Shadow of great britain

“How did I get to where I am, and how did you get to where you are?”

Arthur picked up the red wine glass and clinked it with Thiers, making a crisp sound: "Are you like me and sold your soul to the devil?"

"No, it's worse than that." Thiers said eloquently: "I sold my soul to many people, first to Lafayette, and then to Monsignor Talleyrand. Of course, my soul now belongs to Your Majesty. And you, Arthur, are far luckier than I am, if you only sell your soul to the devil."

Agares picked up the wine glass with a smile and clinked it with Thiers. The red devil responded happily: "That's right, you are far better than that little bastard Arthur. If I didn't hate dwarfs, Even just because of your compliment, I am willing to sign a contract with you."

Arthur glanced at the devil of 'De Gaulle', smiled and brought the topic back to Thiers: "You just said that you are good at observing facts and moving according to the direction of society. Now it seems that you have indeed done this. First Lafayette, then Talleyrand, and finally the King. You understand the principle of gradualness, just like Julien in "The Red and the Black". If a person's talent exceeds the requirements of his environment, Then he is destined to suffer misfortune. At first, you made Lafayette think that he could control you. Then, Monsignor Talleyrand also thought that he could control you. Now, the king also thinks that you are a controllable and loyal figure. ”

Arthur's words were not pleasant to listen to. In the eyes of onlookers, these words were even a bit harsh.

But for a self-made man like Thiers, he regarded this sentence as the highest compliment for him. Even if he could not admit that Arthur was right, he knew in his heart that he had met a comrade today. middle man.

Arthur Hastings was Britain's Adolphe Thiers.

Adolphe Thiers was France's Arthur Hastings.

The two people cannot be called friends, but the same experience allows them to find common ground.

Thiers denied: "Arthur, you think of me too gloomily. Whether it is the Marquis de Lafayette, His Excellency Prince Talleyrand, or His Majesty the King, we all have the same goal, and that is We are committed to making France better for all French citizens. As for some of my former partners, I have gone far just because we have differences on the means we should use to achieve our goals.”

The young and energetic Louis felt as if he had eaten a fly when he heard Thiers's majestic speech. He also believed that he was doing his best for the future of France, but he was not willing to list himself among Thiers and Tower. Léran and Louis-Philippe.

He mocked bluntly: "Are you saying that you have no personal ambition?"

"Ambition?" Thiers put down his knife and fork and opened his arms: "Sir, I never think that I have any ambition. If you must say that I have ambition, then my ambition is the rise of the entire French nation. I will spend my whole life and all my powers to restore Mother France to her pre-1815 position in Europe.”

Arthur saw the two of them arguing. He didn't know whether it was to settle the dispute or because he was really feeling it. He asked: "Why does everyone think ambition is a derogatory word? In my opinion, although ambition is not written Chivalry is not even listed among the Seven Virtues, but it is the greatest of them all.”

"Why is this?" Louis was curious.

"This is because a person cannot decide his own birth, but ambition can determine how he eventually dies. It controls the power of fate, dominates all a person's actions, determines the purpose of his life, and in order to achieve this The means will be used for the purpose.”

"Destiny, destiny..." Thiers muttered this word and suddenly smiled: "You seem to like reading "The Red and the Black" so much that you are affected by the ideas contained in this book. However, I I have to admit that this is a good book. It was banned not because it was poorly written, but because it was so well written. It was just that it was written in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, I have to politely remind you that when a person starts to think about his own destiny, it usually indicates that he will encounter many bad things."

Arthur changed the topic: "I like "The Red and the Black" not only because of its good content, but also because it has made us a lot of money. Mr. Stendhal is a great writer, a great writer It can get a lot of praise, but it rarely sells, but we are pleased to find that Mr. Stendhal is an anomaly, which makes us very happy.”

Thiers' glass paused for a moment: "You... still work in the publishing industry?"

"A little business." Arthur concentrated on dividing the stew on the plate: "I have some shares in a magazine in London, so in order to make my shares more valuable, I often help them discover potential authors, whether domestic or domestic Whether they are from abroad, as long as they are talented, I will accept them all.”

Arthur put the stew into his mouth: "Speaking of which, Mr. Thiers, are you interested in publishing your historical work in London?"

"Will my book be published in English?" Thiers never expected that Arthur would suddenly mention this: "This..."

Arthur did not want to give him a chance to think more. For a historian like Thiers who is well-known in Europe, even according to general standards, the distribution rights of each of his books can be easily sold in the London publishing industry. Offer a high price of around 8,000 to 10,000 francs.

Therefore, the basic price of 10,000 francs can be fully borne by the "British" magazine. As for the premium on the basic price, Arthur plans to pay for it out of his own pocket.

He had just made an income of twelve thousand and one francs from the Paris publishing industry, and Sir Arthur Hastings, who had always been generous, was ready to spend all this money on Thiers, and he even planned to make another Subsidize the price of a few steaks.

"Although your academic reputation is good, since only a small number of British readers who understand French have read your works, we also intend to publish it step by step. Your first English book, I think ten volumes "History of the French Revolution" is very suitable. However, because the magazine is not owned by me, with my authority, I can only give you a price of 3,000 francs per volume for the time being. We can sign the first five volumes first. Contract, if sales are good, we will increase the price for the next five volumes. Of course, if you don’t want to go to such trouble, I can also directly sign a ten-volume contract at a price of 2,500 francs per volume.”

As soon as this offer was put on the table, Thiers was shocked for a while.

This contract is not small. On the contrary, for a writer who is not from popular literature, the price Arthur gave is very high.

Fifteen thousand francs for five volumes or twenty-five thousand francs for the complete set, a price that only the best-selling popular fiction writers in Europe could get.

To put it more bluntly, Arthur is sending money to Thiers.

But unlike those arty businessmen who gave away famous paintings and antiques, Arthur's reason for giving money was quite legitimate.

There are obvious differences between Thiers and those idiot officials, because his writing is indeed of a high standard, and he can definitely sell it at a high price, but he will definitely not be able to sell it at the price given by Arthur.

And according to Arthur, this is just the 'first collaboration'. After all, although Thiers is young, he has already published two large monographs.

One is the ten-volume "History of the French Revolution" that Arthur mentioned, and the other is the super-double twenty-volume "History of the Consulate and the Empire" that tells the history of Napoleon's empire.

Judging from Arthur's words, "The History of the French Revolution" is just a test of the waters in the London publishing market. If the sales are good, no, the sales will definitely be very good, so he is sure of the subsequent publishing contract. Will continue to raise prices.

Thinking of this, Thiers' attitude became a lot more friendly. He was polite to Arthur before because he wanted to give Talleyrand face, not because he felt how important the second secretary was. But now, everything is different. Sir Arthur Hastings is a close friend of Adolphe Thiers, and he finally understands why Talleyrand can play with Sir Arthur Hastings. went.

Thiers smiled and held Arthur's shoulders and toasted to him: "Generally speaking, as a rigorous historical scholar, he is cautious about publishing monographs..."

Arthur nodded with deep understanding and said: "Of course, Adolf, that's what I like. In London, many people say that our "British" magazine has neither culture nor depth. Our editor-in-chief is very anxious, and he is eager to change The magazine's reputation among readers, so when he mentioned this matter to me in his letter, the first thing I thought of was you. How can you become a new academician of the French Academy, if your works have no cultivation and depth? What about 'Immortals'? If the Academy only wanted to select best-selling authors, wouldn't the ones selected be the likes of Alexandre Dumas and Honoré Balzac?"

When Louis heard this, he glanced at Arthur with a strange expression: "I don't think so. Maybe one day they will really be selected?"

"Oh? Really?" Arthur raised his eyebrows at Louis: "Then France will be destroyed in the hands of both of them."

Thiers said cheerfully: "Monsieur Bonaparte is right. I also recognize the talents of Mr. Balzac and Mr. Dumas. Given time, they will enter."

"But those are not important. What is important is you, Adolf." Arthur said: "You are the real academician of the Academy, an immortal. Can we be lucky enough to get you to join us? If so, I still hope Please contact Mr. Guizot, we are also very interested in his book."

"Oh, Guizot!" Thiers agreed: "François is a more outstanding historian than me, but unfortunately, his "History of England and the English Revolution" has been published in Britain, and The sales are quite good. However, I can ask you about his "History of French Civilization". He has not finished writing this new book."

Arthur held Thiers' hand gratefully: "I can't thank you enough. Before I came into contact with you, I thought you were very unkind. But after contacting you, I realized that even though you are already so precious, Although he has become the Minister of the Interior, he still has not given up understanding the lives of citizens.”

"It's just a matter of words." Thiers joked playfully: "I'll treat you to dinner another day, at my home. It's different from last time. This time it's a small-scale private banquet, and not many people are invited. They are all trustworthy friends. I heard that you also majored in history. I think we will have many topics in common. "

"Then I'll be waiting for your news." Arthur took out the business card from his pocket in a humorous manner, but then stuffed it back: "You know where I live, so there is no need for a business card. After all, you are the Minister of the Interior."

Thiers blinked at Arthur: "I don't know everything. The police in Paris are different from those in London. Sometimes no one except the king knows what they do in private." , sometimes even the king may not know it. After all, the Grand Paris Police Department was originally in charge of Fouche. You also know what kind of person Fouche is. Napoleon cannot fully control him, and the Paris police also starts from Fouche. This old officer has inherited many bad habits and has shown no sign of correcting them."

Arthur took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, then said goodbye to Thiers: "It's almost time. Louis and I have an appointment later, so I'll leave first."

While Thiers was sipping the wine, he watched Arthur and Louis stand up. He thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Is it an appointment with some friends from Great Britain?"

Arthur's body stiffened, and then his playful eyes met Thiers.

Sure enough, this guy doesn't know anything.

However, Arthur didn't expect that this guy actually knew to this extent.

He tentatively replied: "Britain is just a few small islands, and it can't be called great. Our scale is actually quite small."

"Well, Little Britain. But I generally don't like to say that, because it's more or less insulting to friendly countries."

Thiers cut the lamb chops with a knife and fork without raising his head: "However, the Britons had better not be too active in Paris, because even if they are friendly countries, the scope of our tolerance is limited. Please understand, although "We are very good friends, but as Home Secretary, this is my duty."

"It seems that you have paid a lot of attention to our affairs."

"It's hard to talk about it, but if I find it, I have to manage it." When Thiers said this, he changed the topic: "But if I don't find it, it has nothing to do with me. You know, Arthur, sometimes, blindness is also an art form, but the premise of this art form is that you don’t deliberately pick my eyelids.”

The corners of Arthur's mouth turned up slightly. With the assurance of Thiers, France's top interior minister, he finally felt confident.

"So, Adolf, has anyone come to pick your eyelids lately?"

"That's not true." Thiers sat on the chair and joked: "What they did before was all attributed to the former Minister of the Interior and has nothing to do with me. So, I even vaguely thank you for your activities. ”

"You?" Arthur shook his finger and said, "Adolf, it doesn't matter to you, this is a personal behavior."

"Personal behavior?" Thiers looked a little surprised. There was something he hadn't considered: "It has nothing to do with your Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"How could it be related? Weren't our people there that night?"

Arthur joked: "And even if there is really a relationship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not admit it."

"That's true." Thiers stood up and saw Arthur off: "My friend, take care of yourself. I know that it is not easy for you to get here all the way. Therefore, you have to be careful, be extra careful, and don't let the little things get in your way. Ruined your own future.”

"Thank you for the reminder, Adolf." Arthur's eyes drifted out the window, raising his head and aiming at the carriages following Louis: "Then... what do you think of these people?"

Thiers glanced out the window: "I am not responsible for this, but if you promise me that you will never pull my eyes out by any personal behavior, then I will finish the meal here slowly and wait for you to come back. Then we will go back together. Although I am very concerned about publishing a book, you must also understand that it is not easy for me to get to my current position. If you can help me remove this paragraph, you will publish "The Red and the Black" in Paris in the future. ", I just turn a blind eye."

Louis glanced at Thiers, then turned to look at Arthur.

Although he was standing next to the two of them, he only heard a vague outline.

Judging from the current situation, the two of them seemed to have reached some kind of deal, and it was also related to the Kaido Sai Mansion bombing.

Although Louis, who was born in Versailles, doesn't know how these two guys suddenly reached an agreement, it seems that the situation is developing well?

Arthur was very satisfied with the conditions offered by Thiers, and he did not intend to disobey the other party's request, because he originally did not want those Breton farmers to die in vain, and continuing to carry out terrorist attacks would be of no benefit to anyone. benefit. More importantly, he wanted to leave this group of farmers to Mr. Louis Bonaparte by his side.

Arthur smiled and held Thiers' extended hand: "It's a deal."