"I'll handle the attack myself, just put this matter aside for now, I promise I won't implicate you."

The Duke of Richelieu swept the flowers blooming in front of him with an expressionless face, and said in a deep voice:

"The key now is the crown prince."

Although the Duke of Richelieu was also a little annoyed by Lord Mopp's unrestrained confrontation, he still hid his personal emotions deeply.

This temperament was already in place decades ago.

Although the Duke of Richelieu now has a huge influence in political circles and aristocratic circles, he really has no real power in his hands, so he still needs the powerful Lord Mup to be on his side.

And when Justice Mopp saw that the Duke of Richelieu had surrendered himself to a step, he snorted and ended the topic by saying:

"I went back to Paris yesterday afternoon, and I don't have any news from the crown prince."

"That is to say... The Crown Prince's decision to come to Paris should have been improvised. ”

The Duke of Richelieu stretched out his hand and put a white lily under his nose, sniffed it, turned the flower stalk and said:

"It seems that he was instigated by Lawrence Bonaparte, and I do not know by what means the young man used to persuade the king."

Justice Mopp's anger had apparently not completely dissipated, and when he heard the Duke of Richelieu mention the damned Doge of Corsican again, he couldn't help pouting and saying:

"What other means can there be, it is definitely to bewitch the king with rhetoric. That kid is even more insidious and cunning than a cobra in the jungle, huh. ”

The Duke of Richelieu reluctantly threw aside the lily in his hand, moved his neck twice, and said:

"In a way, that's also a plus. Having said that, the crown prince's visit should not be for political purposes, and even if there is a political purpose, it should not be for us. ”

"Hmm... That's right. ”

Lord Mopp pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Both understood that King Louis did not wish to exacerbate the struggle between the Duke of Choiseul and the Duke of Richelieu, and that he was most happy to see the two factions living together in harmony.

Of course, the Duke of Richelieu was certainly not happy to live with the status quo, after all, it meant that the Duke of Choiseul would continue to be in power, and he and his family would be further and further away from the center of politics.

However, since King Louis wanted the two factions to reconcile, the purpose of sending Crown Prince Louis to Paris was definitely not to suppress the Duke of Richelieu's faction, but for another purpose.

This is also the consensus of the two.

"That being said, Choiseul and Bonaparte would not dare to blatantly use the crown prince against us, but they certainly would not give up the political value of the crown prince."

Justice Mopp propped his chin with his hands and analyzed with a gloomy face:

"We're going to be a little bit passive for a while."

"It should be like this, it's time to switch offense to defense."

The Duke of Richelieu nodded slightly:

"But... As soon as Baron Betula's plan and I begin to execute, everything will be fine. ”

"Those conspiracies of yours and the British ambassador? Well, I hope you're sure, Lord Duke. ”

Lord Mopp glanced at the Duke of Richelieu suspiciously, and said in a very flirtatious voice.

He no longer trusted and relied on the Duke of Richelieu as much as he had been.

...

On the other side, the Douilleur Palace, which has been watched by countless pairs of eyes, has become a focal point in Paris.

Not only politicians, but also citizens from all walks of life are speculating and inquiring about the purpose of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's visit to Paris.

In just a few hours, many of the magnates had already sent their men to guard the streets and shops around the Palazzo Douillelery, keeping an eye on the movements inside and outside the palace.

Even the major newspapers are preparing to make the visit of Crown Prince Louis to Paris tomorrow's front-page report, and at this moment almost all their reporters have been sent around the Tuinlery Palace.

One only has to look at the crowded cafés and restaurants around the Palazzo Douilleri to see how many people are focusing their eyes on the former royal palace.

In the evening, an abrupt carriage suddenly broke into the sight of the spies.

The carriage was black, very plain, without any exaggerated ornamentation, and was slowly moving towards the Palazzo Douilleri.

The carriage was clearly not the car of a nobleman, as the side walls of the carriage were not painted with heraldic, and most nobles did not travel in such a carriage with no personality or character.

The coachman was wearing white gloves and a gray dress, but he looked nervous, as if it was the first time he had driven to such a deep palace as the Du Yin Leli Palace.

Eventually, the carriage came to a smooth stop in front of the palace gates.

Two richly dressed gentlemen, with short cloaks and canes, stepped out of the carriage and stood together at the gate.

They took a few deep breaths in place, seemingly more nervous than the coachman.

"Huh...? That's..."

A spy not far away squinted his eyes and looked around for a moment, and naturally they were all well-informed people who did their job, and soon recognized the two gentlemen, and said in surprise:

"That's Montmartre and Lord Merry, why are they here?"

After hearing this, several people around hurriedly whispered:

"You are Montmartre, commercial bank of France, and Lord Meli, chairman of the Stock Exchange? These two are both people in the financial world. ”

"Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's trip is related to the financial community?"

"It's hard to say, let's wait and see."

"I've got to get the news up and down."

Of course, the most excited in the crowd are the reporters of the financial newspapers, and being able to see their old acquaintances here means that there will be big news in the financial world recently.

...

"I really didn't expect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to invite us to dinner."

In front of the Douilleur Palace, Monsieur de Montmartre pulled his bow tie very nervously, and spoke a little tremblingly:

"Help me take a look, old friend, I don't have a problem with this dress, I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Come on, calm down, Montmartre, you've asked me this question no less than twenty times along the way. Nor will my answer change anything: very decent. ”

Lord Melly tapped Monsieur Montmartre twice on the back, signaled him to calm down, and said:

"This invitation was sent by His Excellency Bonaparte, and it should be to ask us about the listing of the Corsican National Silver Company, don't mess up with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

But Lord Merry, who said so, was no better than Monsieur Montmartre, and he was nervously picking at his cane, and taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.

It was a great honor for the two to be able to have dinner with the future king.

Of course, both of them also knew very well that this invitation was sent by His Excellency Bonaparte, in other words, His Excellency Bonaparte gave them this rare opportunity in several lifetimes.

In that sense, they owe Lawrence a great favor.

After hesitating in front of the door for a moment, the two barely calmed themselves down and slowly walked into the Du Yin Leli Palace.

...

The ballroom was brightly lit, and everything was still arranged according to the specifications of the royal palace more than 100 years ago.

The silver withered tableware and imported porcelain tea sets from Marseille, the silk tablecloth on the table and the sunken wood chairs underneath are all of the finest colors.

This made Monsieur Montmartre and Lord Merry, who lived in a prosperous life, feel ashamed.

Of course, in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, all these material comforts seem to be overshadowed.

Even after saluting Crown Prince Louis, Monsieur Montmar and Lord Merry, who were seated, felt nervous and kept smiling awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"You're Melly and Montemar, aren't they?"

Crown Prince Louis didn't care about the trembling appearance of the two, but looked at them with interest and said:

"I've just heard from Lawrence, financier, that's interesting."

The Palace of Versailles was only haunted by pretentious aristocrats, and the Crown Prince Louis, who still lives there, has not dealt with shrewd financiers.

"Uh, thank you for the compliment, it's really our pleasure."

The two of them were suddenly flattered, and said almost in unison.

Judging from their highly overlapping lines, it is estimated that they have been preparing for this dinner for a long time.

"Ahem" Lawrence coughed lightly twice and said with a smile:

"The main reason for inviting the two of you to dinner this time is to discuss the listing of the National Silver Company, as for why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is also here..."

Crown Prince Louis immediately answered excitedly:

"I've been appointed by my grandfather, oh no, His Majesty the King, as the Treasurer of the Crown, so I'm also going to be involved in the running of this company."

As soon as the words fell, Monsieur Montmartre and Lord Merry on the other side widened their eyes and could not believe their ears.

From the intelligence of these two people, it can be seen that the so-called royal financial director is a false title, and this position did not even exist before, and the purpose of Crown Prince Louis to come to Paris is to participate in the operation of the national silver company?!

Had it not been for Crown Prince Louis himself, Monsieur de Montmartre would not have believed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had come to Paris to manage a company, had he surrendered himself.

Even Crown Prince Louis was not the full owner of the company, the real control was in the hands of the young man next to him, Lawrence Bonaparte.

"How much energy does Lord Bonaparte have... Not only can the Duke of Choisel come forward for him, but now he has also invited His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which is really..."

Monsieur Montmartre shuddered and glanced at Lawrence.

He didn't know about the struggles at the top of Parisian politics, all he knew was that Lawrence could persuade these two powerful men to work for his company.

At the thought of this, Monsieur de Montmartre was even more determined that he would take advantage of the opportunity of the National Silver Company of Corsica to climb the lap of His Excellency Bonaparte.

Lord Melly, who was next to him, had the same idea, and he had already decided that the Corsican National Silver Company must be subject to the most lenient regulation, and that Lawrence must not be offended.

"Hehe... Rest assured, Lord Bonaparte, the process is coming to an end. ”

Monsieur Montmartre said with a smile as he took a file bag from his coat and handed it to Lawrence, adding:

"This is what we are doing for you... You can take a look at the compiled company statements now, and we can make some adjustments at any time. ”

Lawrence nodded, took the file bag and opened it, and took out several of the accounting statements inside.

Crown Prince Louis also hurriedly came over, curiously looking at the dazzling rows of dense numbers on the report.

"The balance sheet... What does this do? Crown Prince Louis asked, puzzled.

Lawrence patiently explains:

"This is the most basic statement that reflects the financial status of the enterprise, Your Highness, you see, here is the asset item, here is the liability item, and the difference between the two items is the owner's equity item, which is commonly known as the net asset item..."

The two people on the opposite side couldn't help but look a little strange as they watched Lawrence tell Crown Prince Louis about these entry-level accounting knowledge.

In their understanding, no big nobles or even members of the royal family are willing to take the initiative to learn financial knowledge, and this is the first time they have seen it.

However, of course, the two did not dare to disturb Lawrence's lecture, so they had to keep smiling and waiting for Lawrence to introduce these statements and some basic financial indicators to Crown Prince Louis.

...

"Shhhh In this way, it is really a bit complicated. ”

After a long while, Crown Prince Louis rubbed his somewhat dazed head and frowned.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who has no financial concept, is naturally very difficult to accept these things for the first time.

"Learning is a gradual process, Your Highness, don't be disappointed by this."

Lawrence said with a smile, putting the reports away, then turned to Mr. Montemar and said:

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but I'm sure these statements will satisfy me, and of course, investors."

"I'm very happy with your affirmation." Mr. Montemar replied with a quick smile.

Lawrence nodded slightly, suddenly remembered something, and asked with a smile:

"By the way, Mr. Montemar, the news I gave you the other day is correct, right?"

A few days ago, after Lawrence published the news in the daily Observation Daily that Justice Mope was going to control the financial markets, the market was unexpectedly pessimistic, ushering in a wave of widespread value declines.

Monsieur Montmartre, who had learned the news in advance, naturally made a lot of money, so he hurriedly said:

"Of course, I must thank you for this, it is really a valuable piece of information."

Lawrence smiled and said:

"You're going to have a chance, but I'm more interested in knowing what the attitude of investors in the market is now, and their investment strategies should have turned conservative, right?"

Mr. Montemar, though he didn't know why Lawrence suddenly asked this, nodded and explained:

"That's right, a lot of people have sold a lot of stocks and bonds, and they have pulled out a lot of money. The market is still a bit sluggish, and they should be cautious in allocating the funds. ”

"In other words, there is a large number of capital in the market that is eager to liquidate, which is really good."

Lawrence nodded with great satisfaction, looked at Lord Melly again, and asked:

"So, how did the IPO process go?"

"You can rest assured that the process is almost complete." Lord Melly said meticulously:

"You only need to confirm the current shareholding structure of the company and decide on the number of shares to be issued this time, and we can list the national silver company. As long as you decide, even tomorrow. ”

"Very good, very efficient, Lord Merry." Lawrence nodded in affirmation:

"But don't be in a hurry to determine the date of listing, there is something else I want to trouble you before that."

"Of course, of course, you can just say it." Hearing that Lawrence had a request for himself, Lord Melly hurriedly replied.

"The stock exchange and the newspapers should be very familiar, right? Especially financial newspapers. Lawrence asked affirmatively.

Lord Melly nodded, and said in confusion:

"Yes, that's right, we'll be announcing it in the newspapers as well."

"I hope that you will invite all the journalists of the newspaper in the name of the stock exchange to meet at noon the Paris Stock Exchange the day after tomorrow. Don't forget to tell them that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and I will be there as well. ”

Lawrence leaned back and looked at Lord Melly with his eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's... Journalists from all newspapers? Do you want to...? Lord Merry asked, surprised.

I saw Lawrence chuckle, slowly shook his head and said:

"Don't they like the news, I'm going to make a big news for them."