Chapter 504: Astronomical Breach of Contract Fee
Fould gasped, startled. "Is Brienne insane? Is he planning to bring the government to a standstill!"
Hope frowned slightly, raising a hand to cut him off. "Please, calm yourself. Brienne is most likely bluffing. You often see people like him among merchants — they desperately want to buy something but feign indifference or pretend to walk away just to drive down the price."
"But what if Brienne actually managed to secure 200 million francs?" Charles asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "What would we do then?"
For these financial titans, capital could never lie idle. Much of it belonged to other investors, entrusted to them under long-term agreements. This meant they were constantly obligated to pay interest. If their investments failed to generate sufficient returns, they would face staggering losses.
Bolloré scoffed. "The government simply couldn't raise that much money. I'd bet my fortune that in ten days, at most, Brienne will be back, begging us."
"But what if the government genuinely abolished the Tax Farmer system? We must be prepared for that possibility!"
Hope pondered for a moment, then nodded. "You're right, we need to prepare in advance. The crux of the matter now is whether the government has actually secured enough funds to keep itself running."
Fould immediately added, "A sum that large would certainly be held in a bank. Given the General Assembly's connections, it shouldn't be impossible to get to the bottom of this."
The Tax Farmer system was currently a highly sought-after investment in France. As a result, members of the Tax Farmers' General Assembly ranged from royalty to common landowners. Even scholars like Lavoisier had once invested several hundred thousand livres to secure the tobacco tax collection for a particular region. This intricate web meant the General Assembly's influence reached into every corner of French society. Since their own interests were at stake, Tax Farmers were invariably eager to supply intelligence to the Assembly if needed — a fact that underpinned Fould's confidence.
Hearing the news, the assembled titans in the hunting grounds crowded around, animatedly discussing the Tax Farmer negotiations. All traces of leisurely hunting vanished, their servants left to guide the hounds aimlessly.
...
London City Hall.
Mayor Herbert of London glowered at the Lightning Coal manager, who stood before him with his head bowed. "It has been two full months," Herbert fumed, "and aside from the coal storage and office building, there's been absolutely no progress on installing the crucial equipment in the distillation plant!"
As the direct supervisor of the London Gas Streetlights project, the undertaking heavily impacted his future, prompting him to inquire about its progress every few days. Yet, two months had elapsed, and all that was visible were numerous trenches dug throughout London's streets for pipe installation, alongside a few utterly useless structures within the gas distillation plant.
Steller's face was etched with a grimace. After a long moment, he stammered, "Your Worship, the construction of the Retorts actually began last month..."
"But I've seen nothing of the sort."
"Truthfully, we've encountered a slight issue on the technical side," Steller said, spreading his hands. "Our chief technician, Mr. Hannes, eloped with his wife's sister at the beginning of the month, taking all his belongings with him..."
"What?!"
"I heard he'd made a failed investment in a shipping company, racking up several thousand pounds sterling in debt. To escape his creditors, he fled to America — though some say Brazil, I'm not entirely sure of the specifics. All the technical details for the Retorts were previously Hannes' responsibility. With him gone, the project's progress has been undeniably impacted."
Before Herbert could erupt, Steller quickly added, "But rest assured, the technical blueprints are all still here. Once the other technicians in the company familiarize themselves with them, construction can resume immediately."
Herbert took a deep breath. "I will not tolerate any further delays," he declared. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to impose the breach of contract penalties on your company, as stipulated in our agreement!"
"Yes, yes, Your Worship. I will certainly do my utmost to make up for lost time."
Steller offered a few more assurances before turning to depart.
Once he returned to his office, however, he simply had his servant prepare a cup of tea, then settled back to peruse the newspaper at his leisure.
Indeed, his sole task was to delay the project. This was merely the beginning; Captain Deloney had already armed him with an abundance of excuses — starting with the chief technician's flight to escape debt.
Next, a corpse would be 'discovered' at the company's construction site. The police had already been dealt with, ensuring that the repeated site inspections alone would consume half a month. Steller himself would become a suspect, only to be proven innocent after a full month of police interrogation.
Following that, several technicians would supposedly make a foolish wager to go winter swimming in the River Thames, resulting in their collective disappearance. The company would then organize a massive search effort along the river, easily occupying a month of frantic activity.
And then, Hannes's wife would 'discover' her husband sneaking home to retrieve land deeds. In a fit of rage, she'd try to burn him alive, accidentally setting the coal storage ablaze...
In short, Lightning Coal would be plagued by a string of 'misfortunes' over the coming year, practically monopolizing newspaper headlines. In such a situation, even if the City Hall harbored monumental grievances, they would be utterly powerless to voice them.
Of course, the penalties for delaying the project would undoubtedly be imposed, and under the terms of the contract signed with London City Hall, these breach of contract fees were astronomical.
But did Steller care about the penalties? Not in the slightest. They could simply be deducted from the project's overall payment — 260,000 pounds sterling was more than enough to cover them.
He would even go so far as to claim 'company cash flow issues' and demand that the penalties *not* be deducted from the initial down payment...
Meanwhile, since Lightning Company hadn't committed any *serious* breach of contract — such as demonstrably lacking technical expertise or maliciously prolonging the timeline — London City Hall couldn't simply terminate the agreement. Doing so would incur a staggering 100,000 pounds sterling in penalties. And even if London City Hall chose to make such a drastic move, the various subcontractors would go to great lengths to make them retract their decision. After all, they had already advanced substantial funds, and Lightning Company hadn't settled their accounts yet...
...
Southern suburbs of Paris.
Fould regarded the assembled Tax Farmer magnates before him with a grave expression, his voice low. "I've had my people investigate," he began. "The situation, I fear, is quite troublesome."
Someone immediately pressed, "What's happened?"
"My contacts at the bank have confirmed it," he explained. "Over the past three months, more than 100 million francs have been steadily transferred into the government's financial accounts. What's more, funds are still pouring in at a rate of 10 million francs per week. At this pace, they'll hit 200 million francs by early December."
A wave of alarm rippled through the group. "Where did Brienne get that kind of money?" someone exclaimed. "That's impossible!" another burst out. "Is the information accurate? What if..."
Fould shook his head, a somber expression on his face. "Several of my contacts at the Bank of France have independently verified it," he stated. "The accounts are clear. Furthermore, funds have also been steadily arriving in many provincial accounts."
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