Eagle's Glory

Aigron was not angry about this, on the contrary he was a little moved—Teresa was stubborn for herself, just as she insisted on fulfilling her marriage contract.

"Fool, what do you need to thank me for?" He leaned over and kissed Teresa's cheek, "Honey, I'm only worried that you will go through such a long journey after giving birth, it's really hurting your body .”

"I will take care of myself." Teresa smiled and shook her head, "Your Highness, we are rich people, how could we not be able to bear the pain of traveling?"

Then, she looked at Aigron again, and asked with deep meaning, "I'm still looking forward to seeing the demeanor of Queen Odance with my own eyes, and then I can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Lake Constance with you, and watch the sunset together by rowing a boat." ..."

Aegron's eyelids twitched slightly.

Teresa actually knew so well about her activities in Switzerland.

"Did you ask Chanel?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yes." Teresa nodded, "I know the danger of you hiding in the countryside, the embarrassment of being chased by a girl with a sword under the moon, and the pride of you and Mrs. Alice in boating together. , Chanel told me."

... Aegron didn't know how to answer for a moment.

He couldn't figure out the true meaning of Teresa's words, and he didn't dare to probe and ask.

"Pfft..." Seeing his weird expression, Teresa couldn't help laughing, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I'm not throwing a tantrum at you, nor asking you to blame me, and you didn't do it on purpose , what can I blame you for? I am a little regretful, even a little envious. You and Miss Agnes had such a legendary encounter, but my first meeting with you seemed a bit dull, even with Schönbrunn Palace As a background decoration, it is a pity—”

"But, it was yours first." Eggron replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, it's obviously mine first... but I still feel like I'm not finished." Teresa nodded, but sighed with some regret.

How to solve this problem?Aegron has a headache.

It is impossible to turn back time, and it is impossible to "see" again.　　

136, comfort

While Egron was preparing for Teresa's birth and his wife's departure from Ioannina, his subordinates in Paris were also busy with his career.

Unknowingly, Edmund Dantès has been in Paris for more than three months. As time goes by, he is becoming more and more familiar with this metropolis he once yearned for and envied—after all, it has quietly become A member of the upper class.

In order not to expose himself, he seldom attended public occasions, and he would not even visit others when it was not necessary, but even so, this wealthy, low-key and wealthy foreign aristocrat still enjoyed distinguished services in Paris.

The life he lives now, the wealth and title he enjoys are all unimaginable to the little sailor back then, but when he really has all these, his thoughts are changed to... "That's all".

It seems that there is nothing special about it.

He was used to being treated with respect, and even began to take it for granted. In addition, he was usually deliberately silent, so his gestures were a little more majestic, and he was even more majestic.

But deep down, he remembered who he was, that the splendor and riches of Paris had not corrupted his mind and worn down his consciousness, that his heart of steel beat only for loyalty and vengeance.

On this day, the Marquis Noirtier came to visit him specially.

Naturally, Edmund didn't dare to neglect this senior in the party, and quickly received him.

Although he is over sixty years old, the Marquis is still very personable, whether he walks or sits, he is full of the quickness and shrewdness that is unique to the action.

He bet his life on the restoration of the Bonaparte family. He once suffered a setback due to the failure in 1815, but after more than ten years, he saw the hope of life again from the new generation of heirs, so he once The decadent spirit seemed to be charged, and it was full of energy all of a sudden.

He who had been silent for a long time and no longer involved in political affairs, has been active secretly again during this period of time, visiting old friends everywhere, tempting, persuading, deceiving, intimidating, and doing everything he can to insist on killing him in more than a dozen years. It is impossible to restart the business that was interrupted years ago.

The Marquis of Noirtier knew that he was already old at this time, and he might not have more than ten years to live. This might be the last chance in his life to reach the glory, how could he be willing to miss it?

"Mr. Earl, has His Majesty replied to your letter?" As soon as he sat down, he asked Edmund directly.

Edmund knew what he meant - what the Marquis is most concerned about now is whether His Majesty has listened to his advice and whether he has taken this "veteran" to heart.

So, he immediately replied, "Your Majesty has written me a letter recently, I just received it, and I am looking for you—"

"Looking for me? So His Majesty mentioned me?" Marquis Noirtier frowned, but quickly calmed down again, trying hard to look calm. "It's really an honor for me."

"Not only did he mention you, His Majesty also praised you." Edmond Dantès smiled lightly, "He praised you as one of the few politicians in France who can keep up with the changes of the times. Your suggestions are very good. Well, he is willing to accept it, and he even thinks that there is a talented person like you who doesn't know how to recruit, which is enough to prove how corrupt the Wang family has become."

"Your Majesty, this is too exaggerated... I just have a few years of experience, and I can't be considered a politician." The Marquis of Noirtier seemed a little embarrassed, but the smile on his face was completely concealed. Can't help, "Besides, I never considered begging for mercy from the royal family from the beginning. The dying Bourbon is not worthy of my service. Only the Bonaparte family, which represents the new force and is willing to listen to the voice of the people, can lead this country forward. "

"Your loyalty is enough to move everyone." After more than a year of experience, Edmund Dantès has completely handled this kind of conversation with ease. He is full of the calmness of a big man, and he does not hesitate to speak those polite words. . "His Majesty not only accepts your suggestion, he also wants to go further."

"Going further?" The Marquis was a little puzzled, "What do you mean?"

In the letter, Egron explained his next plan to Edmund Dantès in secret words, so that Edmund could prepare for it, but Edmund did not intend to tell the Marquis all the truth.

On the one hand, he is afraid of leaking secrets, on the other hand, as an "imperial envoy", he naturally tends to monopolize information so that he can maintain his position.

Everyone only needs to know what he wants the other to know, and he should be the one who has the overview.

"Your Majesty intends to issue a declaration, an open declaration to the French people." Edmund pondered for a moment, and then told part of the truth, "In the declaration, he will publicly express his support for the republican system and oppose the existing Absolute monarchy, he hopes to return to the spirit of 1799, let the French people decide their own future, use the vote of all citizens to solve the current outstanding issues..."

"Ah?" The Marquis was surprised.

Surprise followed by surprise, "Can I read the full text of the manifesto?"

"Of course." Edmund nodded, and then he solemnly took out the draft declaration he had translated in secret language from the safe, and handed it to the Marquis. "You are the first person on the ground in France to see this document besides me—"

The Marquis of Noirtier certainly knew the significance, but he didn't even shake his hand.

Back then, he passed the Declaration of Human Rights in the National Assembly, witnessed the vote to execute the king, saw General Napoleon’s coup, and saw the emperor enthroned.

He read the manuscript carefully, considering every word in it.

The Marquis of Noirtier, who has been in politics for decades, understands the subtleties of political declarations better than anyone else. It can be said that a subtle difference in a word can lead to completely opposite meanings.

As a personal experiencer of the 20-year political circle, Marquis Noirtier clearly remembered that Napoleon held four important referendums, namely on December 1799, 12. In this referendum, Napoleon was elected as the First Consul, In the referendum in 12, Napoleon won the power to govern for life. In the referendum in 1802, he decided whether to become emperor. The first three are extremely important. It can be said that Napoleon turned France into his family property step by step, and the last referendum was In 1804, when the restored empire was like a candle in the wind, there was nothing to talk about.

Every time the emperor exercised personal power in the name of the people.

Lao Tzu is like this, and of course the boy will follow suit.

"Insufficient legitimacy" is the disadvantage of the Bonaparte family, but because of this, the Bonaparte family will adopt a new era totem, "referendum", and use "equality" as a weapon to attack the so-called orthodoxy .

This is certainly a kind of political ingenuity, but it is also a kind of historical progress. At least the Bonaparte family will admit that the sovereignty of the country belongs to the people, not to the king, let alone the hands of God.

At present, the Bourbon royal family is in a period of turbulence and unpopularity, and the Bonaparte family is weak. It is indeed necessary to come to fight against orthodoxy again.

Obviously, it is impossible for the royal family to agree to such a proposal. In their view, the power of the king is granted by God, and the legitimacy of the king's existence is left to the people to judge and decide. It is not only dangerous, but also shameless and blasphemy. The more they are like this, the more they will arouse the resentment of the people.

Moreover, during the imperial period, although the so-called plebiscites were often tampered with and cheated, the people were more or less recognized as having political rights. Although the royal family was high above them, they had to regard the people as the foundation of their rule.

However, this tacit understanding was shattered after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. On the one hand, King Louis XVIII advocated reconciliation and declared that he supported a constitutional monarchy and did not want to engage in autocratic kingship. Separate the king from the people.

However, unlike the Middle Ages, this time he does not use feudal blood to isolate, but uses "suffrage" to isolate.

During the Restoration Dynasty, the law stipulated that only male citizens who had reached the age of 30 and paid a direct tax of 300 francs per year had the right to vote. To obtain the right to be elected (that is, to participate in political power), they needed to be at least 40 years old and pay at least 1000 francs a year. Direct taxes, and in the "Electoral Law" promulgated on June 1820, 6, even the voters who paid the most taxes were given the right to vote twice.

What is the purpose of this?

As a witness to the era of the Great Revolution, Louis XVIII, as the younger brother of Louis XVI, knew that it was impossible to go back to that era. groups to rule the country.

Therefore, he needs to win over some elites of the common people to assist his rule. The tax threshold is to give political preferential treatment to the noble landlords and common people elites on the one hand, and to win over a new "union ruling group". All other people will be deprived of political rights in order to maintain the rule of the king and nobles.

During this period of time, only 0.2% of the people in France, that is, two thousandths of the country, had the right to vote, and even fewer people were eligible to be elected as members of parliament. The veil has absorbed a very small number of rich and common people as new blood supplements, but in fact it is still changing the soup but not the medicine.

As an old politician, the Marquis of Noirtier certainly understood the intentions of King Louis XVIII. This "constitutional king" was gentle on the surface, but actually had a hideous face. On the one hand, he used white terror to intimidate the people, To liquidate the rebels, on the one hand, put on a "reconciliation" and "constitutional" posture, which is the reality of oligarchy.

The Marquis didn't like the Bourbon royal family in the first place, and he didn't like the king's Piri Yangqiu's actions, so he hated the restoration of the dynasty even more, let alone proposed to serve them.

He hates the Bourbon royal family, which is more sinister, but also hates the terror and bloody populist politics, so he looks around at a loss. In the end, he still firmly believes that the Bonaparte family is the best for the country in this era. choose.

This family is not perfect. On the contrary, they are careerists and adventurers. They almost never really pay attention to the rules, but because of this, they have both the enlightenment "taken from the people" and the iron fists that dare to bleed. The problem of being able to show enough strength and will to safeguard the country will not fall into anarchic bloody chaos.

This is the man who deserves his service.

"Your Majesty is smarter than I thought." After reading the declaration, the Marquis Noirtier showed a relieved smile. "Yes, you did a great job! I dare not tell him, but he did it himself... This is the hope of our country, and we have hope!"

Then, he looked at the Count of Monte Cristo, and added decisively, "I completely agree with His Majesty's opinion. Moreover, I think a slogan is needed—this slogan must be concise and powerful, and must be deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone. I feel that this career is closely related to me.”

After pondering for a moment, he nodded slightly, and then shouted out.

"Bonaparte, universal suffrage!"

"It's so right." Edmund Dantès thought deeply.

After seeing the information he wanted, the Marquis returned satisfied, and he was ready to promote it when the manifesto was officially released.

And Edmond Dantès was pondering another question.

He just received an invitation from Bowang's family today, and he hopes that he can pay a visit as a distinguished guest.

He was quite surprised by this invitation, but not disgusted.

During this time, in addition to the closest and most trusted members of the Treville family, he also made a few friends, and the banker Jacques Bowan was one of them.

Although this person is ugly and ambitious, he is a profit-seeking banker and does not deserve too much trust, but for some reason, after getting to know him, Edmond Dantès has a better and better impression of him up.

On the one hand, it was because Mr. Bowan approached him for his personal ambitions, hoping to gain political benefits for his career by betting on the Bonaparte family, and then take over the boss's business; but on the other hand, in During the intermittent exchanges between the two sides, Edmund Dantès appreciated his shrewd, bold, decisive, confident and proud temperament even more.

Because of his own life experience, he appreciates Mr. Bowan's courage of "being a commoner but not accepting his fate, boldly launching an attack on the upper class, and making himself stand at the top of society". The two people look completely different. , but at this point there is a resonance in the soul.

Just because Bowang cooperated with him very much, gradually, Edmund Dantès entrusted almost all his money transactions to Bowang. With his own professional knowledge, Bowang handled these matters extremely properly. , all the money flows are hidden in a maze of bills, and no one will be able to investigate the truth-and this makes Edmund feel the value of cooperating with him even more.

In private, he also proposed a personal entrustment to Bowang to investigate all the money transactions of Tanglar Bank and record them in detail.

Although he doesn't plan to seek revenge against his enemies yet, he is ready to accumulate enough "materials" to launch a deadly attack on his enemies when needed.

Theoretically speaking, as long as His Majesty's career can be successful, then he only needs to say a few words to His Majesty, and naturally a group of guards will drag these enemies away, whether it is directly executed or locked in a black prison forever, it is up to him. ——But Edmund felt that this was not enjoyable, and it also lost the meaning of revenge. He would rather do it himself, and deprive the enemies of everything they are proud of bit by bit, so as to heal the pain he has tasted in these years. pain.

If His Majesty makes a move, it will be too cheap for them!　　

137, gold power

That night, at the invitation of the banker Mr. Bowan, Edmond Dantès quietly came to his house in a carriage.

When he first came to Paris to work hard in his early years, Bowan had nothing but a few pockets on his body, but after nearly 20 years of hard work, he has become the top manager of the prestigious Poncena Bank. If he is one of the top managers, he will naturally become a rich man.

After getting married, he bought a mansion in the eighth district, where he spread his branches and leaves, and used it as his social place, although because of his humble background, those famous nobles never came Visit here, but Bowankang's living room is also famous among the bourgeoisie in Paris because of his generous hospitality.

Normally, this place is full of guests and banquets every day, but today, in order to entertain Edmund, Bowan specially closed the door to thank guests, and only entertained the earl.

Bowang is a shrewd banker who is so calm that he is almost ruthless. He is always calculating his wealth and other resources. He also knows in his heart that for now, he has climbed to the highest position that society allows him to climb. , he can enjoy a life that far exceeds that of ordinary people, but it is almost impossible to go to the next level because he is not from a noble family, and he will not have a place in the royal palace of the Bourbon family.

Ordinary people may be satisfied with this status, such as his boss Poncena, but for the ambitious Bowang, this is far from enough.

He has tasted all the enjoyment brought by money, but he is not obsessed with any luxury enjoyment. He does not chase after beautiful women, does not collect cultural relics, and does not like to buy real estate and build villas and castles everywhere. He is only accumulating money for the sake of accumulating money. It is realizing his own life value.

With his boss now, he can control tens of millions of capital, which is enough to set off a storm in the bond market anytime and anywhere, enough to manipulate the tide, and run those companies to go bankrupt. He has already tasted the power of money, but his power is not enough to control the whole country. There is no way to make the national economy and the people's livelihood revolve around his financial scepter.

Only when this goal is achieved can Bowang be satisfied.

So he is very dissatisfied with the status quo. Since the current social structure does not allow him to go further, why not think of a way to smash and reorganize this society?

The French people realized this seemingly "rebellious" delusion 30 years ago, which gave Bowan infinite confidence and inspiration.

Of course, if he wants to break this status quo, he alone is not enough. He needs an opportunity, someone who has the energy and prestige to break the existing social pattern.

Although he is a banker, his profession requires him to keep an eye on political trends. He looks around the country and spies on all the forces that are expected to change the status quo. In the end, there are only two choices: the Orleans family or the Bonaparte family.

The Orleans family is also a good choice, but the Duke of Orleans already has a large group of supporters. After weighing it, Bowang felt that even if he went to join him, he would not get the attention of the other party for the time being. ", but wearing it is still a branch of the royal family. Not only is he a nobleman, but there are a large group of nobles around him. If the Orleans family becomes king, the social structure of Bowan will still be the same as before, so it is not interesting enough.

After thinking about it, he felt that the Bonaparte family was most appealing to him not because their ideals and slogans were so touching, but because the Bonaparte family was the cleanest and needed the help of others the most, so they He is also the most willing to offer a price to buy others.

So as soon as he met the Count of Monte Cristo, he immediately moved his mind, and then immediately took action, expressing his submission to the count. He believed that with his talent and status, the Bonaparte family would never remain indifferent.

Therefore, for Bowan now, the value of a Count of Monte Cristo far exceeds the "all friends" he has made so far, and he must do his best to make friends.

After Edmund Dantès came to Bowang's mansion, Bowang immediately greeted him personally, and then took him to his living room.

Like all the nouveau riche, Bowang's mansion was resplendently decorated, with eye-catching decorations everywhere, and famous paintings hung everywhere on the walls of the living room, full of the atmosphere of wealth.

Although Edmond Dantès did not have a close relationship with Mr. Bowan, he could tell that the other party had no interest in art or other cultural products other than money. The reason why he decorated his home like this was nothing more than fashion and arty , to reflect the results of their own struggle, and to maintain their status in the upper class.

There were two people standing in the middle of the living room, a lady in a skirt, and a three or four-year-old boy, both of whom were very delicately dressed.

Obviously, this is Mr. Bowan's family.

"This is my wife." Bowan introduced to Edmund.

"Mrs. Bowan, nice to meet you." Edmund immediately saluted the other party calmly, took her hand, and touched the back of her hand lightly.

"Nice to meet you, sir." The lady greeted him calmly, but there was no enthusiasm in her smile.

Edmund knew that the lady Bowan married was the daughter of a poor nobleman. To Bowan, Mrs. Bowan was a tool for him to show off his social status, and he basically would not discuss any career matters with her. It's just an order, and there is absolutely no intimacy between two people.

So he didn't want to show too many deeds in front of his wife, he just greeted him politely.

Bowang obviously didn't want the count and his wife to talk too much, so he immediately pointed to the little boy next to him.

"Maurice, my son."

Edmund took a look and found that the child was good-looking, and he could see that his tutor was excellent.However, he looked a little frail and nervous, perhaps afraid of his father.

The combination of Bowang and the noble daughter gave birth to elegant offspring, but the offspring also lost their ambition and courage, which can be regarded as a gain and a loss.

"Maurice, Mr. Earl is the most honored guest in our family. You must have the greatest respect for him, and treat him as your uncle in the future, understand?" Just as Edmund was dreaming, Bowan solemnly order to his son.

"Understood, Dad." Morris understood, and immediately saluted Edmund.