Flowers, Swords and France

Thin fog enveloped the city of Paris. In the center of Paris, the current King of France, His Majesty Louis-Philippe de Orleans-Bourbon, was in the small study room of his palace. Through the small study window, he looked at his place from a distance. Paris reigns.

This small study with arched windows in the Tuileries Palace is very famous throughout France because the old owners of the palace, Napoleon and Louis XVIII, liked to work here, and today's Louis-Philippe became The current owners love this place as much as their predecessors.

The furnishings of the room are not as luxurious as people think. There are small crystal chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, the walls are damask-protected, there is a walnut desk inside, and the waxed floor is paved with several thick slabs. carpet. The King was standing in front of the window sill at this moment, wearing his favorite uniform of the National Guard (the same as the late King Charles X), with the badge of the French Legion of Honor on his chest. Compared with the average seventy-year-old man, His Majesty looks more energetic. His hair is even gray-black. He has a gentle attitude and has always been known for being approachable.

Since the women of Paris launched a riot in October 1789 and then went to Versailles to kidnap the king and his family to live in the Tuileries Palace, French monarchs, whether it was Bourbon or Bonaparte, moved the Tuileries Palace to As your own bedroom.

It is this palace that vividly reflects the turmoil of France in the 19th century: starting from the beheaded king, passing through Napoleon and the Bourbon Restoration, the previous owners of the palace except Louis XVIII, who only reigned for only nine years. , no one could die peacefully in the palace. Historically, its last two owners, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III, who lived here, also fled to England and died in foreign lands.

During the Second Empire, the extravagant Napoleon III greatly expanded it. However, during the bloody Battle of Paris in 1871, it was eventually burned down by the revolutionaries and turned into ruins. It was destroyed in the fire along with the French monarchy, never to be seen again.

Of course, at this moment, no one in France except one person knows these "things that will happen in the future", so His Majesty can still look at his royal capital quite leisurely at this moment.

However, the King's leisure did not last long. The attendant opened the door, saluted and then whispered to His Majesty. "The Duke of Dalmatia requests an audience."

His Majesty nodded slightly, agreeing to the Prime Minister's request for an audience. The attendant understood this and left the room to summon the Duke.

After a while, the door reopened, and His Excellency Nicolas-Jean-de-Dieu-Sourt, the current Prime Minister and former Marshal of Dalmatia, walked in slowly in formal attire. Although his hair has turned gray, he still has the strength of a soldier. His steps are powerful and his bearing is clear. Although his square face wears formulaic humility, deceit and arrogance flash from time to time in his slightly furrowed brows and sharp eyes. The civilian dress gave him the look of a military uniform, which was in perfect contrast to the Bourbon kings who wore military uniforms like court uniforms.

He was born in the same year as Napoleon and fought for that monarch for twenty years. He was influenced by what he heard and saw, which made him behave like that great man.

He then served the following monarchs of France for thirty years.

Since the beginning of the July Dynasty, he has served as Prime Minister three times in the seventeen-year history of the dynasty, serving for a total of 10 years. He also served as Minister of War for 9 years (from 1840 to 1845, he was both Prime Minister and Minister of War). Weifu used it for himself, had power in his hands, and was so famous for a while that people couldn't figure out who served whom in this dynasty.

As soon as the Prime Minister entered, he bowed humbly to His Majesty.

His Majesty glanced briefly at the Prime Minister, then walked back to his desk and sat down.

"Mr. Duke, what bad news do you have to tell us today?" he asked in a slightly joking tone.

The Prime Minister sat down opposite. He sat upright and leaned tightly against the back of his chair.

"Your Majesty, as you expected, it is indeed bad news." He spoke very slowly and in a low voice, full of persuasion, making people believe and rely on him.

His Majesty's original relaxation was dispelled by the Duke's solemnity, and he suppressed a smile. "What's wrong?"

"According to reports from the Ministry of the Interior, the Orthodox elements who escaped from the crossfire on Batinoglis Street have lost their traces..." the Prime Minister reported calmly.

"It looks like we've lost the chance to catch them all."

Although His Majesty's tone remained calm, the Prime Minister watched with cold eyes as he squeezed his right hand lightly.

"Yes, the carefully prepared plan was only half successful. A large number of remnants of the Royal Party were wiped out, but some important figures escaped." The Prime Minister replied, "And according to the interrogation, several of them were the leaders."

"From this point of view, we are not even half successful." His Majesty said coldly, "We caught some small fish, but let the big fish run away. Where is the person in charge of them still like us today?" , held a meeting calmly, plotting to overthrow us.”

"At least we have frightened this group of rats so that they will not dare to move in the short term. We have also destroyed a contact. It will not be easy for them to reorganize."

"Short-term! Oh, it took several months, nearly a million francs, and nearly a thousand people to implement the operation simultaneously in various places. The reward is short-term..." There was a trace of impatience in His Majesty's tone, "I think our The Home Secretary needs to be short-term too."

"Duchate has done a good job. Although he failed in the end, I think this plan still has merits in conception and execution." The Prime Minister expressed his opinion. "It's easy to replace him, but it's hard for us to find a more capable one." \u003cuyduchatel, the French Interior Minister at the time】

"Are we just going to watch the rebels fan the flames everywhere?" His Majesty asked with a little dissatisfaction.

"Your Majesty, the Bourbon dynasty has ended, and it was you and I who ended it. Although some people are still living in the past, they will eventually wake up, and the times will make them wake up." The Prime Minister's eyes were quite contemptuous, "And after all, their leader is just a woman now, even if the last name is Bourbon, it's no big deal."

"We must never underestimate anyone, even a woman. Mr. Duke, I remember that it was because of a woman that I had to become a usurper." His Majesty's face was solemn and his hands were clenched again. "So I have to worry more. Because of another woman, I will have to become the usurper!"

The Bourbon royal family once faced a crisis of extinction. The three brothers of Louis XVI almost left no descendants: the eldest brother Louis XVI's family was killed, the second brother Louis XVIII had no offspring, and the third brother Charles X had two sons, but the eldest son married his cousin (the eldest princess of Louis XVI mentioned above) and did not give birth to children. The only one who had the hope of continuing the bloodline of the royal family was Charles's second son, Duke Louis-Antoine of Berry.

On February 13, 18, the Duke of Berry was assassinated by radical [***] elements. How much the Orleans family cheered and comforted! They were only one step away from legally inheriting the throne of France!

However, the sky did not go as people wished. In September of that year, the Duchess of Berry gave birth to a posthumous son Henry, who was later the pretender to the French throne Henry V. This posthumous son probably didn't know that he had committed the crime of robbing the throne of Louis-Philippe's family since he was born.

So in 1830, the Orleans faction used revolution and coup d'état to drive the Bourbon line out of France and seize the French throne.

The Bourbon royal family would certainly not accept this arrangement. In 1832, the Duchess of Berry landed in Marseille from her mother's home in Naples and sneaked into southern France to incite rebellion. Fortunately, it was quelled in an instant, but the dream of the Bourbon royal family's restoration has not been extinguished, and it still makes the Orleans royal family sleepless.

The posthumous son Henry is still young at this moment and does not need to be too vigilant. Charles X has long died, but the eldest princess is still alive. She is still the banner and core of the Bourbon royal party.

At some moments, His Majesty, who was staying in the palace, could even feel the sharp and contemptuous eyes of the eldest princess coming from a dark depth, constantly watching him, spying on his every move at any time, trying to find flaws and crush him and the dynasty he established together.

Due to the natural panic of the usurper, His Majesty treated his relatives more harshly than ordinary rebels. All members of the Bourbon royal family were expelled from the country and strictly prohibited from returning to the country. Any rebellion that dared to support the royal party was severely suppressed. The king would rather favor the products of the revolution - new ideas, new trends, new aristocrats, capitalists and even Napoleon, rather than take a second look at the Bourbons who were usurped by him.

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Seeing His Majesty's slightly out of control, the Prime Minister did not remind him.

After all, the king will understand how much he relies on his servants when he is nervous, right?

After waiting for His Majesty's emotions to calm down again, the Prime Minister spoke again.

"I have arranged that the police and garrisons in various places will closely monitor the local situation, especially the outsiders who are suspected of being inside. Once discovered, they will be reported immediately and identified as soon as possible."

"Identification... Isn't this giving them a chance to escape? They should be arrested first and then slowly interrogated!" His Majesty the King almost shouted to his Prime Minister. "Can't we arrest them all first?"

Overstepping the line.

Treating me like this.

A moment of silence.

"Your Majesty, after all, you were crowned at the Paris City Hall instead of Reims Cathedral." After a moment of silence, the Prime Minister answered slowly, still in that humble but plain tone. "Although many people don't notice the difference, it is very different after all."

[Louis-Philippe's coronation ceremony was held at the Paris City Hall, while the coronation ceremonies of the kings of various French dynasties were held at Reims Cathedral. The title changed from "King of France" to "King of the French", which meant that the source of royal power changed from divine power to secular power, and the French king was no longer responsible to God but to the people. 】

Who exactly does "many people" include? What are the differences? This question is mysterious, but one thing is certain.

The king could not, as in the past, put his subjects in jail without any procedures or evidence.

He could not treat the Duke of Dalmatia, who helped him to the throne, with the same attitude as Louis XIV and Louis XV treated his servants.

The Duke expressed two meanings at the same time, and the king had to understand both at the same time.

"Well, we are a constitutional country after all, and we can't do that," His Majesty the King gently touched his forehead with his hand and took a step back without leaving a trace. "But we must be careful not to give any rebels with ill intentions a chance! Don't forget that they are seeking to destroy our dynasty and government every day."

"Yours." The Prime Minister replied humbly again.

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