I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 874 Financial Secret War
Pope Pius VI first led the bishops in a brief prayer, then clasped his fingers together, bowed his head and said, "Everyone should know what happened. What should we do?"

Cardinal Giardini of Venice immediately shouted angrily:
"Muzzarelli should have been handed over to the French first. It was his stupidity...oh, God forgive my rudeness, it was his way of trying to please Vienna that angered the French..."

The middle-aged cardinal next to him interrupted him in a low voice: "Don't you know? Father Muzzarelli fled Rome last month."

Cardinal Edel of Naples, who was sitting next to Pius VI, suddenly began to chant aloud:

“Foreigners have entered your inheritance, O Lord…”

Heated discussions immediately broke out all around, "Please ask the Pope to call for a crusade! Believers from all over Europe will come to fight for God!"

"Let the Habsburgs increase their troops. The Vatican has given them great support, and now it's time for them to give back."

"Archbishop Destro, the army of Vienna couldn't even save Lombardy. In my opinion, we have to ask for help from Madrid..."

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

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

"No army can help us." The old Genoese cardinal raised his hand and pressed it down, saying, "Now we should call up the martyrs to assassinate the blasphemer in the Palace of Versailles..."

"Enough." Pope Pius VI raised his wrinkled face and shook his head palely. "Fear has eroded your minds. These thoughts are more blasphemous than the bayonets of the French."

He looked at Archbishop Edel. "Can the Vatican Guard stop them? Oh, plus the Roman militia and the anti-smuggling team."

The latter hesitated and said, "This is probably difficult, Holy Father."

The Swiss Guard, the core combat force of the Holy See, has only about 400 people. Together with other guards and paramilitary forces, the strength is less than 2.

Pope Pius VI looked around at everyone and saw that no one spoke. He sighed and said, "Archbishop Gardini, please go to Paris immediately and negotiate with the King of France on behalf of the Holy See.

"Tell him that all this was done by Muzzarelli, and that the Holy See is willing to cede the Marche region as compensation to France and compensate them..."

He paused and uttered a number with difficulty: "One million Ducats. Let them withdraw as soon as possible."

One million ducats is about 100 million francs, which is quite sincere.

The cardinals immediately expressed their opposition in an excited voice, "Holy Father, how can we bow to blasphemers?"

"One million ducats is too much!"

"This will embolden those secular kings..."

Just then, a high-ranking priest walked in along the wall and whispered something in Archbishop Edel's ear.

The latter was shocked and said to Pius VI in a trembling voice: "Holy Father, the guards just interrogated a relative of one of Muzzarelli's guards. According to that person, Muzzarelli went to France, and his destination is most likely Paris."

"What?!" Pope Pius VI stood up suddenly, was stunned for a while, turned to Edel and said, "Please get ready. I will go to France myself."

……

Paris financial center.

Bank of France headquarters.

In the luxuriously decorated VIP room, Lafont, a senior executive of the French Reserve Bank, signaled the servant to place hot tea in front of the middle-aged customer, and then smiled and said:
"Why do you suddenly want to exchange so much gold? Oh, please don't mind, this is all for the safety of the VIP account."

Just half an hour ago, the businessman who claimed to be from Reims said he would exchange all 50 francs for gold.

According to the French gold standard laws, banks must meet the requirements of customers. "I want to invest in South American business," the middle-aged man said in a cold voice, "the people there don't accept francs."

"Or, you can try to use our bank's remittance business," Lafonte said with a smile, "We have 'note-free' remittance cooperation with some Spanish banks..."

The middle-aged man waved his hands impatiently: "I want to buy the minerals in San Vicente. Please exchange them for gold coins as soon as possible."

São Vicente is a Portuguese colony.

Lafont’s smile froze for a moment, and he nodded, “Okay, honorable Mr. Colin.

"But you know, it takes five days to verify identities and large authorizations, not including Sundays."

"Okay, I'll be there in 6 days." Colin signed the application form, left his accountant, and got up to leave.

Lafont escorted him out the door, and a salesman ran up to him and whispered in his ear, "Sir, a lady wants to exchange 65 francs into gold coins..."

Lafonte frowned immediately.

He often encountered large-amount exchanges, but it was extremely rare for there to be three large-amount gold exchanges every day for two consecutive days.

Moreover, these transactions were not just "large" but "huge" - a total of more than 200 million francs.

After dealing with the lady, he immediately returned to the office and wrote a report on the anomalies of the past two days.

The next day.

As soon as the headquarters of the French Reserve Bank opened, a noble man in gorgeous clothes asked to exchange 60 francs of gold.

Lafont immediately realized that something was wrong, and when he met the young nobleman, he told him that this business required the activation of the "remote transportation clause" and that delivery could only be completed after 22 days.

The so-called "remote transfer clause" means that the demand for gold exchange in a short period of time exceeds the bank's inventory, so it must be transferred from remote banks, taking from 15 to 22 days.

After seeing off the customer, Lafont hurriedly instructed his men to announce to the public that "the bank would keep statistics on its accounts" and all large-scale business would be suspended.

He then slipped out of the back door of the French Reserve Bank, got in a carriage and rushed to the office of the general manager of the French Reserve Bank in the Tuileries Palace.

As soon as the news of the suspension of the French central bank's exchange business came out, more than a dozen "financial experts" who had been prepared for this began to attack everywhere, spreading "terrorist" remarks at stock exchanges, futures exchanges, and even large salons. "As I said before, France has already over-issued its banknotes by more than ten times!"

"The French central bank exhausted its gold reserves before the New Year. Today's announcement of the suspension of exchange is just the beginning..."

"We fought a great war, but unfortunately, the war was also very costly. In order to meet the military expenses, the government could only print paper money to make up the difference..."

"Please believe me, I have worked in the banking and financing industry 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's scam? Look how similar the situation is now to that time..."

That evening, some small-circulation newspapers began to publish news that the "French Reserve Bank was suspected of facing difficulties."

……

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph was reading the security organization's report on the siege of Ferrara when he saw Brian and Jacques Lafitte, general manager of the French Bank, knocking on the door and entering under the guidance of Emmanuel.

(End of this chapter)