Flowers, Swords and France

In the cold wind of winter, Charles, surrounded by a group of army generals, delivered an attack on the National Assembly in arrogant words. His words were obviously full of contempt for parliament and party politics.

Although he is not as confident as he says, he must now pretend to be confident in front of everyone. Only in this way, others will not be shaken so easily.

Now, he was very pleased to find that among the officers present, most people agreed with his opinion. Even the fiercest attacks from most parliaments come from others.

However, it is also normal to despise parliament and members. It is the tradition of military officers in various countries, at least since the Roman era two thousand years ago.

After everyone made a real or fake attack, Ciel glanced around the group of officers in a relaxed and happy manner.

"Forget it, we really don't have much to say to those congressmen who are talking so much. Gentlemen, let's talk about something more pleasant now!" In order to whet their appetite, Charles deliberately prolonged his tone. , "I believe everyone will be very interested."

Several officers looked at each other, and then looked at Charles inquiringly, wanting him to tell what they were trying to get behind.

Charles just smiled and nodded, and then made a gesture to Captain Rochar.

Captain Rochar understood and at this time also smiled and spoke to the others.

~∝,..

"Gentlemen, Mr. Treville has given our regiment some good things recently..." Colonel Rochar's ability to tell the truth is no less than Charles. "I can guarantee that you will all be surprised, just like me before."

Maybe it was because he was trying hard to express himself in front of Ciel. The expression of the group leader was extremely exaggerated, this short and fat man. He had a big beard and a red face. If it weren't for this military uniform, he would look like a roadside vendor instead of an officer. Charles spent a lot of effort not to laugh under the vivid performance of the regiment leader.

"Oh? What is it?" Just as the leader expected, others asked one after another, obviously their curiosity was completely aroused.

"To be precise, it is a weapon..." Charles slowly raised his hand and made a very powerful gesture. "It is an epoch-making weapon. It can allow you to immediately defeat all imaginary enemies on the European continent at the moment. advantages.”

After Charles said these words, it immediately caused a commotion among the group of officers, but doubtful looks flashed in many people's eyes, obviously not believing in such exaggerated words from Charles.

Charles stopped explaining and just looked at Colonel Rochar with a smile. "Sir, are your men ready?"

"We have been preparing since we received your letter yesterday, and of course we are ready now, sir." Lieutenant Colonel Rochar replied diligently. “You can verify the effect of our preparation right away.”

"Oh? Let's start." Ciel nodded.

"Okay, sir."

The colonel, who had received everyone's attention, left Charles almost happily, and then waved to Lucien, who had been waiting for orders with his soldiers in the distance.

Then. Lucien immediately walked to the side of the regiment leader, and then the two officers walked back together.

"Let me introduce to you, this is Major Leflair." After walking over, the regiment leader immediately stretched out his hand to introduce Lucien to everyone. "He is one of my battalion commanders, and he will be responsible for demonstrating this new equipment to everyone today..."

His tone was very gentle. It was not like the usual attitude of senior officers towards their subordinates, which made the other officers a little strange, but their strangeness was quickly dispelled by Charles' explanation.

"Yes, this Major Leflair is my good friend and has always helped me a lot." Charles added calmly next to him, "When my grandfather led the army to Italy, He also served as my grandfather's adjutant... His performance was very outstanding, and my grandfather even praised him in front of me several times! "

After Ciel's explanation, everyone suddenly realized that he was a close person of the Treville family and his future prospects were bound to be unlimited. They could not take him lightly just because of his low military rank. So they immediately put aside their senior officer's reserve and greeted the major.

At this moment, Lucien felt an unspeakable excitement in his heart. He knew that after such an introduction, these colonels and even generals would no longer regard him as just an insignificant person.

When he was serving in Africa, a regiment commander could order him around, and a general could even decide a person's life or death at will... But here, the generals were attentive to him and patted him on the shoulder. Greet him cordially.

Why is all this happening? Of course he knew why.

He glanced at Charles gratefully and conveyed all his gratitude. Then he suppressed the joy and excitement in his heart, replied to these senior officers one by one, and then spoke to these senior officers in as calm a tone as possible. said the group of officers.

"I have been ordered to show you a new weapon that can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of our army. Please come with me. I believe that your trip will be worthwhile."

Then, he saluted the officers again, turned around and walked towards his soldiers who were ready for action at a vigorous pace.

He knew that because of Charles's success, he got the opportunity to demonstrate this epoch-making weapon for the first time. Today, he, his troops, and even the demonstration itself will definitely leave a mark on the military history of this country. of a sum.

While walking along the way, he remembered what Albert said to him that day.

Do you want to be loyal to an emperor, or to a friend who treats you so sincerely?

He still could only give himself the same answer.

……………………

In the cold wind of winter, a group of soldiers stood stiffly in the open space, holding their guns flat and aiming at a distant target. The cold wind howled in front of them, making their faces hurt, but they didn't notice it at all. Just stare straight ahead. And around them, there was a group of senior officers in rich clothes and various medals. is watching them.

"Fire!"

Amidst the hoarse orders given by the officers, gunshots continued to sound. The target was hit again and again, causing waves of commotion among the other officers.

This commotion soon turned into a roar mixed with great surprise.

"It's actually so far?"

"Sir, what kind of weapon is this and how can it be so accurate?"

"Can you show it to me?"

These people's surprise was not feigned.

Maybe at the beginning, in order to cheer up Ciel, they all looked interested, but after observing for longer and longer, they saw the actual display of this weapon. Their casual perfunctoryness quickly turned into genuine interest.

Because this weapon is indeed so superior that as long as you observe it carefully for a few minutes, you can find its unparalleled superiority over the old standard rifle.

At a much longer range than ordinary rifles, this kind of rifle can actually hit the target with a very high hit rate, and it doesn't seem to have any problems such as inconvenience to carry. What does this mean?

Although there may be some moral flaws, after all, they are all people who have served in the military for many years. They are definitely no strangers to the military, especially the equipment of soldiers.

Amid the urging and excitement of the officers, Charles remained calm. Just smile and accept them.

"Gentlemen, I plan to display this new weapon in front of the president and the entire military in a future military parade. Today I just let everyone see it in advance..." Intentionally or unintentionally, I revealed my feelings for these people. In the midst of his attention, Charles changed the subject, "So. I would like to ask you all not to let the news leak. Otherwise, I will be embarrassed in front of the president..."

After hearing Ciel's joke, everyone laughed.

"Of course. None of us will spoil the president's interest!" General Deckerville quickly replied with a smile, "But Mr. Treville, I believe you will not refuse after whetting our appetite. Let’s see it with our own eyes again? I feel like I can’t contain my curiosity anymore.”

"Oh, well, since you said so, then I can't really violate your wishes." Charles nodded in agreement, "" and then reached out to wave Lucien. "Major Leflair, you can stop the drill now and give these weapons to everyone to see."

Lucien nodded immediately, then stretched out his hand and made a gesture.

After his officers saw the battalion commander making a stop gesture, they immediately shouted and ordered the soldiers to stop the drill and then regroup.

Then, Charles led the group of officers to the group of soldiers.

Charles comforted the soldiers with kind words and praised their performance, while several other officers directly took the weapons from the soldiers' hands and looked at them carefully.

"It looks ordinary. There is not much change in appearance. How can it have such a different effect?" General Dekelwe muttered to himself as he carefully inspected this kind of gun, "Oh, it turns out that it is in Is there a rifling carved into the barrel? No wonder the accuracy of the bullet has improved so much, but how did you solve the problem of bullet jamming? "

"In order to solve the problem of bullet jamming, this rifle uses a new type of bullet." Lucien explained patiently next to the general, then took the special bullet for this gun from another soldier and handed it to him. When he arrived in front of the general, he said, "Look, this kind of bullet can be fired before it is fired." It can be easily put into the barrel, but when fired, the tail end of the bullet will expand after being heated, causing the bullet to get stuck in the rifling, so that it actually rotates forward after flying out of the barrel. Hitting the target greatly improves its accuracy.”

"Oh? Is that so?" The general opened his eyes wide, as if he understood something, and then he reached out and took the bullet from Lucien's hand, "Then can I try?"

"As you wish, sir."

General Dekelwe picked up the gun wordlessly. At this time, his expression was very serious, and he seemed to be completely addicted to this new weapon.

After putting the bullet into the barrel and tightening it with a purge, he lifted the gun flat.

"Oh, it feels pretty good." He smiled and said to his colleagues before shooting. "I dare say I will definitely get a good result..."

Then he said no more. He closed one eye and looked forward.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Bang!"

After firing, the general cocked the rifle in his hand. Then he looked at the target in the distance through the smoke.

"I actually hit it!" He exclaimed, and then looked at the gun in his hand in disbelief. "This is really amazing. I must let all my troops use this weapon! Major, what model is this weapon? Which troops are now equipped with it? I must also apply for it for my troops and equip it quickly. Come to us, we need it more than the troops in the capital!"

Under his eager gaze, Lucien did not answer, but just turned to look at Charles.

Following his appearance, the general's attention also turned to Ciel. "Char, is this...?"

"Sir, you are right. This kind of gun is not the standard equipment of the army. I just got some through special channels." Charles still had that calm smile on his face, "Of course, this It's just temporary. I won't be using it for long. Your troops and other people's troops can use this weapon. As for the name... its name is ordinary, it's called Giverny 1850."

The name "Giverny 1850" did not have much impact on the general. What really interests him is when his troops can get this weapon.

"That's great, Ciel!" He looked at Ciel very happily, "As long as you can help with this. I think the whole army will be grateful to you."

"We are just serving the country, and we don't expect any gratitude." Charles replied calmly.

Not waiting for anyone else to speak. He immediately made another request of his. "So, everyone. If you are really serious, please just write a petition and tell everything you have seen so that the president can hear your voice, so that I can push forward as soon as possible so that the strength of our military can be improved as soon as possible. Go to the next level.”

Without any hesitation or excuse, these officers quickly wrote the petition as requested by Charles.

With secret joy in his heart, Charles accepted these petitions with a calm expression. With these things, he could pass the ministers more legitimately and kick away all those who displeased him.

What a pleasure this would be.

……………………

After finishing the busy activities during the day, a somewhat tired Charles chose to take a walk on the edge of the parade ground.

At this time, he was no longer among the stars, and there was only General Dekelwe beside him.

The two of them never spoke, just walking silently among the grass and woods, breathing the cool air of the countryside.

It was getting close to dusk, the soldiers had returned to camp, and the pedestrians on the road had long since disappeared. The sky and the earth were vast, leaving only the vast wilderness.

However, although it was a spectacular sight, Ciel was unaware of it. Even during a rare walk, he was always thinking about the affairs he had to deal with and had no time to appreciate the beauty of nature.

"Charle, actually this kind of gun was made by your people, right?" After an unknown amount of time, General Deckerwe suddenly asked Charles, "And, I guess, you ran into some trouble before. , so it hasn’t entered the army yet?”

Ciel didn't answer, just nodded slightly.

"I knew it, these people have always been like this!" The general sneered, obviously not very respectful to the officials in the Army Department, "It will be really troublesome for you to deal with them, they are all ghosts He’s very clever and extremely slick!”

"No doubt they are all such people, but I think we do have a way to tame them." Ciel replied calmly, "If we can't tame them, at least we can whip them and make these foxes miserable."

"Oh, what a heroic answer!" The general laughed, "Charles, you are much more impressive than your father. You know... he is a very talented artist, not a fighter. "

"I have never been on the battlefield."

"The spirit of a fighter is not indifferent to the battlefield. As long as you have the determination to get things done, everyone can become a fighter." The general replied leisurely, and then he smiled again, "This time It's not a compliment, Ciel."

"Then, thank you for the compliment."

In the half-light, the general studied Charles's face.

"Ah, what a pity. If there had been no revolution, you would probably have been the prime minister!" The general suddenly sighed, "It's a pity that the revolution ruined everything. Both of our families had to flee first and then rebuild their own families. everything."

"As long as we live, we have the opportunity to take everything, it doesn't depend on the time."

"Yes, we individually have a chance," the general's tone was still a little strange, "but we as a whole are finished, we have to follow Napoleon's flag and pretend to be representatives of the country! We, the descendants of the nobility, actually became the revolution What a huge joke, the revolution has destroyed our class, Charles."

"I totally agree with that."

Ciel raised his head and looked into the distance.

If you ask what revolution is, the answer is actually surprisingly simple.

Apart from slogans such as freedom and human rights, revolution has its own substance everywhere.

In America, it was the colonial elites who broke free from the restrictions of the mother country and took charge of the country alone; in China, it was the realization of land public ownership and the accumulation of funds for industrialization on the basis of land public ownership; in France, its essence was the abolition of the tax-free privileges of the nobility and the abolition of the primogeniture system.

Twenty years of bloody storms, a republic appeared and disappeared, an empire rose and fell, and only these two things were done, and only these two things were needed to make the whole country completely changed.

If the nobility is not accompanied by wealth and power, then it is just a signboard with an empty title. After the abolition of tax-free privileges, almost every noble landlord who was not good at business and accustomed to squandering would slide into the abyss of bankruptcy; and after the abolition of the primogeniture system, the wealth of the nobles would be diluted within a few generations, and finally every family could not afford to maintain the aristocratic standard of life.

The combination of these two actually destroyed the aristocracy itself.

The textbooks say that "the bourgeoisie replaces the aristocracy" does not mean that the aristocracy will be killed cleanly with a guillotine, but that the bourgeoisie will surpass or even replace the aristocracy in wealth and finally become the real owners of the entire country.

The revolution has subsided and the Napoleonic Empire has been destroyed, but the achievements of the revolution have been preserved and no one dares to touch it anymore. Even the Bourbon royal family who returned to the country to restore the throne could not do this and could only lament the good old days. These kings, princes and dukes who sat on the throne could only admit the reality, greet the victors of the revolutionary era with a smile, compliment their success, envy their wealth, and be careful not to offend them.

What the restoration dynasty could not do, the Second Empire could not do even more, and it was absolutely not interested in doing it.

Louis Bonaparte could have conferred countless princes and dukes, but he could not rebuild the complete feudal aristocratic rule in France. The revolution could be delayed and suppressed in the short term, but it was difficult to reverse. Because they knew this reality, even though they were nobles, Charles and General De Kervi never thought of restoring all this.

"But we can still transform the whole country, right?" He suddenly smiled at the general. (To be continued...)