The Restless Apennine Peninsula

"The Villar Family donates 30,000 francs..."

"The Broglie Family donates 35,000 francs!"

"Count Esch, 40,000 francs..."

"The Duke of Loudun, 40,000..."

The nobles and capitalists quickly divided into two camps and began fiercely competing, neither willing to be outdone by the other.

The donations began to resemble an auction, with the sums rising ever higher.

Just after someone donated 50,000 francs, a voice rang out. "The DuPont Family will donate a frigate to the navy."

The Hall of Mirrors fell silent in an instant.

Even the cheapest frigate cost around 120,000 francs!

Yet the silence lasted only a few seconds before Prince of Condé's attendant announced loudly, "His Highness the Prince will also donate a warship."

Whether nobles or capitalists, no one else dared make a sound for the moment.

Those who still wished to donate silently approached the Court Official responsible for recording contributions and whispered the amount they intended to give.

Before long, the owner of a Bordeaux winery donated another warship.

The evening banquet had already turned into a warship-donation convention.

Those unable to produce an entire warship were too embarrassed to speak.

By ten that evening, five warships had already appeared on the donation list. Everyone else's contributions combined came close to three million francs!

Before the banquet ended, Countess de Berninac publicly announced that all gentlemen who donated warships would be invited to dine with the royal family the following week.

Queen Mary, meanwhile, merely summoned the official recording donations and told him that she wished to donate jewelry worth 2.7 million francs.

She had spent more than half her annuity on jewelry, yet now she brought it out without the slightest hesitation.

The next day.

Across the major newspapers of Paris, alongside lists of nobles and wealthy merchants who had made large donations the