Flowers, Swords and France

The Palais Bourbon on the left bank of the Seine has been the seat of the French National Assembly (House of Representatives) since 1830 and still is today.

When Louis XIV, the domineering Sun King, and Louise, Duchess of Bourbon, who was born to his mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, built this building, I am afraid I could never have imagined that this would one day be the place where the French bury Bourbon. The symbolic place of royal government.

At this moment, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of France, the Duke of Dalmatia, was standing on the podium in the middle of the lecture hall, expressionlessly facing the gazes coming from the seats on both sides. These gazes may be inquiring, malicious, or hateful, but he remains unmoved at all. Nearly eighty years of life, and the bloody first half of his life, have long since left him with no violent emotional fluctuations.

What was the scene in front of him compared to the excited cheers of the people in front of the guillotine, compared to the magnificent and heroic Battle of Jena, and compared to the expedition to Spain led by him?

Guns and swords, blood and fire, fluttering sabers, whistling cannonballs, and spectacular marches, scenes passed in front of the Prime Minister.

When a person begins to recall his life endlessly, does it mean that he has entered his final twilight years?

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you have anything to explain about the audit of the Ministry of Finance?" An inappropriate question interrupted the Prime Minister's sudden nostalgia for his old life.

Unpleasant, very unpleasant.

The Prime Minister reorganized his thoughts, then raised his head slightly and stared back at the malicious gaze.

"The Ministry of Finance conducted a detailed review of the expenditures for the year 1842 and found many problems with the Army's military expenditures, which were seriously inconsistent with the expenditure items listed in the previous budget. Then..." It seems that he was intimidated by the Prime Minister's momentum. The voice over there was much lower, but he still spoke fluently. "As the Minister of War at the time, do you have anything to explain?"

Very good, as expected, he has been disrupted, and now he hastily jumped out to attack.

A cannonball was thrown, but it was not powerful enough. However, he was able to win over his finance minister, which is a bit surprising. Sure enough, he has made some progress over the years.

"I don't know what the problem is," the Prime Minister replied evenly. "Our expenditures are strictly in accordance with the budget."

"Your answer did not answer my question." The congressman continued to ask, "In fact, from what I have learned so far, this problem is very serious, and it is very likely that you are also involved."

The eyes focused on the old man again, but the old man who became the center of attention remained surprisingly calm in the face of such a clear challenge.

"This is a clear slur, sir, and I think you have more important things to do than pursue this baseless and vicious attack."

"But..." The congressman seemed to be planning to say something else.

"Do you have any concrete evidence?" the Prime Minister interrupted him directly.

The meeting hall fell into commotion.

"Then can we organize a committee to conduct a special investigation on this matter?" Another person seemed to be trying to smooth things over. He asked softly, "We will summon witnesses if necessary, and no one named will refuse to attend. A detailed audit of the Army's expenditure accounts at that time must also be carried out."

It seems to be a reconciliation, but in fact, the policy of "requiring investigation" has been confirmed.

The Prime Minister frowned slightly. It seems that he attracted a lot of people this time.

However, it still doesn't matter. There is plenty of time to slowly destroy all unfavorable evidence and even annihilate possible witnesses.

"Of course," he replied gently.

If any of the congressmen here include soldiers who served under him when he was in Spain, they will understand what this gentle "of course" means.

The congressmen seemed to be discussing something and whispering among themselves.

The Prime Minister still stood in front of the podium expressionless, but secretly sneered in his heart. Forty-three people are too many to discuss and decide on a truly important matter for a country. How could it be left to 430 headless people to handle it? By the time they reached a consensus, the world would have been destroyed long ago. They have already received the instructions, but they are still pretending here as if they are really deciding national affairs.

Not to mention, most of them are just puppets sent in with big tickets.

[At that time, the electoral system of the French House of Representatives was a dual election system. Only those who paid more than 300 francs in direct taxes a year had the right to vote. The total number of seats in the House of Representatives was 430. At each election, all eligible voters first vote for 60% of the seats (258 seats); then the quarter of eligible voters with the highest tax payments - the richest quarter - form the election The group will elect another 40% of the seats (172 seats).

Therefore, under this system, the richest quarter of voters (only tens of thousands of people in France) can elect members twice and directly control 40% of the seats, known as the "big vote." Ordinary people in France have the right to vote, which was only realized during the Second Empire when [***] was studying.

As mentioned above, the seats in the House of Lords are appointed one by one by His Majesty the King. 】

However, although the enemy must be despised strategically, the enemy must be taken seriously tactically.

Since Guizot has been preparing for so long, he cannot be defeated easily. He must concentrate all his attention to defeat this former right-hand man.

When he thought of this, he felt vaguely uneasy in his heart. No, he doesn't have that much time, and now even if he can find some problems with the previous misappropriation of military funds, it won't be able to work in a short time, at least it won't work before the British protests arrive. He won't Unexpected.

So this must be just a smoke screen to cover up his real purpose. What does he want to do?

What on earth was he thinking?

The old man glanced left and right subconsciously. After a moment, reason told him that the Foreign Secretary could not be here.

It doesn't matter, as long as you deal with it carefully, no matter what other tricks he has, you don't have to be afraid at all. When he thought of this, the old man felt confident again. No problem, no problem, no problem…

It felt like it was rusty, and my mind felt like I couldn't turn around.

Routine questioning continues, including domestic and diplomatic questions, but none of them are as provoking as the military misappropriation issue just now.

The Prime Minister seemed to be stuck in some strange thoughts, and his answers to every question were extremely brief. It was not until the speaker announced the end of today's questioning that he slowly left the podium.

As he was walking, the old man's feet suddenly weakened and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he was still able to muster the strength to grab the chair next to him, which prevented the worst situation from happening.

But this was enough, enough for enough people to see his embarrassment.

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

"oh!"

"Oh my God!"

There were low exclamations from the seats on both sides again.

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"Great!" The excitement of the old Marquis Treville was beyond words, and he couldn't help but slap the table with the newspaper. "I really didn't expect that he has aged to this point... He can't even stand still."

"Even so, he is still a strong enemy." Ciel reminded him from the side. "We cannot treat a person as an enemy just because he is old enough."

"Yes, Charles, you are right, even so, he is still a strong enemy." The old Marquis laughed again, "But first, you have to allow a person who has hated him for more than thirty years, a little Cheers."

Charles smiled slightly and said nothing more. He understood the old man's excitement.

"It seems that time will soon defeat him even if we don't take action." After a moment of joy, the Marquis regained his usual calmness, "But instead of waiting for the unpredictable time, it is better to It's better to take advantage of the situation and give him a push, otherwise God knows how long he can stay there?"

"That's what I thought too."

"Then we must do it quickly." The Marquis tapped the table with his fingers, obviously lost in thought, "Charlotte, you have to pay close attention and cooperate closely. No matter whether we are enemies in the future, at least we are allies now , we have a common goal.”

"I will pay attention." Charles promised repeatedly.

The restaurant fell into a brief silence.

"I didn't expect that time would pass by so fast. Thirty years have passed, but it still seems like it was yesterday!" The old man suddenly let out a long sigh. "He is seventy-eight years old this year, and he has already become like this. He is only eight years older than me! We cheer for his gaffe today, but how much better will my performance be when I get to his age? "

The old man suddenly lamented his old age, which made Charles feel a little sad and didn't know what to say to comfort him.

"No, Charles, I'm not afraid of death." The old Marquis suddenly laughed, then reached out and patted his grandson on the shoulder. "As long as I see that you can inherit and carry forward the name Treville, I will You can rest in peace.”

After a moment, he continued, "However, I would also like to remind you that you should never get carried away after becoming rich and powerful. You should always stay calm and sober, and know what you should do and what you need to do."

"I will." Ciel lowered his head.

"We have never been a moral family, Charles, you must always remember this. Recently you have become more and more like a real Treville. Yes, very good, but still not enough." The old man suddenly smiled , "Your ancestors once served beside the Sun King, and then while the King The Edict of Nantes was revoked, and more than a dozen families were ruined and made a fortune; when your cousin and a group of people controlled the state affairs, they used the money of taxpayers and the national treasury to compensate the Treville family for their losses during the Great Revolution. The losses you have suffered, you have to learn from them, remember, learn from them!”

[On October 18, 1685, King Louis XIV of France promulgated a decree to completely abolish the Edict of Nantes, which allowed Protestants to practice freedom of worship. A large number of Protestants were persecuted to death, and all the fields and properties of the Protestants were embezzled by the powerful, leading to Within a few years, more than 250,000 Protestants fled to England, Prussia, the Netherlands and the Americas. 】

The old man looked at his grandson, his eyes full of encouragement and expectation.