Flowers, Swords and France

The mansion where Louis Bonaparte temporarily lived was once again full of guests today. .

In addition to the smell of alcohol, it also felt a little stuffy inside - as time passed, it was now early May, and the air gradually became a little warmer.

"Gentlemen, let's toast to victory!" Karion suddenly stood up and suggested. "It is precisely because of Mr. Bonaparte's leadership that we have achieved today's victory. We should express our most sincere thanks to him!"

"Cheers to victory!" Amidst the cheers, everyone raised their glasses at the same time and looked respectfully at Louis Bonaparte on the main seat.

After a long period of busy work, the long-awaited election by the Bonapartists was finally over.

Just like although Louis Bonaparte himself did not run for election, several core members of the Bonaparte family - his uncle Jérôme Bonaparte, cousin Pierre Bonaparte, and cousin Lucien - Murat was elected to the Constituent Assembly, and many other party members also won seats in the Assembly riding on this trend.

It's a win, no doubt about it.

The Bonapartists led by Louis Bonaparte were able to achieve such results on their debut, which really surprised many people who were initially skeptical. Moreover, through this debut, they officially announced the revival of this political faction to everyone in the country; making those who still miss the emperor and the old empire era cheer for joy, and also making those careerists with ulterior motives Doubts and fears make those speculators secretly cheer that they have another choice...

However, this is only the initial victory. They still have a long way to go to regain the empire.

"Although we have achieved very good results in this election, but..." At this moment when everyone was cheering, Louis Bonaparte still had a very serious expression. He looked at his followers, his tone full of dignified, “The more we achieve some results, the more we We must not relax. If we want to get to the throne, there is still a long way to go. We should stay calm and finish the journey without making any mistakes. Don’t forget, only the one who laughs at the end smiles most beautifully. . Those gentlemen of the Party of Order, they have many more votes than we do..."

After hearing these warning words from the leader, most of the excitement and excitement of the people present were instantly dissipated, and the atmosphere returned to seriousness.

Out of hatred and fear of the new republic, these Orleans and Bourbon Orthodox politicians temporarily united and gathered some swing politicians to form a new party-the Party of Order. They fought in this election It also achieved great success, with the number of votes even several times that of the Bonapartists.

Due to their long-term accumulation, the resources they possess are unmatched by the Bonapartists. This result was of course expected by them.

They all know that everything depends on the presidential election at the end of the year. As long as they win that election, that will be the final success. They must let Louis Bonaparte win the election at all costs. Only in this way can their years of watchfulness and efforts be valuable.

…………

After the celebration banquet, most of the people dispersed, leaving only a few people in the huge restaurant.

Louis Bonaparte stood up, walked slowly to the window, and stared out at the city. His footsteps were very light, leaving almost no footsteps on the floor, and no one spoke. The atmosphere was dull and solemn.

After watching for a long time, Louis Bonaparte suddenly spoke.

"Charles, how was your time in the National Guard?"

Ciel didn't expect that the future master would ask him directly as soon as he opened his mouth, and he was a little surprised for a moment. But he quickly suppressed this surprise and answered the other party softly and respectfully.

"Everything went pretty well."

After visiting the Duke of Treville's house and discussing with his cousin, Charles' appointment to the National Guard was quickly issued, and Charles officially became a member of this paramilitary force. A member of the organization, and became an officer in it from the beginning. With the secret help of Duke Treville, many Bonaparte's party members also infiltrated in, without triggering rebellion or opposition from other factions. .

Obviously, under the heavy pressure of the coming storm, the various factions in France that were originally fighting each other have reached a tacit understanding and no longer quarrel because of old grudges. The internal contradictions of the ruling class have been give way to class conflicts between classes. In the eyes of other monarchists, the Bonapartists, however annoying they may be, are far more lovable than the mob.

"Very good." Louis Bonaparte was still looking out the window. "You might as well exercise more."

Then he asked, "Char, how long do you think it will be before the next war breaks out?"

"I don't dare to say for sure." Charles answered very cautiously, "But from my personal observation, it's already very fast, everything has reached the critical point, and both sides can't stand it anymore... Maybe next time moon……"

"You see clearly," came a chuckle from Louis Bonaparte, "Yes, Charles, I think so too, it will be soon."

He understood that his greatest political opportunity lay in the class war that was bound to occur in France. The more intense the war, the greater the rifts and trauma it would bring to the country. The deeper people's desire for a savior would be, and the more he would There is capital to take advantage of the trend.

And now, this war seems to be getting closer.

"Come here, Charles," Louis Bonaparte called again.

Charles quickly walked over, stood next to Louis Bonaparte, and accompanied him in front of the window to overlook the city.

"Charles, you took people around Paris before, right?" After a while, Louis Bonaparte asked in a low voice.

"As you said." Charles replied immediately.

"Thank you for your hard work." Louis Bonaparte nodded, "I will always remember your hard work." After a pause, he turned his head and looked at Charles with a half-smile, "You and Joseph that day He has already told me what he said. It’s very good and insightful! Charles, you really should have told me earlier...don’t worry about anything.”

Is this a carrot? Or casual comfort? There was a flash of doubt in Ciel's mind.

But of course he wouldn't show any dissatisfaction.

"This is just an immature idea of ​​mine, so it's hard to express it..."

"It's good to have ideas," Louis Bonaparte replied.

There was another moment of silence.

Suddenly, Louis Bonaparte stretched out his hand and pointed out the window at the rows of streets and the endless flow of carriages and pedestrians.

"Char, since you have traveled all over this city, how do you feel about this city?"

Sure enough, it came!

Of course Ciel knew what kind of answer the king would like.

"It's beautiful," he replied softly, "but it's also very messy and needs us to completely turn it over."

"That's right! That's it!" As he expected, Louis Bonaparte liked this answer very much.

He clenched his fists slightly.

"It is beautiful, but it has been artificially dirty! We must completely renovate it in the future to make it truly the capital of the world! Instead of a dirty place where barricades are put up every few years!"

At this point, he could do it.

During his reign, he spent great efforts to renovate Paris, re-planned the layout of the entire city, and built a complete sewer system, making Paris truly a beautiful metropolis - at the same time, the wide streets are also convenient The mobilization of troops made it difficult for the rioters to build barricades.

Kill two birds with one stone.

However, Ciel wanted to avoid this issue. In other words, he deliberately wanted to give the future emperor some excitement.

"Capital of the world? I'm afraid the British won't agree with this title."

"Ha, the British!" When Charles mentioned the British, a trace of disdain suddenly flashed in Louis Bonaparte's eyes. "Char, don't have too many delusions about that country. I've been in that country for several years and I know it too well. Apart from hundreds of thousands of landowners and factory owners, the rest there is just a big slum! The whole thing The country is a slum! It is an extremely hypocritical country. It claims to be benevolent, but in the end it exiles every citizen who is forced to steal a few breads due to hunger and cold to Australia. It claims to be fraternity, but its civilians have nothing! Standing ground! I know them so well!”

Yes, just as in history, Louis Bonaparte was both envious and intimidated by Britain's great power, but he also had many disapprovals of the British system and model, and even had a vague aversion to it.

But there's nothing wrong with what he said.

Until the 21st century, the vast majority of land in England was in the hands of no more than 6,000 families, while tens of millions of other British people, like their ancestors, could only be squeezed into a few cities.

The establishment and decline of the British Empire at least proves an axiom: a country becomes a world empire not because it is benevolent and fraternal, but precisely because it is capable of sufficient cold-blooded cruelty.

"I do not deny that the British people are not as comfortable as the French people, sir." Charles remained very calm in front of the slightly excited Louis Bonaparte, "However, we cannot deny the superior status of the British Empire today. And its huge strength..."

Although he wants to destroy it, he must face reality before destroying it. This is how Ciel sees it.

Finally, Louis Bonaparte nodded silently, accepting Charles's statement.

He is a realist, and of course he can accept reality and acquiesce in the superior status of the British Empire today. However, in essence, he still has the ambitious blood of the Bonaparte family.

“Our generation may not be able to do it, but our next generation or the next generation can do it. One day, my descendants will fulfill the promise of their ancestors and make this city the capital of the world! "

He suddenly smiled at me again, "Char, you are still so young, so maybe you can live to see this day..."

Ciel also laughed, "I sincerely hope so."

"This requires our efforts, Charles." Louis Bonaparte looked out the window again.

Then Louis Bonaparte's thoughts turned to other aspects.

"Char, I have heard some rumors recently. There are rumors about your grandfather's brother and his family."

"Duke Treville?" Charles was a little surprised. "What's going on?"

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Some people say that a few months ago, the Duke of Treville and his family took advantage of the previous chaos and used force to drive away the farmers living on their territory in Giverny. I heard that they also killed many people... Now there are many It spread all over the country and caused a lot of panic." Louis Bonaparte's voice could not be calmed down. "Char, is this happening?"

Of course it happens! I am the one who has experienced it myself!

"Sorry, I'm not particularly clear about this..." A trace of hesitation and embarrassment flashed across Charles's face, "As you know, my grandfather and his brother have not had a particularly good relationship due to their political stance. They have not been on good terms for many years. We don’t have much contact with each other anymore, but we have more contact recently because of the National Guard incident..."

"The Marquis de Treville's loyalty to us is really touching." Louis Bonaparte nodded, and then stared at Charles with interest, "Well, Charles, if this is true, What do you think we should do?"

Ciel looked a little embarrassed.

"Charles, I will publicly criticize Duke Treville's actions and support those who have been displaced as a result." Before Charles could answer, Louis Bonaparte stated his decision.

Then, he quickly lowered his voice and warned Ciel.

"In addition, you should find an opportunity to tell the Duke of Treville and his family that I am very grateful for the help they have given us recently and will repay you. Please don't take what I have to say to heart. "I think, as an accomplished statesman, the Duke of Treville will understand what I mean."

While scolding the Duke of Treville's family, to win people's hearts and gain fame for himself; at the same time, he privately comforted the Duke's family, thanked them for their previous help, and promised benefits in the future. Charles was not particularly surprised by Louis Bonaparte's duplicitous tactics.

Rather, it is a necessary skill for all politicians.

"That's good." Louis Bonaparte still couldn't see the joy or anger, "Charles, don't worry, this matter will never involve you. I will only angrily reprimand the Duke's family for their excessive behavior. "

"Excessive behavior."

In other words, the tone he set was that "he does not deny the legitimate rights of the Duke of Treville's family to regain their property rights, but the method is too drastic." In this way, while pleasing the small farmers, he would not offend other property owners.

At the same time, he calmly comforted Charles so as not to chill his heart and continue to let him serve him.

He is indeed a first-rate political strategist! It's really awesome.

Ciel praised silently in his heart.

"Thank you." Charles bowed quickly, indicating that he had no objection to his decision.

Louis Bonaparte smiled again, as if to comfort Charles.

"That's good if you think so. Hey, now we have to please those farmers! Why do they have so many people! And they have votes! Charles, their votes are indispensable to anyone. , if you want to achieve success through the presidential election.”

The Great Revolution not only brought violent shocks and more than twenty years of war to France, but also brought extremely profound changes to France's economic system and class power.

On the land that originally belonged to the nobility and a small number of wealthy civilians, a huge class of yeoman farmers appeared out of thin air due to the use of guillotines and guns. They were not the leaders and promoters of the Great Revolution, but they became the final group of beneficiaries during the tumultuous twenty years when the leaders of the Revolution were guillotined one after another and the Napoleonic Empire was established and destroyed.

Their only wish is to keep this hard-won property and keep everything as it is.

When the status quo seemed precarious, they called for a hero—and Louis Bonaparte was prepared to play such a hero.

However, this is just acting.

During his twenty-year empire, Louis Bonaparte did not become the patron saint of farmers as he promised. In the overwhelming tide of industrialization, although slowly, farmers were still inevitably affected.

The Second Reich did not try to change this trend, nor could they.

In modern and modern history, there are many examples of forcibly changing a country's land ownership distribution system through relative or absolute force superiority. In addition to the French Revolution, and the revolutions in China and the Soviet Union, the two most recent examples are in Among the two defeated countries in World War II-Germany and Japan.

After the victory in World War II, the Allies hoped to completely eradicate the military aristocratic groups of Germany and Japan, the two invading countries. In addition to political suppression, destroying their economic foundation was also a top priority. Therefore, the Soviet Union in Germany and the United States in Japan carried out far-reaching land reforms, which greatly changed the original land systems of the two countries.

In Germany, the Soviets confiscated all farmsteads over one hundred hectares (250 acres), as well as land belonging to "war criminals (Nazi officials and high-ranking Nazi army officers)" and Nazi axes, and then divided them up It became small parcels of fifteen to twenty-five acres of property, which were handed over to the landless farmers of East Germany for free.

In Japan, the Americans' method was slightly milder (of course the essence is the same), mainly adopting redemption methods. Through the Japanese political ax they established, they essentially abolished the policies implemented by the Japanese Empire before the war. The parasitic landlord system confiscated all land exceeding the standard (12 hectares in Hokkaido and 3 hectares in other places).

From this point of view, Louis Bonaparte's ideas and the modernist ideas of the United States and the Soviet Union are similar in nature.

However, as a ruler in transition to modernity, Louis Bonaparte naturally has his own limitations. At that time, he did not make the most critical move for the United States and the Soviet Union on the self-cultivating farmers group - he was not prepared to establish a national agricultural association organization to unite the power of these small farmers.

The Soviets set up "Agricultural Production Cooperatives (LPG)" and "State Farm System (VEG)" ​​in East Germany, and the Americans set up "National Agricultural Cooperatives (Nonghe)" in Japan. In this way, these small self-cultivating farmers who were originally scattered and had weak resources were formed into farmers' associations, which condensed into a powerful political force and became important supporters of the new government and the new system.

In this way, the Soviet Union and the United States established a large self-cultivating farmer class in Germany and Japan, and also made the governments they supported have a relatively stable group of supporters. In addition, the relatively reasonable land resource allocation system also greatly facilitated the economic recovery of East Germany and Japan, which were almost in ruins after the war.

What about Louis Bonaparte? Although he claimed to be the patron saint of small farmers, he never tried to do so.

His support for small farmers seemed to be contradictory - he gave them many promises and benefits, and always implemented some kind of agricultural protectionist policy through the government, but on the other hand, he did not set up an agricultural association to bring small farmers together to form a political force.

And those small farmers who were not organized were naturally at a disadvantage in the face of large estate agriculture that was becoming increasingly large-scale and mechanized with the progress of the times. They were easily forced into bankruptcy due to natural disasters or price fluctuations, let alone giving enough support to the government.

Since they were on the verge of bankruptcy, they certainly would not go to support the government that made them on the verge of bankruptcy. So in the face of the progress of the times, the Second Empire gradually lost its original base. The political weakness of the Second Empire in the later period was largely due to this reason.

Why is this so? With Louis Bonaparte's intelligence, could he not think of this situation and trend?

Not so, of course he could see it.

However, this seemingly contradictory approach is exactly in line with Louis Bonaparte's worldview, a manifestation of the cunning side of this successful adventurer, and a reflection of his inner world.

No matter how he claims to be an emperor who loves socialism and loves his people like his own children, Louis Bonaparte is first and foremost a conspirator, an emperor who desires power and hopes not to share it with others.

His Majesty Napoleon III hopes to open up a stable pillar and base for himself outside of unreliable financiers and old aristocrats, and to make himself appear generous and love the people, and win the love of the people; but he does not want these small peasants to suddenly wake up after uniting and produce dangerous revolutionary ideas, which will threaten the status of his family and the stability of the empire.

Therefore, his ideological contradiction can be understood, and it can even be said that it is inevitable.

As for Charles, he certainly does not intend to pour cold water on the future emperor's enthusiasm.

"You are right, your Majesty." (To be continued.)