From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Welcome back, Your Excellency."

At the No. 10 Champs Elysées mansion, the elegant white-haired old butler had learned in advance that Lawrence had returned to Paris, and specially led all the dozens of servants in the mansion to line up to wait for Lawrence's return.

Seeing the respectful appearance of the servants, the Rousseau couple seemed a little flattered. Both of them had served others as servants, but they had never really been served by others.

Especially this splendid mansion, the couple was full of praise. When they lived in poverty in Paris, they were too embarrassed to even step in the door of the Champs Elysées, let alone have the opportunity to live there. Entering such a luxurious residence.

This luxurious mansion has not changed in any way from when Lawrence left. Everything is kept spotless and orderly. Even the furnishings of the open-air statues and gardens in front of the court are exactly the same as when Lawrence left.

Lawrence led everyone into the mansion, looked at the neat and orderly interior with great satisfaction, and casually asked the old housekeeper:

"Is there any important news in the mansion these days?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old housekeeper skillfully waved to two servants and asked them to bring over a red-painted nanmu box. He opened the lid and pointed to several large piles of letters arranged in categories inside and said:

"Thanks to your authority, there is nothing important in the mansion itself; however, countless letters are sent here every day. Basically, they are letters of visit from small nobles and businessmen. These should be the only important letters."

As the old housekeeper spoke, he leaned down and picked up a palm-thick envelope and handed it to Lawrence.

"So many?" Lawrence unexpectedly weighed the letter paper in his hand. It weighed almost two pounds.

"Uh." The old butler scratched his forehead in embarrassment and pointed to the fleur-de-lis logo on the top envelope and explained:

"Most of them are personal letters sent by His Highness the Crown Prince. I replied to His Highness very early that you were not in Paris at the time. However, His Highness the Crown Prince is still keen to send letters here, saying that it can ease his missing for his friends. ”

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile, sat on the sofa and opened a few missive letters from Prince Louis.

The content of the letters is also diverse, from Prince Louis's experience forging new locks in the Palace of Versailles, to his hunting stories in Fontainebleau, to his learning about business operations with Mr. Montmartre and Lord Merry at the Paris Stock Exchange. Knowledge looks like a diary that has been scattered.

Of course, what is indispensable in every letter is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince eagerly hopes that Lawrence can return to Paris as soon as possible. In his original words:

"My friend, without you in Paris, this city would be as boring as the Arab desert. I think I have been wrapped in the sand of longing, and I am eagerly seeking the oasis called friendship. Oh, friend, I really want to go to the mountains of Corsica to see your life in person, even if I have to cross an endless ocean."

It can be seen that Crown Prince Louis has indeed received a good literary education. These letters can be read with relish, and the feelings in them are even more sincere.

After casually reading a few letters, Lawrence couldn't help laughing and jokingly said:

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince applies these writing styles and emotions to the Crown Princess, he won't feel like meeting the little Austrian princess like meeting a tigress."

After asking the old butler to keep these precious and private letters in a safe place, Lawrence looked at the remaining important letters.

The first envelope has a golden book page icon drawn on it, wrapped in a circle of fine gears. The mailing address on the envelope is: Louvre Museum, 49 Avenue Etienne Marcel.

Although he was not familiar with the icon on the envelope, after seeing the mailing address, Lawrence realized that this should be a notice from the French Academy of Sciences granting him academician status.

The headquarters of the entire French Society, including the French Academy of Sciences, and other academic institutions are located in the Louvre. This is a tradition established during the period of Cardinal Richelieu, the first Duke of Richelieu.

The content of the letter is very concise and clear:

"Your Excellency Laurence Bonaparte, through the joint recommendation of Academicians Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, Academician Geta Jean-Etienne and Academician Joseph Grandgia, and the French Academy of Sciences After the academic review of the committee, you have been officially awarded the status of an academician of the French Academy of Sciences.”

At the end of the letter are the signatures of several key members of the committee.

Looking at the letter, Lawrence nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that Lavoisier and his mentor Geta were working very efficiently.

Being able to join the Académie Française early on and gain exposure to academia was also of great benefit to Lawrence.

Although I have scientific knowledge from later generations, I am not a know-it-all after all. In many fields, I can only provide a general direction and ideas. To really implement those emerging technologies into engineering industry and production practice, it is still It will take a large number of scholars to sort out the details.

For example, the current production of new rifled guns is ongoing. Although Lawrence knows the principles of improvement, when it comes to specific production design issues, Major Trifali, a skilled gunsmith, is still required to conduct continuous testing and improvement.

Otherwise, if Lawrence alone could not even use the tools of the blacksmith shop of this era, even if given a year and a half, he might not even be able to produce a prototype gun.

As for the following letters, they were all monthly reports sent by Lord Melly from the Paris Stock Exchange. Lawrence currently did not have much interest or energy in the financial world, so he only glanced at them casually.

Anyway, the Corsican National Silver Company has amassed a huge fortune for Lawrence. Now he only needs to keep the company's book data good enough to maintain this false prosperity.

Although those investors are eager to see returns from this investment, their sense also tells them that building and developing a silver mine from scratch cannot be completed overnight, especially in a country like Corsica, which they have the impression that birds are not lagging. A savage place of shit.

Therefore, the current stock buying and selling of Corsica National Silver Company in the market are basically for speculative purposes, and only a very small number of people really want to make long-term investments.

"It seems that the financial market in Paris is still thriving."

Lawrence picked up several recent reports and glanced at them, and found that both the trading volume and the total amount of transactions on the stock exchange were rising steadily. Although the growth was not rapid, more and more funds began to flow into the financial market. moving facts.

"This credit should probably go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." The old butler added at the right time. At the same time, he dug out a neat stack of old newspapers from the drawer on the side, quickly selected them, folded a few of them and handed them to Lawrence, explained:

"Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often appears on the Paris Stock Exchange as a shareholder of the National Silver Company, businessmen now have full confidence in the market. After all, as long as the royal family does not take action against the financial world, those capitalists have a thousand ways to get through the cracks in the stone. Squeeze out the silver coins."

Lawrence took over these recent reports and looked through them. In recent months, major newspapers, especially financial newspapers, have simply praised Prince Louis.

Kind, open-minded, new-thinking, and not conservative, the editors did not hesitate to praise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Almost every few days, they set aside an entire page in the newspaper to report the news of Crown Prince Louis. And this The page was previously used to satirize the royal family.

Among these reports, Lawrence also saw the "Daily Observer", which was wholly owned and operated by himself. Lawrence deliberately purchased this third-rate small newspaper that was on the verge of bankruptcy in order to seek influence in the public opinion circle.

"this."

Lawrence pulled out a copy of the Observer Daily and asked the old butler:

"How are the sales of this newspaper in Paris?"

"Oh? The Daily Observer? I heard that this is a newspaper that has just emerged recently." The old housekeeper did not know the relationship between the Daily Observer and Lawrence, so he commented very pertinently:

"This kind of newspaper has been quite popular among both the upper class and the lower class recently. They have accurately reported several first-hand news, which made the upper class gentlemen add this newspaper to their mailing list. So as not to miss the first-hand information next time; the people at the bottom like it purely because the newspaper is cheap and good-looking, and there are many varieties. It is said that every newspaper can be used as a lottery ticket and the prize can be redeemed the next day. I really don’t know why. What smart person came up with this trick?”

Listening to the old butler's comments, Lawrence also smiled, knowing that President Hailsson was still running the newspaper according to his instructions.

In Paris, a metropolis with a population of 600,000, there are only two ways for citizens to get news, either from newspapers or word of mouth. Even many citizens’ word-of-mouth talk about capital comes from newspapers. .

It can be said that those who control newspapers in this era are those who control the entire public opinion world. They only need to put some catchy words on the corners of this thin piece of paper, which is enough to make a person deeply involved. Amid endless rumors and suspicions.

If Lawrence wants to establish his own power in Paris, he must not miss the establishment of influence on public opinion.

While Lawrence was reading the praises of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in various newspapers, a servant suddenly walked in and reported:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, someone has come to visit you. It seems to be the driver of the Marquis de Maupe."

"Justice Mopu? He is really impatient...bring him in."

Lawrence frowned and folded the newspaper in his hand and put it aside. He didn't expect that the Lord Chancellor would come to visit so urgently. He returned to Paris but he still hadn't covered his butt.

…

After a while, Justice Mopu was led to the drawing room by his servants.

He did not change his clothes during this trip. He was still wearing a simple dark red judge's robe. He only tied a short cloak with gold rims on his shoulders. He did not even wear a wig. Instead, he wore a gray-black wide-brimmed cape. cap.

As soon as he entered the door, Mopu laughed and greeted Lawrence, as if he were really meeting a friend he hadn't seen for many days:

"Ah, Your Majesty the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica, long time no see."

Lawrence glanced at Justice Maupp's clothes and could see that the justice must have rushed from the Palace of Justice to the Champs Elysées as soon as he got the news that he had returned to Paris.

"Please take a seat, Your Majesty the Marquis. Would you like a glass of sherry?"

Lawrence stood up, shook hands with Justice Maupe and saluted briefly, and in a not rude but completely unenthusiastic tone, asked him to take a seat opposite him.

Although the cooperation between Justice Maupe and the Duke of Richelieu had broken down after Lawrence designed to frame Count Falcone, Lawrence did not completely relax his vigilance towards the historical chief minister.

Although there is a lot of room for cooperation between the two, for example, both of them can be called royalists, but Lawrence, who is still on the side of the Duke of Choiseul, will not have too close contact with Justice Maupe. of.

After all, Justice Maupp has always regarded the thirteen high courts of France as his core enemies, and these high courts are staunch allies of the Duke of Choiseul. The reason why the Duke was willingly sent to Dijon by Louis XV is also due to Part of the reason was in exchange for the king's promise not to support Justice Maupe's reform and reorganization of the High Court within a short period of time.

However, Justice Maupp did extend an olive branch to Lawrence for cooperation. Lawrence also knew that he could not live under Choiseul's family all his life. Therefore, Lawrence did not treat this justice with special indifference and alienation, but rather Maintaining a state of detachment just right.

After all, there are no eternal friends or eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests, especially in the political world.

"There's no need to drink. It's still working time."

Justice Mopu waved his sleeves, glanced at the pile of letters on the table with a smile, and said in greeting:

"I hope the sudden visit did not disturb your rest. You seem to be busy?"

"It's nothing important, but I'm very flattered that you took the time to visit, Your Excellency." Lawrence said politely without expression, put the letter on the table into the drawer, and then said tentatively:

"I thought a man like you, so popular in His Majesty's sight, would have stayed at Versailles."

Although Lawrence, who was far away in Corsica, was not aware of the changes in the situation in Paris these days, a little speculation can tell that after the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Choiseul left the political spotlight one after another, what was happening in front of him Justice Maupu naturally became the most favored minister in front of the king's throne.

Justice Mopu laughed heartily twice, straightened his posture and said:

"You are joking, Your Majesty Bonaparte. This visit to you is still for official business. You also know that I am responsible for all the procedures for His Majesty the King to ascend to the throne of Corsica."

Listening to Mopu's explanation, Lawrence nodded silently.

As early as a few months ago, Justice Maupp had joined forces with the Duke of Richelieu to persuade Louis XV to transfer matters related to his coronation as King of Corsica to Justice Maupp.

At that time, Maupe also wanted to use this to cooperate with Duke Richelieu to make things difficult for Lawrence in the negotiation of the treaty.

However, after Count Falcone attacked the Corsican embassy, ​​Justice Maupp took the initiative to leave the Duke of Richelieu's side in order to protect himself, so he did not use this opportunity to continue to make things difficult for Lawrence, and even He also took the initiative to extend an olive branch to Lawrence.

Seeing that Lawrence was silent and did not respond, Justice Mopp continued without caring:

"His Majesty the King's coronation ceremony is expected to be held in the spring of next year. Although there are still several months to go, the preparations for such a grand ceremony are extremely cumbersome and annoying, so please understand my hasty visit today. The main reason I came here is to get a list from you.”

I'm very sorry that I had something to deal with at home a few days ago, and I will update as normal later.