Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

“Also, given that the police academy is just being established, it can make do for now, but it shouldn’t stay this way forever. Prioritize building new school buildings, purchasing training equipment, and supplies. Oh, and use the Paris Military Academy as the standard; it can only be better, not worse. I’ll allocate 250,000 livres to you for now…”

Upon hearing this figure, Frient’s heart leapt; such a large sum of money wasn’t just for building a school to train minor police officers—it was almost enough to establish a proper military school!

However, Joseph, as if to test the resilience of his heart, continued, “This is just the initial construction budget. I plan to invest over a million in total. After everything is built, the enrollment size should exceed 3,000 students.”

Frient swallowed hard and hurriedly replied, “Yes! Yes, Your Highness!”

Joseph then mentioned casually, “By the way, everyone has worked hard during the police academy’s preparatory phase. Take 5,000 livres from the funds to reward the police academy management, including yourself.”

“Yes! Thank you, Your Highness!”

The police academy’s preparation progressed much faster than expected, and this surely warranted a reward.

At the moment, the newly opened police academy had all instructors, clerical workers, and even those managing the construction of the school buildings, amounting to just over 20 people in total, which was equivalent to rewarding half a year’s salary for each person.

Upon hearing the news, Besancon’s eyes were full of envy. Previously, he thought that Frient was just a director of a police school, but now it seemed that this was no ordinary police school. Frient’s future development might very well rival his own as Director of Police Services.

In his mind, he vowed to work hard; in the area of police services, he must outdo Frient at all costs.

Etienne, the general manager of Ravel Bank, arrived at the Palace of Versailles just after 10 o’clock in the morning.

Having dealt with the French financial system for over a decade, he was very familiar with it.

It didn’t take long for him to find his contacts within the financial system, and in a quiet corner, he quietly asked, “Viscount Leon, the national debt is almost due; why doesn’t the Finance Ministry seem in any rush?”

Viscount Leon looked around and replied in a low voice, “As far as I know, a ‘Bank of France Reserve’ has provided a loan to the Crown Prince. This includes the loan from Labod Bank, and your bank’s loan isn’t needed for now.”

Etienne frowned deeply, his mind racing, but he couldn’t recall any institution named Bank of France Reserve. Somewhat skeptical, he asked, “Are you sure about this information?”

“Are you questioning me?” Viscount Leon looked displeased, his face clouding over, “The loan agreement with Bank of France Reserve is all set up. I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be wrong?”

Etienne felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

This short-term loan was worth a whopping 6 million livres, divided equally between Ravel Bank and Labod Bank. It would contribute more than 300,000 livres in interest annually to Ravel Bank, an important business for the bank.

If this deal was snatched by another party, he would definitely face punishment!

Breaking out in a sweat from urgency, he couldn’t help but recall the previous agreement between the bank and the Duke of Orleans—Ravel Bank would delay the loan until the last moment, waiting for the Crown Prince to be at his wits’ end, at which point a representative of the Duke would step in, prompting the bank to immediately issue the loan.

What was happening now didn’t align with what had been discussed with the Duke of Orleans…

Damn it, it must be that Bank of France Reserve! Fire seemed about to shoot from Etienne’s eyes—that had to be some upstart bank, newly established and ignorant of the rules!

Once this matter was over, he would definitely make them pay the price!

But first, he needed to snatch this loan deal back! With this in mind, Etienne hurriedly thanked Viscount Leon and promised him some benefits before rushing off to the Finance Minister’s office, scheming. Reducing the interest rate to 17% should be enough to sway the Crown Prince, and if not, then to 16%…

Besancon and Frient had just finished reporting on police matters and were about to take their leave from the Crown Prince when Joseph’s aide from the financial sector arrived, bowed, and said, “Your Highness, the General Manager of Ravel Bank, Etienne, requests an audience to discuss the loan with you.”

Upon hearing “Ravel Bank,” Joseph’s expression immediately darkened, and he said coldly, “There’s nothing to discuss. Ask him to leave.”

The aide hesitated for a moment, then added, “Your Highness, Mr. Etienne says that to demonstrate his sincerity, he is willing to lower the loan interest rate to 17%.”

Joseph laughed, “What sincerity? He surely got wind of the Bank of France Reserve affair. Now he’s in a hurry? Too late!”

The Bank of France Reserve was naturally the bank he was in the process of setting up. Although it had not yet been established, that did not prevent him from drafting a contract with the French Government in advance.

He told his aide, “Please tell him, oh, and that Labod Bank as well, not to bother with this loan in the future.”

He paused for a moment, then added, “After you go back, check if the government has any other cooperation with these two banks, and help me devise a plan to transfer all loans involving them to other banks. Hmm, let’s call the plan ‘Reducing Financial Risk Initiative’.”

A look of surprise flashed in the aide’s eyes, but he immediately bowed and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Besancon, with his meticulous mind, noted the Crown Prince’s obvious displeasure when he mentioned Ravel Bank and discreetly logged this information.

When he emerged from the Crown Prince’s chambers, he quickly caught up with the aide to inquire about what had happened.

Although it involved financial secrets, once the aide realized that Besancon was the new Director of Paris Police, he immediately became more polite and relayed the gist of the matter.

Upon hearing that two banks seemed to be tripping up the Crown Prince, almost causing a debt default, Besancon’s eyes narrowed.

He was personally promoted to the position of Director of Paris Police by the Crown Prince, who also entrusted him with the task of reforming the police services. Full of gratitude and loyalty to the Crown Prince, Besancon was unwavering in his dedication.

Now, someone dared to cause trouble for the Crown Prince. His Highness might be magnanimous enough to overlook their actions, but as a loyal subordinate of the Crown Prince, he could not let this slide!

Ravel Bank and Labod Bank? You will have to pay the price for this!

On the other hand, Etienne was walking out of the Palace of Versailles in a daze—he had just been informed that not only was the 6 million livres loan deal no longer Ravel Bank’s concern, but that the government might also terminate all collaborations with him in the future…

One of Ravel Bank’s core businesses was to provide the government with short-term, large-amount loans at high interest rates, which were virtually risk-free. But in the past, the French Government was as poor as a church mouse, always begging for loans from banks. Who would have thought that this time, they would suddenly stand their ground?

Etienne’s face turned ashen. If this issue became a reality, it was not just a matter of unemployment for him. The angry shareholders of Ravel Bank might even sell him off to work as a laborer in Haiti for the rest of his life!

Thinking of this, he shuddered, but the situation was now completely beyond his control. He could only grit his teeth and hurry back to Paris to report the matter to the bank’s board of directors.