On the Financial Street near the Paris City Hall and the Stock Exchange, there are beautiful small Western-style buildings. These antique-style buildings have no aesthetics but are lavish enough. Most of the owners are Paris bankers, and it is these people who gather there. In this small area, the magic wand of money is waving, directing the flow of money in this country and even throughout Europe.
The headquarters of Tanglar Bank is among these buildings. Over the years, relying on the hard work of its owner, it has enjoyed a place in the financial world. Although it is not as good as the most famous and largest banks, people can still remember this name. Feel its remarkable strength.
However, this bank with a first-class reputation finally stumbled into a dead end under the huge network carefully woven by Bowang.
After opening on time at eight o'clock in the morning, Tanglar Bank, which was usually very busy, was almost full of people. However, for the bank staff, this was not only not good news, but also the terrible news that the building would collapse. sign.
Because the people who come here are neither here to deposit nor to borrow money, but the depositors who come here to ask for deposits.
All the bank's capital comes from depositors. It is the accumulation of depositors' money that feeds this behemoth. In other words, once the bank's principal begins to lose due to a run by depositors, that means As the bank's blood drains, it becomes weaker.
If enough blood is shed, it will become a fatal injury. Under such a terrible catastrophic run, a bank with a long history and excellent reputation may collapse.
Tanglar Bank is facing such a dilemma now.
As the negative news in the market increased one by one, the confidence of depositors began to waver, eventually developing into the panic run that bankers feared most. Among the indestructible vault safes in the basement of Tanglar Bank, The gold, banknotes and securities he had spent his entire life accumulating were being lost at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It cannot be said that Mr. Danglars did not work hard. In fact, since the beginning of the crisis, he has tried every means to save his bank and his career; he coaxed, threatened, induced, and even begged without shame, borrowing money everywhere. He squeezed out every penny he had in his hands to try to fill the hole of blood loss... His efforts were as lamentable as David fighting the giant Goliath.
However, David had God's care, but he did not, so he did not create miracles. Faced with the terrifying wrath of the market, all his efforts were ultimately in vain. Ingenious, it has no effect at all under such a vicious run.
At this time, the news that "Tanglar Bank may be on the verge of bankruptcy" has spread all over the market, and the sad thing is that the bank employees know this is true.
The loss of capital has reached a fatal level. Even if the market clarifies the rumors immediately and savers stop running, it may be difficult to sustain it now.
The more senior employees understood the situation that was now irreparable, they began to secretly look for new ways out, and secretly waited for news of the bank's official bankruptcy.
However, to the surprise and admiration of the employees, their boss Danglars was not irritable or desperate at all. He still followed his usual habits, went to and from work on time every day, carefully checked every transaction of the bank, and took it seriously. Communicate with employees and customers as if all disasters were just an illusion.
Even those employees who were already in despair, seeing the boss's behavior, could only secretly admire his general style of remaining calm even in the face of disaster.
Today, Tangglar came to his office on time just like every other day. He ignored the strange looks from his staff and customers, and ran perfectly according to the usual process like a clockwork.
After arriving at his office, he calmly glanced at the paperwork on his desk.
These documents are daily briefings in the bank. The accountant he hired will count the bank's account capital, accounts receivable and payable items, etc. every afternoon, list them one by one, and then put them on the boss's desk waiting for him to see.
Reading this briefing is the first thing he does every day at work, and it has never changed in more than ten years.
But today, he did not go to open it, but just glanced at it with a calm and even a little cold look.
There is no need to go and see it.
Even without looking at it, he knew how bad his accounts were, or to put it more plainly, he was at the end of his rope.
Three days ago, his big saver, Duke Nordlien, wrote himself a letter in a very rude tone. In the letter, he scolded himself for his incompetence and told himself that he must prepare his deposits within a week. , for him to withdraw.
And if he couldn't meet his demands, he would be imprisoned. He kept his word.
Danglars had calculated that if he pooled all his existing capital, he could pay off this deposit, but that meant that if nothing else happened, three days later, when the time limit given by the Duke would expire, He will no longer be able to pay any deposits, which means that he must declare his bank bankrupt.
Bankruptcy!
This word was out of reach for him a month ago, like a joke, but now, a month later, it is already close before his eyes and will soon become a reality.
When he thought of this, Tanglar's heart throbbed violently, and he couldn't help but twitch and take a few deep breaths.
The huge office was empty at the moment. Although it was still as luxurious as before, he suddenly seemed to smell the breath of death.
His bank is going to die soon, which is no different than him dying.
He tried every means, but at this time he was at the end of his rope. At this time he was desperate because he knew that it would be impossible to save this dying money machine.
He relied on luck and chance to save a sum of money, and then took the money to come to Paris to work hard. Then he spent more than ten years and endless efforts to finally run the Tanglar Bank. This was his It took half a lifetime of energy, countless ingenuity and hard work to build up the foundation.
But now, everything will cease to exist.
Fortunately, Duke Nordlyon gave him a week, and now there are only three days left.
He still has three days to face the inevitable death of Tanglar Bank.
What should I do?
Tanglar stretched out his hand tremblingly and opened the desk drawer, where lay a delicate wooden-handled pistol.
Suicide? Impossible. Even in the face of such a disaster, the fire of ambition in his heart has not been extinguished. He does not feel that he must die to escape reality.
He turned and looked out the window.
At this moment, there were dark clouds outside the window and thunder rolling, just like inside his heart.
He was born into a poor family. In order to make a living in his early years, he had to work as a cashier on a merchant ship in the Mediterranean. With a meager salary, he lived a life of poverty and hopelessness. Even then, he did not seek death - so, what an insight.
After enjoying the most extravagant glory and wealth in the world, how could he be willing to face death with an image of bankruptcy and failure, and then become the laughing stock of people?
I will not seek death, I still have a chance!
In the desperate situation, this man burst out with the ferocity hidden in his veins. He picked up the pistol and hid it in the pocket at his waist, and then he opened another drawer.
There is a small box in this drawer, and the box contains banknotes with a face value of ten thousand francs and a huge amount of securities. If added up, the total value will be close to two million francs.
If it were him a month ago, he would probably have looked down upon this "little money". After all, he only handles more than this amount of running accounts every week. However, now, this money is a huge sum of money that he cannot throw away.
The hope of enjoying life for the rest of my life and even making a comeback.
Pay back the money? Impossible.
If he repays Duke Nordlyon's deposit, he will definitely have nothing. In the end, he will not be able to keep this little money, which means that he will go back to the days of darkness and nothing, and suffer the ridicule and contempt of the world.
.
Since it is destined to go bankrupt, why pay it back?
The moment he received the ultimatum from the Duke demanding payment, he instantly made up his mind to "never pay back the money and run away with the money."
Because he was so determined, he regained his composure and calmness, which made his staff marvel.
He must abscond, and he cannot wait until the 7-day period expires before escaping. On the contrary, he should abscond immediately...
It's today.
Danglars carefully took out the box and packed it into a bundle.
He will not go home today because he knows that the Duke must have set up spies around his house. As soon as he comes home and packs up his things with his wife and daughter and runs away, someone will definitely find him, and then the Duke will send someone to catch him.
.
But... why should I go home and run away with my wife and daughter?
What a shameless nobleman who has no courage, he underestimates me, Tanglar, hahahaha!
The corners of Tanglar's mouth twitched, and he let out a silent evil laugh.
He has always been a person who can take things up and let things go. Family is important to him, but at critical moments, the only thing he wants to protect is himself.
He wanted to flee Paris and France with the last of his capital, and he no longer cared about what would happen to his wife and daughter next.
It can even be said that his wife and daughter were his cover-up. Everyone thought that he could not leave his family and escape, but they did not expect that he had already made up his mind to run away immediately.
What will happen to his wife and daughter after he leaves?
During the sleepless nights of despair, Tanglar also thought about this problem.
He knew that his wife was a dissolute and extravagant woman. After he ran away, in order to live a luxurious life again, she would try her best to seek opportunities to remarry and even be willing to be the mistress of a rich man in order to live a luxurious life. But for her,
She said that her daughter Eugenie was just a burden in her new life, and she would definitely abandon her daughter and ignore her.
My daughter is less than ten years old now. What will happen after she loses the care of her parents? She will fall from the clouds into the mud, and maybe she will become a prostitute under the pressure of life.
But even so, he was still ruthless, because to him, everything in the world was not as important as himself.
The family can be rebuilt and the children can be regenerated, but if the money is gone, there is nothing.
Although it is indeed a pity for Eugenie, this is also her fate.
Yes, that's it.
As for the Duke...he can't get anything.
In the previous crisis, in order to support himself, he had already secretly mortgaged his mansion, and the valuables were either secretly pawned, or had been assigned to other people's names. After he escaped, even if the Duke returned,
No matter how furious he was, it was impossible for him to get even a little bit of money from himself to recover his losses.
When he thought of this, Tanglar felt a sense of revenge in his heart.
My noble lord, how do you feel when you are splashed with mud by a commoner?
With a hint of desperate and evil pleasure, Danglars grinned again and laughed silently.
It was already evening, the sky was getting darker and darker, and it was almost time for him to run away.
At this time, Danglars stood by the window, looking at the streets of Paris with a strange calmness, feeling the familiar lights of thousands of houses.
He took out a loaf of bread from the cabinet next to him and ate it one bite at a time - if nothing unexpected happened, this simple dinner would be the last meal he had in Paris.
After eating in silence, the sky gradually darkened, and it was gradually approaching the closing time of Tanglar Bank. The employees left the office one after another and disappeared into the night streets.
I'm afraid they will be surprised tomorrow? Or maybe not surprised at all.
Tanglar silently put on a coat, then raised the collar to cover his face, and then put on a black velvet hat. He also specially took out a pair of height-increasing shoes and put them on - in this way,
In the darkness, no one would recognize him.
After confirming that there was no one downstairs, Tanglar picked up his luggage and quietly walked out of his bank through the back door.
Because it was early spring, it was still a bit cold at night, and there was a cold wind blowing on the street. There were only a few pedestrians and they were walking in a hurry. Everyone was dressed similar to Tanglar, so no one paid attention to him, which was exactly what he wanted.
Effect.
He quietly looked around, and then noticed an inconspicuous carriage parked quietly on the far corner of the street.
To escape, he definitely couldn't take his own carriage, so he had secretly hired a carriage through an intermediary a few days ago - it would carry him out of Paris without asking who he was.
Tangglars took his luggage and quickly stepped onto the carriage, then urged the other party in a low voice to hurry up.
Sure enough, without any questioning, the carriage started slowly, then passed through the streets of Paris and headed out of the city.
Tangglar looked at the familiar streets around him through the car window. He knew that after tonight, there would never be a place for him here.
But that doesn't matter. Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London will be his new stage.
In the silence, the surrounding streets gradually became wider and the buildings gradually became sparse. The carriage will soon arrive at the Bois de Boulogne in the western suburbs of Paris - it is a place where people in the city usually play, and it is also a tourist attraction.
A great place to escape.
With a mixture of pain and excitement, Tanglar watched the carriage carrying him away from this glorious city and speeding towards the shadows.
Gradually, the tall woods covered the carriage with their sneaky and swaying shadows, and when it came to the forest, the carriage slowly stopped.
The moon is dark and the wind is high, now is the time of reckoning!