"I am deeply honored to receive your recognition!" Carolina quickly rose and bowed in greeting.
"Please, take a seat," Joseph gestured to him and continued, "Based on your contributions, I will apply to her Majesty the Queen for your appointment as the Special Adviser to the Trade Minister."
Carolina immediately became overjoyed. He had found it hard to re-enter the bureaucratic system after the previous corruption case, but to his surprise, just less than a month in Austria, and his nightmare was over!
Though the so-called 'Special Adviser' was an inconspicuous position, it was a good start. As long as he earnestly served the Crown Prince from now on, he might well become a mid-level official before he passed away.
Actually, the reward Joseph was giving him this time was rather modest.
Considering that as the mastermind behind the Austria operation, Carolina had uncovered the key clue to the order scam, he had saved France from losses amounting to tens of millions. If one included the possible wave of factory bankruptcies, his contribution was even more significant.
Therefore, Joseph decided to reuse him.
Moreover, from this incident, it was evident that he had some talent in the realms of trade and fraud, and Joseph just happened to have a new mission for him. Having an official identity would make his actions more convenient.
As for the corruption issue, Joseph trusted Mala's abilities—after all, Mala had been in direct contact with Carolina during the last incident; how could she not keep a special eye on him?
After Carolina had expressed his tearful gratitude and loyal service, Joseph turned to Mesmer, who stood at the door:
"Please come in, Mr. Mesmer."
The latter hurriedly straightened his clothes and stepped forward quickly, then bowed with flawless court etiquette:
"Ah, it is a great honor to be summoned by you, esteemed Crown Prince! Your great name spreads far under Jesus's gaze..."
"Cough!" Joseph raised his hand to interrupt his flattery, turned to Fouche, and said, "Mr. Fouche, how much longer is his sentence?"
"35 years, Your Highness."
Joseph nodded: "In light of Mr. Mesmer's significant assistance to Viscount Carolina, I will suggest to the Supreme Court a reduction of his sentence by 20 years and that he continues to assist Viscount Carolina."
Mesmer immediately bowed exaggeratedly, an outpouring of grandiose gratitude streaming from him.
Joseph had to interrupt him again, then said to Carolina, "Regarding this order scam, we absolutely cannot let it go ."
He gestured to Fouche: "Please explain to them the latest investigation results of the intelligence bureau."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Fouche bowed and looked at Carolina and the swindler: "The intelligence bureau has investigated the mastermind behind this scam, namely Kleistier, the second chairman of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. However, on the day you left Austria, he was killed in the outskirts of Vienna.
"It was obviously a silencing act.
"At the same time, we found his financial situation to be disastrous; his companies were on the brink of bankruptcy, and he couldn't possibly have provided the initial funds to start the scam."
Carolina slightly nodded: "The first tranche of the down payment plus the 'supplemental payment' afterwards amounted to tens of millions of Francs. Even if his business had been doing well, he couldn't have had that much money."
"Exactly," said Fouche. "All of this suggests that there was someone else behind Kleistier giving instructions."
"Who is that damned person?" asked Carolina.
"I cannot be certain of that yet. However, many clues have a clear direction. Such as Duke of Leeds's sudden trip to Vienna, and not long after, the order scam occurred.
"And there have been eyewitnesses who saw Kleistier make several visits to the residence of the Duke of Leeds. Aside from managing his debts, he had no other high-status contacts during that time.
"The most important point is that Kleistier's subordinate, Elwin Lenna—oh, we caught him with the help of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany—confessed that most of the funds he received were in British Pounds. Even among the deposits received by the French companies, a significant portion was paid in British Pounds."
Carolina narrowed his eyes: "It seems, then, it must have been Osborne's doing."
The Duke of Leeds's real name was Francis Godolphin Osborne.
"To be precise, it should be the British Parliament," Joseph corrected, "The Duke of Leeds himself could not have put together tens of millions of Francs. Moreover, the British Government currently has the motive to do so."
He did not tell Carolina about the British starting to execute their policy of Continental Balance. The sham orders were evidently an "opening move" in an economic war against France.
Carolina, recalling what the Crown Prince had said before, immediately lowered his voice and asked, "So, do you plan to retaliate against the British?"
"Exactly," Joseph nodded, "Before, I used some simple methods to disrupt London's gas streetlight projects.
"And now, it seems necessary to escalate these methods to teach the British a memorable lesson.
"I hope that you could undertake this operation. Of course, you must bring your assistant, Mr. Mesmer."
The manager of the Lightning Company, Styler, was just a business expert, so he managed to contract the London gas streetlight project, but he was not quite capable of doing much else.
However, Joseph had seen Mesmer's exceptional "performance" in Austria and believed that the time was ripe.
What goes around comes around. The British had started the economic war; now it was France's turn to make a move.
"It would be a great honor to serve you!" Carolina immediately bowed, "So, what do you want us to do?"
"The Lightning Company—oh, the company that took on the construction of London's gas streetlights—happened to be sent by me," Joseph explained, "and it already has significant influence in London. Once you get to England, just ..."
Then he looked at Mesmer: "As for you, continue to play your familiar role—a wealthy merchant, working with Viscount Carolina to..."
Mesmer, the super genius of the swindling world, immediately proposed some improvements to the Crown Prince's plan.
"Excellent, carry out the plan as you've suggested," Joseph nodded with satisfaction, "If you can successfully execute this mission, I will request a Pardon Letter from the King for you."
"Thank you, Your Highness! I will complete your orders even at the cost of my life!"
The eastern suburbs of Vienna.
Lord Grenville dismounted from the coach and bowed to the Duke of Leeds waiting by the roadside, then said with a smile:
"I've heard that your progress here seems to have met with some difficulties."
The latter, with his head drooped, said:
"I told you, that Dutchman Hope's methods stink like fish left out for a month! He caused us to lose 500,000 British Pounds, and we gained nothing!"