Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1546 - 1452: Financial Center

Queen Mary immediately nodded, “Indeed, as you said. So… how should we respond?”

Baron Breti stepped forward and bowed, “Your Majesty, if you are concerned about political stability, perhaps you can refer to the example from the time of His Majesty Charlie VI, where His Majesty the King appointed the Crown Prince as Regent to oversee state affairs.”

Duke Levis knew his own status was not sufficient to participate in establishing such a significant matter as appointing a Regent, so it had to be proposed by the Imperial Prime Minister.

Last month, he heard from his wife that Her Majesty the Queen planned to appoint the Crown Prince as Regent, but he was unable to confirm the accuracy of this information yet had already begun to make related preparations.

It wasn’t until he heard this morning that His Majesty the King was seriously ill and needed to go to Brittany for treatment that he suddenly realized this must be part of Her Majesty the Queen’s arrangement, but there was a huge mistake in it.

So he immediately went to find Baron Breti and, through him, brought in doctors from the Bureau of Health to support the Queen.

A glimmer flashed in Queen Mary’s eyes, she did not expect a turning point to come so quickly, it was as if Jesus was protecting her!

She quickly resumed a worried expression, “Your proposal is very appropriate. Oh, my mind is all over the place right now. Please convene a Senate meeting and draft a ‘Regent King’s Charter’ as soon as possible.”

Baron Breti saw how quickly she agreed and exchanged a glance with Duke Levis, which meant— your judgment was indeed correct.

Duke Levis tentatively asked, “Your Majesty, once His Majesty the King is cured, how do you plan to handle the regency?”

Queen Mary was suddenly stunned.

Right, the King was going to the Fontainebleau Sanatorium, so in the future, there would be two situations:

If the illness proves difficult to cure, the ministers would definitely advocate for the King’s return to the Palace of Versailles to be ready for an immediate succession ceremony.

If he could be cured, he couldn’t stay in the sanatorium forever. When he recovers, the King would still have to return to the Palace of Versailles. And when the King is able to rule the country, there would be no need for a Regent.

In any case, the plan to enjoy life together with her husband would be impossible to implement.

Seeing the Queen’s expression, Baron Breti knew that just as Duke Levis had speculated, she hadn’t thought of any follow-up plans…

He sighed quietly and discussed the strategy he had discussed with Duke Levis that morning, “Your Majesty, I heard that typhus can easily produce severe aftereffects.”

Duke Levis immediately nodded, “Yes, such as significant reduction in hearing, or even intermittent deafness. There’s also blurred vision, anxiety, forgetfulness, and extreme fatigue.”

At this point, Queen Mary naturally understood as well, “For now, we’ll just have to take it step by step. Let Joseph act as Regent for now, and the rest depends on His Majesty the King’s future health status.”

Whether it’s deafness, forgetfulness, or extreme fatigue, any of these could serve as an excellent excuse for the King to be deemed unfit to personally govern, then they could retreat to the Brittany seaside for ‘continued treatment’!

Soon afterwards, Duke Levis and Baron Breti, carrying the Queen’s mandate, took their leave together.

The Imperial Prime Minister instinctively glanced back at Her Majesty the Queen’s carriage, unable to help but think: If the Crown Prince, this governing genius, hadn’t appeared, who knows what France would have become under the Queen’s leadership…

…

France’s newly established financial center, Marseille.

Joseph casually flipped through the thick stack of “BEDR Membership Application Forms” in front of him, looking towards the Minister of Finance sitting across from him, “I’m a bit surprised too. According to my original expectations, it would take at least a year or two for countries to recognize the Settlement Bank.”

“BEDR” is the abbreviation for European Settlement Bank.

“Perhaps the growth in trade volume between Milan and Parma made them realize the importance of the Settlement Bank,” Godan said, “Especially in Milan, where within less than six months, the volume of foreign trade increased by as much as 32%.”

Yes, due to the immense convenience of the Settlement Bank, the frequency of traditional cross-border trade deals went from being monthly to daily.

Someone even set up a transaction every other day between France and Milan.

For merchants using other trading systems, this was certainly a dimension-reducing strike—

While you’re still waiting for the payment to arrive, your counterpart in Milan has already sold five or six batches of goods—how can you compete with that?

Thus, astute merchants hurriedly set up offices in Milan, or simply moved their companies there directly.

In no time, Milan almost became the money-goods distribution center for the Italian region.

Parma, due to its lower financial and transport infrastructure, didn’t attract as many foreign businesspeople as Milan, but still achieved nearly 18% growth in trade volume.

Given Bodoni’s tremendous contributions in promoting Milan’s entry into the Settlement Bank system, he was nominated by the ruling party at the end of the year as the next Speaker of the Milan Council.

Meanwhile, as Milan and Parma were feasting, other surrounding countries sensed something was off.

Domestic merchants were leaving in large numbers, and the trade that originally went through them was being rerouted to Milan, which quickly began to reflect in their tax revenues.

Additionally, as domestic factories strongly demanded the use of the new settlement system—allowing their return period to be greatly shortened and thereby accelerating reinvestment into production—all the various Italian countries’ Finance Departments began to study the possibility of joining the European Settlement Bank.

Even countries in Southern Germany heard about it and developed a keen interest in the Settlement Bank.

Then they discovered that the European Settlement Bank was practically tailor-made for the common market, with almost no entry barriers—

The only requirement for joining the Settlement Bank was to use the franc as the settlement currency, converting it to the local currency at the exchange rate after the transaction was completed.

The members of the Iberian-Apennine Common Market had long been using francs in large quantities; not just for international trade, but even for domestic use.

What hesitation could there be?

As for the member countries of the Stuttgart Trade Agreement, although a few were still on the fence, with Bavaria, Wurttemberg, and Hesse among those leading the acceptance of the franc, the enthusiasm was very high.

Most importantly, the European Settlement Bank allowed member countries to take shares!

This was equivalent to holding the management rights of the settlement system in their own hands, with a considerable profit share to boot.

So representatives from various countries soon gathered in Marseille, each submitting an application to join the Settlement Bank.

Joseph reviewed the investment amounts from various countries and instructed Godan, “Except for Genoa, Florence, Bavaria, and Hesse, conduct a strict audit of the financial systems of the other applicant countries.”