The second floor of the Industrial Planning Bureau.
Joseph looked at the six men before him with a smirk that was not quite a smile, "It seems that you are not too saddened by Mr. Bouvarandere's sudden suicide."
The Marquis of Ludo quickly put on a sorrowful expression, "Your Highness, we are indeed very heartbroken, but in order not to affect your mood, we refrained from showing it."
"Is that so?" Joseph nodded, "What do you know about Necker's death then?"
A middle-aged man, with sunken eyes and a sallow complexion, hastily said, "Your Highness, it was all Bouvarandere's doing, we know nothing about it."
He was Viscount Reclixian, the owner of the Dauphine Credit Bank.
"Is that so? But Lady Bouvarandere confessed that the assassination of Necker was a plot devised by all of you. However..." Joseph glanced at the six panicked men and changed his tone, "I don't quite believe what she said."
All six men felt a jolt in their hearts, never expecting that Bouvarandere would tell his wife such a confidential matter. Had they known, they would have gotten rid of her too!
"Your Highness, she is trying to extort us," the Marquis of Ludo said, placing his hand over his heart, "I swear to God, we truly have nothing to do with this!"
Joseph smiled, before directly throwing out his conditions, "I summoned you here because next month the Bank of France Reserve is going to issue banknotes.
"I expect each of you to purchase 1.5 million livres.
"Oh, and another thing. Archbishop Brienne is about to introduce the 'Banking Act,' the most important part of which is the reserve requirement. You must lead the support for this bill."
The Marquis of Ludo and the others exchanged glances, carefully asking, "Your Highness, what is a reserve requirement?"
"It means taking a portion of the deposits made into your banks—currently 5%—and transferring it to the Bank of France Reserve. It serves as a guarantee of the bank's credit."
The reserve requirement is one of the central bank's important tools for regulating the financial market. In truth, a ratio of 5% is almost negligible, but Joseph only set it low in order to accustom the banks to this regulation.
The Marquis of Ludo quickly calculated in his mind that these were obviously terms meant to make Bouvarandere take the blame alone. At present, the savings rate in France was not high, so 5% was not a significant sum of money. And the 1.5 million livres in banknotes could also be used to pay customers.
Consequently, he made a subtle gesture to the other five, and took the lead in bowing, saying,
"I am delighted to do something for the nation's finances. Your Highness, I will follow your commands."
As Ludo and the others were leaving the Industrial Planning Bureau, a tall man with distinct Nordic features, was talking to a teenager beside the garden of the Bouvarandere family villa.
"So, besides your father, six others were involved in the murder?"
The boy nodded fiercely, enunciating each word, "My father said so himself. That day, they discussed it at the Marquis of Ludo's home."
The tall man nodded, stood up, and walked away. Under the brim of the hat was the face of Necker's butler, Elonc.
On the southern side of Menorca Island in the Mediterranean, at the edge of the Barbary Coast.
Accompanied by the calm rhythm of the waves, Charles, who had a clean-shaven face, was wearing a tricorn hat and the crisp uniform of the US Navy, was anxiously peering through his telescope at the surface of the sea to the southwest from the forecastle of the American naval escort ship Constellation.
Captain White came up from behind and patted his shoulder, "How is it, do you see them?"
"Not yet," Charles shook his head, then immediately added, "But they will definitely come."
"God bless that smuggler didn't lie. Otherwise, you might be held accountable for that $500 when we get back."
Charles looked back at White, his tone certain, "I trust Ali, Captain."
The Ali he spoke of was the man from Algiers who had once been locked in the cell next to him and later succeeded in escaping through a tunnel.
Half a month ago, Charles was finally redeemed by the Virginia State Assembly for $8,000.
To his surprise, the ship that came to pick him up was not a French or Spanish warship, but the Constellation, the newest 30-cannon escort ship recently purchased by the United States.
Due to the long hiatus of the United States Navy, this ship even had French and Italian sailors on board. And Charles, who had briefly served in the Continental Navy and had rich sailing experience as a first mate, was invited by Captain White to become a sailor on this escort ship, which had been in French service for over thirty years.
Since the Constellation's second lieutenant was a novice with an influential background, Charles was in effect performing the duties of a second lieutenant.
Later, two American escort ships, along with French and Dutch warships, formed a Combined Fleet and began searching the Barbary Coast for pirates.
Unfortunately, these pirates were extremely cunning, the fleet roamed the seas for half a month and came up empty-handed.
It was at this time that Charles suddenly remembered that Ali had once said his boss knew Eunice, who had significant ties with the pirates of Algiers.
So he suggested that they might get some information on the pirates from Ali, and as it happened, the fleet was then passing near Dahra, Algiers. White reported this idea to the fleet commander and, after obtaining permission, Charles went to the address left by Ali to find him.
Afterward, Ali offered the movements of the Algiers Navy for $1,000. Pay half upfront, and the rest after the pirates were sighted.
And the fleet, based on the information from Ali, had already been waiting for a whole day, but the pirates had yet to show up.
Charles wiped the sweat from his palms; truth be told, he was beginning to waver. Why had he believed the words of a smuggler?
$500, if it came from his own pocket, would take at least six or seven years to repay.
Just as he was starting to despair, the tip of a blue-and-white flag suddenly appeared on the horizon.
He was immediately elated, turned around, and shouted to the captain, "They're here! They've come!"
He then realized that the captain had already returned to the cabin—the lookout tower had spotted the signaling boat a minute earlier.
Immediately, the bait ship "Wings of the Seagull" set sail on the predetermined course.
There it would encounter the pirates and then lead them into the Combined Fleet's ambush.
Charles rushed back to the cabin, his heart filled with a longing for revenge.
The plan was going very smoothly—the "Wings of the Seagull" acted panicked and quickly headed for Menorca Island. Two pirate galleys followed closely behind.
The Combined Fleet's warships emerged from behind the concealed rocks. A French Navy ship armed with 60 cannons, accompanied by an escort ship, intercepted from the west, while the American ship and a Dutch escort ship passed by the merchant ship from the east and headed straight for the pirates.
The larger pirate galley had 18 cannons and the smaller one just 12—they were no match for the Combined Fleet.
When they realized something was amiss, they immediately turned and fled toward the southwest.