Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

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"What do you think the nobles will do?"

Isaac sneered coldly, "They will surely keep the King and Queen awake at night!"

"Exactly!"

Belanger looked at everyone's excitement, his voice trembling, "Then, what should I do..."

The Duke of Orleans stepped forward, patted his shoulder to reassure him, "Don't worry, once this is over, I will find a way to get you out of prison, and give you some money, perhaps then you can go back to your old business."

...

The next morning, while Fouche's men and the Secret Police were still auditing Belanger Bank, Viscount Belanger brought the bank's executives before countless reporters, admitting to all the bank's illegal dealings with Necker, and voluntarily handed over a portion of the illicit profits—thus leaving not a single cent on the bank's books.

Afterward, Belanger Bank declared bankruptcy, and the baffled police, after sealing the bank, arrested Belanger and the bank's executives.

The sudden news, spread by those with ulterior motives, quickly disseminated throughout the Palace of Versailles. For a time, all the nobles were frantic with worry, nervously asking each other upon meeting, "Have you invested money in that bank?"

Suddenly, the inside story of Belanger Bank's bankruptcy erupted—Necker had been involved in many illegal transactions with the bank, and now that Necker had been arrested, these matters had also been uncovered.

Then came even more terrifying news from those "in the know"—there were far more banks than just Belanger's that had transactions with Necker. As Necker faced trial in the Bastille, it was unknown how many more banks would be affected.

That evening, dozens of anxious-looking nobles gathered in the great hall of the Royal Palace, eagerly looking to the Duke of Orleans for advice.

"These banks are all implicated in bribery, illegal transactions, and the like, and will face hefty fines," said the Duke of Orleans with a worried look, "so no one will want to buy these banks, because nobody wants to take on the additional fines."

A nobleman with a pained face said, "Then how can I get back the money I invested in the bank... I heard that Klassen Bank is also in trouble."

"Yes, please help us think of a way! It is said that more than ten banks have been scammed by that Necker."

"Oh God, that's half of my estate!"

"If the bank goes bankrupt, all the money I've saved for over a decade will be gone..."

Having stirred the crowd sufficiently, the Duke of Orleans then put on a show of difficulty, saying, "In fact, I too have invested a lot of money in the banks.

"Right now, if Necker's trial continues, those dozen banks will surely go under one after another.

"So, unless the interrogation is stopped, no one can save our money."

"Exactly!" someone immediately echoed loudly, "We must stop interrogating Necker."

"We should suggest to the Royal Family that he be banished immediately!"

"But, it is said that the evidence this time is conclusive, and the Royal Family might not agree..."

The Duke of Orleans immediately pointed at the speaker, "Viscount Protodem is right. We must unite and put some pressure on the Royal Family to halt Necker's trial."

"But how can we pressure the Royal Family? Now even the High Court listens to the Royal Family."

The Duke of Orleans revealed a smile, "Just follow my lead, we should do this..."

...

Paris.

In the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau, Joseph looked at the report in his hand, unable to hide his glee.

Belanger had actually confessed, and his bank had declared bankruptcy.

Joseph had originally thought that he would struggle a bit, such as using a confession or renegotiating a loan agreement as bargaining chips to negotiate for a lighter sentence or even a pardon.

Joseph had also prepared to "fleece" the bank on this deal, but unexpectedly, the other party surrendered outright.

With Belanger Bank bankrupt, and without dealing with debts and credits, and no other bank willing to take over, all debts turned into bad debt, meaning that the French Government could completely avoid paying back the money it had borrowed from them.

After all, the contract was signed with Belanger Bank, and with no bankruptcy law, liquidation law, and the like, if one party to the contract "dies," the contract can be terminated.

That was a loan of 35.2 million livres!

Just like that, it was written off.

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This kind of delight was far stronger than the hard-earned 35 million Joseph had used to repay the loans.

It was like the joy of finding money while walking.

He counted on his fingers, Carolina had said that there were a total of 13 banks with illegal dealings with Necker, even if all of them had loan amounts like the Belanger Bank, once all of them were dealt with, the government debt could be directly reduced by 450 million livres!!

Faster than robbing a bank!

Moreover, Belanger Bank was just a small-scale bank, a big bank like Klassen Bank could have loan amounts of over a hundred million livres!

Although France's debt crisis could not be said to be resolved just like that, overall, it would be much easier to handle, and the dawn of a complete solution to the debt problem would also appear.

After basking in the delight concerning the debt for a while, Joseph put down the documents, but he faintly felt that something was not quite right.

Was there a problem somewhere?

Seeing the bright sunshine outside the window, he decided to take a walk in the courtyard and contemplate the problem.

However, just as Joseph reached the entrance of the Industrial Planning Bureau, he faintly heard the sound of a woman's sobbing coming from an office corner, along with another voice comforting her.

"Thank goodness you withdrew the money to buy those two skirts last month, otherwise the loss would have been greater."

The woman choked, "But there's still a full 80 livres in the bank ... how could it just collapse like this?"

"I heard it was those damned banks, all for a bit of filthy lucre, making deals with corrupt bureaucrats and getting caught."

"What am I going to do? That was the money for repairing my house..."

"Ah, what can be done? My neighbor lost even more, I think it was about 100 livres."

At these words, Joseph was taken aback, suddenly understanding what was wrong.

Not all of the money in the bank belonged to the bank itself, much of it came from depositors and investors!

With the bank's bankruptcy, the government no longer had to repay the loan, but it was these people who ultimately bore the loss.

Although since John Law's Mississippi Company incident, which led to widespread default by the Royal Bank, the French people's trust in banks hit rock bottom, resulting in a very low savings rate.

For example, it took his Bank of France Reserve more than four months to barely attract less than 200,000 livres in savings, but this small amount of money would cause significant problems in ordinary people's lives.

Then there was the money that the nobility invested in the banks, which was a much larger sum.

Indeed, more than half of some banks' assets came from wealthy nobles, who then lent the money to the government to earn interest.

While they might not struggle to live due to investment losses, the money they put in was clean, legitimate money.

The government debt was indeed nearly half a billion less, but the sudden appearance of such a large financial black hole in France would inevitably lead to social chaos.

With this in mind, Joseph could not help but furrow his brows.

It appeared that this massive debt had to "evaporate" slowly, not die abruptly.

But how to go about it?

As he pondered how to minimize the impact of the bank bankruptcies, he saw two carriages enter the yard of the Industrial Planning Bureau.

As the carriage door opened, Brian's attendant was the first to get off, setting the steps in place.

Before he could open the door, Brian, impatient, pushed the door himself and stepped out, facing Joseph. He hurriedly came forward to greet him, and then said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid there might be trouble!"

Joseph frowned and asked tentatively, "Is it related to the bank bankruptcy?"

Brian nodded, "Have you heard as well? Yes, the collapse of the Belanger Bank was so sudden, causing many nobles to suffer heavy losses. It is said that someone lost millions of livres."

He took a deep breath and added, "What's more, many nobles, fearing other banks may collapse suddenly, have gathered at the Petit Trianon Palace, requesting Her Majesty the Queen to issue a decree, to halt the interrogation of Necker."

Joseph sneered, "I was originally planning to help them reduce the losses, but if they intend to threaten His Majesty with this, then they can't blame me for not being polite!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Brian said anxiously, "Your Highness, this matter could be very troublesome.

"I've heard that nobles plan to form an alliance, claiming that if Necker's interrogation isn't stopped, they will no longer lend a sou to the government!"