From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Time flies, and time flies by.

As snowflakes fall over Paris, and with the twelve New Year's bells played by Notre Dame de Paris, citizens can finally tear off the last page of the 1770 calendar and turn over the new desk calendar 1771 January of the year.

During the week from Christmas to New Year, the vibrant city of Paris also shows its peaceful side.

The number of people on the streets is much less than usual. Rather than going out to celebrate in the biting wind and snow, people are more willing to stay at home and spend this warm moment with relatives and friends. After all, in addition to this statutory holiday, Paris citizens There is not much time for rest in a year.

Of course, not everyone can enjoy their Christmas vacation in front of a hot fire. At least for the officials of the Paris City Hall, they have been quite busy during this week.

Almost every day, you can see bureaucrats from the city hall rushing through the streets, repairing roads, clearing snow, and even sending people to knock out the icicles under the eaves of the houses on both sides of the road.

Even the soldiers of the Paris police force are patrolling the streets in full gear every day in the wind and snow, instead of wearing uniforms and getting drunk in warm pubs as in previous years.

These usually domineering bureaucrats and policemen do not perform these hard and tiring municipal work out of enthusiasm. There is only one reason why they voluntarily give up their Christmas vacation - His Majesty the King will visit Paris after the New Year.

For Louis XV, who loved court life, the last time he came to Paris can be traced back to nearly ten years ago. Naturally, this long-awaited visit made the bureaucrats in the city hall feel like they were facing a formidable enemy and did not dare to show any signs of neglect. .

At the same time, the citizens of Paris were also vaguely aware of the tense atmosphere in the air. The purpose of His Majesty the King's coming to Paris was probably precisely for the gambling game between His Excellency Bonaparte and Madame Du Barry. He wanted to see this rare and interesting gambling game with his own eyes. Decide the winner.

As the news of His Majesty's visit to Paris spread, the gambling between Lawrence and Madame Du Barry heated up again. Even many citizens who were not interested in political affairs learned about it.

However, for those low-level citizens, they don't care at all who wins this boring bet. Instead, what they focus on is the priceless diamond necklace that is one of the bets:

"Hoo ho. My ears are about to freeze off. Damn it, why haven't we started disbursing this year's winter subsidy? If it continues, all the firewood will be left for my body to be cremated!"

"Hey, what kind of subsidy? There won't be any this year. Didn't you see what was written in the newspaper? It was reported more than ten days ago."

"Do you think I am someone who has money to buy a newspaper? But what did the newspaper say? Why is there no subsidy this year?"

"The Comtesse du Barry, that bitch! She used the money to buy a necklace! The same necklace she used to bet against the Corsicans!"

"What?! Buy a necklace? Without relief subsidies, how many people will freeze to death and starve to death this year? So many lives are not worth a necklace?!"

"Oh, stop talking. Our lives are really nothing compared to that necklace."

"Fuck you, I don't think so. How much did that bitch spend on that necklace?"

"Who knows, but the newspaper said that Madame Du Barry misappropriated at least three million livres of funds, and the necklace should have cost two million livres."

"At least three million? Or livres? This! This is so hateful. Spending millions of livres just to put a few broken stones in front of your neck? Doesn't this woman know how many people this money can save? !”

"She is a noble countess, the king's mistress. Brother, you'd better say less. It won't change anything anyway. A passing patrol might hear you and put you in jail."

"A necklace soaked in blood - the evil deeds of the glamorous Countess du Barry", this was the front page news published by the Daily Observer two weeks ago.

In the report, the Daily Observer stated that they received an unknown but reliable informant who said that the Countess Du Barry misappropriated more than three million livres of relief funds to purchase jewelry, including that A striking diamond necklace.

At the same time, this report also spent half of the article describing the difficult lives of the people at the bottom of the slums, saying that without the previous aid policies, it is expected that more than 5,000 poor people in Paris will completely close their eyes this winter. .

Among the upper class society, this report did not arouse a particularly strong response. They had long known that the Countess Du Barry must have received a large amount of money from the royal family to maintain her extravagant life. Although the relief funds were misappropriated Unexpected, but also reasonable.

And after all, these gentlemen don't care about the life and death of the poor people at the bottom. They are just a little surprised that this recently emerged newspaper has the courage to expose Madame Du Barry's scandal. After all, the woman who is determined to retaliate after learning about this article The report will definitely not end well for the small newspaper.

However, among ordinary citizens of Paris, this report undoubtedly caused an uproar.

That day's Observer Daily was almost out of stock, and President Hailsen had to urgently print several more batches of newspapers. Even the next morning, the newspaper office was still printing yesterday's daily newspapers non-stop.

The small townsfolk waved the newspapers in their hands and complained angrily to others about Madame Du Barry's evil deeds.

In the past, when they talked about the luxurious life of the ruling class, their hearts were not deeply touched, and they did not realize that the gold and silver squandered by the king and nobles actually came from their own blood and sweat, and were all due to themselves. benefits gained.

But now, it has been written in black and white in the newspapers that the Countess Du Barry spent the relief funds that should have belonged to them on a set of meaningless pearls.

The citizens immediately became angry and furious. Some people stood up and proposed to hold a march to protest, so that His Majesty the King of Versailles could also hear their anger.

On the second day after the newspaper was released, hundreds of indignant people gathered in the Champ de Mars. They gave speeches in the square, accusing Madame Du Barry of her disregard for human life and her corrupt life in the most vehement terms.

Those attending the rally were not just the poor at the bottom who were worried about their livelihood, but many petty bourgeoisie and wealthy workers also joined the protest.

They hope that the huge wealth controlled by the royal family can flow more into ordinary people like them. After all, no one wants to see a quarter of the tax revenue of the entire Kingdom of France flowing into the Palace of Versailles and turning into a meaningless string. diamond necklace.

At the end of this spontaneous rally, the excited citizens even decided to go together to surround the Paris City Hall and seek an explanation from the officials of the City Hall.

Of course, this flame of resistance was extinguished before it ignited.

The Paris police force quickly sensed the boiling public opinion.

A large number of police and soldiers were quickly dispatched. The heavily armed soldiers easily broke up these citizen gatherings and arrested hundreds of demonstrators on charges of disrespect.

In the days that followed until the New Year, the police forces increased the security of streets and squares to strictly prevent such treasonous gatherings from happening again, especially at this critical juncture when His Majesty the King is about to arrive.

At the same time, in order to prevent the situation from escalating and affecting His Majesty the King's visit, the officials of the City Hall also quickly stepped forward and issued a bad check to the citizens, saying that they would ask His Majesty the King for instructions to allocate a sum of funds as soon as possible to distribute winter gifts. subsidy.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the City Hall is stalling for time, trying to use a delaying tactic to prevent citizens' protests from affecting the arrival of His Majesty the King.

However, this two-pronged approach of firmness and softness was quite effective for the small citizens. Most people gave up the idea of ​​continuing to protest, chose to succumb to the force of the police force, and looked forward to the city hall actually fulfilling their promise. In this way, a relief fund can be allocated in time.

After the arrival of the New Year, although there was still no trace of the City Hall's promise being fulfilled, the two weeks of martial law had made citizens no longer have any expectations for public gatherings to protest.

They had no choice but to bury their hatred for Madame du Barry deep in their hearts, like a dark fire under the ashes that had not yet been burned.

As the initiator of all this, Laurence Bonaparte was dormant in his mansion without leaving home, silently waiting for the opportunity to rekindle the remaining fires under the thousands of ashes.

1771, January 2, the second day of the New Year.

Inside the Tuileries Palace, the former royal palace of the Kingdom of France

"Ah, Paris, so beautiful even when covered with silver, is truly the jewel in my crown."

On the balcony of the penthouse suite of the Tuileries Palace, Louis XV looked at the snowy scenery of Paris comfortably, sighing with emotion while drinking a cup of fragrant black tea.

Early this morning, Louis XV's car arrived in Paris.

As for the reason why His Majesty the King came to Paris after a long absence, consistent with outside speculation, Louis XV was indeed very interested in the gambling between Laurence and Madame Du Barry.

In the eyes of this pleasure-loving king, this rare and interesting event was completely worth his own trip to Paris. Moreover, living in the palace all day was a bit boring. Louis XV was also full of excitement about this trip to Paris. Looking forward to, looking forward to having some fun here.

Louis XV gently put down the tea cup, exhaled a breath of white breath comfortably, and asked the press secretary who was waiting beside him:

"What's going on in Paris recently?"

The press secretary took two steps forward, leaned over respectfully and replied:

"Reporting to your majesty, there is nothing noteworthy. Paris is as peaceful and prosperous as ever. It's just that before the New Year, some uncivilized and unruly people held several annoying protest rallies, but the mayor of Paris has perfectly dealt with them. about this.”

Originally, such a trivial matter would not be specifically told to His Majesty the King, but since Louis XV specifically inquired about matters in Paris, the press secretary remembered that there was such an unpleasant thing.

Louis XV's comfortable expression faded slightly, and he asked with some displeasure:

"Protest rally? About what?"

The press secretary leaned over and licked his lower lips. As the press officer directly subordinate to the king, he told Louis XV the entire process of the protest in a fair, objective and unbiased manner, from the sale of the Observer to the Paris police. Clearance of troops and martial law.

After hearing this, Louis XV felt a little upset, smacked his lips and said to himself:

"It's really annoying. These newspapers know how to find fault with the royal family. If they reported more on my great achievements, how could they cause such troubles."

"Your Majesty, do you want to close down that newspaper?" the press secretary asked cautiously.

"That's all, I know those newspapers. If one is blocked, ten newspapers will pop up. I can't ban the entire press."

Louis XV waved his hand magnanimously. Although he did not inherit the civil and military skills of his great-grandfather Louis XIV, he also did not inherit the despotism and cruelty of Louis XIV. Regarding these newspapers that attacked the royal family, he only complained a few words to himself. That’s all.

"But..." Louis XV recalled the press secretary's story and suddenly frowned and said:

"My dear Jeanne has misappropriated the winter subsidy funds without authorization? How come I didn't know about this? Send me an order to summon the Countess Du Barry and the treasurer to see me immediately."

Just a few minutes later, Madame Du Barry, who was dressing up in the room, and the anxious treasurer stood in front of His Majesty the King.

As soon as she walked into the door of the suite, Madame Du Barry pretended to be weak and stepped forward to lean on the king's arm. She pointed at the large patch of snow-white exposed on her chest and asked delicately:

"I don't know why Your Majesty summoned me. I was changing in the room just now. I heard that this outfit is a new fashion in Paris. Do you like it, Your Majesty?"

Feeling Madame Du Barry's soft and delicate skin against his arm, Louis XV, who had been extremely serious just now, couldn't help but smile. He put his arm around Madame Du Barry's shoulders and said softly:

"It's nothing serious, my dear Jeanne. I just heard that you took away some money. When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Without waiting for Madam Du Barry's reply, the financial manager on the side quickly stepped forward and explained:

"Your Majesty, the Countess du Barry asked me to transfer four million livres from the royal family to her two weeks ago for the purchase of jewelry. I reported this to you."

Louis XV thought about it for a while, and then remembered that this was indeed the case. He had always directly agreed to Madame Du Barry's request, but he did not notice that this fund was used to provide relief funds to the citizens of Paris. .

Seeing the king's recollection, Madame Du Barry also took advantage of the situation and pressed her entire body against Louis XV's chest, saying charmingly:

"You promised me to buy those gems half a year ago. Look, Your Majesty."

Madame du Barry deliberately put the king's hand on her chest and said softly:

"This brooch is made from the gemstones. I really like your gift. However, the payment from the craftsman has not been settled. Only then did I find the supervisor and hope that he can ask you to settle the balance as soon as possible. ”

Louis XV kneaded it twice, carefully felt the exquisite craftsmanship of the brooch, and said with a smile:

"Haha, it turns out that it is like this. As long as you like these jewels, dear Jeanne, this money should indeed be paid to the craftsman as soon as possible."

"His Majesty!"

Seeing His Majesty the King and Madame Du Barry quarreling with each other, the treasurer became even more anxious and said repeatedly:

"But in this case, the funds used to provide relief to the citizens of Paris will..."

Louis XV slowly turned his head and glanced at the financial manager, which immediately made the manager shiver:

"What? You want me to return all my wife's jewelry, and then give the money to those unruly people who were rallying against me two weeks ago?"

"No, no, Your Majesty, of course that's not what I meant."

There were beads of sweat on the treasurer's forehead. Although Louis XV usually showed a kind and kind face, he was after all a king with supreme autocratic power. No one would want to anger such a ruler. .

Louis XV waved his hand in displeasure and drove away everyone, and then looked at Madame Du Barry with a smile:

"That's enough. You can leave. We'll talk about the relief funds later. Come, dear Jeanne, come and enjoy the snowy scenery of Paris with me."