Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1446 - 1352: The Grand Exposition

Chapter 1446: Chapter 1352: The Grand Exposition

If we are to compensate according to the investment agreement, Bern State will immediately go bankrupt.

And those aristocratic members of the parliament rooted in Bern will inevitably suffer heavy losses, even going bankrupt along with it.

At the same time, the opposing political forces will definitely seize this opportunity to initiate a reckoning against them, such as those Liberal civic organizations.

A knock on the door broke the silence in the hall.

Without waiting for permission, someone barged in, ignoring formalities.

The state speaker was about to lose his temper, but seeing the visitor was the manager of Allens Bank, he suppressed his anger: “Do you have something important?”

Allens Bank is the largest bank in the Bern area and backs several influential members of the parliament.

The bank manager nodded briefly at him, then walked straight to senior member Fred and whispered anxiously, “The bank is facing a run, you must find a way to resolve it quickly.”

It turned out Allens Bank had also invested millions of francs in the railway plan. After news of the project’s issues spread, people feared the bank would collapse and began lining up to withdraw their deposits.

Fred was shocked and hurriedly asked, “How long can we hold out?”

The bank manager glanced at the surrounding members, face darkening: “Under the current situation, at most half a month.”

Fred hastily took a group of members to deal with the run, interrupting the parliament’s discussion.

Deputy Speaker Count Elarch had no ties with the bank and was preparing to return home when an official approached, bowing, “Your Excellency, the Milan Foreign Ministry has sent us a notice requiring us to properly handle the investment loss of Milan City Bank.”

Count Elarch suddenly felt a headache.

He was in charge of state foreign affairs, but it was impossible to come up with 1.87 million francs to compensate Milan’s bank—they had invested 750,000 francs previously.

But Milan was a formidable power that Switzerland could not afford to provoke.

He was at a loss when another official handed over a document, bowing, “Your Excellency, this is our exhibition list for the Karlsruhe Expo next month, please sign it.”

“Expo?” Count Elarch’s eyes suddenly lit up, waving the previous official away, “You see, I have to lead a delegation to the Expo. Take the matter with Milan to Mr. Joachim.”

He hadn’t finished speaking before he made a quick escape from the parliament hall, muttering, “What a mess, I need to find a way to hide…”

That afternoon, Count Elarch hurriedly headed to Lausanne by carriage.

Though it was a roundabout way, the well-developed rail system in France could be reached once entering its territory. Upon reaching Lorraine, they could take a train. So, overall, the journey was faster than going to Baden directly from northern Switzerland.

Of course, more importantly, he first needed to pick someone up from Moritz.

A week later.

North suburbs of Moritz.

In a speeding rail carriage, a voluptuous body squeezed against Count Elarch, saying in a sweet voice, “Darling, Baden is really too far away, and it took so much effort to prevent my husband from getting suspicious.”

The Deputy Speaker immediately donned a doting smile.

One of his greatest achievements in life was having a French mistress from minor nobility, which made him quite prestigious in the entire Bern Parliament.

He took out a pearl necklace and hung it around her neck, “Oh, my dear Dorian, this is a gift for you, do you like it?”

The woman kissed his cheek, smiling even sweeter, “Of course I like it. My God, it’s so beautiful, how much was it?”

“5,000 Batzen,” the Deputy Speaker waved lavishly, “not expensive.”

He then thought of the railroad project’s default issue, sighing internally that he might not be able to afford such expensive gifts for Dorian in the future.

The two were affectionate along the way and took over ten days to finally reach Karlsruhe.

Count Elarch settled his lover first, then headed to the Baden Palace, joining the Swiss officials who came for the Expo—Carl Friedrich held this Expo in high esteem, placing the venue directly in the palace square.

He watched the servants unload crates of cocoa, cheese, silk, and exquisite clocks for the Swiss booth with a relaxed demeanor, but suddenly noticed that other officials mostly frowned.

He pulled aside an official from Zurich State, with whom he had good private relations, to inquire. Only then did he learn that in less than twenty days since he left, Switzerland had already become chaotic.

Several banks faced runs due to investments in the railway projects, causing dependent investors and workshops to also fall into crisis.

Zurich, which had previously suffered wartime damage, was now financially collapsing even further, with a large number of citizens demonstrating around the Parliament House.

Count Elarch thought Bern’s situation was still manageable, but the next day he received news that the Liberals in Vaud and Jura States had seized the opportunity to organize their own parliaments and even recruited armies.

Vaud and Jura States were not among the Thirteen States of Switzerland but were “Affiliated States” under Bern’s rule, similar to colonies.

If these places rebelled, Bern State would face a great deal of trouble.

Count Elarch, however, smiled as he gazed at the streetscape of Karlsruhe, stretching his arms, “Enjoy this last vacation.”

He knew full well that with such chaos, his political future was completely ruined, and he no longer planned to return to Switzerland for the rest of his life, deciding to settle in Baden. Though not as prosperous as France, it was like paradise compared to Switzerland.

Two days later, the Expo officially opened.

The Baden government put all its might into hosting this event, with the city of Karlsruhe filled with celebratory crowds and continuous music.

The palace was adorned with ribbons and flowers.

Even with ticket prices as high as 4 francs, five to six thousand people flocked to the Expo venue, with many citizens climbing trees outside the palace to peek inside.

King Carl Friedrich of Baden gave the opening speech, followed by a speech from the French Minister of Industry.

Count Elarch and his mistress squeezed into a corner, overhearing people nearby, “This time the scale is really big. Even the British are here.”

“I heard France sent two ministers, showing how much they value it.”

“I see the French pavilion has been closed all along?”

“Probably because there are too many exhibits that are not yet organized.”

At ten in the morning, with the sound of salvos, the Expo entered the free visit stage.

People had a whole month to appreciate the priceless or technologically advanced exhibits from around the world.

Count Elarch and his mistress walked past the steam cotton gin brought from the United States, hearing an American official speaking in somewhat broken French: “This machine can do the work of 80 workers and hardly makes any mistakes!”