"Don't you know the Place Vendôme? Don't you know the Column of Vendôme? This is disassembled from the column..."
"In 1805, at the Battle of Austerlitz... Napoleon defeated the Russian and Austrian forces and won the War of the Three Emperors!"
"The French Senate ordered that 125 enemy cannons captured in the battle be used to build the Vendôme Column for the emperor, imitating the Roman Column of Trajan...also called the Triumphal Column!"
"This statue is the one on the triumphal column... If those crazy self-defense soldiers didn't insist on demolishing it, you would never have seen it..."
"It's definitely the real thing, it's definitely the real thing. You can compare it by looking for some photos... And I was very careful when I dismantled it. There was absolutely no major damage. It's easy to restore..."
Eugene was definitely a smart man during the negotiations. He gradually guessed the intentions of these Chinese people. The businessman's acumen gave him endless imagination.
"This is the most precious trophy. As long as it can be brought back to Asia, it will definitely cause a sensation among thousands of people..." Facts have proved that businessmen love money, but they are not patriotic!
It was Sima Yun who came to receive the bronze statue. Originally, as the Four Heavenly Kings, he did not have to do such small things personally, but when the head of state left, he gave him a code book for one-way communication with Thiers, and Sima Yun knew it. There is also such a high-level traitor in Paris.
Thiers sent a secret telegram to the Chinese in the evening, telling them that there was a batch of valuable goods that he wanted to sell half and half to the head of state, and at that time he asked for 100,000 francs.
Sima Yun was still wondering, what kind of thing is half sold and half given away for 100,000? It turned out to be the statue of Napoleon on the Vendôme Column.
If what Eugene sent is genuine, then one hundred thousand francs is really not expensive, because it is the spiritual symbol of France's two empires and is definitely a top national treasure.
If it weren't for the war, you wouldn't even think about it. You wouldn't even be able to climb up and touch it!
Fortunately, with this war, we have the opportunity to be the head of state!
Sima Yun raised his hand to stop Eugene's nagging, "Needless to say, I will give you one hundred thousand francs...but I still have a condition..."
"You said... you said..." When Eugene saw that there was business, he was already smiling from ear to ear.
"What you brought here is only the bronze statue. I also want the Vendôme Column below, and I also want the forty-meter-high bronze column... As long as you can get it, I will give you another one million francs!"
"Ah!" Eugene's face suddenly turned gray. "This, this, this... this is not easy to handle. These statues were demolished by lunatics. As for the columns, who dares to touch them without the order of a big shot..."
Sima Yun had no time to talk nonsense with him and directly turned back to the quartermaster and said, "Give him 70,000 francs in cash first... tell him when the Vendôme column will be delivered, and when will I give him another 1,030,000 francs!"
"Is a cashier's check from Standard Chartered Bank OK?" said the Quartermaster.
Eugene suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, okay... great, this really solves my big problem..."
Instead of selling 100,000 francs, getting 80,000 francs is not bad. If we go back and cast six or seven artillery pieces for the National Guard, the total cost will not be more than 30,000 to 40,000 francs. The rest is all earned by ourselves...
As for the Vendôme Column, we have to keep a close eye on it. If those lunatics tear down this column as well, I will buy it at the scrap purchase price...
A simple meeting actually opened the door to a new world for Eugene, and he actually learned how to do antique business!
After the delivery was completed, Sima Yun said to Eugene before leaving, "Paris is in chaos, and many cultural relics will be sold at low prices. You use your connections to purchase large quantities...especially Chinese cultural relics!"
"We should still follow this model. We need as much as we want, and the delivery will be made entirely with a cashier's check from the Bank of England... You won't suffer a loss, the more, the better!"
"If you want to get rich, it depends on how courageous you are!"
big! Eugene's courage is as great as the sky. As long as he is allowed to make money, his courage will never be reduced!
Return to the smelting factory outside your city and let the old workers who stayed behind find a way to recruit other workers. Anyway, there is no rush, no matter when, it doesn't matter how late it is to cast six or seven cannons for delivery.
After taking inventory of his warehouse, he found that there was still enough copper and steel, so he returned to the city with peace of mind. It was already seven in the morning when he returned to Paris.
As a result, as soon as I entered the city, I heard the voices of outsiders all over the city, and the latest newspapers had already started to be sold.
"Protest by the royalists! Protest by the royalists! They angrily accuse the mob of destroying the Vendôme Column and destroying the spiritual symbol of the great France!"
"Come and read the newspapers...the royalists collectively condemn the left and the right, and condemn the cowardly policy of non-resistance..."
Eugene was stunned and quickly bought a newspaper and leaned in the corner to read it. Sure enough, the royalist MPs began to attack the current policy at length.
The destruction of the Vendôme Column was just an introduction. More importantly, they began to madly condemn the non-resistance policy of the left and right!
The enemy has surrounded Paris, and there are currently only more than 100,000 vanguard troops. With the current strength of Paris, these enemies can definitely be defeated!
Why not take action? Why be passive and avoid war? Why the destruction in Paris?
It would rather cause destruction than resist. Is this the face of the new government?
The accusations were deafening, and in the end the royalists shouted at the top of their lungs, "Only the Bonaparte family can save France!"
"The Crown Prince is restored! Long live the constitutional monarchy!"
The Royalists began to counterattack, and Thiers was definitely instigating this. He knew that the French Emperor was about to be released, within a few months at most.
At that time, the royalists will attack the Committee of 26 and the left like crazy, and France will have a huge wave!
Under Thiers' subtle guidance, the royalist party's attack direction was directly pointed at the current non-resistance policy!
Trochu, why don't you resist?
Blanqui and others, why don’t you resist?
The enemy is outside the city, why don't you resist?
If you don’t resist, let those who dare to resist do it!
The Crown Prince is in England, let the Crown Prince ascend the throne! Implement a constitutional monarchy! Let Crown Prince Eugene stabilize the morale of the army!
"I sincerely invite the Crown Prince to establish a government-in-exile in the UK! Continue to lead the fight in France!"
"Long live the Empire!"
Good guy, he even shouted the slogan of the government-in-exile. The 26-member committee was shocked and ordered the arrest of these arrogant royalist members.
But unexpectedly, after the police rushed to the homes of those congressmen, they discovered that these congressmen had fled Paris in the early morning.
All clues point to Versailles, a small city southwest of Paris. At this moment, this small city that prospered with the royal palace has already stationed the first batch of Prussian defenders.
