Flowers, Swords and France

It's hard to imagine Charles's surprise when he heard the general's words. ∷,

The smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and he stared straight at his uncle, as if he wanted to detect a hint of conspiracy or madness.

This proposal was so shocking that it almost made him subconsciously suspect that this person was actually an undercover agent sent by the opposition. In fact, he deliberately approached Charles in order to drive a wedge between Charles and the president.

Although he was vaguely worried about parting ways with Louis Bonaparte (what is certain in this era?), he had not seriously considered or planned it, at least not yet.

But now, inadvertently, the general suddenly put such a question in front of him, which made it almost difficult for him to stay calm.

After a while, Ciel regained his composure.

The general in front of him just looked at him calmly, without any dodge or fear. It was obvious that he was not engaging in any conspiracy or going crazy.

Then, he abandoned that ridiculous conjecture and went straight to the point.

"I guess I don't know what exactly you were thinking. Stop him?"

"Yes, that's what I mean, and please rest assured, I'm definitely not joking." In the face of Charles' questioning, General de Kervey's expression did not change at all, "Of course I hope nothing happens. I was promoted step by step in the army and finally retired with honor, but who can predict the world? I just want to say? , if one day the President and his uncle are once again on the verge of self-destruction, let's work together to find a way to stop him before he drags you and us all into the abyss of destruction - instead of waiting until it is too late. Late. So, you don’t have to be so alarmed...it’s just a precaution. After all, no one wants him to come true.”

Before Ciel could reply, he continued. "Besides, it's not necessarily bad for you, is it? There may be many people who worship the emperor and his self-proclaimed successor, but for those of us, the surname de Treville is at least better than Bo Nabal sounds much nicer.”

"My understanding is completely opposite to yours." Before the general could utter a more explicit provocation, Ciel stopped him. "Even just a few years ago, our name was unknown, at least neither my grandpa nor I was aware of it - and it was only after the president came back that we became prosperous. And then we reappeared in front of the world, Isn’t it?”

Maybe it's because of what Charles implied, "You never took care of us when our family was poor. Isn't it because we became rich that you came to curry favor with our family?" ’ The accusation was so sharp and true that the general’s face twitched slightly out of embarrassment, and he was speechless for a moment.

After silencing the general with this accusation, Charles finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I don’t know why, but this man has been encouraging himself to confront Louis Bonaparte, consciously or unconsciously.

Although he seems sincere. But there must be ulterior motives.

Even if there was no ulterior motive, at least the timing was wrong.

At least at this point in time, Treville was not qualified to compete with Bonaparte, but could only continue to be under his crown. Share its glory - the Shire are aware of this.

"General, I know what you think, and it is understandable. But... your proposal is too far away from reality for me. What is reality?" With a smile that was not affected in any way, Charles dodged the general's question without leaving a trace. "The reality is that we are surrounded by powerful enemies and may be shaken at any time! I don't know if our precarious regime will be able to maintain its current power in ten months. But you want to ask me to be your leader ten years from now, or even Being afraid of things that will never happen What's more, you are discussing in front of a subordinate how to deal with the leader that his family has followed for decades, and this leader has just planned to make his grandfather a marshal! It makes no sense to me and is full of danger.”

In front of Ciel's smile, the embarrassment on the general's face slowly disappeared. From Ciel's tone, he also understood that Ciel did not want to continue this topic.

"What you said makes sense." He sighed with regret, "We all have more important things to do now, and we don't have time to pay attention to the long-term future... But, Ciel, please Don’t worry, what I just said was definitely serious, and I didn’t mean to amuse you or make fun of you.”

"Whether it's true or not, we shouldn't continue talking about these words." Charles shrugged, and then made a gesture to indicate that the conversation was over, "Okay, I will go back to the camp to rest first, and you can continue to talk. walk."

Then, before the general could respond to him, Ciel left the general's side and forcibly said goodbye to this topic that was too heavy for him.

The general stayed where he was, watching Ciel leave.

Although Ciel's attitude towards him was not very friendly in the end, he felt very happy because of it. Because the answer Charles gave him was not a categorical rejection, nor was it an angry rebuke, but—even Charles himself didn’t notice—an ambiguous response that said, “The time has not come yet.”

This was in line with his previous guess.

He was convinced that this man had an extraordinary fascination with power, and that this fascination would certainly exceed his loyalty to the Bonaparte family - if such loyalty existed.

So, what will Louis Bonaparte do when he can only give him danger but not power?

The answer is not difficult to guess.

Of course, the reason why the general keeps saying that he wants to support the Treville family is not because he truly admires the family because of their aristocratic lineage. It is just to satisfy his personal ambition - to change his family halfway to follow Louis Bonaparte. He will just be regarded as a weighty but not particularly important soldier, and may be rewarded with some leftovers. But it's definitely not a feast; and if you cooperate with Treville from the beginning, the importance will be greatly enhanced. Will be entrusted with important tasks - just like a chariot and a horse.

Maybe it was Xiang, looking at the young man's retreating figure. General de Corvey thought calmly.

However, he really didn't think that he could accomplish everything with just a few words and let this young man immediately confront the president - if Charles was such a stupid person, he would turn his back on Charles immediately.

However, he only needs to quietly sow a seed. Game of Thrones has never been short of examples of allies suddenly turning into enemies, and no matter which side needs a helping hand.

Moreover, among those words, there was one sentence that he really meant seriously.

Among the surnames Bonaparte and de Treville. De Treville certainly sounded better to him.

……………………

Because of his busy schedule, Ciel did not stay in Sartori for long. After spending the night, he took a carriage back to Paris early the next morning, and then rushed all the way back to the War Department without stopping.

And when he returned to the ministry, he obviously found that the atmosphere in the ministry was very tense, and everyone looked very ugly, as if they had suffered a major blow.

He soon understood.

Apparently, word of the Congressional resolution intending to introduce military reforms had spread and had shaken up the entire War Department.

The National Assembly intended to create an army directly subordinate to the Assembly. It is tantamount to directly weakening the authority within the ministry. This is an evil behavior that all officials, whether they are supporters or opponents of Ciel, cannot tolerate.

Upon arriving at the ministry, Charles was invited to the minister's office by the minister's secretary.

And after arriving at the minister's office. Charles found that the minister was already waiting there.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

When he saw Charles, he didn't say much and just made a gesture to sit down. And Ciel also sat down in front of him without ceremony.

After serving as a minister for the past few months, General Saint-Arnault is a little fatter than he looked before. The skin color that was originally tanned in Algeria has now become much lighter. but. The vigor in his eyes has not lost half of it, it is still so intimidating.

"Charle, have you seen clearly along the way? These little guys are already scared." As soon as Charles sat down, the minister sneered maliciously, "Come on, now the news has spread throughout the ministry. ”

"I did see some disturbing emotions along the way," Ciel replied cautiously.

"Humph, these people just don't have the willpower, cowards!" the minister snorted angrily, obviously full of contempt for the ministry officials, "We haven't panicked yet, I really don't know why they are panicking!"

Yes, it would be even more troublesome for Shire and the minister if the officials only saw their authority weakened - because if this move came true, I am afraid that they would drive all the army opponents to Africa. Go' plan was completely declared bankrupt.

It's no wonder that the general became so furious when he first heard the news a few days ago and cursed for so long.

"They are indeed useless, but at least they will work together to support us this time." Ciel lightly shrugged, "Although it can only be said to be better than nothing."

"We would have been doomed if we relied on them! What can they do? They can just execute orders like a machine, lest they make themselves more responsible! We still have to rely on ourselves for everything, Ciel." The minister is still obviously a little annoyed now. , "However, I really didn't expect that they could come up with such a method. It's really impressive!"

"I have to say, this is indeed an amazing blow." Ciel nodded in recognition.

No matter how much he despises Parliament and the opposition parties, Charles cannot deny that there are indeed many smart people with very powerful minds in them, especially after decades of struggling in the political arena, they are even more cunning.

After they saw clearly the reality that the Ministry of War had been controlled by the enemy and that the administrative and personnel power of the army was about to fall into the hands of the Bonapartists, they simply thought of a way to start over and build an army on their own. It's the bottom line.

"Fortunately, they can only huddle in the parliament." After praising his enemies, Ciel sighed happily, "If we were only enemies with them, it would be really difficult to deal with them. Fortunately, he has So many colleagues who are either malicious or stupid are holding them back.”

"And we only have to be responsible for one person, which is great." The minister also sighed happily.

"Yes, the president will continue to give us firm support," Charles answered without hesitation, "One against one, maybe the president cannot say he will win, but one against seven hundred, the president only needs to stand there to win."

"That's a great quote, Charles!" After hearing Charles's sarcasm, the minister couldn't help laughing, "I really hope they can hear it with their own ears!"

"They will hear it with their own ears."

"Huh?"

"I mean, let's change the plan a little, General." Charles smiled slightly, "After you firmly reject this proposal, the parliament will definitely call you over for questioning... and at that time, let me go over to answer the questioning for you."

After a moment of hesitation, the minister nodded immediately.

"Okay, I'd love to, Charles, I'm too lazy to face those ghosts!" (To be continued..)