The Prussian Queen wrapped her arms tightly around Charles’s neck and lowered her head to kiss him passionately.

The young man’s mind went blank, eagerly seeking Louise’s lips in response, but the experienced woman subtly pulled away, gazing at him with dreamy eyes and said in a sweet voice:

"My dearest knight, the moment I touched you, the world stood still. Nothing exists but you, but loving you, you are now my sole reason for living..."

Charles’s expression turned serious, about to swear a vow of love, but Louise gently took his hand, guiding it downward...

The youth’s breath quickened, muttering incoherently, "I, I need you, really... I’m about to ignite, please, don’t watch me suffer any longer..."

Louise twisted her waist in cooperation, constantly guiding him.

However, at the most critical moment, her maid’s voice came from outside the door: "Madam, I’m sorry to disturb you, but it’s already past eight-thirty, we must set off now."

Louise knew well how to deal with someone like Charles — never let him get everything he wants, but don’t let him have nothing at all.

Today’s "steps" were all meticulously arranged by her.

The maid’s words startled her like a bird frightened by a snake, instantly breaking away from Charles’s embrace, hurriedly tidying her clothes: "My dear, though I’m reluctant to leave this wonderful time, if I don’t return now, he’ll find out. You know, the ball starts in half an hour, and I must appear there."

Charles knew that by "he," she meant William III.

He reluctantly helped his beloved tidy her hair, escorted her to the door, and took out a pair of diamond earrings, slipping them into her hand: "Could we meet here again tomorrow? My visit lasts three days this time."

Louise hesitated at his words, according to the original plan, it wasn’t time to advance to the second step, but the atmosphere and feeling were so right, perhaps moving ahead wasn’t a bad choice.

She immediately feigned struggle and hesitation, finally shaking her head with difficulty: "Though I really want to come, my dear, I swear. But tomorrow I have to stand as a guarantor for Mrs. Gerhard, you know, she’s my best friend and the only one in Berlin whom I can confide in. And tomorrow is the final deadline for her factory’s debt repayment."

Charles hurriedly asked, "Is she in trouble? Perhaps I can help."

"No, no, it’s her family’s business, I can handle it."

Louise said so, but her tone was full of hesitation and timidity.

Indeed, Charles stood up proudly: "I’m just curious, please tell me about it, what’s wrong with her factory?"

"Okay, consider it a story." Louise hastily moved towards the carriage, her steps not quick, "Mrs. Gerhard’s husband left her an ironworks, and for years she’s been painstakingly managing it with her three children.

"But you know, coal is getting more expensive now, and she’s been losing money...

"In fact, tomorrow is the creditors’ last extension for repayment. Even with my guarantee, it won’t work."

Charles keenly noticed the keyword: "Guarantee? So, if her factory goes bankrupt, you’d also be in debt?"

Louise sighed lightly, her fragile demeanor could evoke a protective instinct in any man: "I don’t know, I probably would."

Charles hastened to say: "How much does her factory need? I can invest some."

"It’s useless," Louise shook her head, "Without affordable coal, more money would only delay the factory’s closure."

Charles showed a smug smile: "That’s not difficult, I hold shares in Alphonse Butin’s ironworks, and they own two sizable coal mines in Nassau. I’ll write to their manager tomorrow to let him allocate some coal to your friend."

Louise was ecstatic inside, surprised that the Prince of France said it without needing her hint.

In Prince Henry and Baron Stein’s plan, for Prussia to restore its status as a first-rate power, developing an advanced military industry is the first step.

Hence, they intended to use government procurement to push a batch of steel companies into rapid expansion.

And steelmaking primarily requires a large quantity of coal, followed by technology.

Although Prussia has some coal and iron mines in Silesia, the facilities were severely damaged due to several wars with Austria over Silesia, keeping production consistently low.

To restore the mines, at least tens of millions of taels need to be invested first. Berlin couldn’t come up with such money right now.

Meanwhile, in recent years, many coal mines with very rich reserves were developed in the Westphalia region, causing coal prices to drop. Thus, even if Prussia gritted its teeth to mine coal in Silesia, they would end up losing money with every batch of steel produced.

Yes, under Joseph’s advance arrangements, now 90% of the coal mines in Westphalia, Germany’s largest coal-producing region, are operated by French companies.

Most of the coal produced here flows to the Walloon Region and Rhineland, Prussia can’t buy it even if they pay.

According to Joseph’s plan, Prussia will be an agrarian country in the future, what do they need so much coal for?

Louise displayed a look of surprise, but soon frowned and said:

"I’m worried this might attract scrutiny from the Ministry of Industry. I heard that exporting coal mines in Nassau, Cologne, and other places to countries outside the production area requires a high ’technology authorization fee.’

Charles was also taken aback; it seemed that the Steel Technology Association had such a rule.

Louise, not waiting for her "beloved knight" to come up with a solution, had to propose: "You see, I can’t let Mrs. Gerhard get your help for free.

"How about this, I’ll let her raise some money to buy shares in your factory, without expecting any dividends.

"This way, we’ll transfer some coal from Cologne to her factory monthly as ’internal company transport.’ Rest assured, the price won’t harm your factory." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Charles was filled with the sense of achievement from being able to help his beloved woman, not thinking about anything else, and nodded at once: "If you think it’s feasible, then let’s do it."

The shares in the ironworks were originally sold to him by an industrialist named Butin at a very low price in search of a reliable backer, so he felt nothing about it.

Louise hugged him tightly: "You’ve done so much for me, dear..."

She spoke sweet words for a while, then continued: "However, you’ll need to write a letter to the factory. Oh, right, it’s better to list Baron Marechal as the shareholder. He’s Mrs. Gerhard’s steward, and you know, it’s more convenient for a man to handle external matters."

Marechal was from Mainz, and after France acquired the Rhineland, he gained French citizenship.

With this operation, even if the French Ministry of Industry checked coal mine equity, they wouldn’t notice any foreigner holding shares.

Marechal would register a French coking company and set up a plant in Cologne, which was actually just a shell company. Then, this coking company could buy coal from Alphonse Butin’s company, which wouldn’t raise suspicion.