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Chapter 879: Life's Joys and Sorrows Come All Too Suddenly

Two streets away from the headquarters of the French Reserve Bank, outside the Cloud Café, two women dressed in coarse cloth dresses were running at a brisk pace, clutching small cloth bundles to their chests with anxious expressions.

As the woman on the left looked up, she saw two lines of people winding outside the bank like the curves of the Seine River. She immediately tugged at her neighbor's sleeve, gasping for breath.

"Oh, Mother Mary! There are so many people... I told Paul a week ago that we needed to come and exchange our notes for gold, but he just wouldn't listen..."

The shorter woman was even more overwhelmed with worry.

"We have to move faster, Madame Collamo. I heard Mr. Dufour say that the bank doesn't have much gold left..."

"My grandfather used to tell me how terrifying the Mississippi Company Bubble was, but I never quite believed him. Now, we might be facing the exact same disaster!"

"I brought enough food and water for three days. No matter how long it takes, I must exchange these paper notes..."

As the two ran past the café, they happened to hear someone inside shouting at the top of his lungs.

"The Franc is finished! In a week at most, these scraps of paper will be fit for nothing but wallpaper, and our government has no solution!"

"France insists on fighting an unnecessary war against the combined armies of over a dozen nations, including Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Holland. Monstrous military expenditures are devouring all our tax revenue, and the King is trying to fool us with these worthless slips of paper!"

"Just you watch. Very soon, this 'waste paper' won't be able to buy anything. When that time comes, we'll have to march into Versailles and take the flour ourselves to fill our bellies!"

After rounding the street corner, Madame Collamo finally reached the end of the line of people waiting to exchange their money for gold.

She lunged forward, using her strength to shoulder aside a young man who was also running for the spot, and successfully claimed her position.

Looking up at the seemingly endless queue, she shook her head at her neighbor behind her. "Madame Legay, there must be over a thousand people here..."

The latter pointed to a spot not far away. "Look at those tents. They must have been camping here for days."

"God preserve us. I only hope I can exchange at least half of these paper notes for gold."

A middle-aged man standing in front of them turned around and sighed.

"I heard that even the Count of Provence has converted several million in assets into gold... I'm afraid the situation is grim."

As the three were talking, several carriages sped past them and came to a halt by the side entrance of the French Reserve Bank.

That was the VIP entrance, reserved for transactions exceeding 5,000 francs. There was no need to wait in line there.

The carriage doors swung open, and over a dozen guards armed with clubs surrounded the vehicles.

Servants then began hauling large leather trunks into the bank one by one.

The middle-aged man in front of Madame Collamo said with a look of suppressed rage, "Damn those rich people. How much paper money can those trunks hold? It must be hundreds of thousands of francs..."

Inside a luxurious building across the street from the bank, Lord McGovern watched through a floor-to-ceiling window as his men carried the cash boxes into the bank. He took a leisurely sip of his wine.

"Ten million francs," he said, pumping a fist. A look of pure triumph crossed his face. "This will be my final blow to the Frenchies!"

Bruni had already reported to him yesterday that the French Reserve Bank's gold reserves would not exceed 80,000 ounces.

In other words, he was about to enjoy the wonderful sight of bank officials desperately announcing a suspension of gold exchanges, followed by the thousands of people outside descending into panic and chaos.

Nearly a hundred reporters from over a dozen countries were already poised, waiting for the bank to be 'broken' so they could swarm in for interviews. The news articles about the collapse of the Franc system had been written days ago.

McGovern was certain that this classic example of financial warfare would be a legacy he could brag about for the rest of his life.

There was a high probability that Mr. Wilberforce would arrange a high-ranking position for him within the Ministry of Finance back home.

Just then, seven more Gem V model carriages pulled up to the VIP entrance. Two elegantly dressed men stepped out of the lead carriage and were welcomed inside by the bank manager.

McGovern raised an eyebrow. He was certain those two were not men he had sent.

With seven carriages full of banknotes, it seemed the bank would likely buckle today even without his ten million.

By the time he finished his second glass of wine, the crowd outside the bank suddenly began to stir, a loud buzz of discussion rising into the air.

McGovern let out a loud laugh.

'This must be it. The gold reserves have run dry!'

However, he was quickly surprised to see that the people waiting in line were not cursing and storming the bank. Instead, they maintained their formation.

"Parisians truly do love order," he joked to himself. "Or perhaps I should arrange for some people to tell them that there aren't many police nearby."

At that moment, the door was suddenly thrown open with a bang.

McGovern turned his head in displeasure, only to see his French advisor, Bruni, rushing in.

"I understand you might be excited, but one should maintain proper etiquette at all times..."

"Something has gone wrong!" Bruni interrupted rudely, his face as white as a sheet. "The people of Parma just announced they are buying twelve million francs in paper currency."

He took several steps to the window and pointed at the seven carriages outside. "Those are all filled with Ducat gold coins!"

McGovern froze for a moment. He shoved the French advisor aside and looked out to see four burly men using thick wooden beams to carry a small box into the bank.

Judging by the men's strain, the box was incredibly heavy.

Only gold could possess such density.

"Damn it, have those Parma bastards gone mad?!" he growled. He turned back to Bruni. "It doesn't matter. It's only twelve million.

"Contact the moneylenders immediately. I can put up gold as collateral.

"I just need to get my hands on another ten million in paper notes to negate the impact of the Parma group! Hurry!"

Bruni's efficiency was remarkably high this time. Shortly after noon, two private capital firms met with McGovern's subordinates and provided the requested loan at an interest rate of nineteen percent for five months.

Of course, McGovern had no idea that everyone involved—including the banker Lemoine from before and the moneylenders today—were plants arranged by the French government.

The next day, before McGovern's newly acquired ten million francs could even be loaded onto carriages, yet another convoy arrived at the bank's VIP entrance.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Lord McGovern's heart for no clear reason.

Immediately after, he saw people actually leaving the two long lines outside the bank.

Bruni arrived as expected, but he didn't barge in like the day before. Instead, he opened the door just a crack and slipped inside slowly. His voice was hoarse as he spoke. "My Lord, you have likely seen those carriages. It's the Genoese. They brought 1.55 million Genovinos and want to exchange all of them for Francs."

The Genovino was the official gold coin minted by Genoa.

One million five hundred and fifty thousand Genovinos was the equivalent of eighteen million francs.