Go, Pika-er, Mr. Marat! (Requesting

Double monthly pass)

Joseph then thought of the bankers who had invested large sums of France money in the United Kingdom, and his teeth ached with hatred. ✊👊 ♟🐳 If their dirty laundry could be uncovered, it would not only be a great relief, but it would also effectively clean up the financial industry.

But Joseph was immediately discouraged. There were still too many targets in the banking industry, and these people were not government officials. If the Fair Investigation Department were to investigate them, Marat, the "Friend of the People," would probably object.

It would be great if we could have a representative from the banking industry who was also a government official...

Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly lit up—there really was such a person!

Although he is no longer an official, he served Minister of Finance for a long time and had close ties with the banking industry. In fact, to be precise, he was a banker himself.

The period when Necker was in charge of the France Finance marked the beginning of France's irreversible path of relying on high-interest loans to maintain its Finance. Subsequent Minister of Finance attempted to break free from this vicious cycle of borrowing new money to repay old debts, but were also forced to continue borrowing due to the pressure of exorbitant interest rates.

A cold glint flashed in Joseph's eyes. Judging from Necker's actions, it would be a miracle if he didn't have a problem.

Sending the Fair Investigation Department to investigate this guy now serves two purposes: firstly, it can divert Marat's attention; secondly, if they do find something, it might implicate a whole host of unscrupulous banking tycoons.

The next morning, Joseph sent Eman to the Office of the Minister of Finance to retrieve all the Finance files from when Necker was the Treasurer of the Treasury (he was Swiss people and could not be directly appointed as Minister of Finance, but his authority was not diminished in the slightest), which filled four handcarts.

Joseph instructed Kexer to send his personal guards to escort the files to the office of the Fair Investigation Department.

Sure enough, without Joseph saying anything, Marat came running over the next day at noon.

Joseph used the same old method on him.

First, it bitterly denounces Necker for colluding with banking giants to maliciously increase Finance spending, thereby obtaining massive loans from banks and transferring exorbitant interest rates to them. Then, it describes the severe harm that the State Finances crisis has caused to the France people.

Finally, the direction for "Piranha" is pointed out: Go for it, for the France people, tear Necker apart!

This time, however, Marat hesitated greatly. "Your Highness, please forgive my bluntness, Mr. Necker has an excellent reputation. When he was in charge of the State Finances, the budget was almost balanced. You wouldn't be deliberately smearing him because he once exposed the extravagance and waste of the Royal House, would you?"

Joseph smiled. Necker was indeed very good at packaging himself—historically, when the Estates-General were held, all three estates were full of goodwill towards him, and even Louis XVI regarded him as a savior.

But as someone well-versed in history, Joseph was quite aware of the shady dealings this guy had done.

"Mr. Marat, villains don't wear their 'bad guy' label on their faces. The Fair Investigation Department is to see through the facade and uncover the real corruption."

Joseph leaned forward and whispered, "Do you know where the first loan Necker made for the government after he became Treasurer of the Treasury came from?"

Marat had clearly glanced through the Finance files, flipping through his Notebook and glancing at them. "It's a Swiss bank..."

"That's right." Joseph nodded. "And did you know that this bank was jointly owned by Necker and his friend?"

Marat paused for a moment, then shook his head.

Joseph said coldly, "In other words, the first thing Mr. Necker did after taking office was to secure a large business deal for his own bank, and the interest rate was quite high."

There are many more things you don't know.

"For example, when Mr. Necker was young, he collaborated with his Bank of England friends to use large sums of money to trade Grain between Britain and France, causing grain prices to skyrocket at the time."

"For example, Mr. Necker used hundreds of Livre, plus shares of his own bank, to bribe several high-ranking officials in order to become the Treasurer of the Treasury..."

Marat could no longer contain himself and stood up, saying, "Your Highness, I will investigate this matter thoroughly, but it may only prove that you are prejudiced against Mr. Necker."

Joseph smiled and nodded, "I look forward to you bringing more justice to the France people."

Marat bowed and was about to leave when Joseph added, "Oh, by the way, Mr. Marat, you just said that the Finance balance was relatively stable during Necker's time?"

"Yes, Your Highness, that is true."

"The truth is, the so-called balance of payments is based on excessive borrowing. The interest on these loans isn't immediately apparent, making the balance of payments seem good, but the interest keeps snowballing, and the harm only becomes apparent more than a decade later. In other words, a large part of the current Finance comes from loans taken out at that time."

"Thank you for reminding me, Your Highness." Marat bowed again, then turned and left, somewhat agitated.

To divert Marat's attention from the French Guard, Joseph summoned Baron de Breteuil and hinted that he could be more lenient in scrutinizing the French Guard officers.

Breteuil had been promoted to the position of Minister of Justice by the Crown Prince and Archbishop Brienne, and since it was a job that would not benefit him and would easily make him hated, he immediately agreed.

At the French Guard Military Camp, the number of letters reporting officers suddenly decreased, and the Gendarmerie Department ' investigation speed immediately increased significantly.

Upon receiving the news, the Marquis of Saint-Priest was quite surprised that Berthier actually possessed such great power. He simplified all procedures and almost immediately signed the letter of appointment, promoting Berthier to Lieutenant Colonel and appointing him as the commander of the Third Infantry Regiment of the French Guard.

However, just after noon, Berthier came to see him, saying that he had encountered a small problem.

"So, what does your dear friend want?" Saint-Priest asked, frowning.

"Ah, is that so? He has a younger brother who recently graduated from military academy and is currently just a junior Second Lieutenant," Berthier repeated the Crown Prince's request. "He hopes his brother can serve as a battalion commander or something similar in the French Guard."

The Marquis of Saint-Priest sighed deeply. "We've already given away the ox, why would we begrudge the reins?"

He immediately nodded and said, "Do as he says. Tell him to go as soon as possible..."

"He studied cavalry command, so we hope he'll Cavalry Battalion."

"Alright, alright! Cavalry or whatever, let's do it this way." Saint-Priest rubbed his forehead vigorously; he was numb by now, only hoping this nightmare would end soon.

Berthier acted swiftly; after being promoted to regimental commander, he immediately went to the French Guard's Military Camp with Diboa and Odorik, Kexer ' cousin, to begin selecting their own troops.

Many thanks to Mr. Mu Nanhua for his generous donation to this book! The author is deeply grateful!

(End of this chapter)