For some reason, when Joseph heard the figure "ten million livres," he felt no anger in his heart, but instead a bizarre sense of "comfort" surged to the top of his head.
He leaned in towards Carolina, quite expectantly asking,
"Is that the amount Necker pocketed himself, or the total sum of the problematic funds?"
"It's the profit Necker made from these transactions, Your Highness. Of the financial loans that passed through his hands at the time, more than half might have been abnormal."
Joseph suddenly felt as though the whole world lit up, and he even heard the joyful singing of little angels by his ear.
You see, during Necker's tenure as head of the treasury, France's borrowing from banks had increased by nearly one billion livres.
If what Carolina said was true, even by the most conservative estimate, that would mean there could be illegal operations involving as much as five hundred million livres worth of loans.
Joseph's heart raced—just by getting hold of this illegal evidence, he could call for a re-examination of these five hundred million livres worth of loans!
Usually, during the re-evaluation of a loan, interest payments are suspended!!
There was even the possibility of renegotiating the loan agreements!!!
And furthermore, for those loans that were extremely problematic, he could directly...
Joseph pinched his thigh hard, stopping himself from continuing the thought, for the prospects were too beautiful, easily leading one to indulge.
He stared intently at Carolina, his gaze seeming to burn:𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
"How confident are you that there's something wrong with those loans?"
Feeling unnerved under his gaze, Carolina said subconsciously,
"Based on my many years of gree...uh, my many years of financial experience, there's over a 90% chance that there's a problem, it's just that there's no evidence..."
"Excellent!" Joseph excitedly stood up, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder,"You've made an exceptional contribution this time."
Immediately after, Joseph commanded him,"From now on, you will be under my guard's protection all day, with no contact with any outsiders allowed."
"Ah?" Carolina exclaimed in shock,"Are you, are you placing me under house arrest?"
"Oh, no, this is only temporary. Once the matter with Necker is resolved, I will personally welcome you in Paris."
With that, Joseph picked up the paper and pen from the nearby table, quickly wrote a short letter, sealed it with wax, stamped his private seal, and then turned to leave.
He handed the letter to Captain Kesode of the guards, instructing,
"Please dispatch someone to return to Paris with utmost speed, and have the Police Headquarters immediately arrest Necker. That would be the former Finance Minister, Jacques Necker. Before my return, no one is allowed to come near Necker or his family.
"Deliver this letter to Archbishop Brienne, and he will coordinate the matter."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
After arranging all this, Joseph felt incredibly reassured. Seeing that it was still early, he stretched lazily and smiled at Eman, suggesting,
"It's rare for us to come to Lorraine; let's go have a look at Nancy."
...
To the northwest of Toul City, not far from the star-shaped fortress built by Marshal Voban, just two leagues away, stood the open-air coal mine at Détuil.
Clementine stood with a taut face at the edge of the enormous mine pit, staring blankly at the coal workers swinging their picks below.
Just this morning, the Crown Prince had ordered his guard to escort her here for a visit, and before she left, he had considerately briefed her on Toul's largest coal mine, wishing her a pleasant time.
With no trees for shelter nearby, the mine pit constant breezes kicked up a haze of fine coal dust that danced in the air.
The little girl irritably brushed away the handkerchief with which her maid Rosalia was trying to wipe her face, lamenting,
"Stop wiping. There's coal dust everywhere; it's impossible to get it all off..."
The maid cautiously said, "Miss, shall we go back?"
"We can't," the little girl puffed out her cheeks,"what if my cousin asks what I saw, and I can't say anything?"
"Then, shall I accompany you for a walk around?"
"Mm." The little girl nodded. Surrounded by guards, she followed the spiral-shaped downward slope made of compacted coal dust, making her way to the bottom of the mine.
Several miners carrying full baskets of coal approached her. When they saw Clementine's luxurious gown, as well as the imposing guards front and back, they were so frightened that they hurriedly stepped aside and bowed their heads to let them pass.
Assisted by her maid, the little girl walked past the miners when suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her feet give way.
One of the miners caught a glimpse of something amiss on the ground and cried out, "Look out!" Dropping his basket, he lunged forward to push her and the maid out of the way.
Immediately after, the spot where Clementine had just stood cracked open, with the coal dust ground collapsing "whoosh" downward.
"Run!" A guard behind Clementine acted swiftly, scooping her up and bolting forward.
Seconds later, a large section was missing in the middle of the spiral slope; Clementine and the miners stood on one side of the gap, and the other guards on the opposite side, all staring at each other with hearts still racing.
"Wah—" It was only then that the little girl remembered to be frightened and burst into tears.
Soon after, at the top of the mine pit, the mine owner came rushing over in a fluster, apologizing to Clementine with a crying tone:
"Esteemed miss, I am so deeply sorry! As God is my witness, this place hasn't collapsed for over ten years, I don't know why... oh, my Lord! Are you hurt? This... what shall we do..."
"It's not your fault." The little girl choked back sobs as she glanced at the small wound on her leg. The blood had mostly stopped.
She turned to look at the miners a short distance away, with more or less cuts and scrapes on their bodies, combined with their ragged clothes and coal-streaked faces, they appeared very miserable.
Clementine limped over, feeling that it was her own bad luck that had involved others, and with a sense of guilt, took out a handful of candies to share with the injured miners:
"Are you all right? Please have some candy, it won't hurt after you eat it."
The miners were flattered and scrambled to their feet, taking the candy but bowing their heads, not knowing how to properly express their gratitude.
After a long while, a brave worker stammered:
"May, may God bless you, kind Miss."
At the moment, candy was a very expensive item. These people had hardly ever tasted candy in their lives, not to mention such high-grade sweets. Some were already calculating in their hearts to save the candy for their children as Christmas gifts, certain it would leave them with unforgettable sweet memories for life.
The maid Rosalia followed her young mistress, handing out a few silver coins to each of the injured miners.
The mine owner breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Clementine's retreating figure—he had thought he would definitely have to pay a hefty sum, but she hadn't blamed him at all.
He then turned to look at the silver coins in the miners' hands and suddenly barked with a dark face:
"It's all because of you good-for-nothings! You almost made me offend that noble young lady. Give me that money right now!"
...
Paris.
In the Louvre District, surrounded by a spacious garden, a three-story villa with exquisite stone carvings and a multitude of floor-to-ceiling windows arranged in an artistic shape.
A man dressed in a blue-gray coat, with a drooping nose and a large chin, suppressed his anger, pointing a finger at Erice:
"You fool, I just asked you to keep an eye on Carolina. Why did you have to kill those two policemen? And one of them even got away!"
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Necker!" Erice glanced nervously at him, bowing his head, "Fred said that the policeman named Mala took out evidence of issues with your loan operations and demanded more evidence from Carolina."
"You instructed us not to let any news about you leak from Toul. I had... I had no choice but to take out those two officers."
In the eyes of the public, the Justice Investigation Department belonged to the Police Headquarters, so Mala and his colleagues were certainly policemen.
Necker was taken aback and urgently asked, "Did Carolina say anything to those two men?"
"That, I'm not sure. Later on, Fred was sent away by Carolina."
Necker frowned deeply, muttering softly for a moment, then suddenly glared at his subordinate and scolded:
"Fool! What you should be doing now is finishing off that policeman, not running to Paris to spout nonsense to me!"
"Listen to me," Erice hurriedly said, "Many people are now protecting that policeman, making it quite difficult to make a move. Plus, a few days later, many more people arrived at Carolina's place..."
Necker grew anxious: "Who are these people?"
"Fred says those people are on very high alert, forbidding anyone to approach. Oh, there must have been over a hundred guards, and I think there was the Royal Family's iris emblem on their uniforms."
"The Royal Family?"
Erice nodded and continued: "Fred seems to have also seen a young man, around fourteen or fifteen years old, of significant stature..."
Necker's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints. There was only one fourteen or fifteen-year-old who could be accompanied by hundreds of Royal Guards in all of France—the current Crown Prince!
He paced anxiously around the room, sorting through the entire situation in his mind.
First, the police had approached Carolina, mentioning problems with his loans. Then, Erice had killed a policeman, and the other was immediately heavily protected. Afterwards, the Royal Family had somehow gotten involved...
If connected, it was very likely that the Royal Family knew about his dealings with the bank.
This situation could be severe!
Necker immediately took a bag of gold coins from the safe and handed it to Erice, sternly ordering:
"Return to Toul with your men, find a place to hide!"
Erice, feeling the weight of the bag of coins, exclaimed happily:
"Very well, Mr. Necker. But my men died that day, so I'll just go into hiding."
Afterward, he bowed respectfully and left briskly.
It's just you left now, huh? Necker thought coldly, pulling the bell to summon his butler, and with a grim face, gestured a cutting motion towards the retreating figure of Erice.
The butler nodded and left, returning a few minutes later:
"Mr. Necker, it has been taken care of."
"Very good," Necker then instructed, "Have the lady and the children get ready. We might be in trouble, we need to make a trip to the 'country estate'."
"Understood, Mr. Necker."
The butler left, and Necker called over one of his confidants and whispered some instructions.
Before twilight, the confidant returned and told Necker:
"Mr. Necker, just as you suspected, a significant number of secret police were dispatched to Toul a few days ago. Additionally, I've learned from the Palace of Versailles that the King had signed a document pardoning Carolina."
Necker, having been the Finance Minister for many years and very wealthy, had access to a broad network of information among the French nobility.
"Secret police? A pardon for Carolina?"
Necker was now completely certain that the Royal Family was after him. Although it wasn't certain that Carolina would cooperate with the Royal Family, he couldn't take the risk.
After all, his own affairs were much too significant...
He quickly made a decision, retrieved the suitcase he had prepared earlier, and then called for the butler:
"We leave immediately for the 'country estate'."
"Yes, Mr. Necker."
Soon, several inconspicuous carriages left the Necker residence. Fouche's planted men immediately followed by carriage—how could Joseph not have someone keeping an eye on Necker?
Meanwhile, in an ordinary house several hundred meters away from the Necker residence, the floorboards were lifted from inside. Necker's family, together with the butler, crawled out one after another, for a tunnel leading directly to his villa had long been dug there.
Necker and the others got into the carriage waiting outside and rode into the night.
Just an hour later, nearly a hundred policemen led by Besancon surrounded Necker's villa. There was also a large number of secret police and Police Affairs Department personnel assisting in the arrest.
However, they only found over thirty servants; there was no sign of the Necker family, including an undercover operative from the Police Affairs Department who was stationed there, who only then realized that Necker had vanished.
...
A ball was taking place at the home of the Count of Isaac, President of the Banking Guild of France.
A trim middle-aged man quickly entered the hall and found the Count of Isaac, whispering a few words into his ear.
The latter's face changed dramatically and he turned to ask:
"Is the news reliable?"
The middle-aged man nodded, "All the newspapers are already writing the news about Necker's house being surrounded by a large number of police. However, I got word from the secret police that they haven't found Necker."
Isaac immediately found several people in the crowd of the ball and took them upstairs with him.
"Are you saying that Necker might be targeted by the police?"
Isaac shook his head:
"If it were just the police, it wouldn't be enough to make Necker flee. It's very likely that the Royal Family has taken action."
Another man with reddish skin and a gaunt look frowned and said:
"Why did the Royal Family act so quickly this time? Not a breath of this leaked out."
"That's still unclear," Isaac said gravely, "but I believe you all know how 'dangerous' Necker is."
He looked around at the few people in the room: "After all, nearly all of us have had dealings with him."
A fat man with thick makeup and dark circles under his eyes complained through clenched teeth:
"Before, I kept saying to kick that guy out to England, but you still wanted to bring him into the Palace of Versailles as the Finance Minister! Now look, we're all implicated because of him!"
"Calm down, Count Capefield." The gaunt old man raised his hand with a pacifying gesture, "What's the use of talking about this now? The most important thing at the moment is to make sure the Royal Family doesn't find Necker first."
"The Marquis of Ludo is right," Isaac nodded, "We know Necker better than the Royal Family does, and we will surely find him faster. Then we'll need to find a way to send him to England, or else..."
His eyes narrowed slightly and he drew his finger across his throat.