Flowers, Swords and France

If the south of France is a hilly grape-growing holy land, then the countryside in the north is the farmland that every farmer would be proud of.

The wheat fields in summer and autumn are like a golden ocean, stretching endlessly. Everywhere you look, the plump ears of wheat sway gently in the breeze, which is really like a picture.

In this large golden ocean, some houses stand in the farmland like isolated islands. These houses are very quiet, with mottled walls and few people. Perhaps they themselves are silent witnesses of hundreds of years of history.

If he is an artist, he may be intoxicated by these magnificent rural scenes, wandering in these small houses, fearing that he will miss any inspiration. For those visitors who are unfortunately forced to enter, being imprisoned in this monotonous golden ocean is too boring a punishment.

An old man with white hair and a slightly fat figure feels this way. After looking at the wheat fields for an unknown period of time, he finally couldn't stand the anxiety brought by the endless waiting. He raised his legs and wanted to step out of the house.

Since they were secretly escorted here two days ago, they have been imprisoned in this manor surrounded by farmland. Although the living conditions are okay, their freedom is restricted and they are not allowed to go anywhere. They can only wander around in this country house every day, like prisoners under house arrest.

"Please stop, sir!" However, the sudden shouting next to him and the gun raised in the man's hand instantly cut off his inappropriate idea.

The old man stopped, but turned his head and glared at his guard. The eyes behind the lenses were slightly red because of anger.

"I protest your treatment of us! If you want to harm us, you should kill us now. If you want to treat me like a guest, you should let me move freely! I protest your practice of imprisoning us!"

"Sir, you can protest as much as you want." His guard didn't care at all, "My mission is to keep you here all the time. And ensure your safety. As for your emotions, there is no requirement from above, and I can't control it."

This slightly sarcastic answer made the old man even more angry.

He has been pampered at home for so many years, but he has never been used to such treatment.

"Let me go to see Treville! This...what is this?! I have so many things to do, and he can actually bring me here? This bastard!" In anger, he cursed regardless of anything. "Go and tell him I want to see him. And I don't have time to wait any longer!"

"Since he has already caught you here, I think he can catch you." The guard gave a philosophical answer, "Sir, since you know you have been caught and lost your freedom, why do you still think you can ask him to do this and that?"

Such a sharp rebuttal made the old man speechless. He glared at the other party fiercely, but couldn't say anything.

"Okay, you'd better wait. Mr. Treville is not so easy to see. Don't you know how many important things he has to do every day?" The guard laughed, "Anyway, there is nothing missing here except women and freedom. Why don't you just take a look at the scenery?"

"I...I..." The old man wanted to say something else.

At this moment, a carriage appeared faintly from the wheat field in the distance, like a small black dot in the golden ocean. Then, the carriage rushed over here.

The old man began to be full of hope again.

Soon, the carriage stopped in the open space outside the house, and then a young man in a black coat and a velvet hat got off the carriage surrounded by two armed followers.

Just by looking at him for the first time. The old man was sure that this tall blond young man must be the one he was waiting for, because he was too conspicuous and too young.

And the young man also looked at the old man with interest. Then he came over with a smile.

"Count Bezukhov?" He asked the old man tentatively.

"Yes, I am!" The old man answered unhappily in fluent French, "So you are Mr. de Treville?"

"Yes, I am." Charles took off his hat and bowed to him. "I am honored to meet a nobleman with such a distinguished reputation as you."

"But you gave us an unexpected welcome ceremony, Mr. Treville!" The old man's face froze, and then he said to Charles in a stern tone, "I thought you would have enough respect for us."

"Oh, I'm very sorry, your request is very urgent and embarrassing. Although I reluctantly agreed for your sake, I have to take a necessary measure to be on the safe side..." Charles smiled and bowed to him again, while extending his hand, "Please understand me, you want me to bring a large group of people to France safely. Although I believe in your credibility and guarantee, if any of them lose their minds and cause some regrettable incidents in France... I can't help but be held accountable. I want you to understand my necessary caution. After all, I really helped you get them to France safely."

Charles' polite but not humble answer made the old man slightly stiff again.

He hesitated, then stretched out his hand, but retracted it with just a light touch.

"So you really don't intend to hand us over to the Tsar?"

"Yes, of course I don't plan to do this, otherwise I wouldn't have expended the effort to bring you and them in in the first place." Charles nodded immediately, "Although you may be an enemy to the Tsar, but to me Not at all."

The old man finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least I got my money's worth."

"I hope you won't tell anyone else about this." Then, Charles looked around, and then smiled and suggested to the old man, "Earl, why don't we go find a quieter place to talk?"

"Just what I wanted." The old man straightened his back, and now his anger had almost disappeared, "To be honest, I originally sneaked over here just to meet you, but I didn't expect you to meet me in this way. It really caught me by surprise.”

"See me?" Charles stopped, a little strange.

"Yes. See you." The Earl pushed his eyes on the bridge of his nose, "Although those people are being hunted by the Tsar, I am not. I just stopped by to see you."

"This really surprises me." Charles was indeed a little surprised. "This is the manor that my wife came to as a dowry. I usually don't bother to take care of it, so the conditions may be a bit crude, but fortunately it is still very safe. I think... you should be able to speak freely here."

Then, under the leadership of the manager of the estate. They soon came to a simple room.

"Then you can satisfy my curiosity now? Mr. Count, is there any reason for you to temporarily give up your pampered life in Russia and risk your life to come to France to see me? I don't think I personally have any. Such charm." Charles asked the count as soon as he sat down.

"Of course you don't. I'm here for my ideal." The Earl replied angrily, "And you are helpful to my ideal."

"...I guess I'm not an idealist." Charles was still very surprised, "Why do you think so?"

"You are a rising star in French diplomacy, and you have won the trust of Bonaparte. In addition, you are very unfriendly to the Tsarist government, and according to my guess, you and Bonaparte will soon become one of the greatest enemies of His Majesty the Tsar. Because of this, you are a good friend for me." The count's expression has become very serious, "Yes, sir, I think I know one thing, your France will very likely go to war with Russia."

"You..." Charles subconsciously wanted to deny.

"Sir, don't deny it, we have our information channel." The Earl raised his hand and stopped Charles from saying, "You have anti-Russian elements in your blood. What's more, you have the support of the British now. ”

Charles didn't speak for a while and continued to stare at the old man, but there was no trace of wavering on his face.

"Whether this is true or not, sir, what does this have to do with you coming to see me?" He still refused to comment on the war with Russia. "I personally love peace deeply. I don't have any ill intentions towards the Russians. If something really happens, then...it can only be fate playing tricks on us."

"No matter what the reason is for you to go to war with Russia, if Russia loses, the Tsar's prestige will be greatly damaged, which will be very beneficial to our cause." The count ignored Charles's meaningless rhetoric and said directly He continued, "And I... I am willing to play a part in allowing you and Bonaparte to successfully defeat them. At least I know the situation in Russia very well, and there are people who are willing to listen to me."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Ciel was slightly stunned because he was very surprised.

Count Bezukhov is one of the richest men in Russia, and he must be very powerful. If he can secretly help France, whether it is passing information or secretly sabotaging, he may indeed make a great contribution.

But...what reason does he have for doing this? Is he himself a vested interest in Russia?

But it doesn't sound like he was joking.

Charles thought a lot, but still couldn't figure it out.

"Sir, if I understand correctly, are you saying that you intend to betray the country?" After a moment, he raised his head and asked the old man.

However, the old man was unmoved. Instead, he looked straight at Charles, "I don't think that a country that pursues suffocating **** rule and serfdom like Russia is my motherland. Love Russia, so I need to overthrow the Tsar."

"However, under his rule, you were a noble, and as far as I know, one of the richest landowners." Charles pointed out this fact sternly.

"Yes, I am a noble, and I have countless wealth, but this does not make me lose my conscience!" Count Pierre Bezukhov shouted loudly, "I am as good as anyone in Russia who has a conscience and morality. Like all sensible people, we are against the evils that have caused the bloodshed of our nation for centuries! And the tsarist regime is the master of these evils and the main defender. If it is overthrown, we can Deliver this great nation from terrible slavery."

"For this reason...are you willing to help foreign armies defeat Russia?" Charles was still a little unbelievable.

"Yes, I am willing to do so." Count Bezukhov nodded arrogantly, "Sir, it may be difficult for you to understand my thoughts, but I can tell you that I will not do this if there is another way to succeed. ——However, I have to face the reality that it is difficult to directly defeat the tsarist government with our own strength. I need helpers to crush its claws. In this case, no matter where the helpers come from, it is worth my while. Ask for help."

Ciel still looked at the other party in confusion, not understanding why he did this.

Count Bezukhov looked at the young man and took a deep breath.

"Sir, you should know what Russia is like today. It has a bad reputation, and it doesn't deserve it. Yes, it is a big prison of rape and slavery, except for a small group of people who are glorious. Apart from having fun and reveling in the hall, everyone else had to suffer in the fire. Bitter. When she married me, my wife was a princess. Maybe you thought it was similar to your wife. But you were wrong... a few villages? The village, its land and cottages, along with the people on it, were transferred to me as a dowry. This is a legal transfer of property. Do you understand the meaning of this? People who bleed, breathe, get hurt, and suffer like us nobles are inheritable in Russia. We can transfer property that can be bought and sold, how do people like us deal with it? They do whatever they want with them, they have to work for us like cattle and horses - God. If they try to escape for freedom, they are committing a crime and will be caught or even executed, although we can't tell what they have. Sin!" Count Pierre Bezukhov's mouth twitched slightly. Obviously the anger in his heart has been aroused, "Mr. Treville, there are countless imperial literati in the current government of the empire. They will defend such a tragic and vicious system, but I can tell you that anyone who defends slavery is not. A malicious fool is a bloodthirsty psychopath, maybe both All. No matter what the origin, people with conscience in Russia will admit this, otherwise we will sink ourselves to the level of those American plantation owners and their descendants! If this must change, then what reason do we have to delay it? , should I try to make the sin last longer?”

"I understand, you are a Decembrist." Charles seemed to suddenly realize.

"No, I used to be, but I am not now." The old man glanced at him, and then raised his head arrogantly, "My friends, they are all very lovely people, but they are not really capable of doing it. They are willing to abandon everything for the perfection of personal morality, that kind of noble sacrifice. I admire the spirit of sacrifice very much, but this kind of stupid moral obsession, this kind of empty talk that only has ideals but refuses to be down-to-earth will only make their career achieve nothing, but some of them may not care about this, because in their view The brilliance of martyrs is higher than that of truly down-to-earth revolutionaries..."

Perhaps thinking of something, Count Pierre-Bezukhov's expression became a little ugly, "They don't know my plans. If they knew, they would definitely oppose me. They want a pure revolution." , even if the hope of success is so slim, I can't be so stupid, because I am. I am their organizer and one of the most important people. I have spent countless money and energy cultivating them over the years. They can go to martyrdom, but I must make my efforts worthwhile, yes - they I want a pure and innocent martyrdom, but I want a rough and dirty revolution!”

"Since you have been in France at that time, you should know what we gained and lost during the revolution, and you will not be confused by a few hot-blooded terms." Charles still looked at it very calmly. She looked at him but was not infected by him, "Obviously, no matter how pure the ideal is at the beginning and how noble the motivation is, in the end the blood and fire will burn uncontrollably until everything is swallowed up."

"Maybe many people will die in vain and be buried in the fire that should not be burned to them, but so what? If they need to apologize, I will keep apologizing to them and spend my whole life apologizing - However, the premise is that they must apologize for the pain and disasters that the previous empire brought to the people! So many people lost their freedom when they were born, lost their lives early in slavery, and finally died in obscurity like a dog. They deserve it more. an apology, But they didn't get it!" Perhaps because of his excitement, Count Bezukhov's gray beard also jumped, and his eyes seemed to be burning, "A justice stained with blood is better than being dripping with blood every day. The evil is better. Maybe the arrival of this justice means swallowing up the lives of many innocent people, but it will not bring about a vast white ruins. After the fire burns everything, new grass will grow out of the wasteland and turn it into a wasteland. It became a fertile field..."

Then, he glanced sideways at Charles, "At least, isn't that what France is like? Although there are still all kinds of bad problems, at least I think it is better than the current empire. I don't expect that I can bring Russia down. It will become a paradise on earth, and there will be no worries from now on, but if Russia can at least become like France, I have made an extremely huge contribution, at least enough to let me go into the coffin with peace of mind."

"You...that is to say, you want to help us defeat the Tsar's army as much as possible and create conditions for you to launch a revolution?" Charles finally understood, and then he was silent for a long time, "I admit that this is very practical for a person. For an activist, this is indeed a logical move.”

"Really? If it were you, you would do the same thing, right?" The old man suddenly laughed, and then spread his hands, "But I will not admit this to my people. If they want a pure revolution, I will give it to them. "

"Clever." Charles praised him sincerely, "but have you ever thought that compared to the revolution, we don't hate the tsarist government very much."

"Of course I know, so our cooperation is only this time." The old man shrugged, "At least now you won't refuse my help, right? And... we don't want the lives of everyone in the royal family. If anyone If you accept a constitution, it will not be so unbearable to keep the monarch. I am not a pure person."

"Maybe not." Charles nodded, "But in the future, if His Majesty the Tsar asks us to hang you, I don't think the French government will refuse."

"I thank you for your candor, Mr. Treville. This really surprises me." The old man smiled at Charles, "But if you want to come, just come! If the West interferes, I will organize a volunteer army to resist you. We have our backs on the country, and you cannot afford the continuous attrition of the army thousands of kilometers away. The great practice of the French people tells me this. I do not believe that Russia can do worse if that day really comes. I will dedicate everything to this reborn country.”(~^~)