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Chapter 175: The Terrifying Financial "Black Hole"
🕑 Added 2025-01-03 21:47:22 +0000 UTCChapter 175: The Terrifying Financial "Black Hole"
Calonne watched Necker's terrified expression with a sense of satisfaction, like sipping hot cocoa with extra sugar on a cold day. He flipped through the case files leisurely and said, "So, shall we 'discuss' your agreement with Klarsen Bank from six years ago, or the one with Vincent Trade Bank from seven years ago…?"
Suddenly, Necker slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair, his bloodshot eyes glaring as he shouted, "Calonne, what right do you have to interrogate me? Do you think I don't know about your dirty deeds? I'll expose you! Expose you! Even if I go to prison, I'll drag you down with me!"
Calonne calmly looked at Necker, letting him vent his anger. Then, he pulled out a document from his pocket and waved it with a smile. "No need for you to expose anything. I've already confessed everything to the royal family. Look, this is a royal pardon signed by His Majesty. My exile is over, and after returning all my ill-gotten gains, I won't face any further prosecution."
Necker was stunned. "Th-this… how is this possible…?"
Calonne's smile grew wider. "Do you know what your biggest mistake in life was? Severely underestimating the power of the royal family. Oh, and you also disclosed the royal family's expenses without permission, blaming the financial issues on them. But I chose to remain loyal to the royal family. And now, I'm the one interrogating you. So, shall we continue…?"
Over at the Palais-Royal, the Duke of Orléans finally received the news he had been waiting for.
"Lieutenant Colonel Lavielle reported that the person sent to poison Necker has been permanently silenced and won't be traced back to him—or to you."
The butler, Donadien, whispered, glancing at the Duke's slightly relaxed expression before handing over a small, sealed note. "This just arrived from the secret police."
Since Necker's capture, the Duke of Orléans had been receiving daily updates on the Bastille's happenings from his mole.
The Duke unfolded the note and found that it was much longer than usual. After a quick read, his face turned dark.
In the hall, more than a dozen banking giants—all connected to Necker—had gathered to discuss their next steps. Seeing the Duke's expression, they hurried over.
"My lord, is something wrong?"
"What's the news on Necker?"
The Duke threw the note onto the table without a word, glaring out the window.
The Earl of Isaac picked up the note and gasped, "Calonne is leading the interrogation? He's back from exile?"
He paused and handed the note to Viscount Béranger.
Béranger took one look at it before recoiling as if burned, flinging the note onto the table. It said that the loan deals between his bank and Necker were already exposed, and that the police and secret police were likely on their way to his home and bank.
"My dealings have been discovered. What do I do now…?"
The others wanted to see the note but were too scared to touch it, as if it were a poisonous scorpion. Béranger was done for, and no one knew who might be next.
Seeing the fear in their eyes, the Earl of Isaac tried to rally them. "Don't be afraid. We're many; we can figure something out!"
He looked to the Duke of Orléans, their pillar of support. "Right, my lord?"
All eyes turned to the Duke, who felt a jolt of fear himself. He knew that if he backed down now, it would signal total defeat in his struggle against the royal family.
No, there had to be a way…
Sweat beaded on his brow, his palms clammy. He had exhausted all his tricks, and now had no idea what to do.
Suddenly, Isaac's earlier words echoed in his mind: "We're many… Many people."
His eyes lit up. Of course! How could he forget his greatest advantage—numbers! Even if the royal family exposed the major banks, what of it? As long as he had enough people and caused enough chaos, the royal family would have to compromise!
The Duke turned to Béranger. "You need to publicly admit all your crimes and declare your bank bankrupt."
"No!" Béranger's face turned pale. "What are you trying to do?"
"Set the forest on fire and make people panic," the Duke said with a cold smile. "Don't worry about debts or transferring claims. Just leave the mess for others to clean up! And don't just declare bankruptcy—publish the bank's accounts."
"Why…?"
The Earl of Isaac, realizing the plan, said, "The Béranger Bank's assets are far from enough to cover its deposits and investments from nobles. Once it declares bankruptcy, people will rush to reclaim their money!"
The Marquis of Ludo, his eyes brightening, added, "But most of the bank's money has been lent out, mainly to the government. It can't be retrieved quickly. When people can't get their money, they'll go mad."
The Duke of Orléans nodded approvingly. "More than half the nobles at Versailles have invested in your banks. If they believe the royal family will investigate other banks, causing them to fail like Béranger Bank, they'll panic, realizing they might lose all their money. What do you think they'll do?"
Isaac smirked. "They'll make sure the King and Queen can't sleep at night!"
"Exactly!"
Béranger, trembling, asked, "But what about me…?"
The Duke patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. Once this is over, I'll make sure you're released from prison and give you some money. Maybe you can even start over."
…
Early the next morning, while Fouché's men and the secret police were still combing through Béranger Bank's records, Viscount Béranger, accompanied by his bank's top executives, publicly admitted to all his illegal dealings with Necker. He voluntarily surrendered a portion of the illicit gains—leaving the bank's accounts empty.
Then, Béranger Bank declared bankruptcy. The police, bewildered, sealed the bank and arrested Béranger and the executives.
The sudden news, quickly spread by those with ulterior motives, soon reached Versailles, causing panic among the nobles. Whenever they met, they anxiously asked each other, "Did you have money in that bank?"
Soon after, the real reason for Béranger Bank's collapse became known—it was revealed that Necker had engaged in numerous illegal transactions with the bank. Now that Necker was captured, these dealings had come to light.
Even more terrifying news followed—rumors suggested that many more banks had engaged in shady dealings with Necker. With his interrogation ongoing at the Bastille, no one knew how many banks might be implicated next.
That night, dozens of anxious nobles gathered in a hall at the Palais-Royal, looking to the Duke of Orléans for guidance.
"These banks are involved in bribery and illegal transactions. They face hefty fines," the Duke said, his expression grim. "No one will want to buy these banks because no one wants to inherit the fines."
One nobleman, his face pale, asked, "How can I get my money back…? I heard Klarsen Bank might be in trouble too."
"Yes, please help us! I heard more than ten banks were involved with Necker."
"Oh God, that's half my fortune!"
"If these banks go under, I'll lose everything I've saved for years…"
Seeing that the group was sufficiently stirred up, the Duke feigned reluctance. "I've invested a lot in these banks too. If Necker's interrogation continues, those ten or more banks will certainly collapse. Unless the interrogation stops, none of us can save our money."
"Yes!" someone immediately echoed. "We must stop Necker's interrogation."
"We should suggest the royal family exile him directly!"
"But, they say the evidence is solid. The royal family might not agree…"
The Duke pointed to the speaker. "Viscount Prodome is right. We must unite and pressure the royal family to stop Necker's interrogation."
"But how do we pressure the royal family? Even the high court listens to them now."
The Duke smiled. "Just follow my lead. Here's what we'll do…"
…
In Paris, at the Office of Industry Planning, Joseph looked at the report in his hand, unable to hide his joy.
Béranger had confessed and declared his bank bankrupt.
Joseph had expected Béranger to resist, perhaps using a confession or renegotiated loan terms as bargaining chips for a reduced sentence or pardon.
Joseph had planned to "milk" the bank for as much as possible, but instead, Béranger had surrendered immediately.
With Béranger Bank bankrupt and no other bank willing to take over, all debts became bad debts. This meant the French government no longer had to repay the loans it had taken from the bank.
After all, the contract was with Béranger Bank, and with no bankruptcy or liquidation laws in place, the contract could be terminated with the bank's "death."
That was a whopping 35.2 million livres wiped off the books!
Such a windfall was far more satisfying than earning that money through hard work and then using it to pay off the debt.
It felt like finding a huge pile of money on the ground.
He did some quick math. Calonne had mentioned that Necker had engaged in illegal dealings with 13 banks. Even if they all had the same loan amount as Béranger Bank, wiping out their debts would reduce the government's debt by 450 million livres!!
It was faster than robbing a bank!
And Béranger Bank was just a small bank. Larger banks, like Klarsen Bank, could have loan amounts exceeding a billion livres!
While this wouldn't completely resolve France's debt crisis, it would significantly ease the burden, offering a glimmer of hope for eventually eliminating the debt.
After enjoying the thought of the reduced debt for a while, Joseph set the report down, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Had something gone wrong?
He looked out at the bright sunlight through the window and decided to take a walk in the courtyard to clear his mind and think.
As he reached the office entrance, he heard a woman's sobs coming from a corner office, along with another voice trying to comfort her.
"At least you withdrew the money last month to buy those two dresses; otherwise, you'd have lost even more."
The woman sobbed, "But I still had 80 livres in that bank… How could it just suddenly collapse?"
"I heard those damned banks were doing shady deals with corrupt officials and got caught."
"What am I going to do? That was my money for fixing up the house…"
"There's nothing you can do. My neighbor lost even more—about 100 livres."
Hearing this, Joseph was stunned and suddenly realized what was wrong.
The money in the bank wasn't all its own—it belonged to depositors and investors too!
When a bank goes bankrupt, the government doesn't have to repay the loan, but those who lose out are the depositors and investors.
Since the Mississippi Company disaster caused by John Law, leading to massive defaults by the Royal Bank, the French public's trust in banks had plummeted, resulting in a very low savings rate.
For example, his French Reserve Bank had spent over four months gathering less than 200,000 livres in deposits, but even that small amount of money could significantly impact ordinary people's lives.
As for the nobles who invested in the banks, the amounts were much larger.
Some banks had over half of their assets from wealthy nobles, who had invested their money to earn interest by lending it to the government.
While these nobles wouldn't face financial hardship due to their investment losses, their money was still legitimate, clean money.
The government debt was indeed reduced by four or five billion, but the sudden creation of such a massive financial black hole in France would inevitably lead to social unrest.
Realizing this, Joseph frowned.
It seemed this huge debt had to be "evaporated" slowly rather than suddenly.
But how to do it?
As he pondered how to minimize the impact of bank failures, he noticed two carriages pulling into the planning office's courtyard.
The carriage door opened, and one of Brienne's attendants stepped out first, setting up the steps.
But before he could open the door, Brienne himself, unable to contain his urgency, pushed the door open and stepped out. Seeing Joseph, he hurried over, bowing anxiously before saying, "Your Highness, I fear there's trouble!"
Joseph frowned, testing the waters. "Does it have to do with the bank failures?"
Brienne nodded. "You've heard, then? Yes, the sudden collapse of Béranger Bank caused significant losses for many nobles. Rumor has it someone lost over a million livres."
He took a deep breath and continued, "Even more nobles, fearing other banks might suddenly fail, have gathered at the Petit Trianon to request that the Queen issue an edict to halt Necker's interrogation."
Joseph sneered. "I was planning to help them reduce their losses, but if they're going to use this to pressure the Queen, they'd better not blame me for being ruthless!"
Brienne wiped the sweat from his brow and said urgently, "Your Highness, this could be a major problem. I've heard the nobles plan to form an alliance, saying that if Necker's interrogation isn't stopped, they won't lend the government another penny!"
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