Bribe
The people in the room instantly grew excited.
Given Bern's current chaos, Arens Bank was almost certain to go bankrupt, dragging down a large number of investors and workshops with it.
Now it was not only Bern; many places in Switzerland had been implicated, and riots had broken out. Those of them who had led the railway project would inevitably be held accountable.
Yet Count Elerach had brought them a glimmer of dawn.
As long as the French Government stepped in, the railway project could come back to life. Not only would they be free of fault, they would become meritorious officials who had promoted Bern's development!
Councilman Frey seized Elerach's arm hard and asked urgently, "How certain are you?"
The latter grimaced from the grip. "Please let go of me first.
"Viscount Norbert said that many people here speak French, and the region isn't large, so it shouldn't be difficult to handle.
"However, the French Ministry of Finance may have objections, because our revenue and expenditure situation will certainly drag down their fiscal figures. You know, that concerns the Ministry of Finance's performance."
Speaker Haupt said dejectedly, "So there's still no hope?"
"Of course there is," Count Elerach said. "There are two ways to resolve it.
"First, we pay a sum ourselves and use it as the canton's revenue funds for these two years, handing it over to the French Ministry of Finance to make their books look better. It would require about six million francs.
"Second, we bribe the deputy minister of finance. Viscount Norbert has a very good personal relationship with him. It would only take four hundred thousand francs. Oh, that also includes benefits for the others in the Ministry of Finance, as well as purchasing a gift for the Crown Prince."
There was no