From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

These financiers, who are usually known for their calmness and shrewdness, can't help but have their thoughts confused at this moment.

In their understanding, the more distinguished aristocrats are, the farther away they will be from these business operations.

After all, the role of a businessman did not personally participate in the production process, so he has always been looked down upon in traditional concepts. This is consistent with the class concept of Eastern scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.

Even by the end of the eighteenth century, these merchants had amassed untold wealth, but their status in society had always been in a rather embarrassing position.

As for those conservative old aristocrats, even if they discovered the infinite opportunities in finance and business, they would rarely personally participate in it for the sake of face, and even if they did, they would regard it as a dishonorable thing.

Because in tradition, nobles are not allowed to engage in commerce or industry. Although this is not a legally binding rule, it has become a deeply rooted concept.

This is also the reason why the old aristocrats remained poor despite possessing large tracts of land in the money economy formed by the gradual prosperity of industry and commerce.

Even for a great aristocrat like the Duke of Choiseul, his economic income comes directly from fief taxes and royal annuities, rather than from investments in businesses and factories.

As the apex of the entire aristocratic class, the royal family is a staunch defender of this ancient tradition. No one thought that Crown Prince Louis would be the pioneer to break this tradition.

Compared to the financiers who were stunned and puzzled, the reporters were caught up in a carnival mood. They will not be short of breaking news for a long time to come.

Royal reports have always been a popular subject for Parisian citizens, let alone such breaking news.

“New ideas in Versailles—from a crown prince who represents the bourgeoisie!”

Journalists have even begun to think of tomorrow's front-page headlines.

On the podium, Prince Louis continued to speak.

But what follows is just some pretty routine and boring content, and nothing worth paying attention to.

After the Crown Prince finished his speech, Lawrence immediately walked up to the stage, nodded approvingly, and said softly:

"Excellent speech, Your Highness, you can take a break."

"Thanks, Lawrence."

Crown Prince Louis also seemed very satisfied with his performance. While folding up the speech and putting it away, he asked in a low voice:

"But aren't there still questions later? Don't I need to answer their questions?"

"Oh! Your Highness, I know you are quite enlightened."

Lawrence raised the corners of his mouth, chuckled, shook his head and said:

"But sometimes we still have to follow etiquette. As the crown prince, it would be messy if you, as the crown prince, have to accept questions from these civilians. It is most appropriate for a humble servant like me to answer them."

"Okay, what you said makes sense, I just feel a little pity."

Crown Prince Louis thought for a while, nodded, shrugged with regret and said:

"You wrote this speech, and you answered the questions. I didn't even have the chance to communicate with them in my own words."

This tone did not mean to blame Lawrence. Crown Prince Louis simply felt that it was a pity that he did not speak in person during his first interview.

"It is indeed a pity, Your Highness."

Lawrence put on an expression of great approval, sighed slightly and said:

"But what you may not know is that journalists in Paris are a very unruly group, and their questions may embarrass you. I think you should not rush to accept questions from reporters before you have sufficient experience."

Crown Prince Louis was a little discouraged after hearing this, but he also admitted that Lawrence was right. He was still completely blank in financial knowledge. If he really accepted questions from reporters, he might be very embarrassed.

So Crown Prince Louis nodded with a wry smile and said:

"Okay, okay, another piece of advice that hurts my ears. Thank you, Lawrence."

"My pleasure, Your Highness."

Lawrence said with a smile, reaching out to signal Crown Prince Louis to sit in the seat behind the podium.

At the same time, Lawrence also murmured to himself as quietly as a mosquito:

"However, I think it is enough for you, Your Highness, to be an excellent manuscript reading machine. Let me, a humble servant, do everything else."

Lawrence stood in the center of the conference room and glanced around the financiers and reporters in a leisurely manner, without speaking in a hurry.

After all, there are many people here who have not come back to their senses yet.

Crown Prince Louis revealed a lot of information in his brief speech just now.

The first half alone not only shows that the royal family has no intention of suppressing or controlling the financial market, but also directly denies the statement made by Justice Maupp in the newspaper.

Many politically sensitive people have begun to speculate whether Justice Maupu will no longer be used and loved by the royal family.

As for what happened next, the news that Crown Prince Louis announced that he had become a director of the National Silver Company of Corsica was no less than an earthquake for financiers.

France's economic environment has been in a downturn for a long time, so investors are constantly looking for a suitable project.

The National Silver Company, which Mr. Montmartre invested heavily in some time ago, is undoubtedly a subject of great concern to them.

Today, although more information about the company has not yet been disclosed, the political background revealed by the National Silver Company has already shocked them.

Lawrence Bonaparte, the Governor of Corsica, the Duke of Choiseul, the French powerful minister, the future King Louis, the Crown Prince, Mr. Montmartre, the president of the Bank of Commerce of France, and Lord Melly, the chairman of the Paris Stock Exchange.

All these important figures in the political and financial circles have extremely close relationships with this company.

These figures alone were enough for investors all over Paris to put the name of the Corsican National Silver Company on the first line of their memos.

"Then let's get started."

After waiting for a moment, Lawrence said loudly:

"You can speak freely."

The conference room was quiet for a while, and then a reporter raised his hand first. After getting Lawrence's signal, he stood up and said:

"Hello, Your Excellency Bonaparte, I am from Review de France. I would like to ask if the speech of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a guarantee for the free operation of financial markets, and neither the government nor the royal family will interfere in any way."

Hearing this question, Lawrence couldn't help but frown slightly.

This is a rather difficult question to ask.

If Lawrence nods in affirmation, he will undoubtedly be criticized if the policy changes in the future; if he shakes his head in denial, it is equivalent to self-denial of the Crown Prince's speech just now.

However, Lawrence still organized his words with ease and said calmly:

"I cannot give you a definite answer on behalf of the government and the royal family. As the first attendant of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I can only confirm to you on behalf of the Crown Prince that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will not impose any restrictions on the financial market in the near future."

Having said that, in order to dispel the negative sentiment in financial markets during this period, Lawrence added:

“In addition, I know that you are all worried about Justice Mopu’s previous remarks. I would like to disclose to you in my personal capacity that Justice Mopu’s idea has no conditions for being put into practice, so there is no need to panic. ”

After hearing this, the reporters quickly copied Lawrence's reply verbatim. Although they did not receive a definite guarantee, it was also quite important news to learn that Justice Maupp would not attack the financial industry.

The financiers looked at each other with wry smiles, not expecting that the sluggish market that had caused them heavy losses in the past few days was completely a misunderstanding.

Only someone like Mr. Montmartre, who knew the inside story, could sit down without changing his expression.

However, Mr. Montmartre also vaguely guessed that the drastic changes in market sentiment during this period were most likely the result of His Excellency Bonaparte's deliberate manipulation.

Then another reporter stood up and asked after introducing his background:

"Your Majesty Bonaparte, you just said that Justice Maupp would not attack the financial world, but we heard that he did stop the listing of the Corsican National Silver Company. Doesn't this count as an intervention in the financial market?"

This issue has not only attracted the attention of journalists, but also the ears of financiers. They are also eager to know whether the national silver company can be publicly traded.

"That's a really good question."

Lawrence smiled and nodded, glanced at the reporter with approval, and explained loudly:

"I did have an argument with Justice Maupe, when he asked me to stop the company's listing process. But now, I am pleased to report that the listing process of National Silver Corporation has resumed and..."

Lawrence paused for a moment, whetting everyone's appetite, and then said:

"Beginning at 9 a.m. tomorrow, the shares of the Corsican National Silver Company will officially be publicly traded on the Paris Stock Exchange."

"tomorrow?!"

This is really an extremely sudden news.

A financier in the front row didn't even care about the reporter's unfinished question. He stood up directly and asked with wide eyes:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, are you saying that the National Silver Company will be officially listed tomorrow morning?!"

"Yes, that's right." Lawrence nodded and said:

"According to the regulations of the stock exchange, you will be able to see the disclosure information of National Silver Company before this afternoon, so I won't go into details here. Any other questions?"

Lawrence looked around the conference room twice, but no one raised their hands to ask questions again.

No one expected that the listing of National Silver Company would come so suddenly, just a dozen hours later.

Financiers even feel like their butts can't sit still in their chairs. They really want to fly back to their offices right now and start allocating funds for stock acquisitions immediately.

Even if we haven’t seen the specific financial information of the National Silver Company, its political background and Mr. Montmartre’s optimism alone are enough to show that this is a rare investment project in ten years.

Moreover, in the stock market, the probability of new stocks rising is very high, even for an ordinary company, let alone an existence like the National Silver Company.

Within a few hours, the value of its shares will inevitably be much higher than the issue price.

Of course, Lawrence also believes that when these people actually see the false financial information, they will be even more crazy about it.

Standing on the stage, Lawrence naturally saw the restlessness of the financiers, so he smiled and shook his head, answered a few unremarkable reporters' questions, and then announced that the press conference was officially over.

At noon the next day, in the back garden of the Palace of Versailles.

Adjacent to the sparkling Grand Canal, King Louis XV, who was in a good mood today, happily held an open-air luncheon here.

Since it was the king's whim, the luncheon was not well attended.

Apart from the King and Madame Du Barry, the most important character is the Duke of Aiguillon.

He was the nephew of the Duke of Richelieu and historically France's foreign minister after the fall of the Duke of Choiseul.

There is no doubt that the Duke of Aiguillon is the core member of the Duke of Richelieu's faction.

After three drinks at the banquet, the Duke of Aiguillon glanced at the slightly drunk King Louis, looked at Madame Du Barry, and slowly said:

"Your Majesty, I heard that a big event happened in Paris yesterday."

"Big deal? What big deal?"

Louis XV put down his wine glass and asked with interest.

His Majesty the King has been lingering with the charming Madame Du Barry this morning, and he still doesn't know what happened in Paris.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, accompanied by Bonaparte, made a public appearance before the people of Paris. This is good, nothing more."

Duke Aiguillon clenched his fists, seemed extremely dissatisfied, and said with righteous indignation:

"It's just that Bonaparte actually asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to appear in front of tens of thousands of people wearing civilian clothes! This is simply detrimental to the majesty of the royal family!"

After hearing this, Louis XV couldn't help but frown, smacked his lips with dissatisfaction and said:

"Oh? Is there such a thing? How could Lawrence make such a mistake?"

Although Louis XV was considered an open-minded monarch, he could not accept the future king appearing in front of the masses wearing civilian clothes.

So Louis XV waved to the waiter and motioned him to bring the press officer in charge of news from Versailles immediately.

After a while, the press officer in black robes was brought to the back garden.

"I heard that the crown prince appeared in civilian clothes yesterday. Is this true?"

Louis XV looked at the press officer gloomily and asked in a deep voice.

The Duke of Aiguillon on the side couldn't help but have a proud smile on his face when he saw the unhappy expression on the king's face.

"That's what happened, Your Majesty."

The press officer lowered his head and said carefully:

"only"

"Just?" Louis XV raised his eyebrows and asked.

"It's just that thousands of citizens like the appearance of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It is said that the cheers of the citizens can be heard from the Exchange Square to the Champ de Mars. People also gave His Highness the Crown Prince a nickname, called 'The Good Man Crown Prince'. They say he can become a wise king who cares about his people.”

The press officer said bravely.

"What?!"

Louis XV's expression seemed to change, from anger to surprise in the blink of an eye, and he said with a smile to himself:

"God, how could August be supported by tens of millions of people when he first appeared? He is truly worthy of being the heir of Bourbon! And Lawrence, he did a really good job. Let him be August's right-hand man." That's right."

With that said, Louis XV glanced at the embarrassed Duke Aiguillon, laughed and said:

"Oh of course, Duke Aiguillon, it's really not right for Lawrence to let the crown prince wear civilian clothes. I will remind him next time I see him, hahahaha."

Anyone can see that King Louis not only didn't care about Lawrence's small transgression, but also fully affirmed his contribution.

"Wait, Your Majesty."

Duke Aiguillon gritted his teeth and said:

"I also heard that Bonaparte made His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a director of his company. A distinguished Crown Prince, becoming a director of a company? I swear this is definitely the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life!"

"Huh? What's going on?"

Louis XV's smile disappeared again. Although he agreed with Crown Prince Louis to learn financial knowledge, he would not agree with Crown Prince Louis blatantly becoming a company director.

If this kind of thing spreads, the French Bourbon royal family will even be ridiculed by other courts.

"Yes, Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has indeed become a director of the Corsican National Silver Company."

The press officer on the side immediately replied:

"However, this company was just listed on the Paris Stock Exchange this morning, and as far as I know, the company's first round of issuance was one million shares, and the part used for public trading has been fully sold, and the current price per share is 24.2 livres.”

Louis XV, who knew nothing about finance, waved his hand impatiently and said:

"What are you talking about? Pick the key points!"

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty."

The press officer took a deep breath and said word by word:

"In other words, the current market value of the Corsica National Silver Company is close to 30 million livres."