From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

May 29, 1770, the third day after Lawrence met with the Duke of Richelieu.

After meeting the Duke of Richelieu at the Paris Comedy, Lawrence also understood that he was completely involved in the party dispute between the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Choiseul.

Although Lawrence originally expected that Duke Richelieu would probably retain all the treaties he negotiated with Duke Choiseul in order to win over him, including the negotiations between the National Silver Company and the British.

But the attitude of Duke Richelieu that day undoubtedly confirmed that Lawrence would not fall to the side of Duke Choiseul, so he wanted to minimize the benefits obtained by Lawrence and Corsica.

In a sense, Duke Richelieu's idea is indeed correct. Duke Choiseul has become increasingly unpopular with Louis XV. If a shrewd politician who knows the inside story wants to conduct politics between the two dukes, If he takes sides, he will undoubtedly choose to join the Duke of Richelieu.

The Duke of Richelieu was also convinced that Lawrence would not continue to follow the Duke of Choiseul, so he did not offer any sincere conditions to Lawrence.

"Essentially, it's a question of political alignment."

Lawrence was lying on the sofa chair with a gloomy expression on his face, holding his forehead and thinking:

"There is no third way. It is completely impossible to protect yourself wisely. What is before you is a choice between humiliatingly accepting Duke Richelieu's conditions and surrendering to him, or choosing to help the Duke of Choiseul, who is in obvious decline. ”

Rationally speaking, Lawrence knew that the risk of surrendering to Duke Richelieu was the lowest, because this was exactly the development trajectory of history. Even as long as Lawrence stood by and watched, Duke Choiseul would soon fall.

However, after the fall of Duke Choiseul, Lawrence did not know how the powerful Duke Richelieu would treat the treaty with Corsica, and whether he would change even the most basic terms. Don't want to gamble.

In this case, the only reasonable option is.

"Maybe it's time to take a different approach."

A flash of light flashed in Lawrence's eyes, and he secretly made up his mind. He immediately stood up from the sofa chair, walked to the study, wrote a letter of visit, and called the old housekeeper who came to the mansion to give instructions:

"Please send this letter to the Duke of Choiseul, as soon as possible."

"I see."

The old butler took the letter, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he reminded Lawrence:

"By the way, Mr. Lavoisier, whom you decided to meet three days ago, is expected to visit in the afternoon. It's time for you to change into your formal clothes."

"Lavoisier? Oh, of course, I almost forgot about it."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was really because the fact about Duke Richelieu and Duke Choiseul occupied too much of Lawrence's energy.

However, Lawrence was still very interested in meeting this famous chemist from ancient to modern times.

This was not only to satisfy Lawrence's personal interests, but also because in Lawrence's plan, the emergence of Lavoisier would bring a huge opportunity to the Corsican National Silver Company.

"My God, what a grand and beautiful mansion."

On the Champs Elysées by the Seine River, a tall and thin young man wearing a silver wig stopped where he was, looking at the mansion where Lawrence lived from a distance, and couldn't help but sigh.

He was wearing a somewhat old black suit and was holding a silver cane that did not match his age.

I am afraid that no passerby would be able to tell that this young man named Lavoisier, who was only 26 years old, was actually an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, and would write an important chapter in the history of science.

At this time, Lavoisier was inevitably hesitating nervously, thinking about how to talk to Monsignor Bonaparte.

A few days ago, Lavoisier was very surprised by Lawrence's reply. He was just trying his luck when he sent the letter of visit. He really didn't expect to receive a reply from Lawrence.

Moreover, Lavoisier heard that several letters of visit from nobles and industrial owners who were much more prominent than himself were ignored. He was the only one who received a reply, which made Lavoisier feel a little nervous and flattered.

While Lavoisier was still standing at the door hesitantly, the old housekeeper of the mansion had noticed him, took the initiative to come out and bowed to him and said:

"Are you Mr. Lavoisier? Mr. Bonaparte is already waiting for you in the reception room. Please come with me."

"Oh, oh, of course."

When Lavoisier saw this, he didn't have time to think too much. He quickly took off his hat and tucked it under his arm. He followed the old butler through the path filled with busts and entered the mansion.

The light in the living room is very bright, and the soft afternoon sunlight shines into the room through a large floor-to-ceiling window. Sitting here, you can even directly see the sparkling golden Seine River.

"Ah, Mr. Lavoisier, you are here, please sit down wherever you like."

Lawrence, who was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed and concentrating, noticed the movement on the side. After opening his eyes, he saw the somewhat restrained and nervous young man in front of him, so he pointed to the row of sofas next to him and said with a smile.

"Well, good afternoon, Your Excellency Bonaparte, thank you."

Lavoisier said, and quickly found a seat not far from Lawrence and sat down, and then couldn't help but look at Lawrence a few more times.

After receiving Lawrence's reply at that time, Lavoisier went to inquire about Lawrence, and probably knew that he was a very young Governor of Corsica.

However, after the actual meeting, Lavoisier was still surprised by Lawrence, who was only less than twenty years old.

When Lavoisier looked at Lawrence, Lawrence was also sizing him up. Lawrence was still very interested in this indispensable figure in the history of chemistry.

After recalling the memories about Lavoisier, Lawrence could probably guess why he came to visit him.

Although Lavoisier made profound achievements in science, on the other hand, he also had his own pursuits in politics and wealth.

Historically, Lavoisier's social positions gradually increased after middle age, and he gradually spent less time on scientific research. He also served as a member of the National Assembly.

At the same time, Lavoisier also served as a tax collector for a long time. Although this accumulated a lot of wealth for him, it was also the trigger for his subsequent death.

Due to the tax farming system in France at that time, within the area contracted by tax farming officials, they only had to pay a specified amount of tax to the state, and the excess taxes could go directly into their own pockets.

So under such a system, tax collectors undoubtedly want to collect the maximum amount of tax as possible, which also leads to their extremely bad image in the hearts of ordinary people.

Although Lavoisier himself did not tax the masses violently, after the Revolution, the angry masses still regarded him as a group of people who squeezed the people in taxes, and eventually sent him to prison together with 29 other tax officials. On the guillotine.

Of course, Lavoisier at this time naturally could not have expected this outcome. He is still very satisfied with the status of tax collector he obtained two years ago, and wants to further expand his powers.

This is why he appeared in Lawrence's mansion today.

After all, in the minds of Lavoisier and other small nobles and small businessmen, Lawrence, who had such a close relationship with the Duke of Choiseul, would definitely be able to help them.

"I'm glad you found the time to come here, Mr. Lavoisier."

After guessing Lavoisier's intention, Lawrence took the lead and said:

"I have heard about you for a long time. Your views on natural philosophy are very attractive to me."

"Oh? Really, you are also a scholar?"

When Lavoisier heard Lawrence talk about the fields he was good at, he suddenly became less nervous and asked excitedly.

Lawrence smiled and nodded, relying on his memory to make up casually:

"Of course, I even read your article, and your experiment that refuted the four-element theory gave me a lot of inspiration."

"Ah, yes, yes, I only published that article this year. It took a long time to conduct the experiment. First of all, I..."

As soon as Lavoisier talked about the experiments he had done, he immediately began to repeat them to Lawrence endlessly, adding a lot of dancing body language.

Even when explaining to Lawrence how he vigorously stirred the solution, Lavoisier insisted on demonstrating with coffee on the table, and the scalding coffee splashed half of Lavoisier's trousers.

Lawrence always listened patiently and carefully. As a mechanical engineer from a later generation, Lawrence, who stood on the shoulders of giants, also heard many flaws in Lavoisier's experiment.

"That's probably it, Monsignor Bonaparte. I'm sorry that I spoke too excitedly."

After Lavoisier finished telling the story, he exhaled a sigh of relief, then apologized and quickly took out his handkerchief to wipe the coffee stains on his pants.

Lawrence waved his hands indifferently, looked at Lavoisier and said with a smile:

"What a clever experiment, but I think there seems to be a lot of room for improvement in your steps and process."

"Huh? Improvement?"

Lavoisier was stunned for a moment, and even stopped wiping his hands.

“It starts with your instrument selection and cleaning”

Lawrence slowly stated all his opinions, from the selection of instruments to the operating methods, and finally to the selection of reagents and experimental principles. Although some suggestions were beyond this era, they still aroused a series of thoughts in Lavoisier.

"Oh my gosh, what you said seems to make sense."

Lavoisier was still stunned in place, and even the movements of his hands were still frozen a minute ago. It was not until Lawrence finished speaking that he slowly came back to his senses and murmured:

"Oh my god, that's true. Fortunately, the accuracy requirements of this experiment are not that high. If this was a more precise experiment, the problems you mentioned would be very serious."

After that, Lavoisier looked at Lawrence with great gratitude and said repeatedly:

"I didn't expect that you are indeed a meticulous and astute scholar. It is really fruitful to communicate with you."

Lawrence shook his head humbly. After all, he could see these problems thanks to the experience of predecessors like Lavoisier, so he said proudly:

"What happened? Your experimental process also gave me a lot of inspiration. Scholars still need to communicate to make progress."

"Indeed, communication is extremely important." Lavoisier said with deep understanding.

However, after hearing Lavoisier's affirmation, Lawrence showed a sly smile and suddenly said:

"It is precisely for this reason that I also want to communicate and learn with French scholars."

Lavoisier was stunned for a moment. After all, he was not an old political fox like the Duke of Richelieu, so he did not realize what Lawrence meant.

Lawrence was not impatient and continued to hint:

"If there is a gathering place for the most knowledgeable scholars in France, then it is the Royal Academy of Sciences. Oh, I almost forgot, you are an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences."

"Do you want to hold a salon with the academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences? I should be able to arrange it."

Lavoisier said hesitantly. He vaguely sensed what Lawrence meant, but he didn't dare to confirm it, so he had to give a rather conservative answer.

After hearing this, Lawrence could only chuckle and shake his head. If it were the Duke of Choiseul or the Duke of Richelieu, they would definitely know what he meant from the first sentence.

"I mean"

Lawrence said directly:

"Communicating with them for a long time, of course, is the best thing to be one of them."

"You want to join the Royal Academy of Sciences?"

Lavoisier suddenly realized it, but then he said with some worry:

"However, I have to say that this is a bit difficult. Of course, I am not boasting. You need to have some well-known academic works and have joint recommendations from three academicians. Then you have to go through a vote by the committee. After all this, you can will be awarded the title of academician.”

Lawrence listened to Lavoisier's explanation and nodded without surprise. This recommendation system was still widely used in later generations.

However, for Lawrence, although he is confident that he can join the Royal Academy of Sciences through formal procedures with the scientific knowledge in his mind, it will undoubtedly take a long time.

Putting aside publishing influential academic articles, just finding three academicians to jointly recommend it would take a lot of effort. After all, Lawrence did not come from a university. He had neither a recommendation from a mentor nor connections in the academic circle. .

Therefore, if Lawrence wanted to become a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences as soon as possible, he still had to rely on the famous young man in front of him.

This is why Lawrence deliberately accepted Lavoisier’s letter of visit among many visitors.

"Ah, that does sound difficult."

Lawrence took a sip of coffee, moistened his throat, and suddenly changed the topic and said:

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Lavoisier, what are you going to do when you visit me today? We were so happy talking just now that we almost forgot about it."

"Here."

Lavoisier stared. No matter how slow he was, he could tell what Lawrence wanted at this time.

Lawrence glanced at Lavoisier, who was hesitant and hesitant, and added intentionally or unintentionally:

"I will talk to the Duke of Choiseul recently about the tax issues in the areas around Paris. It would be best if I could help you."

After hearing this, Lavoisier could not hide the surprise on his face. He had no idea how Lawrence guessed that he was here to ask him to expand the scope of his tax package.

"Ha ha."

Lavoisier laughed twice. He also knew that with his current channels, it would be a blessing to meet someone like Lawrence. If he misses this opportunity, who knows how long he will have to wait, so he gritted his teeth and said:

"Actually, it's nothing. It's just some small things about the tax-free area under my name. Compared with this, I am more concerned about Your Excellency Bonaparte's joining the Royal Academy of Sciences."

"Oh? Really? Didn't you just say it was a little difficult?" Lawrence asked with a chuckle.

"Well, actually"

After Lavoisier thought for a moment, he forced a smile and said:

"You have just demonstrated your excellent academic abilities. I think there will be several academicians including me who are willing to recommend you."

"This is really great." Lawrence nodded with satisfaction, and then added:

"What about influential academic works? Although I have some wonderful experimental ideas, unfortunately my official duties prevent me from doing so."

Lavoisier replied fluently:

"No, the suggestion you just gave me is very important. I think I must list your name as a co-author in the next few articles, including this one that has been published. I will also list your What do you think about the name addition?”

"Oh! Mr. Lavoisier, you are so generous."

Lawrence relaxed and leaned on the sofa, nodded slightly and said:

"In this case, I think your request for the expansion of the tax concession area will definitely be taken seriously by the Duke of Choiseul."

"That's good, that's good."

Lavoisier smiled awkwardly.

Although the two had reached an agreement and Lavoisier got what he wanted, he was not happy at all at this moment.

"Can I ask a question that might offend you?"

Lavoisier stared at Lawrence for a moment and asked hesitantly.

"Please do it." Lawrence waved his hand and said.

"I feel that you are indeed knowledgeable and have entered the Royal Academy of Sciences openly. Why did you use such a shameful method?"

Lavoisier observed Lawrence's face and said as tactfully as possible:

"I think this is a bit insulting to the scholar's demeanor and ethics."

Lawrence picked up the coffee cup and took a long sip. He didn't care about Lavoisier's somewhat sarcastic words and said directly:

"Mr. Lavoisier, I'm sorry if your conscience is troubled by our transaction. But I don't think of myself as a scholar. I'm just a profit-seeker."

Thank you to the book friends of "Magic Bird Fortune Telling" for your monthly ticket support!