Chapter Ch131.2 - Debate
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Wei Shi casually signed an 18th century check that couldn’t be cashed, and Louis XV smiled and raised Contestant Wei into n.o.bility on the spot. At the end of the cabinet meeting, Red, who’d also seized a bourgeoise card squeezed in, holding up an empty check as he shouted, “I want to buy it too!”
The King’s secretary hesitated, “There isn’t enough land…”
Red waved his hand, “Who wants land, just give me a ribbon, make me Baron Qiukui!”
Caesar quickly obtained inspiration from this and slapped the card in his hand, “I want to be the domineering Phantom Caesar, Duke of Darkness––”
Little Ran couldn’t stand it anymore, “Are you stupid? How much money do you have to put up just to become a Baron? Ah? Baron is already going against the heavens! If you want to be a Duke, go outside and turn left to buy a plug-in, okay?!”
Behind them, countless players swarmed in. At the same time, the few remaining bourgeoisie cards in the Palace of Versailles caused the contestants to enter battle again. Wu Jin defended Vera and turned to go, “Wei Yan just now seemed to have kind of intended to take action, but there were too many people, and he couldn’t make his move. As for Ning Fengbei––”
Chu Chu perked up her ears, waiting to hear Wu Jin’s complaints.
Unexpectedly, Contestant Wu sighed in praise, “She’s pretty good.”
Vera’s tone was proud, “She can cause trouble, but she can’t beat me in a fight.”
Wu Jin’s eyes curved. The Red and White Roses of the Hyacinth Show each had their own advantages––Ning Fengbei was like Wu Jin in the Crosson Show. She could be the brains of a team, but her individual combat ability was B+ or A-.
Wu Jin tilted his head, his eyes darting over to look at the big boss.
This new Baron was tall, broad, and handsome.
The man reached out.
Wu Jin handed the card over to the big boss, their palms brushing with the card between them. Wei Shi pulled him over to himself, and Wu Jin b.u.mped shoulders with the big boss skillfully, “Fortunately, we managed it.”
The lines on the corners of the man’s mouth loosened slightly.
This rabbit he’d raised up had not only learned to jump and bounce around, it had also learned to carry carrots on its back as it overran the whole field.
Wu Jin suddenly remembered that Louis XV had seemed a little shocked when the big boss had told him which t.i.tle he wished to be conferred. He asked, “Which Baron were you conferred as?”
Wei Shi raised his brow and opened his mouth.
Wu Jin processors instantly crashed, “Wh-what! k2026;”
To the side, Chu Chu clattered over, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go rest! Little Witch, was everything you said real? Relying on financial leveragek2013;k2013;”
Wu Jin shook his head quickly, “Leverage can’t be created out of nothing! France’s defeat and the simultaneous decline in the prestige of the hegemonic countries made financial depression inevitable. Funding war through commerce refers to industrial business, not some crooked schemek2026;”
Chu Chu was still stuck on the idea, “If an advanced financial system was introduced during the 18th century––”
Wu Jin thought about it, “The cornerstone for finance is trust. It’s likely that trust in capital and the trust of the public would fall together. With the Great Depression, prices would soar. Probably the one sent to the guillotine won’t be Louis XVI, but Louis XV.”
Vera frowned, “Is France really unable to win this war?”
Wu Jin nodded.
The bells rang, and the sets in the corridors changed. After the bourgeoisie cards had basically all been s.n.a.t.c.hed up, the survival number on their wrist watches began to drop dramatically.
114.
“There’s a hundred left.” Wu Jin reminded his teammates, “Based on the Crosson Show’s normal tendencies, it’s impossible to avoid confrontation all the way until the end. The third round––Louis XVI, will have tough fights.”
The ball was half an hour away.
By the time Wu Jin finished loading up the gun and polishing the bayonet, the set had already changed. There was a painting on the wall that seemed to have been painted with rough strokes, featuring the distant Russian Winter Palace.
“Dynasties changed in the Winter Palace.” Wu Jin looked at the oil painting. “It was the turning point for the Seven Years’ War. France’s ally––or rather, Madame de Pompadour’s ally, Queen Elizabeth of Russia, died, and her successor was a Prussian.”
Chu Chu: “Wh-what!”
Wu Jin’s gaze shifted slightly and he looked at a painting .
“Frederick II, King of Prussia.” Wu Jin began, “The new Emperor of Russia was his admirer. He was crazy about Frederick II and even collected spoons that Frederick had used. He ordered the Russian troops who were fighting against Prussia to attack France instead.”
Chu Chu: “…Holy s.h.i.t, what kind of move was that?! And then, France lost? They lost?!”
Wu Jin: “Louis XV made several strategic mistakes, and his mentality collapsed.”
Louis XV was indecisive and emotionally weak. He wasn’t fit to be an iron-handed king. By contrast, Frederick II who’d been forced into desperate situations by France many times, was much more tenacious.
Frederick had held on for seven years. At his most frustrating point in time, he only had 3000 soldiers and horses, and his army had been on the verge of being wiped out several times before support came from Russia’s allies.
––“As for me, even under the threat of a shipwreck, in the storm, my thoughts, my life, and my death must all be like a King’s.”
He’d won a nearly impossible war.
A quarter of an hour before the ball.
A servant suddenly ran through a deadly quiet Palace of Versailles, “The King has issued orders. France… will surrender in a week.”
Footsteps rang from afar, and Madame de Pompadour reappeared in the corridor.
The frustrated King came to her with regret and anger in his eyes.
As a fan of Madame de Pompadour, Chu Chu was very dissatisfied, “She was originally just about to win, and this battle wasn’t even fought by Madame de Pompadour! Starting the war was also at the King’s instructions! Hey, hey, this King likes to throw around the blame a bit too much!”
Downstairs.
The King spoke slowly, “India, Canada, and the Mississippi River must all be ceded. The Battle of Quiberon Bay originally should not have been lost.”
Madame de Pompadour was quiet for a few seconds, then spoke evenly, “I see.”
The lady took an eyebrow pencil from her maid’s hand and lightly drew out a battle map on a piece of paper with weak hands, “Send it to the front line.”
The King glanced at her, then left indifferently.
Chu Chu: “What’s the meaning of that?!”
Vera spoke slowly, “The King is unwilling to take responsibility for the failure in Quiberon Bay. When the battle map with Madame de Pompadour’s eyebrow pencil shows up at the front line, people will point their fingers at her instead––and then blame the civilian mistress for her unsuccessful plans.”
Vera finally looked towards Pompadour. She stood there quietly, staring out the window to the scene in the distance.
Vera had already looked at Wu Jin’s card. Madame de Pompadour would suffer from depression and die the year after the end of the war, and the King would watch indifferently as her coffin was sent out of Versailles.
Five minutes before the ball.
Wu Jin quickly gave the card for Madame de Pompadour to Vera, and was relieved when he saw that Vera was the one forced into the dressing room. A while later, the man reappeared again, his leather riding boots and bayonet making him even more attractive.
The lighting in the corridor was dim, and the pa.s.sing servants talked amongst themselves.
“A new King… it will at least be better than the old King.”
“When His Majesty Louis XV died, it was rumored that his body was covered in a foul odor all over…”
Wu Jin quickly glanced over to meet the big boss’s gaze.
The era of Louis XVI had begun.
The last round. The intense fighting was about to start.
Music started from the Hall of Mirrors, and players swarmed in––
Vera appeared in a puffy Rococo dress, elegant and gorgeous. The Red Rose was very beautiful, and Thin Fire looked unusually charming in the cardinal’s robes. Caesar hadn’t been able to obtain a dukedom because the money he’d given was too little, and he’d only been given the status of an ordinary little aristocrat. At this time, he was complaining with a certain contestant, “Pay attention to your wording! You are speaking to a n.o.ble red diamond n.o.ble!”
The music for the first dance rang out.
The card at Vera’s waist warmed up. She immediately handed the card to Wu Jin, “Go and explore the map first. I still have to take off the dress…”
Wu Jin nodded.
The youth picked up the card and headed to the edge of the dance floor.
The first lead dancer of the Louis XVI era walked towards his dance partner.
Chu Chu quickly raised her eyes, “G.o.d Wei, G.o.d Wei! Little Witch is coming over!!”
Juurensha: Ahhhh, ancient financial instruments….yeah, finance is tricky and you’ve got to set it up correctly or else you get stuff like 2008.
xiin: “I want to be the domineering Phantom Caesar, Duke of Darkness––”