Chapter 168: The Midas Touch (2) "Straight!! Ha ha ha! I'll be taking this round!"
I slapped my cards down on the table and reached toward the pile of coins.
"What a pity, Minister! Admiral Jervis holds three of a kind."
"Damn it! Are you cheating, Admiral?! Five wins in a row makes no sense! This blasted game!"
"Ho ho, it seems the versatile Minister lacks talent at cards."
Unbelievable. He was mocking my card skills?
In France we play poker. We don't play this miserable British card game—whatever it's called.
"Ah now, leaving in the middle of a game brings bad luck."
"Luck be damned. I'll sit out a few rounds. I'll just watch."
I said that while moving to a chair a short distance from the table.
"Ahem. By the way, have you enjoyed sightseeing in London? I gave you quite a few recommendations when I drove you around."
"What is it—feeling guilty now for mercilessly taking a beginner on a tour?"
"Ahem. A tour? Your Excellency."
Admiral John Jervis cleared his throat awkwardly before quickly changing the subject.
"Come to think of it, I heard you are conducting business in London. Is your enterprise going well?"
"The business is already on stable footing, so things are proceeding smoothly."
"That is excellent news."
"However."
"However?"
"Well… the only small problem lately is that the market seems somewhat unstable."
"The market?"
Tap.
The sound of a card striking the table seemed unusually loud.
"…Is the market seriously unstable?"
"Oh, there's no need to look so serious. It's just that a few companies appear quite overvalued."
"Overvalued?"
"Yes. Their prices are far above their proper value. If that is not overvaluation, what is? They will soon return to their normal levels."
"I see. I know nothing about stocks myself, so I wondered whether it was something serious."
Admiral Jervis smiled again and began shuffling the cards.
I quietly turned my head and examined the faces of the officers guarding the room—Admiral Jervis, several senior naval officials, and the officers standing watch.
Look at their uneasy eyes and furrowed brows.
Their heads must already be filled with the words I had spoken.
"Well then, I've rested long enough. Let's play again."
"Ha ha, the patron returns!"
Humming inwardly, I accepted the cards Jervis handed me.
"I had a wonderful time today, Admiral Jervis. Next time I will not go easy on you."
"Ha ha! You will need more practice before you can defeat me at cards!"
As the evening grew late and the gathering began to disperse, I shook hands with Admiral Jervis and prepared to leave.
Just as I received my coat from a waiter and was about to exit the banquet hall, a naval officer in uniform approached me.
"Hmm? Who might you be?"
"Captain Thomas Hardy of the Royal Navy, Your Excellency. May I trouble you for a moment?"
"Of course."
"Thank you very much."
After bowing politely, Captain Hardy led me into a room somewhere inside the hall.
Inside were several young officers who appeared to be Hardy's colleagues, along with a few field-grade officers.
As soon as they saw me, they all stood up and removed their caps in greeting.
"Oh my, there's no need to stand. Please sit."
"But you represent a nation, Your Excellency. Would it truly be proper for us to remain seated…?"
"In revolutionary France, all are equal regardless of rank. Please relax."
When people treat me with such respect, it almost makes me feel guilty about manipulating them.
"So what is the reason for calling me here?"
"Well… earlier we happened to overhear part of your conversation with the admirals. There was something that concerned us, so we hoped to hear your opinion."
"My opinion?"
I spoke as if puzzled.
Captain Hardy hesitated before answering.
"…The stock market."
"Ah, that."
"You mentioned earlier that some companies might collapse. Could it be something like the South Sea Company bubble from the past?"
At the mention of the South Sea Bubble, every officer in the room swallowed nervously.
"Ha ha, the entire market will not collapse."
"Ah… that is a relief."
"However."
They swallowed again.
"There are a few companies that look quite suspicious to me."
"!!!"
"Why? Are you curious?"
I smiled and pulled out a notebook from inside my coat.
"What is that?"
"It is a notebook where I recorded the stocks on the London Stock Exchange that seem unusual or risky."
"Ooooh!"
Their eyes gleamed.
The secret stock notebook of a former Finance Minister and current businessman—anyone would find that tempting.
"Well, it is my business capital, so I cannot reveal everything. But the Welsh Cod Fisheries, the Yorkshire Dale Lumber Company, and…"
Every word I spoke made their eyes burn with intensity, determined not to miss a single syllable.
"Whether you believe my sources or not is your choice. No one is threatening you with a knife."
I slipped the notebook back into my coat and lit a cigarette.
"So, what will you do?"
"What do you mean?"
"The stocks."
Captain Thomas Hardy of the Royal Navy sat smoking his pipe before shaking his head.
"…I'm not sure."
"I've made my decision."
"What decision?"
"I'm going to trust that Frenchman."
"Hmm."
"A man who rakes in money by the shovel gave us that advice. Ignoring it might bring worse consequences. And besides, they say an old eagle is wiser than a young crow—but that Frenchman isn't even old. He's younger than us."
"…Well, if we withdraw for a while and nothing happens, we can simply invest again."
If the Frenchman was right, they would avoid losses.
If he was wrong, the loss would only be temporary.
"Life is hard. If a war broke out, we might at least get promoted."
"War? How much whisky have you been drinking to say something like that?"
For officers who lacked the money to purchase higher ranks, stocks were practically a means of survival.
"The admirals don't worry about such things. They have plenty of money."
"If you envy them so much, you should buy yourself a colonel's rank. Ha ha."
"Let's dump the junk stocks we're holding."
"Which ones first, sir?"
To launch what was essentially a denial-of-service attack on the London Stock Exchange, we had spent months accumulating worthless stocks. Continuous buying had driven their prices artificially high.
What would happen if we suddenly dumped them all?
It would be quite entertaining.
"The Welsh Cod Fisheries and the Yorkshire Dale Lumber Company. Those are currently the most overvalued. Start with them."
"Yes, sir."
"Aaah! Sell orders are flooding in!"
"Kill… me…"
"Thirty shares of Yorkshire Dale Lumber Company! Three shillings! Any buyers?! Two shillings nine pence! Any buyers?!"
Just as Meyer and I predicted, chaos erupted again among the exchange workers.
"No! My money!"
"Why are they selling so suddenly?!"
"My dream of a 500 percent profit…"
Those who had blindly poured money into stocks that had been rising for months without proper analysis were now collapsing as well.
"Hardy! Did you see the exchange today?"
"Why? What happened?"
"That Frenchman was right! The stocks collapsed!"
"Damn… I almost ended up bankrupt."
Only one group remained safe.
The naval officers who had taken my advice.
Naturally, the next day my office was flooded with visitors.
"Ahem. I am the captain of the frigate Sirius. I have come to see the Minister."
"I serve as deck officer of the ship of the line Revenge. Might I meet the Minister?"
"I'm an Admiralty clerk…"
Kind-hearted Guillaume welcomed them all like a mother bird.
"I made a profit! I actually made a profit!"
"Let's buy a house along the Thames!"
"He's a god! He's a god!"
And after witnessing several more miracles, everyone began following Guillaume de Toulon—the second coming of Jesus in the stock market.
"Mr. Meyer, what do you think?"
"At this point, even if you cried 'wolf' three times, sir, everyone would still come running with clubs."
"Good. It's time to release some rumors about the East India Company."
"Yes, sir."
"Minister, have you heard the strange rumors circulating lately?"
"Rumors?"
I tilted my head at the naval officer.
"They say the East India Company will soon be summoned to Parliament. That the governor of Fort William in Bengal may be recalled. Surely it's nonsense?"
"Why? Have you invested in the East India Company?"
"A little…"
"I see."
"Why are you making me nervous? Tell me the reason!"
"Where did you hear the rumor?"
"A shoe-shine boy near the stock exchange told me."
Ah. Was his name Philip? The boy does good work.
"A shoe-shine boy? Then let me give you advice. Withdraw your money quickly."
"What?"
"There is a saying I consider a maxim."
I lit a cigarette and spoke.
"When housewives begin entering the trading floor with shopping baskets, or ignorant children start talking about stocks, disaster is near. Withdraw your money and accumulate tangible assets."
"Surely the East India Company will not collapse?"
"What are you talking about? The company will not collapse."
"…What?"
"Companies do not fail over trivial matters like that. The ones who fail are small investors like you."
I do not threaten people with knives.
I simply show them a dangerous and uncertain future.
June 1793.Chelsea Harbor, London.
"Captain Hardy! Captain!"
"What is it, sailor?"
"Did you see The Times today?!"
"Why?"
"Look at this!"
Hardy took the newspaper. His face tightened—and then turned pale.
[Prime Minister William Pitt Files Charges Against the East India Company!]
"…I've lost ten years of my life."
Only days earlier he had sold all 150 shares of East India Company stock he owned.
The decision now filled him with immense relief.
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