Flowers, Swords and France

The worries about General Cavaignac were not limited to Charles alone. His comrades were equally worried about this. The one who is most wary of course is Mr. Louis Bonaparte, who is ambitious and just waiting to climb to the highest position in France.

At a gathering of Bonapartists, Charles told Louis Bonaparte exactly what he heard from Lucien, and others also relayed to him the relevant information they had received. . After the information from all parties was gathered together, the outline of the incident became increasingly clear.

For a moment, an inexplicable gloom gathered in the entire restaurant. The dim and constantly trembling candlelight made everyone feel uncertain and murderous, as if they were a group of thieves gathering together.

"This bastard! He deserves it!" Karion was the most excited and he was the first to curse, "He is the only one who still wants to be like the emperor? Don't even look at what kind of person he is!"

After he vented a few words, he found that the entire hall was still eerily quiet and no one echoed him, so he had no choice but to shut up angrily.

At this point, there is no point in cursing anymore. Because he personally led people to kill the mob in Paris, General Cavaignac had extremely low popularity among the newly enfranchised civilians, so it was understandable that he wanted to use a "shortcut" to ensure that he could obtain the highest power in France.

When it comes to political issues, as long as you win, there is no blame for anything - wasn't Napoleon also relying on a coup and storming into the House of 500 with his troops to come to power? As a result, the entire nation still misses him to this day!

Of course, he is the general's political opponent. Charles and his accomplices certainly did not want him to succeed.

"Don't be impatient," said Louis Bonaparte, who had been silent, trying to stabilize the mood of his comrades. Finally spoke. "Don't be afraid, he can't accomplish anything. He is not the emperor. The emperor won the Battle of Marengo and defended the entire country, but he did not."

His words made almost everyone secretly sigh in relief. He is right. To come to power by launching a military coup requires extremely high prestige. At least he can speak the truth in the army, which General Cavaignac cannot do.

"They did not run to Marengo, but ran to the Macta River..." Joseph Bonaparte deliberately made a mean and mocking remark. It elicited a few knowing laughs.

[On June 1835, a fierce battle broke out between the French colonial troops of the July Dynasty on the banks of the Makta River in Oran Province, Algeria, and the local armed forces led by Prince Abd al-Qadir. As a result, the French army A huge defeat, with heavy casualties.

This was also one of the few major defeats in the history of French colonial expansion in North Africa.

"You are right." Louis Bonaparte did not smile. "The military cannot be loyal to someone who has no prestige and just jumped into power by chance. We must spread this view within the military."

"Understood!" everyone replied at the same time.

"Propaganda alone is not enough." Louis Bonaparte pondered again, "We have to think of some more straightforward methods."

There was another moment of silence.

Seeing that the time had come, Ciel finally spoke at the right time and expressed his suggestion.

"Sir, we may be able to cooperate with the Orthodox faction. Although their power and influence are greatly weakened now, they still have many supporters in the army." Charles paid attention to Louis Bonaparte's expression and cautiously He expressed his suggestion, "Those noble officers are not willing to succumb to General Cavaignac."

Since the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, the historical remnants of the Revolution have been deliberately cleaned and buried by the Restoration dynasty. After a large number of officers with dangerous tendencies were purged, during the fifteen years of the Restoration Dynasty, the preferential promotion of noble children in the army became a common practice in the army again. Especially for the cavalry, at that time almost all of the official titles were given to the younger sons of noble families, making it the best place for these poor people who could not inherit hereditary inheritance. Although this situation improved slightly during the July Monarchy, noble officers were still a powerful force in the army.

As for their attitude towards Cavaignac and Louis Bonaparte... Charles felt that it had been clearly tested on Charlotte - they both hated them, but in comparison, Napoleon's nephew was not so special after all. People are annoying.

After hearing his suggestion, Louis Bonaparte frowned slightly. It's not that I'm disgusted with Ciel's suggestion, but I'm seriously considering it.

"That's good advice," he whispered back after a moment. "But how are you going to do that?"

Of course he will not have any moral obstacles. In order to regain the empire, he is willing to cooperate with the devil, let alone the orthodox.

"The Duke of Treville's family has a good reputation among the orthodox faction. I have already asked about it. They hate General Cavaignac extremely much." Charles replied calmly, "I think their attitude should be representative of a lot of people." Some orthodox factions should also be able to influence some noble officers..."

"Very good, very good." After hearing Charles's words, Louis Bonaparte nodded in approval, and it could be seen that his mood relaxed a lot. "If that's the case, that's great! Let's go along this line and let them all understand that we are an ally in opposing General Cavaignac, and we will spare no effort to support them. They don’t have to listen to that general on everything!”

"Of course." Ciel replied with a smile. "At least now, we can be on the same path with them."

"You are right." Louis Bonaparte, the future emperor, smiled so kindly at this time that Charles was a little flattered. "Then, what are we waiting for? Just follow the established policy. Let’s do it.” After a pause, he added, “In addition, many people have been eliminated from the army recently. The officers at the top who have different ideas must be full of anger towards General Cavaignac and the Republican government. We must also find ways to have more contact with them and identify some people who can share our interests. Although they now have no military membership, But maybe we will need them in the future..."

Then, he gave Ciel a subtle yet meaningful look, and Ciel immediately remembered what he had told him last time. He understood and nodded gently.

Louis Bonaparte smiled with satisfaction, and then he waved his hand gently, indicating that Charles should do it well.

Then, he glanced around at his comrades, causing their whispers to stop immediately.

"Gentlemen, the situation is now very clear..." He concluded calmly in his characteristic indifferent tone, but no one would doubt its meaning.

"As long as we hold the troops, or at least neutralize them, General Cavaignac will not be able to make a coup; if he cannot make a coup, he can only go to a fair election with me... As long as he stands up and votes with me, I can immediately Tell him to get lost! The day we have been waiting for is coming, everyone, get ready!"

His words caused a moment of cheers, which was the effect he wanted to cheer up his subordinates.

The party didn't end until late at night. After people dispersed in twos and threes, Charles was left behind by the future emperor.

Louis Bonaparte picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip quietly. At this time, he had completely lost the excitement he had just now.

"Char, as I said, the day I've been looking forward to, the day you've been looking forward to, is coming." Different from his expression just now, there seemed to be a bit more emotion in his tone.

"I have never been so anticipated and sought after by others. The orthodox nobles, farmers, workers, citizens... they all supported me in coming to power. I have never had so many supporters. To be honest, I never expected it before. I am so close to the moment when my dream comes true... Looking back now, it is really emotional. Yes, I am very happy. "

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"This also shows that he has great prestige in people's minds and is the right person to lead this country." Ciel quickly gave a timely compliment.

Louis Bonaparte waved his hand to stop his meaningless flattery.

"However, the more times like this, the more we need to calm down. We can't help but see the lighthouse guiding us in the distance, and we must also be careful of the reefs hidden under the water..."

"What does it mean?"

Louis Bonaparte did not answer immediately. He turned his head and looked at the portrait of Napoleon in uniform and riding a horse hanging on the wall, and pondered for a long time. But Ciel naturally had the patience to wait for him and would not rush him at all.

After a long time, Louis Bonaparte spoke again.

"We still haven't gathered enough supporters to ensure victory," he said, regaining his unemotional coolness. "I have to get us another group of allies."

Charles was a little surprised by his seriousness, but an idea flashed in his mind and he understood what he meant.

"You mean M. Thiers and the Party of Order?"

A flash of surprise flashed in Louis Bonaparte's eyes, as if he were surprised by Charles's understanding, but he soon smiled.

"You guessed it right, it's them. Only by winning over people like them can I ensure that the National Assembly will not fall to Cavaignac and ensure that the election proceeds normally. Otherwise, they may directly abolish the popular election. We All my plans came to nothing!”

"Yes, although they were our enemies before and will be our enemies in the future, but..."

He smiled even more heartily. "In order to choke their necks, we first have to shake their hands."

Then he looked at Ciel.

"Well, young man, what do you think of this?"

Ciel immediately lowered his head.

"I completely agree with this view." (To be continued...)