I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1327 The "Volcano" of St. Petersburg

That evening, Viscount Olivier emerged wearily from the ballroom.

When he got into the carriage parked outside Count Sheremetyev's estate, leaned back in his seat, picked up a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth, a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

At the ball just now, he finally reached an agreement with Nikolai Rumyantsev, who would buy his 20% stake in the Donbas coal mine and ironworks for 13 rubles, or more than 50 francs.

Based on the value of his company, he probably lost 5 francs on this deal, and if you consider the company's current strong growth momentum, the loss would be even greater.

But since it was His Highness the Crown Prince's order, he did as he was told.

Before this, he had already sold or given away a large number of shares to powerful figures in Russia, such as Prince Kuragin and Prince Yusupov, leaving him with only 15% of the shares.

These men were all powerful figures in Russia. Nikolai Rumyantsev's father was a marshal of the Reich, Prince Kuragin had enormous influence in diplomacy, and the Yusupov family were local strongmen in southern Russia.

Although Viscount Olivier had lost several hundred thousand francs, he was extremely excited because His Highness the Dauphin had promised him a position at the Industrial Development Fund upon his return to Paris, making him one of the fund's "20 Commissioners." This was a prestigious position in French business circles.

In addition, His Highness told him that there were huge coalfields in central Westphalia, and his company would be given priority mining rights there.

He read in the newspaper that North Germany had signed an agreement with France, allowing French companies to invest and build factories there, and that French patents would be recognized by the North German states.

He took the advice of His Highness the Crown Prince and risked bringing a hundred or so workers to invest in Donbas. In just eight years, he made a profit of more than 370 million francs there—not even counting the value of the coal mines and factories.

Therefore, he was full of expectations for the prospect of "moving to Westphalia".

Yes, the Ruhr region, which later became known as the "industrial heart of the German Empire," is still largely farmland, with only a few small coal mines operating in places like Bochum.

The French government has invested most of its funds in the Walloon and Rhineland regions, so Westphalia's coal resources will have to be controlled by private capital.

Later, trains and steam-powered machines in northern Germany would consume large amounts of coal, and the coal mines of Westphalia could even become a "valve" affecting the economies of various countries.

This will further strengthen France's control over northern Germany.

The situation in Russia was about to spiral out of control, so Joseph instructed Olivier to make arrangements for his return to Western Europe as soon as possible to avoid danger.

As for the coal and iron mines in Donbas, after Olivier took away the core technical personnel, let the Russian nobles run them. Besides, there are still quite a few security personnel left in the company, so there's no fear that a business genius might emerge from among the Russian nobles.

The businesses that Olivier previously handed over to Chadov and the other "Avengers" were some of the company's peripheral channels. They could maintain a decent profit simply by selling coal and iron from Donbas to St. Petersburg.

Chadov did not disappoint his funding, and just half a month after returning to St. Petersburg, he convened the first "gathering".

In the ironware shop's warehouse, Chadov slammed his hands on the table, looked around at the people in the room, and said in a deep voice, "I swear on my mother's honor, that letter is real. I saw it with my own eyes; it has the seal of the British minister on it."

He was referring to the letter describing Alexander's assassination of Paul.

Due to the need for secrecy, only 11 Russian soldiers, who were repeatedly confirmed to be the most loyal to Paul I, saw the original letter.

"Paren and Zubov were the main organizers, and Algamakov, Sablukov, and the British minister were also involved."

"That night, they transferred the Imperial Guards surrounding the Gatchina Palace..."

Chadov's face flickered in and out of the candlelight: "Finally, the devil rushed into the bedroom and shot His Majesty Paul dead right at his bedside!"

The men in the warehouse were prisoners recently released from France. They had heard countless tales of Paul's assassination in Strasbourg, but they were still consumed by rage. "We must avenge His Majesty!"

"Give me a gun, I'm going to the Winter Palace to kill that patricide bastard!"

"Fool, you can't even get through the palace gates. We have to wait until he travels..."

Chadov raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "No, we can't kill that devil with our abilities. But we can make everyone aware of his crimes!"
"One day, he will be deserted by everyone, stabbed to death in the back by his guards, or strangled to death in his sleep by his servants!"

A middle-aged soldier looked at him and asked, "What should we do?"

"First, find our former comrades-in-arms, making sure they aren't the kind who betray their principles for personal gain, and then tell them the truth."

Following the steps the security bureau had taught him, Chadov continued, "There will be a meeting every two weeks from now on. You can bring people you trust."

"I will print some more flyers in a while, and you can take them and distribute them in various places."

Everyone nodded.

Another soldier with a scar on his face said coldly, "You just said that Alexander's guards were involved in the assassination?"

"indeed so."

“We can’t get close to the Tsar, but we can see these guys.” Scarface made a throat-slitting gesture. “We can kill them first!”

Chadov nodded and said, "This needs to be planned carefully..."

There are nine similar "revenge groups" like Chadov's in St. Petersburg, with others operating in Moscow and Belorozero.

In a somewhat deserted tavern on the northern outskirts of St. Petersburg, Kishchenko looked at the officers in front of him with his grey-green eyes and waved excitedly, saying, "That is the power of civilization, the victory brought about by human rights and equality!"

"Therefore, the moment the emperor declared war on that great nation, we were already destined to be defeated!"

The officers looked around in fear. Luckily, there was no one else in the tavern, and even the bartender had disappeared to slack off somewhere. Otherwise, they would probably have killed anyone who had overheard those words to silence them.

They weren't prisoners of war returning from France, but rather Kishchenko's friends.

Someone stood up, grabbed Kishchenko, and chuckled dryly, "You must be drunk; you're starting to talk nonsense..."

“I haven’t been drinking!” The latter shook off his hand. “If you keep going on like this, Russia will be buried in the dust of history!”

Do you know what France is like now?

"Everyone, including the poorest peasants, gets to eat white bread, butter, and beef at every meal! Even the prisoners of war who build the railway eat better than the citizens of St. Petersburg!"

He pulled a small booklet from his pocket and placed it carefully on the table: "We have to do something."

Everyone peered at the booklet and saw a line of French text on the cover—"The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen."

(End of this chapter)