From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Justice Mopu seems to be a little restless."

Lawrence looked at the building complex in front of him, which occupied one-third of the entire Île de la Cité, and murmured softly.

Since Louis XV ordered the process of Corsica's surrender to be handled by Chancellor Maupe, the two have not formally discussed this matter.

In the original plan of Justice Maupe and the Duke of Richelieu, after they took over this authority, they would immediately use it as a threat to force Lawrence to assist them, or at least ask Lawrence to stay away from Choiseul. Duke.

However, their plan apparently encountered an unexpected change:

At the dinner party at the Palace of Versailles that day, Louis XV actually appointed Lawrence to the official positions of Royal Tax Collector and First Attendant to the Crown Prince on the spot.

With the blessing of these two powers, Lawrence's status in Paris is naturally different from what it used to be. This also made Justice Maupp fearful of him, so he never took the initiative to come to him.

However, it seems that the Lord Chancellor has also read today's Daily Observer and learned about the commotion in the Place de la Bourse. He obviously cannot continue to sit idly by the National Silver Company of Corsica.

Because Lawrence was holding a gilt invitation in his hand, written by Justice Maupe himself, which contained a concise invitation for Lawrence to come to the Palace of Justice immediately.

This invitation was only delivered to the mansion on the Champs Elysées this morning. When Lawrence received the invitation, the ink on it had not even been completely dried.

"Then it's time to meet with the Lord Justice for a while."

Lawrence glanced at the content posted on the invitation again and walked straight towards the guard at the door.

The Palais de Justice, a complex of buildings located in the heart of Paris, has always been a symbol of the kingdom's legal authority.

It is also the residence of the Paris High Court, the highest appellate body in France, and the office of the revered French Chancellor.

Although this current Chancellor, the Marquis de Maupe, has broken with the Paris High Court, he is still the unquestioned supreme power here.

His office is located on the top floor of a splendid four-story building on the main axis of the Palace of Justice, which is also the main building of the Palace of Justice.

Standing here, you can have a panoramic view of the entire north bank of the Seine, including the Louvre Museum and Saint-Jacques Tower Park across the bank from the Palace of Justice, as well as the Place Louis XV not far away, which was transformed after the Revolution. It has a more famous name - Place de la Concorde.

However, it is not every day that Justice Mopu is interested in standing in front of the window with a cup of coffee and admiring these beautiful views, just like today.

"Damn this Bonaparte, what did he do to that company?"

Justice Mopp sat behind his desk, staring at the Daily Observer on the table, even though he had read the front-page report no less than ten times.

At first, neither the Duke of Richelieu nor he paid much attention to the so-called National Silver Company. It was not until the news that Montmartre injected capital into the National Silver Company came out some time ago that they felt that something was wrong.

It's just that although these two people are politically sophisticated, they are obviously not that sensitive in finance, so they don't pay special attention to it.

It was only after today's report came out that Justice Maupp, who learned about the shock in the Exchange Square, made up his mind that Lawrence could never be allowed to continue to act so wantonly.

Boom boom.

An official in black knocked on the door twice, then slowly opened the door and entered in a low voice:

"Your Excellency, the Governor of Corsica, Laurence Bonaparte, has arrived."

"He's here, huh, let's bring him in."

Justice Mopp raised his head and ordered, then crumpled the Observer Daily on the table into a ball angrily and threw it into the trash can.

On the other side, Lawrence was leisurely walking around the huge Palace of Justice and watching.

The entire Palace of Justice is roughly divided into three parts. The first is the ancient Paris prison used to hold prisoners, the second is a small Sainte-Chapelle, and the third is the main building complex of the Palace of Justice, which is the Paris High Court and Justice Maupp. workplace.

Lawrence also met many bureaucrats serving in the Paris High Court here. They were basically nobles in court service and inherited their official positions from their fathers.

The attitude of these court nobles towards Lawrence was quite respectful and enthusiastic. After all, they were loyal allies of the Duke of Choiseul, so they regarded Lawrence as one of their own.

After looking around the entire Palace of Justice, Lawrence went to Justice Maupe's office under the guidance of the officials.

The official who led the way slowly opened a four-meter-wide door for Lawrence, and then respectfully guarded the door while Lawrence walked straight into the office.

The whole room is spacious and bright, and even seems a little empty because it is too spacious.

The floor was covered with finely patterned Ottoman carpets, and the red silk curtains in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows were pulled aside and hooked up with silver hooks. All the furniture was made of the same kind of gray-black sunken wood, and it seemed that the craftsman was the same person.

Apart from Lawrence, there was only one man in the room wearing a silver wig. He was sitting behind the desk, looking at Lawrence with a serious face, silent and speechless.

There is no doubt that this is the French Chancellor, the Marquis de Maupe.

Historically, after the fall of the Duke of Choiseul in 1770, he took over the position of First Minister of France.

"Good afternoon, Your Honor."

Lawrence smiled and greeted Justice Mopp, sitting at his desk minding his own business.

Justice Mopp took a shallow breath, forced out a smile and looked at Lawrence and said:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, welcome to your arrival. I hope you like the style of this room. If you are not satisfied, you can tell me directly. After all, we are going to spend a lot of time together here."

Lawrence relaxed and leaned back in his chair, spread his hands and said:

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, I'm very satisfied here."

"That's good. Since that's the case, I won't talk nonsense."

Justice Mopu's expression became more serious and he said in a deep voice:

"I believe you still remember His Majesty the King's edict. All the treaties and procedures regarding the surrender of Corsica to His Majesty have been entrusted to me. I hope we can complete this great treaty together."

Lawrence nodded without changing his expression and said in a sincere tone:

"Of course, I look forward to cooperating with you."

Justice Mopp was silent for a few seconds. He did not speak and just stared at Lawrence's expression for a while. After seeing nothing wrong, he breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said:

"Very well, before we officially start, I also have something off-topic to tell you."

After hearing this, Lawrence's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly. He knew that in politics, those so-called digressions were the real core text.

Justice Mopu is obviously going to put forward his conditions.

"Please tell me." Lawrence chuckled and nodded.

Justice Mopp glanced at Lawrence and said in a deep voice:

"Since you and the Duke of Choiseul have no official contacts, I suggest you reconsider your position."

The smile on Lawrence's face gradually faded, and then he rubbed his forehead and said slowly:

"What you said is so straightforward."

As for Justice Maupe's request, Lawrence could have guessed it before he came to the Palace of Justice. Of course, he would not accept Justice Maupe's request and recruitment.

"There are only two of us here, Monsignor Bonaparte, I think you can be more straightforward."

Justice Mopp licked his lips and looked at Lawrence.

Lawrence turned his head slightly and glanced around the office, then shook his head and said:

"I am very clear about my position, so please forgive me for not adopting your suggestion."

"His Excellency Bonaparte"

Justice Mopp put his chin on his hands, his tone already a little unkind:

"I believe that a shrewd and talented young man like you will not fail to see that the Duke of Choiseul is at the end of his strength. Since the death of Madame Pompadour, his status in the heart of His Majesty the King has become lower and lower."

After that, without waiting for Lawrence to reply, Justice Maupe added:

"You may say how powerful the Duke of Choiseul is and how powerful he is, but that is all false. His power comes from the king and will end with the king. All these only require a word from the king. "

Justice Mopp's inspiring words echoed in the empty room, and after hearing this, Lawrence could not help but look at him with a more serious look.

"As expected of the chief minister in history, he not only saw the predicament of the Duke of Choiseul, but also anticipated the way he fell."

Lawrence frowned slightly and glanced at Justice Mopp, and his opinion of him improved slightly.

Seeing that Lawrence did not speak, Justice Maupe continued to bewitch and said:

"As for young people like you, as long as you stand in the right place, you will have a place in Paris and the Palace of Versailles before long. The political legacy of the Duke of Choiseul is richer than you imagine, and one of you will definitely be included in it." share."

Lawrence still didn't reply, but he knew that what Justice Maupe said was indeed correct.

Historically, from the fall of the Duke of Choiseul in 1770 until the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, the political structure of France during these four years was called the triumvirate, that is, three people divided up the political legacy of the Duke of Choiseul.

They are: the Duke of Aiguillon, the nephew of the Duke of Richelieu, who serves as foreign minister; Justice Maupp, who serves as the chief minister; and Joseph Marie Terre, who serves as the finance minister.

Here, the Duke of Aiguillon is equivalent to the representative of the Duke of Richelieu, and the Minister of Finance, Terre, is also supported by Justice Maupe.

In other words, after the fall of the Duke of Choiseul, the Duke of Richelieu and Justice Maupe still controlled French politics.

If Lawrence really accepts Justice Maupp's appointment, maybe the political landscape in the past four years will become a four-person politics.

However, Lawrence knew very well that he had no reason to accept Justice Mopp's appointment.

Not to mention that they had already formed a blood feud with the Duke of Richelieu, Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Louis would not be happy to see Lawrence and the Duke of Richelieu together. After all, that meant that Lawrence was on Madame Du Barry's side. .

Not to mention that Lawrence had knowledge of the future and knew that the so-called triumvirate only lasted four years. When Louis XVI came to power, all three people who ran French politics were expelled and liquidated.

"Let us put the digression aside, Your Honor."

Lawrence changed the topic directly, and at the same time, his attitude of rejection was completely written on his face.

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, have you thought about it?"

Justice Mopu's voice was already very low, as if he was suppressing his anger.

"Of course, my idea is very clear. But you, Your Excellency, you might as well consider your position."

Lawrence faced Justice Maupe’s suspy gaze and said loudly:

"Are you going to serve as a spearman for the Duke of Richelieu, or are you firmly on the side of His Majesty the King?"

"Enough! Governor Bonaparte!"

Justice Maupp waved his hand to interrupt Lawrence and shouted in a low voice:

"Then let us do as you wish and put aside the digression. Let us begin with your Corsican National Silver Company."

Lawrence looked at Justice Mopp calmly, knowing that he had called him today just to deal with the National Silver Company.

And since he has rejected the invitation, of course Justice Mopu will not show any mercy.

"As far as I know, the company's operations are included in the treaty."

Justice Mopu said with an unkind expression:

"Now you have started commercial operations before the treaty has been signed. Isn't this appropriate?"

Lawrence did not answer in a hurry, but turned around and looked around in front of Justice Mopp, and suddenly asked:

"Have you seen the treaties that the Duke of Choiseul and I have agreed upon?"

After hearing this, Justice Mopu's face became even more gloomy, and he slowly shook his head and said:

"Huh, so what if I haven't read it. There's no need to read those scraps of paper. Now that I'm taking over the drafting of the treaty, everything will naturally have to start from scratch."

After hearing these words, Lawrence had an imperceptible smile on his face. It seemed that Duke Choiseul was still deliberately stalling for time and had not yet handed over the completed treaty to Justice Maupe for review.

Thinking about it this way, Justice Mopu must have no way of knowing the specific contents of those transactions.

Therefore, Lawrence deliberately put on an unwilling expression and said righteously:

"Your Majesty! The commercial operations of the Corsica National Silver Company are guaranteed by the Duke of Choiseul. You cannot just stop it."

Seeing Lawrence's unwilling expression, Justice Mopu finally felt a sense of joy and snorted coldly:

"Didn't you hear that all those things are turned into waste paper? I ask you to stop the operation of that company now until our treaty is officially signed."

"You! Sigh, okay"

Lawrence punched the table helplessly and angrily, opened his mouth but hesitated to speak. After a while, he sighed again and again and said:

"Okay, okay! You do have the right to do this! Do you have anything else to say? If not, let me leave!"

"Please do as you please, Your Excellency Bonaparte, hum, remember to return the one million investment you received."

Justice Mopp shook his head proudly, watched Lawrence leave the room angrily, and then said to himself disdainfully:

"He's such an inexperienced boy."

Of course Justice Mopp would not see it. Lawrence could not help but raise the corners of his mouth as he left the room.

Then Lawrence came directly to the gate of the Palace of Justice, stopped a public carriage with his hand, and ordered the coachman:

"To the Bank de France."

The coachman turned his head and asked carefully:

"Which one to go to, sir? They have many branches."

"Go to the one with the most money."