Chapter 183: The United Fleet in the Mediterranean

Chapter 183: The United Fleet in the Mediterranean

Paris.

On the second floor of the Industrial Planning Bureau, Joseph looked at the six men in front of him with a faint smile. "Mr. Boisrandal suddenly committing suicide at this time doesn't seem to have saddened you much."

Marquis Lido quickly put on a sorrowful expression. "Your Highness, in fact, we are deeply saddened, but we did not show it so as not to affect your mood."

"Is that so?" Joseph nodded. "Then what do you know about Necker's death?"

A middle-aged man with sunken eyes and a sallow complexion hurriedly said, "Your Highness, that was all Boisrandal's doing; we know nothing about it."

He was Viscount Reclisian, owner of the Dauphiné Credit Bank.

"Really? But Mrs. Boisrandal claims that the assassination of Necker was planned by the six of you together. However..." Joseph glanced at the panicked faces of the six men and then changed his tone, "I don't quite believe her."

The six of them felt their hearts skip a beat. They hadn't expected Boisrandal to have told such a secret to his wife. If they had known, they would have taken care of her as well!

"Your Highness, she's trying to blackmail us," Marquis Lido said, placing a hand over his heart. "I swear to God, we had nothing to do with this!"

Joseph smiled and went straight to the point: "The reason I called you here is because next month, the French Reserve Bank will issue banknotes.

"I expect each of your banks to purchase 1.5 million livres worth of them.

"Oh, and by the way, Archbishop Brienne is about to introduce the 'Bank Management Act,' which includes a crucial clause on reserve requirements. I need you to take the lead in supporting this bill."

The six bankers exchanged glances, and one of them cautiously asked, "Your Highness, what exactly is a reserve requirement?"

"It means that a portion of the deposits in your banks—currently 5%—will be transferred to the Reserve Bank as a guarantee of your banks' creditworthiness."

The reserve requirement is one of the central bank's key tools for regulating the financial market. In fact, the 5% rate is minimal and was intentionally set low by Joseph to ease the banks into this regulation.

Marquis Lido quickly calculated the implications. These demands were clearly the price for making Boisrandal the scapegoat. With France's current low savings rate, 5% wouldn't amount to much, and the 1.5 million livres in banknotes could be used to pay clients.

He signaled the others and then bowed first:

"We are pleased to contribute to the nation's finances, Your Highness. We will follow your instructions."

As Marquis Lido and the others left the Industrial Planning Bureau, a tall man with distinct Nordic features was having a conversation with a teenage boy near the garden of Boisrandal's estate.

"So, besides your father, six other people were involved in the plot?" the tall man asked.

The boy nodded with a fierce expression. "Yes, my father told me himself. They planned it at Marquis Lido's house that day."

The tall man nodded and stood up to leave. The face under the brim of his hat was none other than Necker's butler, Elonk.

...

In the Mediterranean, south of the island of Menorca, near the Barbary Coast, the rhythm of the calm waves provided a backdrop to the tense atmosphere on the foredeck of the American frigate Constellation.

Charles, clean-shaven and wearing a crisp U.S. Navy uniform with a tricorn hat, held a spyglass to his eyes, anxiously scanning the southwestern horizon.

Captain White approached from behind and patted him on the shoulder. "Any sign of them?"

"Not yet," Charles shook his head, quickly adding, "but they'll come."

"God help us if that smuggler didn't lie. Otherwise, you might be held accountable for that 500 dollars when we get back," Captain White warned.

Charles turned to the captain, his voice firm. "I trust Ali, Captain."

The Ali he referred to was the Algerian who had once been his fellow prisoner and had later escaped through a tunnel he dug.

Just over two weeks earlier, Charles had finally been ransomed by the Virginia State Legislature for 8,000 dollars. To his surprise, it wasn't a French or Spanish warship that came to retrieve him, but the Constellation, a 30-gun frigate newly purchased by the United States.

Due to the long gap in U.S. naval operations, the ship's crew even included French and Italian sailors. And given Charles's brief service in the Continental Navy and his extensive experience as a first mate, Captain White invited him to serve as a sailor on this 30-year-old frigate that had once belonged to the French.

Because the second mate on the Constellation was an inexperienced nobleman, Charles effectively assumed the duties of second mate.

Afterward, the Constellation and another American frigate formed a joint fleet with French and Dutch warships to hunt down pirates in the Barbary Sea. However, the fleet had little success; the pirates were cunning, and after weeks of searching, they had found nothing.

That's when Charles remembered that Ali had mentioned his boss knew Yunis, a man with connections to the Algerian pirates. He suggested they try to get information from Ali, and as the fleet passed near Dakhla, Algeria, Captain White relayed Charles's idea to the fleet commander. With permission granted, Charles located Ali using the address he had left behind.

Ali, in turn, offered to sell the Algerian navy's whereabouts for 1,000 dollars, with half paid upfront and the rest upon confirmation of the pirates.

The fleet had been waiting all day based on Ali's information, but so far, there was no sign of the pirates.

Charles wiped the sweat from his palms, feeling a twinge of doubt. Why had he placed so much trust in a smuggler? If he had to repay the 500 dollars out of pocket, it would take him six or seven years to clear the debt.

Just as he was beginning to despair, a blue and white flag suddenly appeared on the horizon.

His heart leaped with joy, and he turned to shout to the captain, "They're here! They've come!" only to realize Captain White had already returned to the cabin—the lookout had spotted the signal boat a minute earlier.

Soon, the merchant ship Wing of the Seagull, acting as bait, sailed toward the predetermined course. There, it would encounter the pirates and lure them into the joint fleet's ambush.

Charles raced back to the cabin, his heart filled with a thirst for revenge.

The plan unfolded smoothly—Wing of the Seagull feigned panic and quickly sailed toward Menorca, with two pirate galleys in pursuit.

The joint fleet's warships emerged from behind concealed reefs. A French fourth-rate warship armed with 60 cannons and accompanied by a frigate moved in from the west, while the American ships and a Dutch frigate approached from the east, bypassing the merchant ship and heading straight for the pirates.

The pirates' larger galley had 18 cannons, while the smaller one had only 12, making them no match for the joint fleet.

Realizing they were outmatched, the pirates quickly turned and fled southwest.

(End of Chapter)

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