From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

1770, December 15

It has been almost a month since the Charter of the Kingdom of Corsica was approved by the Constituent Assembly and the Kingdom of Corsica was officially proclaimed.

The adoption of the charter was naturally warmly celebrated by the Corsican people, but in contrast, it also brought a lot of tedious administrative work to the Ajaccio government.

For the core departments of the central government, the adoption of this charter will not have much impact on them. Important institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and the National Defense Force only need to change their names to conform to the political system of the monarchy.

As for local city halls, the upper and lower houses of parliament, the Ministry of Justice and other institutions, they need to be reorganized and restructured almost from top to bottom in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.

In addition, the accompanying institutions of the monarchy, such as the House of Heralds and the Privy Council, although these departments are just empty frames with no power, they also need additional manpower to organize and establish.

Lawrence did not have the energy to supervise this complicated and detailed departmental reorganization and administrative restructuring to the end. After all, all the details had been considered by Rousseau and written into the charter. As long as the responsibilities and powers of several core departments were not changed, If you make changes, you can leave the rest to your subordinates.

Therefore, Lawrence personally intervened in this administrative reform and issued only three instructions:

One is to reorganize and expand the original Ajaccio Patrol into the Central Military Police Regiment, expanding its strength to a thousand men; the additional soldiers will be veterans of the National Defense Forces, especially the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion of the Northern Army who first followed Lawrence. Selected from among.

Regarding this loyal force that had followed him from the beginning, Lawrence also felt that it was time to expand its size and authority in return for their loyalty.

As for the generals of the Central Military Police Regiment, although the old Sean of the patrol team and several officers of the National Defense Force currently exercise the command, Lawrence still intends to hand over the leadership to Ya'an, the young man who has sworn loyalty to him in the future.

The second is to formally establish a national secret police force to be responsible for local and overseas security and intelligence work. Naturally, its chief is Shadiya Vicki, whom Lawrence has recognized for a long time.

However, in order to maintain the concealment of this intelligence team, Lawrence still gave it a harmless name and organization-the Ministry of the Interior, and randomly assigned an administrative bureaucrat as the official minister.

The third is to place Grosso, a partner who has accompanied him through life and death many times, into the navy and make him serve as minister of the navy, which can be regarded as a reward for his loyalty and merit.

Although the officers of the Admiralty are very opposed to having a new minister parachuted above their heads, Corsica's naval power is not as deep-rooted as other departments. They were established by Pauli for only about 20 years. In two years, there were only two poor third-class ships in the line, and the weak navy had to surrender to the Governor's Mansion.

Fortunately, after these officers discovered that Grosso was not the loser they imagined, but a real sailor with decades of hard work at sea, the navy's dissatisfaction was not as strong as before.

Coupled with Lawrence's promise that the Ministry of Finance's budget for the coming year would allocate a special fund for the repair and expansion of naval ships, the officers in white were finally convinced of Grosso, the ruffian minister.

After making these arrangements, Lawrence did not stay in Corsica for too long.

He still remembered that Louis XV specially sent an order to Corsica, asking him to return to France after completing all preparations. Obviously, the king wanted to see him appear in Versailles as soon as possible.

Now, Corsica has announced to the whole of Europe the new kingdom born here, and it is time for Lawrence to return to Paris and Versailles, where the opportunities and gains are more than ten times greater than those in Ajaccio.

Therefore, on the fourth day after the charter of the kingdom was approved by Parliament, Lawrence set sail from Ajaccio with the same team as when he came, and began to rush to Paris.

After disembarking from the Port of Marseille, Lawrence also stopped by to visit Major Trefali, who was in charge of supervising the production of new rifled guns in Marseille.

Major Cui Fali has not changed much from before, except that his expression is slightly tired. It seems that he has put a lot of energy into the production of this new type of firearm named after himself, but his tone is very fulfilling. As soon as he saw it Lawrence reported excitedly:

"My Lord Governor, oh no, I have to call you Prime Minister now. Hahahaha. Let's not talk about it for now. Your Excellency Bonaparte, the production of new rifled guns is going very well. In the past few weeks, those craftsmen still couldn't understand what I meant. After all, I don’t speak French, but now everything is on track. The daily output is about 30. There are more than 100 craftsmen here who are experienced, and this output is pretty good.”

"What about the production of supporting mini bombs?" Lawrence asked immediately.

"This is quite simple. The main reason is that the raw materials are easy to buy from Marseille, and there is no technical content in production and assembly. You can just leave it to the apprentices."

After a brief inspection of the Marseille arsenal, Lawrence was also very satisfied with the work of Major Trifali. This weapon, which only appeared in the late stage of line tactics in history, can be said to be the most important trump card in Lawrence's hand at present. It must be ensured Its orderly production.

Lawrence also drew a batch of stocks from the Marseille arsenal to equip his personal guards for this trip.

Before leaving, Major Cui Fali also received permission to try to expand the scale of production. City Mayor Yosip, Lawrence, had already given a greeting. Whether it was land, raw materials or labor, the city hall would give Major Cui Fali the green light.

After leaving Marseille, Lawrence and his party did not make any stops during the journey except for necessary rest, and headed towards Paris in the north.

In the early morning of December 15, Lawrence's motorcade arrived on the outskirts of Paris.

Paris is already a little cold in December, and although snow will have to wait until January, thick black cumulonimbus clouds are never absent from the Paris sky. The puddles on the roads are muddy and rarely completely dry up.

It was only early in the morning, and Paris, a metropolis with a population of 600,000, was already showing its vitality.

Farmers in the suburbs pushed rickety carts carrying dew-covered fruits and vegetables towards the city; merchants' caravans made a creaking sound as their wheels rolled across the ground; morning prayer bells in churches rang a thousand miles away. It could be heard from yards away; the noble lord who had returned from hunting sat tiredly on his hunting horse, letting his entourage walk slowly back to the city holding the reins.

On the road to Paris, the motorcade of Lawrence and his entourage was undoubtedly the most conspicuous presence.

People looked at the long queue of standard carriages in surprise. Most people did not recognize the weird-looking black Moorish head icon painted on the carriage. Only a few knowledgeable businessmen and those with knowledge of heraldry Nobles who have studied it can recognize it as the symbol of the Corsican people.

"His Excellency Bonaparte has returned to Paris."

The nobles, bureaucrats and the bourgeoisie on the road were all a little surprised by Lawrence's return. After all, the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Choiseul were both driven away from the center of the political storm by King Louis. Many people did not expect that the King The Corsican would be recalled to Paris at this time.

And many thoughtful people looked at the majestic convoy that stretched for hundreds of yards, and couldn't help stroking their chin beards and secretly sighed:

"It seems that Monsignor Bonaparte is about to have great luck."

Lawrence led the motorcade to prepare to enter the city from the southwest of Paris. At the entrance of the city gate, a group of people were about to enter the city, but they saw a cavalry unit of more than 200 people suddenly approaching from the streets of the city in an orderly manner.

"Those seemed to be soldiers from the Paris City Defense Forces"

Lawrence, who was in the carriage, frowned and glanced at the soldiers riding towards them on horseback, and recognized the troops they belonged to.

Grosso stretched out his head to observe vigilantly, his right hand unconsciously resting on the handle of the knife at his waist, and he frowned and asked:

"Are you looking for trouble?"

Lawrence signaled the horsemen to stop the vehicle, shook his head and said, "No, I know the commander of the Paris City Defense Force."

Later, Lawrence jumped out of the carriage himself and took a look at a cavalry officer on the opposite side who was riding straight towards him.

The cavalry officer did not wear a breastplate, but instead wore a dark green military uniform with three gleaming gold and silver medals on his chest. Lawrence had seen many such outfits at banquets and salons.

The soldiers under his command also did not wear armor, but were all wearing blue and white military uniforms and plush black top hats. Even the sabers on their waists were as resplendent as if they were borrowed from the Royal Opera House. Performance props, not murder weapons in the hands of soldiers.

At the end of the line, Lawrence even saw a fully equipped military band of more than twenty people.

If the emblems on their bodies had not told Lawrence that they were soldiers from the Paris City Defense Force, Lawrence would have thought they were the Royal Guard of Honor from Versailles.

Grosso, who jumped out of the car after Lawrence, couldn't help but laugh. He put the half-drawn dagger back into its sheath, pointed at the soldier opposite and sneered:

"What the hell are you doing? Is there any theater around here?"

The cavalry officer on the opposite side dismounted about fifty yards away from Lawrence. He carefully took off the cavalry gloves on his right hand, led his horse and walked toward Lawrence, and then saluted respectfully:

"Monsieur Bonaparte, we have been ordered to escort you to the Champs Elysées."

"Escort? I understand, please lead the way." Lawrence glanced thoughtfully at the medal belonging to the city defense force on the other person's chest, then nodded, shook hands with the cavalry officer, and returned to the carriage. .

Grosso breathed a sigh of relief after climbing into the carriage, crossed his legs and smiled and cursed:

"Can they be used as guards like this? They are useless except for looking impressive. I even wonder if their sabers are made of tinfoil."

Lawrence thought for a moment, smiled and said nothing.

As Grosso said, this escort force may not have much actual combat effect, but its role in momentum is fully exerted.

When the military band played a passionate marching song and more than two hundred mighty cavalry on tall horses escorted Lawrence's motorcade through the streets of Paris, the citizens on both sides of the road were all attracted. Notice.

The light blue jerseys on the war horses looked particularly dazzling under the morning sunlight. They marched together like a light blue ocean, lifting Laurence Bonaparte's chariot in the center.

The windows on both sides of the road were opened like dominoes, and the citizens wanted to see which big shot came to Paris today to create such a huge momentum.

When they learned that the owner of the motorcade was actually the young Corsican, many citizens who had disdain for Lawrence were even more surprised. They did not expect that the upstart from the wilderness could actually Being treated like a duke and a prince.

In their eyes, Lawrence Bonaparte, who was qualified to be escorted by such a majestic army, could already be compared with the oldest Dukes in France.

For those citizens who have not yet heard of Lawrence's name, the majestic and majestic scene in front of them has made them remember this name deeply in their minds, and put this name on the same level as the top nobles of Versailles.

For those citizens who already knew Lawrence's name, they did not expect that His Excellency Bonaparte would announce his return in such a high-profile way.

The parade-like march lasted for nearly two hours before it ended, and the massive group of people arrived at the mansion on the Champs Elysées, which is also the nominal Corsican Embassy in France.

As the horseman stopped the carriage, Lawrence jumped down from the crossbar, nodded to the cavalry officer and said:

"Thank you for the escort, Colonel."

"This is my duty, Your Excellency." The cavalry officer saluted respectfully, then gathered the formation of his soldiers and led them away from the Champs Elysées in an orderly manner.

Looking at the departing figure of the city defense force, Grosso couldn't help but rub his chin and burst out laughing. After recalling the envious look in the eyes of the citizens just now, he said proudly:

"This is not what it used to be. Last time we came to Paris, no one came to escort us. It seems that the king has really begun to pay attention to you, Lawrence."

Lawrence just glanced at the leaving city defense troops with a slight frown, shook his head and said:

"This should not be an order from the king. The commander of the Paris city defense force is Jacques Philippe. This is probably just a small gesture he used to show his goodwill to me."

"Jacques Philippe? Choiseul's brother, that general?" Grosso recalled briefly, but quickly remembered this French Army Lieutenant General from Austria:

"Why is he suddenly so attentive to us?"

"Who knows."

Lawrence replied like this, but he had already made a rough guess in his heart.

Now that the Duke of Choiseul is far away in Dijon, he will not be able to directly intervene in the affairs of Paris and Versailles in the short term. Jacques Philippe, as the number two figure in the Choiseul faction, will soon leave Paris for the Lorraine region. Serve as Governor.

In this way, Choiseul's faction is equivalent to losing two backbones. Among the remaining people, the only one who can barely take charge of the overall situation is Choiseul's cousin, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Caesar Gabriel.

It's just that this cousin was also supported by Choiseul, so it may be difficult to completely convince the crowd among the factions.

Jacques Philippe probably took this into consideration, and in order to prevent the entire faction from being taken advantage of, he deliberately made a small overture to Lawrence at the beginning of his return to Paris, in an attempt to further draw Lawrence closer to Shu. Vasseur's faction helped Caesar Gabriel stabilize the situation in Paris and Versailles.

The reason why the Army Lieutenant General specifically ordered his city defense troops to announce Lawrence's return to the entire Paris with great fanfare today was most likely to increase Lawrence's reputation so that he could better stabilize the order within the Choiseul faction.

"If my guess is correct, the Army Lieutenant General will come to visit me personally soon. It seems that I really don't have a day to spare in Paris."

Lawrence gave a wry smile, looked up at the gloomy cumulonimbus clouds in Paris, and murmured to himself:

"It's just that the factions of the two dukes seem to be weak after losing their respective leaders. I don't know if this is an opportunity."