Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 53

   Chapter 53

   To the educated young ladies of the sea blue city, they are lovable before marriage, weak and ignorant, and as beautiful as a fake flower in a high-necked celadon vase.

But when they got married, they turned into majestic mistresses of the family: keeping the servants in good order, keeping the living room, study, bedroom, and the master's dress spotless, while ensuring that the kitchen provided decent food, etc. Wait.

  Could it be true that marriage has such magic power that it can transform an ignorant girl into a qualified hostess overnight?

   That is of course impossible.

   Actually, the appearance of ignorance before marriage is just a disguise. In order to shoulder the role of hostess in the future, every well-born woman in this era has received a lot of training before reaching marriageable age.

  They have followed their mother since childhood, learning how to manage the entire mansion. When they got married, they would take over another family with servants, dowries, and enough power.

  Men feel that women are weak and ignorant, and women use this skillfully to play with men in their hands. This is a little secret among ladies that is not known to gentlemen.

  The men who are deceived can blame this society. Who makes this society's unified goal for unmarried ladies is to find the right husband?

   The Navarre family is naturally the same. Like every decent family in the sea blue city, Anna Navarre has been nurtured by her mother in the direction of an excellent wife and hostess since she was sensible.

   Even compared to ordinary ladies from famous families, Mrs. Navarre has higher requirements for her eldest daughter.

   Ordinary ladies from famous families will have children, raise children, and manage everything in the house well after they get married.

   But there is only so much. Things outside the family should be the responsibility of the gentlemen in the eyes of the ladies, and they should not interfere casually.

   It's very indecent for a lady to be out there working like a man, and it'll get everyone talking unless...unless she's a widow.

As a respectable widow, Madame Navarre not only asked her eldest daughter to be a qualified hostess, she also hoped that Anna would have a better business acumen than men and be able to take on the traditional concepts that should not be borne by women. Responsibility to take over the management of Navarre's business one day in the future - at least not to lose this property because of the incompetence of the heir.

So every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon, when Mrs. Navarre came to work in the large office of Navarre, Anna would sit quietly beside Mrs. Navarre's large mahogany desk, using Knife helps her mother open letter after letter, assists Mrs. Navarre in checking her accounts, listens to employee reports together, and silently watches Mrs. Navarre's decision-making process.

"Mr. Lodovico." Madame Navarre's voice was gentle and magnetic, and she asked casually: "Can you please explain why I gave you a written order two months ago, but it is not until today. Didn't even reach half of the planned purchase amount?"

  The employee's chair is two meters away from Madame Navarre's desk, in the very center of this empty office. This chair is not easy to sit on. There is nothing in front of you, and nothing around you. The whole office is arranged to make the person sitting on the chair feel that they are being seen through.

   But now the middle-aged man sitting opposite Madame Navarre was not as nervous as those young employees. He sat upright on the chair, with his hat in his hand, and his hair with a few silver threads combed meticulously.

Lodovico replied calmly: "Ma'am, the prices of sulphur, saltpeter, lead and iron are rising steadily, and there are still many competitors in the market vying for our goods, and the current inventory is the result of our efforts to sweep the goods. If you buy enough of the quantity you require at the current price, it will drain most of the liquidity on our books. Our main direction is not these bulk goods, and I cannot agree with your speculative behavior. "

   "You are very reasonable." Madam Navarre nodded approvingly, she rang the bell on the table, and the maid who was standing outside the office pushed open the door.

   "Invite all the senior partners to me." Madam Navarre commanded loudly.

  The maid nodded and closed the door again.

  Anna vaguely noticed that the atmosphere seemed to have changed and became more solemn. The soft hat in Lodovico's hand has been deformed by his grasp, but he still pretends to be calm, his face is calm as usual.

   The senior partners above the director of the Navarre firm filed in. They made eye contact silently and stood roughly in a row, with only Lodovico sitting alone.

   "Good afternoon, gentlemen." Madame Navarre bowed her head.

  The senior partners also pressed their hats to their chests and bowed their heads in return.

   "Since everyone is here, Mr. Lodovico can explain the two light and dark account books for us." Madame Navarre took out the two account books with black covers from the drawer.

  Lodovico saw these two account books, his face was pale, and he bowed his head silently.

  Senior partners are senior businessmen, and when they hear the word light and dark ledger, they immediately understand what is going on. The office was so quiet that one could hear the needle falling to the ground, and everyone listened to Madame Navarre with bated breath.

"What's the difference between these two books? The difference is that one of the books records all the purchases of bulk sulphur, saltpeter and other goods by the Navarre business in the past two months, while the other has erased most of the transactions. Only a small fraction of the transaction records remain."

Mrs. Navarre threw the ledger on the desk: "Mr. Lodovico, your idea is perfect. You hand over the goods purchased by the Navarre firm to your brother-in-law. If the prices of these bulk goods rise, you will Just take out the fake ledger and sell it to make a lot of money. If the price falls, you take out the real ledger and the business will bear the loss.”

  Anna found that Mrs. Navarre was beckoning herself with her eyes. She understood what her mother meant, and obediently picked up the account book and gave it to the senior partners present, but no one dared to take it over and check it carefully. After walking around, he took the ledger back.

"What did I do to make you disrespect me so much?" Madam Navarre's tone was cold: "You have worked in Navarre's house for more than ten years and are the most senior partner. I trust you, but you live up to it. My trust. Is there anything else you want to say?"

  From the moment Mrs. Navarre took out two account books, Lodovico lowered her head deeply, and no one knew what the most senior employee was thinking.

After a while, he raised his head and regained his calmness and composure: "There is no true or false account book, one of them is just my deduction. The goods purchased by the Navarre Firm are only so much in the warehouse. Corresponding one-to-one with the real account books, I did not use the money of the business firm for my own profit. Since you no longer trust me, please allow me to resign. "

  Lodovico calmly sorted his clothes, put on his hat, and got up to leave. At this moment, he became the chief partner of the Navarre Firm under one person and above everyone.

   "What are you still clenching your teeth for? I hope Mr. Arno can continue to stand by your side and fill the gap with the goods when you leave here?" Madam Navarre asked slowly.

   The senior partners roared for a while, but Mrs. Navarre didn't expect another big rat. Another lanky senior partner was pushed out of the crowd. He bowed to Madame Navarre at a loss, opening and closing his mouth. In the end, he chose to be mute and said nothing.

"You have nothing to fear now. It's just because you feel that your accounts are not leaking, and the business has a lot of money for a silver coin. But you mortgaged the fabrics in stock and used them as the principal for buying bulk goods. Do you think I can't find out? ?" Madame Navarre took out a few more documents from the drawer and asked with a smile.

  Lodovico replied politely: "Mr. Arnold's personal behavior to mortgage the firm's inventory privately. I don't know what it has to do with me. You should hold Mr. Arnold accountable."

"Ma'am! I never thought of embezzling the firm's money! It was Lodovico who said that I needed some money to turn around." Arno, who was surprised that he was sold, shouted: "It was Lodovico who deceived him. Got me! He's the devil!"

   Arno charged towards Lodovico: "You devil..."

  Lodovico punched the lanky Arno in the face, who fell to the ground with his face covered and groaned in pain. Seeing the blood flowing from Arno's fingers, Anna couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

"Laughing, ma'am, ma'am and gentlemen." Lodovico took off his hat gracefully and bowed to the people in the room, as if he was really sorry for being rough in public: "Mr. Arnold is not my partner. People, there is only a loan relationship between us, and there are IOUs as evidence. As for where the money Mr. Arnold lent me came from, hehe, I don't know it myself.”

   After saying that, Lodovico put on his soft hat again and turned to leave.

   A round of applause came from behind the desk.

"Wonderful, really wonderful, Mr. Lodovico." Madame Navarre smiled and clapped: "You have created a complete logic, and you have juridically cleaned yourself up. Even if I accuse you, you will You can defend yourself against this in court. But you got one thing wrong..."

   Mrs. Navarre's tone changed: "I can be unreasonable."

   Mrs. Navarre rang the bell on the table again, and led by a colonel, several ferocious army soldiers walked out of the room next to the office.

The    army soldier stepped forward and grabbed Lodovico, who shouted and resisted, and was smashed in the face by a soldier with a lead-filled stick.

   Lodovico, who was beaten to death with a stick, was then **** tightly.

Mrs. Navarre walked over to Lodovico from the back of the desk, looked down at the latter and said indifferently, "Navarre has signed a transaction agreement with the Army two months ago, you are not reselling my goods. , you're selling army supplies. So go to the military court and reason, Mr. Lodovico!"

  The Colonel nodded to Madame Navarre and took both Lodovico and Arno away.

   Seeing the widow's tricks, the remaining senior partners of the Navarre firm are now as quiet as chickens.

   "Mr. Leo." Madame Navarre named another senior partner.

   Anxiety spread among the crowd. Could it be that Mrs. Navarre will take this opportunity to reshuffle the cards?

   A plump man of medium height stood up and bowed to Madame Navarre with a flattering smile.

   "You will take over the duties of Lodovico in the future, and Pierrot, the intermediate partner, will take over your current position. The others can go, Mr. Leo, please stay."

   Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that this matter had come to an end for the time being.

   After the other partners left, the plump Mr. Leo asked tentatively, "Madam, shall we continue to purchase sulfur, saltpeter and other goods as originally planned? The price is already very high."

   "Go ahead, the price will be higher in the future." Madame Navarre leaned back on the chair and answered tiredly with her forehead.

  ——cut——

   "I don't think it's necessary to treat Mr. Lodovico that way. It's too cruel... After all, he has been a friend of our family for many years. He even hugged Kate... Those soldiers won't let him go easily."

   Sitting in the carriage home, Anna whispered to her mother.

"You... I have taught you for so many years and you still don't understand?" Madame Navarre sighed: "The world outside the family is the world of men, so women's style is better than men's, so men will not be despised. Would Lodovico dare to do this if your father was still alive? That's why I am more ruthless than your father in order to protect our family's property. You have to keep it in mind."

"Then why don't you teach Catherine?" Anna murmured in a low voice: "She likes business very much. You took me to the business, and she was almost jealous. I think it's too late for you to start teaching her now, she Would love to. Why should it be me? I don't like to read ledgers. Wouldn't it be better to have the right people do the right things?"

Mrs. Navarre sighed again: "Your sister only likes the feeling of being able to instruct others. When your two sisters get married, I will prepare a lot of dowries, and I will make them the most generous wives in the sea blue city. But Kate can't be in charge of the firm."

  Anna pursed her lips and snorted softly.

Seeing her daughter was still very unconvinced, Mrs. Navarre told Anna earnestly: "Listen, being in charge of Navarre's business is not a power, but a responsibility. It is a parent's responsibility and bears this responsibility. I will take care of your two sisters for the rest of my life."

Mrs. Navarre was caught up in her memories and continued: "You fought with your sister when you were young. You were obviously scratched, but Kate was crying and complaining to me, and you didn't shed a single tear. At that time, I I understand that your sister is a flower that can only bloom in midsummer. If the world goes bad, Kate can't survive on her own. That's why I chose you."

   "I don't want to take care of Catherine for the rest of my life." Anna said reluctantly: "It's okay to take care of Olivia, Catherine... Catherine doesn't need me to take care of her, and she has never treated me as a sister."

   Mrs. Navarre arranged her daughter's hair and said with a smile, "When you both grow up, thinking about the fight with your sister will also be a good memory."

The    carriage drove all the way out of the suburbs and returned to the Navarre Manor.

  The housekeeper helped the wife and the young lady out of the car, and reported softly: "General Serbia and Mr. Montagne are waiting at the mansion... Mr. Montagne seems to be looking for Miss Anna."

   Thanks to book friends 20181013204343295 for their recommendation votes, thanks to book friends Mo Luoxuan for their recommendation votes, thanks to book friends Social Justice Pharaoh for their recommendation votes, and to book friends who have voted for recommendation before. thank you all.

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end