From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"This cup is dedicated to our hidden great scholar, hahaha!"

Even though it was dark at No. 10 on the Champs Elysées, the banquet hall of the mansion was still filled with the aroma of champagne and the alluring aroma of a large feast of cream, sardines, baked snails, foie gras, etc.

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe raised his wine glass with a loud voice and shouted at Lawrence:

"I really didn't expect such a wonderful ending, Your Excellency Bonaparte, I apologize for questioning you a few days ago, hahaha."

Even Justice Maupe, who had never been on good terms with Lieutenant General Philip, also raised his glass in salute to Lawrence, laughing and sighing:

"The only thing that makes me feel regretful is that I didn't see that damn woman hand the necklace to you in person, otherwise I would be too excited to sleep tonight."

For the two people who were stationed at the court of Versailles, they watched Madame Du Barry almost helplessly, watching her go from an unknown countess to a well-known socialite in the aristocratic circle, and then to become a Parisian. The mistress of Duke Richelieu was finally sent to the king by Duke Richelieu and became the most powerful woman in the country.

In this process, Madame Du Barry has always had a smooth sailing, with almost no obstacles.

Especially after gaining the favor of His Majesty the King and the support of the Richelieu faction, this woman became more confident. On some occasions, her orders were even second only to the King's edicts and could be circulated throughout the Versailles Palace. Unobstructed.

But today, after three years of smooth sailing, Madame Du Barry suffered such a big setback for the first time.

Although at present, losing this bet has not brought any impact on Madame Du Barry's status, it can severely break the spirit of this overbearing and willful woman in front of the entire upper class society. It seems to be hard-earned.

Faced with the toasts of the general and the justice, Lawrence smiled and raised his glass in return, taking a small sip.

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe was in a good mood. He raised his hand and poured the entire glass of champagne into his mouth. He carelessly ignored the wine spilling on his beard, and then asked excitedly:

"Oh, by the way, Your Excellency Bonaparte, how did you do the one you just demonstrated at the Louvre? Can you penetrate armor with just a copper pipe? Can that thing be used in the army?"

Even Lieutenant General Philip, a soldier who has served in the army for most of his life, was shocked by the dense dents on the breastplate just now. It is hard to believe that such an ordinary copper pipe can be as powerful as a musket. .

Moreover, unlike those traditional and conservative generals, Lieutenant General Philip's thinking, like his brother, Duke Choiseul, is extremely innovative and reformative, and he will naturally not reject advances in military technology.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Lawrence smiled bitterly and explained:

"The key to that demonstration was not the copper pipes, but the metal piles on the table. If you want soldiers to use this weapon to fight, they have to carry a metal block weighing more than a hundred kilograms on their backs at all times. Not to mention the probability of failure and reliability.”

Until two or three hundred years later, mankind had not yet produced or designed a reliable individual electromagnetic weapon with practical significance, let alone at the end of the 18th century.

Including other applications of electricity, even if they are practical applications, Lawrence does not expect to achieve large-scale popularization in a short time.

After all, we are still in the era of the steam revolution. Only when steam engines are popular enough and social productivity reaches a certain bottleneck stage, will the entire society have the endogenous motivation to seek higher-stage production methods.

Otherwise, even if Lawrence devotes the rest of his life to promoting the electrical revolution and directly providing scholars with the correct ideas and directions, electrical equipment will only appear on a very small scale in the laboratories of scholars and the collection halls of nobles. inside.

For example, without the revolutionary productivity improvements brought by steam engines to the mining industry, raw materials such as copper, iron, and coal for the construction of power plants and transmission lines would have been in short supply, let alone the production of subsequent equipment.

The reason why Lawrence chose to demonstrate electrical experiments to the judges at the Louvre was purely because this field was not particularly advanced and had broad prospects, and he could easily pass this defense and win the bet with Madame Du Barry.

"Really, what a pity."

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe shook his head with slight disappointment. He also knew that it was impossible for the soldiers to carry more than a hundred kilograms of power supply equipment to fight. Those skinny farmers recruited from the countryside might not even weigh a hundred pounds. It's a pound.

Justice Mopu on the side took a sip of wine and suddenly asked:

"Monsieur Bonaparte, you have won Madame Du Barry's necklace. What is your next plan?"

Worried that Madame Du Barry could support another justice in a short period of time, Justice Maupe was also very concerned about Lawrence's next plan. He had no extra time to waste.

Lieutenant General Philip also looked at Lawrence curiously. From the beginning of their cooperation, the three of them had already acquiesced that Lawrence was the main attacker who personally held a spear and charged at Madame Du Barry. After all, Lawrence was the strongest among the three during this period. Favored by the king.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Philip and Justice Maupp were also willing to take Lawrence's plan as the main one and assist themselves.

"Yeah" Lawrence pondered for a moment, then waved his hand gently to dismiss the serving servants, leaving only the three of them in the empty banquet hall.

"Before that, I have a question that I would like to ask you two."

Lawrence did not answer directly, but asked the two people in front of him:

"Do you know anything about Madame du Barry's parentage?"

"Oh? Origin?"

Justice Mopp frowned slightly. He still didn’t know why Lawrence specifically asked this question, but he still recalled it cooperatively and said doubtfully:

"It doesn't seem to be anything special. She is just the daughter of an unknown declining nobleman who married a count."

"That's right." Lieutenant General Philip also added thoughtfully:

"Her husband, at least in name only, was the brother of Jean Du Barry, and then she entered the aristocratic circle with the help of Jean Du Barry. At that time, she was still known as Mademoiselle Lange, followed by I climbed up step by step relying on her beauty.”

Listening to the two people's answers, Lawrence nodded without surprise and said thoughtfully:

"That's true."

"What? You want to attack Madame Du Barry from the outside?" Lieutenant General Philip was a little confused, shook his head to dissuade:

"I don't think this is a good idea. Madame Du Barry did not rely on her birth to get to the king. Alas, if it were really a competition for birth, my sister should be the king's official mistress."

After the death of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's former mistress, the Duke of Choiseul thought of sending his sister, the Duchess of Gramont, to the palace to succeed Madame de Pompadour.

But no one expected that this noble duchess would be defeated by the previously unknown Madame Du Barry.

This is also one of the main reasons why the Duke of Choiseul hates Madame Du Barry - he cannot accept that his sister of noble blood should have her place replaced by a humble courtesan.

Justice Maupp also supported Lieutenant General Philip's view and said worriedly:

"That's true, Your Excellency Bonaparte, Madame Du Barry originally came from a small aristocratic family. It doesn't make much sense for you to attack her based on her origin. After all, how could her origin be any worse?"

Although for small citizens and farmers in the countryside, the aristocratic bloodline marked on their birth certificate can bring them a lot of fame and privileges, which they can only dream of.

But for politicians like Justice Maupp and Lieutenant General Philippe who stood at the top of the French Kingdom, noble blood was just the most basic ticket to the Palace of Versailles.

The people who can appear in the Palace of Versailles are all dignitaries born in the Purple House. Even Lawrence, who does not have a noble title for the time being, is the second son of the old Count Bonaparte.

Therefore, in the eyes of the two of them, there is no doubt that Madame Du Barry has aristocratic blood. In addition, her family is not a famous family, so it is very unnecessary to attack based on her birth.

Lawrence smiled and shook his head:

"Then what if I say that her actual background is far worse than this?"

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe and Justice Maupp couldn't help being stunned for a moment, wondering what Lawrence meant by this. Lieutenant General Philippe even frowned and said bluntly:

"Are you going to spread rumors to slander her?"

"No, it's not about spreading rumors and slandering, it's about exposing the truth." Lawrence chuckled and said:

"General, Jean Du Barry should still be in your possession, right?"

Lieutenant General Philip hesitated for a moment and glanced at Justice Maupe unconsciously, as if he was reluctant to mention this matter in front of this outsider.

However, since Lawrence asked this question face to face, Lieutenant General Philip nodded and admitted:

"That's right, I sent people to put that pimp under house arrest."

Since Jean Dubarly was a direct participant in Count Falconet's attack on Lawrence, Lawrence also attached great importance to him and deliberately handed him over to the control of Duke Choiseul when he left Paris last time.

Justice Maupp glanced at Lawrence in surprise: "You actually kidnapped Jean Du Barry? I thought he was indeed missing."

Let's talk, Justice Maupe couldn't help but have a hint of complexity in his eyes when he looked at Lawrence. He didn't expect that the trickster Bonaparte would also take such resolute actions.

And Lawrence didn't say anything. The reason why he didn't mind revealing this secret to Justice Mopp was because the two of them would remain allies in a short period of time. If there ever comes a day when the two of them stand on opposite sides again, at that time Jean Du Barry had already been dealt with by Lawrence.

"What did you ask about that pimp? Wasn't he a participant in that incident?" Lieutenant General Philip asked cryptically.

"He's more than just a wealthy property owner, General."

Lawrence recalled the historical memories in his mind and said in a deep voice:

"He didn't just bring Madame Du Barry into the aristocratic circle of Paris. Jean Du Barry single-handedly sent Madame Du Barry from the brothel to the Palace of Versailles."

"brothel?!"

After hearing this, the expressions of Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe and Justice Maupe could not help but freeze for a moment, as if they did not understand what Lawrence said at all.

When the two of them fully realized Lawrence's words, they were both shocked and opened their mouths, even more violently than the shock they had just received at the Louvre.

Many aristocrats who were critical of Madame Du Barry would scornfully call her a "prostitute", but this was only used to ridicule Madame Du Barry for her playfulness and her many boyfriends in the aristocratic circle. No one would understand this word as anything other than a prostitute. its own meaning.

After all, how could His Majesty the King's official mistress be a prostitute who came out of a brothel? !

The French are indeed romantic by nature, especially after the spread of Enlightenment ideas. Men can directly and generously claim that they have several mistresses, and married women can openly hang around in various houses under the title of Mrs. So-and-so.

However, no matter how this romantic and free-spirited trend spreads, class concepts are still deeply rooted in the hearts of every citizen of this feudal kingdom.

People would never believe that His Majesty the King's official mistress, the most powerful woman in the Palace of Versailles, was actually a commoner?

It's just a commoner woman, but the key point is that she is a prostitute who walked out of a brothel and has been picked up countless times?

If this kind of news were known by envoys from various countries, they would probably laugh and quickly send people to spread the news back to their home countries so that their monarchs would also have a good time. The king of France welcomed a prostitute to Versailles like a treasure. palace.

"Wait a minute." Lieutenant General Philip slapped his head repeatedly, unable to believe Lawrence's words for a moment:

"You said Madame Du Barry came out of a brothel? No matter how miserable her family was, she wouldn't have sold her daughter to a brothel, right?"

Lawrence shook his head and explained:

"No, Madame Du Barry was not born into a noble family. Her birth certificate was later forged by Jean Du Barry, and it was also Jean Du Barry who ordered her to marry Count Du Barry and sent her into the aristocratic circle of Paris. It’s just that this pimp, who was in charge of Barry, probably didn’t expect that woman to enter the Palace of Versailles.”

Lieutenant General Philip took a breath, then raised his eyebrows and said quickly:

"If this is the case, Jean Du Barry must still have evidence of forging her identity."

Madame Du Barry is not a kind-hearted woman who repays her kindness. The reason why she did not turn around and deal with Jean Du Barry is probably because Jean Du Barry still has Madame Du Barry's fatal secret in his hands. This made Madam willing to act as his backer.

"That's right." Lawrence nodded with deep understanding and said:

"Those evidences are Jean Du Barry's greatest wealth; in order to control Madame Du Barry to provide him with a backer, Jean Du Barry will definitely keep the evidence very intact and hidden, and it is impossible to let the second person know about it."

Lieutenant General Philip snorted disdainfully:

"Hmph, that boy is in my hands now, and I will let him tell everything."

"But your Excellency Bonaparte." Justice Maupp, who had been deep in thought just now, suddenly interjected:

"Even if we get the evidence, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. This is a big scandal for the royal family. Even if His Majesty the King believes the evidence, he probably will not publicly admit that Madame Du Barry is really a prostitute."

If the rumors about Madame Du Barry really spread throughout the city, then it is very likely that it will consolidate her current status. After all, Louis XV would not let such a scandal spread widely. If he would let Madame Du Barry Expelling him from the palace will confirm these rumors.

However, these consequences have long been included in Lawrence's plan:

"Indeed, your honor, that's why I need your help."

"Our help?"

Lawrence said in a deep voice:

"To be precise, it was the help of the Paris City Defense Forces, the Paris High Court and the Palace of Justice."

Justice Mopu nodded slowly and said nothing more.

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe glanced at Lawrence with a playful expression, narrowed his eyes and nodded:

"The army, the courts, the legislature. Monsieur Bonaparte, I really want to know what you want to do."