Flowers, Swords and France

When the French people all over the country have fallen into a state of restlessness, even the upper echelons of the country are not immune. They are also planning, worrying and encouraging for their future future.

The Duke of Treville's palace was now brightly lit and full of guests.

The long dining table was full of people, and while they were drinking and drinking, servants kept going back and forth, serving exquisite dishes one after another. These guests are all nobles from well-known families, and they are also the backbone of the royalist party.

Since the outbreak of the February Revolution, the Duke of Treville and his family have directly expressed their position with practical actions, so they no longer intend to hide their position. They often hold gatherings of royalist cadres at their homes, and the banner of the orthodox faction It was thus erected openly.

Duke Treville, who was sitting on the main seat, still had no expression on his face. He gently picked up the wine glass in front of him.

"Cheers to our King and His Royal Highness the Princess!" He toasted softly.

"Cheers!" Others also raised their glasses.

His Majesty the King, of course, cannot be referring to Louis-Philippe, who has left France in panic, but to the leader of the royalists, the orthodox heir of the Bourbon family, and the French King Henry Charles supported by the royalists. Well, the imperial title given to him by these supporters was Henry V.

Her Royal Highness the Princess is Henry's aunt, the only living one of Louis XVI's children, and the oldest living member of the Bourbon family.

At this time, due to the usurpation and exile of Louis-Philippe, Her Royal Highness and her nephew were living in Schloss-frohsdorf, Austria. However, they certainly did not intend to give up their birthright. The right to rule France, they have been watching France closely for many years, waiting for the day when they can return to France to take the throne and restore the legitimacy of the Bourbon dynasty.

Since the dinner is actually a political gathering, those present will certainly not forget to discuss politics.

While dining, they kept chatting about the recent political trends and discussing the royal party's future action strategy.

While chatting, a group of nobles couldn't help but complain about the financial frenzy and chaos that had swept across the country recently, and they were also full of complaints about the new temporary government.

"Our family has also suffered a lot from the recent turmoil. The bank is close to closing, and the public debt cannot be repaid. We can only watch ourselves being robbed! What is the use of this political ax!" The speaker His tone was full of anger. "Those people are very good at talking, but in practice they are not good at anything!"

"In my opinion, it's just the beginning, and I'm afraid it will be worse in the future." Duke Navarrein was also aggrieved. "Everything is terrible. This country has been punished by God, and it has been turned to the mob. In his hands! It has gone further and further towards the abyss of hell, and only we can save it..."

His words were unanimously approved by the participants. .

"Of course we have to save this country and hand it over to His Majesty the King to rule, but this can't just be said with words." Duke Treville's voice was still very cold, sounding as if everyone had been splashed with water. A basin of cold water, "The only thing we can rely on is actual actions, and the only thing we can believe in is strength, isn't it?"

After his words were spoken, there was a brief silence in the hall. The prestige of Duke Treville among this group of people was evident.

"Yes, you are right. We can only rely on strength to achieve our goals." Duke Navarrein nodded, "And we cannot relax for a moment."

"That's good." Duke Treville nodded calmly.

Then he turned and glanced at the other attendees.

"The reason why I have called you all here is because I want to inform you of something: Recently, I received such a proposal from the gentlemen of the Orleans faction..."

"Orleanists?" One participant's mouth twitched slightly, as if he heard some dirty words, "What's there to say to these filthy idiots?"

As a royalist, of course he has been full of hatred for the Orleansites who supported the Orleans family for so many years.

"Although they may indeed be filthy, at least they may be useful to us now." Duke Treville glanced at him again, silencing him.

"What did he say?" asked another.

Others also cast their doubtful and expectant gazes on Duke Treville.

The Duke calmly took another sip of wine, whetting the appetites of the others before he spoke again.

"Those gentlemen asked me... could we now put aside our differences and work together - and to do so, they would accept to have His Majesty King Henry V come to power."

His words caused a burst of astonished exclamations.

Duke Treville immediately explained in detail.

"Their proposal is that since he abandoned the throne and ran away from France, Mr. de Orleans' health has become worse and worse, and it is very likely that he will pass away within one or two years. And after his death, these Orleansites can Accept our king as their champion."

After listening to his explanation, louder exclamations came one after another in the living room, and everyone looked at each other in surprise.

However, after thinking carefully for a while, they quickly figured out the mystery.

Although the three-day bombardment in Paris destroyed the July Monarchy, it was not enough to destroy the entire system that the dynasty had established. Most of its ruling institutions were still retained after the revolution, and many officials and parliamentarians were still in office. In other words, although the composition of the government became extremely chaotic due to the revolution, the original rulers, that is, the supporters of the July Monarchy, still had great influence and power.

However, as the vested interests of the previous dynasty, they were definitely regarded as the target of public criticism and became the focus of attack after the new government came to power, and they certainly would not be willing to leave the stage.

In order to maintain power and influence, they came up with an idea - temporarily merge the royalists and the Orleans party to regain power in France together.

"It's an unexpected proposal, but it's in line with the usual practice of these people who change their minds with the wind." After thinking for a while, the Duke of Navarre spoke again. Although there was a hint of disdain for his old enemy in his tone, there was no resistance. "So, what are their conditions?"

"They can support Your Majesty to ascend the throne again, but hope that Your Majesty can retain their power after taking office. In addition, they also hope that Your Majesty will retain the property rights, franchises and other special interests they have obtained from Mr. d'Orleans..." The Duke of Treville's narration was smooth, "In addition... they also hope that Your Majesty can let his future children marry the Orleans family so that the two families can merge. If Your Majesty has no children, they hope that Your Majesty can make Mr. d'Orleans's grandson, the Count of Paris, as Your Majesty's direct heir."

The original text is available at Six # 9 @Book/Bar!

[Henry V married his cousin, Marie-Therese, daughter of the Duke of Modena, in November 1846. The couple never had children, and the main branch of the French Bourbon family was officially declared extinct with Henry's death in 1883.

After Henry's death, according to the theoretical inheritance rules, the Orleans family, which was the closest to the Bourbon family, should have inherited his political status. However, a large number of royalists still refused to accept the Orleans family at that time. ]

His words once again caused a stir in the living room, and this time the stir was even more indignant.

"Bah! These filthy bastards, what a beautiful idea! I would rather die than serve these usurpers as my masters!" A participant shouted loudly.

"Yes! How much have these scumbags made us suffer in the past ten years? Now they want to come to us and beg for mercy, and want to take advantage of us? Wishful thinking!" Another noble cursed, "These scumbags, they all deserve to die!"

The main members of the Royalist Party are the big landowners represented by the old aristocracy. They have suffered enough and accumulated enough hatred in the policies implemented after the establishment of the July Monarchy; while the supporters of the Orleans Party are the new bourgeois nobles after the Great Revolution. Their differences will never end because of Louis-Philippe's abdication, nor will they forget the past hatred because of this incident.

Their differences were not only due to the ideology of orthodoxy, but also due to their own positions and interests. The nobles still remembered how they were suppressed by the July Monarchy and how their hereditary privileges were deprived by the July Monarchy (the seats in the House of Lords were changed from hereditary to appointed by the king, the hereditary estate system of the eldest son was also abolished, and there were economic policies that hit the big landowners); and those who supported the July Monarchy would not like the Bourbon policy to be repeated again, and they would never want those die-hard aristocratic supremacists to come to power.

Therefore, the road to the confluence of the two factions still seems to be extremely long and arduous...

Seeing the excitement of this group of people, the Duke of Treville shook his head secretly. He knew in his heart that this proposal would only get such a result from his "comrades". Among these people who cling to the old glory, few are willing to think that compromise is what politics needs most.

Shouldn't we compromise temporarily for the sake of coming to power? If we can take back **, then it will only take a word to go back on the agreement?

He secretly sneered in his heart.

Just then, his granddaughter Charlotte hurried into the hall, then walked to his side and whispered a few words in his ear.

After listening, the Duke frowned.

Then he turned to look at his accomplices.

"Gentlemen, I have conveyed what happened just now to you. We can discuss it later. Now I have more important news to tell you."

The Duke's face was still angry.

"A message just came from my British friends. Louis Bonaparte is about to return to his country." (To be continued.)