From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Your Excellency, please. Please come with me."

Under the disbelieving gazes of all the gang members, Oga Koumas, sweating profusely, led the three Lawrences through the spiral staircase deep in the hall to an extremely private and spacious room high in the cave.

Unlike the messy and dirty style of the sewer, this room is actually very luxuriously decorated.

There is no ubiquitous rancid smell in the sewers in the room. The necessary furniture and furnishings are all available. The surrounding walls have also been painted with lime. There are two landscape oil paintings with a little artistic conception hanging above the bed. , even the floor was covered with a slightly faded Persian carpet.

And it seems that only Oga Kumas, the king of beggars, can have such an exquisite residence in the smelly sewers.

Lawrence left Grosso and Yaan's two personal guards outside the door, and followed Oga Kumas into the room.

A group of gang members below stared at Lawrence with wide eyes as he walked into the Beggar King's residence, and they all commented:

"Who is that kid? How could he make the leader so rude and still be qualified to enter the leader's residence?!"

"Who knows, is he really a big shot? Like Lord Du Barry?"

"Go, go, Monsieur Jean Du Barry is a black man. It is said that he even has connections in the palace, and the leaders are just like minions in front of him. How can that kid compare to Monsieur Du Barry. "

"That's true. Maybe that kid is one of Master Du Barry's men."

"Oh, if only I could serve Monsieur Du Barry. It would be a gift from God."

"Please take a seat, Your Excellency."

Oga nervously asked Lawrence to sit down. The fine sweat on his forehead has not gone away until now, and even his hands were drooped on his legs with nowhere to rest.

Although he was in his own base camp, Oga Kumas's flustered and anxious look made Lawrence seem to be the master here.

Other members of the gang may still feel strange about their leader's bizarre performance today, but only Oga Kumas himself knows how powerful the man in front of him who is even younger than himself has.

He still remembers that just a few months ago, the previous King of Beggars suddenly disappeared mysteriously, his life and death unknown, and he was elected as the new gang leader.

And before Oga Kumas could be happy for a few days, a major event happened that shocked the entire Paris underground world:

Hundreds of elite soldiers from the Paris City Defense Force rushed into the sewers and broke into the lair of the King of Beggars, easily knocking out the new king of the underground world and taking him away.

And when Oga Kumas opened his eyes again, he was already in the dungeon of Duke Choiseul.

It was there that he first met His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte.

Oga Coomas, who was tortured and dying at the time, also faintly heard the conversation between Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul.

He knew that if it hadn't been for the casual intercession of His Excellency Bonaparte, he would have become a withered skeleton in the dungeon of the god-like Duke.

Putting aside this life-saving kindness, His Excellency Bonaparte's own power and status alone made Oga Coomas extremely lucky that he had not done anything impulsive just now.

If this gentleman makes any mistake here, I am afraid that in the next few years, there will be no living creatures except rats and maggots in the entire Paris sewers.

"Your Excellency, please forgive me and my subordinates. They don't know your identity, sir, and that's why they are so rude."

Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence cautiously and said tentatively:

"But I really didn't expect you to show up here. I didn't expect it at all. If you need me, you can send someone here casually, why would I ask you to come in person?"

In addition to being filled with shock and joy, Oga's heart at this moment was also full of doubts and puzzlements. How could such a big man personally deign to come to find him in this dirty and smelly sewer?

unless

Oga Kumas's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He was certainly not an ignorant person to be elected as the ruler of the sewers. He immediately realized that there was probably some ulterior mission entrusted to him. On hand.

Lawrence still looked unhurried, looking at the residence of the leader of the largest gang in Paris with great interest, and said casually:

"Don't be so nervous. I understand your subordinates. It's normal for a group of desperadoes to react like that when they see three strangers."

After scanning the furnishings in the room, Lawrence's eyes focused on Oga Kumas's face and whispered:

"Tell me about your gang, Mr. Oga, if you don't mind."

Oga Coomas subconsciously raised his eyebrows. As soon as he heard this question, he became more sure that His Excellency Bonaparte had an important task to entrust to him, so he quickly replied:

"I don't mind at all, Your Excellency. As you can see, we control the entire Paris sewers. All the people who live here, whether they are murderers or robbers, are all under our control. For this reason, we are very They have long been called gray rats in the sewers, and gray rats have become synonymous with gangs.”

As he spoke, Oga Kumas slightly pulled down the collar on his chest, revealing a fist-sized tattoo under his collarbone. It was a lifelike gray mouse with cunning and fierce eyes.

Lawrence nodded slightly. The Paris sewers were originally gathering places for thugs, wanted criminals, and homeless poor people. Even Marat, the leader of the Jacobins during the Revolution, succumbed to sewers in order to avoid being pursued by his political opponents. month's time.

"How many people are there in the gang?" Lawrence continued.

"There are six to seven hundred core members. They are basically shady thugs and wanted criminals. Most of them live scattered in the sewers."

Oga Kumas only hesitated for a short while, and then told all the confidential information very honestly:

"As for the peripheral members, there are probably thousands of them. Many of them are petty thieves, or even ordinary poor people. Joining the gang is just to seek protection from the King of Beggars. Especially in this winter, joining There are a lot more peripheral members of Squirrel.”

"This winter? Because of subsidies?" Lawrence asked casually.

"Exactly, Your Excellency."

Oga Kumas sighed. He was not like those thugs who only thought about money, liquor and women.

He still has pity and sympathy for the poor people who have no property and the members of the lower class who are in difficult situations. After all, he was once one of them. This is why Oga Kumas can use his thin body to stand among a group of fierce and ferocious people. Win among the thugs and become the new beggar king:

"This winter has been very difficult. The number of poor people seeking to join the Gray Rats has increased a lot. I also tried to do some things to rob the rich and give to the poor at first, but the Paris police force started strict patrols a year ago, which made our actions It is difficult to continue, and all I can do is to absorb those desperate poor people into the gray rats, lest they freeze to death one night."

Halfway through, Oga Kumas carefully raised his head and glanced at Lawrence's face, and then continued:

"In addition, you held a charity auction a few days ago, which really relieved many people's anxiety. However, there has been no news about the money for several days. Many people have lost confidence and started to contact us again. Find a way to survive."

Lawrence listened silently and just nodded lightly. All this was as he expected.

However, he, Lawrence, did not intend to reveal more details of the plan to Oga Kumas. With this young man's current status, he was not worthy of knowing those deeper things.

Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence expectantly, thinking that he could get some inside information from this adult, but Lawrence still shook his head and dropped the topic and said:

"By the way, Mr. Oga, you should be considered a crowd-pleaser in the gang, right?"

"Yes, sir, they are very supportive of my orders."

Oga was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and answered truthfully:

"This may also be attributed to the last raid launched by the city defense army against us."

"A raid by the city defense force? I seem to have some impression."

Lawrence also recalled a little and remembered that after Count Falcone launched the Beggar King to attack him last time, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe directly mobilized an elite battalion of the Paris City Defense Force to raid into the sewers and kill the Beggar King. The prisoners returned to the dungeon of the Duke of Choiseul.

It is a pity that the previous Beggar King who ordered the attack on Lawrence had long been dealt with by Duke Richelieu. The leader of the gray rats at that time was already Oga Coomas, and Duke Choiseul did not get the information from him. Any valuable information.

Oga Kumas said with a wry smile:

"As soon as the city defense army's attack started, I knew I was outmatched, but I also knew those soldiers were coming for me, so I surrendered and was captured in exchange for the soldiers' promise not to hunt down other Gray Rat members. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be able to return to the sewers alive. After this incident, the elders in the gang were basically inclined to support me.”

After hearing this, Lawrence glanced at Oga Kumas in surprise. No wonder this thin young man with no strength could become the leader of those extremely vicious thugs. Such courage and character are rare to see. .

Without this heroic act of sacrificing his life for the gang, Oga Kumas, the temporarily elected king of beggars, might not be able to fully convince the public.

Of course, this is undoubtedly good news for Lawrence. Only when Oga Kumas has enough control over his men can Lawrence confidently entrust him with an important and secret mission.

Lawrence pondered for a moment and took a sip of black tea mixed with rum. In order to obtain clean and non-toxic water, the gray rats in the sewers were accustomed to mixing alcohol into the water like the sailors at sea.

After swallowing this strange-tasting alcoholic black tea, Lawrence said slowly:

"Mr. Oga, I was thinking that maybe you could do a few things for me."

And the nervous Oga Kumas was waiting for these words. He suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, quickly stood up and nodded:

"My lord, you have shown me the favor of saving my life. If you need anything else, just ask me, lord."

Of course, Oga Kumas was so eager not just to repay Lawrence for his life-saving kindness.

His first priority is the future of the Gray Rat Gang.

Prior to this, the reason why the reputation of the King of Beggars was able to shock the entire Paris underground world was that, in addition to the large number of members and long heritage of the Gray Rats, there was also a very important factor - behind the gang was Jean Du Barry as its backer. .

Although in Lawrence's view, Jean Du Barry was just a rich pimp, at most a lackey of the Richelieu family, this was because of his relationship with Madame Du Barry.

But in the eyes of those ruffians, thieves and robbers, Jean Du Barry was definitely a legend in their hearts.

Owning more than a dozen shops and properties, he is highly respected in the upper class and has unparalleled influence in the underground world. Even top gang leaders like the King of Beggars have to rely on him to survive. It can be said that everyone Every gangster dreams of living like Jean Du Barry.

And it is precisely because of the funding and protection of Jean Du Barry and even Count Falcone behind him that the Gray Rats have been able to dominate the underground world for a long time.

After all, the Paris city hall and police force would not tolerate hundreds of extremely dangerous felons gathering together without an official background.

However, with Jean Dubarly being placed under house arrest by Laurence and Count Falcone being imprisoned in the Palace of Justice, the two most important backers of the Gray Rats collapsed.

Although the squirrel still maintained its dominance over the underground world in a short period of time, Oga Kumas knew very well that the squirrel without a backer was like a magnificent but fragile mansion.

When the rival gangs discover this, the fragile mansion will inevitably collapse.

Thinking of this, Oga Kumas couldn't help but look at Lawrence with a little more enthusiasm and sincerity.

The previous Jean Dubarly was just like an ant in the hands of Monsignor Bonaparte. If he could protect the entire squirrel, then there would probably be no more noise in the underground world of Paris in the future.

This is why Oga Kumas directly agreed without waiting for Lawrence to tell the contents of the commission. He had secretly vowed to hand over a satisfactory letter of submission to His Excellency Bonaparte.

Lawrence glanced at Oga Kumas's expression indifferently, and he had already penetrated the inner thoughts of the beggar king who was obsessed with gangs, and said softly:

"Very well, Mr. Oga, I hope you can remember every word I say next, because there is no evidence that I have been here except the memory in your mind."

Oga Kumas immediately nodded solemnly. This was not the first time that he had done dirty work that was not visible to the public. He knew that the most important thing in such an operation was to keep it secret. Naturally, Lawrence would not leave anything behind to prove that he was Physical evidence of those behind the scenes.

"First, I need you to send someone to spread some news." Lawrence lowered his voice and said:

"Regarding the seven million livres from the charity auction at the Paris Comedy, within three days, I will let all Paris know that it was Madame Du Barry who embezzled the seven million livres."

Oga Kumas' pupils trembled, but he quickly returned to normal, and then nodded solemnly to show that he understood.

Although he vaguely noticed that he seemed to be involved in a bigger storm, Oga Kumas knew in his heart that if he wanted to become the black glove of His Excellency Bonaparte, he should not interfere with things. Just don't ask one more word.

Lawrence continued with satisfaction:

"Second, you should know that several protest rallies broke out among citizens against winter subsidies a year ago, right?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, some members of the Gray Rats also participated, but they went there voluntarily, not because of my order." Oga Kumas replied quickly.

Lawrence nodded slightly and said directly:

"Three days later, on January 19, I need you to incite another protest rally in front of the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, demanding that Madame Du Barry be tried by the High Court. The rally should be as large as you can. How big it is, how big it is.”

"How big can it be?"

Oga Koumas repeated Lawrence's words in a daze, his eyes showing shock that could not be concealed. He was already a little confused as to what the Lord Bonaparte wanted to do.

But despite this, he gritted his teeth and nodded to show that he understood.

"third."

Lawrence didn’t give Oga much time to think, and directly ordered:

"While inciting protest rallies, I want you to send three hundred armed men to the villages on the eastern outskirts of Paris to carry out pretense looting. If you encounter the city defense troops who come to block it, retreat all the way eastward until you get rid of the pursuers. Return to Paris."

"Fake robbery? This."

Oga Kumas stared at Lawrence blankly. Even in front of this adult, he couldn't help but frown. He didn't understand the purpose of this weird and dangerous behavior at all.

Lawrence glanced at the confused Oga and reminded him thoughtfully:

"I hope you have written it all down. If you have any questions, you can just say it."

Oga Kumas licked his lips in embarrassment, and after much hesitation, he looked at Lawrence and asked:

"Sir, are you sure you want to do these things? Spreading news is fine, but inciting a protest rally. You should also know that the Paris police force has been maintaining martial law these days. Even if this protest is instigated, it will not last long. The police patrol will arrive soon, and the nobles in court will not tolerate us making trouble in front of the Palace of Justice. It is impossible to agree to your request, or even the palace will be alarmed. "

Before he finished speaking, Oga Kumas took a sneak peek at Lawrence's expression to make sure that the adult was not angry before continuing:

"Also, you said you were going to send people to the eastern suburbs of Paris to pretend to loot? But the cavalry battalion of the city defense army can arrive in the blink of an eye and capture us all. It is impossible to retreat eastward until we are thrown away as you said. Chasing soldiers.”

"That is to say, you are worried about the police, the High Court, the Palace of Justice, the City Defense Force, and the Royal Palace?" Lawrence couldn't help but sneered and shook his head.

Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence's uncontrollable smile. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded and said seriously:

"Yes, Your Excellency, as long as any party intervenes here, I am afraid that the things you have asked me will not be completed."

"I think we need to have some trust in each other, Mr. Oga. I have entrusted these matters to you with trust, so please let me do it with trust; as for the forces you are worried about."

Lawrence gradually stopped smiling and said slowly:

"Don't worry, they are all in their places."