From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

After regarding Lawrence as one of his own, Duke Choiseul breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and found two silver goblets and poured two glasses of crystal clear brandy.

"Cheers, Your Excellency Bonaparte, I hope your career and mine will go well."

Duke Choiseul turned around and handed the wine glass to Lawrence, took the initiative to bring his own wine glass up and touched it, and said with a smile.

Lawrence also pursed his lips and smiled, and exchanged glances with Duke Choiseul, but he only tasted the strong wine in the glass briefly, and then put the wine glass on the small table aside.

After all, he and Duke Choiseul still had many things to talk about, and Lawrence didn't want to get drunk with alcohol.

"Oh, right."

After Duke Choiseul drank a large gulp of brandy, his face became quite rosy, and he leaned back on his chair a little drunkenly and said:

"You should know what happened between me and Duke Richelieu. That old bastard should have told you about it that day."

Lawrence nodded slightly. Although Duke Richelieu did not mention Duke Choiseul at the Paris Comedy that day, Lawrence still had a good understanding of the struggle between the two men based on his memory.

Duke Choiseul's wine glass was empty, but he did not refill it. He just played with the empty glass and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, what do you think, between me and the Duke of Richelieu, who will be kicked back to the fiefdom by King Louis in the end?"

Hearing this question, Lawrence frowned for a while, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he answered directly:

"To be honest, unless Duke Richelieu dies suddenly, you will go back to the fief to enjoy your old age."

The room was suddenly surrounded by a suppressed silence, but Duke Choiseul continued to play with the silver wine glass in his hand as if he didn't hear it, carefully stroking the intricate lines on it.

After a long time, Duke Choiseul said in a deep voice:

"This is a very interesting answer. I am the minister in charge of half of France, and the Duke of Richelieu has no real power even though he was reinstated by the High Court, and Madame Du Barry is a lowly prostitute. Why do you do that? Do you think so?"

Lawrence looked at Duke Choiseul, knowing that this was just a test. It was impossible for Duke Choiseul not to know his current situation, so he calmly replied:

"Since you welcome me to your side like this, it means that you have actually discovered that the key to this struggle is not power at all, but only one person."

The Duke of Choiseul smiled, feeling that he heard a satisfactory answer from Lawrence, so he nodded and said in unison with Lawrence:

"King Louis."

Having said that, Duke Choiseul couldn't help but look at Lawrence with a little more approval. He really didn't expect that this young man who had just arrived in Paris for a few days had already seen through the core of his struggle with Duke Richelieu.

Although the current Duke of Choiseul does have a lot of power in his own hands, and can even control and threaten Louis XV to a certain extent, he also knows that once his behavior crosses the line, Louis XV will never Will tolerate it no longer.

In addition, when the Sun King Louis XIV was on the throne, he built France into a highly authoritarian and centralized country and strengthened the royal power to a new level. As the successor, Louis XV, although not as talented as his grandfather, benefited from With this political legacy, Louis XV was still able to directly dismiss Duke Choiseul, an important minister, and drive him back to his fiefdom.

Both Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul who were present knew very well that compared to the Duke of Choiseul, the Duke of Richelieu himself had no real power, and it was completely meaningless to suppress him politically.

Therefore, if you want to bring down Duke Richelieu and Madame Du Barry, you still have to start with Louis XV himself.

The Duke Richelieu and Madame Du Barry undoubtedly knew this, and knew that they could not compete with the Duke of Choiseul in the political arena, so they would inevitably look for opportunities to attack the Duke of Choiseul in the court.

"I know you want to use Corsica to restore King Louis' confidence in you."

Lawrence knew that a shrewd man like the Duke of Choiseul could not be ignorant of these principles, so he went on to say:

"It's just that I feel like I can do more."

As soon as he finished speaking, Duke Choiseul asked with great interest:

"Really, tell me, Governor Bonaparte."

Lawrence sat more upright and gave Duke Choiseul a meaningful look. Then it was time to make conditions.

"I think it is inappropriate to blindly defend Duke Richelieu's attack on you. Although he only has a few years left to live, he can still pose a great threat to you."

Lawrence picked up the wine glass on the table, took a sip, and said slowly:

"It is a good choice to take the initiative to suppress the forces of Duke Richelieu and Madame Du Barry, and I think I can play some role. You also know that in terms of identity, I am a foreigner after all, and after the establishment of the Kingdom of Corsica I am directly responsible to King Louis, so many rules in Paris cannot bind me, which will provide me with a lot of convenience in the future.”

"Yes, that's true." Duke Choiseul smiled and nodded. After all, Lawrence is still the Governor of Corsica. Legally, he is still a foreign ruler. He will naturally enjoy a series of benefits including diplomatic immunity. privilege.

Even after the establishment of the Kingdom of Corsica, Lawrence was legally isolated from the French political system. He was the Corsican prime minister who directly obeyed Louis XV.

Although in reality it was certainly impossible for Lawrence to be completely isolated from the French political scene, these legal grounds could already provide him with many privileges.

"Nothing more."

Lawrence changed the subject and then said:

"This identity also has its limitations. As a foreigner, of course I cannot participate in French political affairs openly."

"So, what do you want?" Duke Choiseul still looked at Lawrence with a smile, already understanding what he wanted.

"A position." Lawrence said directly:

“A position that allows me to legally and legitimately participate in French politics.”

"Since you said that, it means you already have a plan, right?"

Duke Choiseul was indeed an old man and said with a clear expression.

Lawrence nodded and said:

"I think a tax inspector position is the most suitable. After all, no rich person can withstand a detailed tax investigation. If you are willing, you can find out a lot of black information at any time, which can be used to suppress Richelieu." The Duke's men couldn't be more suitable."

"tax inspection."

Duke Choiseul licked his lips and didn't care about the specific position Lawrence wanted. In his opinion, the important thing was to give Lawrence this position to completely bring him to his side, so after thinking for a moment, he said :

"In this case, the government position is not suitable. After all, you are a foreigner, so you still have to arrange a royal position for you. I think the Wang family tax collector is a good choice."

"Wang's tax collector" Lawrence nodded and asked:

"With your ability, you should be able to arrange it, right?"

Duke Choiseul shrugged and said:

"Of course, King Louis is very happy with your behavior. At this time, if I go to say a few nice words for you, he will not refuse such a small request."

"How generous of you, Your Excellency."

Lawrence raised the glass with satisfaction, greeted Duke Choiseul, took a sip, and said:

"However, I have a small request. Of course, this request will be quite beneficial to you."

"Oh?" Duke Choiseul frowned slightly after hearing this, with a bit of displeasure on his face. He didn't want Lawrence to take advantage of the political team to talk to him.

Lawrence also noticed the expression of Duke Choiseul, and then said:

"You should know that the Duke of Richelieu is a member of the French Academy."

"Oh, he does still have this identity, huh, he's just pretending to be educated." Duke Choiseul said with disgust.

"But no matter what, Duke Richelieu is well-known in academic circles, although his reputation does not come from his academic ability."

Lawrence analyzed it in detail:

"In order to expose this, I hope to go deep into the academic circle. To this end, I plan to join the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. The previous process can be completed, which is the final vote of the Academy of Sciences Committee."

Duke Choiseul glanced at Lawrence and said calmly:

"Governor Bonaparte, this is just a trivial matter for me, but I hope to see your results."

"You'll see that soon."

Lawrence smiled and said calmly.

"Very good, very good, I believe you will not let me down."

After receiving Lawrence's assurance, Duke Choiseul nodded with satisfaction, drank all the brandy in the glass, let out a hearty breath, stood up and said:

"Then I won't disturb your rest. Please don't forget the hunt tomorrow morning. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess will be here. You also know that this is an excellent opportunity."

"certainly."

Lawrence stood up, bowed to Duke Choiseul and said.

For Duke Choiseul and Lawrence, these two future kings and queens are undoubtedly the ones who need to win over.

In the early morning of June 2, it was still only dawn, and the manor of the Duke of Choiseul was already bustling with activity.

The nobles participating in the hunt got up from bed early, then took out their beloved hunting horses from the stables, and rode them in groups to a royal forest farm in the northwest corner of Versailles.

Versailles is an excellent place for hunting. Hunters can often bring back strong stags from here. Even the Palace of Versailles was originally a hunting palace built by Louis XIII to facilitate hunting here.

Grosso, who was riding in the middle of the group, suddenly turned his head and looked at the woods on the left side of the road. He heard a faint rustling sound coming from there, and then a deer-like animal noticed the people marching and jumped up and down. He jumped and ran deep into the woods.

"Hey, I bet that's definitely a deer."

Grosso said to Lawrence with almost certainty, barely looking at the animal.

Lawrence asked somewhat unexpectedly:

"Aren't you a sailor? Do you still understand this?"

Grosso raised his head proudly and said:

"That's all happening later. When I was young, I was a top-notch hunter in my hometown. The local landowners often asked me to be their guide, and the reward was at least one florin gold coin. Don't look at me. I haven’t been in the woods for several years, but I dare say that among the nobles here, 99% of them are not as good at hunting as me.”

"That's it"

Lawrence nodded thoughtfully, suddenly remembered something, and quickly waved to Grosso to come over, and then whispered some instructions in his ear.

"Is this okay?"

After listening to Lawrence's instructions, Grosso shook his head hesitantly and said:

"I can't guarantee that I can do it, and if it does, it will be quite dangerous for you."

Lawrence just patted Grosso on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"Didn't you say that you are a first-class hunter? This shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Grosso curled his lips, pointed at the twenty precision shooters behind Lawrence and said:

"Okay, but I need to bring some helpers. Send me ten people, only with knives and no guns."

"No problem." Lawrence pointed to the shooters behind him with his chin, indicating to Grosso to pick someone and start taking action immediately.

Soon, the team led by Grosso took the initiative to slow down, gradually arrived at the end of the team, and then got into the woods without attracting anyone's attention.

After nearly two hours of marching, the hunting team led by Duke Choiseul arrived at the forest farm in the northwest corner.

There is a small castle built in the 13th century in the forest farm. Although it has gone through many vicissitudes of life, this castle is a good place to stay for many nobles who come to this forestland to hunt.

Most of the nobles chose to take their entourage to rest here for a while, but some young nobles who were impatient and eager to show themselves could not wait to rush into the forest with their long bows, ready to prove their bravery to everyone.

And wherever there are men, there are women. This kind of hunting is essentially a social activity, and many nobles also choose to bring their wives, mistresses, or daughters.

But for these ladies, they certainly won't go into the woods with bows and arrows and then get covered in dirt and dust in embarrassment. For them, this is actually a tea party in the wild.

The ladies' entourage carried exquisite picnic boxes and a complete set of porcelain tea sets. While the men began to caress the hounds and adjust the hunting bows, they had already brewed black tea on the grass in front of the castle.

As for the much-anticipated Crown Prince Louis, he seems to have not arrived yet, but many young nobles who are eager to be promoted have already put on flattering gestures and are waiting for the arrival of His Highness the Crown Prince.

Lawrence himself was a small focus among the nobles in the castle. People were speculating about his relationship with the Duke of Choiseul behind the scenes. Some bad guy even said that Lawrence was Choiseul. Such outrageous rumors that the Duke had an illegitimate child.

But it has to be said that the French are obsessed with illegitimate children. In order to attack him, Napoleon's political opponents at the time made up many rumors about Napoleon's origin. For example, Napoleon was the illegitimate son of Paoli, and Napoleon was the illegitimate son of Count Malbeuf. rumor.

Although Lawrence was too lazy to pay attention to these unflattering rumors, he still walked out of the castle with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude and went to the grass outside to kill time, waiting for the arrival of Crown Prince Louis and the official start of the hunt.

Dozens of picnic cloths have been laid out on the grass outside. The ladies and ladies sat on the ground elegantly with their legs crossed, talking and laughing, exchanging gossips about Paris and the court of Versailles.

Lawrence also found an open space and sat cross-legged, basking in the bright sun and casually listening to the women's conversation, enjoying a rare moment of free time.

However, Lawrence's ears soon detected a discordant sound:

"Oh my god, I've had enough! What the hell are you doing for food!"

Judging from the voice, it was a girl who was angrily scolding her servant.

But what surprised Lawrence was that what the girl spoke was not French, but fluent German.

Lawrence turned around and looked. The girl looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old. She was wearing a long-sleeved dress trimmed with silver, and her eyes were the azure blue of the Danube River.

The face is also very delicate, as if it was carved out of marble by Michelangelo, and the skin is as fair and smooth as if it were soaked in milk. She has never experienced any hard work, and you can even vaguely see the wrinkles on her wrists. Turquoise veins.

Lawrence frowned and stared at the girl. Although he was a little surprised, judging from her various characteristics, Lawrence still guessed her identity:

"Age fourteen or fifteen years old, speaking German, with a typical palace temperament, without wearing a wig or hat. It is unmistakable. This must be the French Crown Princess Mary Anne from the Habsburg family who came to Paris in April. Toinette.”