I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 170: The Big Fish Chase

For some reason, when Joseph heard the number "ten million livres," he didn't feel any anger. Instead, a strange sense of "comfort" washed over him. He leaned closer to Calonne, asking eagerly:

"Are you saying that this is the amount Necker personally pocketed, or the total amount of suspicious funds?"

"This is Necker's personal gain from those transactions, Your Highness. Over half of the financial loans he handled may have been irregular."

Joseph suddenly felt like the whole world had brightened, and he could almost hear angels singing in joy. During Necker's time as Director of the Treasury, France had taken out nearly 1 billion livres in loans from banks. If what Calonne said was true, even at the lowest estimate, that meant about 500 million livres worth of loans could be subject to investigation.

Joseph's heart raced—if he could find evidence of illegal activity in those loans, he could initiate a full review of that 500 million livres!

Typically, during a loan review, interest payments are paused!!

There might even be a chance to renegotiate the loan terms!!!

And in the most serious cases, the loans could be... nullified!!!

Joseph pinched his thigh hard to keep himself from getting too carried away. The possibilities were too tempting, and he had to stay focused.

He stared intently at Calonne, his gaze almost burning with intensity:

"How confident are you that those loans are problematic?"

Calonne, unnerved by Joseph's intense stare, stammered:

"Based on my years of experience in... finance, I'd say there's a 90% chance they're problematic, but I couldn't find the evidence..."

"Excellent!" Joseph exclaimed, standing up and giving Calonne a strong pat on the shoulder. "You've made an outstanding contribution this time."

Joseph then instructed him: "From now on, you'll be under my personal guard's protection around the clock, and you're not to contact anyone outside."

"Huh?" Calonne was shocked. "Are you putting me under house arrest?"

"Oh no, this is just temporary. Once we deal with Necker, I'll personally welcome you back to Paris."

Joseph quickly wrote a letter, sealed it with wax, and pressed his personal seal into it before stepping out of the room.

He handed the letter to his captain of the guard, Crozon, instructing:

"Please send someone back to Paris as fast as possible. The police must arrest Necker immediately—Jacques Necker, the former Minister of Finance. No one is to approach Necker or his family until I return.

"This letter is for Archbishop Brienne; he will handle the coordination."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

With everything in place, Joseph felt an immense sense of relief. Seeing that it was still early, he stretched and smiled at Emon, indicating:

"Since we're in Lorraine, let's take a trip to Nancy."

...

Northwest of Toul, just two leagues from the star-shaped fort built by Marshal Vauban, lies the Tillery open-pit coal mine.

Clementine stood by the edge of the massive pit, her face tense as she stared blankly at the coal miners below, who were swinging their pickaxes.

Earlier that morning, the Prince had kindly arranged for his guards to escort her here for a tour, even providing a detailed introduction to Toul's largest coal mine and wishing her a pleasant visit.

A small breeze, unobstructed by trees, blew across the mine, lifting fine coal dust into the air.

The young girl irritably waved away her maid Rosalía's handkerchief as she tried to wipe Clementine's face, grumbling:

"Don't bother, the coal dust is everywhere—it's impossible to stay clean..."

The maid cautiously suggested, "Miss, perhaps we should return?"

"No," Clementine pouted. "What if my cousin asks what I saw and I can't answer?"

"Shall I accompany you for a walk?"

"Yes." The young girl nodded, and with her guards surrounding her, she began to descend the spiral path of compacted coal dust that led to the bottom of the mine.

A group of miners, each carrying a full basket of coal, saw Clementine's luxurious dress and the dignified guards ahead and behind her. They quickly stepped aside, lowering their heads in fear as she passed.

As Clementine walked by, she suddenly felt the ground give way beneath her.

A miner noticed the change in the ground and shouted, "Watch out!" He dropped his basket and lunged forward, pushing Clementine and her maid out of the way.

Immediately, the ground where Clementine had been standing collapsed, sending coal dust cascading down.

"Run!" one of the guards yelled, scooping Clementine up and rushing forward.

Seconds later, a large section of the spiral path crumbled away. Clementine and the miners stood on one side of the gap, while the rest of the guards were on the other, all of them shaken by how close the call had been.

"Wah—" The young girl finally realized the danger she had been in and burst into tears.

Soon, the mine owner arrived, rushing over with others in tow. He tearfully apologized to Clementine:

"Dear lady, I am so sorry! I swear to God, this place has never collapsed in over ten years. I don't know what happened... Oh, dear God! Are you hurt? What should I do..."

"It's not your fault," Clementine sniffled, looking at her leg. There was a small cut, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.

She then looked over at the miners nearby, who had minor injuries and were covered in coal dust, their tattered clothes making them look quite pitiful.

Feeling guilty, Clementine limped over to them, taking out a handful of candies to share:

"Are you okay? Here, have some candy. It'll make the pain go away."

The miners, overwhelmed, hurriedly stood and accepted the candies, lowering their heads, unsure how to express their gratitude.

After a long pause, one brave miner stammered:

"May... May God bless you, kind lady."

At that time, sugar was an expensive commodity. Most of these men had rarely, if ever, eaten candy, especially such high-quality treats. One of them had already decided to save the candy for his children as a Christmas present, something that would give them a sweet memory to last a lifetime.

Clementine's maid, Rosalía, followed behind her, handing out silver coins to the injured miners.

The mine owner watched Clementine's departing figure and finally breathed a sigh of relief—he had expected to have to pay a hefty sum in compensation, but she hadn't blamed him at all.

He then turned to the miners, eyeing the silver coins in their hands, and suddenly snapped:

"It's all your fault, you worthless fools! You nearly cost me my relationship with that noble lady. Now, hand over that money!"

...

Paris.

In a grand, three-story mansion surrounded by a spacious garden and adorned with intricate stone carvings and large, artistically arranged windows, a man in a blue-gray coat with a drooping nose and a prominent chin suppressed his anger as he pointed at Erich:

"You fool! I only told you to keep an eye on Calonne, so why did you kill those two officers? And how did one of them escape?!"

"I apologize, Mr. Necker!" Erich glanced at him nervously before lowering his head. "According to Fred, the officer named Marat had evidence of issues with your loan operations and demanded more proof from Calonne.

"You had ordered that no information about you should leave Toul, so I had no choice but to eliminate those officers."

In the public's view, the Public Investigation Office was part of the police, so Marat and his colleagues were seen as police officers.

Necker was taken aback, urgently asking, "Did Calonne say anything to those men?"

"That... I'm not sure. Fred was sent away by Calonne after that."

Necker frowned, muttering to himself, then suddenly glared at his subordinate and shouted:

"Idiot! What you should be doing right now is killing that officer, not running back to Paris to waste my time!"

"Listen," Erich said quickly, "the officer is now heavily guarded. It's not easy to get to him. And a few days later, more people arrived at Calonne's place..."

Necker tensed up, "What kind of people?"

"Fred said they were very well-armed and wouldn't let anyone get close. Oh, there were at least a hundred guards, and they seemed to be wearing royal insignia."

"The royal family?"

Erich nodded and continued, "Fred also saw a young boy, about fourteen or fifteen years old, who seemed to be someone important..."

Necker's pupils shrank to pinpoints. There was only one fourteen or fifteen-year-old in all of France who could be escorted by a hundred royal guards—the current Crown Prince!

Necker anxiously began pacing around the room, trying to piece together the situation.

First, the police contacted Calonne and mentioned his questionable loans. Then Erich killed one of the officers, and the other was immediately placed under heavy protection. After that, the royal family got involved...

Putting it all together, it seemed likely that the royal family had discovered his dealings with the banks.

This could be serious!

Necker immediately retrieved a bag of gold coins from his safe and handed it to Erich, sternly saying:

"Go back to Toul, take your men, and find a place to hide!"

Erich felt the weight of the money in his hand, overjoyed:

"Understood, Mr. Necker. But my men were all killed that day, so I'll just go into hiding myself."

He then bowed and eagerly left the room.

Just you left, huh? Necker thought, a cold glint in his eye as he rang a bell to summon his butler. He gestured a cutting motion toward Erich's retreating figure.

The butler nodded and left, returning a few minutes later:

"Mr. Necker, it's done."

"Good." Necker then ordered, "Have my wife and children get ready. We might have trouble, so we need to go to the 'country estate.'"

"Understood, Mr. Necker."

After the butler left, Necker called for one of his trusted aides, whispering instructions to him.

Before dusk, the aide returned and reported to Necker:

"Mr. Necker, just as you suspected, several secret police officers were sent to Toul a few days ago. Also, I learned from Versailles that the King recently signed a document pardoning Calonne."

Having served as Minister of Finance for many years and being very wealthy, Necker had many sources of information among the French nobility.

"Secret police? Pardon for Calonne?"

Necker was now certain that the royal family was after him. While Calonne might not cooperate with them, Necker couldn't take that risk.

After all, his situation was extremely serious...

He quickly made a decision, retrieving a pre-packed suitcase and calling for his butler:

"We leave immediately for the 'country estate.'"

"Yes, Mr. Necker."

Soon, a few unremarkable carriages left Necker's home. The agents Joseph had stationed nearby immediately followed in their own carriage—there was no way Joseph would leave Necker unmonitored.

Meanwhile, a few hundred meters away from Necker's house, in an ordinary residence, a section of the floor was lifted from below. Necker, his family, and their butler emerged from a hidden tunnel that had been dug connecting to his mansion.

Necker and his family climbed into another carriage and drove off into the night.

An hour later, nearly a hundred officers, led by Besançon himself, surrounded Necker's mansion. The perimeter was secured by additional secret police and officers from the Public Investigation Office.

However, all they found were thirty or so servants—Necker and his family were nowhere to be seen. Even the undercover agents from the Investigation Office, who had been watching the house, were unaware that Necker had vanished.

...

At the home of Isaac, the president of the French Banking Guild, a ball was in full swing.

A sharp-looking middle-aged man hurried into the hall, found Isaac, and whispered something into his ear.

Isaac's face instantly darkened as he turned and asked:

"Is the information reliable?"

The man nodded, "All the newspapers are already working on the story about 'Necker's house being surrounded by police.' But from what I gathered from the secret police, they haven't found Necker."

Isaac immediately sought out a few people in the ballroom and led them upstairs.

"Are you saying that Necker might be under investigation by the police?"

Isaac shook his head:

"If it were just the police, Necker wouldn't have fled. It's more likely the royal family has acted."

A gaunt old man with ruddy skin frowned:

"How did the royal family move so quickly? There wasn't even a hint of warning."

"It's unclear," Isaac said gravely, "but we all know how 'dangerous' Necker is."

He looked around at the group in the room. "After all, nearly all of us have done business with him."

A pudgy man with thick makeup and dark circles under his eyes bit his lip and snapped:

"I kept saying we should send that guy to England, but you all wanted him in Versailles as Finance Minister! And now, thanks to him, we're all in trouble!"

"Calm down, Count Kapffell," the gaunt old man made a downward gesture with his hand. "Complaining won't help now. The most important thing is that we can't let the royal family get to Necker first."

"Viscount Ludeau is right," Isaac nodded. "We know Necker better than the royal family. We should be able to find him faster, and then we can arrange to send him to England or..."

His eyes narrowed as he made a cutting gesture across his throat.

(End of chapter)

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