shadow of britain

Chapter 523 Let’s Divide the Public Money Privately

"bank?"

It was obvious that Mr. von Krommel was very interested in this topic, and he even accidentally stuck the fork he was using to stab the steak into his wine glass.

As a respectable Austrian nobleman and a highly respected diplomat, he was born in Vienna, lived in Paris, pursued the most beautiful Parisian ladies, and took them to the most expensive luxury stores and the most famous concerts all day long. Although such life experience allowed Mr. von Krommel to brag about it unscrupulously in social occasions.

However, the price is that if one wants to maintain such a decent life, relying solely on the income from public office as a cultural counselor is far from enough.

Although he could also receive a special imperial allowance that only intelligence officers could get, that little money was still a drop in the bucket compared to his huge expenses.

In order to satisfy his material desires in life, von Krommel had to do some vulgar things that upper-class gentlemen did.

For example, borrowing money from big bankers like the Rothschild family in the name of a loan, but delaying the repayment date with various excuses.

Or, occasionally exchange some information that is not very important to Austria with foreign intelligence officers like Schneider, and obtain some thank-you money from the other party as a symbol of friendship.

Of course, he also controls some personnel appointment rights, and if there is a right price, Mr. von Krommel does not mind cashing them in.

However, most of these industries are too low-profile.

In order to make decent money, von Krommel often engaged in some risky investments.

In today's Europe, this kind of venture capital business is not uncommon. Whether it is Vienna, Paris or London, as long as you are willing to invest money, there will always be someone who dares to pat your chest and guarantee you a return of several hundred points a year.

Of course, there are many scammers here, or conversely, there are not many guys doing honest business here.

Take banks for example. Even among those banks that are currently doing the hottest business, only a very few can guarantee how long-term their plans are.

Most speculative banks were not adequately capitalized when they were established and relied on deposits and short-term loans to maintain operations. Since the deposits they absorbed were all high-interest deposits, in order to ensure a balance between income and expenditure, these banks would often use the money to participate in high-risk speculative activities, trying to make up for the lack of capital with high returns.

This way of doing business means that almost every step they take is a gamble. As long as a high-risk investment fails, they will soon go bankrupt.

However, compared with fraudulent banks, the transactions conducted by speculative banks can be regarded as serious experience.

Fraudulent banks, as the name suggests, attract investments and deposits through false statements and fictitious financial statements, exaggerating assets and profits to attract investors and depositors, but in fact they do not have sufficient assets to support their operations.

However, even though these banks were operating in a deceptive manner, many investors still flocked to these businesses.

Because as long as no one exposes their tricks, everyone can still cover their eyes and pretend to be blind, because as long as the bomb does not explode in their hands, as long as they can sell the shares before going bankrupt, they can still make money.

When Schneider saw that von Krommel was interested in the bank, the eyes of this cunning, pure German-British gentleman could not help but widen slightly.

He glanced at Arthur beside him and read the same idea in his eyes.

The strategy of analyzing von Krommel's financial situation in advance worked, and the Austrian was ready to take the bait before they even threw the bait into the water.

Schneider waved his hands and said, "Arthur, you shouldn't mention the bank in this situation. It's our private matter."

Arthur pretended to be anxious. He slammed the table and stood up and said, "August! You promised me before that this would work! But if Mr. von Krommel doesn't get involved, this mess can't be solved anyway! Think about it, not getting our investment back is a small matter. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs investigates it later, both of us will be in trouble!"

Schneider pretended to be impatient and said, "Arthur! Can you give me some time? If you say this in front of Mr. von Krommel now, how can we talk later?"

Holding the wine glass, von Krommel first looked at Schneider, then looked at Arthur, who was blushing with anger. He took a sip of wine, then put down the glass, crossed his fingers on the table and asked.

"Excuse me, can I ask what's going on between you two? It sounds like you've encountered something that only I can solve?"

Arthur was about to speak, but Schneider stopped him first: "Arthur, you can't do this."

Arthur ignored Schneider's obstruction. He pushed Schneider away and said, "I've had enough! August, if you don't want to talk, I'll start. Sir, I'll be frank with you. We are indeed in some trouble right now. It's not only about our financial situation, but also about our future development. But if you are willing to get involved, not only will the trouble be eliminated, but the three of us will also get a lot of money."

"Um……"

Von Krommel leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment: "Let me guess, are you involved in a bank fraud case?"

"Worse than that!"

Arthur pointed at Schneider and roared, "This fraud was led by August!"

"Oh?" Von Krommel laughed and rubbed his face. "August, I didn't realize you had this ability before."

Schneider was in such a state that he looked like a lost dog. He gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! Since Arthur has said it, I won't hide it from you. Mr. Krommel, do you know how we discovered the detailed plan of Young Italy?"

"How did you find out?"

Schneider lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and adjusted his breathing.

"As you know, I have been in Paris for several years, so I have made many friends here. When I came to Paris on business last year, a friend of mine in the banking industry told me that he had opened an investment bank, which was bidding for the mining rights of a large coal mine in the Alsace-Lorraine region. According to him, if they win the bid, the return on investment will definitely be more than ten times.

But the current cash flow of their funds has reached a point where it is difficult to make ends meet, so several major investors plan to sell part of their shares to help the bank's turnover. Because I am an old friend of his, he thought of me first when he had such a good thing, after all, good things should be kept within the family.

I was so fooled by him that I invested all my money in the bank and even sold my property in London. But even so, the money was still not enough to fill the hole. So when I returned to London, I told Arthur about it and persuaded him to invest with me. In this way, the two of us invested nearly 70,000 francs in this bank..." "70,000 francs!" Von Krommel exclaimed, "This is not a small amount."

“It’s really not a small amount.”

Schneider continued, "But when we returned to Paris this year, we found that there was nothing left except the bank's office and a few beautiful female tellers. There was very little money left on the bank's books. That little money was only enough to pay the employees' salaries this year, not a single sou more. I asked those beautiful ladies, and they told me that several directors went on a trip to India together. Before they left, they left me a letter containing the remaining bank stocks they had."

At this point, Arthur cursed, "To hell with them! If they really go to India, I will immediately write to the Governor-General of India, Lord Bentinck, asking him to allow those Indians to set up the pyre again for the sake of Shiva, and roast those swindlers in the same way they burned widows!"

Von Krommel could not help laughing when he heard this. He pulled out his handkerchief and covered his mouth with it. "Sir, as the old British saying goes, it is really unbecoming of you to speak like this."

Arthur waved his hands and cursed.

"Damn you, British decorum! I've had enough of it!
In Britain, if you hang out with a woman at a dance or somewhere else at night and you meet her on the street the next day, it's not decent to say you know her!
It's not proper for you to walk up to a beautiful woman at a party and ask her to dance!

You blush, you argue, you laugh, you speak your mind frankly in the conversation, this is inappropriate!

You use your intelligence and talents, you express your feelings, you cross your legs while playing cards at the gambling table, you are absent-minded during conversations, you talk a few more words during meals, it is inappropriate! It is inappropriate! All of it is inappropriate!
A British lady, who could make a scene in her chamber without any impropriety, would consider herself dishonoured if she received a male friend in the same room.

Thanks to the law of impropriety, the inhabitants of London will one day become immobile.

It is because of this that Auguste was like a novice who knew nothing when he came to Paris. He was fooled by the scammers in Paris in a few words, and even lost my coffin money! "

Arthur's on-the-spot performance stunned Schneider who was standing by. He only knew that this former assistant superintendent of Scotland Yard could play the piano and catch thieves, but he never expected that he could be so good at acting.

Fortunately, von Krommel's attention was all drawn to Arthur, so he didn't notice anything unusual about him.

"Sir..." Von Krommel consoled.

Before he could finish his words, Arthur interrupted him rudely: "Mr. Kromer, my hopes are now all on you. I used to be a policeman. Logically, if we encountered a case like this, August and I would have to wait to go to debtor prison. But God bless us, just when the two of us were in despair, a few idiots from Italy came to this shell bank to handle deposit business and opened several accounts with us."

"Italians? Deposit business?"

Von Krommel was stunned at first, but then he couldn't suppress his joy and asked, "You mean the members of Young Italy?"

Schneider said sinisterly, "Not only that, but not long after, we discovered that someone had transferred a large sum of money to the Italian's account. I'm sure you must have heard of that guy's name."

"who is it?"

"Louis-Adolphe Thiers, the French Minister of the Interior, with whom you must have drunk at the banquet."

"This……"

Just as Schneider said, von Krommel did drink with Thiers, and the two were quite familiar with each other.

Before Thiers became successful, he had already known this short man from the provinces.

At that time, von Krommel was troubled by financial problems just like he is today, so he once asked the other party for advice on how to deal with rich women.

But later von Krommel discovered that he really couldn't achieve the same level as Thiers, so he had to give up the easy path of getting rich by relying on women.

For a man like him who was born in aristocracy and thought highly of himself, it was fine to take his lover for a walk in the woods and accompany her to the theater, but he could not stand spending a lot of time every day reading cherubic chivalric novels and writing love letters.

Not to mention, he also saw with his own eyes that Thiers was scolded for a trivial matter, and he looked as miserable as a drowned dog.

When the lady was happy, Thiers would be full of energy. But when the lady was sad, Thiers had to be depressed. When she had a headache, he had to endure her temper. When she wanted to talk to someone about something intimate, he had to listen patiently and not ignore every word that seemed like nonsense, in case the other party suddenly asked questions.

This fellow spent all his time, every minute, every second, and precious youth, filling the emptiness and boredom of his current lover. Perhaps Thiers had to spend an entire afternoon with her, holding a meeting with her more solemn than a high-level diplomatic conference to discuss which necklace would best match her evening dress.

To von Krommel this was ridiculous. He would be in debtor's prison if he had to do such things.

The ancestors of the Krommel family worked so hard, risking their lives for the King of Bohemia and fighting for the Holy Roman Empire, not for him to spend time in a place like this.

When von Krommel thought of the short man, besides complaining about his dishonesty behind his back, he also sighed: "Adolf has finally made it! But considering his temper, it's probably because of his 'new lover' that he did it."

"A new lover?" Schneider replied, "You mean Louis Philippe?"

"Of course." Von Krommel blinked. "He will submit to whoever can help him make further progress, and when he reaches a high position, he will kick out his former lover. It's not without reason that Lord Talleyrand is optimistic about this guy, because the methods they both used in the process of climbing up are very similar. But his starting point is too low, so the process of climbing is much longer than Talleyrand. Therefore, he suppressed it for a longer time than Talleyrand, so he must be more despicable than Talleyrand."

At this point, he changed the subject and said, "Now I believe your intelligence. Regardless of whether it is true or false, it is at least more reliable than the reports of those informants, and at least worthy of the review of the bigwigs in Vienna. But I still don't know what Young Italy has to do with your losing business."

Arthur took a deep breath and shook von Krommel's hand. "Sir, this is a big deal. If you report the information to Vienna, we can firmly prove that this bank was founded by Young Italy. Since it was founded by Young Italy, it is normal for the shareholders to abscond with the money after the uprising was exposed, right?

In this way, we can blatantly swallow up all the money paid to Young Italy on the books, and as long as Vienna brings up this matter, the French government will not seriously check the bank's accounts and equity structure because they are worried that their funding for Young Italy will be exposed.

In this case, Young Italy did not receive the funding that was supposed to be used for the uprising, and their strength was weakened, which benefited Austria. And August and I can get our initial investment back. As for you, you have made such a great contribution, I think it is very reasonable for you to have a share of it. "

(End of this chapter)