From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

On the morning of April 18, four beautifully decorated and rigorously worded resignation letters lay neatly on Lawrence's desk. At the end of each resignation letter, there was the name of the corresponding congressman signed.

After sending the four congressmen back to their residences yesterday, in order to dispel their last bit of luck, Lawrence sent additional people to copy the information about the four of them sent by Xia Diya and give them to them.

There is no doubt that when they were stunned to see the paper recording their crimes, they quickly found the pen and ink paper in panic and began to write their resignations.

Although a small part of the records sent by Lawrence were inconsistent with the real situation, the part that could be verified was enough to put them all in the dungeon.

"Not bad"

Lawrence read the four resignation letters with satisfaction, and then instructed Anna to send someone to make these resignation letters public.

At the same time, regarding the four vacant chairs in the parliament, Lawrence has already planned their ownership:

As representatives of the Army, Major Cui Farley and Old Sean, as the patrol representative, as representatives of the two most important forces currently in Lawrence's hands, they naturally deserve two seats.

Lawrence arranged this to motivate the grassroots patrols and Wehrmacht soldiers and increase their loyalty to him.

In addition, for Grosso, an experienced old sailor, Lawrence also intended to take him out of the patrol team and put him into the navy as his confidant. Therefore, Lawrence also gave him a role as a representative of the navy in the future. seats.

Of course, for the three people who were awarded the seats, they also knew very well that the identity of this member was more symbolic and honorary, because today's Corsican Parliament is entirely Lawrence's word and has almost become a fiction.

Even the extremely important tax reform draft did not go through parliamentary vote at all and could be implemented after Lawrence alone authorized it.

As for the last seat, after Lawrence commissioned Carlo Bonaparte to review the Corsican constitution, he found that the constitution did not restrict the governor from becoming a member, so he reserved this seat for himself to strengthen his control over the parliament. control.

Although formal elections are required to produce new members, for Lawrence now, controlling these processes is just a matter of exerting a slight influence, and the allocation of these seats is already a certainty.

After breaking up the political reliance of the landowners in parliament, although they will still encounter strong resistance in further reforms, at least they will not have much opposition to the experimental taxation in May.

After resolving the internal political issues in Corsica, Lawrence was ready to focus all his energy on negotiations with the Duke of Choiseul.

However, on the afternoon of April 18, Duke Choiseul brought quite unexpected news to Lawrence.

"Ah, I'm so glad we agreed on something again."

In the auditorium of the Governor's Palace, Duke Choiseul had a satisfied smile on his face and looked at Lawrence opposite him and said.

Lawrence smiled politely, and then looked at the agenda in his hand, which was more than ten centimeters thick, with a headache. It would probably take a few weeks to communicate all these tedious details.

The sky outside was getting dark. Lawrence turned his head and glanced at the time on the pendulum clock, closed the agenda and said:

"I'm in the same happy mood, but it's almost time today. Let's continue at 9 a.m. tomorrow, how about it?"

"Of course. Oh no."

Duke Choiseul nodded subconsciously, but then he remembered something. He quickly smiled, shook his head, and said to Lawrence:

"Our negotiations have to be put on hold for a while. There is a more important thing that needs to be done."

"What's more important?" Lawrence looked at Duke Choiseul in confusion. He didn't think there was anything important between him and Duke Choiseul.

"We need to go to Versailles."

Duke Choiseul saw Lawrence showing doubts and explained with a smile:

"King Louis is very pleased with your initiative to lead the Corsican people to surrender to him. He wants to hold a banquet for you before the official coronation ceremony, right at the Palace of Versailles."

"The banquet King Louis gave me?"

Lawrence was a little surprised after hearing this, but he quickly calmed down and said:

"That's really flattering to me."

"Hey, dear Lawrence, it's an honor in a way, but don't think too much about it."

Duke Choiseul looked at Lawrence, shook his head with a chuckle and said:

"King Louis, what should I say? He is very enthusiastic about palace life. Such banquets are held almost every month. Sometimes the reason for holding banquets is just because he thinks the weather is very good today."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Louis XV in history was indeed a king whose court life was quite corrupt.

A banquet, masquerade, or even a card game or a billiards party was held every few days in the Palace of Versailles. King Louis himself was very enthusiastic about participating in these activities, especially with his mistress.

Louis XV held this banquet specially, probably because he just lacked a reason to hold a banquet. In addition, he was very happy after hearing that Corsica voluntarily surrendered to him, so he conveniently made Lawrence the central figure of the banquet.

Although Corsica is a poor and backward barren land, any ruler will undoubtedly be proud for a while after hearing that the people of a certain place have taken the initiative to submit to him.

In addition, since the Duke of Choiseul, who is far away in Corsica, knows about this, King Louis must have started preparing for the banquet and inviting other guests at this time, and Lawrence, as the central figure, would not be able to refuse.

"After all, it is a special invitation from the king. I have no reason to refuse."

Lawrence smiled bitterly and said that he would probably regard Louis XV as his king for a long time in the future, so it would be better to leave an unappreciative bad impression on Louis XV in the first interaction.

Duke Choiseul nodded without surprise. He also knew that a calculating man like Lawrence would not refuse to attend at the risk of offending the king.

"The banquet will probably be held in early June, and we will be preparing to leave in the next few days."

Duke Choiseul put the agenda aside and then lowered his voice and said:

"Besides, there is a necessary reason for you to go to Paris, Governor Bonaparte."

Lawrence frowned slightly, and his first thought was about the National Silver Company, but this was obviously not a necessary reason.

However, after thinking for a moment, Lawrence quickly realized what Duke Choiseul was talking about, so he also asked in a deep voice:

"British?"

Duke Choiseul looked at Lawrence with some surprise, nodded repeatedly and said:

"Lawrence, you are really witty. Yes, the British are still resentful of the things you did. Although they have basically given up on retaliating with force, they still have to struggle at the negotiation table."

"And in this case."

Lawrence followed up Duke Choiseul's words and said:

"Paris is undoubtedly a better place to negotiate than negotiating with the British in Corsica."

"Exactly, Governor Bonaparte, it is so easy to talk to intelligent people."

Duke Choiseul couldn't help but clapped his hands and said.

Lawrence nodded solemnly. It seemed that this trip to Paris was not just for a banquet and enjoyment. In addition to the negotiations with the British, the National Silver Company matter that he just thought of, and other situations that may occur, this trip may take a long time. Been busy for a while:

"I understand. I will be ready the day after tomorrow at the latest and head to Paris with you."

May 25, 1770

After nearly a month of travel and travel, Lawrence and his party finally arrived in Paris successfully.

The straight-line distance from Toulon, where Lawrence and his party landed, to Paris is more than 600 kilometers, not to mention the many twists and turns in the middle of the mountains and hills.

Fortunately, relying on the distinguished status of the Duke of Choiseul, this group of people encountered little obstruction or delay on the way, and finally arrived in Paris before June.

Lawrence did not bring many entourages with him on this trip. He only brought Grosso and Ya'an from the patrol team, as well as his secretary Anna with him.

In addition, considering that Lawrence is also the head of a country, Duke Choiseul also allowed him to bring a small number of guards into Paris. After consideration, Lawrence still took the twenty precision shooters in his hands with him.

With limited numbers, the role these precision shooters can play is undoubtedly higher than that of other arms, but Lawrence also hopes that there will be no time when they play a role during this trip.

The rest were left in Corsica by Lawrence to maintain the normal functioning of the country.

Although he will be away for a long time, Lawrence is not worried about any trouble in Corsica. After all, the primary factor that Lawrence valued when choosing his confidants was loyalty.

As for the tax reform that Lawrence was extremely concerned about, after Lawrence obtained a compromise from the church and eradicated four landowning councillors, he also believed that Cogelo could successfully implement this experimental tax with the help of the patrol. Finish.

In any case, Lawrence had to put aside the affairs of Corsica for the time being. There were still a lot of troubles waiting for him in this cosmopolitan city in front of him.

"Hey, this is Paris. It feels like this is the center of the fucking world."

Grosso, who was sitting in the carriage, leaned out almost half of his body from the carriage, licked his lips and looked around. After a while, he sat back down peacefully and couldn't help but sigh.

Although Grosso has traveled to many prosperous port cities, this is also his first time to come to Paris, a prestigious city.

Lawrence, who was opposite Grosso, silently leaned against the window frame and scanned the streets outside. He only nodded slightly to Grosso's sighs.

Although Paris, with a population of 600,000, is undoubtedly a pearl in Western Europe and even Europe, it is somewhat inferior to those giant cities in the East with a population of more than one million at the same time.

"But anyway, the population of Paris is equivalent to thirty Ajaccios."

Lawrence thought with a bitter look on his face, and couldn't help but let his thoughts drift back to Corsica. The problem of underpopulation in Corsica has also been included in Lawrence's mind that must be solved.

While Lawrence was thinking deeply about this, Duke Choiseul's carriage team slowly stopped in front of a mansion.

Lawrence turned his head and looked at the mansion through the car window. It was a typical Baroque-style building, covering an area of ​​nearly 2,000 square meters with the courtyard. Marble bust sculptures were carefully placed on both sides of the path entering the mansion as decoration. There's even a four-tiered fountain in the courtyard.

Not to mention that this mansion is located on the Champs Elysées in the heart of Paris. Standing at the door of the mansion, you can almost directly see the Louvre and Tuileries Palace not far away, and even the palace built by Napoleon in later generations. The Arc de Triomphe is also located on this street.

However, it is true that only such a mansion is worthy of a lord like the Duke of Choiseul, who has a large and powerful fiefdom and his rich wallet.

The Duke of Choiseul stepped out of the carriage with the support of his entourage, and without saying much, he graciously offered to lend this mansion to Lawrence and his party for a temporary stay.

"Although as the host I should host a banquet to welcome you."

Duke Choiseul introduced Lawrence and the others into the mansion, introduced the housekeeper and servants to Lawrence, and then said apologetically:

"But I must go to Versailles immediately, you know, the king is still waiting for me."

Lawrence nodded in understanding. As an important French minister, Duke Choiseul had stayed in Corsica for such a long time. There would definitely be a lot of things waiting for him to deal with when he came back.

"Then I will send someone to inform you, Governor Bonaparte, when the time for the king's banquet is fixed."

Duke Choiseul took out his pocket watch and looked at it. He spoke very hastily. Then he pulled out a middle-aged man behind him and introduced:

"Oh, by the way, this is my equerry Rucci Lund. If you have any questions about Paris, you can ask him. Well, I really have to leave. I apologize to you again, Governor Bonaparte. , hope you have a nice stay in Paris.”

Having said that, Duke Choiseul hurriedly left the mansion after apologizing again.

Looking at his master's hastily leaving, the attendant Lund could only smile awkwardly, bowed deeply to Lawrence and said:

"I'm very sorry, but the Duke is indeed very trusted by the king and has a lot of work waiting for him."

Lawrence just smiled silently after hearing Lund's words. Louis XV may indeed trust Duke Choiseul, but he was also very dissatisfied with Duke Choiseul's behavior of manipulating government affairs and advocating war.

In the autumn of this year in history, the Duke of Choiseul was driven back to his fief by the intolerable Louis XV because he tried to encourage France to intervene in the conflict between Britain and Spain.

However, Lawrence still can't tell whether his appearance will rewrite this period of history and the fate of Duke Choiseul.

"Either is it in my interest to follow history and allow the Duke of Choiseul to fall, or is it in my interest to help him maintain his current political status?"

Lawrence stood by the window and watched silently the Duke of Choiseul's carriage leaving the Champs Elysées. He knew in his heart that now that he had arrived in Paris, he would inevitably be involved in the fate of many big shots.

Due to his information advantage and the butterfly effect of history, Lawrence can even change the final outcome of a historical figure with just a few words.

The question before Lawrence now is not whether history can be changed, but whether to change it.

To this question, Lawrence already had the answer in his mind:

"Although it sounds secular, interests must be the criterion at all times."

Thanks to the book friends "Ziyou" and "Xu Shaoxia, known as Jianghu" for their monthly support!