From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Half an hour later, No. 10, Champs Elysées.

When the old housekeeper returned to the mansion, he did not bother to take off his clothes and hat, and went straight to the study to report to Lawrence who was writing at his desk:

"As you expected, Colonel Giovanni agreed to your request."

"A wise choice."

Lawrence smiled and nodded. He believed that the colonel was not an extremely stupid idiot.

Although this must be a painful choice, giving up the status and power in Paris that he had worked hard for most of his life, and running to the remote Corsica to become a rich man.

But this is better than becoming a headless soul on the guillotine, in which case even the colonel's own family may be involved.

Lawrence stopped what he was doing and asked:

"By the way, is there any news from the Bank of Commerz de France in Montmartre these days?"

"Technically speaking, he has quite a few moves, Your Excellency."

One of the old butler's responsibilities is to collect intelligence. He also knows all the big and small affairs in Paris. He answered without thinking:

"He sold a number of properties, put several shops and land on the market, and even sold a lot of his shares. He also applied for interbank loans from several other banks. Investors thought Montmartre What kind of inside information have we got? The stock price on the stock exchange was very low yesterday.”

Since leaving the Tuileries Palace that day, Mr. Montmartre worked non-stop to raise the seven million livres requested by Lawrence.

After all, this was an opportunity to truly achieve a family class leap. This wealthy banker could not tolerate any sloppiness and devoted all his energy to raising funds. All matters were handled by him personally.

"He's really hard-working."

Lawrence chuckled and shook his head, knowing that Mr. Montmartre would not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that the seven million livres could be raised within three days as he said.

However, as Lawrence and Prince Louis said that day, rather than directly starting to distribute winter subsidies, he still has to use this huge sum of money to conduct some small operations for political purposes.

After all, although the act of doing good deeds without leaving a name is noble enough in terms of morality, it is not a wise approach in politics.

For such a great opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the people in the spotlight, Lawrence will not willingly act as a simple behind-the-scenes promoter.

And Lawrence also believed that the towering silver mountain piled up by these seven million livres would eventually be able to suppress the greedy and extravagant Countess Du Barry to pieces.

"Please send these two letters to the Palace of Justice and the City Defense Force Station again, and make sure that Justice Maupp and Lieutenant General Philip receive them personally."

Lawrence leaned over and opened a secret drawer at the bottom of the desk, took out two envelopes and solemnly handed them to the old butler, saying:

"In addition, send someone to the Tuileries Palace to inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and ask him to be ready to attend a civil event at the Paris Comedy."

A few days later, on January 12

The weather in Paris is even more difficult than in previous days.

The white snow covering the entire city of Paris is a completely different sight in the eyes of citizens of different classes.

Wealthy middle-class citizens would cuddle up next to a warm fire on a snowy night, sipping tea and admiring the moonlight shining like water on the white snow. It is a pity that such beauty can only be seen in winter.

As for the poor people huddled under drafty shacks, they could only wrap themselves up in linen coats and pray in the constantly attacking snow wind that the snow covering the streets would soon turn into warm spring water.

But in fact, many poor people simply cannot wait for the day when the snow melts into spring water and the winter wind turns into spring breeze.

Hunger, fever, frostbite, dysentery, there are so many things that can kill these poor people in the slums of Paris, so that for most poor people, being able to see the sun tomorrow is their biggest goal today. .

But in the final analysis, there is only one thing that kills them - poverty.

As long as you have money, even just two or three silver coins, fire and bread are not unattainable luxuries.

Even so, even if you rummage inside and outside the shriveled wallets of the poor, you can only find a few plates of pulp-coated Sur copper coins at most.

The common people almost cursed the damn Dubarry bitch every painful winter night, cursing this vicious woman who embezzled subsidy funds to be summoned to hell by Satan as soon as possible.

However, just as the poor were struggling to survive in the metropolis of Paris, a sudden and good news that could be called a surprise suddenly spread throughout Paris:

"His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte will hold a charity auction at the Comédie de Paris, and all proceeds from the auction will be donated to the citizens of Paris; the grand finale of the auction will be the Countess Du Barry's diamond necklace."

In an instant, this news immediately became the focus among the lower class citizens. After all, this was a major matter related to their vital interests.

Because mid-January is coming soon, the vast majority of citizens have given up on the fantasy of receiving winter subsidies. They have almost acquiesced and accepted this cruel reality.

No one could have imagined that things would turn around when the cold wave was about to come, especially when the turnaround came from a Corsican from a foreign country.

For these small citizens, they are not like the upper class who paid full attention to this Corsican political star from the beginning. In their eyes, this foreigner from Corsica is just one of the powerful people. Just an ordinary member of.

It was the first time for many poor people at the bottom to hear the name of Laurence Bonaparte. After all, whether it was Lawrence Bonaparte's gambling game with Madame Du Barry or his various performances in the Palace of Versailles, these were all affairs of the upper class politics. It has nothing to do with the poor people at the bottom like them.

And it was only when the citizens heard the news that they suddenly discovered that His Excellency Bonaparte did not seem to be in the same group as those dignitaries who pretended to be deaf and mute and looked down upon human life.

At least, in their opinion, among the thousands of nobles and ministers, Monsignor Bonaparte is the only one who really stands up and does something practical for them, instead of being like the officials of the Ministry of Finance and the royal family. The misery of the people at the bottom turns a deaf ear,

For a time, whether in the streets or in the taverns, you can almost hear the happy discussions of the ordinary citizens:

"I really didn't expect it, I didn't expect it at all, that the person who cares about us the most is a Corsican."

"I have never heard of this name before. It seems that he was the one who bet against the Countess Du Barry last time? It seems that he was also the Corsican in the Battle of Malta."

"That's right, and His Excellency Bonaparte also wants to put that million-dollar trophy and diamond necklace up for auction. Oh my god, what a generous man he is."

"Hey, tell the truth? That necklace is worth two to three million livres, right? Even if the Duke and Prince took out all this money at once, he would probably be heartbroken."

"How can this be false? Tsk tsk, it's unbelievable. He is truly a saint."

"Oh my god, if this happens, the money for the winter subsidy may be available!"

Almost everyone was shocked that Monsignor Bonaparte put a million-dollar diamond necklace at a charity auction.

After all, it was Lawrence's fair and honest trophy. It was difficult for the citizens to understand that Lawrence would use such a huge amount of personal property for charity. In the end, they had to explain it as a great gentleman who was truly generous, kind, and truly kind. .

But this did not prevent the poor at the bottom from rekindling their hope of living after receiving the news. While they were praising the name of Lawrence Bonaparte, they were happily looking forward to the start of the charity auction.

However, it is conceivable that not all Parisians were surprised by this charity auction.

Two days ago, in the Medici Gardens of the Tuileries Palace.

It was very rare that the Countess du Barry did not accompany Louis XV, but stayed in the garden, and invited the Duke of Aiguillon to come here alone in the name of a tea party to discuss.

Of course, it was not so much a discussion with the Duke as it was Madame Dubarly who used her sharp voice to challenge the Duke of Aiguillon over and over again:

"Emmanuel Armand! What's going on! I heard that that damn newspaper is still publishing newspapers. Didn't I ask you to send people to smash that place to pieces?!"

As soon as the Duke of Aiguillon entered the garden, Madame Du Barry screamed at the top of her lungs, which was completely different from the enchanting and charming she was next to Louis XV.

The Duke sat helplessly on a wicker chair and couldn't help but sigh:

"Madam, this was my mistake. I didn't expect that newspaper was actually an industry invested by the Corsican National Silver Company. In other words, it was an industry under the name of Laurence Bonaparte."

Although the general public still does not understand the relationship between Lawrence and the Daily Observer, upper-class figures like the Duke of Aiguillon, after learning about the seizure of the newspaper a few days ago, also knew that this newspaper was essentially a Controlled by Lawrence.

"Bonaparte? It's that damn Bonaparte again! I knew it!" Madame Du Barry was stunned for a moment, and then she became furious again:

"It must be those rumors he ordered the newspaper to publish. This bastard deserves to go to hell! I, I will go to His Majesty the King to sue him."

Duke Aiguillon rolled his eyes slightly and persuaded in a slow voice:

"Please calm down, madam, we have no evidence that it was directed by Laurence Bonaparte. It is normal for a wealthy silver company to invest in some industries across borders, and"

The Duke paused and added cautiously:

"I heard that His Majesty the King does not want to take action against the press. This hasty sealing of the newspaper has made him a little unhappy."

"His Majesty the King knows that it was you who instigated it?" Madame Du Barry calmed down and asked with a frown. She certainly didn't want Louis XV to know that these things were related to her.

"That's not to say, the king thought this was an independent action by the Paris police force." Duke Aiguillon spread his hands and said with a smile:

"Anyway, that newspaper has caused a lot of trouble to the police force these days. Their reasons are very good. His Majesty the King only verbally reprimanded the police lieutenant general for a few words, but we don't want to do anything to that newspaper for the time being. ”

Madame du Barry knocked on the table very upset. Since she became the king's mistress, she had never encountered such a situation where her will could not be carried out.

She had heard the name Lawrence Bonaparte for less than a year, but this damn Corsican had already made her feel this unprecedented frustration more than once.

Seeing Madame Du Barry's irritable look, Duke Aiguillon also changed the subject at the right time:

"Compared to that small newspaper, I think Bonaparte's other move deserves more attention."

"Huh? What is that damn boy going to do?" Madame Du Barry frowned slightly. Naturally, she who stayed in the palace was not as well-informed as the outside world.

"He's going to hold an auction, a charity auction, to raise funds for winter subsidies for the people of Paris."

Duke Aiguillon also calmed down his relaxed expression and said seriously:

"He is going to auction off your diamond necklace as the grand finale, madam."

As soon as she heard about her precious necklace, Madame Du Barry exclaimed:

"My diamond necklace? Who is he going to sell it to?"

"Who knows." Duke Aiguillon shrugged:

"It's nothing more than a wealthy banker or property owner. That's the kind of people who were invited to that auction."

Madame Du Barry was stunned, and the anger that had not been extinguished was rekindled again. She grabbed the hair on her shoulders and growled in a low voice:

"What did you say?! How could he sell my treasures to those nouveau riche!"

Although Madame Du Barry had lost the priceless necklace to Lawrence, this arrogant woman did not think that the savage Corsican was worthy of such a treasure.

In her eyes, that diamond necklace always belonged to her, and one day she would put it back on her neck.

Moreover, as the saying goes, the more you lack something, the more you care about it. Madame Du Barry, who was born as a prostitute, takes the concept of class more seriously than anyone else. She can never accept that the treasures of a countess and the mistress of the king have ended up with those lowly outbursts. in the hands of the household.

It felt like putting a fragrant matsutake cake into a manure pit and washing it around. Even if she picked it up intact and returned it to herself, Madame Du Barry would feel nauseated:

"This is a disaster. That Corsican must be stopped. Such treasures do not belong to untouchables at all!"

"He must be stopped, madam." The Duke of Aiguillon rarely agreed with Madame Du Barry's opinion.

Of course, what he cares about is not the diamond necklace, but the fame Lawrence has gained through this auction.

The Duke of Aiguillon knew very well that Lawrence had only two sources of power, one was the support of the Duke of Choiseul, and the other was the attention of Louis XV.

In other words, Lawrence's power and status came from his superiors. His political foundation in France was quite weak, and there were not many people and grassroots to support this strange foreigner who had been in Paris for less than a year.

However, if this charity auction is really successful, the Duke of Aiguillon can conclude that the citizens of Paris will fully praise and support this Corsican, whether in the short or long term.

After all, donating necklaces worth millions of livres to lower-class citizens at one time was enough to be called a generous act in the eyes of the Duke of Aiguillon.

In this way, Laurence Bonaparte's political shortcomings can be compensated to a large extent, and the Duke of Aiguillon does not want to see his enemies grow rapidly.

"But what are we going to do? Forcibly send someone to cancel the auction?" Madame Du Barry gently pinched her chin and asked thoughtfully.

Of course Duke Aiguillon would not adopt such a naive plan. He smiled confidently and said:

"No, no, no, madam, I will attend the auction in person and get back the diamond necklace that should belong to you. As for you, madam, I hope you can mention this to His Majesty more when you are by the king's side. The auction made the king understand that this so-called charity auction was just a cover used by Laurence Bonaparte to gain fame. "

"Ah, I understand."

Madame Du Barry also smiled knowingly. She was already familiar with this behavior of blowing Louis XV's pillow, and she knew how to use sweet words to coax Louis XV into thinking about the result she wanted.

After receiving the assistance of Madame Du Barry, the smile on Duke Aiguillon's lips became brighter. He squeezed the white porcelain teacup in his hand tightly and murmured confidently:

"Huh, Laurence Bonaparte, I really want to see how those who praise you will use the same mouth to curse you if this huge auction only ends up donating a few thousand livres to the citizens. Woolen cloth?"