For some reason, when Joseph heard the figure “ten million livres,” he felt no anger in his heart, but instead a bizarre sense of “comfort” surged to the top of his head.
He leaned in towards Carolina, quite expectantly asking,
“Is that the amount Necker pocketed himself, or the total sum of the problematic funds?”
“It’s the profit Necker made from these transactions, Your Highness. Of the financial loans that passed through his hands at the time, more than half might have been abnormal.”
Find adventures at M V L
Joseph suddenly felt as though the whole world lit up, and he even heard the joyful singing of little angels by his ear.
You see, during Necker’s tenure as head of the treasury, France’s borrowing from banks had increased by nearly one billion livres.
If what Carolina said was true, even by the most conservative estimate, that would mean there could be illegal operations involving as much as five hundred million livres worth of loans.
Joseph’s heart raced—just by getting hold of this illegal evidence, he could call for a re-examination of these five hundred million livres worth of loans!
Usually, during the re-evaluation of a loan, interest payments are suspended!!
There was even the possibility of renegotiating the loan agreements!!!
And furthermore, for those loans that were extremely problematic, he could directly…
Joseph pinched his thigh hard, stopping himself from continuing the thought, for the prospects were too beautiful, easily leading one to indulge.
He stared intently at Carolina, his gaze seeming to burn:
“How confident are you that there’s something wrong with those loans?”
Feeling unnerved under his gaze, Carolina said subconsciously,
“Based on my many years of gree…uh, my many years of financial experience, there’s over a 90% chance that there’s a problem, it’s just that there’s no evidence…”
“Excellent!” Joseph excitedly stood up, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder,”You’ve made an exceptional contribution this time.”
Immediately after, Joseph commanded him,”From now on, you will be under my guard’s protection all day, with no contact with any outsiders allowed.”
“Ah?” Carolina exclaimed in shock,”Are you, are you placing me under house arrest?”
“Oh, no, this is only temporary. Once the matter with Necker is resolved, I will personally welcome you in Paris.”
With that, Joseph picked up the paper and pen from the nearby table, quickly wrote a short letter, sealed it with wax, stamped his private seal, and then turned to leave.
He handed the letter to Captain Kesode of the guards, instructing,
“Please dispatch someone to return to Paris with utmost speed, and have the Police Headquarters immediately arrest Necker. That would be the former Finance Minister, Jacques Necker. Before my return, no one is allowed to come near Necker or his family.
“Deliver this letter to Archbishop Brienne, and he will coordinate the matter.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
After arranging all this, Joseph felt incredibly reassured. Seeing that it was still early, he stretched lazily and smiled at Eman, suggesting,
“It’s rare for us to come to Lorraine; let’s go have a look at Nancy.”
…
To the northwest of Toul City, not far from the star-shaped fortress built by Marshal Voban, just two leagues away, stood the open-air coal mine at Détuil.
Clementine stood with a taut face at the edge of the enormous mine pit, staring blankly at the coal workers swinging their picks below.
Just this morning, the Crown Prince had ordered his guard to escort her here for a visit, and before she left, he had considerately briefed her on Toul’s largest coal mine, wishing her a pleasant time.
With no trees for shelter nearby, the mine pit constant breezes kicked up a haze of fine coal dust that danced in the air.
The little girl irritably brushed away the handkerchief with which her maid Rosalia was trying to wipe her face, lamenting,
“Stop wiping. There’s coal dust everywhere; it’s impossible to get it all off…”
The maid cautiously said, “Miss, shall we go back?”
“We can’t,” the little girl puffed out her cheeks,”what if my cousin asks what I saw, and I can’t say anything?”
“Then, shall I accompany you for a walk around?”
“Mm.” The little girl nodded. Surrounded by guards, she followed the spiral-shaped downward slope made of compacted coal dust, making her way to the bottom of the mine.
Several miners carrying full baskets of coal approached her. When they saw Clementine’s luxurious gown, as well as the imposing guards front and back, they were so frightened that they hurriedly stepped aside and bowed their heads to let them pass.
Assisted by her maid, the little girl walked past the miners when suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her feet give way.
One of the miners caught a glimpse of something amiss on the ground and cried out, “Look out!” Dropping his basket, he lunged forward to push her and the maid out of the way.
Immediately after, the spot where Clementine had just stood cracked open, with the coal dust ground collapsing “whoosh” downward.
“Run!” A guard behind Clementine acted swiftly, scooping her up and bolting forward.
Seconds later, a large section was missing in the middle of the spiral slope; Clementine and the miners stood on one side of the gap, and the other guards on the opposite side, all staring at each other with hearts still racing.
“Wah—” It was only then that the little girl remembered to be frightened and burst into tears.
Soon after, at the top of the mine pit, the mine owner came rushing over in a fluster, apologizing to Clementine with a crying tone:
“Esteemed miss, I am so deeply sorry! As God is my witness, this place hasn’t collapsed for over ten years, I don’t know why… oh, my Lord! Are you hurt? This… what shall we do…”
“It’s not your fault.” The little girl choked back sobs as she glanced at the small wound on her leg. The blood had mostly stopped.
She turned to look at the miners a short distance away, with more or less cuts and scrapes on their bodies, combined with their ragged clothes and coal-streaked faces, they appeared very miserable.