Flowers, Swords and France

In human history, there may not be many geographical divisions that have as profound an impact on world history as the English Channel. .Across this narrow strait, the mainland and the island have been watching for countless centuries, reading countless things and people. I don’t know how many centuries later, two countries appeared on both sides of the strait, and two nations slowly emerged. Then, the two sisters were entangled in the following centuries, and they played out countless stories and grievances.

Today, this strait is also ready to open a new chapter for the world.

On the sea, a sailboat was sailing towards the opposite side of the strait.

Following the gentle sea breeze, it was already moving at full speed. And the white track it turned up also made its own mark on the gray ocean. Facing the direction it was traveling, the morning mist was gradually being torn apart by the golden sunshine, and the sun was rising. Prepare to wake up the island nation behind it.

There is an eagle flag hanging on the mast of the sailboat. If it were forty years ago, who would not recognize this flag?

On the deck of the bow of the ship, there was a man, standing still amidst the symphony of wind and waves, looking motionlessly ahead.

In the chilly mist of the early morning, he was wearing a black coat, with a beard above his lips and a tuft of beard on his chin. He looked calm and indifferent.

Looking into the distance, he thought about it. The endless sea surface is laid out in front of everyone without any obstruction. The huge arc of the red fireball shone brightly in it, dyeing the sea water in the distance red.

And as far as he could see. The huge outline of the European continent was already looming in the fog.

It was on this continent that his uncle once led a nation to gallop across an uninhabited land, and his family relied on decades of struggle and war here. In the end, he wore almost every heaviest crown; however, he also fell from the top to the mortal world and was homeless for decades.

His fathers had taken everything and lost everything, but the ambition that was in the blood of this family had not diminished at all, still reminding him. Inspiring him, burning him...

As if he was unbearably burned by the excitement and longing in his heart, the middle-aged man opened his mouth. He yelled out in a trembling voice.

"France! I'm back!"

………………

At this time, behind the plank road, a large group of people were standing solemnly, looking at the ocean in the distance with expressionless faces.

They were all wearing black formal suits and jackets. There is also a top hat on his head. He was dressed meticulously and behaved respectfully, just like a courtier going to pay homage to his lord.

In front of them, the slightly brown sea water was gently surging, rolling, lapping at the shore, making soft sounds, as if responding to the heartbeat of everyone among them.

Among the group, two people stood further apart. Two of them stood next to each other, one was a middle-aged man. One face looks very young.

This young man is none other than Charles. At this time, he was holding a monocular and looking at the sea in the distance.

It seemed that he had been waiting for a long time. There was a slight hint of impatience on his expression, and he looked at the sea with a telescope more and more frequently.

"Don't be anxious, young man." The middle-aged man Carlyon next to him smiled and patted the young man on the shoulder, "You have been waiting for so many years, and you are still afraid of this little time? Or is there any girl in Paris who is still here? Waiting for you to go home soon?"

Seeing the other party's teasing, Ciel smiled sheepishly, and then put away the binoculars.

"I'm just worried that some unexpected situations may arise along the way... After all, it's better to do things as quickly as possible..."

"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong. Now no one can stop the return of the Bonaparte family." The middle-aged man said with full certainty in his tone, "We have done everything we should do now. All that's left is to wait. Being anxious won't change anything."

He was right. Thanks to the collective efforts of the Bonapartists, they succeeded in raising a momentum against the idea of ​​expelling Louis Bonaparte from the Provisional Government, and the Royalists also joined forces to attack it. , hoping to prevent the Provisional Government from issuing a decree prohibiting the return of all old royal families to France.

In just a few days, this trend made the senior officials of the interim government very worried. Seeing the huge backlash from all aspects, de Lamartine, who was originally not strong-willed, had to temporarily give up his previous plan, acquiesced to the return of Louis Bonaparte, and no longer insisted on banning it. All the old royal families returned home - thereby also realizing the long-cherished wish of Louis Bonaparte (in the eyes of the royalists, Henry, Count of Chambord, and perhaps even many Orléansists secretly counting on the Count of Paris), and for The family regained the highest power in France and opened the door to convenience.

The strength of the monarchist faction in French politics was also clearly demonstrated in this matter.

Almost from this moment on, the Republic has actually become a battlefield for competition between various old royal families, and people find that the power of the Republicans is even weaker than imagined.

In this way, under the protection of the new constitution of the Republic, the princes and grandchildren of the old era were all competing for a chance to end the Republic.

They'll get it.

"You're right." Charles nodded, still looking at the ocean in the distance, and seemed to be saying to himself, "No one can stop us! No matter what, after going through so many hardships and hardships, We have come this far, and we will crush anyone who stands in our way, and no one can stop us!"

"Yes, we were almost penniless, but so what?!" Carrion, a sophisticated cultural relics fraudster and now one of the leaders of the Bonaparte Party, curled his lips and looked into the distance with a cold smile. "As long as we reach the top, no one will ask us how we climbed up. Everyone will only praise us! They will envy our status and admire our power!"

Then, he turned his attention to Ciel again, with an indescribable meaning in his eyes.

"Mr. Treville, you are very young. You will not stop here. Everyone says that you will have a bright future. And... I am not the only one who thinks so. The gentleman personally asked you to come and talk to me. Accepting him shows that you have received great attention from him, so I think you should understand what is best for you."

Then he blinked.

Of course Ciel understood what he was implying. He also smiled and answered his question.

Then, the middle-aged man stretched out his hand and shook Charles tightly.

"Coming!"

Just when Ciel wanted to chat with Karion for a few more words to kill the boredom, several sudden exclamations interrupted their conversation, and then there was a burst of cheers.

The two people quickly took out their telescopes at the same time and looked at the originally unchanged sea surface.

Then, the sailing ship flying the eagle flag appeared on the mirror of the telescope. This sailing ship, as if with an indifferent spirit, was braving the wind and waves, fearlessly rushing towards the continent at their feet.

The eagle flag in the lens became clearer and bigger, telling them in silent reply that everything had finally ended smoothly.

"Great!" The two of them shouted almost at the same time, and then couldn't help but look at each other and smile.

I wonder how intense emotions are contained in this indifferent smile? Don’t you know how complicated it is?

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Behind them, a loud and uniform cheer suddenly sounded.

"Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live the Empire!"

"Long live the Bonaparte family!"

Amidst bursts of cheers, the Bonapartists' thirty-year long wish finally came to an end at this moment. The leader of the Bonaparte family walked out of the shadow of 1815 with a majestic attitude and returned to the land of France. .

Under this great excitement, everyone had a mixture of joy and sorrow on their faces, cheering and slogans, and some even threw their hats into the sky.

Amidst the cheers on this side, Charles remained calm. He still looked up at the sea and stared at the sailboat that was getting closer and closer to the plank road.

Suddenly, he spotted the middle-aged man standing at the bow of the ship.

And the middle-aged man also saw him.

The two's eyes met for an instant, and they recognized each other almost simultaneously - even though they had never met before.

Then, a reserved smile appeared on the middle-aged man's solemn face, and he first nodded to the two people in the front row.

At the end of Charles's gaze, the man bathed in the morning sun seemed to have a hint of his uncle's breath under the golden glow.

but!

He is not that uncle! He is Louis Bonaparte!

A loud roar sounded in his heart, making his mind sober as never before.

He also smiled back, but his attitude was much more respectful.

Then, together with Mr. Carlyon next to him, he took off his hat and bowed to the sailboat in the distance with the courtesy of courtiers - even though in fact that man was still a civilian.

"Mr. Treville, before that gentleman comes, I have to remind you of something." Just as Charles was bowing down and still thinking about it, Carlyon's voice suddenly sounded in his ears, " Very important thing.”

"Please tell me," Charles replied in a low voice.

"You also know how important the first impression is when you meet someone for the first time. So I hope you can grasp one thing. That gentleman has never stayed in France for a few years, so... ..." Karion suddenly lowered his voice, "His French has a heavy Italian and German accent. If you don't understand him after meeting him, you must not show any embarrassment. Don't ask him to repeat it, just pretend to understand, okay?"

"Understood." He replied calmly, "Thank you for the reminder.". )

ps: While writing, I thought of Na San and suddenly shouted, "I Na Han San is back!"

I suddenly laughed...