Make France Great Again-Chapter 199 Family Division

For James Rothschild, it was not the continuous blows from the President that crushed him, but the betrayal of his nephew, Lionel Rothschild.

James Rothschild had always regarded the European Rothschild Bank as a whole, having experienced betrayal from peers, agents, and employees, but he had never experienced an internal backstab from within the Rothschild Clan.

In his mind, James Rothschild still harbored the idea of a family-run bank, naively believing that no matter how severe the internal power struggles were within the Rothschild Clan, it would never escalate to the family members colluding with outsiders to seize power.

Even if one day his branch truly lost power and was forced to leave the Rothschild Bank, at least the meat would rot in the pot.

Now it seems that not everyone can understand his painstaking intentions.

Who would have thought that the nephew he had high hopes for, Lionel Rothschild, would openly collude with outsiders to launch a rebellion against James Rothschild.

What was even more chilling was that the Rothschild branch in Frankfurt and the Rothschild branch in Naples also ignored his plea for help.

The once Europe-spanning Rothschild Empire had suddenly turned into independent kingdoms!

Don’t they know that only a united Rothschild Bank is the true giant?

No, they know, they just want to be their own masters!

After signing the "bail agreement" with Count Algou, James Rothschild was about to bid farewell to this group of damned prisons, and Police Chief Kalie personally escorted James Rothschild to the prison where Alphonse de Rothschild was held.

The prison was a converted four-story castle, with each room on every level holding between two to three people.

"Baron, most of these people are held here for fraud, theft, and other crimes!" Kalie "enthusiastically" introduced the prison situation to the heavily-burdened James Rothschild: "The prison is divided into four levels, with each level having about 10 rooms, and each room housing about three to four people."

"I am innocent! I really didn’t steal!"

"I truly didn’t deceive anyone!"

Every room they passed had prisoners rushing to the thick iron doors, sticking their fingers out, crying out "I’m innocent."

Kalie wore a blissful expression, a slight smile on his lips, and he said self-indulgently, "Do you know? All the prisoners in the prison claim they are innocent, yet none of them truly are! We made the laws, and we control the rules!"

James Rothschild seemingly did not hear Kalie’s performance of intoxication, continuing to walk alongside Kalie.

With no response from James Rothschild, Kalie reluctantly "beat the drums to end the war."

Under Police Chief Kalie’s lead, James Rothschild quickly arrived at an iron gate on the third floor.

"Open it!" Kalie commanded the guard watching the iron gate.

"Yes!"

One of the guards took out the key to the iron gate, unlocked it, and then gently pushed open the door, revealing Alphonse de Rothschild inside.

At this moment, he was resting on a hard wooden bed; the command from outside the iron door and the sound of the lock opening awakened Alphonse de Rothschild.

Alphonse de Rothschild swiftly sat up from the hard bed and saw James Rothschild standing outside the door.

"Father!" Alphonse de Rothschild broke into a long-lost smile, loudly calling out to James Rothschild.

"Mr. Alphonse, now you can leave here!" Kalie interrupted the "warm" father-son moment of the Rothschild family with a radiant smile.

Alphonse de Rothschild glanced at Kalie, then turned his gaze back to James Rothschild, only to find his father appeared much older than before he was imprisoned. This aging was not of the physical type but rather spiritual; it seemed as if his father had been struck by someone.

Alphonse de Rothschild once more looked at Kalie with resentment in his eyes, suspecting it was the work of the President’s men.

The keen-sensed Kalie noticed the resentment in Alphonse’s eyes and, spreading his hands with an innocent look, said, "Don’t look at me like that, Mr. Alphonse! I don’t know what exactly happened to the Count either!"

"Let’s go!" James Rothschild, uninterested in explaining anything here, called out to Alphonse de Rothschild in a calm tone.

"Yes!" Alphonse de Rothschild also refrained from asking what had happened, believing his father would inform him later.

Alphonse de Rothschild moved to stand in front of James Rothschild, looking at his slightly hunched figure, quickly reaching out to support James Rothschild.

James Rothschild, as if provoked by something, abruptly shook off Alphonse de Rothschild’s hand, saying coldly, "I’m not so old that I can’t walk!"

"Father!" Alphonse Rothschild looked at James Rothschild with confusion.

After several failed attempts to extend support, Alphonse gave up on the idea.

Kalie saw James Rothschild and his son off outside the prison.

A luxurious carriage stood parked outside the prison, and it was driven by none other than Baron James Rothschild’s steward.

The appearance of Baron James Rothschild and his son delighted the steward, who hastily drove over to meet them.

"Baron, I’ll see you off here!" Kalie said to Baron James Rothschild, then added with a "thoughtful" tone, "Welcome to visit the prison next time as well!"

"You..." Alphonse de Rothschild couldn’t help but want to reprimand Kalie’s rude actions.

James Rothschild grabbed Alphonse de Rothschild’s arm and shook his head at Alphonse’s confused gaze.

His father’s restraint made Alphonse snort coldly.

"Chief Kalie!" James Rothschild softly said to Kalie, "I hope the next time we meet, you will still be here!"

Though James Rothschild’s voice wasn’t loud, it resonated in Kalie’s ears like a rumbling thunder.

Kalie forced a smile, "No need for your concern!"

"That’s good then!" James Rothschild nodded slightly to Kalie, then departed by carriage.

"Father, what exactly happened during the time I was in prison?" Alphonse de Rothschild, isolated from news in prison, inquired about the recent events from James Rothschild.

James Rothschild did not respond to Alphonse Rothschild, and in a composed manner, he said, "Let’s talk about it back home!"

Alphonse de Rothschild could only suppress his desire to uncover the truth, and sitting in the carriage, Alphonse turned his gaze out of the window.

The carriage swiftly arrived at James Rothschild’s mansion.

Upon entering the mansion, Alphonse de Rothschild was momentarily in disbelief at his own eyes, the once filled mansion appeared empty. All the porcelain, medieval armors, and portraits of famous people were gone, as if the entire mansion had been plundered.

"What on earth happened?" Alphonse de Rothschild could no longer hold back his perplexity and asked James Rothschild in a trembling tone.

"While you were detained in prison, the President acted against us!" James Rothschild’s tone remained calm, as if he wasn’t the victim of the story.

"What about the Bank (Bank of France) shareholders? The board of directors? Those politicians we’ve funded? Are they just standing by?" Alphonse de Rothschild’s voice involuntarily rose a few notches.

James Rothschild didn’t speak, instead using a glance to signal the steward to explain.

"Young master, they..." the Baron’s steward respectfully replied, "they are no match for the President. He deployed the military! Our bank was forcibly controlled by government officials, and our company was forcibly frozen!"

The military!

The involvement of the military, this violent machine, made Alphonse de Rothschild understand that they couldn’t possibly win against the President.

In the past, with the Dynasty (referring to the Orléans Dynasty), the King restricted his campaigns against bankers to economic suppression, never once using the military.

The military often sought a portion of benefits as neutral arbitrators after the King’s escalation. This time was different; the neutral military personally stepped in. How could these "vulnerable groups," unarmed, withstand the violent machine?

"Follow me upstairs." James Rothschild gazed deeply at Alphonse.

Alphonse followed James Rothschild upstairs, and the steward downstairs revealed a smile.

Now that the master and young master have returned, he knew it was time for him to go in as well.

The Baron’s steward returned to his small room. As he slowly removed his tailcoat, he folded it neatly with tears in his eyes, then changed into a black Flak cashmere coat.

At that moment, a knock came from outside the door, and the steward promptly opened it.

A young man, who bore a slight resemblance to the Baron’s steward, appeared before him with tears in his eyes, unable to utter a word.

"Don’t cry! In my absence, it’s up to you to look after them!" The steward patted the young man’s shoulder, speaking with relief, "In the blink of an eye, over twenty years have passed! You’ve become an adult, and it is now up to you to continue serving the Rothschild Clan!"

"Yes, Father!"

Tears welled up from the young man’s eyes. He knew that with the steward’s departure, it was likely a final farewell.

"Don’t cry! I’m honored to have served the Rothschild for most of my life! If it weren’t for them, I might have frozen to death by now!"

The old man reminisced about that winter more than forty years ago, when he was shivering and crouched in a corner.

Just in that moment of imminent death, a hand reached out to him — a hand as fair as jade.

"Would you be willing to serve the Rothschild Clan?"

The voice was like an angelic call, pulling him back from the brink of death, and he too reached out his hand.

"I am willing!"

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l