The mayor of Johip sat silently, not daring to come out, for fear of disturbing His Excellency Bonaparte's musings.

It wasn't until Lawrence opened his eyes and his expression softened a little that the mayor of Joshp carefully proposed:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, I'm afraid that's all I have valuable news here. I have also compiled the accounts of the refugees who fled the famine, so that you can take them with you before you leave if you need them. ”

Lawrence rubbed his somewhat dazed head vigorously, and decided that for the time being, the new mystery should be put aside, and in the absence of further information, it would be difficult for Lawrence to deduce the truth of everything with a brilliant mind.

For Lawrence, the most important thing at the moment was to draw the mayor of Joshpp to his side, and gradually help Lawrence establish his roots in Marseille through his status as a municipal officer.

As for how to win over the mayor of Joshit, Lawrence is also completely familiar with this, that is, to establish the common interests of the two parties, and then use the link of interests to closely link the two together.

"Then I'll have to ask Mr. Mayor, to pass on those pamphlets to my retinue."

Lawrence smiled and said lightly, and after dropping the sentence, he silently played with the crystal goblet in his hand.

Mayor Joshp waited a little longer, and when he saw that Lawrence didn't mean to speak, he asked cautiously:

"By the way, Your Excellency Bonaparte, didn't you just say that it is not impossible to make a short-term political achievement in Marseille as long as there is outside help, what do you mean...?"

"This... It's actually quite simple. ”

Lawrence shook the wine glass in his hand, looked at the crystal clear sherry at the bottom of the glass to form a smooth little whirlpool, and said with a chuckle:

"Mr. Mayor, what do you think is most important about Marseille at the Palace of Versailles?"

"Which aspect..."

The mayor of Josip could not help but become nervous, and from the tone of his Excellency Bonaparte he could hear that he might have a glimmer of hope, and he immediately thought deeply, as anxious as a student who had been improvised by a teacher.

After a long time, the mayor of Johip said tentatively:

"In order to ensure order and stability, I think the king and his ministers are most concerned about the economic situation of Marseille, and the annual tax paid by our city is close to five million livres, which is second only to Paris and Lyon, and many of the food and clothing expenses in the Palace of Versailles are Marseille silver coins."

"Exactly, Mr. City Councilor."

Lawrence put down his wine glass, clapped his hands gently, and said with a smile:

"As long as you can get Marseille's economy to grow rapidly, even for a while, that's enough to give the Duke of Choiseul a good reason to make him propose to promote you in front of the king."

"The rapid development of the economy..."

The mayor of Josip's eyes lit up, and although he knew that it was almost impossible to do so by his own ability, since His Excellency Bonaparte had specifically said this, it meant that there must be a way to achieve it.

So he asked excitedly:

"What do you mean, Lord Bonaparte...?"

"You should know I have a lot of liquidity, right?" Lawrence asked, holding his chin with his hands crossed, looking at the mayor of Joshit.

"Of course, of course, it's the money of the Corsican National Silver Company." Mayor Johip nodded repeatedly.

Over the years, the mayor of Josip, who has been seeking an upward path, has 70 percent of his mind on the situation in Paris, so he is of course well aware of the recent news in the financial circles of Paris, the listing of the Corsican National Silver Company.

"If I'm not mistaken..."

The mayor of Joshipp tapped his head, trying to recall the news of the company, and then said:

"The Corsican National Silver Company should have eighteen million livres in liquidity, if you haven't already invested that money."

The way the mayor of Johip got the information was naturally through the false statements disclosed by Monsieur de Montmartre and Lord Merry, so he also thought that Lawrence had a fortune of nearly twenty million livres.

Of course, Lawrence will not take the initiative to expose this lie, so he nodded approvingly and said:

"Yes, then you should know that this money will be used not only for the development of the Ajaccio silver mine, but also for the construction of Corsica..."

The mayor of Johip nodded in agreement, as a figure in the middle and upper echelons of French politics, he was also very aware of this trick of turning his left hand into his right hand, and such a huge fortune would naturally not be fully invested in the development of that silver mine, after all, Corsica is now in ruins, waiting for appropriations in various places.

"And in the construction of Corsica, our island also needs an external window if it wants to develop."

Lawrence tapped on the table and continued:

"I think maybe Marseille can be that window."

Mayor Josiep's mouth subconsciously opened wide, and a series of numbers flashed through his head.

Eighteen million livres, of which only one-fifth, nay, even one-tenth could be invested in Marseille, and the mayor of Johip felt that he had a chance to accomplish what His Excellency Bonaparte had said.

And even without considering his own promotion, the mere investment of a few million livres for the city of Marseille was enough to make the mayor of Johip stand out for a while in front of the merchants and factory owners, as well as the subordinate bureaucrats.

As soon as he thought of this, Mayor Josip's heartbeat quickened again, and he couldn't suppress a smile and said:

"I, I don't know what to say, Sir Bonaparte, thank you for your love for me and for all of Marseille, and I assure you on behalf of the entire town hall that we will not disappoint..."

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. City Councilor."

Lawrence suddenly waved his hand to interrupt the assurances of Mayor Josip, and said with a smile:

"It's a big investment, and it can't be so easily determined."

Mayor Joshit's movements froze for a moment, like a child playing a game of wooden men, before he retracted his smile and asked with a frown:

"That's... Your Excellency Bonaparte, how would you like to confirm this? ”

"To be honest, this is my first time in Marseille and the first time I've been dealing with Marseille City Hall."

Lawrence slowly shook his head and said:

"I don't mean to offend you and the bureaucrats of Marseille City Hall, but at the moment I cannot guarantee that you will be able to reach this long and deep cooperation with Corsica. Unless... We can start with a successful and excellent cooperation. ”

The mayor of Josip was also very shrewd, and when he heard Lawrence say this, he immediately took out his memo and quill, and put his gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and asked earnestly:

"What kind of cooperation would you like to work with first?"

Lawrence looked at the mayor of Joship, who was so good, and couldn't help but smile and nodded, and slowly stretched out five fingers and said:

"Five hundred thousand livres, I would like to entrust the town hall of Marseille with the purchase and distribution of a quantity of grain for me, with only the coarsest black bread and black beans, to be delivered in about a month."

At the current price of goods in France, about five souls of copper coins can make an adult barely fill his stomach for a day with the most modest food.

In this way, if you ignore the cost of procurement, transportation and other expenses, the 500,000 livres of food are enough to save 100,000 people from starvation for more than half a month, although in reality, this figure will only be lower.

And Lawrence's purpose in requesting this batch of food was naturally to deal with the famine in the Kingdom of Naples.

"Brown bread and black beans, delivered in a month... Okay, I wrote it down. ”

The mayor of Joship, as he repeated Lawrence's words as he recorded them in the pamphlet, then looked up and said confidently:

"It's August, it's the time of harvest in the fields around Marseille, so the price of grain won't be too high, and a large piece of black bread baked this month should only cost five sules, and as for black beans, ......"

"No, no, no, Mr. City Councilor."

Lawrence interrupted Mayor Joshp again, shook his head, and said:

"I don't care and I don't want to know what the price of food is in Marseille now, I just know that in a month Corsica will pay five hundred thousand livres to the town hall of Marseille, which will deliver the grain to Corsica. As for how much food is delivered, it depends on your ability. ”

"Our ability..."

Mayor Josip was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lawrence with a bitter look in his eyes.

The mayor of Josip, who had been in politics for decades, knew all too well that His Excellency Bonaparte was testing the competence of the town hall of Marseille as their sincerity.

The fund of half a million livres had been fixed, and in a month it would be impossible to say that the amount of grain delivered by the mayor of Johip was even lower than the amount converted at market price.

But the mayor of Joshipp also knew in his heart that purchasing such quantities of brown bread and black beans was not an easy task, and that the various expenses in the process, whether it were storage and transportation or relations with the merchants' guilds, were a large expense.

If the mayor of Joshipp had really used only the five hundred thousand livres to buy it, the final amount would have been less than the market value, and Lord Bonaparte clearly meant that the more the better.

In other words, the Marseille city hall has to pay a lot of money for it.

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, why don't you set an amount, so that it will be easier for us to make a contract."

Mayor Joshpp looked at Lawrence's face and suggested cautiously.

Lawrence narrowed his eyes slightly, exhaled slowly, and said in a deep voice:

"Mr. Mayor, Corsica needs to cooperate with a French port city, but that doesn't mean it's Marseille, and Nice to the east might be a good choice as well."

Nice is a city more than 150 kilometers east of Marseille, and it is also a prosperous seaside port city, and it is also the fifth largest city in France after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse.

"From Bastia in Corsica to Nice, the route takes a third less time than from Ajaccio to Marseille."

Lawrence stared at the bitter Mayor of Johip and said:

"From a geographical point of view, Corsica might have been better off choosing Nice, and the mayor of Nice would probably not turn Corsicans away, right?"

"I..."

The mayor of Josip suddenly stopped, there was already a competition between Nice and Marseille, and if the town hall and the citizens of Marseille learned that their city council had driven such an investment to Nice, then the mayor of Johip would lose face.

"And, Mr. Mayor."

Lawrence put away his serious expression, and said with a kind smile:

"If Corsica and Marseille can work together for a long time, there will be many opportunities for the two of us to come and go. If, in the meantime, I happen to discover in you some exceptional talent, I shall be glad to present an outstanding talent to His Majesty the King and to the Duke of Choiseul. ”

"You, you mean...?!"

The mayor of Joshipp was speechless again, but this time because of the overflowing excitement.

He excitedly stretched out his index finger and pointed at it, then clenched his fist and asked in a loud voice:

"Are you saying that you agree to recommend me to the Duke of Choiseul?"

Lawrence smiled and said ambiguously:

"If you can cooperate with us, and make our cooperation always pleasant and successful, I have no reason to let such a good governor be overworked."

With that, Lawrence reached out and tapped on the memo of the mayor of Jospp, and said with a blank smile:

"From this one time on."

Mayor Joshp glanced down at the memo and nodded twice to indicate that he understood, then carefully placed it in his desk drawer.

In the face of his own political future, the mayor of Joshipp had little room for hesitation.

Seeing that the mayor of Johip nodded in agreement, Lawrence knew that he could already treat him as half of his own, and the handle he cared about the most had already been held in Lawrence's hands.

As for why he gave the Marseille City Hall half a million livres to buy as much food as possible, it was not that Lawrence deliberately tried to test his sincerity by making things difficult for the mayor of Joshyp, but that Lawrence had deliberated about it.

According to Lawrence's estimate, given a month to the Marseille City Hall, the amount of food they can raise and distribute is about 500,000 livres.

Even if Lawrence increases the purchase amount, it will be difficult for the people of the town hall to allocate more food in such a short period of time, unless they encroach on the interests of the farmers and citizens of the Marseille area, but this is also a consequence that Lawrence does not want to see, after all, he already sees Marseille as an important base for the future.

And Lawrence expected that the situation in Naples could change at any time, so he could only give Marseille City Hall a month.

"By the way, Your Excellency Bonaparte, I take the liberty of asking."

The mayor of Joshipp placed the memo away, picked up the bottle and filled the glass for Lawrence, and then asked curiously:

"The grain you requested was intended for export to the Kingdom of Naples, right? But I also mentioned to you that the Kingdom of Naples has raised the tariff on grain imports, and I am afraid that the export of your food will not be very profitable in the past. ”

"That's true, but while money is important, it's not the most important thing."

Lawrence took the full wine glass and said with a smile:

"So this grain was not sent to the Kingdom of Naples for profit."

"Not for profit? What's that for? The mayor of Johip asked with a frown.

"Mr. Mayor, there was once a passage from an Eastern minister that roughly meant..."

Lawrence said slowly:

"The cold man applauds when he puts on a short shirt, and the hungry man says it is sweet when he eats the chaff. The people of the world are waiting to be fed... It is the best capital of the new monarch..."