Flowers, Swords and France

As expected by Charles, the news about the lunch specially hosted by the young Duke of Treville that day quickly spread like wildfire and finally reached the ears of those who were destined to be interested in it. .

For example, General Cavaignac, the new Minister of War of the Second French Republic.

"This bastard! I knew he was a bastard! He actually wants to use us to gain fame! How shameless!" Under great anger, General Cavaignac couldn't help shouting and yelling, picking up the coffee cup and slamming it He threw it on the table, making a heavy sound that made everyone else tremble. "I don't want us to work hard for a long time just to be a stepping stone for this damn bastard!"

After a while, he quickly calmed down his emotions and regained his apparent calm, but his beard that was still trembling slightly showed that the minister was still not calm.

"This man is cunning and cunning, we must not underestimate him." After a moment, he added angrily.

Sitting next to him was his new political ally, M. Thiers.

The middle-aged man wearing glasses remained calm. He picked up the cup in front of him and took a sip of coffee before speaking slowly.

"He is indeed a little more cunning than I originally expected, but it is still expected. If I were him, I would probably do the same..."

After hearing what the other party said, the general couldn't help but feel more irritable. He looked at Mr. Thiers quietly, his eyes becoming colder.

"Since it was within your expectations, what are your countermeasures to this, and what should we do?"

"Nothing to do." Thiers shrugged deliberately pretending to be relaxed, "I think we should continue at the original pace and solve the imminent crisis first..."

"Do you want to continue watching?" The general frowned, obviously displeased, "And then let him get fame and fame like this, and finally become a saint who saved this country? Hey, my friend, if that's the case, we might as well run away today. Go to him, kneel down to him, and shout to him, "Long live the emperor!" Maybe he will give us a duke's pawn when he is happy!"

His joke certainly didn't amuse anyone, but made the atmosphere here even more serious.

"This situation will never happen, and we will never let him do it." Thiers replied decisively, "But do we still have time to take care of him now? My friend, the army has been grouped one regiment at a time. The earth has come over, and now we have no time to deal with this gangster... But don't worry, as long as this country is cleaned up, he will never be able to change the world! "

Mr. Thiers' words won the approval of several others.

In the eyes of these people, compared to Napoleon's nephew, those mobs who may plunge the country back into a storm of blood and fire at any time are the most life-or-death enemies. Although Napoleon's nephew is terrifying, he is still "the same person." "The enemy in the trenches", but the mob will take their property and their lives, and they will not be unable to distinguish the importance.

After hearing this, the general couldn't help but feel helpless in his eyes. Obviously, although he was afraid of Louis Bonaparte's threat to the president he had coveted for a long time, his reason could still let him distinguish the priorities.

"Okay, you're right, we have to deal with this end first..."

Suddenly, his eyes suddenly lit up, "I think we can do two things into one!"

"What do you mean?" Thiers was a little confused.

Then, he understood immediately.

"You mean..."

"Yes," the general nodded immediately. "The city will be full of troops and it will be in chaos. I am sure to mobilize some people who will completely obey my orders..."

He prolonged his voice and did not say the next words, but everyone understood what he meant.

When the time comes, take advantage of the chaos and kill Louis Bonaparte to solve the scourge in advance?

This proposal moved Thiers' heart, and he also felt its temptation.

However, after thinking for a moment, his reason still allowed him to resist this temptation.

"No, at least not yet."

"Why?" The general was a little confused and unwilling, "Wouldn't it be great to get rid of this trouble once and for all?"

"It cannot be done once and for all!" Mr. Thiers retorted categorically. "The Bonaparte family is a political group, and nothing will change just because of the death of one or two people. If he dies, the new heir will take over his position. and his ambitions, we just added another martyr and a brand name to them! Isn't a brand name named Napoleon not enough? Are we going to add another saint to the Bonaparte family? Or are you sure about it? Are they going to eradicate them all at once?”

Before the general could reply, Thiers continued, "Besides, if he was really killed, no matter how hard he did it without leaving any traces, wouldn't there be anyone who wouldn't think it was us? Do you have Can you bear all the consequences? It is one thing to suppress the mob, but it is another thing to kill a member of the old royal family, let alone that he is still very popular!"

"Napoleon also killed the Duke of Enghien," the general replied dully.

At this time, I don’t deny that I want to imitate Napoleon.

After hearing these words, Thiers couldn't help but sneered in his heart.

"But that's because he's Napoleon!" he replied coldly.

[Refers to the Duke of Enghien (1772-1804), a branch of the Bourbon royal family and the son of the ninth Prince of Condé. In 1804, the royal party failed to assassinate Napoleon. The emperor was angry and ordered someone to arrest the Duke of Enghien who was hiding on the border. This man was later shot on the order of Napoleon. The Condai family, which was so famous during the Bourbon dynasty, died out. 】

After hearing the other party's cross-examination, the general was immediately speechless.

"Besides, even if we are determined to get rid of him, can we really do it? Don't forget how many sympathizers of the Bonaparte family there are in France. Can you guarantee that there will be no informants in your army?" Ye'er continued, without any expression on his face, "In addition, with his cunning, if that day comes, he will definitely hide in a place where we can't find him, quietly watching the show, Then wait for the time to come out and clean up the mess.”

The general lowered his gaze slightly.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"Then...then let's just leave him alone?"

"That's all we can do now." Thiers nodded, and then immediately comforted his ally, "But don't worry, he won't make it happen. As long as you follow our established plan, he will definitely It’s nothing to do with us!”

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

After hearing the encouragement from his allies, the general still had some hesitations, but these hesitations were well hidden in his heart.

"I hope so." Finally, he nodded lightly and drank the rest of the coffee.

"Right now, instead of thinking about Louis Bonaparte, we should think about how to arrange it next." Thiers changed the topic, "Now, how is the situation of the troops in place? When can it be finally completed? ?”

As soon as he heard this sentence, the general couldn't help but get excited.

"The troops closer to Paris have been mobilized, and the troops farther away are also rushing here. The deployment is going smoothly now." Then, he lowered his eyelids slightly, obviously calculating something, "Just give me seven more In ten days, I will have all the troops in place, and then I will be able to fight with those guys!"

"A week? It's still so long..." After hearing this answer, Thiers frowned, "Can't it be faster?"

"It's already very fast, my friend, don't forget, I have only been in power for a long time!" The general shook his head slightly, saying that he had tried his best. "After receiving my order, the troops from all over the country must first put those thoughts into action." The impure and dangerous elements were pushed aside before they could set off. They could only march on their legs. It was already very difficult to assemble so quickly!"

"Even so, it's too slow! Every day is very important to us now." Thiers couldn't help but sigh, "If we are slow, an accident like Rouen might happen here one day. This The glory of the city will be somewhat erased.”

[On April 26, 1848, riots by workers and poor people broke out in many cities such as Rouen and Limousine. They were brutally suppressed by the military and police. A total of 11 people were killed, 81 were injured, and nearly 100 people were arrested and sentenced. This incident also became a preview of the bloodshed in June. 】

"Now we can only rely on the arriving troops and monitor them together with the National Guards. There shouldn't be any trouble." The general replied in a low voice, "The Self-Defense Forces from other provinces are also gathering and will soon follow the garrison. , help us get rid of the mob."

"I hope it goes so smoothly!" Thiers sighed, then stretched out his hand and pinched his forehead.

Obviously, long hours of intense thinking had made him a little physically and mentally exhausted.

Then, as if he thought of something, he suddenly sighed again.

"It would be great if we had a railway! In that case, you can quickly move the army hundreds of kilometers away in a few days. Who will worry about the mob at that time? I will definitely build one for this country in the future..."

"How can you make a lot of money from it?" the general asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes, you can make a lot of money from it by the way." He nodded without blushing. "However, now is not the time to think about this. We have to solve this problem first..."

"Okay, don't worry, except for that ridiculous Italian Carbonarian, everything is going according to plan." The smile on the general's face flashed away, and he returned to seriousness, "I will follow our agreement I’m here to do it, and I hope you can fulfill your promise.”

"Don't worry, now that things have come to a point, do we have any other choice?" Mr. Thiers replied calmly.

"Very good, then..." The general stretched out his hand, and Thiers also took his hand. "It's a pleasure to cooperate."

"It's a pleasure to work with you." (To be continued.)