Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 971 - 879: Life’s Great Joys and Sorrows Come Too Suddenly

Chapter 971: Chapter 879: Life’s Great Joys and Sorrows Come Too Suddenly

Outside the "Cloud Layer Cafe," two women clad in coarse long skirts, looking anxious, tightly held their small bundles as they hurried along.

The woman on the left looked up and saw two queues outside the bank winding like the Seine River. She immediately tugged at her neighbor beside her and said, panting:

"Oh, Holy Mother Mary! There are so many people... I told Paul a week ago to come and exchange gold, but he didn’t listen..."

The shorter woman looked even more worried:

"We need to hurry, Mrs. Colamo. I heard Mr. Defour say the bank doesn’t have much gold left..."

"My grandfather always spoke of how terrifying the Mississippi event was back then. I hardly believed it, yet now we might experience the same disaster!"

"I brought food and water for three days, no matter how long it takes, I must exchange these banknotes..."

The two passed by the cafe and heard someone inside shouting:

"The franc is finished! In just a week, these papers will only be useful for wallpaper, and our government has no solution!"

Mrs. Colamo turned her head, seeing a man in a black coat, with a felt hat pressed down low, standing on a table, wielding a cane as he gave a speech.

"France is insisting on engaging in an unnecessary war with the armies of more than ten countries, and the dreadful military expenses devour all our taxes. And the King is just deceiving us with those worthless papers!

"Just watch, soon ’waste paper’ won’t buy anything, then we’ll go to move the flour from the Palace of Versailles to fill our stomachs..."

As Mrs. Colamo rounded the corner, she finally saw the end of the queue for gold exchange.

She hurriedly rushed over, forcefully pushing aside a young man also running up, securing her spot.

She looked up at the never-ending line, shaking her head at her neighbor behind her: "Lady Legay, there must be over a thousand people here..."

The latter pointed to several tents not far away: "Look at those, they must have been camping here for days."

"May Jesus bless us, at least let me exchange half of my banknotes for gold."

A middle-aged man in front turned his head and sighed:

"I heard even the Count of Provence exchanged millions of his estate for gold... The situation seems grim."

As the three spoke, several carriages sped past them, stopping by the side door of the Bank of France Reserve.

There was the "Privileged Access," where only transactions exceeding 5,000 francs could be processed, thus avoiding queuing.

The carriage doors opened, and a dozen guards holding batons surrounded the vehicle.

Then servants carried large leather cases into the bank.

The middle-aged man in front of Mrs. Colamo spoke angrily:

"Damn rich people. How much paper money can fit in those cases? It must be hundreds of thousands of francs..."

In the luxurious building across from the Bank of France Reserve, Lord McGovern sipped his wine with satisfaction as he watched his subordinates carry the money boxes into the bank through the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Ten million francs." He punched his fist with a triumphant smile on his face, "This will be my final blow to the Frenchies!"

The previous day, Bruni had already reported to him that the Bank of France Reserve had no more than 80,000 ounces of gold in its reserves.

In other words, he could soon relish the brilliant scene of Bank of France Reserve officials awkwardly announcing the halt of gold exchanges, followed by the thousands of people falling into panic and chaos.

Nearly a hundred journalists from over a dozen countries were already prepared, just waiting for the Bank of France Reserve to be "breached," they would immediately swoop in for interviews. Meanwhile, the press release about the "collapse of the franc system" was completed days ago.

McGovern was convinced that this classic financial war example would be a life-long boast.

Mr. Wilberforce would likely arrange a decent position for him in the Treasury.

At that moment, seven more Gem V carriages stopped at the "Privileged Access," two elegantly clothed men descended from the front car and were ushered inside by the bank steward.

McGovern raised an eyebrow, confirming those were not his men.

Seven carriages filled with banknotes, it seemed that with or without his ten million, the Bank of France Reserve would likely not hold up today.

Just after he finished his second glass of wine, the crowd outside the Bank of France Reserve suddenly stirred, erupting into buzzing commentary.

McGovern burst into laughter.

This must mean the gold reserves of the Bank of France Reserve were exhausted!

Yet he soon became puzzled, as the queueing people were surprisingly not storming into the bank with curses but continued to maintain order.

"Parisians truly love order." He chuckled sarcastically, "Or perhaps I should arrange for someone to tell them there are few policemen in the area."

At that moment, the door was suddenly slammed open.

McGovern turned with displeasure to see his French "advisor" Bruni rushing in.

"I know you might be excited, but you must maintain proper etiquette at all times..."

"There’s trouble!" Bruni interrupted rudely, face pale, "The Parmans just announced they’re buying 12 million francs’ worth of banknotes."

He strode to the floor-to-ceiling window, pointing to the seven carriages outside: "They’re carrying ducat gold coins!"

McGovern froze for a moment, then yanked the French advisor aside, seeing four burly men afar, using thick wooden staves to lift a large but not bulky box into the bank.

Judging by their posture, the box was very heavy.

Only gold could have such high density...

"Damn, are these Parma bastards insane?!" he roared, then turned to Bruni, "No problem, it’s just 12 million.

"Contact the lenders for me immediately. I can pledge gold.

"If I secure another 10 million in banknotes, I can offset the impact from the Parmans! Hurry!"

This time Bruni’s efficiency was remarkably high, just past noon, two private capitalists met with McGovern’s subordinates and provided the necessary loan at 19% interest for 5 months.

Of course, McGovern was completely unaware that even the previous banker Lemoyne and today’s lender were arranged by the French Government.

The next day, before McGovern’s newly acquired ten million francs could be loaded onto the carriages, another convoy arrived at the Privileged Access of the Bank of France Reserve.

Lord McGovern felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Soon after, he saw some leaving the two long queues outside the bank.

Bruni "arrived as expected," yet he didn’t swing the door open like yesterday. Instead, he cautiously slipped through the door, saying in a raspy voice: "Lordship, you’ve probably seen those carriages too. It’s the Genoese, they’ve brought 1.55 million Genoese Rhinos to exchange for francs."

Genoese Rhinos are gold coins officially minted by Genoa.

1.55 million Genoese Rhinos is equivalent to 18 million francs.