From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Mopu, you are so smart."

A faint smile finally appeared on Louis XV's lips, and there was more relief in his old voice.

This is why Louis XV immediately approached Justice Maupe to discuss the matter. This fifty-six-year-old minister has been highly valued by King Louis in recent years for his ability to accurately understand the holy will.

Justice Mopu on the other side of the long table also breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he had once again guessed the king's thoughts correctly.

What really worried Louis XV was not Laurence Bonaparte himself, but the close comrade behind the young governor-the Duke of Choiseul.

Once King Louis passes a large reward to Lawrence, the Corsican governor's political status in Paris and Versailles will undoubtedly be greatly improved, which means that the Duke of Choiseul will have one more powerful person. political allies with unlimited potential.

This is definitely what Louis XV does not want to see. On the one hand, he needs the Duke of Choiseul, a shrewd and capable minister to assist him in governing the entire France. On the other hand, King Louis does not want Choiseul to be powerful. Power can threaten royal power.

In fact, the power of Duke Choiseul now made Louis XV feel a little uneasy.

The Duke, who holds the position of Minister of War, single-handedly controls the land and sea armies of France, and completely controls France's foreign affairs in his own hands.

What makes Louis XV even more worried is that since France lost the Seven Years' War, Duke Choiseul has been carrying out military expansion preparations and military organizational reforms. This has indeed improved the combat effectiveness of the French army, but it has also made Choiseul You were able to place his trusted followers in the army.

In today's French army, I don't know how many officers are direct descendants of Choiseul's faction.

It’s no wonder that after Lawrence wrote to the Mediterranean Fleet Command in the name of Lord Choiseul to request cooperation, the command did not dare to neglect and directly sent the main fleet to the island of Malta.

If Louis XV had not had the political legacy left by the Sun King Louis XIV - the absolute monarchy of France, he would have long lost all control of Choiseul; and if a powerful duke like Choiseul was placed elsewhere, In the kingdom, the king has long been treated like a puppet.

This is why in history, when the Duke of Choiseul was dismissed from all his duties by Louis XV overnight for advocating war, the entire court and the people felt extremely incredible about this political sudden change.

Facing such a powerful duke, Louis XV certainly did not want him to get too many benefits from Lawrence's reward, especially now that the Richelieu faction that was competing against him was declining.

"Ah, Choiseul, he is an excellent minister, and France cannot do without him."

Louis XV closed his eyes and sighed, looking very troubled and melancholy, and said:

"You are right. Lawrence is too close to him. If Lawrence stands firmly with Choiseul, my reward for him will be like inlaying gems on Choiseul's scepter." ”

The setting sun shone in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting a blood-red blush on the oak floor of the king's suite.

Justice Mopu pondered for a moment and asked tentatively:

"Perhaps the reward for Laurence Bonaparte can be suspended? He is still young anyway."

"No."

Louis XV without hesitation rejected the proposal to postpone the reward. Although the king was not familiar with governing the country, his age and experience still gave him a lot of political wisdom, and he immediately retorted:

"He led the Corsican people to surrender to me. This is also a great achievement. I have not rewarded him for this contribution so far. Now that Lawrence has brought me the island of Malta, how can I continue to reward him for his contribution?" What about Xuezang? If I do this, how will the world view me? Maybe future generations will call me Stingy Louis!"

Although Louis XV once awarded Lawrence two royal positions at a banquet in the Hall of Mirrors, including the coveted position of First Chamberlain to the Crown Prince, everyone knows that simply awarding two royal official positions is It cannot be exchanged for an island of Corsica; Louis XV has not yet formally rewarded Lawrence for his contribution in leading the Corsican people to surrender to the Bourbon royal family.

In the meantime, Lawrence sacrificed his life to save Crown Prince Louis, and the Corsican National Silver Company made millions of livres for the royal family. If these two things are included, Louis XV himself felt that if something was wrong again, If Lawrence said something, everyone in the court would start gossiping.

"Oh, this really troubles me." Louis XV looked at the blush on the floor and sighed helplessly:

"If the reward given to Laurence Bonaparte is too little, wouldn't it make all the ministers who are willing to devote themselves to France feel chilling; but if he is promoted too quickly, the Duke of Choiseul is another one that worries me very much. What do you think of the character Mopu?”

Listening to the king turning the topic to himself, the cautious look on Justice Maupe's face became more solemn. On the surface, he looked like he was thinking, while his brain was thinking rapidly about how to propose a satisfactory solution to King Louis. plan.

Since the Marquis de Maupe began to attack the decadent feudal high court that was against the royal power, his status and trust in Louis XV's heart have become higher and higher. This is why historically it was him who succeeded the Duke of Choiseul after his fall. Successord as First Minister of France.

Justice Maupe also knew his position in the king's heart and knew that his words would have a great impact on Louis XV's decision-making, especially now that the king was indecisive.

"Um"

He touched the slightly white beard on his chin, closed his eyes slightly, and seemed to be still thinking about something, thinking secretly in his heart:

"The key is, for that Laurence Bonaparte, should I push him or pull him?"

For a political veteran like Justice Maupe, it was easy to persuade the king to reward Lawrence generously or to persuade Louis XV to give Lawrence some honorary reward.

What really made Justice Mopp hesitate to express an opinion was how he viewed Lawrence:

Is the young Governor of Corsica a loyal supporter of the Choiseul faction, or a political ally with unlimited potential that he can win over to his own side? The judgment between these two positions will directly affect the Marquis de Maupe. Advice to the king.

Long before Lawrence left Paris, in the top-floor office of the Palace of Justice, Justice Maupp had already extended an olive branch to Lawrence, but Lawrence did not give him an accurate answer at the time.

"However, I can see that the Governor of Corsica has great ambitions. He is absolutely unwilling to succumb to Choiseul's skylight forever. One day he will break this skylight. In this case , maybe you can take advantage of this opportunity.”

The chaotic thoughts in Justice Mopu's heart gradually became clearer, and a light flashed in his eyes.

He made a huge bet with himself, betting that Laurence Bonaparte would not be willing to work for the Duke of Choiseul for the rest of his life, betting that this young man could in turn become his political ally against Choiseul.

With his mind made up, Justice Maupe exhaled heavily, straightened his body, looked at Louis XV seriously, and said:

"Your Majesty, Governor Bonaparte has already made such great achievements in just one year since he came to France. He will definitely be able to bring you more glory in the future. If he does not get the rewards he deserves at this time, he will surely Laurence Bonaparte would have been discouraged, and the gain would have been more than worth the loss."

"How could I not know this truth?" Louis XV still shook his head:

"As for Lawrence himself, I am even willing to make him a duke, but it is Choiseul who scares me."

"In this case, Your Majesty," Justice Mopu followed the king's words and said in a deep voice:

"Why not take this opportunity to detach Laurence Bonaparte from the Duke of Choiseul."

"Withdraw?" Louis XV was stunned, not understanding what Justice Maupe meant.

And Justice Mopu had already polished a preliminary plan in his mind, and said quickly in a low voice:

"Laurence Bonaparte and Choiseul are not close friends. They have known each other for less than a year. The reason why these two people can get together is completely out of interest. The reason why Lawrence is willing to rely on For Choiseul, it was also because the Duke could serve as a backer and quickly enhance his political status. "

"Yes, that's true."

Louis XV nodded. Of course he knew the reason why Lawrence was attached to Choiseul. In this regard, he also very much hoped that Lawrence could stand firmly on the side of the royal family and Crown Prince Louis, rather than between the royal family and Choiseul. Please both sides.

Justice Maupe unconsciously moved his body towards Louis XV, as if deliberately avoiding the servants in the king's suite from hearing his words:

"But if the royal family could give Laurence Bonaparte everything he wanted and more, what reason would he have to continue to follow Choiseul?"

Louis XV narrowed his eyes slightly, already somewhat approving of Justice Maupe's words, but he still asked cautiously:

"But how should Lawrence deal with this if he does not want to completely fall to the royal family, but stands between Choiseul and the royal family?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to say right now."

Justice Mopu had a proud smile on his face and asked in a deep voice:

"If I have any disrespectful and offensive words, please forgive me, Your Majesty, but I still want to say that the Duke of Choiseul is in his prime. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne in the future, he will most likely be the one who controls the world. The powerful Duke of France, are you willing to see this?"

Normally, Justice Maupe would have considered it disrespectful to discuss the crown prince's succession directly like this. However, since they were discussing important matters today, Louis XV did not pursue the matter, but shook his head without hesitation. , said nothing.

The old king knew very well that his grandson, Louis Auguste, the young crown prince, was as childish as a baby in diapers in front of the Duke of Choiseul.

If he were crowned Louis XVI one day, it would be no more difficult for the Duke of Choiseul to control this immature king than to control a wooden puppet.

In fact, this is also the reason why many historians in later generations speculated that Duke Choiseul was dismissed and expelled by Louis XV overnight - the old king was worried that the powerful Choiseul would effortlessly control the entire court after his death. and country.

"Why did you suddenly talk about this, Mopu." Louis XV sighed leisurely and asked.

Justice Mopu smiled slyly, lowered his head, and suggested respectfully:

"Your Majesty, there are ministers in France who are as ambitious as Choiseul and others who are loyal to the royal family and have outstanding abilities like Laurence Bonaparte. I think only the second type of ministers can be safely handed over to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Let’s use it with confidence.”

Listening to these words, Louis XV also instantly understood what the second kind of minister Mopu was referring to, that is, the minister Tuogu who he was secretly inspecting and promoting for Prince Louis and could be appointed by Louis XVI in the future.

For example, in history, Louis XVI's Foreign Minister Vergennes and Finance Minister Turgot were all admired by the king during the Louis XV period and were placed in various places for training. They also served under Louis XVI. He was quickly promoted and reused early in his succession.

In addition to being of clean origin, outstanding ability, and loyal to the royal family, these ministers also have one characteristic in common - they are not members of the Choiseul faction, and they are even quite incompatible with the Choiseul faction.

Seeing this, Justice Mopu stopped being secretive and directly admonished:

"Your Majesty, you can gather these ministers who are loyal to the royal family to form a faction. As for the leader of the faction, I think you can let Laurence Bonaparte be the leader."

"Let Lawrence become the leader of a faction? This is a big promotion." Louis XV obviously did not expect that Justice Maupe would come up with such a bold plan.

Seeing the king's surprised expression, Justice Mopu quickly explained:

"Yes, Your Majesty, the promotion is big enough to match Lawrence's merit; as long as you give him some honorary rewards, anyone with political consciousness will feel that your reward is too reasonable and even too generous. And most importantly we can get Laurence Bonaparte away from Choiseul."

"Hey, you mean...?" The surprise on Louis XV's face quickly dissipated, replaced by a solemn look on his face.

The old king also realized at this time that the members of this newly established faction were basically opposed to the Duke of Choiseul, and as their leader, Lawrence naturally had a conflict of interest with the Duke of Choiseul. It was impossible It’s time to go back and forth for Choiseul.

And if Lawrence insists on siding with Choiseul, then his status as the leader of the faction will appear to be in name only. Members of the faction will not accept that their leader is the lackey of Duke Choiseul. This is equivalent to Lawrence giving up on his own initiative. After receiving this reward, people would not say that Louis XV was stingy, but would sigh that Lawrence himself did not cherish it, and the Duke of Choiseul would not benefit from this round of rewards.

Moreover, Louis XV believed that the smart Lawrence could not fail to see that this newly established faction would be the highest ruling faction in the Kingdom of France after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne in the future. There was no need for him to give up this piece of cake to pick up Choiseul's leftovers. eat.

In this way, Louis XV did not have to worry about the lack of rewards that would attract public comment, nor did he have to worry about the Duke of Choiseul becoming more powerful because of this. With this reward, Louis XV could completely win over Laurence Bonaparte, a capable and outstanding minister. Being on the side of the royal family can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

After clarifying the benefits of this plan, Louis XV finally showed a bright smile and said happily:

"Mopu, you are indeed very smart."

Justice Mopu smiled calmly and simply reminded:

"But I suggest that you wait until Governor Bonaparte returns to Paris before executing this reward. It is not a good thing for Choiseul to get the news too early; besides, what do you plan to call this brand new faction?"

Louis XV nodded, pondered for a moment, looked at the golden iris embroidered on his shawl, and said casually:

"Since they are all loyal subjects of the royal family, let's call them the Golden Iris Sect from now on."