The Combined Fleet, upon seeing the pirate ship trying to escape, wasn’t too surprised and maintained its course, squeezing the pirates’ space smaller and smaller.
The dozens of oars on the pirate ship were rowed so vigorously they almost took flight, quickly on the verge of escaping through the encirclement from the east and west sides, when all of a sudden, a tall warship appeared from the south, bearing the blue field and fleur-de-lis flag on its mainmast.
It was the 42-gun cruising frigate “Cleder.”
Even though in the gentle winds of the Mediterranean, the oar-sail ship had a certain speed advantage, the formation of the Combined Fleet was impeccable; “Cleder” just needed to calmly wait there, and the warships from the other two directions would soon close in.
In the end, the cornered pirate ship exchanged fire with “Cleder.” The outcome was inevitable—the third broadside from “Cleder” broke the pirate ship’s mast and a 28-pound cannonball blew away the entire bow of the ship, which only had 12 cannons.
A slightly larger pirate ship tried to break free from the entanglement but had seven of its oars on the port side severed by a cannonball from “Cleder.”
The oarsmen on the pirate ship were too slow to react, still rowing with all their might. Due to the imbalance in thrust on either side, the ship immediately made a sharp 60-degree turn to the left.
By the time the pirate ship managed to adjust its direction, two escort ships of the Combined Fleet had already caught up from behind.
The Dutch “Walrus” escort ship was the first to fire. When Charles’s “Constellation” caught up, ready to unleash a barrage of fire, he suddenly saw a huge burst of flames erupt from the aft of the pirate ship—it was clear that the ammunition store had been hit.
And just like that, the battle ended…
Charles came up to the deck, with a gust of heat mixed with the scent of burning wafting into his face, he watched the screaming pirates jumping into the sea, floundering like fish scooped up in a net, creating splashes of water.
He couldn’t help but recall the scene when the pirates had boarded the “Golden Wheat.” Suddenly, a rage surged up in his chest; he snatched the gun from the sailor next to him, saw it was already loaded, and immediately took aim at the pirates below and fired a shot.
Soon, the horns signifying victory sounded from several warships.
As Charles was cursing at the burning pirate ship, he heard Captain White’s voice from behind, “Lad, you made your mark this time!”
…
Palace of Versailles.
One of the things Queen Mary used to hate the most was holding cabinet meetings because they often brought bad news, especially about the nation’s debt, which seemed like a hole that could never be filled.
But today, she had been looking forward to the cabinet meeting ever since breakfast.
Because she had seen Brian’s report yesterday, and through a series of operations via the industrial development fund, the country’s debt problem had unexpectedly seen significant easing.
This was a stubborn problem that had plagued France for over a hundred years since the time of Louis XV, and now, under her diligent governance, she finally saw hope for a solution!
She first went to the Royal Workshop, made the sleep-deprived Louis XVI—who was tinkering with a loom—change his clothes, and then dragged him to the meeting hall.
The cabinet ministers had already arrived, evidently also aware of the good news, each of them looking spirited, except for the Duke of Orleans, wearing a black coat, sitting there lost in thought.
After everyone had paid their respects to the king and queen and sat down at the queen’s gesture, Brian excitedly announced in a loud voice, “Today, I have a great piece of good news to tell everyone.
“With the blessing of the Almighty and the meticulous governance of our great king and queen, France’s debt has significantly decreased in the past month!”
As he spoke, he took out a document and began to read: “As of three days ago, the national debt had decreased by 130 million livres, and now only 2.11 billion livres remain.”
He paused, looking around at everyone present, his voice filled with excitement, “Especially notable is that the interest on the debt has been reduced from 180 million livres per year to less than 100 million livres.”
“At this rate, France’s finances will soon balance income and expenditure!”
The current annual revenue of France is 510 million livres, with nearly 430 million livres going towards debt interest. This means that with just an additional 20 million or so in revenue, we will achieve a balanced budget for the first time!
Everyone immediately stood up and bowed towards Louis XVI: “Long live the King!”
“Long live Queen Mary!”
Though the Duke of Orleans was saying the same, his heart was bleeding.
How could he not be clear on how the national debt was reduced? It was all the money from the thirteen banks!
After the turmoil, several of the banks tied to his lineage had suffered substantial losses. At the same time, with the Marquis of Ludo and others aligning with the Royal Family, his influence in the Banking Guild had plummeted dramatically.
He suddenly felt a tightness in his chest; having lost control over the national finances, he had now completely lost any possibility of defeating the Royal Family.
While others continued to lavish praise on the King and Queen, he sank into his chair, drained of strength.
It seemed the centuries-old aspirations of the Orleans family were utterly hopeless in his generation. He lamented internally and resolved to only focus on training Philippe, hoping for his growth…
The matter of finance took a full “discussion” of nearly an hour before everyone reluctantly moved on to the next item on the agenda.
Brian took out a document and signaled to the ministers: “His Majesty has signed a decree to establish the role of Minister of Industry within the Cabinet, primarily responsible for the supervision, management, and investment of the country’s industrial affairs.”
He gestured towards the golden doors of the conference hall, and two guards promptly opened the doors. Mirabeau, wearing a dark blue coat, meticulously made up, and perfumed, strode energetically through them.
Brian continued, “On the recommendation of Crown Prince His Highness, Count Mirabeau will serve as Minister of Industry.”
He was somewhat resistant to this appointment—the nouveau riche Mirabeau, with little family background, somehow managed to get connected with the Crown Prince and had now made his way into the Cabinet in one fell swoop.
However, the Crown Prince also mentioned that Mirabeau was very knowledgeable about developing industrial enterprises and would greatly promote France’s industrial development.
At present, the biggest potential for financial growth in France lies in industry. If Mirabeau can advance French industry to the level of England, no, even just half of England’s level, it would increase the annual revenue by tens of millions of livres, thus allowing France to truly achieve a balanced budget.
As the Finance Minister, his name would certainly be etched in history, and his reputation could even surpass that of Cardinal Richelieu, becoming the most able minister in France.
Thus, Brian accepted Joseph’s proposal, allowing a rising noble to become the first Minister of Industry.
After a simple routine appointment ceremony, Mirabeau took a seat at the end of the conference table.
At this moment, a court official entered the conference hall softly and handed a report to the Navy Minister, the Marquis of Castries.
The latter quickly read through the report, immediately turned to the King with a smile, bowed, and said, “Your Majesty, there’s more good news! A week ago, our fleet sunk a Barbary pirate ship and captured another.”