From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"The council must obey me, there is no other choice."

Lawrence's tone was not serious, but it still made the four congressmen present feel a little trembling.

Although they know in their hearts that Lawrence's governing style so far has been moderate, the governor is, after all, the autocratic ruler of Corsica who tightly holds military power. As long as he is willing and regardless of the cost, the four members of his council are still vulnerable. It's like a candle in the wind.

The three congressmen sitting at the back were obviously unable to hold on under such pressure. They were sweating coldly and looking at each other, as if they were ready to speak to Governor Bonaparte at any time to express their submission.

The atmosphere in the entire room was extremely depressing, as if it were a trial for a death row prisoner.

Miles clenched his fists and bit his lower lip, then turned his head slightly and winked at the three colleagues behind him, silently reminding them of what he said at the door:

"As long as we stand together, we have hundreds of voters behind us, and Governor Bonaparte will not do anything to us."

The other three congressmen also calmed down a little after seeing this. Although they were still a little frightened by Governor Bonaparte's methods, with Millers as the leader to support them, they still alleviated some of their inner fears.

And most importantly, when they thought that after the adoption of this charter, the power and status they had worked hard for for decades would be lost to everyone, the three people's desire for power and status briefly defeated their fear, so they decided to wait and see for a while. , do not be too hasty to submit to Governor Bonaparte.

And Miles' little action of looking back at the three people naturally did not escape Lawrence's observation.

"Well, it seems that this Dongcheng District Councilor is their leader."

Lawrence looked at Millers, who was nervous but still holding his head high, and determined that he was the one who incited the other three members to unite and prepare to vote against the vote in the afternoon.

Under normal circumstances, the remaining three members would not have the guts to oppose themselves in the parliament.

As for Miles, Lawrence also had some impressions of him. It is said that he came from a famous family, and there were many members of the family working in government departments. He himself was also quite ambitious in politics. It is no wonder that he could be among the powerful. The eastern district of Ajaccio, where wealthy people live, was elected as a representative.

Moreover, once this new charter is passed, Millers will be the one who will suffer the most among all the members. After all, the public officials in his family all rely on his power as a member; as long as he is a member, If the gold content of Millers declines, the power of the entire political family of Miles will be greatly affected.

With this in mind, Lawrence could understand why Milles mustered up the courage to incite the congressmen to unite to counter the passage of the charter.

"Your Majesty the Governor!" Miles said in a somewhat excited tone:

"I implore you to take back the accusation you just made. Maybe we as members have many shortcomings, but we are indeed standing in the parliament for the benefit of the people. Otherwise, how can the citizens use their votes? Let us stand out from dozens or hundreds of candidates!”

Everyone present was smart, and Lawrence immediately understood the implication of Millers’ words, which was:

"We are all elected by voters one by one and are representatives of public opinion. If you force us to surrender, don't you care what the citizens of Ajaccio think of you?"

Although the four of them were all members of Congress who were attached to Governor Pauli, and Pauli must have done a lot of secret propaganda during their election process, in any case, judging from the results, Millers and the four of them were indeed representatives of the electorate.

This means that Lawrence will not consider using force to force these congressmen to submit. After all, it is not worth taking such a huge risk of public opinion for such a trivial matter.

As for threatening to expose the four congressmen's dirt in exchange for their resignation like last time, Lawrence will not consider this method in the short term.

Because in that case, the interval between two forced resignations would be too short, and people would inevitably start talking about why Governor Bonaparte expelled eight of the nine members of Congress, leaving only his brother Carlo · Bonaparte.

And if these four members are really tough to the end and choose to resign collectively, the parliament with only Carlo Bonaparte left will naturally be unable to function. This is of course a situation that Lawrence does not want to see, and Millers probably also expected it. Got to this point.

Faced with Millers' words that even contained threats, Lawrence remained calm and patiently observed the expressions of the three congressmen behind him.

Seeing them gradually recover from their fear, especially after hearing Millers' words, they even showed a slightly confident expression. Lawrence also knew that there was no point in continuing to threaten and oppress them.

However, Lawrence was not discouraged. In the final analysis, this threat and pressure was just a test for the four people. If they gave in so easily, they must not have had the courage to get together in the parliament to resist him in the first place.

And as Lawrence just said to Xia Diya: "The biting cold wind will make people wrap up their clothes tightly, but the warm sun will make people take the initiative to open their shirts."

If you want to obtain the surrender of the four people at the smallest cost, you still need some small means.

Seeing Miles's deliberately righteous words, Lawrence regained his smile and softened his tone a lot:

"Mr. Congressman, it would be great if you could really do what you said. That's all. I'm not inviting you here to criticize you. Let's talk about business. Congressman Millers, since you said that Mr. Rousseau compiled There is a problem with the charter, can you elaborate on it?”

Hearing Lawrence say this, Millers' face flashed with joy. In his opinion, this was a sign that Governor Bonaparte was willing to make concessions.

"Ahem. First of all, I have to say that the charter compiled by Speaker Rousseau is indeed a masterpiece. There are only a few places that I think are a little unreasonable. The first is the issue of the dress of public officials."

Miles coughed twice reservedly, then mentioned several insignificant and trivial regulations, and finally said tentatively:

"The last point is about the establishment of the future parliament of the Kingdom of Corsica. The charter places many restrictions on the identity of members. I think this is a bit unreasonable. After all, members are also human beings, and they also enjoy the right to freedom and privacy. Yes; in addition, it is inappropriate to add more seats to the charter. Corsica's nine-member parliament has been functioning well for decades. More seats will only make the chamber as noisy and disorderly as a wet market. , why do we need to make such a change?”

Lawrence smiled and listened, then turned to look at Rousseau standing on his left.

Rousseau also frowned. He had wanted to interrupt Milles's speech several times, but now he got Lawrence's permission and said repeatedly:

"Sir, it is very necessary to add restrictions to the status of members, so as to ensure that those candidates are really participating in the election for the country and the people, rather than just to be able to wear black clothes and sit in a two-horse carriage to and from various restaurants every day. And the billiards room, as for what you said about parliamentarians also having the right to freedom, I have clarified my views very early in my despicable work "The Social Contract". Only when everyone voluntarily gives up part of their personal freedom can we have a complete society. free."

Having said that, regardless of Miles's frown, Rousseau paused and then continued:

"There is also an increase in seats, which is also a necessary charter. We cannot let just nine people decide the fate of the entire country. We must introduce more seats to spread the huge power of the parliament and let more people Participating in parliament, I believe this is the only way to achieve democracy.”

Milles's face became very ugly. In front of Rousseau, a famous scholar, even though he was eloquent, his mouth was slightly open at this time and he was speechless for a long time.

Xia Diya on the side even pouted when she saw this, and glanced at Millers with dissatisfaction. In the eyes of this girl who controls all the congressmen's dirty information, these so-called congressmen are just a group of sanctimonious hypocrites and hypocrites. They are just animals dressed in clothes.

She crossed her arms, leaned in the corner, and suddenly said coldly:

"Mr. Rousseau, there is no need to talk nonsense with these people. They are not talking so much for themselves. It is because your law affects their status that these people jumped out. Hum, the orphans in Xicheng District are displaced and the poor are hungry. But I haven’t seen these people stand up and say a word.”

"You!" Miles was about to retort, but he immediately lost his words like a deflated rubber ball.

In front of this shadow lady, who is known as "the dagger in Governor Bonaparte's sleeve", Miles is more afraid of this girl than Governor Bonaparte himself.

"Okay, Xia Diya, you can't always speculate on others with malicious intent."

Seeing that Miles dared not speak out in anger, Lawrence couldn't help but smile, and suddenly said pointedly:

"Mr. Millers said these things not because he is a member of Parliament himself. After all, these provisions in the Charter have no impact on him and these members of Parliament."

Miles just wanted to thank Governor Bonaparte for rescuing him, but he immediately froze on the spot and asked repeatedly:

"Wait a minute. Mr. Governor, what do you mean? How come these clauses have no effect on me?"

Several congressmen were also startled. Even if re-election was required after the new parliament was formed, they were confident that they would be re-elected with the reputation and power they had accumulated over the years. How could Governor Bonaparte say that these terms restricting the status of congressmen were inconsistent with his own? People have nothing to do with it.

Lawrence pretended to be stunned, and after a few seconds, he patted his forehead lightly and said with a smile:

"Oh, my God, it seems I forgot to tell you about this."

The four congressmen present immediately showed puzzled expressions, looking at each other wondering what Lawrence was talking about.

I saw Lawrence flipping through the copy of the Charter on the table, flipping to the legislation on the parliamentary part, then handing it to Millers, and said kindly:

"I don't have much comment on your performance as members of the Corsican Parliament, but I must say that on April 1st, you members still made a great contribution."

Millers and others thought for a moment and quickly remembered that in order to show their goodwill to the newly elected Governor Bonaparte, the nine members of the Parliament at that time took the initiative to invoke the Corsican Constitution and voted on the spot to agree to Lawrence's decision without elections. Taking over the position of Governor of Corsica solved a big legal problem for Lawrence.

"Of course I will never forget this contribution." Lawrence explained with a smile:

"For this reason, I have decided to make a special report to King Louis of France to knight the five members of the Corsican Parliament after the establishment of the Kingdom of Corsica."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Millers could reply, the three congressmen behind him already shouted out in disbelief:

"What did you say?! A knighthood?"

"Oh my god, did I hear you right?"

"Am I going to become a noble?!"

Looks of surprise filled the faces of the three congressmen. They almost jumped up with excitement and couldn't believe their ears.

Ninety percent of people hate aristocrats, but 99% of people want to become aristocrats, even for these congressmen who have lived in the Republic for decades.

They never dreamed that they would get such great news today in the office study of the Governor's Mansion.

In their eyes, noble status is much more conspicuous than this congressman.

After all, if they are granted the title of Corsican nobility, their identity will naturally be recognized by the French Civil Service, which means that the French will also recognize their aristocratic status. In this way, they can leave this poor little town. Go to the rich France to start a new life.

They never expected that Governor Bonaparte would give them such a great gift. Joyful emotions instantly washed over their entire brains, and the corners of the three people's mouths raised uncontrollably.

Only Miles was still frowning. He lowered his head and pondered for a while. Looking at the copy of the charter handed over by Lawrence, he suddenly realized something:

"Wait a minute. Your Majesty the Governor, if we accept the title of nobility, does it mean that we must act in the House of Lords?"

"Of course." Lawrence smiled and nodded.

Miles's pupils shrank, and he now understood why Lawrence had just said that those clauses would not affect him. As a member of the House of Lords in the future, he would naturally not be restricted by the rules that restricted members of the House of Commons.

But in contrast, Milles, who had received a good political education, quickly realized that the so-called House of Lords of the Kingdom of Corsica was simply a useless elderly care institution. It had neither legislative nor judicial power, and even It doesn’t even have the most basic supervision rights, it’s just an amusement park for noble gentlemen to play house.

Miles once again turned his head to look at his three colleagues, only to see that they were completely immersed in joy. No one bothered to examine what becoming a noble could bring to them and what they could take away from them. .