Flowers, Swords and France

In Miss Caterina de Periette's luxurious mansion, under the dim candlelight that deliberately controlled the brightness to maintain a certain sense of mystery, it was once again full of guests tonight. After a hiatus due to the riots in June, the lady in blue stockings, who is known for being generous to people in the literary and artistic circles, held a party again in the middle of summer, finally bringing excitement to the long-dormant literary world.

According to the custom here at Miss Blue Stockings, everyone first had dinner and chatted, taking this opportunity to communicate with each other. Here, everyone generally teases each other and takes pride in making witty jokes on each other. From time to time, there are also some celebrity anecdotes interspersed. In Charles's opinion, such gatherings in salons are at least much more interesting than those at the racecourse.

However, the atmosphere in the living room at tonight's party was a bit more solemn than usual. Because, it is a little different from usual in some places - in the past, this place was always just a place for literati and writers to talk about literature, but tonight it was mixed with an inextricably strong political flavor.

If only because the host at this time invited Victor Hugo, a former member of the French House of Lords and current member of the National Assembly, it could also be said that the host only considered his guest list from a literary perspective; but when he discovered that the late Emperor Napoleon When Louis Bonaparte, nephew of Louis Bonaparte and the current head of the Bonaparte family, was present, no one doubted the political nature of the gathering.

[In the National Assembly by-election on June 4, 1848, Victor Hugo and Louis Bonaparte were both elected members of the National Assembly.

Is this lady in blue stockings a Bonapartist? The guests who had just arrived looked at each other or whispered, not sure whether she thought Louis Bonaparte was a high-end decoration for the banquet on a whim. Or she was inclined towards the Bonaparte family. Some legitimists who supported the Bourbon royal family either left the meeting directly or secretly decided never to set foot here again.

For a moment, the entire living room fell into a strange atmosphere. The appearance of Louis Bonaparte. The guests were divided into three groups - the opposition who were restless and angry, the supporters who were elated and excited, and the overwhelming majority of neutral spectators who were at a loss.

Miss Perriette seemed unaware of this atmosphere and had been chatting eagerly with Mr. Louis Bonaparte sitting next to her, laughing heartily from time to time.

"So, are you really planning to run for president in the near future?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, dear Mademoiselle de Periette." Louis Bonaparte nodded simply. "I feel very sad about the predicament France is facing now. I consider myself the heir of my uncle. I have an obligation to stand up and save our country at this disastrous moment..."

After hearing this sentence. Charles and other supporters clapped and cheered at the right time.

"Napoleon! We want Napoleon to be president!"

Amid the cheers and noise, Louis Bonaparte waved his hand in a leadership style.

"Gentlemen, thank you for your support. In this time of national crisis, we must each step up and work together to save the country - I cannot save the country alone. Only when each of us stands united will the Republic prosper. So, I ask you, I need everyone’s help, your help is vital to the Republic!”

The faces of others became even more ugly - it was obvious that Louis Bonaparte used the party as a tool to build momentum for himself through the hands of Miss Blue Stockings.

They all looked at Victor Hugo, who was sitting on the other side of the table and had remained silent. Everyone was guessing what choice this famous writer and politician would make.

They didn't know that Hugo didn't know anything about today. When he received the invitation from Miss Blue Stockings, no one told him that Louis Bonaparte would also attend. He thought this was just another gathering of the literary world, and he never imagined that he would be involved in such a political whirlpool as soon as he arrived.

Hugo at this time. He is no longer the young boy who cursed Emperor Napoleon loudly and praised King Bourbon when he first came out. Years of experience have greatly changed his view of that emperor. But he still didn't have much impression on Louis Bonaparte, who had become his colleague in the National Assembly - because in the Assembly, Mr. Bonaparte rarely spoke on stage, and his face was always expressionless. , listless look, and the stuttering Germanic accent in French all leave little impression on people.

But at this time, Bonaparte, who was sitting opposite him and was talking endlessly, was surprisingly bright-eyed and energetic, almost making people forget his weird accent and remember that his surname was still Bonaparte after all.

This guy wants to run for president? Why does he want to run for president? Is he qualified? Can he do it?

Like everyone else, he was a little interested.

Seeing that he had become the center of attention, he decided not to remain silent anymore.

"Mr. Bonaparte," he tried to keep his tone calm, "I just said that I hope to run for president. To be honest, I am a little surprised. I have not heard of this intention in parliament before. Is this a temporary idea? ?”

"No, this is not a whim, this is a carefully considered decision." Louis Bonaparte replied seriously, "For many years, I have been thinking about what contribution I can make to this country, and now, I have decided that I must save to run for president.”

"Then what do you plan to do after running for president?" Victor Hugo looked at the other party equally seriously, "Do you want to restore the empire that your uncle lost?"

His question is also what many people want to ask at the same time.

And Louis Bonaparte, of course, already had his own answer.

"No, sir, I entered politics for the sake of the people, not the empire." Louis Bonaparte replied with incomparable sincerity. "I am a man who strongly favors the realization of liberty and democracy in our country. In order to achieve such an ideal , I will fight for this all my life.”

Ignoring the looks of disbelief from those who heard this sentence, Louis Bonaparte continued.

"I know. This statement sounds a bit unbelievable. But I can promise you, even swear to God. This is what I say from my heart. Now, compared with the empire that has passed away, the prosperity of the French people Prosperity is the most important thing to me!" Louis Bonaparte's eyes sparkled. The light of sincerity, "Some people are slandering me, saying that I plan to carry out some kind of restoration. Do you think I have lost my mind? Can't I see this era clearly? Some people speculate that I want to revive Napoleon - but this It is a fallacy and a slander against me. I know myself best. What do you want? In the contemporary era, there are two role models for those with great ambitions: Napoleon and Washington. One is a man of great talent and a noble character. If Napoleon is greater, then Washington is a more outstanding hero. Between being a good citizen and a model citizen, I choose Be the latter. I want to be the first president of a country like Washington. I want it to prosper in peace. This is my ideal. Yes, peace and prosperity, this is what I want France to do. Everything! Yes. I'd rather be Napoleon's nephew!"

While he was making impassioned speeches, the host here, Mademoiselle de Perriette, still remained completely calm. She gave Charles a complicated look with a smile, but Charles seemed not to see it and remained calm. He looked at Louis Bonaparte with admiration and applauded him from time to time.

After hearing this impassioned speech, Victor Hugo, like some others, was obviously touched.

"Hopefully, peace will heal the country's wounds. And lead it to prosperity?"

"Yes." Louis Bonaparte nodded without hesitation, "What General Cavaignac did can only make the country go astray further. Brutal killing cannot solve any problems - we cannot let the country Torn apart in the antagonism between the poor and the rich! It is precisely because I am deeply afraid of France taking that path that I feel even more compelled to stand up.”

After hearing his words, Victor Hugo couldn't help but nodded secretly.

In this respect at least, he strongly agreed with Louis Bonaparte.

During the June barricades, he was one of the few people in Parliament who recognized that "everyone has gone too far." He once ran to the barricade in the middle of the road without any weapons and personally attacked the rebels. Do the work of persuasion and persuade them to surrender to save their lives. He was also one of the few people who dared to publicly say to the National Guardsmen who participated in the suppression after the atmosphere of terror in June that "the madness of the rich is as terrible as the madness of the poor, regardless of whether it is high or low."

It is true that the views of "loving all people" and "humanism first" are naive, but at least he truly practiced his idealism instead of saying one thing and doing another like a hypocrite. For this alone, this great writer is worthy of admiration.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

At this moment, for the first time, he finally had the idea that it would be feasible for this guy to be the president.

However, he still had some doubts.

"From a rhetorical point of view, this speech is impeccable, and it is even worthy of being delivered on the parliamentary podium. However, if the problem can be solved by speaking alone, we will not have to face such a difficult situation..."

"Don't worry, of course I will not limit everything to words." Louis Bonaparte immediately replied, "I said that I will do my best to bring prosperity back to France. These three hundred years have been glorious. The shining glorious country will not be willing to decline. All in all, the country deserves a better peace!"

"A better peace?" Victor Hugo's eyes lit up.

"Peace, yes, peace! We must maintain the hard-won peace so that the people can rest and recuperate in peace. We should maintain peace with all countries and nations in the world-not just Europe, not just Europe. For our own peace, we must also strive for universal peace throughout Europe, so that all wars between countries can be resolved with the help of international arbitration, instead of being turned into wars like in previous centuries..." Louis Bonaparte continued Speaking of his own opinions, it seems that He is not the same person who has been secretly planning a war against Russia. He certainly knows what Victor Hugo and his supporters like to hear, "For the country, we have to make more efforts, we must eliminate To fight against poverty, we must develop industry and commerce, so that industry and progress can meet the growing needs of the people; we must also respect and promote art, literature, and science, and reward those who are talented.” Of course, he is following the last sentence. What these people said. "In addition, in order to achieve a just peace, we must give children from poor families more opportunities to advance. Only by making them feel that they are not ignored by the country and that they also have hope of getting ahead will they have the motivation to defend country. Therefore, we must invest more and create more public utilities so that people can share more opportunities.”

These words of Louis Bonaparte made Victor Hugo couldn't help but nod his head. He agreed very much with what the other party said.

Although he had long known that Mr. Bonaparte had some republican tendencies, he had joined some Italian republican groups in the past, and had been implicated in the Carbonari Party incident because he opposed the Austrian Empire's rule of Italy. He also wrote a book Talking about the pamphlet "Abolition of Absolute Poverty", I didn't expect his views and my own to be so speculative!

At least the political views of M. Louis-Bonaparte, who advocated liberty, equality, prosperity and peace, were more to his heart - or so it seemed - to several of the presidential hopefuls, including General Cavaignac and Lamartine. So true.

"This is indeed what we need! Mr. Bonaparte, you are right!" He couldn't help but echoed softly.

And this echo made Louis Bonaparte feel that his trip was worthwhile and that the campaign had almost achieved its goal.

As long as the famous Victor Hugo intends to help Louis Bonaparte in his future campaign, with his appeal, many republicans who were disappointed with General Cavaignac after the June massacre will gather around him. Come by. Anyway, promises and words don't cost money. In order to win the choice, just make promises. As for what to do after being elected, that is something that needs to be considered in the future.

Advocating democracy to libertarians, emphasizing order to conservatives, ensuring security to the rich, and promising opportunities to the poor—hasn't this been the case for most campaigns since ancient times?

"Mr. Bonaparte's ideas are very impressive. I have to say that he convinced me." After chatting for a long time, Victor Hugo was finally convinced by Louis Bonaparte. "If I can be elected president, then It will really be a blessing to the country." (To be continued...)

ps: What Louis Bonaparte said to Hugo was not made up. In fact, he deceived Hugo and the others into complete confusion at the time, allowing them to run their own campaigns.

That's why Hugo hated him so much later...