He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 523

Extranotes (1) The British Empire Went Bankrupt

Big Ben, the clock tower that is a symbol of London, tolls.

-Dong! Dong! Dong!

But somehow, Big Ben looks tilted.

There are also blackened spots on the walls, as if it had been burned.

But people pass by indifferently, as if it were normal.

Perhaps it is because an even bigger problem has occurred than the appearance of Big Ben.

Suddenly, a middle-aged blond merchant ran in front of Big Ben, shouting.

“Oh, bankruptcy! Another bankruptcy declaration! Breaking news from Parliament!”

A black-haired merchant who had been waiting jumped up.

“Is this even possible? How is this the fifth bankruptcy declaration in 15 years!”

“That’s almost once every three years. Is it a suspension of payments this time? Or a declaration of inability to pay bonds altogether?”

“Bond invalidation!”

The blond merchant shouted at the top of his lungs.

“All bonds issued by the previous government are invalid. The Prime Minister is crazy! And so is the parliament that passed this!”

In fact, Big Ben is a clock tower attached to the end of the Houses of Parliament in London.

So, the people gathered in front of Big Ben were not waiting for the bell.

They were waiting for news from the House of Commons, the highest decision-making body in Britain.

But the merchants were all thrown into chaos by the completely unexpected news.

“Unbelievable!”

“Fucking Jesus! Canning, go to hell!”

“Let’s impeach the Prime Minister immediately! Let’s elect a new Prime Minister! Let’s have a re-election!”

The black-haired merchant who had been waiting for the blond merchant hurriedly grabbed him and asked.

“Mr. Jardine, is this a joke?”

“It’s the truth, Mr. Madison. Damn it, at this rate, I might as well buy shares in the East India Company!”

“That sounds like a joke. The East India Company has been on the verge of bankruptcy every year for the past 15 years, hasn’t it? I heard they finally got some Indian cotton from Bombay harbor this year.”

Madison tore at his hair.

It has been 15 years since Britain lost its dominance in India.

Still, the Industrial Revolution continued.

And navigation skills haven’t disappeared, so British ships still roam the five oceans as if they were their own seas.

Nevertheless, the superior position of the hegemon is different from that of a general trader.

East India Company bonds, once the most valuable, have long since fallen to junk status.

But they are still better than government-issued national bonds.

Suddenly, Jardine gritted his teeth and said in a low voice.

“After all, you shouldn’t be picky about the means and methods of making money.”

“What are you talking about? Jardine?”

“There’s a rumor that bankers close to the Prime Minister sold off all their bonds before this bond invalidation crisis.”

Jardine glared among the screaming merchants.

“Especially Rothschild and Baring.”

Very strangely, there are those who calmly leave the scene at the bond invalidation announcement.

Of course, the Rothschild and Baring families themselves do not come to such places.

However, they usually send an agent to grasp the exact situation.

The surrounding merchants jumped when they heard that.

“Aren’t those guys French? Why are they doing business in London?”

“Rothschild is Jewish. We should kick all the Jews out of this country right now! And the French too!”

“That’s right. Damn French toast!”

Anti-Semitism and anti-French sentiment.

It is the best medicine to unite the British people of the time.

Even those who are scattered suddenly unite when it comes to Jews and French people.

Of course, it’s an emotion of hatred.

At that time, a young man spoke from behind the seething merchants.

“Then, another [London Blitz: referring to the aerial bombing of London] might happen.”

Everyone became as quiet as a mouse, as if they had been doused with cold water.

The memory of the London Blitz is still vivid even after 10 years.

First of all, the fact that Big Ben was burned black happened at that time.

But it is a taboo word, so no one speaks easily.

Jardine looked back at the bold young man who had carelessly uttered the taboo word.

“Who are you?”

“Just a passing gentleman. I came from the New World and will soon be traveling to France, so I overheard the commotion.”

“Ha, you FFF traitors are ruining the country!”

The young man, wearing a rather stylish fedora, blinked and asked back.

“What is that?”

“France Friendly Friend! Those who think French things are the best, are friendly to the French, and want to live in France!”

“Isn’t that the case these days? It’s not like I’m the only one.”

Of course, as in any era, not everyone is obsessed with [Anti-Empire] sentiment.

There are always those who admire the best.

Besides, isn’t this a time when France and Britain are not at war?

So, what the young man in the fedora said is not necessarily wrong.

But Jardine, who was angry because the bonds he had hoarded had gone bankrupt, jumped up and shouted.

“Here, there’s a traitor! It’s because of guys like this that national bonds are all invalid!”

Then, not only the merchants but also the London citizens who were passing by rushed in.

“Aaaah! Bond invalidation! My family is ruined!”

“There, it’s a pro-French guy!”

“Kill him! He’s probably wearing the tricolor flag pattern!”

Coincidentally, the young man was wearing colorful clothes, making his fedora seem ‘unfashionable’ for ‘these days’.

Of course, it’s been quite a while since France used the tricolor flag, but that’s none of the London citizens’ business.

Looking around for a moment, the young man in the fedora stepped back in embarrassment.

“Oh, to call someone from the New World a Francophile is such an absurd thing to say.”

At that time, a carriage was running on the street and stopped.

A six-horse carriage.

Even at a glance, you can see that they are precious thoroughbreds panting.

It is an old-fashioned luxury that cannot be compared with the ‘slow’ steam cars that roam the streets these days in the [New Century: referring to the 19th century], the 19th century.

The carriage door opened, and a blond boy poked his face out.

“Why don’t you come this way and run away?”

“Huh?”

“It looks like you’re going to get beaten to death.”

The young man in the fedora blinked and hurriedly jumped into the carriage.

“I’ll be in your debt for now!”

The six-horse carriage passed Big Ben and ran through the streets of London.

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

Leaving behind 100 merchants seething with anti-French sentiment.

***

Still, the outskirts of London are barren lands that do not know about environmental protection.

“Wow, thanks for saving me. But why do you like carriages so much? Are you a young master [wealthy heir]?”

The six-horse carriage stopped on a meadow where there was no forest to be found.

Even in the past 18th century, a carriage using six horses was a symbol of luxury.

Not to mention the [New Century] of the 19th century, when steam cars are being introduced.

The owner of the six-horse carriage, the blond boy, shrugged.

“I think you, sir, are more like a young master?”

“Huh? Why me? Can’t you see my rather rough skin? I was a sailor on a transatlantic liner until recently.”

“The British reveal their [class: social standing] in the words and accents they use.”

The blond boy smiled.

“Are you an aristocrat?”

For a moment, the young man in the fedora was silent and then smiled awkwardly.

“Was I found out?”

“Which family is saying pro-French things? In these difficult times.”

“Ah, I hope you’ll abandon your prejudices about families. My name is Henry, and I’m living in a difficult bankruptcy era.”

Henry, a man who travels to the New World in a bankruptcy era, laughed heartily.

“In fact, my family is also bankrupt right now. All of our assets are tied up in government bonds. Hahaha!”

For someone like that, he doesn’t seem to be chased by debtors.

However, the New Century is a time of upheaval in every country.

Even if you are an aristocratic family, you will have difficulties if you have no assets.

The blond boy nodded and opened his mouth.

“Then, you’ll need to make money.”

“What, are you going to give me a job? I’m getting more and more curious about the young master’s family.”

“Aren’t you curious about the people who were trying to ‘lynch’ you earlier?”

The blond boy explained with sparkling eyes.

“William Jardine, James Sutherland Madison. They are the ones who run Jardine Matheson & Co. in [Guangzhou: a major port city in China].”

It’s a very strange thing.

He’s just a boy who was passing by on a carriage.

But how does he know the men who were trying to hit the young man in the fedora, Henry?

As if he had been tracking them from before.

Instead of asking, Henry turned his attention to the other side.

“Guangzhou? Is that the port of the mysterious great power of [Qing: the ruling dynasty of China at the time]? I heard that the Guangzhou East [Thirteen: refers to the Cohong, a guild of Chinese merchants] merchants opened a trading house in London a while ago. They’re doing a really good job!”

“Qing is not a mysterious great power, and Jardine Matheson is not a place that does good things.”

“Why? Isn’t it opening a place for East-West exchange? We export our cheap machine-made cotton fabrics to that side, and we import ‘tea’! Hurray for free trade!”

The blond boy scoffed as he stared at Henry, who was joking.

“I guess you didn’t study because you were traveling in the New World? Qing, where people weave cotton, is much cheaper. ‘Tea’ and ‘silk’ are things that Europeans can’t live without. It’s not for nothing that the British government declared bankruptcy again.”

Tea and silk.

They are valuables imported from the East to Britain and Europe.

But both are incredibly expensive.

They are all the same in that they can only be bought with silver.

On the other hand, there is nothing in Europe to export to Qing.

Because machine-made cotton fabrics are still more expensive than cotton fabrics made by an overwhelming population.

Henry, who didn’t know the reality, was surprised.

“Then, what are those friends exporting?”

Only then did the blond boy smile strangely and reply.

“Opium.”

That is, the Greek word for [opium: a highly addictive narcotic drug].

***

Dark night, there are sailing ships preparing to depart from London Harbor.

“Come on, move it quickly! I really need to install this production facility in India. It’s so inconvenient to have to bring it all the way here and refine it!”

As many as 19 large, fast sailing ships.

There are only a few merchants in London who can move a private fleet of this size.

Even the Rothschild family has about one steamship, but not this many sailing ships.

William Jardine, 41, who is in his prime as a merchant, grumbled as he commanded the sailors.

Suddenly, his colleague James Madison clicked his tongue next to him.

“Do we have to send this all the way to Guangzhou again? It’s far.”

“Instead, a lot of money comes in once we send it. Fucking Canning! If that guy hadn’t declared bankruptcy, I wouldn’t have taken this risk.”

“Can’t we load a little more! Hey, don’t spill a single grain! That’s all gold!”

It was when Madison was nagging.

-Thud!

Suddenly, there was someone who swung a cane and hit a sailor.

The sailor fell to the ground and the box rolled to the floor in front of the harbor.

Then the box opened and powder spilled out.

“What!”

As Madison ran up with his eyes wide open, the young man who swung the cane spoke from the darkness.

“It’s absurd. Even so, a proud merchant of Great Britain sells opium? Even to a trading partner?”

Opium, that is, a drug made by refining poppies.

Of course, this is not an era in which opium is clearly defined as a prohibited item.

But no merchant sells opium in Britain.

Everyone knows what happens when you eat it.

But this devil’s medicine is brazenly taken to the port of Guangzhou in Qing as a trade item.

Who?

Jardine and Madison, as well as Guangzhou trading Eastern merchants.

Madison frowned.

“Who are you?”

“We clearly lost. To France. But at least we have the pride that we don’t exploit colonies like France. We have the pride that we only make profits through trade and free market competition.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Catch that guy!”

Then, the cane youth revealed himself from the darkness.

“But you produce and transport opium like this in London Harbor, right in front of the parliament? You guys are the ones who are tarnishing the flag of King George IV!”

He is not someone who can be talked to.

However, Jardine and Madison were not in a position to trade opium for a day or two.

Jardine ordered the sailors instead of the hesitant Madison.

“Throw him into the sea!”

At that time, the firing sound rang.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

When everyone hesitated at the pistol sound echoing in the air, dozens of people appeared from the darkness.

“Everyone step back! Police!”

“What, what?”

“I’m late to introduce myself, Mr. Jardine.”

The cane youth, Henry, smiled, revealing his teeth.

“Henry Edward Fox, the new superintendent of Scotland Yard [the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police]. The name of the person who will send you to prison.”

The moment he heard Henry’s full name, Jardine blinked and shouted.

“Baron Holland! You damn pro-French traitor!”

Fox.

That name is known to everyone in Britain.

James Fox, who was dismissed in the past for loving the French Revolution.

However, he is the great politician who rebuilt Britain, which Pitt had ruined, after the London [Air Raid] by France, and was re-elected.

It is the family that the nephew of that Fox inherited.

“You’re a drug dealer merchant. Take them all away!”

When Baron Holland Fox gestured, the police ran up and arrested the sailors, Jardine, and Madison.

It is the achievement of the London Metropolitan Police Service, commonly known as Scotland Yard, which was recently created by the new cabinet.

Of course, the cabinet may not like it because it may have interfered with trade.

But isn’t it strange to leave a crime in front of you?

Immediately after the scene became quiet, applause rang from behind Henry.

“Wow, that’s great. Amazing. I didn’t know your identity at all.”

“I’m curious about your identity. Who are you?”

“I told you, it’s Eugene.”

Henry asked Eugene, the blond boy who was watching in the dark.

“What is your relationship with French Emperor [Eugène: a common French name] I?”

Of course, it is difficult to think this far with that name alone.

But Baron Henry Holland has seen it.

The face of the Emperor of the French Empire.

I thought I had seen it somewhere, but the boy in front of me is so similar.

The blond boy, Eugene, jumped and kicked the scattered opium in front of the harbor.

“It’s Eugene, not Eugène. I think it’s a common name? Especially in the New World.”

“Did you even come from the New World?”

“No, it’s my hometown. My mother was born when she visited the New World.”

Eugene smiled.

“Well, since you seem to know everything, shall I introduce myself? Eugene de Beauharnais Bourbon Bonaparte. I’m the second son of Queen Maria of Spain.”

Henry smacked his lips as he listened to the very long family name.

There is a super-special person in front of me.

Although he is a minor, that is why he would not have come to London as a tourist.

“You came to London to track Jardine.”

“He wasn’t just selling opium in Guangzhou. He’s also selling it in Cairo these days.”

“What were you going to do if the London Metropolitan Police didn’t cooperate?”

Then Eugene took out a pistol from his arms.

-Click.

When Henry was startled and stepped back at the fancy silver pistol, Eugene smiled.

“Self-help?”

In the past, the notoriety of the French Emperor, who was famous for [Magic Bullet: referring to a legendary accurate shot], is still prominent.

Even Henry is worried that his heart will not be pierced by bullets.