Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 63: Gram

Cadillac Bruno attached great importance to the task given by Carlo and decided to personally handle the first task assigned by Carlo to give the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau a good start.

In this way, Cadillac Bruno brought several prospective intelligence officers he had selected from the Guard and set off on the journey north to France.

Cadillac Bruno’s first target was Gramme, a Belgian-born French national. The reason for choosing Gramme was simply that France was closer to Spain, and they could pass through France on the way to the second stop, Germany.

Finding someone could not be done blindly. Cadillac Bruno decided to go first to the capital of France, Paris, and inquire in Paris about experts in electricity research to see if there was someone named Gramme.

After the Germans left France, another revolution broke out in Paris, nearly subverting the French regime. However, this revolution was ultimately suppressed by the French Government. The good news was that Paris had welcomed peace again.

This was also the reason why Cadillac Bruno and his group could safely head to Paris. At least a peaceful and stable Paris would not reject foreign tourists.

Upon arriving in Paris, Cadillac Bruno immediately investigated companies and enterprises around Paris related to electricity and electrical equipment, trying to find someone named Gramme.

Fortunately, in a not very large electrical equipment company in Paris, they really found a generator researcher named Gramme.

At night, in an unassuming commoner residence in Paris.

Knock knock knock! The sound of knocking came, quickly waking Gramme, who had just fallen asleep.

Gramme was first surprised, then a flash of worry appeared in his eyes. While he was considering whether to check who the visitor outside the door was, his wife beside him had also awakened.

“Gramme?” Gramme’s wife looked at Gramme, who seemed to be in a daze, and softly called his name in confusion.

Gramme snapped out of his daze, comforted his equally worried wife, got up and took the spear hanging on the wall, and cautiously walked to the door.

“Who is it?” Gramme asked.

“Sorry, is this Mr. Gramme? Mr. Gramme who works in electricity?” the voice outside the door asked.

“Who are you? If it’s not something urgent, please come back tomorrow morning,” Gramme said.

Paris had just ended its chaos, but that did not mean the streets and alleys of Paris were as calm as the surface situation suggested.

Gramme did not care about the wins or losses between the government and the revolutionaries, nor did he want the struggle between these two factions to affect his life.

He only wanted to live a stable life, with a certain stable income to support himself and his family, and along the way pursue the work he loved.

Gramme did not care about other matters, did not want to participate, and certainly did not want to invite trouble upon himself.

“Please forgive my rudeness, Mr. Gramme,” the voice outside said: “I have left a letter for you. Please read it first and then decide. I will come visit again at noon tomorrow. Goodbye.”

Hearing Gramme’s obvious defense, Cadillac Bruno realized that Paris’s chaos had just ended not long ago.

For a stranger to show up at the door at night, it was only natural for Gramme to be obviously defensive. The best way to dispel the defense was to first leave a letter introducing his identity, then visit again the next day during daylight.

Anyway, they had already found this electricity worker named Gramme, so the next matters would not be so troublesome.

If Gramme was unwilling to go to Spain, in order to complete the task given by Carlo, they would have no choice but to use some means to invite Gramme and his family to Spain.

Hearing the footsteps fading farther away, Gramme breathed a sigh of relief.

During this time, there had been quite a few revolutionaries arrested by the government, and Gramme really did not want to get involved with any other strangers.

The government’s noble lords were extremely servile toward the Germans but struck hard against their own people.

Moreover, Gramme was not even a pure-blooded Frenchman; he was born in Belgium and had immigrated to France only a little over ten years ago.

The French Government would not show mercy to Gramme just because he was a decent talent, after all, France had countless talents like Gramme, and losing one or two did not hurt at all.

After waiting another ten minutes or so and confirming there was no sound outside the door, Gramme cautiously stepped out with his spear and indeed found a letter at the door.

To dispel Gramme’s concerns, Cadillac Bruno had clearly stated his purpose on the envelope, writing in French the words “Spanish Royal Family.”

After confirming that the letter was not from the revolutionaries, Gramme breathed a sigh of relief and took the letter into the house.

“An invitation from the King of Spain? Royal Academy of Sciences researcher? Spanish Electricity Company consultant?” Looking at the words written in French, Gramme felt like he almost did not recognize the French language anymore.

Would the King of Spain suddenly invite an ordinary commoner like him? And moreover, to join an institution with “Royal” in its name like the Royal Academy of Sciences?

Gramme did not feel a sense of happiness descending upon him; instead, he found it somewhat unbelievable, feeling like he had encountered a swindler.

But the other party seemed to have no reason to deceive him. Gramme was just an employee of a small electrical equipment company, with not high income and no real power, so there should be no need for the other party to deceive him.

After thinking it over, Gramme decided to meet the person in person tomorrow. As long as the other party was not a revolutionary, meeting him would do no harm.

Time passed in an instant, and at noon the next day, Cadillac Bruno arrived as promised.

To dispel Gramme’s concerns, Cadillac Bruno came alone and even brought a brand-new check issued by the Royal United Bank of Spain, in the amount of 5000 pesetas.

Gramme had been waiting for a long time, and sitting beside him was his good friend William, who also worked in electricity.

When Cadillac Bruno saw another person sitting beside Gramme, he understood that Gramme’s defense toward him had not been completely eliminated. But this was a small matter; he believed the other party would waver upon seeing the check.

“Mr. Gramme?” Cadillac Bruno asked tentatively.

“Yes, I am Gramme. And you are?” Gramme turned his gaze to Cadillac Bruno and found that the man looked somewhat like an Italian and did not seem very Spanish.

“Please allow me to introduce myself. You can call me Cadillac. I serve His Majesty the King Carlo of Spain. My goal is to find experts in electricity for the soon-to-be-established Spanish National Electricity Company.

If Mr. Gramme is interested, I represent His Majesty the King to invite you to join the Spanish Electricity Company and serve as a consultant for the electricity company.

At the same time, a researcher position at the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences is open to you. You can join the Royal Academy of Sciences at any time and have the qualification to apply for your own research and development funds.

Do you have any questions?” Cadillac Bruno said straightforwardly.

“Oh my god, a personal invitation from the King of Spain? Heavens, this is simply too crazy!” Before Gramme could react, his friend William beside him was already extremely surprised, looking completely incredulous.

“I am very sorry, Mr. Cadillac. But I still want to ask, is what you said true? Are you representing His Majesty the King Carlo of Spain?” Gramme also found it somewhat hard to believe.

Monarchy was still mainstream in Europe at this time. To receive an invitation from a noble was already an honor for a commoner, let alone an invitation from a king of a country?

Second update, seeking support!