Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 965 - 873: Financial Dark War

Pope Pius VI first led the bishops in a brief prayer, then clasped his fingers tightly and bowed his head: "You all should know the situation. What should we do?"

Venice Cardinal Gardini immediately shouted angrily:

"We should first hand Muzareli over to the French. It is his foolish... Oh, please forgive my rudeness, Lord, his attempt to appease Vienna offended the French..."

The middle-aged cardinal beside him interrupted softly: "Don’t you know? Priest Muzareli fled Rome last month."

Sitting beside Pius VI, the Naples Cardinal Edel suddenly began chanting scriptures loudly:

"Yahweh, the heathens have entered Your heritage..."

Intense discussions immediately erupted, "Please, Pope, call for the Crusaders! All of Europe’s believers will come to fight for Jesus!"

"Let the Habsburgs send reinforcements. The Holy See gave them great support, now is the time for them to reciprocate."

"Archbishop Destro, Vienna’s army couldn’t even secure Lombardy. In my opinion, we need to seek aid from Madrid..."

"Are you confused? Spain is a member of that ’Mediterranean Military Organization.’

It’s the ’Mediterranean Security Organization,’ Archbishop Pazzini..."

"No army can help us." The elderly Genoa Cardinal raised his hand in a downward pressing motion, "Now we should assemble martyrs to assassinate that blasphemer in the Palace of Versailles..."

"Enough." Pius VI raised his wrinkled face, shaking his pale head, "Fear has eroded your minds, these thoughts are more blasphemous than the French’s bayonets."

He looked at Archbishop Edel: "Can the Vatican Guard hold them off? Oh, including Rome’s Militia and the smuggling team."

The latter hesitated: "This, I’m afraid it’s difficult, Holy Father."

The core combat force of the Vatican, the Swiss Guard, only numbers around 400 people. Including other guards and paramilitary units, the total strength is less than 2,000 soldiers.

Pius VI looked around at everyone, seeing no one speaking further, he sighed: "Archbishop Gardini, please immediately head to Paris and negotiate with the French King on behalf of the Holy See.

"Tell him all of this is Muzareli’s doing. The Holy See is willing to cede the Marche Region as compensation to France and pay them..."

He paused, struggling to utter a figure: "One million ducat gold coins. Have them withdraw their troops as soon as possible."

One million ducats is roughly equivalent to nine million francs, a sign of sincerity.

The cardinals immediately expressed opposition with excitement, "Holy Father, how can we bow to the blasphemer?"

"One million ducats is too much!"

"This will fuel the arrogance of those secular kings..."

Just then, a high-ranking priest walked along the wall, whispering a few words in Archbishop Edel’s ear.

The latter was greatly shocked and trembled as he spoke to Pius VI: "Holy Father, the guard just interrogated a relative of one of Muzareli’s guards. According to that person, Muzareli went to France, possibly heading to Paris."

"What?!" Pius VI suddenly stood up, stunned for a moment, then turned to Edel, "Please prepare, I will personally go to France."

...

Paris Financial Center.

Headquarters of the Bank of France Reserve.

In the luxuriously decorated VIP room, the senior Bank of France Reserve manager Lafont signaled a servant to place hot tea before the middle-aged client, then smiled:

"Why do you suddenly want to exchange so much gold? Oh, please don’t mind, it’s all for the safety of the VIP account."

Just half an hour ago, this man who claimed to be a merchant from Reims said he wanted to exchange 500,000 francs entirely for gold.

According to the French gold standard laws, the bank must meet the customer’s request.

"I’m investing in South American business," the middle-aged man’s voice was cold, "They don’t accept francs over there."

"Or perhaps you could try using our exchange services," Lafont maintained his smile, "We have ’non-banknote’ remittance cooperations with some Spanish banks..."

The middle-aged man waved impatiently: "I want to purchase Saint Vincent’s mineral resources. Please exchange the gold coins swiftly."

Saint Vincent is a Portuguese colony.

Lafont’s smile froze for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, dear Mr. Colin.

"However, you know, identity verification and large authorization will require 5 days, not including Sunday."

"Alright, I’ll return in 5 days." Colin signed the application form, left his accountant, and got up to leave.

Lafont saw him out the door, and an employee quickly walked over, whispering in his ear: "Director sir, a lady wants to exchange 650,000 francs for gold coins..."

Lafont immediately frowned.

He often encountered large exchanges, but having three large golden exchanges within one day is extremely rare.

Moreover, these three transactions are not just "large" but are "massive" — amounting to over 1.2 million francs altogether.

After dealing with the noble lady, he immediately returned to his office and wrote a report about the day’s anomalies.

The next day.

As soon as the Bank of France Reserve headquarters opened, a luxuriously dressed nobleman requested to exchange 600,000 francs for gold.

Lafont immediately sensed something amiss and, while attending to the young noble, informed him that this transaction would require the activation of the "remote transport clause," with delivery completion in 22 days.

The so-called "remote transport clause" indicates that short-term gold exchange demand exceeds bank inventory, so allocation from distant banks must occur, lasting from 15 to 22 days.

After seeing off the clients, Lafont busily instructed his staff to announce externally that "the bank is reviewing accounts," pausing all large transactions.

Then he slipped out through the rear door of the Bank of France Reserve, boarded a carriage, and rushed to the Bank of France Reserve’s general manager’s office located in the Tuileries Palace.

The news that the Bank of France Reserve suspended exchange services swiftly spread, and immediately, a dozen already-prepared "financial experts" began to strike out, disseminating "alarming" remarks in stock exchanges, futures exchanges, and even major salons, "As I’ve said before, France’s banknotes were overissued by more than tenfold long ago!"

"The Bank of France Reserve depleted its gold reserves last year, and today’s suspension notice is just the beginning..."

"We fought a great war, but unfortunately, the war’s expenses were enormous. The government, to meet military expenditure, could only print banknotes to fill in.

"Please trust me, I’ve worked in banking and finance for 30 years. If you don’t want the francs in your hands to become waste paper, quickly exchange them for gold."

"Have you forgotten John Law? Look at how similar the situation now is to then..."

That night, some newspapers with smaller circulations also began to carry reports of "Bank of France Reserve suspected of facing difficulties."

...

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph was reviewing the security organization’s report on the encirclement situation at Ferrara when Brian and Jacques Lafitte, the Bank of France Reserve’s general manager, knocked on the door under Eman’s guidance.