Chapter 356 Blue Heart In the elegant and quiet living room, a richly dressed man in his prime stood with his hands behind his back, leisurely admiring the oil paintings on the wall.
There were several oil paintings on the wall, inlaid in oak frames wrapped with gold foil. The decoration could be described as exquisite and noble, but the quality of the paintings made this middle-aged man somewhat uninterested. Although the painter who painted these works was also
A relatively famous Impressionist painter in the 18th century, but compared to the works of famous Impressionist painters such as Monet and Renoir, they are much inferior.
Looking at the slightly messy layout in the oil painting, a trace of disdain flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged man. He stretched out his hand to smooth his shiny brown hair, and a disdainful smile of disapproval appeared at the corner of his mouth unconsciously.
There was a sound of soft footsteps, accompanied by a slight sound of breathing.
The middle-aged man slowly turned around, looked at the white-haired old man who entered the living room, smiled, walked forward to greet him, stretched out his hand and said, "Hello, Earl."
Hearing the strong man's address to him, the white-haired old man couldn't help but darken his face. Then he slowly raised his right hand and gently touched the strong man's outstretched right hand as a gesture of shaking hands with him.
This white-haired old man is Aldrich3f Loris, the head of the Loris family.
The Loris family is the oldest family in Europe. They are also the rulers of the Europa Empire, which has the longest reign, the vastest territory, and the most glorious empire in European history. With the rise of the capitalist revolution in modern Europe, the once glorious empire has
The Europa Empire also gradually declined.
More than a hundred years ago, France, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries successively issued statements declaring their separation from the Europa Empire. Only Austria was left in the once vast Europa Empire.
Eighty-five years ago, when the last emperor of the Europa Empire, Aldrich's grandfather, fell ill and passed away, Austria also announced its separation from the jurisdiction of the Europa Empire, and also reduced the hereditary title of the Loris family from duke to duke.
For the earl.
Ever since they moved out of Schönbrunn Palace, where they had lived for hundreds of years, the Lorris family had been living in seclusion in this old castle in southern Austria. Suddenly hearing this somewhat insulting title of count, Aldrich couldn't help but feel
Recalling the family's lonely past, my mood suddenly became much heavier.
"Arthur." Aldrich was not polite at all, and called the strong man opposite him by his name with a stern face. "Our Loris family is not engaged in industry and commerce. I don't know what you, a proud businessman, want to do with me.
Do you want to discuss business with me or have other matters?"
"My Lord Earl, I came to visit you this time for an important matter." Arthur, a strong man, did not care about Aldrich's dissatisfaction. He turned around and sat on the soft leather sofa, crossed his legs gracefully and said with a smile.
"My Lord Earl, I heard that you plan to rebuild the Europa Empire. Therefore, I came uninvited to see if I can contribute to your great cause of restoration."
"Oh." Aldrich walked slowly to the seat. After sitting down, he just gently touched the carved patterns on the armrests of the nanmu seat and said nothing more.
Seeing Aldrich's indifferent look, Arthur laughed and said eloquently.
"Lord Earl, I have a huge amount of money as my backing, and you have the supreme family honor and countless connections. If we can work together, we will definitely be able to change the world and keep the whole world firmly in our hands.
.When the time comes, it will be easy not only to restore the territory of the Europa Empire, but also to restore the glory of the ancient Roman Empire."
Recreating the glory of the ancient Roman Empire, this sentence suddenly aroused Aldrich's interest. However, although Aldrich was very happy in his heart, his face remained calm and he just said lightly. "I want to cooperate with me."
There are many people out there, I don’t know what you want from me.”
"Dear Your Majesty." Arthur changed his title and spoke in a more respectful tone. "I am just a businessman. All I want is more money. This is just a drop in the bucket for a huge empire.
Little things.”
"Businessmen love money. It seems that even the head of the Augustine family is not exempt from this custom." Aldrich showed a faint smile on his face, as if he was very satisfied that Arthur had just addressed him as His Majesty.
"It is not easy for young people to share cakes together. Because the process of making cakes is very cumbersome. If the temperature is slightly lower, the cake will lose its original sweet taste."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Arthur put down his legs, sat upright, and said with a serious face. "The reason why Your Majesty has been living in seclusion and living in seclusion in this old castle is nothing more than waiting for an opportunity. As long as the world is in chaos, Your Majesty can rise up secretly.
To do this, use the rich network resources accumulated by the Loris family over the past few hundred years to conquer all European countries in one fell swoop."
"Unfortunately, the current situation is not chaotic enough, let alone a suitable time for an uprising." Aldrich sighed, and couldn't help but think of his old friend, Peter, the president of the Holy Cross Society.
Although the cooperation between Aldrich and Peter is driven by interests, the two have their own agendas. Peter wants to lead the Holy Cross Society back to the Cathedral of Holy Light, while Aldrich wants to rebuild the Europa Empire.
Although the two used each other, their previous cooperation was smooth sailing. The Holy Cross successfully stole the Holy Grail, and European countries fell into turmoil. The Holy Cross's partners around the world also began to seize power.
conspiracy activities.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, but everything was interrupted by an unexpected incident. Without consulting Peter, Sarnia privately issued an order to massacre members of Louis' party, but as a result, he made a mistake while busy, triggering a crisis.
A series of troubles. When this incident happened, Peter immediately stopped taking action in order to prevent himself from getting burned. He has been hiding behind the scenes and watching the fight between tigers and tigers.
It is reasonable for Peter to make such an arrangement. The Holy Cross holds the key bargaining chip of the Holy Grail. As long as Europe remains in the current chaotic situation, it can successfully launch attacks and take advantage of the vast number of believers when Whitsunday arrives on February 16.
The reverence for the Holy Grail, a religious relic, and the dissatisfaction with the loss of the Holy Grail by the Holy See in Milan drove the cardinal away from the Cathedral of Holy Light in one fell swoop.
Peter was hiding behind the scenes and watching the fight, which made Aldrich very anxious. As a partner for many years, Aldrich knew Peter inside and out. Once Peter successfully took charge of the Italian government, what would happen next?
He will use the supreme power of his new religious leader to take advantage of the chaos in European countries to secretly cultivate agents to take over the actual power of each country one by one. And at that time, Aldrich, the partner who jointly created the chaos in Europe, will
It will become insignificant, even dispensable.
Peter just regarded Aldrich as a chess piece, but Aldrich was not willing to be the chess piece. He did not want to be the one Peter had promised to him, but he did not know whether he could give it to him in the end.
Puppet Emperor".
It was precisely at this time that Gabriel, who had been the second-in-command of the Holy Cross Society for more than thirty years, was ready to make a move. For many years, Gabriel had been spying on the throne of the president of the Holy Cross Society, but Peter
He was not given any chance. At this moment, as it was getting closer and closer to Holy Spirit Day on February 16, Gabriel did not want to see Peter succeed, because once Peter successfully led the Holy Cross Society back to the Cathedral of the Holy Light, then Peter would
He will become a hero of the Holy Cross Society, which will make it even more impossible to shake Peter's status in the Holy Cross Society.
So, Gabriel took action. He first found Sarnia, who made Peter dissatisfied, and then found Viscount Jacobson, who was about to make a move. Then, he tried to pull Peter back and secretly murdered Peter's beloved.
The general's action was launched. And all of this was exactly what Aldrich wanted to see. As an old acquaintance for many years, Aldrich quietly joined Gabriel's camp. He came up with ideas and made plans.
Time turned the Holy Cross Society into a mess. Finally, with the cooperation of many forces, Peter, the strongest man in the dark world, finally bid farewell to the world with regrets.
There are pros and cons in everything in the world. Although everyone worked together to overthrow Peter, a stumbling block on the way forward, it was precisely because they devoted all their energy to dealing with Peter that the current situation in European countries has gradually eased.
In this way, Aldrich will have to wait a little longer if he wants to secretly cause trouble.
I don’t know how much longer I have to wait, but I hope it won’t make me wait too long. Aldrich looked at his wrinkled hands and felt filled with emotion.
"Your Majesty, sometimes opportunities cannot wait." Looking at Aldrich's uncertain face, Arthur said with a smile. "More often, you still need to create opportunities by yourself."
Aldrich has thought about creating opportunities. However, firstly, he does not have as many subordinates as Peter, and secondly, as a descendant of the royal family of the Europa Empire, he has always been a key figure in European countries to guard against. Although the Loris family used to run
Europe has accumulated rich human resources for hundreds of years. There are dignitaries in various European countries who are willing to speak up for Aldrich, but once the power in their hands is touched, they want to take back all the power in their hands.
If you do, those people will inevitably turn against you immediately and turn from friends into enemies.
It is precisely because of this that although Aldrich despises Gabriel from the bottom of his heart, he has to place his hopes on this clown who he thinks is stupid and incompetent. Now, Aldrich desperately hopes that Gabriel will be saved.
Er can take over the power of the Holy Cross as soon as possible, so that he can continue to create chaos in Europe. However, since Aldrich learned from the butler Joseph that Peter had sent the Knights of Light to deal with Gabriel, his ardent expectations disappeared.
.
For a person who doesn't know whether he can survive until tomorrow, how can you place your hope on him?
However, what Arthur said just now gave Aldrich, who was already a little frustrated, a glimmer of hope. "Arthur, how are you going to create opportunities?"
"Your Majesty, I wonder if you know about the financial crisis that happened in Thailand last year." Arthur said lightly.
The financial crisis in Thailand was the most sensational world event last year. Within two days of the crisis, the stock market crashed, the Thai baht depreciated, and prices soared. Faced with all this, the Thai government was powerless to fight back. In just two days,
In just a few months, there have been three consecutive changes of government.
At this time, when he suddenly heard Arthur mention this matter, Aldrich's heart suddenly thumped and he blurted out, "Could it be that you secretly created the financial crisis that shocked the world?"
Arthur smiled and nodded, and said lightly, "It's just a little trick."
A trace of joy flashed in Aldrich's eyes, and he immediately looked forward to the young man in front of him who had offended him. "Arthur, are you ready to take action?"
"Now is not the best time to take action." Arthur shook his head and said with a smile. "Now all countries in the world are calm on the surface, but internally they are all being made a mess by the Holy Cross Society. Governments of all countries are under the banner of twelve
I am extremely energetic and watching every corner of the country with extreme vigilance. I have collected a lot of news recently. In order to jointly deal with the threat of the Holy Cross Society, many countries have now reached an intention to join forces. If you choose to take action now, you will definitely be met with disaster.
If there is strong resistance from the country concerned, it may even be encircled and suppressed by a joint campaign from all countries in the world."
Aldrich was a little disappointed and asked unwillingly, "Then when do you plan to take action?"
"The best time to take action is when the turmoil subsides and the situation in various countries around the world gradually stabilizes." Arthur crossed his legs again and said triumphantly. "The chaos is about to begin, which is when governments are at their weakest. That moment
At that time, the governments of various countries would only be busy dealing with the mess of their own countries. In order to quell the public complaints, they would definitely invest a large amount of fiscal revenue into national infrastructure related to the national economy and people's livelihood. If the situation in Thailand last year happens again at this time, it will be
No country will lend aid funds to Thailand. This is because governments of all countries do not have deep pockets. Once they lend money to help a country suffering from a financial crisis, they themselves will be quickly involved in the crisis."
"He is indeed a business genius." Aldrich praised.
"Your Majesty, I wonder if you are willing to cooperate with me now."
"Of course, it is an honor for our Loris family to work together with the Augustin family."
Seeing Aldrich's beaming expression, Arthur said calmly. "Your Majesty, I heard that more than eighty years ago, after the death of the old emperor, the crown that symbolized the supreme power of the European Empire was sent by the Austrian government.
People took it away, so I don’t know if this is true."
There is really no need to open a pot. The smile on Aldrich's face suddenly froze. He looked at Arthur coldly and cursed fiercely in his heart. You bastard with no etiquette, don't you know that?
Is the crown now in the Vienna Museum?
Arthur looked at Aldrich's increasingly gloomy face, as if he had nothing to do, and smiled to himself. "It's okay to take it away, to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Let me continue to serve as our future emperor."
Create a new crown to congratulate our great Majesty on his early enthronement and coronation."
"The crown is easy to make, but the diamonds on the crown are hard to find. The previous crown was inlaid with a huge diamond of 10,893 carats." Aldrich said angrily.
"Your Majesty, we have entered the 21st century. Colorless and transparent diamonds have long been out of fashion. Now celebrities and dignitaries from all over the world are chasing colored diamonds." Arthur introduced a lot of fashion to Aldrich.
After Aldrich's expression softened, he said with a smile. "Your Majesty, I heard that a warlord in West Africa has an 8652-carat blue diamond named 'Blue Heart'.
Known as the largest and most beautiful blue diamond in the world.”
"Your Majesty, although this 'Blue Heart' is smaller, it is also rare in the world among colored diamonds, and its market value is several times more expensive than the diamond in the old crown. Haha, I plan to give this '
The "Blue Heart" is presented to our future Emperor as a symbol of our friendly cooperation."
It seems that this bastard is quite sensible. Aldrich laughed and said, "Then when can you finish the new crown?"
"Your Majesty, I am just a businessman and not familiar with the rules and etiquette in the palace. Therefore, I am only responsible for providing the money. As for how you design the style of the crown and how to get the 'Blue Heart', that is up to you.
It’s something.”
Arthur took out the checkbook from his arms, quickly filled in a series of numbers on it, and handed it to Aldrich with a smile. "Your Majesty, that 'blue'