Eagle’s Glory

The Glory of the Young Eagle Text Volume 48, Financial Support Under Count Walewski's deliberate efforts to please, Edmund quickly established a friendship with this young man with a special status.

To be fair, Count Walewski is a very outstanding young man with extraordinary temperament and strict education. Therefore, when he is willing to assume the position of a subordinate, he can indeed make everyone impeccable, at least for the most part. It exceeded Edmund's original expectations.

Under Aigron's order, the two people quickly got ready, then took a carriage and quietly returned to Paris from the Palace of Fontainebleau.

After arriving at the Palace of Fontainebleau, although Aigron was not in a hurry to enter Paris to wade into the troubled waters, he has been working hard to maintain public order around him and work with the original local officials to restore normal life order.

Thanks to his efforts, order in the surrounding area, which had been in chaos due to the paralysis of the Paris government, is slowly being restored, and residents' lives and businesses are beginning to return to normal.

In Paris, because the Duke of Orleans and his supporters had captured the palace and held the king's family hostage, the bloody battle in the city was also over. After the fall of the palace, the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, the Marquis de Lafayette, issued an order. , announced that the curfew was strictly enforced in the city. Except for the National Guard, anyone who dared to use weapons to disrupt order would be executed on the spot.

Under his strong pressure, the city of Paris also restored a superficial calm from the chaos.

So now there is a very strange scene. Although strictly speaking France no longer has a legal government, order has been restored inside and outside Paris. The Orleans family is inside and the Bonaparte family is outside, working together to maintain order.

However, this order is extremely fragile. There is no room for compromise between the two families. They have to compete. Their supporters are also gearing up, waiting for their chance to rise to prominence, and they are not willing to do anything about it. Stop at the last step;

More importantly, France will not allow this unresolved state to continue.

Paris is not only the political and cultural center of France, but economically speaking, it is also the most important market with the most purchasing power. Together with nearly one million residents in surrounding areas, it constitutes the most important consumer market in the French economy.

The significance of the economy lies in the circulation of money. If Paris is paralyzed, farmers everywhere will not be able to sell their food, livestock, and fish catches; and Paris workers and citizens may be unemployed or even starve.

Although law and order has been temporarily restored around Paris, the political future is still unresolved. Who dares to go out and spend a lot of money? Who dares to invest and operate?

If this situation continues,

It won't be long before there will be famine in Paris. By then, no matter which side has time to care about the throne, they will have to face an even more terrifying revolutionary army.

Precisely because they understand the anxiety of the current situation, most people hope that the source of the chaos will be solved as soon as possible and a legal government will emerge as soon as possible - for most property owners, which family is more important than a repeat of the most terrifying past events? Sitting on the throne is the least important issue.

No one is more familiar with this volatile and restless environment than Prince Talleyrand, and no one knows how to use it for his own benefit than Prince Talleyrand.

During these days, he seemed to have regained his former glory. With mobility beyond his years, he communicated everywhere, coerced and coerced, swore and swore, and as an "expert", he leisurely carried out his conspiracy activities and put the world to the test. One by one, people who were doubtful or ambitious came to his side.

For Talleyrand, the warm-up game to overthrow the Bourbon royal family is over, he is a spectator; and the official game to decide who rules France has just begun, and this time he will be an important player, even a referee.

Of course, he also knows that the time France can wait is limited, and the time he can have his own way is naturally limited. Even if he spends 90% of his time seeking personal gain and wealth for himself, 10% of the time he must also let this country It can survive without suffering greater disasters.

So he's ready to end this too.

Edmond and Alexander Valewski quietly arrived in Paris that evening.

And he didn't bother to go home to rest, and immediately went to visit an old friend of his - Mr. Bowen of Poncena Bank.

But unlike in the past, this time he did not visit Bowen's mansion, but went to the Poncena Bank Building.

Since the turmoil began in Paris, Beauvin wisely left the mansion and took his wife and children to the bank headquarters for refuge.

When the Poncena Bank building was built, in order to ensure the safety of funds, special consideration was given to sturdiness. In this turbulent season, it finally came in handy and became a refuge for senior bank officials and their families.

In order to ensure their own safety, these senior executives even hired a large group of people to guard the bank at all costs. With their efforts, the bank became like a fortress and was not affected in any way during the turmoil.

Of course, this is also because the bank has a transcendent status and has a large number of sympathizers and backers among the National Guard, and is protected by them. Otherwise, no matter how strong it is, can it be stronger than the Bastille?

After decades of development, these financiers have gradually penetrated into the economic lifeline of the entire country. They financed the construction of canals and mines, and dominated the ups and downs of industries. No matter how the situation changes, no matter which family ascends to the throne, everything will be the same. If you need their help, you will become their protector.

And among these people, for their own power and prestige, they often fight against each other. These fights may not see the light of swords and shadows, and they may not involve tragic scenes of blood and flesh, but when those golden scepters strike each other, it is enough. The whole country felt the shock.

Under the leadership of Mr. Bowen's henchmen, Edmund and Alexander quietly entered the Poncena Bank building.

Soon, they were taken to Bowang's office again.

Seeing Bowen again after such a long time, Edmund found that this guy was still as fat as before, with a kind face.

Obviously, although the country was in turmoil, it did not affect his appetite at all.

"Long time no see, my friend." Edmund took the initiative to step forward and shook hands with him. "I am finally relieved to see that you are unharmed."

"I am equally happy to see you, Mr. Earl." Bowang smiled humbly. "You need to take care of yourself more than I do, because you face many more dangers than me..."

"Oh, this is the gap between us. In order to please His Majesty, I have to run around in dangerous situations, but you just need to sit here and let countless gold coins roll in." Edmund said half Sighing jokingly.

"You have too many misunderstandings about us, sir. We have to fight just like you, but we just fight with pens and account books. If we lose, our families will also be destroyed... I think you have seen it. "Bo Wang is still smiling, without any emotional fluctuations, "Don't look at me sitting here relaxed, but if I relax even a little bit, I will be replaced by others immediately, and everything I have worked hard for half my life will be lost. People will laugh at you easily."

"Then I'm very happy. This time we are fighting on the same side." Edmund nodded, and then asked, "By the way, where is your boss?"

"At the beginning of the chaos, the boss took his children and grandchildren to take refuge in the manor in his hometown." Bowang replied, "Before he left, he entrusted this place to me and asked me to maintain the operation of the bank. "

Edmund understood something instantly.

When he first met Poncena, he came there with a letter of introduction from Prince Lucien. Because the prince had been kind to Poncena in the past, Poncena did not turn him away, but it was obvious that he did not want to get involved - - Poncena, who is already old, is tired of complicated affairs and no longer wants to take risks. He just wants to enjoy his old age in peace and stability.

So he introduced Bowang to himself, but he didn't ask or interfere with everything.

The ambitious Bowang saw a good opportunity for rapid success and actively participated in it, cooperating with Bonaparte.

And now that Poncena has left Paris and entrusted the bank to Beauvin, this probably means that he has chosen his heir and is ready to retire... That's fine, he can return to his hometown with a large amount of property to live in peace. In his later years, bidding farewell to the wind, frost and swords of Paris is also the most ideal way to retire.

"It seems that this place will soon be Bowen Bank." Edmund looked at the luxuriously decorated room, "Congratulations, Mr. Bowen."

"I have been his most effective assistant for so many years, and I am very grateful that he recognized this." In this regard, Bowang has never been a humble person, he just spread his hands. "Being able to take over this bank is certainly worth celebrating, but I still have a long way to go and it's not worth being happy about it for too long."

"After taking over from Mr. Poncena, you have become one of the most powerful bankers in this country, but are you still so dissatisfied?" Edmund asked rhetorically.

"Satisfaction? I have never understood what satisfaction is." Bowang replied matter-of-factly, "I still have too many things to do, and I haven't really mastered the power I want. How can I be satisfied?"

Then, he asked Edmund, "Your Majesty, is there anything you want to convey to me?"

"Your Majesty needs financial support from you." Edmund did not want to beat around the bush and answered directly, "He is in urgent need now, the sooner the better."

Yes, this is Aigron's most urgent need now.

To be fair, he has not brought many people to Paris now, which is not comparable to Napoleon in 1815, but even so, the consumption of so many people is still an unbearable expenditure for him; and, when he came to Fontaine After Bailu Palace, in order to reestablish the order of the empire and restore his authority, he must rebuild the palace and the circle of cronies around him as soon as possible, and win over those who are helpful to him.

All of the above require money, and it is definitely not a small amount.

What is even more unbearable is that because the dynastic government has been paralyzed at this time, the government's bonds that cannot be redeemed are no different from waste paper; it is impossible for anyone to buy the bonds that Egeron himself issued.

So what he needs most now is cash, that is, gold and silver coins and banknotes. In extraordinary times, only these "dry goods" can truly impress people.

Because he knew this, Aigron regarded raising money as his most urgent matter at the moment, even more important than winning over Prince Talleyrand.

And Bowang is his biggest hope at the moment - he believes that this banker with brains and skills knows how to help him and what rewards he can get from him.

Bowang also knew very well what his "role" was, so he did not dodge and immediately expressed his stance.

"I understand His Majesty's current situation. This is a very reasonable need, and I am very happy to do my best to meet His Majesty's needs. So - how much does he need now."

"The more, the better. It's best to start with ten million." Edmund replied without blinking.

"This is a huge amount of money." After hearing this request, Bowang was not surprised, but frowned slightly.

"This is indeed a large amount, which can crush most people, but it should not be that unimaginable for Poncena Bank." Edmund replied.

"Even for us, this is not an easy figure." Bowang still insisted on his statement, "What's more, what His Majesty needs now is cash, which will be even more difficult."

Edmund knew that Bowen was not a petty person. Since he was complaining, he was really in trouble.

Fortunately, he was asking for a high price to begin with, so he could give in now. “So how much money can you raise right now?”

Bowang did not answer immediately, and tapped his fingers lightly on the table, as if calculating something in his mind.

"Although the chaos in Paris has caused our bank to suffer heavy losses, on the other hand, our business volume has shrunk greatly now, which also means that more funds can be mobilized in our vaults in the short term - although this is impossible Continuously." After a moment, Bowang spoke again, "I have estimated that while maintaining our minimum operations, I can now give His Majesty five million in support."

"Well, I believe you have tried your best." This number was almost the same as what His Majesty told him, so Edmund did not bargain anymore, but accepted the other party's proposal, "Please believe that the amount you spent Everything was worth the money, and Your Majesty will never forget your achievements.”

"Before repaying the favor, there is another question -" Bowang's expression remained serious, unmoved by Edmund's promise, "How should I hand over this money to His Majesty? This is not a peaceful world. Anyone could pocket the money on the road, and while I believe you, I don’t think anyone else can be trustworthy, including my own people.”