Flowers, Swords and France

"I'm fine, don't worry, just go and deliver my orders."

In front of Second Lieutenant George de Dillion, Marshal Treville answered with a hint of weakness, then gently pushed away his hand that was supporting him, trying to stand up straight.

However, his weakness certainly could not escape George's eyes. The young officer stood in front of the marshal awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

"Young man just can't calm down!" Seeing George so nervous and hesitant, the marshal couldn't help but frowned, "Okay, don't waste everyone's time, go quickly! Remember not to mention my affairs to others! "

The old man's scolding made George wake up suddenly. He immediately trembled, picked up a pile of documents on the table and left the room.

He walked through the corridor, walked down the stairs, and then came to the alley downstairs. This alley was originally very spacious, but after the French Expeditionary Force headquarters was stationed, especially when the telegraph line was connected, it became the French headquarters in Gallipoli. After the nerve center, it became increasingly narrow. A large number of transmitters with their own wires squeezed the space into a much tighter space. The staff who kept coming in and out made the air even more solemn.

Ignoring the guard at the door, George walked directly in and found Major Resto, who was in charge of the entire telegraph office.

Although there is a big difference in military rank between the two, everyone knows that George is the adjutant of the commander-in-chief, so the major does not dare to neglect him.

"This is the document that the commander-in-chief wants to send to Paris today. Please send it as soon as possible." George said to the major in a polite but unquestionable tone. At the same time, he handed the documents in his hand to the other party. "Please send the telegram received in the morning." Give it all to me.”

"Okay." The major nodded and took the documents.

"In addition, there is a secret message, please send it separately to His Excellency Minister de Treville." George suddenly lowered his voice, and then handed over a message he had prepared to the other party. "Remember to do it as soon as possible!"

Such a mysterious move certainly aroused the suspicion of the major, but he also knew that matters between the marshal and the minister's grandson were beyond his control, so he nodded again.

After George's explanation, the telegraph office immediately started sending messages. Each document was converted into a torrent of telegraph codes, and then flowed through the telegraph wire to Marseille, thousands of miles away, and then was immediately forwarded to Paris. .

This epoch-making invention allowed a country to truly conduct a war thousands of miles away in real time, and also allowed human information communication to enter the zero-distance door for the first time. From this moment on, a big country can truly Complete control of every inch of your territory.

And that same night, Charles also received a secret message from George.

The main content of the secret message was to report on the marshal's physical condition, which also made Charles worried.

He had been worried about this for a long time - his grandfather was old and was in a foreign country thousands of miles away. He was really tortured, but he couldn't do anything more. He could only watch the old man's body deteriorate. It feels so bad.

No, I have to go to the front line in person... Ciel suddenly came up with this idea.

However, this idea soon killed him. Now he had too many things on his hands and couldn't get away from it - and he also knew that maintaining domestic stability and the supply of the army in the rear was the most important thing. The best way for him to help grandpa.

Because of this, the war on the front line was in full swing, and accordingly his work was several times busier, but he was not bothered by this, because for him, being busy meant having power.

It was already evening, but he was still working in the ministry, and even his meal time was shortened to a very short time. He seemed to be drowned in the ocean of official documents.

So, it seems that we can only let my sister rush over as soon as possible... Maybe with her care, the old man's health can be a little better. After thinking about it, Ciel made up his mind again.

At this moment, the secretary knocked on the door and came in, reporting the arrival of a new visitor to the minister.

After hearing that this visitor was Miss Matilda de Dillion, Charles' nervous mood suddenly became much better.

"Bring her in, and then tell the other people waiting that I will no longer receive guests tonight, and ask them to come back tomorrow." Charles gave the order.

The secretary quickly took the order and left.

Soon, under the guidance of the secretary, Matilda came to him, and then he left the office and closed the door.

"I am here at your summons, Your Excellency, Minister." As soon as she saw Charles, she saluted him.

"Matilda, you're welcome!" Compared to Matilda's seriousness, Charles was much more relaxed. He left his desk and walked to the side of the sofa, then sat down directly. " Please take a seat!"

Matilda nodded slightly, and then sat down next to Charles obediently.

However, Ciel felt that she seemed a little depressed.

Today Matilda is still wearing her simple gray dress, full of charm. However, although she was carefully dressed up and her hair was neatly tied back, her face was very pale and her eyes were a little swollen behind the lenses, as if she hadn't slept well recently.

"Matilda, what's wrong with you?" Charles couldn't help but asked with concern.

"It's nothing, Charles." Matilda smiled reluctantly, "I just miss George too much... I often have nightmares these days, dreaming that something happened to him, so I haven't slept well..."

When she said this, Ciel didn't know what to say.

Indeed, as a sister, it is human nature to care about her younger brother who is serving in the army. Even a person as indifferent as Matilda will be frightened for the sake of her closest relatives.

"He...he is with my grandfather. He should be fine." After a moment of silence, Charles tried to comfort her.

"It would be best if he stayed with the marshal all the time...but I'm just a little scared..." Matilda smiled bitterly, "George is too young and full of blood, and I know him too well...like Children like him are unwilling to stay behind peacefully. His mind is full of honors and achievements, and these things are the most deadly. God, I feel uneasy every time I think of this. …”

As soon as she said this, Matilda seemed to be worried again, and her voice was a little out of tune.

"How about... I'll send a telegram to Grandpa and ask him to keep a close eye on George," Charles couldn't help but say, "As long as he stays in the headquarters, he will be fine."

However, to Charles's expectation, Matilda shook her head without hesitation.

"No...it's better not to."

"..." Charles was a little confused.

"I only have one younger brother, so I should be worried about him... However, George is already luckier than many people. He is already very loved by the marshal. God knows how many people are jealous of him, and how many people are more jealous than him. Danger! If I plead with the marshal for this, that one It will...it will only make people hate him even more, and even George himself will feel humiliated." Matilda looked at Charles with her eyes wide open, her lenses seemed to be shining, "We have our own family too. Honor, sir, I can only pray for him while I'm scared, that's all."

"Matilda..." Ciel looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"I have no choice but to grit my teeth and endure it. I am scared but can only hope that God will bless him. It's not just me, my parents and my sister are all like this." Matilda smiled bitterly again, "Sir, you Do you feel the weight on your shoulders? At this moment, I am not the only one who is worried, every soldier’s mother is worried. Parents, wives and sisters are also worried about the soldiers. Maybe after the war is over, there will be a hundred thousand mothers with bleeding hearts... You should be able to feel this heaviness, right? As a person in charge of a country, you should know the meaning of every decision you make and be troubled by the weight of it.”

Charles was silent.

To be honest, he didn't feel much worried about the possibility of many people dying - in that army, he only cared about a few people at most.

He would not do it, nor would Emperor Napoleon, nor would Emperor Napoleon III.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Because people like themselves are accustomed to treating people as pawns, tools, and chip numbers in a game, no matter how many people die, they will not be indifferent.

But in front of Matilda's eyes, he felt that he could not say such words.

"Yes... I feel very heavy too." Ciel nodded. "It has always been our aim to avoid casualties among soldiers as much as possible."

“God has given people like you such a heavy responsibility, and I can only pray that you will not let Him down... because once you make a mistake, the consequences will be terrible, and many, many people must use their lives to repay your mistake. Matilda nodded, maybe she felt a lot more relaxed because she had confided what was in her heart, "So, I beg you...please promise me, don't do it easily again in the future." It is definitely not an easy game to plunge France into war... Emperor Napoleon was finally blinded by his martial arts and destroyed his own empire with his own hands. We must never go down this road again. As a responsible politician Family, you should consider war as the last resort... The desperate cries of mothers are something that not even the empire can bear."

"I...I will, Matilda, you are right." Of course, Charles couldn't say no at this time. He could only nodded, "Okay, let's talk about my invitation today. The reason why you came here is that we need your help."

"Please give me your orders, I am happy to accept your assignment." Matilda also returned to normal.

"Actually, this matter is very simple... I want to ask you to temporarily take over my sister's affairs... because she is going to the front line as a volunteer." Charles said concisely.

"What?" Matilda was obviously a little surprised.

"She wants to lead a group of trained volunteers to the front line as medical staff to assist local military doctors in caring for the wounded, so as to reduce the casualties of the soldiers." Charles explained to Matilda, "By the way, she wants Take care of my grandpa nearby, as you know... He is already old and his health is deteriorating. We really can't trust him to stay in that place alone. "

Indeed, Fran already had too many things to do, and she was destined not to leave France in a hurry. She had to find a temporary replacement first. In fact, Matilda is indeed a very suitable candidate. She is reliable, smart, and she has been working for her father for many years. She is also familiar with the work of the Railway Federation. As long as she helps, Charles I believe there won't be too many problems.

"It's amazing! This is a feat! It's unimaginable to have such determination..." After understanding, Matilda couldn't help but sigh, "I... I knew how powerful she was, and I respected her very much back then. she."

"Then are you willing to help her take over the job so that she can leave France with peace of mind?" Charles asked.

"Of course I am willing! It is an honor for me that she can trust me so much! I will write to Her Majesty the Queen tomorrow and tell her that I don't have time to be with her recently." Matilda agreed without any hesitation , and even directly gave up the honor of accompanying Her Majesty the Queen, "Sir, I want to pay tribute to her in person... She did what I failed to do."

"There are many opportunities to pay tribute in person. After all, you have to meet with her all the time to hand over work." Seeing her such a personal answer, Charles couldn't help but laugh, "Matilda, you are really Very good."

"I...how am I a good person?" This praise made Matilda a little ashamed, "In short, since you and your sister trust me so much, then I will try my best to not let you down. ”

"I also firmly believe that you will not let me down." Charles immediately complimented her. "But...she has a lot of things on her hands, so you can be careful."

"In the final analysis, all things are just human affairs. Let's do this. I can compile a roster for you, file all your subordinates, and then divide the powers according to their responsibilities and business scope. In this way, you can also You can have a good idea." Mathiere. Da lowered his voice, "This is my old profession. I did this when grandpa was alive - so I am not a good person, because grandpa is not very respectable in many things. I know that everything under the sun There are sins, and I am willing to bear such sins for you.”

She was indeed speaking from her heart. All along, following her grandfather's words and deeds, she understood that if she wanted to keep her family at the top of the country, she would need to pay a huge price, and all her glory and even her opportunity to benefit others The kindness of heart itself is brought about by this superior position.

Therefore, she has always given priority to safeguarding the interests of the family, and only shows mercy to others after ensuring this, and she also understands that she is not very kind.

In addition, she actually has other selfish motives. She just wants to make her family the number one vassal of the Treville family, which can not only help her beloved but also give her family a big backer. It was precisely because of this that she felt a little guilty and said words like "guilt".

"Isn't it too serious to talk about sins on such an occasion?" Charles couldn't help but laugh again, "Let's relax, Matilda, how about a kiss?"

"You...what's wrong with you?!" Seeing Charles suddenly change the topic so much, Matilda blushed. "It's too much for you to keep teasing me like this."

"I just want to kiss you when I get interested... Isn't that okay?" Charles shrugged, "Don't worry, I've been so busy lately that I can't do anything bad even if I want to. This is just a placebo, by the way. Consider it a farewell gift.”

Matilda still blushed a little and said nothing.

"Well, you can think of it this way...you are working hard for the lives of thousands of French young people." Charles immediately found another reason and said slightly jokingly, "If it makes me happy, they A lot of people can be saved.”

"This is really irresistible." Matilda closed her eyes, and then moved her fair face towards Charles. "Please cheer up."

"I will, Matilda, thank you."