Flowers, Swords and France

When Charles's letter was sent directly to the Elysée Palace by Clement, Louis Bonaparte did not even wait until the next day and directly summoned Charles that afternoon.

After receiving his summons, Charles did not dare to waste time. He drove directly to the Elysée Palace, and then led his attendants to a small room, where he waited for Bonaparte's arrival.

This room is located in a very remote location and is very quiet. The thick walls and curtains cut off the light from the outside and all the sounds inside. It is obvious that this is a place reserved for the President to have private meetings with important people.

He did not wait long before the door opened and Louis Bonaparte walked in quickly.

As soon as he saw Louis Bonaparte, Charles stood up quickly, but Louis Bonaparte waved his hand to signal him to be polite, and then he sat down opposite Charles.

Although Louis Bonaparte's face was still very calm, the slight frown still showed the vague solemnity in his heart. After seeing his mood, Charles quickly chose to remain silent, so at the beginning For several minutes, the entire room fell into silence, and the atmosphere was thick and depressing.

After a while, Louis Bonaparte finally spoke first.

"It's faster than expected."

After defeating other opposition groups in the parliament, the struggle between the Party of Order and the Bonapartists was bound to come sooner or later, but it was somewhat admirable that it came so quickly and directly.

"We will eventually reach this point." Charles replied in a low voice, "If we don't exclude them, how can we monopolize power? They will naturally think the same way."

"Yes, you are right, Charles. You are the first person to report to me today. I estimate that more people will report to me soon, but I am afraid that some people will never report. ." His tone was very cold, but there was a hint of imperceptible cruelty in it, "But it doesn't matter, at least the worst has not happened yet."

Ciel nodded in agreement.

M. Thiers swaggered over to instigate Charles to rebel. Apart from the fact that he was very sure that Charles would betray Bonaparte for his own benefit, he was obviously confident. There was no fear that Charles would not agree to his solicitation and come over to inform Louis Bonaparte.

Of course, under the current situation, his judgment cannot be said to be wrong. At least for now, Louis Bonaparte and his followers cannot do anything to him. Instead, they have to worry about whether he will do something. Things come up. .

"We will remove these obstacles," he said firmly.

"Then how do you think we should remove these blocking stones?" Louis Bonaparte seemed to ask casually.

"This... this is something you are responsible for deciding. I am just carrying out your will with enthusiasm that is not afraid of anything." Charles replied.

"Pfft hahahaha..." Louis Bonaparte laughed. After laughing for a while, he shook his head slightly. "Char, it's time now. There's no need for us to talk nonsense anymore. If you have anything on your mind, just tell me directly."

"This is indeed what I say from the bottom of my heart," Ciel also smiled coquettishly. Then he continued cautiously, "However, I also have some personal opinions."

"Say it."

"There is no doubt that the Party of Order now has an absolute advantage in Parliament. If we fight with them in Parliament, there is no chance of winning." Charles said calmly, knowing that Louis Bonaparte would not refuse to accept this. "Fortunately, in the constitution of the Republic, the limits of the president's powers are not defined in detail. We can find many places to expand your influence. Only by slowly accumulating influence can you be able to compete with the president." They contend."

Speaking of which, this is indeed one of the shortcomings of the constitutional system of the Second Republic. It was also the basis for Louis Bonaparte to wield power everywhere and finally usurp the throne. But this was actually intentional: at the end of 1848, the Party of Order and other monarchists who took control of the Constituent Assembly deliberately remained vague on this issue. They left this backdoor to allow the Orleans royal family to return to France in a calm moment after escaping the initial revolutionary storm. Run for president first and then restore the throne, as Louis Bonaparte did—and perhaps much easier than he did.

In other words, after the proletariat and the republicans were expelled from the parliament of the republic, the death of the republic was already destined. Even if Louis Bonaparte did not usurp power, it would be the restoration of the royal family of Orleans.

In the absence of clear definition of powers, the scope of a president's power is, to put it bluntly, based on prestige. A president with prestige can be strong, but a president without prestige can't accomplish anything.

"To gain prestige, you're right." Louis Bonaparte raised his eyebrows. Of course he understood what Charles meant. "Now we don't have as many seats as they do, nor do we have as much money as they do." , then we can only gain prestige now..."

He raised his head and looked at Charles, "The Italian expedition can help me gain prestige, but it is not enough. This war is fought by the Party of Order and me, and people will not regard it as my alone achievement. Therefore, we have to gain prestige elsewhere..."

"You are absolutely right." Charles echoed him, "And gaining prestige is not something that can be done in just one or two sentences. I think it is necessary for you to leave Paris more often, travel around, and let the people See yourself in person and make your people feel that you care about their sufferings, so that you can increase your prestige. If you only stay in Paris, you will always be a lonely person surrounded by opposition."

Charles's blunt advice made Louis Bonaparte fall into deep thought again.

"Okay, that's a good idea." After a moment, Louis Bonaparte waved his hand and made up his mind. "I will find a way to arrange it, and soon I will go around the country to let people see me."

Of course, Ciel knew that he would accept this idea. In fact, this was indeed what he was trying to do in history.

"When people see how much better you are than those mediocre congressmen, it's self-evident what choice they will make." He replied humbly.

"You are always so eloquent." The future Emperor Napoleon chuckled and glanced at Charles.

However, his smile was immediately replaced by calmness, "Char, what I told you last time. How are you preparing?"

"If you are referring to the establishment of a supporter organization loyal to you, I must say that it went very smoothly..." Charles bowed his head humbly, "There are many people who are very willing to fight for the re-emergence of the Bonaparte family. Contributing more than I thought possible.”

"Really? That's very good." Louis Bonaparte's face flashed with joy, "Several other people I have entrusted with this matter are doing well now. It seems that it won't be long before we can We can set up a supporter organization. As for the name..." He pondered for a while and finally gave the Ciel preview. The expected answer was, "Let's call it the December 10th Meeting. You have to make preparations as soon as possible to get this organization started as soon as possible. Then when I go out for inspection, let these people go with me, but don't show off. I have to blend in with the crowd so that I can be protected to the greatest extent.”

He didn't say it explicitly, but it was clearly implied: outside of protecting safety. The biggest role of these people is to play drums and arouse the atmosphere of the masses. People have a herd mentality, and the more people there are, the more so. In a large gathering, as long as a small number of people shout "Long live the President", "Long live the Bonaparte family!", "Long live the Emperor!" and so on. People would shout the slogan involuntarily, and some people would even be filled with tears and think it was a heartfelt expression. Of course, Louis Bonaparte was very familiar with this mass psychological drama.

For reasons that people can understand, Louis Bonaparte was worried that he did not have enough prestige among the French people. Not only would he not be able to win people's cheers, but he would fall into the embarrassing situation of being left out because there were so few responders. Therefore, it is not surprising that he wants to let some party members sneak into the masses to wave the flag and shout.

"I will definitely try my best to do it." Ciel nodded.

"I know that you have always been a very reliable person, Charles." Louis Bonaparte showed great satisfaction on his face, "I will never forget the hard work you put in for me."

Before Charles could refuse, Louis Bonaparte continued to ask, "I heard that you will be going out on inspection in a few days?"

"Yes, I plan to go to the Normandy region along the way. I will rest for a few days, inspect the railway construction work along the way, and make some preparations for the subsequent branch line construction." Charles replied respectfully.

"Well, you have been working so hard these days, why not go to the countryside to relax." Louis Bonaparte smiled and nodded, "Also, you can stop by to take a look at your investment. When it is completed, you You can probably make a fortune, right?”

Although his words were gentle and gentle, they were like a thunder in Charles's heart.

How did he know? There was a little cold sweat on Ciel's forehead, but he still managed to remain calm.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

No, this kind of thing is not a secret after all. Even if he knew it, it would not be surprising, Ciel replied in his heart.

So why would he say it? Charles had some doubts in his heart.

However, time was running out, so he immediately answered as naturally as possible, "Yes, I do have this plan..."

It would be foolish to deny it at this time.

"Don't be so nervous, Charles." Louis Bonaparte shook his head slightly, "You have the vision to invest in industry. This is a good thing. What is there to be ashamed of? Just do it, don't be afraid of anything. We are responsible for everything. Your family has served us for so many years, why can’t we still give you this favor?”

After hearing his comfort, Charles finally relaxed a little.

Yes, he chose to say this when there were only two of us. He had no intention of pursuing it in the first place, right? To put it bluntly, he just wanted to give me a small kick to remind me not to forget that there is someone above me who is constantly watching me.

As for money... the subsequent history of the Second Empire has proven that Louis Bonaparte was very tolerant of his favorite servants who used their power to make money.

"Charles, I have a question I'm curious about." Louis-Bonaparte suddenly asked again, "Why did you make the decision so quickly? I'm at a disadvantage now, why did you tell me directly that someone is trying to recruit you? Have you never been tempted?"

I'm afraid this question is the one he wants to ask the most.

For this question, Charles certainly won't answer "Because I'm a time traveler, I know you will win the final victory, so I bet on you", he has already thought of another answer.

"Loyalty to the Bonaparte family is the creed that three generations of our family have upheld." Charles answered solemnly, "My grandfather never forgot the favor that His Majesty the Emperor bestowed on my family, so I will not forget it either. I will not betray this creed because of a little temptation from Thiers or anyone else. As I told you in my letter, I have made it clear to Mr. Thiers that I will stand together with the Bonaparte family. If fate really bestows you with misfortune and God pushes you away from the throne that originally belonged to you, I will continue to support the Bonaparte family as I did in the past. Yes Your family will rule this country. Apart from this, I will not shamelessly serve any other family..."

"This is really a loyalty that we can hardly repay!" Even a man like Louis Bonaparte couldn't help but flash a strange color after hearing this declaration of loyalty - this kind of loyalty is completely impossible for him to do, and it is rarely seen even among his party members. "But don't worry, no matter how difficult it is to repay, we will repay it little by little. Corsicans have no habit of mistreating friends."

Although he has never been to Corsica in his life.

"In addition, there is another reason." Charles suddenly added.

"Hmm?"

"We have the same ideas, sir. You can understand my ideas, and I can understand yours. I don't see anyone in the Orleans or Bourbon family who can do this. You can represent the new era if you want..." Charles said with a little reservation, but Louis Bonaparte certainly couldn't hear it.

"Concept! So that's it!" Louis-Bonaparte smiled again, "Then, let's continue to work together. Charles, as you said, we will definitely open up a new era."

ps:

"Yes, your family will rule this country, and I will not shamelessly serve any other family..."

To a certain extent, Charles is not speaking against his will, because after the Bonaparte family, he will no longer have to serve anyone...

In addition, I am asking for monthly tickets, recommendations, and rewards. It seems that it is really too quiet recently...