From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

June 6, 1770, the third day after the hunt in the Versailles forest.

And in the early morning of this day, on the gravel road in Versailles, a four-horse carriage decorated with She Hao was driving smoothly towards the center of France, the Palace of Versailles.

Pedestrians on both sides of the street looked at the carriage with envy and respect, simply because they recognized the coat of arms painted on both sides of the carriage.

For the nobles, the coat of arms with a yellow cross on a blue background and dotted with a yellow rectangle should be able to identify it even without a sophisticated knowledge of heraldry, because it is the coat of arms of the famous Choiseul family. .

And the identity of the owner of this carriage is self-evident.

"We'll be at the palace in about an hour."

In the carriage, Duke Choiseul took out his gold pocket watch and looked at it. He looked at Lawrence opposite with a smile and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, you should be ready."

As an important minister and favorite, the Duke of Choiseul was certainly experienced in this kind of banquet. As long as he stayed in Versailles, he would receive invitations to banquets from Louis XV almost every month.

Therefore, he had no special feelings about this ordinary royal banquet.

"If you're talking about those damn court ceremonies, I guess I'm not ready yet."

Lawrence shrugged and joked casually.

During these three days, Lawrence did not return to Paris, but temporarily stayed at the Duke of Choiseul's manor. He claimed to be recovering from his injuries, but in fact he was practicing court etiquette.

Although it was indeed a blessing to be received by the king, the red tape that followed made Lawrence very anxious.

The Duke of Choiseul also specially sent Mr. Lund who was staying in Paris for this purpose to personally guide Lawrence in the court etiquette.

As a qualified attendant, Mr. Lund was quite proficient in the complicated court etiquette, but Lawrence, who came from a later generation, was obviously not familiar with this.

By the time Lawrence was about to leave for Versailles with the Duke of Choiseul, he had only mastered the etiquette when facing the king.

"Haha, you have to be lucky that the current king is not his great-grandfather. Otherwise, if you are discourteous in the palace, it will not be as simple as making a fool of yourself. You may be guillotined."

Duke Choiseul laughed and said:

"But you don't have to worry. Everyone knows that you are a foreigner anyway, and they won't have high etiquette requirements for you. To be honest, it's great that you can speak French so fluently."

Lawrence nodded. In his impression, Louis XV was indeed much more generous than his great-grandfather Louis XIV. At least he would not get angry because of his negligence in etiquette.

"If I have the chance, I will definitely ban all these damn court etiquette. I think shaking hands and bowing are fine."

Lawrence also laughed twice along with Duke Choiseul, looked out the window, and said casually.

"Hey, then you probably have to try it in Corsica. There are a lot of arty guys in France. Their grandfather might have been a poor peasant, and they themselves have to talk and walk like kings."

"Maybe there's a chance." Lawrence just smiled and said in a joking tone.

As Lawrence and Duke Choiseul were chatting and laughing, the carriage slowly approached the splendid Palace of Versailles.

Even though it was still early in the morning, there was already a long line of carriages lined up at the gate of the Palace of Versailles. Their carriages were all painted with all kinds of coats of arms of nobles that Lawrence did not recognize. They were all obviously coming with status. People who attend banquets.

Although the banquet will only start around the evening, except for a few nobles who really come to the banquet to eat, drink and have fun, most people will take this opportunity to stay in the Palace of Versailles for a whole day. After all, this is the center of power in France.

"This is the Palace of Versailles, it's really nice."

Lawrence nodded and said while sitting in the carriage.

Although only the gate of the Palace of Versailles can be seen, judging from the all-marble walls and the well-trained royal guards at the door, this is indeed a palace that can be called the center of Europe.

It’s no wonder that in the heyday of Versailles, a quarter of France’s fiscal revenue was spent here.

"Not bad? My dear Lawrence, there are nearly 40,000 people living here, and there are 4,000 Cavalry Guards alone. This cannot be described as 'not bad'."

Seeing Lawrence's calm comment, Duke Choiseul shook his head and said:

"If you include the guards and the royal police inside, the entire population of Corsica is not as large as the people here."

Lawrence nodded in approval, but according to Duke Choiseul's calculation of servants and guards, the Forbidden City was almost the same size in its heyday, so he went on to say:

"Maybe, but palaces of this size also exist in the East."

"Oh? The East? You mean India? I heard explorers say that there are basically monkeys there." Duke Choiseul asked with a frown.

"It is true that India is basically full of monkeys, but what I want to say is an ancient country further east in India." Lawrence shook his head and said.

"oh--"

Duke Choiseul nodded with understanding and said with some regret:

"It's a pity that I am an old man and have no chance to see what you are talking about."

"Then I can bring you a picture album in the future."

Lawrence closed his eyes and said slowly:

"I should go there once."

The carriage procession moved slowly, and it took a while before Duke Choiseul's carriage arrived at the gate.

Although in Lawrence's view, this short distance could be walked on foot, but in the view of a traditional nobleman like the Duke of Choiseul, the only way to reach the destination by carriage was to live up to his status.

The two of them stepped out of the carriage with the help of the horseman, and the two guards at the door came forward.

One of them looked lazily at Duke Choiseul and Lawrence and said loudly:

"Gentlemen, please show your invitation letter. In addition, we need to conduct a security check on you."

Before the guard finished speaking, an officer who looked like a captain rushed out of the barracks not far away.

When he came up, he slapped the two guards hard twice on their helmets and yelled:

"Two idiots! Get out of here!"

After that, before the Duke of Choiseul could say anything, the officer quickly bowed to him and said sincerely:

"I'm very sorry, Your Majesty Duke, they are new here. Please come in. I wish you a pleasant banquet."

Duke Choiseul nodded without saying anything, and took Lawrence into the Palace of Versailles as a matter of course.

It wasn't until the two of them were far away that the officer pointed at the two guards and cursed:

"You are really blind! If you don't look at what is painted on their carriage, it is the Duke of Choiseul. How dare you stop such a big shot?!"

The two guards also looked like they were in trouble, but they still defended carefully:

"But what if the Duke of Choiseul doesn't have an invitation either."

"Bullshit!" The officer became even more angry, pointing at their noses and cursing:

"I think you'd better buy more newspapers and read them. Did you know that the King and the Duke of Choiseul call each other brothers?! Which banquet of the King cannot he attend?"

"Yes, sir. But the young man next to the Duke, I don't think he looks like a noble." The two of them asked still unwillingly.

The officer cautiously glanced sideways at Lawrence's back and said affirmatively:

"The one who can get so close to the Duke of Choiseul must be the Governor of Corsica. I heard that he beat the eldest grandson of the Duke of Richelieu into a eunuch two days ago. If you piss him off, huh? !”

When the two guards heard this, their expressions tightened, and they subconsciously covered their crotches, sighing repeatedly that they were lucky that they had not offended this person.

"Let me see the time. Oh, it's still so early."

Walking in the marble courtyard at the entrance of the Palace of Versailles, Duke Choiseul took out his pocket watch and looked at it. Seeing that it was only after ten in the morning, he said to Lawrence very relaxedly:

"There are no plans before the banquet. Let's just do something casually and wait for the evening to arrive. The Palace of Versailles is a good place to have fun. I like the billiard table in the Venus Hall very much. The Royal Opera House is also good, but the quality is not so good. Nothing beats the Paris Comédie.”

Lawrence smiled bitterly and nodded. It is estimated that only a person with the Duke of Choiseul's status can regard the Palace of Versailles as a place for entertainment.

And when Lawrence was looking around, thinking about what to do to pass the time, a somewhat unexpected figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"Huh? Governor Bonaparte, what's wrong?" Duke Choiseul asked in confusion when he saw Lawrence suddenly frowning.

Lawrence slightly pointed at the two men walking side by side not far in front, and said in a low voice:

"The two people in front, the one on the left, are they the Duke Richelieu?"

When Duke Choiseul heard this, he quickly narrowed his eyes and then frowned as well and said:

"Yes, it's definitely that damn old man. I didn't expect him to actually attend this banquet in person. Humph, I guess he couldn't sit still after hearing the bad news about his grandson."

Lawrence also agreed with Duke Choiseul's view. After all, Duke Richelieu was seventy-four years old and would definitely not attend such an ordinary banquet under normal circumstances.

But this also means that Duke Richelieu must be coming for Lawrence, so he may already have a way to deal with Lawrence and Duke Choiseul.

"Wait. The person next to him"

After Duke Choiseul confirmed the identity of Duke Richelieu, he did not immediately look away. Instead, he stared closely at the person next to Duke Richelieu and whispered:

"If I read it correctly, it should be Baron Bertula."

"Baron Bertula?" Lawrence thought he had heard this name around Duke Choiseul, but he couldn't remember it for the moment.

Duke Choiseul nodded and added:

"He's a British guy, and he's also England's special envoy to France. I originally had a good relationship with him, but we had a bit of a quarrel with him because of what you did in Corsica."

Lawrence looked at Duke Richelieu with some surprise. Although there was nothing wrong with a Duke walking side by side with the English ambassador in the Palace of Versailles, at this sensitive moment, this scene still made Lawrence a little suspicious.

Duke Choiseul apparently thought so too. He stroked his beard thoughtfully and said in a deep voice:

"This is a bit intriguing. They should have gotten off the same carriage, which means they have been together earlier, huh."

"How is the personal relationship between Duke Richelieu and Baron Bertula?" Lawrence asked while analyzing rapidly in his mind.

"Personal relationship? It is difficult for an Englishman and a Frenchman to have any personal relationship. If the Duke of Richelieu and I have anything in common, it is that we both hate the British."

Duke Choiseul spread his hands and said.

Lawrence also agreed and said:

"This is also what the Corsicans and the French have in common. Having said that, it means that their relationship is probably related to political affairs?"

"Government Affairs."

Duke Choiseul pondered for a moment and then shook his head and said:

"Although Duke Richelieu was reinstated by the High Court four years ago, he has no power at all. He just wears the title of French Marshal. His status is basically reflected in his influence."

Lawrence and Duke Choiseul looked at each other, and both of them had noticed something was wrong.

If the Duke of Choiseul has a good relationship with the English Ambassador, it is because the Duke of Choiseul manages France’s foreign policy. Then the Duke of Richelieu walks with the English Ambassador without having any personal relations or government affairs. , that is indeed a bit suspicious.

The two then kept a distance from the Duke of Richelieu and followed them for a long time.

Fortunately, the Palace of Versailles was quite lively and crowded today, so the two men were not noticed following them.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, the Duke of Richelieu and the Baron Bertula walked into the Royal Opera House located in the east wing of the Palace of Versailles.

Upon seeing this, the two of them gave up and continued to follow. It was still easy for them to notice in the theater environment, and the Duke of Richelieu, like the Duke of Choiseul, also had his own separate box in the Royal Opera House.

"What do you think, Governor Bonaparte?"

Duke Choiseul and Lawrence stood in front of the Royal Opera House, leaning against the wall and talking quietly:

"In this case, the only thing that can bring the two of them together is some common interests."

"It's very possible." Lawrence nodded and affirmed:

"But maybe they really just happened to bump into each other in the Palace of Versailles. I think we still need to have direct contact with them before we can make a conclusion."

"Direct contact? You mean with Baron Bertula?"

After hearing this, Duke Choiseul nodded repeatedly and said in agreement:

"That's just right. You will have to talk to him sooner or later about the execution of the officers on the ship Reasonable in Corsica, so why not take advantage of this opportunity."

Having said that, Duke Choiseul summoned a passing servant and directly ordered the servant to notify his subordinates in the Palace of Versailles and ordered his subordinates to wait at the entrance of the Royal Opera House until Baron Bertula came out.

"By the way, your Excellency, having an affair with an Englishman must be a serious crime in France."

After seeing Duke Choiseul finish his instructions, Lawrence suddenly asked.

"Of course, it can be considered treason at the highest level."

Duke Choiseul realized something and frowned and asked:

"Are you sure that the Duke of Richelieu is having an affair with an Englishman?"

"No, I'm not sure."

Lawrence shrugged and said:

"I just hope that in the outcome, he really had an affair with the British."

Duke Choiseul chuckled and asked understandingly: "What about the process?"

Lawrence shook his head and replied:

"Who cares how it goes."

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