Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 661 570: Let’s All Play Disappear Together

Kleistier had just informed him that French goods seemed to be very popular, as numerous merchants and companies had expressed their willingness to take over the merchandise immediately, guaranteeing that they would announce to the public that the original buyers had paid for them.

However, the price would need to be discounted.

Duke of Leeds looked towards Kleistier and asked, "So, how much more money do we need to pay in total?"

"Seven orders, a total of 1.8 million florins, Your Grace," the latter responded and took out a stack of copies of agreements, hastily adding, "These buyers are all very reliable. For example, Viscount Plummer, in Vienna, is very famous for his substantial wealth.

"My people have signed agreements with them, the terms are clear, and they've even paid part of the down payment to the French companies."

Duke of Leeds frowned again.

1.8 million florins was 180,000 British Pounds.

For this assault on French industry, Parliament had allocated him a total of 500,000 British Pounds.

He had initially taken out 300,000 for the proper cause, and he had planned to use the remaining to "reward" himself and to bribe the officials involved in this matter.

But now, if he didn't invest these 180,000 British Pounds, the whole plan might completely fail.

It's just that after the expenses for bribes were subtracted, the funds fell short of 180,000, and he would have to contribute a bit more out of his own pocket...

Damn it! He clenched his fists in anger, consoling himself in his mind: for an outlay of 480,000 British Pounds, he would cause the French to lose at least 1.3 million British Pounds, as well as their industrial system!

Once the plan was completed, he could use this success to return to the political core of London. This bit of money was like an investment in the future.

Duke of Leeds again confirmed with Kleistier that there were no problems with these transactions—of course, there were no problems, the people or companies that had signed the agreements had already started paying the money, what could go wrong with actual cash?

Afterward, he finally nodded, "Alright, I will allocate the funds to you as quickly as possible. I do not want to see any further surprises."

"I assure you, Your Grace."

In the following days, Kleistier distributed the 180,000 British Pounds, which equated to over 4.5 million French francs, to his subordinates, instructing them to compensate the French companies as a "discount."

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief and started to daydream again about enjoying life in Manchester with the British man's reward, his steward reported to him that Graz had urgent business with him.

"What do you mean by disappeared?!" Kleistier frowned at Graz.

"J-just," the latter stammered, "Viscount Plummer hasn't been seen at social events for several days, and when I went to his villa, I found it completely empty.

"I sent someone to his ancestral home in Edenburg to inquire, and the locals there said that Viscount Plummer died at the beginning of the year..."

A bad premonition surged in Kleistier's heart, and he quickly asked, "What about the payment to the French company, how much did he pay?"

"Only, only the initial 50,000 florins..."

Kleistier felt the room spin and stumbled into his chair; then he abruptly stood up and bellowed at the steward, "Quick! Send someone to find him, we must catch that bastard!"

However, the steward had barely turned to leave when he returned with Borlasnia.

The latter, with a grim face, said to Kleistier, "Master, the Homsar Investment Company has suddenly announced bankruptcy, and their directors seem to have fled abroad..."

Over the next three days, Kleistier received continuous reports of the disappearances of the people or companies who had signed to take over the French goods at discounted rates.

In reality, they had all "vanished" on the same day; it just took time for the news from Italy to reach him.

Even if Kleistier was foolish, he now understood he had been duped.

Subsequently, the French company's dunning became even more frequent, and they began to publicly promote the issue, even bringing businesspeople and celebrities to visit the warehouses piled with goods, bitterly detailing the breach of contract by the ordering companies.

Graz was the first to flee.

After losing contact with him, Kleistier hurriedly took his family and escaped Vienna overnight, heading towards Russia.

However, as soon as his carriage had driven to the suburbs east of the city, it was stopped by trees that had fallen across the road, and then a few men dressed in black took advantage of the twilight glow of the setting sun to kill his whole family, including the servants.

...

Paris.

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Headlines in mainstream newspapers like the Paris Commercial News over the recent days were all along the lines of "Outrage! Austria, Tuscany, and Other Countries Organize Massive Contract Fraud!" and "Contract Fraud Involves a Large Number of French Factories, Totaling Over 30 Million French Francs!"

While the executives of the major French factories were furiously denouncing the heartless fraudsters, they were also secretly relieved that the scam was discovered early on, as they had only produced less than one-third of the orders and, after deducting the deposits, the losses were not too severe.

At a salon in Lyon, several textile factory owners were gathered, furiously discussing, "I have less than 20,000 French francs left in my hands, if we had discovered the problem with the orders a month later, I would only be able to declare bankruptcy!"

"Yes, for this batch of orders, I borrowed 150,000 French francs from the bank and nearly spent it all on buying cotton..."

"Those damn Austrians!"

Some were more relaxed, "A month and a half ago, the Crown Prince had already asked us to control production; maybe he already saw some clues at that time."

His factory was owned 40% by the Industrial Development Fund, so under the demands of the Fund's committee, he had to massively reduce production, which ironically resulted in minimal losses.

Someone from the Lyon Textile Guild whispered nearby, "You guessed correctly. I heard that the shipment to Tuscany from the Thiesselin Company was gathered by the Crown Prince himself from Nantes and other places in Lyon."

Immediately someone exclaimed in surprise, "It was those goods that exposed the swindlers' tricks!"

"It must have been the Crown Prince's orders..."

The factory owners who had survived the ordeal immediately showed shocked expressions, "Thank the Crown Prince!"

"Oh, God, did the Crown Prince really save my factory?"

"Absolutely. Long live the Crown Prince!"

"To the Crown Prince!"

Just as everyone was raising their glasses together, an official from the Angye Textile Co., Ltd burst in, signaling the band to be quiet, and then very unceremoniously leaped onto the table and announced loudly, "Just now the Palace of Versailles issued a notice that all factories that suffered losses in this order scam will receive a compensation of 15% of the lost amount!

"Everyone hurry and register at the city hall, oh, and remember to bring your purchase agreements!"

The salon erupted into cheers, and, ignoring the helpless gaze of Baroness Leo, the hostess, people rushed out the door to return home to retrieve their agreements.

This money was naturally the 4.5 million French francs that Mesmer and others had "knocked out" from Duke of Leeds by "discount takeover."