From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The banquet in the Hall of Mirrors had already been drinking for three rounds, and most of the guests had a slight flush on their faces just like King Louis.

The servants in the back garden took a ladder to light the coal lamps in the garden one by one. Under the orange light, the flowers and leaves swaying with the evening breeze were also reflected into the hall of mirrors together with the lights, making the guests feel like they were there. In the back garden.

Of course, it is estimated that not many people in the Hall of Mirrors could calm down and appreciate this wonderful scene at this moment. They were all still shocked by King Louis's generous reward to Lawrence.

The faces of the Duke of Richelieu and Justice Maupe were particularly ugly. They both understood that with the blessing of the royal tax collector and the crown prince's first attendant, Bonaparte was no longer able to do whatever he wanted. It's up to them to decide the target of their calculations.

Although Lawrence's power and background are still very small compared to Duke Richelieu, Duke Richelieu also admitted that this boy must be taken seriously in the future.

"anyway."

Justice Mopu curled his lips and whispered worriedly:

"This shouldn't have any impact on our plans for a while, right?"

Duke Richelieu secretly observed Louis XV's face, then shook his head slightly and said:

"Probably not, and if that Bonaparte boy knows his identity, his two identities might still be able to be used by us."

"I hope so." Justice Mopu said with a slight nod.

"You really made a good deal. This is much more useful than an empty earl."

Duke Choiseul on the other side also whispered to Lawrence with a smile.

Now, maintaining the interest relationship between the two people is no longer as simple as negotiating the treaty of Corsica's surrender to France. The close relationship between Lawrence and the royal family alone is enough for the Duke of Choiseul to take him seriously.

"To be honest, I didn't expect King Louis to be so generous." Lawrence shook his head twice and said.

"I don't think it's just because of generosity. Although the king doesn't know how to govern, he doesn't know anything about politics."

Duke Choiseul suppressed his smile and said seriously:

"I'm afraid he really took a fancy to your talent and loyalty, and hoped that you could become the right-hand man of the future king, so he specially appointed you as the crown prince's first attendant. You must know that there are many official positions at the same level, and the king will definitely choose this position. It’s an ulterior motive.”

Lawrence also nodded in agreement with Duke Choiseul's opinion.

After all, Louis XV must have known that he did not have many years left, and the current crown prince is only sixteen years old. This age is already the time for those talented monarchs to start to rise to prominence, but the current crown prince is obviously not That type of monarch has so far shown no special talents.

Louis XV was probably worried about his grandson with a weak political foundation, and wanted to finalize a team of assistants for him while he was in power.

Although Lawrence was very close to the Duke of Choiseul, in Louis XV's view, Lawrence had just come to France. He was not like the Duke of Choiseul and the Duke of Richelieu. A huge interest group, so it is safe to put such a person next to the crown prince.

"Then I will become the future Minister Tuogu."

Lawrence smiled bitterly and joked with Duke Choiseul.

"This is not even close." Duke Choiseul smiled twice and said:

"The king probably just wants you to assist him as the crown prince's personal attendant. After all, your act of risking your life to save the crown prince has proven your loyalty."

Lawrence smiled and shrugged, but did not reply. He just said silently in his heart:

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint this old king."

The singing and dancing in the Hall of Mirrors continues.

Although the dishes at the royal banquet were extremely rich and delicious, none of the guests sitting here should be here just for the food.

The same was true for King Louis. His attention was not on the feast on the table, but always smiling, greeting and chatting with the guests at the long table one by one.

Soon, after finishing his chat with Duke Richelieu, King Louis turned his soft eyes to Justice Maupe next to him.

This staunch defender of royal power left a deep impression on King Louis, and his actions were supported and praised by Louis XV.

"By the way, Marquis de Maupe, I don't see you very often at Versailles."

Louis XV asked with a smile:

"Why do you suddenly want to come to the banquet today?"

Justice Mopu nodded and was not in a hurry to reply. Instead, he took out a handkerchief and wiped his oily mouth, and then said respectfully:

"We are usually busy with official duties, so we don't have many opportunities to come here at His Majesty's invitation. This time, because I have to leave Paris for a while, I took the opportunity to come and say goodbye to His Majesty."

As soon as Justice Maupe finished speaking, Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul looked at each other alertly.

Now that the struggle between Choiseul's faction and Richelieu's faction has entered a critical stage, neither of them believed that Justice Maupp would choose to leave Paris at this juncture.

The Duke of Choiseul felt that something was wrong. As far as he knew, there was no matter outside of Paris that Justice Moppe needed to deal with personally. Local matters would naturally be resolved by local judicial institutions.

Louis XV was not aware of these details, and just asked casually:

"Is it because of official business? How long will it take for you to go?"

Justice Mopp lowered his head and said:

"Yeah, I'll probably be gone for a few months."

Duke Choiseul touched his chin, thought for a while with an unfriendly expression, and then took the initiative to test:

"Oh? Your Excellency, is there any urgent local matter that requires you to leave for a few months? The Palace of Justice in Paris will be in chaos without you."

I saw Justice Maupe turning to look at Duke Choiseul, his eyes full of amusement, the corners of his mouth raised slightly proudly, and he said slowly:

"You should know what happened some time ago. I expelled all fifteen appeal judges from the High Court of Dijon in the Burgundy region because of all the malfeasance they had committed."

"Yes. Of course I know."

Duke Choiseul stared at Justice Maupe with fierce eyes, nodded heavily and said.

It has been some time since Justice Maupp dismissed all the appeal judges of the Dijon High Court. This act was approved by the king at the time, so the Duke of Choiseul had no way to interfere with it and had no choice but to let this suppression of high officials go. Court action occurs.

"The High Court of Dijon has been suspended for several months now. Although I don't like those oligarchic judges who are selfish, arrogant, corrupt and bend the law, without them, the judicial system in Burgundy will indeed be difficult to operate."

Justice Maupe looked at King Louis and said with great emotion:

"So I need to personally go to Dijon to inspect the local judicial environment and write a report. At the same time, I need to personally select a group of qualified appellate judges to take office."

"So that's it." King Louis nodded in acquiescence and did not take it to heart.

Duke Choiseul and Lawrence clearly heard something was wrong.

Duke Richelieu and Justice Maupp must have known that the High Court was a loyal ally of Duke Choiseul, and Duke Choiseul could tolerate Justice Maupp suppressing the High Court under the king's instructions, but he would never allow Maupe to suppress the High Court. Justice Pu replaced all the high courts in a region with his own people.

Once such a hole is opened, it will be difficult to clean up later.

Justice Maupe knew that Duke Choiseul would not tolerate this kind of behavior, but he still deliberately brought it up in front of the king, which made both Lawrence and Duke Choiseul immediately alert.

"There's something fishy."

Lawrence bumped Duke Choiseul's thigh and reminded him softly.

Although Duke Choiseul also noticed this, he still shook his head and said:

"Probably, but there's no way I'm going to let him ban members of the Superior Court of Justice in Dijon."

So, Duke Choiseul looked at Justice Maupe, and quickly thought of a perfect rebuttal, and said loudly:

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, your authority as the Chancellor of France is limited to judicial and legislative aspects. As for the appointment of bureaucrats, this seems to be beyond your authority."

After hearing this, King Louis knew that what Duke Choiseul said was reasonable, but he was still a little unhappy. After all, Justice Maupe's approach was in the interest of the royal power, so he signaled to Duke Choiseul to be accommodating this time:

"Okay, Choiseul, I know that the appointment of these judges should be your responsibility, but after all, you have to leave Paris for a few months this time. There are still many things in Paris that need you to deal with. I think I will let Maupe Let the Lord Justice complete this task.”

"Your Majesty! Your Excellency the Justice!"

If it were anyone else, they would definitely compromise immediately after hearing the king speak like this, but a tough minister like the Duke of Choiseul had no intention of backing down and said directly:

"A justice directly appoints an appeal judge of the High Court. Such behavior has no legal basis and is illegal. If this kind of thing spreads, wouldn't it make other countries laugh at our French judicial system? It's a joke."

Listening to Duke Choiseul's unflinching words, the nobles present also shook their heads in lamentation, lamenting that he was the only one who could speak to the king like this.

Louis XV frowned even more, thinking about how to refute Duke Choiseul.

However, Justice Maupe was not unhappy at all when he heard Duke Choiseul's scolding. Instead, the smile on his lips grew wider, and he said before Louis XV:

"This is indeed inappropriate, but Your Excellency, I also consider that the burden on your shoulders is too heavy, and I just want to share some of it with you."

"Hmph." Duke Choiseul snorted unappreciatively. Knowing that Justice Maupe was just flattering, he said bluntly:

"Thanks for the offer, but I can handle it."

Justice Maupe did not show any signs of surprise, but looked proudly at Duke Richelieu.

This feeling of being calculated made Duke Choiseul very uncomfortable, but he still didn't know what Justice Maupe was doing and why he deliberately proposed a plan that would definitely be rejected by him.

Next to him, Lawrence looked at Justice Mopp without saying a word. Although he had vaguely guessed the other party's intention, he had no means to counter Justice Mopp at this moment.

After a few seconds of silence, Justice Maupe suddenly looked at King Louis and said sincerely:

"Your Majesty, although I believe that the Duke of Choiseul can handle these matters with his ability, his burden is indeed too heavy, especially if he wants to go to Dijon in my place, many things will be delayed, such as ."

"For example?" Louis XV asked with a frown.

Justice Mopp cleared his throat twice, glanced at Lawrence thoughtfully, and said in a deep voice:

"For example, the treaty being negotiated between His Excellency the Duke and Governor Bonaparte will be delayed."

"You" Duke Choiseul then realized that Justice Maupe's purpose was not to go to the High Court of Dijon.

Once the Duke of Choiseul took over the affairs of inspecting Burgundy and appointing judges of the High Court of Dijon, his negotiations with Lawrence would inevitably be suspended, at least during his absence.

King Louis naturally did not want to see this situation.

"Well that's true."

Louis XV rubbed the corners of his mouth, showing a faint smile. He didn't know what he was thinking, and then said:

"I don't want this matter to be delayed for too long. I believe Governor Bonaparte thinks so too, right?"

Lawrence nodded expressionlessly and said, "Of course, Your Majesty."

Both Justice Maupp and the Duke of Richelieu couldn't help showing a somewhat successful expression, and Justice Maupp then said:

"If necessary, I will be happy to share this part of the affairs for the Duke of Choiseul. As a justice, I consider myself to be as good as the Duke of Choiseul in the compilation of legal treaties."

King Louis also smiled, obviously siding with Justice Maupe, and said:

"Of course, of course, your ability is obvious to all. So Choiseul, what do you think? Leave the negotiation of the treaty with Governor Bonaparte to Justice Maupp."

The Duke of Choiseul couldn't help biting his lip. King Louis obviously gave himself only two choices, either acquiescing to Justice Maupp to insert his hand into the High Court, or transferring the matter of negotiating a treaty with Lawrence give him.

Seeing that Duke Choiseul was still hesitating, Justice Maupp mocked:

"What's wrong, Your Majesty the Duke? It's not your exclusive right to negotiate with the Governor of Corsica, right?"

Duke Choiseul glanced at Justice Maupe coldly, then sighed softly and said to Lawrence:

"I'm sorry, Governor Bonaparte, but the High Court is an ally I cannot afford to lose."

"I can understand." Lawrence nodded without surprise.

Duke Choiseul took a deep breath, nodded to King Louis and said:

"I understand, Your Majesty, I will send someone to connect the existing negotiation process with Justice Mopu."

"very good."

Louis XV's face was full of satisfaction, and he said happily.

The faces of Duke Richelieu and Justice Maupp were also covered with smiles, and they regarded this confrontation as a great victory in the struggle between the two factions.

Not only did they completely cut off the possibility of Duke Choiseul using the Corsican surrender incident to increase the king's trust, but they also held Lawrence, the newly rising political star, in their hands.

Now that they have taken over the negotiations with Lawrence, the two of them take it for granted that they have Lawrence's fate in their hands.

As the person involved, Lawrence sat there without saying a word, as if their confrontation had nothing to do with him.

"Louis XV. It seems that the king who has been on the throne for fifty-five years must not be an idiot. This abacus is really good."

Lawrence glanced at the smiling Louis XV and said slowly to himself.