Chapter 488 Investment Scam

The day after Vidocq left his cell, the warden brought Arthur his new cellmate.

Although according to common sense, in most cases, a man and a woman alone should not be in the same room. But this is a prison, and all Christian morals and popular concepts have no effect here. You have to live in whichever room the jailers assign you.

Miss Clara today is obviously not as high-spirited as she was in the pub yesterday. It can be seen that the prosecutors' questioning overnight has a great impact on her mental state.

Although she was still wearing the same dress and the same beauty, she didn't look as radiant as when Arthur saw her for the first time.

Kalala.

The cell door was opened, and there was a man lying in the straw in front of Clara, who had heavy eyelids. The feeling of congratulating herself that she was lucky enough to be assigned to such a cell was instantly gone.

Although the people locked up in the prison may not necessarily be extremely evil people, the people who can be imprisoned here are also unlikely to be good people.

Clara stepped on the straw and found a quiet place in the corner of the cell. She was about to sit down, but she found that the guy nestled in the thatch turned over.

He untied the tuxedo that covered his face and threw it away. He sat up and stretched. Then he rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at the bright sky outside the window. He yawned and dug through the straw to find something. A notebook in which he wrote articles.

"Oh...is it you?"

Clara spotted this familiar-looking young man: “Are you locked up too?”

Arthur was stunned for a long time, and then he remembered what Vidocq said to him yesterday, and guessed that this should be the arrangement of the Paris detective.

Arthur laughed twice awkwardly: "The police seemed to think that I was also involved in that case, so they brought me in for questioning. As a result, they checked and found out about the case I had committed before, so they took me there for questioning. I arranged to come here."

"Have you ever committed a crime before?" Clara asked in surprise: "You don't look like the kind of guy who would fight with others on the street."

"No, I'm not a criminal."

Arthur looked a little embarrassed: "Do you remember that I told you before that I owed someone ten thousand francs?"

"Yeah! What's that about?"

"Let me tell you a story."

Arthur pursed his lips: "In Paris, there was a wool spinner. He had great ambitions, had many children, loved his wife very much, and believed in those republics. This guy saw something was wrong with the political atmosphere in Paris last year. So he gambled his fortune to buy a batch of red wool and worked day and night to weave a large number of peaked caps.

There were so many caps that every urchin on the streets of Paris had one on his head. Facts have also proved that his bet was right. The Republicans launched an uprising in Paris last June. This guy was extremely excited and thought that his peaked cap would definitely sell well. But what he never expected was that the republican uprising failed, and after the massacre at St. Mery's Cathedral, no one dared to wear such a peaked cap.

He has a wife and a lot of children at home, but all the woolen hats on hand are unsaleable. Even if he was willing to sell it at a discount, no hat merchant in Paris would be willing to take over. At this time, he frowned and took up the idea, just like a banker planning to sell off ten million stocks invested in an unreliable company.

He came up with a brilliant idea. He was like Rothschild among bankers, Napoleon before the Brumaire Coup, and Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo. He went to a tavern and hired a polite-looking college student who claimed to be a big ship owner from the United States. He also paid the college student a sum of money and asked him to help purchase goods in Paris.

The worker asked him to go to a well-known hat shop in Paris. There happened to be a red wool hat in the window of this shop. The college student told his boss that he wanted to buy 10,000 of these hats. The hat shop owner thought he was lucky enough to do a lot of business with the United States. So he hurried to the worker's house and bought all the hats with cash. Uh... I shouldn't need to say anything about the follow-up. "

Although the story told by Arthur was not something he experienced personally, it was not made up casually.

Because this identity background was adapted for him by Vidocq based on a real case.

After being deceived, the big hat merchant went to the Paris Police Department to report the matter to the police. The case was supervised by Vidocq, who was still working in the Security Department at the time.

But unfortunately, the worker and the college student he hired fled Paris early with the money. In the end, Vidocq only found a note in the worker's residence, which clearly stated that this account should be charged to Vidocq. Because if Vidocq had not worked so hard during last year's uprising, perhaps the Republic would have been established by this time, and his hats would not be unsalable, and he would not be tempted to deceive others.

Vidocq hated this and vowed to catch these crooks, but before he could exert any force, he himself was forced to retire due to a power struggle in the Paris Police Department.

Perhaps because he remembered the incident too deeply, when Arthur needed a suitable background, he simply used the story to vent his anger.

After hearing this story, Clara couldn't help but teach this young man who seemed to her to have a bright future a lesson: "This is all the result of your eagerness to achieve success. Like me, you saw those beautiful new dresses, fashionable jewelry, and luxurious carriages in Paris, so you were dazzled by this world of glamour and wanted to live the same life as them immediately. It is your mentality that has allowed so many bad guys to take advantage of you."

Arthur just sighed and said, "Madam, I was also deceived. When the textile worker who sold hats came to me, he only said that an American company came to Paris to recruit purchasing specialists. I fell for his trick and went to the hat shops in the city to place orders. As a result, after the case broke out, he had disappeared with his family. The principal offender was gone, and I, the accomplice, became a scapegoat. They All debts are on my head, and I only owe 10,000 francs. "

Clara comforted, "I said before that to live in the big society of Paris, you must put aside the false stories you learned from books. It is full of deceptions, and people betray each other every day. Even your most trusted friend, after a night of long talks, will not hesitate to stab you in the heart as soon as he opens his eyes at dawn the next day."

Arthur nodded in agreement, "Madam, I thought about what you said to me yesterday all night. Napoleon was a revolutionary in 1793, but he wore an iron crown in 1804. Those revolutionaries who shouted "Inequality is better than death" in 1792 accepted the nobles one after another in 1806. The title of a family is awarded.

It can be seen that in France, whether in politics or morality, everyone overturns his starting point when he reaches the end, either using behavior to overturn the proposition, or using the proposition to overturn the behavior. Whether it is the government or the individual, there is no logic at all. Therefore, those guys who follow historical moralism cannot even be well-known scholars.

In this country, success is the supreme reason, which can justify all actions, no matter what kind. The facts themselves are useless. What is important is people's attitude towards the facts. The despicable liar just got a bright and beautiful outfit, and I really thought he was a big ship owner from the United States.

It can be seen that as long as the appearance is beautiful, hiding the inside story of life, and only showing a brilliant corner, it is enough for most people to think you are enough Noble enough. The big guys do no less ugly things than the paupers, but the difference between them and the paupers is that their ugly things are all done in secret, and they usually show off their virtues, so they are always the lords.

And what about me? I promote virtues in secret and expose my misfortunes in broad daylight, so I am despised. As long as I can promote noble qualities from now on and not let people see my wounds, I can also become a moral gentleman respected by everyone. Of course, I can openly fall in love with a female actor and live with her. This is our freedom and no one can blame me. But if I oppose the public opinion and disobey the rules of society, I will not be respected by society. "

Although Arthur was stating his own mental journey on the surface, he was secretly pointing at Clara.

Although this shrewd French girl could recite Thiers' words by heart, it was a pity that she did not understand them much.

In view of the inspiration from her previous words, Arthur tactfully told her the reason why Thiers left her immediately after he became successful.

People are not that different from each other, but why can some college students in the history department become the president of the council while others go to jail?

In the final analysis, reputation, appearance and form play a big role.

These seemingly unreal things can make a poor worker who can't even afford to eat become a trustworthy American shipowner, and can also make Thiers, a guy of 1.5 meters in height, become a big figure in French politics.

If you rob a bank with a knife, such behavior will lead to the gallows in London and the guillotine in Paris.

But if a businessman who owes a lot of debts declares bankruptcy, it is just a change of property, far from the point of separation.

How to rob money, the choice of method is very important.

The so-called civilized society is to disguise the original barbaric means with a little bit of falsehood so that everyone can accept it more easily.

Arthur's words were not all made up on the spot. Some of them were just what he was thinking about yesterday when he was polishing his new book "A Million Pounds".

Clara looked at Arthur with eyes that seemed to want to pierce his skull. This girl's psychology is very complicated. I don't know if it's psychological. Since she first saw this young man, she always felt that he was somewhat similar to her old lover. Although the height difference between the two is as much as 30 centimeters, the temperament that only girls can perceive is exactly the same.

"You've got it."

Arthur waved the manuscript in his hand and sat next to Clara: "Not only have I got it, but I've also thought of a wonderful way to make a fortune. Do you remember how I owed 10,000 francs before? Why did that damn weaver who knitted hats have to hire me to negotiate business with the big hat merchant instead of hiring others?

Because as a species, although humans are often stupid, they are also occasionally shrewd. If a person wears the best clothes to deceive, he may not be able to deceive everyone, but if he matches the clothes with conversation, the power of deception will be doubled immediately. If the scammer can also have some scary-looking titles or some reputation, it will be enough to defraud all of Paris' money. "

Clara leaned her chin against the wall and teased him: "What did I see? The birth of a new scoundrel. Maybe I shouldn't have said those words to you. I still remember what an ordinary young man you were yesterday, but today But you have vowed to make a living by cheating.”

Arthur opened his arms and said: "I'm not the only one who's cheating? Playboys cheat rich ladies, company managers cheat shareholders, kings and politicians cheat the people. I just haven't sat in their seats, so I can't do anything yet. I have no right to cover up my behavior and tell you to shut up when you know that I am cheating.

However, as long as I can make an order, I can immediately use the money to buy a position in the city hall, or set up a newspaper to promote myself as a well-known scholar, and then I will have many followers, even if The unlearned have become learned, and even the incompetent have become capable.

Then many people will take the initiative to establish relationships with me, and then I can continue to defraud them, one after another. In the end, I will be elected to the National Assembly and a member of the French Academy. I will join the cabinet and be the Prime Minister of the cabinet. After all, the electoral laws stipulated in the Magna Carta valued wealth and industry, not morality.

At that time, I can claim to be noble and innocent, and no one will dare to contradict me. Even when I was earning my family fortune, I did things that were neither noble nor innocent. "

"well……"

Clara looked at Arthur as if he had discovered the bright road, and there was always an indescribable feeling in her heart.

She still remembered that Thiers also had an epiphany on such a rule one day, and he quickly started on the road to success.

The friends around Thiers also quickly upgraded from poor literati and low-class people to some famous figures in France.

This marquis, that duke. Of course, among them are Talleyrand, the former First Vice-Elector of the French Empire, and Lafayette, the 'Hero of Two Worlds'.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"All I need is a forged Louis-Philippe medal, a Legion of Honor medal and the Medal of July, plus a few well-dressed white-collar beauties posing as cashiers, renting a small office as an office, and sending some salesmen "We can go out and promote the so-called banking business. We can operate with integrity for a period of time. Once we have established business relationships with various banks, we will start to alter the bills and hand them over to other banks for acceptance."

When Arthur said this, he suddenly bit his lip and said, "My idea is a brilliant one. Beauties are not hard to find in Paris. The only difficulty is that I still lack a reliable organizer and a master forger."