His Excellency the Count of Grandet

As the person with the most power and status in France in name, Louis XVIII has been a bit annoying recently.

To be honest, His Majesty the King does not think he is a very demanding person.Although he couldn't live in the luxurious and luxurious Palace of Versailles, compared with the time when he was exiled to Westphalia, the current life is not too much better, and he is very satisfied.

Besides, after his brother Louis XVI was guillotined and his nephew Louis XVII died in prison, His Majesty the King did not expect him to have the same power as his predecessors.As long as his throne is stable, he personally doesn't mind what kind of faction the ministers under him are——

Liberalism was not a bad thing, he thought, as long as he could get things done, as long as the citizens could show even the last shred of love for him as the king.It is true that there are fewer things he can manage and less enjoyment; but at least the whole country is developing and people's living standards are improving, isn't it?

From the perspective of later generations, the political structure of France during this period was still an absolute monarchy, but in essence it was a constitutional monarchy.We must objectively say that Louis XVIII was considered an enlightened monarch despite the factors of the current situation and courage.

It's a pity that His Majesty the King thinks so, but his family doesn't think so; especially his worried brother, Count Artois.

Although the real power is not as good as before, it does not mean that His Majesty the King is completely ignorant of what is going on underneath.Therefore, he is well aware of the secret confrontation between the two factions, and he is emotionally inclined to the emerging bourgeoisie-because he feels that according to his younger brother's political views, if he ascends the throne, he will never die peacefully on the king's throne; In the past, there was no future at all, so it is better to refer to the practice of the British! (Britain has already begun to implement a constitutional monarchy at this time)

The problem is, he thinks so, but can't do it.Out of consideration for their own interests, the Holy Alliance headed by Austria does not want to see the expansion of the trend of liberalization in France, so it always intervenes in various domestic affairs in France, especially some important government positions——

More than a month ago, as the chairman of the committee, his favorite Count Decaz became the new chairman of the Council of Ministers.But it didn't take long for word to come in suggesting he'd be better off switching because Decaz was "prone to danger" and there were concerns.

As a king, I don't worry about any danger, "someone" is worried!

His Majesty the King is going to be irritable.Decaz is the head of his cabinet, what's the matter with those foreigners who are pointing fingers?

Under this kind of external pressure, it is conceivable how Louis XVIII felt - he was very happy, quite.

And this kind of emotion, even if he doesn't show it, he should know a lot: the extreme royalist party and the emerging bourgeoisie have never looked at each other pleasingly, and have been fighting openly and secretly; The background can still guess how much.In this way, both parties have an estimate of the means that the other side can come up with.

In addition, although the political views can only be regarded as moderates, Decaz's style of doing things is obviously more conducive to the emerging bourgeoisie. How can the royalists be satisfied?Of course, they tried every means and vowed to bring him down!

Knowing these backgrounds and knowing that this is the biggest contradiction on the table recently, it is easy to guess what the atmosphere of the royal Christmas salon will be like.On the surface, the hall is resplendent and beautiful, with people laughing and drinking, but in fact, who can guarantee that they really know?

"At the moment, it seems that no one wants to disturb this Christmas Eve."

When the king said this with some self-deprecation, he and the queen had just finished the opening dance and were doing their own things.All the queen has to do is to deal with a large group of ladies, and he is similar-only the subjects are not as easy to fool as women.

"This is totally unnecessary, Your Majesty." Count Decaz comforted, although he himself was not particularly sure how much truth his words had.

The king looked at the face of his young confidant - Decaz was in his early thirties this year, with a soft face, showing a gentle character from the side - could not help but sigh silently in his heart.

Decaz is very capable, yes; but this kind of character determines that Decaz is at most in the middle position, and a position like the chairman of the Council of Ministers is probably not suitable for him, because he really lacks that kind of government The courage of the leader alone.

And although he was younger, Victor obviously possessed this kind of temperament.Just like now, Victor is still responsible for important aspects such as capital flow, and his abilities obviously go beyond that.

But what can Decaz do now?thought the king worriedly.If no one is on top, this position should be taken away by those who support his younger brother!

This made the king pause.But after a few seconds, he still felt that this matter should be discussed with another person who didn't want the chairman of the executive meeting: "Where is Victor? Didn't he say that someone wants to bring it to me?"

In fact, Decaz is also very aware of how much he weighs; he must admit that Victor is much more suitable for this kind of thing than him in terms of character and skills.But they took turns taking turns, but they couldn't persuade Victor to take another job or change another one—Victor's temper was notoriously difficult to deal with, and he was almost neither soft nor hard.

According to Victor's own point of view, he has the necessary qualities of a banker—otherwise, how can he deal with people who have bank ideas—but everyone else agrees that Victor just doesn't want to do it and is just making excuses.

"I saw him on the other side just now." Thinking of all this, Decaz looked around, "I guess he will come in a while—you know, he always comes at his own pace, Your Majesty. "

"Of course I know." The king let out a long breath, but not in anger.

Because he knew Victor very well, knew that there was an exhaustive plan hidden under that usually cold face, and he definitely stood by his side.As long as you have this foundation, nothing else matters.Even if it was late, it must be because Victor had other, necessary things to do.

"His vision of investment is very accurate, and I hope he will also have a good vision of people this time." The king finally said this. "Anyway, even a knight needs his horse and his sword before going to battle."

Decaz was silent.He knew what the king meant—the king wanted to promote a constitutional monarchy, but he didn't have enough power.This is why people who don't know the inside story think that the king doesn't want to make progress-if there is only a king's false name, no matter how many ideas he has, he can only compromise with reality!

They need support, and the more the better!

And Victor, who didn't go to see the king immediately, was indeed doing a very necessary thing as His Majesty expected.But it was neither in his plan, nor nearly irrelevant to the support the King needed—

Because he was staring at Michelle.Although in the eyes of others, they were just chatting in a circle; but in essence, two people were secretly competing.

Charles, who was caught in the middle, was completely helpless.He deliberately pulled Michelle into the alliance, so he deliberately revealed some news.As a result, just after he successfully whetted Michelle's appetite, Victor suddenly fell from the sky, and the confrontation between his eyes completely ruined the originally good atmosphere of the conversation——

Well, he knew it would turn out like this!

"I have known for a long time that your bank has provided a large amount of loans to the Grandet family. I thought it was just a contract relationship!" Michelle still smiled, although the expression was definitely not really gentle, "So you and Xia It's surprising how close I've become to him."

Who doesn't know that Victor's eyes are higher than the top, and now he actually came to see Charles in person?Isn't it red rain in the sky?Although from his own standpoint, he felt that Ciel was worthy of Victor's actions, but this did not affect his popularity when he laughed at Victor.

In contrast, Victor was even more upset.

Shire?It's only been a few times since I've met, can I call you by name?

"I really don't dare to take that," he insinuated. "At best, we only met a few more times. It's not as clever as yours."

This is obviously an irony; because including this time, Charles and Michelle only met twice.There is no doubt that Victor is satirizing Michelle's familiarity.

But Michelle had a more perfect smile. "That's exactly what I'm going to say—" he prolonged his voice on purpose, "I never knew that someone could make me feel like we've met each other!" He said, turning to Charles, "Your Your knowledge, your demeanor, and everything about you have deeply impressed me!" In order to enhance the persuasive effect of these words, he bowed exaggeratedly on purpose.

Charles was speechless to see that every time Michelle said a word, Victor's face turned darker - of course, this is not obvious, but he has dealt with Victor a lot, and now he has already figured out from that face The experience of real thoughts. "It's really frustrating for you to say that," he evaded to the side, not allowing himself to actually accept the ceremony, "You are seen by others like this, do you really want me to walk out of the palace gate safely? "

"Then why not?" Michelle smiled more cheerfully, "If you want me to say that you are such a lovely young man, everyone should know you. This is also a good thing for you, isn't it?"

It doesn't sound bad, there are many people and many paths, but... Charles looked at Victor out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help screaming inwardly.Michelle is picking on Victor and stepping on it!Although it is impossible for Michelle to know what Victor thinks of him, there is no doubt that Michelle has also smelled the huge profits that industrialization can bring, and Victor must also attach great importance to him-that is not a one-step one. Son?

God, Holy Mother, just come and rescue this hot atmosphere!He is going to be shot into a sieve by the two people's eyes that seem to be real, okay?

It is hard to say whether God or the Virgin really heard Charles' heart.Because someone did come, but it was Count Artois, who was still accompanied by the person Charles had seen in the hot spring before.

For a moment, Charles didn't know whether to cry or kneel.The three of them have at least one thing in common - they are businessmen or they handle business - what's going on with the two extreme royalists now?Not to mention that one of them is a BOSS!

"Ah, dear Count, forgive me for not seeing you right away." Although Michel said so, it was impossible for Michel not to notice. "Mr. Lafitte probably doesn't need my introduction," he motioned to Charles, "this is the young and promising Mr. Charles Grandet, this is His Majesty's brother, the Count of Artois, and our dear councillor. Monsieur, Comte de Villers."

Count Artois nodded reservedly.His facial features were actually quite regular, but the deep-set eye sockets and the hooked nose that hooked deeply inwards added a lot of gloom to that face.Because of Michelle's introduction, he took an extra look at Shire; but it was just a glance to show that he heard it, and then he turned to Michelle again.

Count Villers on the side understood from this movement, and said: "Mr. Michel, you really made it easy for us to find! It turns out that you were fascinated by this charming young man? It's not an error worth attacking, if you ask me—who doesn't like a beauty?"

Charles can assure you that what the Count of Villers said was just polite, in order to take Michel away from them logically, without knowing what they were talking about before.But this kind of unintentional is sometimes the most hurtful——

This is a divine assist for Michelle, and a divine make-up for Victor!

Charles really doesn't want to imagine now, when he is alone with Victor in the future, how the other party will react.