Flowers, Swords and France

On the corridor to the small study, the two people walked forward quietly, one behind the other.

In compliance with the call of His Majesty the King, the new Prime Minister Guizot came to the Tuileries Palace to see His Majesty.

"Mr. Dillion, what happened to your Majesty yesterday? Why did you suddenly summon me today?" After walking for a while, seeing no one around, the Prime Minister quietly inquired about the news from the courtiers in front.

Little Diliion still had a standard palace smile, his etiquette was impeccable, and he was even much kinder than the last time he received Prime Minister Sirte.

"It is said that Ms. Adelaide had an audience with His Majesty yesterday." He still walked straight forward with his head lowered, and replied in a low voice as if the wind was leaking.

"Oh, so what?" The Prime Minister was a little confused.

"Madam, she went to the countryside to relax a few days ago, and she just came back the day before yesterday..." Dillion's voice dropped even lower, and then he was speechless.

But for the Prime Minister, this level of information is enough.

"Thank you." He thanked him and then fell into thought.

Could it be that the lady believed some rumors or bad words about herself after leaving the palace, and then reported them to His Majesty?

This is not possible, we have to find a way to solve it.

While the Prime Minister was still thinking about countermeasures, they had arrived.

Little Diliion opened the door gently, then informed His Majesty inside, then he turned back and nodded to signal the Prime Minister to enter.

"Your Majesty was in a bad mood yesterday." When the Prime Minister passed by him, he whispered again.

The Prime Minister nodded slightly and walked in directly.

………………

After the Prime Minister entered the study, he bowed slowly and then solemnly leaned against a chair. The Prime Minister, who is wearing a black coat and is very thin, perfectly complements the tall chair back.

"Your Majesty, why did you come to me?"

"A bad thing, sir," the king replied coolly, then nodded and motioned for the Prime Minister to sit down.

The Prime Minister sat down obediently and waited quietly for His Majesty's next words. What made him secretly disappointed was that His Majesty the King was much more relaxed with him than with Soult.

"My sister came back from relaxing outside a few days ago, and then she came to me yesterday and told me something."

Sure enough, the Prime Minister couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"I wonder what she talked about with you? And Your Majesty, with all due respect, Ms. Adelaide has not received much political training and has no experience in running a country, so she looks at many issues in a one-sided way... …”

"One-sided?" The expression on the king's face was still uncertain, and there was a lot of sarcasm in his words, "Of course she will be one-sided in looking at the problem. But in any case, this kind of one-sidedness will not let her continue. I haven't met anyone who said anything good about you and me in a few days, right? Yes, sir, not one. When my sister told me yesterday, her expression was as if there was going to be a revolution tomorrow. Same!"

Hearing the reproach in His Majesty's tone, the Prime Minister couldn't help but frown slightly. How can the opinions of women's surnames be allowed to influence government affairs? Absolutely ridiculous.

"The French people are accustomed to mocking authority, Your Majesty, and I don't think that means anything."

The king was silent for a moment, and finally sighed quietly.

"Yes, yes, I know. I have ruled this country for long enough. Don't I know it yet? The French are naturally fond of playing devil's advocate. How shameful would it be for a Frenchman to say something nice about those in power? ! It seems like a big loss... But nevertheless, Mr. Guizot, I think we have to face reality. If you can't see the crisis we are facing today, you are undoubtedly quite incompetent. "

The Prime Minister finally understood what the King meant - he was anxious, worried about the dynasty that was clearly in turmoil at present, rather than dissatisfied with himself.

It was a good thing that the king learned to rely on his ministers only after being anxious.

"Your Majesty, your wisdom will be the most valuable asset of this administration." He lowered his head and said solemnly.

"Then you agree with what I said?"

"I strongly agree, we are indeed facing a crisis now." The Prime Minister replied in a low voice.

"Very good, but don't you have anything else to say besides this? Even my sister can see this problem clearly now!" The king looked at his prime minister, his tone became a little cold, "I found the problem "It's two different things than solving the problem. You must know this. I want to hear what you can do to help France get through the current difficult situation."

His Majesty's questioning gave the Prime Minister some doubts.

To what extent should it be said?

The Prime Minister lowered his head, considered it carefully, and finally decided to tell everything about his recent considerations.

"Your Majesty, my duty is to share your worries, so I have thought about it carefully and have a few suggestions that I hope you can listen to."

"Oh? Please tell me, I'm very interested." The king nodded.

"Recently, many people often gather together in private in the name of 'banquets' to spread rumors that are unfavorable to the government and officials, or simply directly and viciously attack you and the government. The impact is very bad. Therefore, I think the government "We should issue a decree as soon as possible to resolutely ban such illegal gatherings and arrest certain slanderers when necessary."

"This really should be done as soon as possible." His Majesty the King nodded in agreement.

"In addition, there are some signs of loss of control in the public opinion circle, so I think the government should strengthen the public opinion control of various newspapers. If necessary, some radical newspapers can be banned and the relevant responsible persons can be held accountable."

When the king heard this suggestion, he frowned.

"Will this... cause a backlash in the public opinion circle? You know, those people have always been unruly."

Is it still time to pay attention to reputation? The prime minister couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but his expression was still as calm as water.

"If the government is strong enough, it won't happen, Your Majesty."

"Okay, we can do this." The king thought for a while, then nodded and agreed, "Anything else?"

Of course there is, the above are just superficial efforts, how much effect can they have?

But, the real way...should it be said?

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

"What's wrong, sir?" Seeing the prime minister's hesitation, the king couldn't help but ask.

Forget it, just say it!

The Prime Minister hardened his heart and said it directly.

"All the current crises are ultimately financial crises, Your Majesty. As long as the treasury is full, we will naturally have the methods and ability to appease the people and make the crisis disappear. However, the current government is heavily in debt and the finances are stretched to the limit. It can hardly do anything..."

"Go on."

"Your Majesty, I suggest that you designate a group of banks and force them to subscribe to special government bonds for more than ten years, and give them certain franchises as compensation."

After hearing the Prime Minister's suggestion, the King opened his eyes wide in astonishment, and he asked again after a long time.

"Will they agree?"

"I'm talking about coercion, Your Majesty." The Prime Minister replied in a deep voice, "If they don't agree, you are the king. Louis XIV was able to destroy Fouquet's family, so you can learn from him now. Besides, you are just borrowing money!"

[Referring to Nicolas Fouquet, a wealthy French businessman, who later served as the French Finance Director. He lived a very luxurious life, angered Louis XIV, and was finally imprisoned for corruption and died. All his property was confiscated. ]

"Times have changed..." the king muttered to himself.

"But the bayonet is still the same!" The Prime Minister looked up at the king, his eyes full of earnestness, "Your Majesty, to rule a country, you must either be kind enough or cruel enough, and it is obvious that you don't have much capital to be kind now, so there are not many options. Your Majesty, forgive me for being blunt, to maintain your dynasty's rule over France, you must be cruel enough now..."

After listening to the Prime Minister's words, the king bowed his head and remained silent. He seemed to still be hesitant.

"Your Majesty?" The Prime Minister urged.

There was a silence.

"I will consider your proposal carefully and give you an answer when the time comes." After thinking for a long time, His Majesty the King gave his answer, "Before that, go and arrange everything else. I will think about this before I think about it..."

He sighed secretly in his heart. Based on his understanding of His Majesty the King, this proposal will definitely be abandoned after he "considers it carefully".

The difference between the usurper of the royal family and the usurper of the common people is here - the former always feels that he has a way out. Therefore, he is always hesitant and hesitant, and dare not take the most drastic measures, even if it may be very beneficial to him. His whole life is like his classic saying: "We are taking the middle way."

Yes, he dare not, he is afraid, he always feels that he has a way out. The lesson of Napoleon's death on a deserted island made him terrified. He was afraid of repeating the mistakes of that genius, so he didn't even dare to learn from that genius.

If he continued like this, even if he lost the French throne, his family could still be saved and live leisurely as a wealthy family. If he followed Napoleon's example and poked a hole in the sky, who knows what would happen next?

"You are just a half-baked character, both you and your father. You want to play a revolutionary but you don't have the courage, you want to play a dictator but you don't have the cruelty! You are a mediocre person, you like to talk but you have little talent, you are ambitious but you don't have the courage! Danton praised you, but you turned around and fled France; Bourbon tolerated you, but you turned around and led people to destroy it! It is such a person, but he tried his best to play a great man in front of me, pretending to be like Napoleon..."

Suddenly, the prime minister remembered the words of his predecessor.

The court is a sieve with leaks everywhere, so the prime minister's words when His Majesty the King summoned him quickly spread to his successor's ears in private.

It must be said that although this sentence was very sarcastic, it was indeed quite appropriate. The Prime Minister painfully discovered that he and the man he had worked so hard to overthrow had some subtle resonance in their views on the master.

The father was on the guillotine, so where would the son end up? Maybe he would be a little better than his father? Would he leave France forever like his Bourbon relatives who were driven away by him?

A terrible thought suddenly flashed through the Prime Minister's mind, and then he quickly forced this dangerous and rebellious thought to the deepest part of his consciousness.

Forget it, just do what you can first. (To be continued.)