The Duke of Chartres, upon hearing the judge’s decision, immediately beamed with joy, turning to celebrate with his several lawyers.
The same lawyer with a face full of excess flesh rose to his feet and gave a slight bow to the judge, “Your Honor, then please issue an execution document to order the banks to unfreeze the assets of the Duke of Orleans, oh, now it should be the Duke of Chartres.”
Dibor frowned instantly. According to legal procedures, he indeed should issue the unfreeze document, but if he did, how would he explain it to the Crown Prince?
While he was in this dilemma, Danton, who had been silent until then, stood up and motioned with his hand to the lawyer of the Duke of Chartres, “Please wait a moment, Mr. Balthasar.”
Then, turning to the bench, he raised his voice, “Your Honor, I believe we should first verify the exact amount of the estate of the Duke of Orleans on the spot, otherwise, once unfrozen, it is very likely that the creditors will suffer losses.”
“Creditors?” Mr. Balthasar, the lawyer, frowned and retorted with a sneer, “You must be mistaken, prosecutor, the Duke of Orleans has no debts…”
“Is that so?” Danton signaled his assistant to pass the materials to the judge and also distributed a copy to the side of the Duke of Chartres, “Your Honor, please turn to the second page.
“Here are testimonies from the administrators of the Banking Guild, including the Marquis of Ludo. In March 1775, the Duke of Orleans invested 1.8 million livres in the ‘Heller River Steel Company’ of England through the City Trade Bank.
“In May 1776, he invested 2.2 million livres in the ‘Carman Brothers Textile Company’ of England through the Paris Discount Bank.
“In December 1776, from the Paris Discount Bank to the Netherlands…”
Danton listed 15 investment records in one breath, spanning over ten years, involving amounts of more than 13 million livres.
“All of these investments, the Duke of Orleans transferred to the Bank of England in the form of bills without undergoing investment review. This violated Article 12 of the financial regulations of 1774…”
Lawyer Balthasar impatiently interrupted him, “Yes, some irrelevant violations, this should be dealt with in a separate case.”
“No, no, this is not just a ‘violation’ but a serious illegal act!” Danton gestured emphatically, “Take a look at this penalty document issued by the financial review commissioner.”
Immediately, his assistant divided the transcribed copies of the two documents between the judge and the lawyer of the Duke of Chartres.
Mr. Balthasar glanced at the document, his eyes widening in shock. He flipped through it frantically and then bellowed in frustration, “How is this possible?! Just for not conducting reviews, a fine of 16 million livres?!”
Danton addressed Dibor, “Your Honor, may Mr. Bernie, who is responsible for the accounting of these violations, explain the details to everyone.”
Shortly after, a middle-aged man with neat attire and a wig was summoned to the stand. He wore glasses.
He greeted the judges including Dibor and then surveyed the Duke of Chartres’s side nervously, but he soon remembered the orders from the Crown Prince.
He took a deep breath, pulled out the prepared documents, and cleared his throat, “Your Honor, first, I will explain to you the basis for the fine for the illegal investment made by the Duke of Orleans in 1775.
“The money invested in the British steel company would play a crucial role in the development of their smelting technology, which in turn would give them an overwhelming advantage in hard steel products over similar French companies…”
He spouted a slew of technical jargon and concluded, “As such, it is evident that since 1775, due to the Duke of Orleans’ illegal investments, at least seven steel factories in France have been shut down, resulting in over three million livres in losses.
“Had the Duke of Orleans submitted an investment review application to the Treasury Department at the time, I believe the investment would have been denied, the money would have stayed in France, and would have helped advance local steel refining technology…”
Upon hearing this, Dibor’s eyes lit up with excitement. Could calculations really be made this way? Which genius came up with this method? Finally, he could see the Crown Prince’s commands being fulfilled.
Attorney Balthasar angrily retorted at once, “This is completely absurd! Not to mention over a decade ago, even today’s investment reviews are simply a formality! Back then, even if there had been a review, it certainly wouldn’t have been rejected…”
Mr. Bernie, the accountant in charge, coldly hit back, “That’s a serious slander of government departments. I can provide ample evidence to prove the efficiency and dedication of the review departments.
“As for your claim that it wouldn’t have been rejected in 1775, I would appreciate solid evidence to support it.”
“I…” Attorney Balthasar faltered. The fines listed had the signatures of the auditors from that time; what evidence could he possibly produce?
Anticipating the various benefits promised by the Crown Prince after the case’s conclusion, Bernie continued boldly, “As for the investment made in May 1776, the impact was even greater…”
By the time he finished all the justifications for the more than ten fines and saluted the judge before leaving, it was already 6 p.m.
Just as Dibor was about to adjourn the session, Danton preempted him, saying, “In addition to these illegal investments, the Duke of Orleans has also engaged in a substantial amount of tax evasion.”
While saying this, he cast a discreet glance at Robespierre, who had provided these financial records of the Duke of Orleans, which were very helpful in analyzing the Duke’s tax situation.
Danton continued, “The total involves unpaid taxes of three million and two hundred thousand livres. According to a suggestion from the Treasury Department, the total for tax penalties and fines amounts to fifteen million livres.”
Hearing this, Duke of Chartres almost spat out a mouthful of old blood; the fines just listed had already confiscated more than half of his father’s assets.
Yet Danton was still passionately presenting his case, “Furthermore, the Duke of Orleans’ previous transactions involving arable land and estates also contain a significant number of illegalities… The fine for this part amounts to…”
“There is testimony to prove that the Duke of Orleans was involved in illegal slave trade… requiring a fine of…”
Given the Duke of Orleans’ former status and position, such so-called irregularities would never have been mentioned, and even if they were pursued, they would mostly have been pardoned by the King.
But now the circumstances were different. With the man himself gone, who would defend his shape and circles? Wasn’t it all subject to others’ whims?
Joseph had seen too many news stories in the later days of Western politicians using similar tactics to deal with their opponents—even the Great Commander Trump was nearly bankrupted by old Biden, let alone a dead man.
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Joseph only had to casually replicate homework from the future, and the Duke of Orleans’ meager assets were really nothing to speak of.
After talking nonstop for an hour and a half, the Duke of Chartres was already in despair—without having to calculate, he felt that his father’s assets must have been completely confiscated by the fines.
Suddenly, Danton paused, and just as everyone thought he was finally concluding, he inhaled deeply and said, “The aforementioned accounts for the lighter violations. Now, I will discuss the Duke of Orleans’ instigation of riots in numerous southern provinces, which caused tremendous harm to the nation.”