossip, but I have a wholehearted attitude towards my career, and I will not allow anyone to slander and doubt my work, even the slightest suspicion, is a great insult to me!" Excuse me, who the hell said such things in front of you? ”

Although he was aggressive on the surface, his heart was not so nervous, and what he feared most was that someone would uncover his old story in front of the Count of Monte Cristo, and tell the Count that he often swallowed the money of his clients, and now he was relieved to hear the Count say this.

After all, investment has always been risky, and there is no need to deny this, just guide Monte Cristo, and keep it to make this rich stupid rich man rich.

Of course, he still wanted to ask who was there to influence his plan, and he wanted to let that talkative guy learn the lesson he deserved.

"Actually, it's just a little bit of a chat after dinner." The Count of Monte Cristo didn't seem to care, "Charles told me, and when he heard that I wanted to invest, he advised me to be careful, and not to invest indiscriminately because my head was hot. I listened to his advice, but after much thought, I decided to follow you and rely on your help to invest, so you don't have to take these words to heart, this is a thing of the past. ”

"It's that Treville boy......" Baron Tangral's face turned pale, and then he looked away wryly.

If it was any other young man, of course he wouldn't mind teaching a lesson, but Charles de Treville was different, he didn't dare to say anything cruel to the heir of the Treville family, so he was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say, and finally he could only change the topic, "Hey, Charles is a very good young man, but you know, he is only a young man after all, his experience is not extensive enough, he can only see the surface of many things, if he wants to do great things, he still needs a lot of training in the future." ”

Then, he cleared his throat, "Yes, on the surface, my business is very wide, and I have offended a lot of people, these people like to secretly stumble on me and slander my reputation, but on the other hand, it also shows that I am strong, and there are people in all aspects who support me, and it is definitely not an existence that ordinary people can shake - and more importantly, I have a great responsibility and will never make every investment with a frivolous attitude, so although I can't give my clients the highest rate of return, But customers can find security and stability in me, and I think in this day and age, security and stability must be a luxury, and if you can get these things, you have nothing to dislike, right? ”

"You're so right!" The Count of Monte Cristo nodded, as if he were a student listening to his teacher. "Investing in bonds is a new experience for me, as long as I can have a valuable experience for me I am very satisfied, if I can learn from the experience and get a little profit, then I am very satisfied, even if the income is not much, I have nothing to be dissatisfied with. Charles's worries about me are unnecessary, I am not a greedy person in the first place, I will try to convince him. ”

Although it seems that the Count of Monte Cristo is telling Charles the secret in front of Baron Tangral, he is actually helping Charles to relieve himself.

Charles made it clear to him that the Spanish bonds underwritten by Baron Tangral were a scam, but when the Count relayed it to Tangral, he said that Charles was just worried about the instability of yields, and in this case, he was to clear Charles' responsibility in advance.

In order to repay Charles for his inspiration that day, he would also buy him a bond, and according to his plan, if he could accurately snipe at the rise and fall of Spanish bonds, then he would generate a large amount of income, and at that time Baron Tangral would definitely have some suspicions about him, believing that he was involved in a conspiracy against him.

And now that he had said in advance that Charles de Treville was not optimistic about this speculative venture, it would be difficult for the Baron to have any reason to doubt him, even if he had made a large profit from it.

Of course, the Count of Monte Cristo at this time did not know that his pre-preparation was completely ineffective in the end.

And seeing the confession of the Count of Monte Cristo, Baron Tangral was also sneering in his heart.

He already felt that he had seen through the Count of Monte Cristo, and he believed that the Count was the leader of a large bandit organization, and that he had come to France to launder money, which was why he was so enthusiastically involved in bond speculation.

So the Count's statement that "I am not a greedy person" seemed to him to be a complete joke.

"No, your earnings won't be too small – with our delicate operations, it's not impossible for you to make a big deal on bonds, and maybe even double your principal." Baron Tangral regained his usual composure, and his eyes narrowed slightly, like a snake entangled in his prey,

"And what are you going to do?" The Count looked up at the Baron curiously, "Can you please teach me?" ”

"Let me explain it to you." The baron took a sticky note from his desk and wrote it down with a pen.

"The Spanish bonds that we are underwriting now have been issued in three batches, each with a total amount of two million and a face value of two hundred francs, and the market response is very good, the amortization is very smooth, and the circulation is also very smooth, it is a high-quality bond in the market, and now the price has risen to two hundred and eighty francs, and there are people who want to continue to subscribe. So based on the above, we think we can expand the distribution next. ”

He drew a circle on the paper and wrote the number 600.

"Next, we are ready to underwrite the fourth batch of bonds, and the par amount will reach 5 million."

"Five million?" The Count of Monte Cristo looked a little stunned, "So little?" I thought there would be more? ”

Tangral was choked and speechless.

This rich fool!

"Five million is already a lot, sir, considering the size of the companies that issue bonds, I think this is a very reasonable amount, after all, we have to consider the acceptance and capacity of the market, there are many high-quality bonds now, we can't do bad things by ourselves."

"But for me, five million is not enough at all." The Earl sighed innocently, "Sir, you have issued three batches before, a total of six million, plus these five million, the total is only eleven million, for a railway company, these funds can't pave much road, and even more so for me, don't forget that I have prepared two million now, and others will definitely buy it, how can I buy it then?" ”

"You can test the water first, and don't invest so much money at once." The baron laughed dryly.

"Just because I wanted to test the water, I only prepared two million." The Count of Monte Cristo pursed his lips disdainfully, "I just have half a year's pocket money." Really, Baron, don't be petty, expand the financing, no company will be too rich, as long as you are willing to expand the amount of issuance, they thank you too late! In this way, you meet the wishes of both the business and the investors, and you can also earn more fees from it, how many good things can there be in the world? ”

The veins on Baron Tangral's forehead jumped again.

Every time he talks to this guy about money, he has an urge to beat him up.

Well, since this dog mongrel wants to send money, then you don't have to be polite to him.

"Since you say so, I think we can consider increasing the issuance amount and taking care of the enthusiasm of the majority of investors." The baron chuckled dryly again, "I'll go and get in touch with the Spanish railroad company and see if I can expand the distribution." ”

The two people present knew that what was connected with the "Spanish business" was nothing more than a few words from the baron.

"Alright, I ask you to do it as soon as possible so that I can get in as soon as possible, I really can't wait." The Count of Monte Cristo's eyes were full of anticipation, "Really, everything is up to you." ”

"Don't worry, everything will be there, sir." There was a hint of coldness in Baron Tangral's smile. "I'll go ahead and explain it to you."

He picked up the piece of paper again, and then wrote some numbers on it, "At present, the face value of the bond is two hundred, the market price is two hundred and eight, and in the next month, we will pull it up to three hundred and five to three hundred and eight, and if it is ideal, to four hundred." Of course, there will be some fluctuations and shocks in it, and then at the end, it will inevitably rush up, like a hot air balloon. ”

"Pull to four hundred?! Will anyone buy it? The Earl was taken aback and looked at the Baron with doubt, "Monsieur Baron, I am not a financier, so I am not afraid of my question to make you laugh - this bond has a face value of 200 and an interest of 10% per annum, and the interest for 20 years is only 200...... Isn't the price of 400 equal to unprofitable, and someone else buys it? ”

"Earl, you are not a financier, but you are a clever man, but there are two things you have not figured out—" the baron smiled, as if mocking, "first, this is not a simple interest bond, but a progressive rate bond, as long as it is held for a longer period of time, the interest rate will be higher, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the total interest for 20 years will far exceed the price of the acquisition; Secondly, you underestimate people's greed, most people are about the same as ants, where a grain of sugar falls on the floor they will swarm and crawl over, the more popular the thing they are, you will go to calculate the profits, they won't, they will only see that this thing is going up like crazy, and fools are making a lot of money in it, so they will be willing to be fools, crawl in like crazy and gnaw on money, you tell him that the income is almost impossible to cover the price, where will they care about this kind of thing? Sir, it may be a bit cruel to say this, but it is not for nothing that poor people are poor. ”

"In other words, people will think that someone else will buy all the time, so they will buy at a higher price even if the profit margin is thin?" The Count nodded, as if he understood something, "Then in the end they will find that no one is a fool anymore?" ”

"At that time, they can be fools on their own, and there is nothing wrong with that." Tangral shrugged, "Anyway, it's not something we need to care about by then, because we're going to get rid of all the bonds before then, and what happens to them is their own problem." ”

"Okay, I see...... Your job is really complex and simple. The Count of Monte Cristo breathed a sigh of relief, "This lesson is really impressive...... I'm still a little puzzled, though. ”

"What's wrong with that?" Baron Tangral asked rhetorically.

"If your new batch of bonds is also issued as planned and is successfully accepted by the market, you will have a total of 11 million Spanish bonds issued. And according to the transaction price, assuming that it doubles, then the total amount will exceed 20 million...... It is impossible for such a huge amount of money not to attract attention from all walks of life, especially the imperial government...... So will they carry out some troubles? As Charles said before, be influenced by them. ”

Baron Tangral's face suddenly turned ugly.

"Of course there is a problem with you, but as I said earlier, I have a huge career, I have many friends, there are many people who are willing to help me, I am a director of the Banque de France, I have a good relationship with Prince Jérôme, how can there be a problem with these big people helping me? You don't have to worry about that, the government won't get in the way. ”

I see.

The Earl's doubts were cleared.

Although he is not a financier, he is a robber, and although the two professions are one and the other, they are essentially intertwined.

The most important thing that the two professions have in common is that they must find allies or backers in the government, and when they have the government's backing, they can be invincible.

Since Baron Tangral has been engaged in similar deceptions for many years, squeezing a large sum of money, it is impossible for him to eat alone, and a large part of his income must be handed over to his allies and backers, and only in this way can he be safe and sound in the midst of the tide and enjoy the wealth he has robbed with peace of mind.

Prince Jérôme...... It seems to be a tough enough backer.

But so what? It's just a prince.

"In that case, then I have no doubts." With a fanatical determination, the Count of Monte Cristo stood up calmly and bowed to the Baron, "Please begin your actions as soon as possible, my wallet has been waiting impatiently for you." ”

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