King's Landing in France

Chapter 309 I really admire Frost's foresight
The matter of An Ning accepting an investment of [-] ounces of gold was like dropping a blockbuster in Paris.

All the young and old in Paris were talking about it for a while.

All of a sudden, the balance of power in Paris changed subtly again.

One of the most notable changes was the sudden popularity of the balls and salons at Malmaison.

In the past, only people whom Josephine knew well would come to Malmaison's salon, but now it's a good thing, as soon as Josephine enters the hall where the salon is held, she can see people she doesn't know.

Josephine enjoyed the attention of the public very much. She was busy at salons and balls every day, and suddenly became the number one socialite in Paris.

In addition to these "timely" guys, there were many people in Paris who attacked Frost for accepting bribes.

But someone immediately refuted: The great General Frost saved France, what happened to some gold bars?Besides, what kind of onion is Paul Ballas? He has collected so much ill-gotten wealth, it is better to give it to General Frost than to put it with him.

The two factions practiced oral gymnastics in the streets and alleys of Paris and bars everywhere all day long, and the scuffle continued.

Sometimes the talk will develop into a duel or a random fight, and it is very lively for a while.

As for the "steam revolution" proposed by An Ning in several articles, no one cared about it at all.

For example, Lavoisier, who has been away from Paris for almost a year, is currently studying smokeless gunpowder in Marseille in the south.

But the gentlemen who are not in Paris are not completely unaffected, and one person is very concerned about this matter.

**
Fouché is far away in Lyon, and he is not as sensitive to Paris news as Ballas. This old and cunning guy deliberately showed that he was not interested in Paris. He neither entrusted someone to bring newspapers from Paris, nor arranged for someone to write regular letters about Paris. The situation then came quickly.

Fouché seems to be a parliamentary commissioner who is really not interested in everything in Paris and just wants to do his job in Lyon.

But this doesn't mean that he doesn't collect news from Paris anymore, it's just that the means he collects are relatively secretive.

For every person who comes from Paris, Fouché will find a way to find a reason to invite him to dinner. During the dinner, this old fox will calmly remember everything about Paris, and then click around and tick off some things he is interested in but others Things not mentioned.

Of course, Fouché, the Paris newspaper, would also read it, but it would be much later.

On this day, Fouché was reading the Paris newspapers that were many days late, and then suddenly came across an article criticizing Frost.

The title of the article is "Is the Savior of France Really So Great and Upright?" and the signature is Camille Desmoulins.

In this article, Desmoulins complained that Andy Frost claimed to have accepted an investment of [-] ounces of gold from Ballas and promised to pay dividends to Ballas. This behavior was actually accepting bribes, and then lamented that Even Frost has been corrupted, leaving Robespierre, the incorruptible, still standing strong.

But at the end of the article, Desmoulins asked: "Is Robespierre really incorruptible? I don't know when this man who is in charge of life and death in Paris will reveal his true colors?"

After reading the article, Fouché double-checked the byline and smiled.

He asked suspiciously the gentleman from Paris who brought him the newspaper: "Why is the commissioner laughing?"

Fouché: "Look at the signature of this article, this is the person who, together with Frost, encouraged the patriots to capture the Bastille, and he has known Frost for a long time at the Jacobin Club.

"This shows that the monolithic Jacobin Club has begun to split."

The visitor from Paris immediately showed a knowing smile: "You mean, your chance has come?"

Fouché: "General Frost, if he had been a sensible man, would have known that in such a situation men like myself could be trusted more than those brought together by the same ideals.

"Because my actions are based on my judgment and interests about the future situation, I am predictable and controllable, and I will not turn against each other because of differences in routes or cognition."

The visitor from Paris nodded understandingly, and then asked, "So you're going back to Paris?"

"No, there's no need. It's best to go back before Frost gets married. If you go back now and get caught by something, it's not worth the loss."

The visitor from Paris asked again: "So, Mr. Foucher, what do you think of this steam revolution that Frost talked about?"

Fouche: "Talleyrand should know better, he is now in England. Since the British began to use steam engines to dig coal and drive spinning machines in large quantities, their economic competitiveness has become much stronger immediately.

"Unlike us who are poor and clinking, the British government is very rich. This is not achieved simply by blood transfusion from the colonies. The steam engine has played a huge role in this.

"So don't ask me what I think of Frost's imagination of the steam revolution, you should ask me what I think of Britain, and my answer is that Frost has done well, and you can know that this is the future trend when you look at Britain.

"I really admire Frost's foresight."

Fouche seemed to forget that Frost couldn't hear him at this time, and said this sentence with very full and abundant emotion.

**
The great debate in the streets of Paris has an additional effect: Andy's new bank is overcrowded, and the bank now has "double insurance," one for Frost's enormous prestige and the other for the five dollars Ballas had just given him. hundred ounces of gold.

An Ning also specially organized a big job, asking the troops to escort a carriage full of gold bars through most of Paris, and put the gold bars into the bank's vault.

The bright gold blinded the eyes of many people, and the publicity effect was full.

Of course, putting all the gold in the vault made An Ning a little worried. After all, he was also someone who had watched John Khan's "Hardcore and Ruthless" series, and he knew how outrageous the thieves would be.

So An Ning arranged for soldiers to guard the vault in shifts, and every time before changing guards, the number of gold bars had to be counted.

The strict rules and regulations were quickly spread through the word of mouth of the soldiers guarding the gold bars, which in turn strengthened the desire of Parisians to deposit.

When the bank first opened, not so many people came to deposit gold.At that time, An Ning arranged dozens of entrustments, but in the end only one real depositor deposited the gold.

At that time, everyone in the audience wanted to applaud together.

But now, Anning's bank is full of people, and there are still queues for depositing gold.

When gold and silver began to flow into An Ning's hands continuously, An Ning decided to proceed to the next step.

He is going to issue a new banknote to replace the coupons.

(End of this chapter)