From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

While Lawrence was staying in the Tuileries Palace, he was drinking and chatting with Louis XV.

Located on the Île Saint-Louis in the center of the Seine, the command post of the Paris City Defense Forces.

However, this brick and stone building adjacent to the Seine is more like a splendid small palace than an army command post.

The building's courtyard even has a marble fountain and sculpture garden.

After all, the aristocratic generals and officers of the city defense force could not accept staying in the muddy suburban garrison with ordinary soldiers for a long time. They had to stay in the city to attend parties and salons with music, singing and dancing.

This is partly because the Paris City Defense Force is considered the most leisurely organization in the entire military system.

The police and soldiers will handle all the trivial matters in Paris, but as for serious situations that even the police force cannot handle, that kind of thing may only happen once in twenty years.

This is the heart of the entire Kingdom of France. Peace and stability are the norm in Paris.

For the senior officers of the city defense force, staying in this luxurious command post, drinking tea and reading newspapers is a true reflection of most of their working time. Many officers will not even go to the suburbs in person for a whole year. Military garrison.

Even the supreme commander of the city defense forces, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe, was no exception.

"This boy Lawrence did a really good job in this matter."

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe was half lying on the sofa leisurely, holding several morning newspapers issued this morning and reading them with gusto.

Although Lieutenant General Philip was one of the first people to know that Lawrence was going to hold a charity auction, he did not expect that Lawrence would invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to the scene, and also transfer a large part of this reputation to Crown Prince Louis. .

However, after carefully savoring Lawrence's approach, Lieutenant General Philip couldn't help but sigh that this young man's cautious and meticulous acting style was really inconsistent with his age.

At this time, there were two knocks at the door of the command room, neither light nor heavy.

I saw a lieutenant colonel adjutant knocking politely twice on the ajar door, and then walking into Lieutenant General Philip's office holding a stack of documents:

"General, there are some documents that require your approval."

Lieutenant General Philip sat up and glanced at the two-foot-thick pile of documents with a headache.

Although the Paris city defense force is already free enough, Lieutenant General Philip, as the supreme commander, still has to deal with this pile of tedious paperwork and administrative work.

The lieutenant colonel's adjutant seemed to be very familiar with Lieutenant General Philip. He put down the documents in his hand, then glanced at the newspaper in Lieutenant General Philip's hand, and joked with a smile:

"Ah, are you reading the news about that charity auction? It's really amazing. I dare say that most of Paris knows about it; I also saw your name in many newspapers. Reporters said that Many of the collections in this auction were donated by you, and I even praised you.”

"I don't care much about these false names."

Lieutenant General Phillip stretched hard and stretched his muscles. Then he sat down at the desk, glanced helplessly at the pile of official documents, sighed and asked:

"Okay, which ones are signed directly and which ones need my approval and review?"

"These are the budget sheets for the procurement of the Military Supplies and Logistics Department. You need to review them personally. This one is the expansion plan for the camp. If you think there is no problem, you can sign it directly. The other ones are."

The Lieutenant Colonel Adjutant explained skillfully to Lieutenant General Philip:

"Finally, this is a joint exercise plan sent by the Royal Guards, which requires your confirmation and signature."

"A joint exercise of the Royal Guards? Which army is it with this time?" Lieutenant General Philip glanced at the exercise plan with interest and asked casually.

"Swiss Guard." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant pushed up the glasses on the tip of his nose and said skillfully:

"When His Majesty the King comes to Paris this time, he will be escorted by the Swiss Guard, and it is normal for him to conduct a joint exercise with us."

Lieutenant General Philip flipped through the exercise plan without putting on any airs, and joked very casually:

"Tsk, the Swiss, as long as the money is there, they are more loyal than Scottish shepherds."

"I suggest you confirm this exercise plan first. The Royal Guards need this document today." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant reminded thoughtfully.

After that, the Lieutenant Colonel Adjutant left Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's command room without further interruption.

"Do you need this document today?"

As the Lieutenant Colonel's Adjutant gradually disappeared, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's expression gradually became serious. He looked at the documents in his hand and murmured to himself:

"Now that Laurence Bonaparte has taken action, I can't hold him back. Let's start with this document."

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the city defense force command post, in the public rest area.

A group of officers gathered in the hall, smoking pipes, drinking wine, chatting and laughing, waiting for the end of working hours.

There was a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere in the hall, and even a major could sit with the general and laugh together at some upper-class gossip.

After all, in the Qingshui Yamen of the City Defense Force, the differences in military rank and rank are not that important. Anyway, the officers of the City Defense Force either come here specifically to develop their resumes, or they return to Paris to work for retirement.

And while everyone was enjoying this leisurely afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Philip's adjutant suddenly ran into the public rest area with an anxious look.

The lieutenant colonel looked around among the crowd, and then asked anxiously:

"Everyone, has anyone seen General Philip?"

All the officers looked at each other in confusion and shook their heads one after another. How could they know the whereabouts of the supreme commander at all times.

A major general in the crowd stood up and frowned at the lieutenant colonel's adjutant. His name was Mani, the chief of staff of the Paris City Defense Force and the deputy commander of the entire force:

"What? Do you need to see General Philip for something urgent?"

"Yes, that's right, I'm very anxious." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant had no choice but to look at Major General Mani for help:

"We have a joint exercise with the Royal Guards. The Royal Guards are now asking us to provide a confirmed exercise plan, but I just went to Lieutenant General Philip's desk and found that he has not signed the exercise plan yet. Really, I clearly warned the general, but now I can’t even find his people.”

Upon hearing this, Major General Mani smiled and waved his hand:

"I thought it was some serious accident, just a small matter. I just signed for General Philip to confirm it. This kind of drill is not a big deal. It only happens once every few months."

"This is not good." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant seemed a little hesitant:

"That plan is supposed to require the approval of the Supreme Commander."

"Hey, Lieutenant General Philip is an easy-going person, it's not like you don't know that."

Major General Mani patted the Lieutenant Colonel Adjutant twice on the shoulder very generously and said confidently:

"He must be able to understand, and he is indeed not in the command post at this time. With Lieutenant General Philip's open-mindedness, he will not care about anything."

Listening to Major General Mani's words, even the officers subconsciously nodded in agreement.

In their impression, Lieutenant General Philippe was indeed an informal, forthright and easy-going general. Although he came from a prestigious family like Choiseul, he was always gentle and patient with his subordinates, and he was deeply fond of him for this. The support of all the officers.

"Well then, I guess so."

The lieutenant colonel's adjutant carefully considered Lieutenant General Philip's character and seemed to feel that the easy-going general would not say much about the matter, so he agreed to Major General Mani's solution.

This incident did not break the atmosphere of enjoyment and comfort among the officers. As Major General Mani handed over the signed exercise plan to the officers of the Royal Guard, everyone just pretended that nothing happened and continued their drinking and smoking. tea party.

After half an hour of wasting time, the officers' work for the day came to an end.

They either return home to spend time with their wives and children, or they change into dresses and wigs without stopping and go to banquets and salons.

Just as everyone was packing up their belongings and waving goodbye to each other, a dull sound of footsteps suddenly sounded at the entrance to the public rest area.

And as the footsteps approached, it was Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe, who had a stern face and was completely unsmiling.

He stood at the door of the hall with an indifferent expression, and his dagger-like eyes swept over the officers inside without mercy.

"Hey, General Philip, where were you this afternoon?"

"Did you go betting on horse racing again? Hahaha, you said you lost a lot of money last time."

"You couldn't have gone to the bathhouse, right? That's not a place for a family man like you to go, hahaha."

Several officers who were not good at observing words and expressions did not seem to realize what Lieutenant General Philip's expression meant, and they continued to joke with Lieutenant General Philip without any scruples as usual.

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe ignored these jokes. He stood up straight and shouted in a voice that was almost a roar:

"Major General Mani Alexandre-Guillaume de Clermont, come out to me!"

This roaring sound made the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall tremble slightly, and people couldn't help but worry that the entire glass would shatter in response to General Philip's shout.

Major General Mani, who was named by Lieutenant General Philip, trembled all over, threw away the wine glass in his hand, jumped up from the sofa like a frightened hare, and stood in front of Lieutenant General Philip in horror. .

Even the other officers stared wide-eyed and quickly stood up from the sofa and stood upright.

In their impression, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe had rarely been so angry. They had no idea what had made the Lieutenant General so angry. Even the Lieutenant General's lieutenant colonel was panicking at this time. Have no idea what happened.

As for Major General Mani, he did not dare to take a breath at this moment, and even the shirt on his body was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Even though Jacques Philippe was only one level higher than him in military rank, Major General Magny did not dare to compare his status with that of the Duke of Choiseul's biological brother.

Seeing that everyone was standing at attention, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe slowly walked up to Major General Mani and scolded sternly:

"Major General Mani, recite Catch-22 to me!"

"Article 22? Me"

Major General Mani was stunned again, but Lieutenant General Phillip obviously didn't mean to joke with him. The major general had no choice but to recall the military regulations that only private soldiers remembered, and said stumblingly:

"All soldiers should fulfill their duties and resolutely execute the orders issued by their superiors without overstepping their bounds. If a soldier has overstepped his authority, his superiors can handle it directly during wartime. In peacetime, his superiors should file a lawsuit and hand it over to a military court."

"You should consider yourself lucky, Major General Mani."

Lieutenant General Philip's words are as lonely and desperate as a blizzard:

"If this were war time, your body would have been buried in the soil by my own hands."

"General Philip! I don't have it." Major General Mani tried his best to hold back such a pale explanation.

"No? That joint exercise plan was not signed and confirmed by you?"

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's index finger was like a sharp knife, and he stabbed Major General Mani three times in the chest:

"Tell me, who gave you the courage to exercise my authority on my behalf?"

Major General Mani's hands were close to the seams of his trousers, and he did not even dare to wipe the hot sweat from his forehead. He only dared to lower his head and defend himself:

"General! You were not in the command post at that time, and the Royal Guards were urging us very quickly."

"So this is why you dare to step on me?!"

Lieutenant General Philip snorted coldly, and there was no trace of the former easy-going and boldness on his stern face:

"Marney Alexander-Guillaume de Clermont, do you think I am leaving Paris for Lorraine soon? Do you think it is your turn to take the position of supreme commander?!"

This series of questions made Major General Mani's face no longer retain a trace of color, and his voice began to tremble, even with a hint of crying:

"I, I don't dare, General, you know me, how could I."

"Huh, don't you dare?" Lieutenant General Philip exhaled heavily, looked sideways at Major General Mani and shouted angrily:

"If you dare to sign an order on my behalf today, will you dare to spare me and mobilize the army tomorrow?"

Major General Magny's face turned pale. He certainly knew that mobilizing troops without authorization was equivalent to the crime of treason, especially among the Paris city defense forces under the king's feet.

All the officers looked at Major General Mani with sympathy and confusion. They didn't know what happened to Lieutenant General Philip today and why his temperament changed so drastically.

But at the moment, no one dared to risk the anger of Lieutenant General Philip to come forward to dissuade him. After all, logically speaking, this matter was indeed the fault of Major General Mani.

"You, and you!"

Lieutenant General Philip looked away from Major General Mani, and instead glanced at the officers in the entire hall, he reprimanded in a cold voice:

"I tell you, as long as I wear this military uniform, I will still be your highest officer. If something like this happens to me again, huh, there will be no need to trouble the civilian officials of the military court. , I will personally execute your judgment.”

After saying that, Lieutenant General Philip stabbed Major General Mani's heart with his index finger again, and immediately left the hall without looking back.

It wasn't until they confirmed that Lieutenant General Philip's footsteps had disappeared from the command post that all the officers dared to lift themselves from attention and gasp for air.

Almost none of these idle officers could resist the strong pressure exerted by Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe.

Major General Mani was paralyzed on the ground as if he had survived a disaster, his eyes were lifeless like a corpse without a soul, and his pupils did not regain focus for a long time.

"God scared me to death. I even thought for a moment that Lieutenant General Philip was going to execute us all."

"What the hell is going on? Lieutenant General Philip is such a fun and easy-going person on weekdays. Why is he so... today?"

"The general himself said it. He is probably going to leave the city defense force and go to Lorraine to serve as governor. He thinks that our subordinates will dare to ride on him."

"Oh, this really misunderstood us. Although what Major General Mani did was wrong, he certainly didn't mean to overstep the general."

"It's useless to say this now. At least we should stay calm in the last few weeks of Lieutenant General Philip's tenure. If anyone really offends him again, he can go home in advance to find a priest and cemetery to conduct the funeral. ”

After leaving the command post, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's expression slowly returned to calm, and it was completely impossible to tell that he had just angrily rebuked a group of officers in the hall.

He walked slowly along the sparkling Seine River at a strolling pace, sighed slightly and said to himself:

"In this way, as long as I don't give the order, the city defense troops will remain stationary no matter what the circumstances."