The Duke of Chartres bead with joy when he heard the judge's ruling. He imdiately turned to celebrate with his team of lawyers.
The portly lawyer, whose face was covered in wrinkles, stood up and bowed slightly to the judge. "Honorable Judge, may I now request that you issue an order to unfreeze the assets of the Duke of Orléans—oh, I an the Duke of Chartres' assets—from the banks?"
Judge Dippol frowned. According to legal procedure, he should indeed issue the order to unfreeze the assets. However, he worried about how he would explain this to the Prince.
Just as he was feeling conflicted, Danton, who had been mostly silent, stood up and gestured toward the Duke of Chartres' lawyer. "Please wait a mont, Mr. Baltazar."
He then turned to the bench and spoke loudly, "Your Honor, I believe we should first verify the exact amount of the Duke of Orléans' estate here in court. If we unfreeze the assets without doing so, it could result in significant losses for the creditors."
"Creditors?" Lawyer Baltazar raised an eyebrow, then sneered. "You must be mistaken, Mr. Prosecutor. The Duke of Orléans had no outstanding debts..."
"Oh, really?" Danton gestured to his assistant, who handed docunts to the judge and to the Duke of Chartres' legal team. "Please, Your Honor, turn to page two.
"Here, you will find testimonies from several bank officials, including the Marquis of Ludo. The Duke of Orléans made an investnt of 1.8 million livres in March 1775 through the City Trade Bank to the 'Hull River Steel Company' in England.
"In May 1776, he invested 2.2 million livres through the Paris Discount Bank in the 'Carman Brothers Textile Company' in England.
"In December 1776, he invested..."
Danton listed a total of 15 investnt records spanning over a decade, involving over 13 million livres.
"All these investnts were transferred in the form of promissory notes to the Bank of England without undergoing proper investnt review. This violates Article 12 of the 1774 Fiscal Act..."
Baltazar interrupted impatiently, "Yes, so minor violations, but those should be dealt with separately."
"No, no, this is not just a 'minor violation,' but a serious breach of the law!" Danton insisted. "Please look at the fine issued by the financial audit commissioner."
His assistant handed copies of two docunts to the judge and the Duke of Chartres' lawyer.
Baltazar glanced at the docunts and his eyes widened in disbelief. He quickly skimd through them and then angrily shouted, "This is impossible! Just for failing to undergo a review, they're fining him 16 million livres?!"
Danton turned to Judge Dippol and said, "Your Honor, may I have Mr. Berni, who handled these cases, explain the details to the court?"
Soon, a middle-aged man with glasses, dressed impeccably with a powdered wig, was summoned to the court.
He first respectfully bowed to Judge Dippol, then nervously glanced at the Duke of Chartres' side but quickly rembered the Prince's instructions.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled out a prepared speech and cleared his throat. "Your Honor, first, I will explain the basis for the fines imposed on the Duke of Orléans for his illegal investnt in 1775.
"The funds invested in the British steel company were crucial in supporting their research into slting technology, giving them an overwhelming advantage in hard steel products over similar French companies..."
He continued with a lot of technical jargon before concluding, "As you can see, from 1775 to the present, due to the Duke of Orléans' illegal investnt, at least seven steel plants in France have closed, resulting in losses exceeding 3 million livres.
"If the Duke of Orléans had submitted an investnt review application to the finance departnt back then, I believe this investnt would have been denied, and the money would have stayed in France to help advance our dostic steel industry..."
Judge Dippol's eyes lit up. Who would have thought of calculating fines this way? Finally, he could carry out the Prince's orders.
Lawyer Baltazar was furious. "This is absurd! Even if there had been a review at the ti, it would never have been denied..."
Berni coldly retorted, "You're insulting our governnt departnts. I can provide ample evidence of the review departnt's efficiency and dedication.
"As for your claim that the review wouldn't have been denied in 1775, please present solid evidence."
"I..." Baltazar stamred. The fines had signatures from the review officers back then, so what evidence could he possibly produce?
Berni, eager for the rewards promised by the Prince, continued boldly, "As for the May 1776 investnt, its impact was even greater..."
By the ti he finished explaining the basis for all the fines and bowed to the judge, it was already 6 PM.
Judge Dippol was about to announce a recess when Danton quickly stood up. "In addition to these illegal investnts, the Duke of Orléans also engaged in massive tax evasion."
As he spoke, he glanced at Robespierre, who had helped him gather the Duke of Orléans' financial records, which were crucial for analyzing the tax situation.
Danton continued, "The Duke owes 3.2 million livres in unpaid taxes. The finance departnt suggests that with interest and penalties, the total fine should be 15 million livres."
The Duke of Chartres nearly spat out blood. The fines just levied had wiped out more than half of his father's assets.
But Danton wasn't done. "Furthermore, the Duke of Orléans conducted nurous illegal land and estate transactions... These fines amount to...
"There's also testimony showing that the Duke was involved in illegal slave trading... The fines for that are..."
Given the Duke of Orléans' status and influence back then, no one would have raised these issues, and if they did, they would likely have been pardoned by the King.
But now, things were different. With the Duke gone, everything could be twisted to fit others' agendas.
Having seen many modern Western politicians use similar tactics against opponents—where even Trump was nearly bankrupted by Biden—Joseph found this task surprisingly easy.
By copying these modern tactics, the Duke of Orléans' assets weren't nearly enough to cover the fines.
Danton spoke for another hour and a half. The Duke of Chartres' side was already in despair—there was no need to do the math; it was clear that all of his father's wealth would be forfeited.
Danton suddenly paused. Just as everyone thought he was finished, he took a deep breath and said, "The above issues are relatively minor violations. Next, I will discuss the damage caused to the country by the Duke of Orléans for inciting massive uprisings in several southern provinces."
(End of Chapter)
Friends, if you want to read chapters in advance, subscribe to my patreon.
User Comments
0 comments from readers