While talking, Xiao Ran put on a pair of gloves, took out a gold franc from the box and examined it.
As he said before, on the back of this crudely made gold franc, the number 1794 is clearly engraved, which is the year the franc was minted.
He examined the gold franc carefully, then smiled and said:
"Yes, these are the first batch of gold francs cast by the Jacobins. Although they are crudely made, they are of high collection value."
"According to historical records, less than a month after the Jacobins minted these francs, they were overthrown by the Thermidorian coup, and all the main leaders were guillotined."
"They minted quite a number of francs and then disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again."
"Now it seems that these francs hidden in this underground secret passage should be the legendary batch of missing francs."
Before he finished speaking, Cornell nodded excitedly and agreed:
"You are absolutely right, Sean. These should be the legendary batch of Jacobin francs that suddenly disappeared."
"There was another legend at the time, saying that the Jacobins used these francs to cultivate a secret army, but unfortunately it failed in the end."
"Judging from the current situation, this legend is very likely to be true, but it has not been implemented in time."
"The Thermidorian Coup happened too fast and too suddenly. If the Jacobins had been given a few more months, the history of France and even the entire Western world might have been different!"
Hearing this, Henry, Renault and others shook their heads.
Immediately afterwards, Henry expressed his point of view.
"The occurrence of the Thermidor coup and the fall of the Jacobins is a historical necessity that cannot be changed."
"After the victory at the Battle of Fleurus, the Jacobins, whose power had been consolidated, could completely relax their reign of terror. No one could threaten them either in Europe or at home."
"Robespierre chose a more extreme policy of terror, massacring 1,376 people in just one month. In the end, it evolved into indiscriminate killing of innocent people and wanton massacre of dissidents."
"Under such circumstances, the Jacobin dictatorship has completely lost its basis for rule, and its overthrow has become inevitable."
"Robespierre was an idealist, but I simply can't imagine what France would look like under the long-term rule of the Jacobins. It might be hell!"
Following Henry's words, everyone couldn't help but fell silent.
Even though more than two hundred years have passed, the bloody history of the Jacobin rule in France still makes all French people fearful and even reluctant to mention it.
Even the Baroque-style apartment building where Robespierre once lived was disliked by the French, who thought it was a ghost building.
But none of them thought that the Jacobins and Robespierre actually hid an amazing treasure here.
More than two hundred years later, this amazing treasure was in vain for Xiao Ran who came across the ocean.
After observing for a moment, Xiao Ran threw the gold franc in his hand into the box.
"Gentlemen, there is no need for us to dwell on the past history. Even if we make ten thousand assumptions, history will not repeat itself."
"What we should do most now is to continue to explore this treasure and dig out the secrets hidden behind this treasure."
"Next, I'm going to open this crate and see what's in it."
After the words fell, everyone looked over.
The next moment, Xiao Ran casually picked up a crowbar placed next to him.
Then he came to the mottled crate and briefly checked the situation.
After making sure it was safe, he inserted the thinner end of the crowbar into the gap in the crate, and then pried it upwards.
"Click"
With a crisp sound, the crate was ripped open.
That crate had been hidden deep underground for more than two hundred years and had become extremely fragile.
Coupled with the violent oxidation reaction that just occurred, it becomes even more fragile.
That's why it's so vulnerable.
Xiao Ran pried open the outermost wooden board, but did not completely pry open the crate.
Looking inside from the damaged part of the box, it looked like there were some long objects wrapped in moisture-proof tarpaulin.
Seeing this situation, you can figure it out even if you think about it with your feet.
The crate contained indeed a Charvet 1777 flintlock rifle.
Xiao Ran glanced at the situation in the crate, then continued his previous actions and continued to pry the box.
In the blink of an eye, he had opened the box.
The items contained in this box were long strips of objects wrapped in moisture-proof tarpaulin.
Seeing this scene, everyone immediately understood what these things were.
"Sure enough, it is a Charvet 1777 flintlock rifle. They all look like new guns. These antique muskets also have certain collection value."
"The discovery of these Charvet 1777 flintlock rifles is enough to show that the Jacobins did have the idea of cultivating a secret armed force."
"It is a pity that history did not give them this opportunity, or it can be said that it was the extreme terrorist policies they adopted that killed themselves."
With that said, Xiao Ran took out a flintlock rifle wrapped in oilcloth from the box and began to peel off the oilcloth outside.
After peeling off two layers of moisture-proof tarpaulin, a brand new Charvet 1777 flintlock rifle with a history of more than 200 years appeared in his hands.
This flintlock rifle has never been used since it was manufactured, and there are no traces of use on it.
The grease smeared on the gun body has long since dried and crusted, and turned black.
As soon as I touched it with my hand, scum kept falling down.
Due to the good preservation environment and always being kept in an oxygen-free sealed environment, this flintlock rifle is in very good preservation condition.
As Xiao Ran said, this antique flintlock gun still has some collection value.
Xiao Ran looked at the flintlock rifle carefully for a while, then put it back into the box.
Then, she turned to look at Henry and Connell.
"Gentlemen, you can take a look at these Jacobin francs and Charvet 1777 flintlock rifles"
"Although these things have certain collection value, to be honest, I am not very satisfied with this discovery."
"In the next exploration process, I hope there will be greater surprises and something more valuable will be discovered."
Hearing this, Henry and the others rolled their eyes angrily.
"You have such a huge appetite. Do you think every treasure is as amazing as Napoleon's treasure? How can there be such a good thing!"
"Not to mention anything else, the market value of these Jacobin francs is as high as one to two hundred million euros, and you greedy guy is still not satisfied!"
While secretly complaining, Henry and Connell began to look at and identify the contents of the two boxes.
Xiao Ran looked at these guys, then picked up the walkie-talkie and said:
"Matthew, you can start the next step of cleaning up. Once it is safe, you can let the guys from the Louvre and Sorbonne University enter the secret passage to assist you in cleaning up."
"One thing you must remember is that our guys only clean things within the confines of the apartment building. Areas beyond this range are left to people from the Louvre and Sorbonne University to clean up."
"Things deep underground in the apartment building all belong to us. Anything found beyond this range, we only have half of the ownership. We must clearly distinguish it."
After the words fell, Matthew immediately responded.
"Roger, boss, we will lead the team into the secret passage to clean it up, and we will also mark it."
Then, these guys took action.
When they entered the secret passage again, Xiao Ran came to Karin and then whispered to this guy:
"Karin, please inform the presidential envoy and the minister of culture, and we can start the transaction tomorrow."
"The trading place is at the Musée d'Orsay. As long as you come with the antique artworks I want, we can trade at any time."
"When the transaction between us is completed, and the transaction between me and the American side is completed, the subsequent auction will start immediately, and you can also participate."
Karin looked at him and nodded reluctantly.
"Okay, Sean, I will notify Mr. Special Envoy and the Minister of Culture right away. I hope everything goes well."
After saying that, the guy went to the side to make a phone call.
French soldiers holding Charvet 1777
