Chapter 3466 Painter's Window (I)
"I guess I know what Torlonia is up to." Paulina said to Giorgina at the lively banquet in the Duke's courtyard, "Which bank is your big diamond in now?"
There are always all kinds of gossips in social occasions. Although Giorgina asked the young people to stay in their rooms after 9 o'clock, they still came out to participate.
In fact, before Giovanni Torlonia became the "Pope's Accountant", the Vatican's Finance Chamber had hired another economist who had served the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, and his strategy was to develop the textile industry.
He did not solve the problem of the Papal State's treasury difficulties, but the point is that because of this reason, Torlonia got the Pope's alum mine, and therefore the alum mine was not auctioned as church property. However, the new company could not operate because of endless thefts and attacks by armed groups, and floods caused by heavy rains made the quarry unable to operate.
In 1796, King Vittorio Amadeo III of Sardinia died and Carlo Emmanuel IV succeeded him. He mortgaged three large diamonds to Torlonia, so that the King of Sardinia could live in Rome after abdication.
Giovanni was a favorite of Pius VI, but Pius VII was elected in Vienna. Germany also had its own alum mines. In addition, leather products no longer relied on alum as in the past, but used chrome tanned leather instead.
If Alessandro made Giorgiana happy, maybe she would really put the "Mughal Diamond" in his vault.
In the absence of gold, diamonds can indeed be used as a "hard currency".
Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his notes: The way to enhance the stability of the arch is to use fine stone starting from the spandrels to the top of the arch.
No matter how gorgeous the appearance of a building is, it cannot be supported without a solid structure.
Francis' followers are called "fratres minores", which is derived from the Latin brother "fratres".
The French word for "fraternity" (fraternite) is also derived from the Latin word "brotherly".
Sometimes real blood brothers are worse than brothers without blood.
Giovanni's satisfaction with the "second eldest son" is reflected in the real eldest son's disgust for Alessandro. On the contrary, the second son, Cano, lives a free and easy life "without competition".
Bankers are not like nobles who must be hereditary. When they reach the scale of the Torlonia family, they can issue paper money on behalf of the Pope, first to control inflation, and then to compete with other sovereign currencies. The most ferocious ones at present are the pound and the franc.
Another is the loss of precious metal currency. Everyone knows that hoarding, gold coins will not go bad if you dig a pit and bury them.
However, in 1798, Italy also encountered a poor summer grain harvest. The secondary disasters caused by it did not ease even with a good harvest in 1799. Then there was the "huge food transaction" of Napoleon's army.
In 1796, the Genoese did not lend money to France, but to the Pope.
After the establishment of the Republic of Liguria, the Durazzo family of Genoa paid a huge sum of money to restore the price of grain to normal.
It is reasonable not to hold a big banquet at this time, but Bertin told Georgiana that those nobles had been making clothes on credit. She was worried, but don’t you think they are people who can’t pay it back?
Bertin couldn’t remember when this confidence lasted. It might be when the first supplier came to her door to ask for payment, or it might be when the nobles who owed money went to the guillotine one by one. Who would she ask to collect the debt?
The Gaunt family had been squandering for generations. By the generation of Voldemort’s mother, there was only a locket left, which she sold for 10 gold galleons.
Kant’s assumption about the shopkeeper was that there was no huge profit temptation. If he did this, he didn’t know that he would enjoy wealth and glory for the rest of his life, and even his descendants would enjoy it forever?
When Alessandro Torlonia said "Leonardo da Vinci's manuscript", some young people also cast greedy eyes at the yellowed papers. They were not as good at hiding as Tom Riddle. Even a fleeting expression was enough to alert Herbart Smith.
Adversity does not always temper one's will. Some people will surrender in adversity.
Human beings cannot stand close scrutiny. The more carefully you observe, the more defects you will find.
"Let's do an experiment this afternoon." Georgiana took a page from her notebook and threw it directly in the middle of the table, almost touching the greasy duck.
Several people stood up to protect the paper.
"Don't worry, it's fake." She said calmly, "To be precise, it was copied from the original manuscript."
There was silence at the table.
"It's not the manuscript that's important, but the knowledge on it... Let's see if Da Vinci's bracket can stand up the bronze horse."
"Isn't it enough to do a force analysis?" said a young man.
"That's just a theory, what do you think?" Georgiana asked.
There were a few sparse and weak echoes at the table.
"I want to go to Bologna." Paulina suddenly said, "I'm tired of staying in Milan and want to go to another city."
Georgina thought of the "uncle" who was so kind to her...
"How can I do it alone if you leave?" Caroline stroked her belly.
"Isn't there another person here?" Polina's eyes turned to Georgiana.
"Hahaha, this tart is good." Georgiana said, pointing to the fruit tart on the table.
"That's settled," said Polina.
"What's settled? You can't leave." Georgiana took Polina's arm.
"Isn't it just a party?" Polina said.
“Since we’re at a party, what’s the difference between Milan and Bologna?”
Everyone laughed, what's so funny?
In the end, Polina reluctantly agreed not to leave, provided that Georgiana was not allowed to slip away midway.
What else can be done? She could only agree.
"By the way, how is the decoration of the new house your family bought in Venice going?" Polina asked Alejandro.
"A new lighting system is being planned," Alejandro said.
"Lamp?" asked Georgiana.
"No... I'm looking for a suitable sculptor," Alejandro said.
She didn't understand. What was the relationship between lamps and sculptures?
"Have you seen Canova's sculpture of Hercules and Lyca?" said Caroline.
Georgiana nodded immediately.
"It's just such a big lamp," said Caroline.
"How big is your house?" Georgiana asked in amazement.
"Didn't you live in the Grand Trianon?" Alejandro asked curiously. "Is there any house more spacious than Versailles?"
Lycas was a servant of Hercules. He deceived his mistress and told her that if she wanted Hercules to love her forever, she must wear a shirt for Heracles. After being under the love magic, He will love her forever.
But in fact, the shirt was stained with the blood of Mr. Hercules' centaur. The blood was highly poisonous. Then Hercules died after wearing that shirt. Canova's sculpture recorded Hercules' death. The scene where Si threw Lika to death before he died.
Although the sculpture was full of movement, Georgiana felt it was not suitable to be placed in the living room as it would scare children.
Mullah's children and Delmid took a few bites and then left. The children didn't have much appetite, so they ran around in the park.
"Stay away from the lake!" Georgiana pointed out that she had time to explain, but she didn't know if they heard her.
Then she continued eating her lunch, after all she wasn't an oyster that couldn't close her mouth.
