Chapter 450 An offer I cannot refuse
Friedrich kept smiling: "Mr. Xiao, how about this, you can pick anything from here and take it back to verify its authenticity."
"Pick any one?" Xiao Peng was stunned.
Friedrich nodded. "Yes, it's also my gift to you. It's my apology for inviting you so abruptly. As for the second question..."
He was silent for a while, as if he had made a very important decision: "Mr. Xiao, I can tell you this, but you have to swear that you won't tell anyone about it."
Xiao Peng shook his head. "Will an oath be useful? It's impossible for me to swear, but I can guarantee that I'm not a talkative person. Of course, if you're worried, you don't have to say anything. I'm not a very curious person."
Friedrich laughed after hearing this. "Xiao, you're right. It's actually not a big deal. Mr. Xiao, how many of the most famous palaces in France do you know?"
"Hmm?" Xiao Peng answered without hesitation, "The Louvre, Fontainebleau, Versailles... Does Chambord count? I haven't been to Chambord, but I've visited the other three. After all, the tickets aren't expensive."
Friedrich said, "What would you think if I told you that there were a bunch of cheap stuff in the first three palaces you mentioned?"
"Cheap stuff?" Xiao Peng was confused after hearing this.
Friedrich said, "Let's not talk about the Palace of Versailles. During the French Revolution, the palace was looted by the people and became a ruin for forty years. Some of the artworks and furniture that were saved were moved to the Louvre. In 1833, Louis Philippe I ordered the restoration of the Palace of Versailles, and some of the artworks and furniture were moved back to the Louvre, where it became a historical museum and remains to this day."
Xiao Peng nodded, he knew all this.
To be more precise, the emergence of the Palace of Versailles represents the saying "pretending to be struck by lightning".
Louis XIII purchased 117 acres of forest and built a two-story red brick house with only 26 rooms there as a hunting lodge. However, when his son Louis XIV came to power, his Minister of Finance, Fouquet, invited Louis XIV to a dinner at his new residence. Upon seeing the opulence of Fouquet's new residence, Louis XIV was furious: "Is your house more luxurious than my palace?" Three weeks later, Fouquet was sentenced to life imprisonment. Louis XIV then summoned the same team that built Fouquet's house and built the Palace of Versailles on the site of the former hunting lodge. The 26-room lodge became the 2,300-room Grand Palace, the present-day Palace of Versailles.
Friedrich continued, "After my ancestor, William I, won the Franco-Prussian War, he held a coronation ceremony at the Palace of Versailles and established the German Empire. When he returned home, he took away a lot of spoils of war, and he looted all three major palaces in France."
Xiao Peng frowned and said, "Mr. Friedrich, the more I listen, the more confused I become. I've visited all three palaces, and many of the items inside are treasures. What did your ancestors loot?"
"Treasures?" Friedrich smiled and shook his head. "Mr. Xiao, it seems we have different understandings of the word 'treasures.' Just like these things before us, many people consider them 'treasures,' but exchanging them for enough money is incredibly difficult. It requires customers who appreciate them, a favorable market environment and social order, and painstaking hype. My friend mentioned a Chinese proverb: 'Antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times.' These artworks may be valuable in times of peace and prosperity, but they're worthless in times of chaos. That's why my ancestors didn't take those artworks with them when they left France."
"But he took away the gold." Xiao Peng continued.
"Yes." Friedrich nodded. "To be more precise, it's gold and jewelry. If you pay attention, you'll notice that the Bourbon and Orleans families display their ancestral crowns and jewelry, but the Bonaparte family rarely does. The ancestral crowns and jewelry they have left behind are almost all fake."
Xiao Peng whistled after hearing this. "This is the first time I've heard of this. How can the French act like nothing happened after suffering such a huge loss?"
Friedrich laughed and said, "I told you that during that time, the French bourgeoisie had just overthrown Napoleon III. How could they possibly ask for things on behalf of the royal family? Similarly, those royal families care most about face. Why would they publicize such a thing?"
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "What you said really makes sense."
Friedrich continued, "Actually, the most crucial factor in our eventual victory in the Franco-Prussian War was the considerable contributions of the French bourgeoisie. They had long been prepared to seize the opportunity to overthrow Napoleon III. The agreement between my ancestors and them at the time included preserving the assets of the bourgeoisie and only targeting the royal family. Specifically, the Bonaparte family. After all, both the Bourbons and the Orleans families were considered 'bourgeois' at the time. The overthrow of the Bonaparte family's rule was a period of struggle between the Bourbons and the Orleans families for the throne, wasn't it?"
Xiao Peng nodded: "Okay, I'm too lazy to ask about these anecdotes. First, tell me what is on the ship."
"Not counting jewelry and the like, there are probably more than 700 tons of gold!" said Friedrich.
"How much?" Xiao Peng was shocked.
What does over 700 tons of gold mean? Japan is a well-established country, but its gold reserves are only over 700 tons. If a country has over 700 tons of gold reserves, it would definitely be among the top ten gold reserve countries in the world!
But Friedrich said, "I know this number is a bit small... After all, because of the spirit of the contract, we didn't take action against the House of Orleans, the House of Bourbon, and other wealthy people. Otherwise, the amount of gold would be far greater than this."
Xiao Peng nodded, Friedrich was right.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, facing a crisis, Emperor Chongzhen imposed three additional taxes totaling 20 million taels of silver. Officials protested Chongzhen's actions, ultimately leading to the Ming dynasty's demise. After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he extorted 70 million taels of silver from officials in that city alone.
These are the people who are truly rich!
"To be honest, I'm not confident about Europe's development right now. I just want the gold. If you can get it out, it's all yours." Friedrich said, "Any other valuables on the ship are also yours."
Xiao Peng thought seriously for a while and then said, "Mr. Friedrich, you sound very sincere, but this shipwreck is indeed impossible to find. There are really too few clues."
Friedrich laughed happily after hearing this: "Of course there are other clues... If you are willing to take on this job, we can discuss it later."
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