Flowers, Swords and France

Just as Charlotte expected, Charles did not go home that night. It was not until the morning that he rushed to the ministry in Charlotte's carriage and started today's work.

Until noon, he was still reviewing the official documents.

"Come in!" He responded casually after hearing the knock on the door.

Then, his full-time secretary Clement Leczynski, well-dressed as usual, walked in cautiously. "That gentleman is already here." He whispered.

"Oh, that's great!" Charles felt relieved, and then put down his pen, "Then call him in quickly, there's no need to wait!"

"Yes." Clément responded quickly, and then quickly retreated.

After a while, footsteps sounded at the door again. They were different from Clément's orderly footsteps, but more urgent and even a little arrogant.

Then, the fair and well-groomed face of Charles's friend, Albert de Foa-Gray, appeared in front of Charles. "Look, look! Our Ciel is no longer what it used to be!" he shouted exaggeratedly.

"My friend, you are finally here!" Charles quickly stood up, left his desk, and greeted him.

Albert came in with the same smile.

The two friends met each other and held hands tightly.

Then, Charles made a gesture, Clement bowed his head in greeting, and then gently withdrew.

Then, the two of them sat on the sofa next to each other.

"My friend, you are quite majestic now!" He just sat down. Albert smiled and said, "Look at that man just now, he can't even breathe!"

"Of course. He is a government employee and my subordinate, so of course he will treat me with respect." Charles replied matter-of-factly. "But don't worry, we are good friends, and I have no intention of letting you do this to me..."

"Oh! Look at this magnanimity!" Albert teased again, "It seems that you have really made a fortune. My friend!"

"You're wrong, I'm not the one who got rich," Ciel's expression suddenly became serious. "But us. I said before that as long as I can make a fortune, your share will be indispensable. Now is the time for me to fulfill my promise."

"Promise? I didn't help you because of any promise. How could I have imagined that you would really make a fortune?"

"No matter what you thought at the time. I should be grateful to you and find a way to repay you, right?" Charles asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Albert also became serious. He frowned slightly, "Then how do you plan to cash it in? Are you going to reward me with a large amount of money? I can quite accept this..."

"If I give you a large amount of money, it won't take long for you to spend it all?" Charles asked, "So I decided. If you can accept it, I want to give you a large amount of stable income..."

"A large amount of stable income?" Albert was a little confused. "You mean to help me find a permanent position?"

"You are so smart! You saved me a lot of effort." Charles smiled and nodded, "Yes, I want to recruit you into my department and let you get paid here in name..."

"Look! My friend is really a considerate person!" Albert couldn't help but sigh again, "Then, what position do you want to give me?"

"Our ministry will recruit a large number of engineers recently and set up a special management department..." Charles lowered his voice, "When everything is done, you can be the deputy director and earn 20,000 yuan a year." With an income of four thousand francs and a lot of public subsidies, I can’t let you lose, my friend!”

After hearing what he said, Albert suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at him blankly.

Not because the number is too small, but because...

"Charle, are you mistaken? In my life, apart from sketching, I have never played with any drawings! I often fail in mathematics! How did you think of asking me to be the leader of a group of engineers? This is too... …This is outrageous…?”

Charles was still smiling and waited until Albert had finished speaking before he spoke.

"Albert, am I still unclear about your situation? Don't worry, it'll be no problem!" He patted his friend on the shoulder, "In the government, isn't it like this for 8,000 appointments out of 10,000? Don't worry. , I don’t intend to ask you to fiddle with numbers and drawings, I just want you to hang there and get a salary at a certain level..."

After hearing his words, Albert finally calmed down.

"So that's it, you told me earlier! I thought you were going to ask me to pick up the book again, and that would kill me..."

"It's good that you understand." Charles nodded, "Actually, I feel relieved with your attitude. What a layman fears most when he is the leader of an insider is being too smart to give orders. Since you are self-aware, that's fine. It’s done. As long as you keep silent and don’t cause trouble, no one will care about you! Just answer me in one sentence, do you want 24,000?”

"Yes! Of course I want it, who can't live with money? It's such a big sum!" Albert simply agreed as Charles expected. "Twenty-four thousand, enough to last me a long time!"

"If we do a good job, it won't be just 24,000." Charles suddenly lowered his voice, "This is just a position. Who says people can't work part-time? You can also If you get several such positions, then you won’t have to worry about anything..."

"Oh! Oh!" Albert looked at Charles in surprise, "That's great!"

"However, this requires you to work harder." Charles continued with a smile.

After hearing his words, Albert seemed to understand something. The surprise on his face gradually disappeared and was replaced by that rare calmness. As a good friend, Charles knew that this was a sign that he had become serious and planned to do anything.

"Then what do you need me to do? Charles, there is no need to hide it between us? Just say it openly? Do you want to get rid of someone? I will help you find a way."

The atmosphere became tense instantly.

"No, it doesn't have to be like this. It's not that serious." Charles waved his hands quickly and calmed the atmosphere again, "That's it. Please listen to me and explain..."

Then he continued, "You know, those who work on railways have to go from here to there and try to go as straight as possible. This has to do with the landowner. Generally speaking, we or the railway company will Find a way to give those people some compensation..." Then, he blinked suggestively, "But. You also know that there are always some people in this world who are greedy. They get compensation and want more. The result is that it’s not enough... Well, now it’s up to you and your friends to convince them.”

"So that's it..." Albert also understood and blinked, "That's easy. I have many friends who are good at persuasion. As long as the ministry is willing to spend money, it will be no problem... …”

The persuasion work they talk about is naturally based on physical education. Guns and bullets are supplemented.

"There's no need to make it too ugly," Ciel continued to teach him face-to-face instructions. "As long as our purpose is to build the country, we don't want to cause a big mess unless we have to."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Well, of course I know this." Albert nodded, "We just come out to help when necessary. It doesn't matter, since you gave me such a high salary, of course I will try my best to repay you a little."

"That's good if you think so." Charles smiled again, "As long as we all work together, what can't we do?"

"Is this why you came to me today?" After a moment of silence, he found that Charles seemed to have something to say, so Albert asked with some confusion.

"Albert, can you shout Long Live the Emperor to me?" Charles suddenly made a strange request.

"What do you mean?" Albert was puzzled.

But Charles was still staring at him, so he bravely shouted, "Long live the Emperor!"

"The voice is too low, and it needs some enthusiasm."

"Long live the Emperor!" Albert's voice increased.

"It's still not enough," Charles shook his head, "Don't worry, no one can hear you except me. This room is very soundproofed!"

Albert looked at Charles with an expression like "What kind of airplane are you doing!", but he couldn't resist Charles's sincerity and finally shouted loudly.

"Long live the Emperor!"

"Okay! Very good, that's it!" Ciel clapped his hands, expressing great satisfaction.

His voice was full of breath, and it seemed that his life of debauchery had not caused too much damage to his body.

"Charles, what are you thinking about?" Albert was a little dissatisfied.

"A thing that is beneficial to both you and me." Charles replied in a low voice, "Recently, we Bonapartists have established an organization to support Mr. President, called the 'December 10th Meeting.' I think, you You and your friends can all join in..."

"And shout Hail to Bonaparte?" Albert immediately responded, as if he had no good impression of Louis Bonaparte, "Just like that?"

"Isn't this bad?" Charles lightly shrugged, "Think about it, as long as you and your friends join this organization, then you will have more protection when trying to persuade those die-hard elements outside. Do you? The police also know that you are supporters of the president!”

After Charles gave some advice from Charlotte, he had already thought about everything. The only trouble now was to convince Albert. He believed that it would not be difficult. Albert was not Charlotte's kind of person. .

"My friend, think about it, twenty-four thousand a year, and more in the future. With so much money, can't you just say 'Long live'? I don't think you are the kind of person who doesn't know how to adapt..." "Ciel continued to be seductive.

Albert still frowned.

"Charles, do you really plan to follow Bonaparte wholeheartedly? Are you not the kind of person who doesn't know how to adapt?"

"Who knows the future, at least I have to do this now." Charles shook his head, "My friend, just tell me, are you willing?"

"Bah, do you need to say this?" Albert spat, "Long live the Emperor!" (To be continued...)