Among the many buildings lining Rue Saint-Jacques is the Rather Massive Hotel, known as the Hotel Le Magpie, known for its extravagance.

Today, Charles stays in a small box in the hotel, quietly waiting for his guests to arrive.

He had no interest in admiring the decorative paintings hanging on the walls of the room, nor in looking at the lawn and flower beds outside the window, but quietly played with the cutlery in his hand, thinking about other important matters.

Finally, when he took out his pocket watch for the third time to check the time, the door finally opened, and Kong Ze, who was dressed in black casual clothes, walked in with a blank face.

"Is he finally here?"

"Yes." Kong Ze nodded, "He's already downstairs." ”

"It's an hour behind schedule." Charles was a little displeased.

"It's nice to be here." Kong Ze's tone was still as calm as ever, "He's a big official, we still have to ask him, of course they will put on a show." ”

Charles frowned slightly, but the displeasure was quickly suppressed.

"It doesn't matter, as long as he can get things done, he will set the score."

Then, he also stood up and went down with Kong Ze to greet today's guests in person.

It didn't take long for the short, stocky guest to be greeted by Charles and the others. He was dressed in elegant civilian clothes, his gray-black hair was neatly combed, and he had a kind smile on his face, but he deliberately seemed to be reserved, and the official's style was fully played. When talking to Charles, he always only hummed a few times. His yellowish face was wrinkled. It could no longer be flattened, forming permanent wrinkles of whitish at the bottom of the groove, and a sly light constantly flashed in the brown eyes.

This appearance is both kind and indifferent. Extremely good at change, according to needs, can be turned from arrogance and arrogance to subordinates to flattery and flattery to superiors in a second.

"Thank you, Mr. Calvert, for taking the time out of your busy schedule." As soon as he sat down, Charles smiled and greeted the other party, while gently raising his glass. After a gesture, he drank it himself.

"Monsieur de Treville, you know, to help businessmen who are interested in their careers. We leave no stone unturned. The officer smiled similarly, "You don't have to be so polite. ”

"Oh, thank you." Hearing his words, Charles smiled even more heartily. "It's great that you can say that. We need your help so badly, and with your help, we can get it done! ”

Yes, Charles found this official today to ask for help.

If he wanted to rent an international telegraph line from Paris to Brussels for his newly founded French press agency, he had to get permission from the government, because the line was owned by the government.

So, after the decision was made. He immediately turned his connections and finally invited Mr. Jean-Calvert, a director of agriculture and commerce, today. Make your own request to him. The director has the power in his hands, and if he can nod his head, he will basically be able to decide the final ownership of the entire lease.

[At that time, the cabinet ministries in France were not as complex as they were later, and agriculture and commerce were managed simultaneously under one ministry until the Léon-Gambetta cabinet in 1881, when the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce were divided into two ministries for the first time. 】

Since the beginning of the 19th century, France has changed its regime almost every ten years on average, and in just 70 years, there have been two republics, two kingdoms and two empires.

In this state of turmoil, the power to govern the country has to a large extent been transferred to the hands of officials at the central government who have basically maintained stability. In those decades, there were many changes of dynasties and governments, but the officials in the government offices remained relatively stable, as if they had only changed a few signs, and in the central departments of the government, the form of bureaucratic governance had almost become a common practice.

The country, in this era, already has a huge bureaucratic force of hundreds of thousands of people, which not only makes the state's control capacity unprecedentedly large, but can penetrate into every corner of the country; It also makes it difficult for the country to get rid of the shackles and control of the bureaucratic machine. Ministers come and go, but officials are there all the time.

Even after the Third Republic, the situation did not change much, but even worsened. The frequent and often paralyzed cabinet (prime ministers and ministers only serve for an average of about a year, and in 1911-12 the French government changed foreign ministers and defence ministers a total of three times) also made it impossible for politicians to effectively control the government. In the Third Republic, it was the government officials who were actually in charge of the government, and the politicians were mainly responsible for arguing with each other in parliament and venting the anger of the electorate.

However, Charles was certainly not here to discuss the question of government, and he and Mr. Calvert seemed to have a good conversation, chatting while eating.

"I didn't expect you to have such ambitions at such a young age, you really deserve to be from the de Treville family!" "To be honest, I couldn't believe at first that this man who wanted to compete with Mr. Havas was so young. At your age, I was a minor clerk in the Ministry, and at that time I was still under the control of the Bourbons! ”

"Look at what you said, the surname de Treville doesn't make our wishes come true, it all depends on individual efforts. My grandfather had also had enough of being angry in the previous decades, because he was a supporter of the emperor. After hearing the hint of jealousy in his tone, Charles quickly explained, "Only now can we come out to breathe, hey...... We wasted thirty years! ”

While humbling himself, he implied that he was just the manager of the family, and the actual controller was the old man in the family, so as not to doubt his ability and determination because of his age.

Sure enough, after hearing Charles's answer, a flash of realization flashed in Mr. Calvert's eyes, as if he had the whole situation.

"It turns out that the Marquis of Treville is determined to make such a big investment, I will say, no wonder! However, since you can talk about moving the elderly to invest in this new business, you must have played a big part in it, right? ”

"It's just a few suggestions, and it's they who make the decision." Charles smiled modestly as he continued to unceremoniously make tiger skins for his entire family, "Sir, if you are willing to give us some kind of help in this matter, we will naturally be grateful to you, and even my grandfather's brother, the Duke of Treville, is very interested in this matter......"

"But...... Didn't your grandfather and his brother have a good relationship? Listen to what you mean, it seems that the duke also intervened? "The anecdote of the two Treville brothers, even such officials know about it, shows how widely it has spread in high society.

"Although there are some discords in normal times, who would have trouble with the golden francs?" Charles smiled and replied, "As long as you can make a profit, then the obstacle to political opinion is never a problem. ”

"I see! Hehe, I see......" Mr. Calvert nodded repeatedly, as if suddenly realized.

Under the guidance of Charles, he has decided that this business is the investment direction decided by the famous Treville family, and Charles is the specific manager of the family business - but it is not surprising that when we first met, who would have thought that a young man in his early twenties would have such vision and so much courage?

To be sure, the official certainly welcomed Charles' presence, because if the French press and Havas news began to fight over the lease of the telegraph line, he, as the manager and decision-maker, would of course be able to reap the benefits of selling his powers.

"Since it is the idea of the Tréville family, then I think the government will certainly be happy to see it, after all, the duke used to be a minister, and he is an acquaintance with many people." Mr. Calvert quietly cheered up Charles, and then immediately whetted his appetite again. "But...... There are also quite a few difficulties. You know, Mr. Hawass has been in this industry for a long time, and he knows quite a few people, and to tell you the truth, there have always been many people who want my help in leasing the right to operate the line to him......"

Watching his performance, Charles couldn't help but feel a little more displeased, but since he was willing to play like this, it meant that everything was playful.

"We can certainly understand your dilemma." Charles immediately replied sincerely, "We have always been quite respectful to Mr. Hawas, although we are now rivals. In fact, we also regret having to compete with him for the right to operate the telegraph line. But now that we've decided we want to get involved in this industry, of course we should go all out, shouldn't we? ”

"Oh, of course, each of us should give it our all." Mr. Calvert immediately chimed in.

Then, Charles handed an envelope to the other party.

"This is a detailed plan for the operation of the line, and we promise to cooperate with the government at any time, of course you know the importance of the news to the government, right? So, you can think about it...... "He deliberately increased the volume, repeated," think about it. ”

Hearing Charles' hint, Calvert took the envelope and nodded slightly. "Okay, I'll think about it carefully, don't worry."

The check in the envelope would have made him think clearly, Charles said to himself.

He didn't mind bribing officials, because in 19th-century France, it was almost natural for officials to use their power to their advantage.

"Thank you, Mr. Calvert." He smiled and raised his glass. (To be continued......)