Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 970 - 878: Gambler

Bruni smiled politely:

"My Lord, you know, according to the initial agreement, my job does not include arranging loans."

He was an executive in the Paris banking industry, with close ties to London, but his commission was far from enough to guarantee loans of tens of millions of francs for the British.

McGovern said without hesitation, "Twenty thousand francs. You’ll receive a twenty thousand franc commission once the deal is done."

For the imminent great victory, he no longer considered twenty thousand francs a large sum.

Bruni immediately bowed slightly, "I can introduce you, my lord. However, you’ll need to handle the specific loan negotiations yourself."

The next morning, a wrinkled banker wearing a refined wig met the British at the Paris Seine Silk Trading Company’s office.

Yes, this company was the British’s front for various financial operations in Paris.

"Mr. Lemoyne, that’s roughly it." McGovern’s confidant Dan Gray gestured towards the warehouse, "For my company, I hope you can provide this fund."

Banker Lemoyne nodded, "Mr. Gray, forgive my bluntness, but your company is clearly not worth 4 million francs.

"Such a large sum, and you need it so urgently, you must provide sufficient collateral."

"A week later, a bill of exchange from London will arrive, and you can obtain ownership of the goods ticket in advance through the agreement..."

Lemoyne shook his head firmly but politely, "I’m sorry, Mr. Gray, but the amount is simply too large. I don’t dare to take even the slightest risk.

"Without collateral, we can go through normal financial procedures and decide whether to provide a loan after a detailed examination of your assets and company situation."

"No, that won’t be in time..."

Following the normal loan procedures to obtain 4 million would take at least two months.

Gray knew his boss didn’t want to wait a single day.

Lemoyne tidied his clothes and stood up, "I’m sorry, my lord..."

"Please wait."

Gray held the banker steady, turned around, and went upstairs to tell McGovern the loaner’s requirements in an office.

The latter sighed deeply and finally nodded, "Tell him we can pledge gold."

He had previously exchanged nearly 40 million francs worth of gold from the Bank of France Reserve using franc banknotes he obtained from the Southern German States. Now these were stored in the Paris Seine Silk Trading Company, as well as warehouses of other front companies.

But he didn’t want to expose his actions of exchanging gold from the Bank of France Reserve. If noticed by French financial police, it could bring trouble to his subsequent short selling operations.

However, he also knew there were few who could come up with millions of francs immediately. He didn’t have much room to haggle.

After a moment, Gray returned downstairs and said to the banker, "Gold. I can pledge gold."

Lemoyne sat down again with a smile, "If your collateral is sufficient, I guarantee to deliver 4 million francs to your company within two days."

Gray added, "But we must sign an agreement that before the loan repayment deadline is reached, this gold must be stored at a location I designate. Of course, you can send people to monitor the collateral."

This was his attempt to ensure Lemoyne’s bank would not leak information about the gold.

"This..." The banker hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay, I can accept this condition.

"Now we can discuss the interest rate."

Gray said, "I only need the loan for 5 months; if things go smoothly, I can repay it in 3 months."

Lemoyne nodded again, "Okay, 5 months, 18% interest."

"That’s too high!"

Lemoyne smiled confidently, "Believe me, no one who can provide you 4 million francs within two days will offer a lower interest rate."

Gray again went upstairs to consult Lord McGovern, returned to the office, and signed the loan agreement with Lemoyne.

For most of the rest of the day, Gray met with two other loaners and obtained loans of 3 million and 2.7 million francs from them using gold as collateral.

The interest was also as high as 18%.

But McGovern didn’t care about the slightly higher interest.

Once he succeeded in depleting the Bank of France Reserve’s gold reserves, the franc would inevitably depreciate significantly.

Then he could exchange the gold he held for several times or even ten times the francs, making loan interest repayment a simple matter.

Simultaneously making a significant profit.

Mr. Wilberforce promised him that he could receive 5% of the profits from this operation.

This would lead to instant wealth overnight, catapulting him into high society!

The next day, McGovern’s loans arrived successively, totaling 9.7 million francs.

He immediately instructed Gray to take the money to the Bank of France Reserve for gold exchanges.

And the effect was immediate.

Among Napoleon’s spies, the most outstanding was Schulmeister (Alsatian Charles Schulmeister). He was a merchant, smuggling goods across the Rhine River, familiar with the local situation. He played a crucial role in the 1805 Battle of Ulm.

During this time, the French Army faced superior Austrian forces and the distant Russian Army. Napoleon wanted to eliminate the Austrian army before the Russian army’s arrival. If the Austrian army retreated in time, the French Army’s plans would be thwarted. At this critical moment, Napoleon deployed Schulmeister to deliver false intelligence to the Austrian Army Chief of Staff Karl von Mack, causing Mack to make an incorrect judgment. Schulmeister claimed he was a representative of the Royalist Party and could obtain the French Army’s operational plans. He asserted that the British Army had already landed in France’s Bren Port, that a revolution against Napoleon had erupted in France, and that the French Army would withdraw soon, advising Mack to hold fast to Ulm fortress. Mack appointed Schulmeister as the intelligence chief. Schulmeister delivered the Austrian plans to Napoleon. Using deception, Napoleon ordered the military press to print a fake newspaper issue featuring a "special edition" of a "revolution" outbreak in Paris, ensuring the newspaper ended up in the Austrian army’s hands. Mack believed it to be true, thinking that the French Army was in chaos, and that Napoleon was retreating, completely unaware that the French Army was actually closing in. The Austrian army aggressively pursued the French Army, unexpectedly encountering the "retreating" French Army, falling into their trap. On October 17, Mack surrendered his army. In this battle, the Austrian army lost over 50,000 men, 200 cannons, and 90 banners; all the generals were captured. Almost the entire Austrian army in the Danube area was annihilated. The French Army only lost over 500 men, with 1,000 wounded. Subsequently, Napoleon achieved another significant victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, capturing Vienna, Austria’s capital. Schulmeister was appointed as Vienna’s police commissioner. He was then ordered to go to Germany to establish a spy network, supplying Napoleon with intelligence on Russia.