From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

September 6, 1770, three days after Lawrence led his army to capture the town of Figari.

In the east city of Ajaccio, a single-family villa with a garden is only 20 minutes away from the Governor's Palace.

Mrs. Vasseur was walking in the fragrant small garden carrying an exquisite copper kettle. From her light and cheerful steps, it was difficult to tell that she was an old woman in her fifties.

She carefully carried the kettle to water the narcissus and lilies carefully cultivated in the garden. She picked a blooming colchicum and put it on the tip of her nose to smell it. Then she put the flower on the kettle and hummed a song from The ditty of the English countryside returns happily to the villa.

"My dear, the colchicums are growing beautifully in the garden, and the lilies are nice too, but unfortunately autumn is coming."

Mrs. Vasseur put the copper kettle on the table, turned around and walked happily to the study to find her husband, Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Mr. Rousseau, in the mouths of many Ajaccio citizens, he has been called Mr. Rousseau, because this impoverished scholar was appointed by Governor Bonaparte as the temporary speaker of the Corsican Parliament after arriving in Corsica. was promised the position of future Speaker of the Constituent Assembly.

Previously imprisoned in the Palais de Justice Prison in Paris, Rousseau, as a prisoner, has not yet fully recovered from this gap. He originally thought he would spend the rest of his life miserably in the small, dank and cramped cell of the Palais de Justice Prison.

After all, he himself knew that the Paris High Court hated his "rebellious" works, and those decadent and conservative judges would never let go of the opportunity to imprison him for life.

But look at now, he lives in a spacious and bright two-story villa with a garden loft overlooking the coastline; there is a smart housekeeper who takes good care of the couple's daily life; and he also receives a monthly salary Salary and allowances of two hundred livres.

The citizens of Ajaccio are also very enthusiastic about this Frenchman who is famous in academia. From time to time, visitors come to visit him; even those small citizens who are not very interested in academics will pay tribute to Rousseau on the street. With sincere greetings, Rousseau himself knew very well that the nature of the enthusiasm he received stemmed from the citizens' heartfelt love for Governor Bonaparte.

Such a life was previously unimaginable for Rousseau, who had been in exile for more than ten years and traveled throughout Europe in despair.

It is precisely for this reason that, in order to repay the kindness of Monsignor Bonaparte, the philosopher has decided to devote the rest of his life's energy and enthusiasm to this land.

"Ah, my dear, you are back." Rousseau was sitting behind a desk with a pair of silver-rimmed glasses on the tip of his nose. He was writing something on the desk. When his wife came in, he put the quill back into the ink bottle. , grinned and asked:

"Water the garden?"

Mrs. Vasseur nodded slightly, sat across from the desk, glanced at the dark circles on Rousseau's face and the books and manuscript papers piled up on the table, and said with a slight worry:

"The crops in the garden are growing luxuriantly. Are you still compiling those constitutional regulations? I saw that you have been sleeping in the study for several nights. Maybe you need more rest."

"Ah, don't worry, dear." Rousseau took off the glasses on the tip of his nose, rubbed his dry and swollen eyes, but still smiled contentedly:

"I'm just a little excited. You know, Your Excellency Bonaparte has actually implemented the "Land Bill" and "Agricultural Tax Reform Bill." I have always opposed him to adopt such radical reforms, but that's not the case. It is important, and I am considering how to stabilize the status of these two bills in the future constitution.”

Mrs. Vasseur nodded in understanding. She was just a tavern maid. Although she had followed Rousseau for many years, she didn't know much about these political affairs.

However, she also saw that her husband was indeed very excited about this, because Rousseau rarely took the initiative to mention the work at hand and these political and national matters to her.

"I seemed to have heard some news yesterday," Mrs. Vasseur recalled, holding her chin.

"People say that Governor Bonaparte won a great victory in the town of Figari. Many citizens gathered in the Patrol Square to hold a celebration. I heard that this was the place where Governor Bonaparte worked before."

While sorting out the manuscripts on the table, Rousseau explained to Mrs. Vasseur, his tone full of joy and excitement:

"Yes, yes, a great victory, a battle that can definitely be written into the history of Corsica; not that this battle is so tragic and majestic, but that the political significance it contains is too clear ”

"Political significance? Ah, I have heard many people say that there will be no landowners in Corsica in the future, and farmers will farm on their own land." Mrs. Vasseur said with admiration, She also lived at the bottom of society in her early years, so she knew very well how important these reforms were to farmers.

Rousseau nodded his head in approval, but the political philosopher obviously looked deeper and further, and he quickly added:

"This is not the most important thing, dear, the most important thing is that Your Excellency Bonaparte used this civil war to completely suppress local forces to the limit. He established a central government with the highest power, and all local governments have Being forced to bow to him was something Governor Pauli had never done. In the era when Governor Pauli was in power, he had to be constrained by constraints from all levels and places, so any reform and progress would be difficult to achieve, but now. , Your Excellency Bonaparte is the only helmsman of the big ship Corsica. He can take this big ship wherever he wants to go. Of course, I believe that the direction pointed by Your Excellency Bonaparte for Corsica must be a warm water harbor. ”

Although Rousseau himself was a strong advocate of democratic republic, after traveling in Prussia for several years and witnessing the powerful Prussian kingdom under the enlightened autocracy of Frederick the Great, he also strongly supported the attitude of enlightened autocracy.

This is why Rousseau was very excited when he saw the autocracy of the Corsican government reaching its peak, because he believed that Lord Bonaparte, who could propose the "Land Bill" and the "Agricultural Tax Reform Bill", was an outstanding person. A drastic reformer.

"Is that so?" Mrs. Vasseur smoothed the tangled hair around her ears. She still couldn't understand her husband's words. Her focus was on Rousseau's daily routine and physical condition:

"You need more rest anyway, honey."

"Oh, don't worry about me, Vasseur." Rousseau waved his hands twice, pointed to the calendar on the table and said:

"I must submit the revised draft constitution to His Excellency Bonaparte as soon as possible. I heard that King Louis of France can't wait to set the pearl of Corsica on his scepter. Corsica is moving towards a constitutional monarchy. The first step starts with me, but there isn’t much time to waste.”

That day in prison at the Palace of Justice in Paris, Rousseau heard Lawrence explain the necessity of Corsica surrendering to Louis XV. He himself understood and supported this approach. After all, it was better for Corsica to become Sardinia. The kingdom or a province of the Republic of Genoa would rather retain its autonomy and bow to Louis XV. Therefore, Rousseau did not reject the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Corsica.

"Okay." Mrs. Vasseur shook her head helplessly and was about to get up to prepare lunch.

At this time, the housekeeper of the mansion gently walked into the study, knocked on the door twice to attract their attention, and reported clearly:

"Your Excellency Rousseau, someone from the Governor's Palace came to send a message that Governor Bonaparte is expected to return to Ajaccio in three days."

As the temporary speaker of the Corsican Parliament, Rousseau naturally had the right to know these inside information, but it still surprised Rousseau to hear that Lawrence would return to Ajaccio so soon.

"Oh? Three days later?"

Rousseau touched his beard on his chin in confusion. It stands to reason that the town of Figari has just been captured, and the two reform bills are also in the preliminary stages of implementation. In this case, His Excellency Bonaparte should stay in the south for a while. It would be better to stabilize the local situation and personally supervise the implementation of the reforms, rather than returning to the capital in such a hurry.

The butler nodded in confirmation and then added:

"Governor Bonaparte rushed back to Ajaccio because he wanted to meet with the British Ambassador to France, Baron Bertula. Ambassador Bertula is now in Marseille and has already submitted a diplomatic note to the Governor's Palace in advance indicating that he will come to Corso in the near future. Signia pays a visit.”

"British Ambassador? That's no wonder." Rousseau nodded with enlightenment. In the days when he came to Corsica, he also took the initiative to learn about the major events that had happened on the island in recent years. He also knew about the former British Prime Minister William Pitt Sr. and the reasonable The hundreds of sailors on board remained in Corsica as prisoners.

Due to the short period of independence from the Genoese, Corsica has not yet been recognized by most countries. Naturally, there are no embassies on the island. The British had to entrust the ambassador to France, Baron Bertula, to negotiate. Communicate in an attempt to retrieve old William Pitt and the captured sailors as soon as possible.

In terms of diplomatic etiquette and the importance of this negotiation, it would be reasonable and not disrespectful for Lawrence to return to Ajaccio in person to meet Baron Bertula.

"ok, I get it."

Rousseau waved to the housekeeper to show that he understood, and then chatted with Mrs. Vasseur about trivial matters in life, and then immersed himself in the mountain of manuscripts on the desk to revise the draft of the Corsican Constitution.

Three days later, on September 9, Lawrence led a small number of Wehrmacht troops and Major Serrurier's French army back to Ajaccio in the early morning.

Major Trifali was left in the south by Lawrence, commanding the main force of the Wehrmacht to maintain order around the town of Figari and assisting Treasury officials in the implementation of the reform bill, while continuing to search for the whereabouts of the southern landowners.

The news of Lawrence's return to Ajaccio was only known to the Governor's Palace and high-level government officials, so the citizens did not prepare any triumphal ceremony. Lawrence went straight back to the Governor's Palace in Dongcheng District with only a few citizens to see him off.

In the office study of the Governor's Mansion, Private Secretary Anna was still wearing the black and white maid's dress with white stockings and high-heeled leather boots. She saluted Lawrence with a bright smile:

"Welcome back, sir."

Her fingers wearing black silk gloves gently lifted the hem of her skirt, exposing her slender and voluptuous calves wrapped in white stockings. She stood with her feet staggered, lowered her head and bent over, performing a perfect and elegant pose. Even the most stringent royal etiquette teacher could not find anything wrong with the skirt-raising ceremony. It is hard to imagine that she only received etiquette education for a short period of time in Paris.

Anna Celestia, the girl who is called the closest person to Governor Bonaparte by the Corsicans has already used her ability to prove that she is worthy of her current position. When Lawrence left the Governor's Palace, Anna He is the housekeeper in the house, who can always take care of all the housework in an orderly manner.

"Good morning, Anna." Lawrence smiled and nodded. He took off his military jacket, which was stained with dust and mud during the march, and handed it to Anna. Then he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt, relaxed and sat down at the desk. on the back chair.

In front of the girl who had followed him since he came to Corsica, Lawrence could rarely relax for a while.

"Any news from Ajaccio recently?" Lawrence leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest, and asked Anna casually.

Anna gently hung the uniform coat on the hanger at the door, patted the dust on it, and answered skillfully:

"Everything is fine, sir. Neither Mr. Grosso nor Mr. Sean from the patrol team made any special reports, and Sister Xia Diya's intelligence network did not find anything unusual."

After hearing this, Lawrence nodded with relief. The recent tensions in the Mediterranean had forced him to be more vigilant, especially the British. Since they had provided materials and equipment to the southern landowners, they might also be carrying out some secret work in Ajaccio.

However, since Xia Diya's intelligence network showed nothing unusual, Lawrence felt a lot more relieved. After all, within Ajaccio, the Bread Club's intelligence capabilities were still deeply trusted by Lawrence.

"By the way, sir." Anna suddenly remembered something, walked to the table, took out a gilt envelope from the neatly arranged document bag, handed it to Lawrence, and explained:

"This is a diplomatic note from the British Ambassador to France, Baron Bertula, who will visit Corsica this afternoon."

Hearing Baron Bertula's name, Lawrence's face became a little gloomier. After taking the gilded envelope and taking out the letter, he just glanced at it casually, showing no interest in the standard text on it.

The reason why Lawrence rushed back to Ajaccio from the south was to meet Baron Bertula, but Baron Bertula's sudden visit also surprised Lawrence.

After all, it had been less than a week since the southern landowners who were funded by them were defeated. Lawrence did not expect that the ambassador would ask to visit Corsica in such a short period of time. It was also impossible for them to be unaware of their actions in funding the landowner rebels. has been discovered.

"Baron Bertula" Lawrence whispered the name softly, his mind filled with the scene of the Baron and the Duke of Richelieu walking together:

"The apparent purpose of his visit to Corsica was undoubtedly to negotiate with me for the release of William Pitt and the captured sailors. But this act of asking for my favor happened at the time when the landlord group had just been defeated. Is it intentional, or is it because the British Foreign Office couldn't wait any longer and urged Baron Bertula?"

Possibilities flashed through his mind, and Lawrence's eyes became colder and colder. In any case, he could only draw a conclusion after meeting Baron Bertula this afternoon.

"Anna, inform the navy to prepare for the reception, and ask the patrol soldiers to accompany me to welcome Baron Bertula at the port of Ajaccio."