From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Alderman."

Under the solemn attention of dozens of people in the entire welcoming team, Lawrence stepped forward and greeted the beaming Mayor Joseph with a smile.

The bureaucrats and ceremonial cavalry waiting on both sides of the road couldn't help but curiously and cautiously looked at Lawrence sideways, wanting to see what kind of person he was that was worthy of the mayor of Marseille waiting here all morning.

Marseille is more than a thousand miles away from Paris. Except for people like Mayor Josip who keep a close eye on the political situation in France, the people and middle- and lower-level officials are not too cold about political affairs in Paris. After all, that is It's too far away from their lives.

A small number of Marseille citizens may not even know who the current Chief Minister of France is.

In addition, there was a lag in the transmission of news. Most of the officials and soldiers present did not understand why their own parents respected this ordinary-looking young man in front of them so much.

Naturally, Mayor Josip was not as familiar with his subordinates. It only took twenty days for what happened in Paris to reach Mayor Josip's ears via expedited mail.

When he learned that the Governor of Corsica, who was younger than he thought, had brought down the superior Duke Richelieu, Mayor Josip thought he had received false news.

After confirming the accuracy of the news, Mayor Josip could not help but feel a sense of admiration and admiration for the Lord Bonaparte whom he had not yet met.

In his eyes, although Lawrence was born into a poor family of Italian counts, Lawrence, who did not inherit the title, still belonged to the third class in French society, and the French would not treat Lawrence just because of the small title of Italian knight. It is classified as a noble class.

Especially after Lawrence's brother Carlo inherited Count Bonaparte, from a family legal perspective, Lawrence's line became a branch of the Bonaparte family, and it could not be called a noble class.

And such a figure who belongs to the same third class as himself can actually control the situation in Paris and defeat the almost invincible Richelieu family. This makes Mayor Josip feel excited and enthusiastic, as if he has seen his future. way out.

Of course, if Lawrence knew what Mayor Josip was thinking, he would only laugh or cry. After all, the reason why he could not be discriminated against by most people in Paris and Versailles as a non-aristocratic was because of the foreign ruler, the Governor of the Republic of Corsica. identity.

"Oh - Your Excellency Bonaparte, I am truly honored by your compliment."

Mayor Josip screamed in an exaggerated drawl that reminded Lawrence of a tenor in an opera house.

After saying that, Mayor Yosip took off the big three-cornered hat on his head and made a standard bow.

Lawrence stepped forward to help Mayor Joseph up and said politely:

"It is also an honor for me, Mr. Alderman. This is truly the most solemn welcome I have ever received."

"I can only say that this is the treatment you deserve, Monsignor Bonaparte."

Mayor Joseph held Lawrence's hand tightly, took the initiative to lower his posture, and greeted him with concern:

"By the way, I don't know how long you plan to stay in Marseille."

"Only two or three days, we still need to get back to Corsica as soon as possible."

Lawrence replied that the situation in the Kingdom of Naples and the Western Mediterranean has also been of great concern to Lawrence, and he must return to Corsica as soon as possible to prepare, so Lawrence has basically not made any additional stops along the way.

"It's such a shame, I wish you had more time,"

Mayor Yosip said without any concealment of regret.

"Perhaps we can meet more often, Mr. Alderman." Lawrence shrugged and said:

"It's less than a day's flight from Corsica to Marseille."

Even though he knew that Lawrence was just being polite, Mayor Joseph couldn't help but his eyes lit up, he nodded and said:

"Hahaha, that's what you said. Oh, I almost forgot. You must be exhausted after running on the road for so long. If you don't mind, I would like to invite you to have lunch at the city hall. Everything has been done for you. You have arranged it."

Faced with Mayor Yosip's invitation, Lawrence nodded and accepted without hesitation.

If the two of them wanted to talk about something really important, they couldn't conspire loudly like this in front of dozens of people.

Mayor Joseph had indeed arranged everything in an orderly manner in advance. He had found a country manor in advance for the entourage and handymen of the motorcade to rest. The remaining carriages followed the mayor's team. Proceed to Marseille City Hall.

The Marseille City Hall is located on a higher hill, some distance away from the most prosperous port area, so the area of ​​the entire city hall is basically no less than that of the city halls in Paris and Lyon.

The public finances of a prosperous city like Marseille are naturally very abundant. The City Hall Square is paved with neat marble slabs decorated with lapis lazuli patterns. The buildings around the square are also beautifully restored, as if they had just been built. generally.

Even at noon, the kerosene lamps in most buildings were not extinguished, as if kerosene cost nothing.

The bureaucrats who come and go here all have fair and clean appearance, and their clothes and accessories are bright and gorgeous. Their wealthy family background can be seen from their mental outlook.

After Lawrence and his party arrived at the city hall, Grosso, Rousseau and others were taken to the large restaurant on the right side of the main building to wait for the luncheon to begin. Lawrence and Mayor Joseph went to the private office of the mayor together. Have a formal and private interview.

"Please take a seat, Monsignor Bonaparte."

Mayor Joseph led Lawrence into the office, personally moved a cushioned four-corner wooden chair for Lawrence and said, then he quickly found two goblets and poured half a cup of snow for himself and Lawrence. Li wine.

After passing the wine glass to Lawrence, Mayor Joseph sat back in his seat, picked up the wine glass and said respectfully:

"Once again I greet you, Monsignor Bonaparte, and welcome to Marseille. Although you will not be here for long, you are still a rare and distinguished guest in the entire city hall."

Lawrence didn't say anything, he just picked up the wine glass and clinked it with Mayor Yosip, then smiled and took a sip of this special wine from Spain.

"ah"

Mayor Yosip happily raised his glass and took a big sip, exhaled happily and said:

"Seriously, Monsignor Bonaparte, I am so excited to see you. I have specially excerpted the news about you from Paris. Maybe there are people with more wisdom and strategy than you, but I I bet they don’t have the means and achievements you have at your age.”

Hearing Mayor Yosip's first compliment when he came up, Lawrence smiled without any hesitation and responded:

"Mr. Alderman, I can't afford your evaluation. I think you are a very good governor. It seems that Marseille is today's rich and prosperous because of your contribution."

Lawrence's response was not all polite compliments. During the journey just now, Lawrence was also in the carriage and carefully observed the streets and pedestrians in Marseille. It could be seen that Marseille's infrastructure and citizens' living standards were not much worse than Paris.

Although this is partly due to Marseille's historical wealth, Mayor Josip is able to manage it in an orderly manner without causing any trouble, and he can be regarded as an outstanding and competent mayor.

"Hahaha, no, no, you have overstated your point."

Mayor Joseph couldn't help but feel happy when he heard a superior person praise him. Even though he knew it was polite, he couldn't help feeling happy and said with a smile:

"This is also because I have lived in Marseille since I was a child and know this city very well. My father was a trial judge at the Toulouse High Court. Unfortunately, as the second son, I could not inherit his position, so I had to slowly I have slowly climbed up the bureaucracy, and I feel very lucky to have reached this point and managed my hometown in an orderly manner.”

Lawrence nodded. He was not surprised that Mayor Josip had such a prominent family background. After all, although Mayor Josip belonged to the third class, Lawrence did not believe that with the level of class consolidation in France in this era, a person from the lowest level could be Common people climbed into the position of mayor of Marseille.

You must know that the Toulouse High Court is the high court of the Languedoc province, and Marseille is also part of the Languedoc province. From this point of view, the family of Mayor Josip is quite influential in the Languedoc province.

As for the gradual climb up that Mayor Yosip said, this process may be indispensable without the help of his father or brother, who is a High Court trial judge.

However, if Mayor Yosip wants to be promoted, his background as a local High Court trial judge is somewhat unreliable, which is why he is so eager to please Lawrence.

Although the Duke of Choiseul, as the chief minister and minister of war, could not directly control personnel appointments, he could still convince the king to promote him to a local municipal official by virtue of his influence on the king.

But after much thought, Mayor Josip decided that the best way to get in touch with Duke Choiseul was the Bonaparte in front of him.

If he misses this opportunity, it will be difficult for Mayor Yosip, who is already in his forties and in his prime, to get promoted in the future.

Lawrence is also well aware of this, and knows that those who want something from him basically want to establish contact with the Duke of Choiseul through him. After all, although Lawrence has a prominent position in Paris, he still has no Too much real power.

So, after complimenting Mayor Joseph a little, Lawrence suddenly pretended to be unintentional and said:

"There are not many municipal officials with real talents and hard work like you. I think your talents are enough to be the governor of a province."

Lawrence's joking words reached Mayor Joseph's ears, but they were extremely loud and heavy. He couldn't help swallowing and glanced at Lawrence calmly.

Although he was extremely excited, Mayor Joseph pretended to be calm and said with a smile:

"Haha, don't be joking. I know my own weight very clearly. With my background, I would be very satisfied if I could become the mayor of Marseille."

This sentence sounds like a humble refusal, but it is actually Mayor Joseph's test of Lawrence: "Is there any way you can get me promoted regardless of my background?"

Lawrence, of course, could hear the implication, chuckled and shook his head and said:

"This is not all a joke, Mr. Alderman. You should know that although the Duke of Choiseul is a traditional nobleman in life, he is still very open-minded in his thinking."

Mayor Yosip frowned slightly, thought for a while and then nodded in approval.

The Duke of Choiseul was still deeply influenced by Enlightenment ideas. He had a good relationship with Voltaire and even personally supported Voltaire's plan to build the emerging city of Valchois; in return, Voltaire also built this city. Samples of exquisite stockings produced in the new city were sent to the Duchess of Choiseul, and were highly praised by the Duke himself.

In addition, Duke Choiseul also supported the compilation and publication of the "Encyclopedia or Detailed Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", thus receiving strong support from the Encyclopedia scholars. Diderot praised it highly in the Encyclopedia The Duke of Choiseul is:

"Great Choiseul, you never sleep to guard the wealth of France."

In terms of political situation, Duke Choiseul has always been radical and enlightened, and has made drastic reforms in the military and diplomatic systems.

These things are no secret in France, and people like Mayor Josip who are extremely interested in politics will naturally know about them.

"Thinking about it this way, an enlightened person like the Duke of Choiseul may indeed promote those bureaucrats from the civilian class."

Under Lawrence's guidance, Mayor Yosip also nodded and accepted Lawrence's statement, but he still said tentatively:

"I believe that the Duke of Choiseul is synonymous with enlightenment, but there are a lot of nobles waiting for promotion all over France. There is no reason for your Excellency, the Duke, to promote me, a commoner, right?"

"Of course."

Lawrence nodded without hesitation, but then added:

"But... unless you can prove that you are better than those nobles who were born in golden cradle."

Mayor Joseph's heart was already in his throat. He suppressed his excitement and asked:

"Proof? How to prove it?"

"As a city official, you naturally have to rely on the results of governance to prove it." Lawrence said with a smile, and gradually guided Mayor Yosip to get the results he wanted:

"That is, political achievements."

"Achievements."

Mayor Yosip frowned unconsciously and sighed:

"You are right. If I can manage Marseille into a city paved with gold, then of course I can be promoted. But it is impossible to make any qualitative leap in this city. It is impossible to just maintain this world port. Just running things in an orderly manner makes me exhausted.”

"Actually, it doesn't necessarily require dazzling results, Mr. Mayor."

Lawrence spread his hands and said:

"You just need to give Duke Choiseul a reason to promote you, so that he can ask for it in front of the king. In that case, you only need someone who appreciates your talent to ask Duke Choiseul I recommend you.”

"Appreciate my talent. Recommend you, you mean...?"

Mayor Yosip stayed in place for a while, then realized what he was doing, looked at Lawrence incoherently and said:

"Are you saying that you are willing to be the recommender?"