From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The Duke of Richelieu, leaning on a walnut cane with a silver head, staggered into the Hall of Mirrors with the support of Baron Bertula, like a drunken man.

Rather than wearing a wig and stockings to follow the trend, he wore a somewhat retro early Clark dress.

Duke Richelieu, who was seventy-four years old, was obviously not in good health, and had to be supported by Ambassador Bertula who accompanied him even during this journey.

But he insisted on driving from Paris to attend this banquet. This anomaly also made Lawrence a little suspicious.

"If it was just to accompany Ambassador Betula, I shouldn't have gone to this extent."

Lawrence, like other guests, cast his gaze on Duke Richelieu, silently guessing:

"It seems that he is either coming for me, or he has other agendas in Versailles."

Duke Richelieu slightly curved his mouth, narrowed his eyes and showed a kind smile, waved to everyone to say hello, and said with emotion:

"Ah, the Hall of Mirrors, I haven't been here for a while. This place has changed a lot since the late king. I still prefer the way the Hall of Mirrors looked when I was a kid."

Duke Richelieu, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, really has the confidence to say this. After all, he was born in the Palace of Versailles, and the late King Louis XIV was his godfather. When he was young, he probably dreamed of visiting many of these people. The Hall of Mirrors serves as a playground.

The Duke of Choiseul, in the center of the crowd, glanced at the Duke of Richelieu with squinted eyes, and whispered in Lawrence's ear:

"Looking at how close he is to the British guy, my instinct tells me that this old immortal must have some conspiracy, huh, no matter what it is, just let it go."

Lawrence didn't speak, just nodded slightly. He couldn't figure out what Duke Richelieu wanted to do until he had enough convincing information.

However, seeing such a close relationship between him and Ambassador Bertula gave Lawrence an idea.

"Your Majesty the Duke, I admire your intuition very much. It would be great if everyone could think like this." Lawrence tilted his head to Duke Choiseul's ear and said with a chuckle.

"Oh?" Duke Choiseul's eyes lit up. He was extremely looking forward to the proposal of Lawrence, a resourceful young man, so he asked repeatedly:

"Now that you say that, what do you have in mind?"

"You know, people don't really care about the truth, and they don't have access to the underlying truth."

Lawrence stretched out his finger, pointed secretly at the Duke of Richelieu, and said in a low voice:

"All their cognitions come from public opinion. As long as we control public opinion, we can mold their cognition into the shape we want like clay."

"Yeah, it's interesting." Duke Choiseul nodded with a smile, but still said with some rigor:

"But public opinion is not so easy to control. You also know that it is difficult to reconcile everyone's opinions. There will always be different voices in society."

Lawrence shook his head and said:

"No, we don't need to agree on everyone's opinions. As long as the voices supporting us outweigh the voices opposing us, we can graffiti repeatedly on the canvas called truth. For example, does Duke Richelieu have any Having an affair with the British."

Duke Choiseul pondered for a long time, then nodded heavily and slowly twice, and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, do you have a plan?"

"It's just an idea now. I will discuss this with you after I return to Paris." Lawrence nodded.

"Very good." Duke Choiseul licked his lips and patted Lawrence on the shoulder with great approval:

"I look forward very much to your plans, Governor Bonaparte."

While the two were talking in a low voice, the reporter at the door shouted again in a loud voice:

"The Grand Chancellor of France, the Marquis René-Nicolas de Maup!"

This voice was much smaller than that of Duke Choiseul and Lawrence just now, so it didn't attract too many people's attention.

But Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, who were talking, stopped at the same time and turned their attention to a middle-aged man in red robes with a serious face at the door.

Although he was a marquis, he was clearly out of tune with the nobles of the Palace of Versailles. This was not only reflected in his lack of stockings and high heels, but also in his bookish bureaucratic temperament.

I saw Justice Maupe walking into the Hall of Mirrors, meticulously returning greetings to several nobles who greeted him, and then went straight to the Duke of Richelieu and joined him in the conversation with Ambassador Bertula.

"Justice Maupe actually attended this banquet." Duke Choiseul frowned and muttered to himself displeasedly.

Lawrence looked at Duke Choiseul, but did not ask for information about Justice Maupe, because this Justice Maupe was also a famous figure in history.

After the Duke of Choiseul fell and lost his political power in history, it was this Chancellor Maupp who succeeded him as the chief minister of France.

However, he did not serve for long, because Louis XV passed away in 1774, and he also stepped down.

Of course, Justice Maupp is best known for his suppression of the French High Court.

In the French judicial system at this time, the high courts, especially the Parlement of Paris, were the final court of appeal for the entire system and enjoyed enormous powers in many matters, especially taxation.

Even the edicts issued by the king only have legal effect in the jurisdiction of each court after they are officially recognized and issued by the high court.

It can be said that the High Court is on the front line of opposition to the royal power and is also the most direct means used by the first and second classes to oppose reforms.

Therefore, the High Court has become the most direct resistance to France's fiscal reform. The decision of the Versailles Palace to tax the privileged classes will be directly rejected by the High Court before it even leaves Paris.

The Marquis de Maupe, who had served as president of the Paris High Court, after taking over his father's position as French Chancellor, in order to please Louis XV and consolidate the royal power, he in turn suppressed the High Court.

Although Maupe's suppression work achieved considerable results, it was a pity that after Louis XVI came to power in 1774, the king, who had just succeeded to the throne and was still weak in political power, ordered Restore the powers of the High Court and force the then Chief Minister, Maupe, to step down.

"The Marquis de Maupe, this justice is on the opposite side of the Paris High Court."

Lawrence glanced at Duke Choiseul, who looked a little ugly, and said aloud.

The reason why the Duke of Choiseul did not like to see this justice was also very simple. At this time, Justice Maupe had already coveted the position of the Duke of Choiseul, and the Paris High Court that he suppressed belonged to the Duke of Choiseul. Strong allies.

In 1762, the Duke of Choiseul, despite the king's objections, forcibly supported the Paris High Court's resolution to dissolve the Jesuits. This incident also made Louis XV quite angry at the time.

"Yes, although he has a noble title, he is actually a noble in court service. He was considered a centrist before, but now it seems that he is leaning towards Richelieu."

Duke Choiseul stared closely at Justice Maupe who was chatting and laughing with Duke Richelieu, bit his lip and said.

The so-called court-dressed aristocrats, also known as bureaucratic aristocrats and robed aristocrats, refer to the privileged group of hereditary official positions such as Justice Mopu, who inherited the position of chief justice from his father.

Lawrence also frowned and said:

"His political power is not weak, especially his suppression of the Paris High Court, which probably made him very popular with King Louis."

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

"You do know the political situation in Paris quite well. Yes, he has a considerable position in the judicial system."

After saying that, Duke Choiseul shook his head and added:

"Huh, no matter what, the High Court is on my side. If he wants to use the law to deal with me, he must go through the process of the High Court. This is completely unreasonable. It's just that his influence in King Louis and the aristocratic circle is really Not low."

Lawrence nodded and approved Duke Choiseul's judgment. Justice Maupe's main role was in his influence and suppression of the Paris High Court. It was impossible for him to directly use litigation to bring down Duke Choiseul.

However, both Duke Choiseul and Lawrence noticed that the justice appeared in the Hall of Mirrors today, and it was definitely not just for eating, drinking and having fun.

Lawrence and Duke Choiseul looked at each other, and both of them could see the suspicion of Duke Richelieu's group from the other's frown.

"Father, what are you looking at there? It looks like a wooden stake."

At this time, I saw Miss Elvy walking forward angrily, poking Duke Choiseul on the back, puffing her mouth and saying:

"It's rare for me to come to the Hall of Mirrors. Many sisters are here today, and I want to introduce you to them."

For an unmarried lady like Miss Elvy, when interacting with people in such social situations, she usually introduces her father to the other person. Firstly, it is to show her identity and family background, and secondly, it is to Be cordial and polite.

"Okay, okay, my little Elvie, I'm coming."

The Duke of Choiseul had nothing to do with this arrogant daughter. He quickly took a glass of white wine from the silver tray of the passing waiter and said quickly to Lawrence:

"Dear Lawrence, please enjoy this banquet organized for you. Let's put the matter of the justice aside for now. Anyway, we don't have much information right now."

Lawrence smiled bitterly and nodded, watching Duke Choiseul being almost dragged aside by Miss Elvy.

Before Miss Elvy left, she did not forget to look at Lawrence with interest and said:

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Bonaparte, would you like to come and chat for a while? My sisters are interested in you. They all think you are a very good man."

The Duke of Choiseul on the side pinched his nose angrily and said:

"Come on, they didn't even say a word to Lawrence before they knew he was a good man? These women don't all care about appearance. If Judas is a handsome man, the women will definitely defend Judas. ”

"Father!" Miss Elvy squealed, and she poked Duke Choiseul's waist mercilessly.

Seeing this, Lawrence smiled, shook his head, waved his hand and said:

"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Elvy, but I still want to hang out here. After all, this is my first time in the Hall of Mirrors."

"Ah, that's a shame. I wish you a happy party."

Miss Elvy said with some disappointment. At the same time, she glanced at Lawrence shyly from the corner of her eyes, tiptoed to the Duke of Choiseul's ear and said:

"Hmph, father, you really should learn from M. Bonaparte's demeanor. I feel embarrassed every time I bring you to my new sisters. If only I could bring M. Bonaparte there, they would definitely be envious. dead."

"Hehehe! Little Elvie wants to get married? You are indeed not young, but I have never found a suitable marriage partner before. If it weren't for the sake of good relations with Austria, I would have planned for you to marry Crown Prince Louis Marriage."

Duke Choiseul laughed twice, looked at Lawrence’s back and said:

"But I think this Lawrence is pretty good except for his status."

"Father! Shut up!"

Miss Elvy's face flushed, she turned her head to the side shyly, and quickly pulled Duke Choiseul aside.

Lawrence, who was wandering around the Hall of Mirrors, naturally couldn't hear this conversation. After briefly toasting to the guests present, Lawrence also wanted to take a serious look at this pearl of the Palace of Versailles.

"The mural on the dome is really good. It should be Louis XIV, right?"

Lawrence stopped where he was, looked up at the thirty giant murals on the top of the Hall of Mirrors, couldn't help nodding, and said to himself with emotion.

At this moment, an old but clear voice suddenly sounded from behind Lawrence, saying slowly:

"You are right, Governor Bonaparte. In fact, this painting is a war scene of the former king's conquest of the Dutch lowlands. What is particularly noteworthy is that in this series of murals, the painter did not deify the former king, but He was created as a person, which is quite rare in palace murals."

Lawrence did not turn his head, nor did he respond in any way to these words, as if he had not heard them and still looked up at the mural above his head.

The old voice continued:

"If you know anything about painting, you must have noticed that the tones of these murals are greener and cooler. This is quite a contrast to the splendid Hall of Mirrors, which is very eye-catching. The person who painted these murals is Charles Le Blanc, the court painter of the late king, once told me about his creative inspiration. Unfortunately, I was still very young at the time and may not remember it clearly; but if you are interested, I can also tell you about it. ”

Lawrence slowly lowered his head, but did not turn his head to look at the speaker. Instead, he faced the front and said in a deep voice:

"Thank you for your kindness, His Excellency the Duke of Richelieu, but no thanks."