Flowers, Swords and France

"Long live the Emperor!" "Long live the Empire!"

Waves of cheers echoed throughout the restaurant. Everyone looked excited, and some even had tears in their eyes.

Seemingly because he saw the "military morale available", Joseph Bonaparte nodded slightly in approval.

After people cheered for a while, he gently raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet for the time being. Then his voice gradually dropped, and everyone looked at him again and waited for the next step.

"I won't say any more polite words. Everyone is very busy and time is limited. Moreover, the longer we stay together, the greater the risk." His voice was steady and gentle, but not lacking in magnanimity. "So, I will just pick up some important matters. Please listen to me carefully first, okay?"

Although he used a questioning tone, it was obvious that no one would be boring enough to stand up and object. Moreover, his words were indeed very reasonable, so no one raised objections.

"Okay." After seeing that no one said anything, Joseph Bonaparte continued, "First of all, I want to tell you some good news."

Everyone's eyes were full of inquiry.

"I sailed over from England after saying goodbye to my cousin," he whispered.

Ciel frowned.

Since his escape from prison in May 1846, Louis Bonaparte had been living in England. It was not surprising that he and his leader said goodbye in England. But why did he specifically say that?

Could it be...?

He wasn't the only one to think of that.

"In other words, the British have acquiesced to a revolution in France that would remove Louis Philippe from power?" one participant asked softly.

"Yes, the British see the situation in France very clearly now. They understand that the July Dynasty will not last long..." Joseph explained softly, "They have no intention of interfering in this matter. As long as France does not No longer will it be controlled by the Jacobins and wreak havoc on Europe as it was in the past. OK... It is natural that my brother can make such a guarantee to Britain. He promised that France would always be on good terms with Britain as long as he came to power, and the British government also accepted his guarantee. So when I came from England, I got the tacit approval of the Queen..."

"Great!" Many people breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, when everyone was planning big events before, they always had a vague worry:

What if the Bonapartists were once again in power in France and the previously frightened European powers got together and intervened forcefully?

Continue to lead France to war with the entire Europe? It is obviously impossible, there is no longer a Napoleon emperor, and the French people will not do it.

Now that the leader of the organization has made Britain acquiesce to the Bonapartist actions, everyone is completely relieved.

As long as the UK does not intervene, other countries will have much less confidence to intervene - or it can be said that they will not intervene at all, and they will not be afraid even if they do.

This is obviously great news. Although the United Kingdom will definitely not take the initiative to help, as long as it does not bring people to do bad things, it is already great news.

Only Ciel frowned slightly again, but he hid it well.

Regardless of whether Louis Bonaparte went back on his word on other issues, he adhered to the creed of "being on good terms with Britain" throughout his life. That kind of ingratiation and vague fear of Britain ran through the Second Empire of Napoleon III.

However, God knows how much energy and price he has spent in recent years to convince Britain that a nephew of Napoleon would not oppose Britain!

However, as long as the final goal can be achieved, it is acceptable to spend a certain price.

"Britain has now agreed that if the July Monarchy falls and my brother comes to power, it will continue to maintain its friendly policy towards France." Joseph continued, and then smiled. "So, gentlemen, don't worry anymore, just go ahead and do it!"

As expected, everyone was overjoyed after hearing the news.

Oh, no, there is another person who barely expresses anything, but looks thoughtful. His face looked younger than he expected.

He thought for a moment, and then remembered this person's name. It was definitely correct - at this level of the organization, there was only one person of this age.

Very nice, calm and unmoved.

As if he found someone staring at him, the young man raised his head and looked at Joseph,

Joseph nodded slightly, continued to smile, and then turned to look at the others.

"Well everyone, I have now informed you of the important news I am bringing here. Do you have any comments? If it is important enough, I can take it back to my brother for discussion."

These people here are all outstanding members of the Bonapartist Party, time-tested warriors of Bonapartism. They have not abandoned the Bonaparte family during so many years of darkness, which shows that their loyalty to the Bonaparte family is unquestionable. Doubtful. Moreover, their ability has been fully demonstrated by "the two dynasties can still survive many years after purges", which is also beyond doubt.

Therefore, they will definitely be the key assistants and pillars for the Bonaparte family to rule France in the future - if such a day comes - and their opinions must be listened to and considered on major issues.

This is one of the important reasons why he specially participated in this rally.

The restaurant fell into a brief silence.

Several attendees looked at each other, and then one of them spoke. "Sir, we have seriously considered what we should do after the overthrow of Louis-Philippe..."

"Very good!" Joseph praised, "Overthrowing the July Dynasty is only the first step in our long march. I am very happy that everyone knows this and is still considering the actions after that. So, sir, are you What's the plan?"

"After the revolution, no matter what form of government is adopted, we must demand a popular election to elect political leaders." The man expressed his opinion, "We must insist on this to the death and must not waver. Otherwise, press We will get nowhere with the current system.”

The electoral system in France at this time was based on the constitution promulgated in 18 years. Only those who paid more than 300 francs in direct taxes had the right to vote in parliamentary elections, and only those who paid more than 1,000 francs in direct taxes had the right to stand for election - so he actually excluded the lower class civilians. Regardless of any possible surname participating in the election of members, the French Parliament does not represent the interests of the majority of the people of France.

Of course, in reality, the Bonapartists do not care whether the majority of the French people have equal voting rights, but they will calculate the pros and cons:

Among the existing voters, that is, among the property-owning classes, they obviously prefer to maintain the status quo and have no favorable impression of the Bonapartists. However, among the lower-class workers and peasants, Emperor Napoleon still represents an era and has With great prestige.

If after the revolution is successful, new political leaders are elected only among these property-owning classes with the right to vote, then the Bonapartists will undoubtedly lose, so even if the revolution succeeds, it will be meaningless to the Bonapartists.

Therefore, no matter what, Louis Bonaparte needs to be brought to power through a nationwide election.

No matter how you suppress the people in the future, it will all happen after you come to power. Now in order to come to power, you must first play a role as a republican.

This is obvious logic, almost impeccable.

So Joseph nodded slightly after thinking briefly. "Okay, I will convey it to him." Then he looked at the others, "Do you have any other comments?"

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

Ciel spoke and expressed his proposal.

"I think we should temporarily relax the current dynasty's restrictions on the hereditary estate of the eldest son..."

In the imperial era, Napoleon stipulated in the Civil Code that after a person dies, his property will be divided equally among all children and abolished primogeniture. However, in order to gain the support and favor of the nobles, he opened a back door for them: he It stipulates that nobles can register their territories as hereditary estates for the eldest son, which will be inherited by the eldest son of the family in each generation and will not be included in the division of inheritance. In this way, the nobles can try to avoid dividing up the family property from generation to generation and causing the family to decline.

This decree was implemented and implemented after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty by the nobles. However, in the era of the July Monarchy, in order to crack down on the old nobles who supported the orthodoxy, the government issued a decree prohibiting the registration and establishment of any new institutions starting from 1835. The hereditary estate of the eldest son, and the old ones will also be automatically abolished after a certain period of time.

Ciel's proposal is to temporarily relax this restriction after seizing power.

After hearing Ciel's proposal, Joseph looked at Ciel, and Ciel looked back at him without hesitation.

"Why such a proposal? Because of your noble birth? Mr. Treville?"

Ciel wasn't surprised by the question, it was expected, and he wasn't surprised that the other person knew his name. Still looking at the other person, he answered calmly.

"No, this is a strategic consideration. Even if a dynasty and a king are overthrown, most of our enemies will still exist. We need to win over some allies, at least to prevent them from falling to our enemies. And the July Dynasty is against the old aristocracy. The blow left these people with lingering resentment. As long as we show some respect, they will support us and they will have enough to repay us.”

After a pause, he continued, "Besides, this is just a strategy. If there is a need one day, we can start fighting again. At the same time, personally, I feel that in this era, I still think that I It is simply foolish to limit one's vision to fields and manors...but this does not prevent me from proposing this."

Joseph listened carefully to Ciel's explanation, and then thought about it for a while.

After a moment, he smiled and nodded to Ciel.

"Okay, I will also convey this suggestion to my brother." Then he asked, "Does anyone have any other suggestions?"

"I suggest..."

Then several people put forward their own suggestions, some of which Joseph agreed to convey, and some of which he rejected on the spot. The scene was both warm and orderly.

Until the end, no one spoke anymore.

"No one has any other suggestions?" Joseph looked around at everyone.

Everyone shook their heads slightly.

"Then let's not waste time. Let's have a drink, shall we?" Joseph raised the wine glass in front of his seat.

"Cheers!" Everyone raised their glasses and drank.

After finishing the drink, Joseph gave Karion a wink.

Then Karion stood up. "Then, I declare that today's meeting is over! I wish everyone good luck!"

Everyone greeted each other and then left.

When Ciel was about to leave, he suddenly felt the corner of his clothes being pulled.

He turned around and saw that it was Carrion, and Joseph was still sitting in his seat, smiling and nodding to him.

Do you want me to talk alone for a while? Charles understood.

Very good, I wish for it.