From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

January 21, 1771, two days after the riots in Paris.

It has been less than forty-eight hours since Madame Du Barry's death. Although the people are still vividly aware of the revolt that spread throughout the city the day before yesterday, Paris has returned to its former peace and tranquility.

At least on the surface.

On the one hand, this is because the people have perfectly achieved their biggest demand for this resistance, and put the 7 million livres of subsidy funds into the hands of the hungry and cold poor:

Since the early morning of the 21st, tents for material distribution have been set up around the slums of various sizes in the southern part of Paris.

Under the overall coordination of Supervisor Jonah, hundreds of horse-drawn carriages busily shuttled between residential areas and warehouses, delivering the first batch of firewood, bread, hay, cotton clothes and charcoal to those who needed it most.

Considering that the scale of the seven million livres can be said to be several times more than the total amount of winter subsidies in previous years, the materials distributed to the poor this year are also much richer than in previous years.

Although most of the poor people had expected this in advance, when they actually carried a heavy bag of food on their shoulders, many people still shed tears involuntarily and sincerely lamented the love between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Bonaparte. Your Excellency Ba's reputation.

It can be said that for quite some time, the name Lawrence Bonaparte will be firmly engraved in the hearts of Paris citizens.

The situation in Paris can return to calm so quickly. In addition to the satisfaction of the citizens' demands, another major reason is that the government and the royal family have stepped up the force deployed on the streets of Paris like a last resort.

The police force, knowing that it had caused a big disaster, no longer dared to relax at all. All the soldiers on leave were urgently recalled to the army. Even the police lieutenant general who was living his life and letting things go began to feel anxious. Decided to personally direct subsequent patrol searches.

Since yesterday, nervous police and soldiers can be seen from time to time in the most remote and dark alleys in Paris, even at three o'clock in the morning.

In addition to the actions of the police force, Louis XV was extremely disappointed with the two major forces guarding Paris. He personally ordered the entire Royal Guard to be dispatched from Versailles to Paris to cooperate with the Swiss Guard in charge of the Tuileries Palace. security.

Two o'clock in the afternoon, Tuileries Palace.

This luxurious palace was not affected by the unprecedented riot the day before yesterday. On the contrary, as the dukes and ministers drove to the Tuileries Palace, this ancient palace bathed in the bustling traffic also seemed to Returned to its glory as the heart of the Kingdom.

Although this imperial meeting was held very urgently, all the nobles who received invitations to attend the meeting did not hesitate to reject other arrangements and immediately asked the groom to drive to Paris.

There was no other reason. All participants knew that His Majesty the King held such a hasty meeting at such a critical time. He must have something important to discuss with the ministers. It was even a major event that could shake the entire Kingdom of France.

However, although the nobles could all guess that this royal meeting was of extraordinary significance, no one had the slightest clue as to what His Majesty the King was going to discuss and announce.

Half an hour before the imperial meeting was officially held, the spacious and grand throne room was already crowded with more than two hundred participants.

Participants were waiting on both sides of the throne room in an orderly manner.

Those at the front were naturally the familiar dukes, powerful ministers, as well as the generals and marshals of the Île-de-France military region. The group of people who could decide the fate of the entire kingdom almost all stood in the first three rows of the throne room.

In the middle are some important government bureaucrats or ordinary nobles, including the mayor of Paris and the top lieutenant general of the police force who were closely related to the riot the day before yesterday.

As for those near the entrance to the throne room, they were basically all participants who did not even have the right to speak, and almost all of these people were wealthy industrial owners and capitalists who had paid to participate in the imperial meeting.

After all, as long as he is qualified to participate in the Royal Council, even if he is a civilian, he can give himself the title of Minister of State and automatically obtain the status of a noble, although this status is scorned by the true blood nobles.

Lawrence's position was arranged on the right side of the third row, behind the powerful ministers and powerful dukes.

I don’t know whether the court etiquette made this arrangement to take care of Lawrence’s status as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica, or whether the king’s court has determined that the Corsican’s political status is enough for him to stand at his feet.

Justice de Mopp sat one row ahead of Lawrence.

Since the meeting had not yet begun, and His Majesty the King had not yet appeared, Justice Maupe introduced the notable dignitaries in the front row to Lawrence in a low voice:

"That is the Duke of Gramont, Choiseul's brother-in-law, who is now the commanding lieutenant general of the Île-de-France Military Region; the young man next to him is Duke Charles, you should have seen him at the banquet years ago; behind them is Marshal Magath"

Lawrence's interested eyes lingered on the young Duke Charles for a while. The future Duke of Orleans was also considered famous in history.

Then, Lawrence frowned and looked at a middle-aged nobleman next to Duke Charles, and suddenly asked:

"Wait a minute, who is that man talking to Duke Charles?"

The middle-aged nobleman was really conspicuous among the dignitaries in the front row.

He did not wear a silver wig in accordance with court fashion like others. Instead, he wore a rather fancy flat hat with a gold rim. The clothes he wore were not regular Clark's dresses, but a suit similar to those favored by Italian nobles during the Renaissance. Red burqa.

Although this outfit was indeed quite elegant, Lawrence was even more curious about which Duke would dress up in such an unconventional way for such a serious royal meeting.

"Ah, you mean the Duke next to you who is dressed like an actor?"

Justice Maupp was not surprised by Lawrence's curiosity, and introduced with a smile:

"This may be your first time meeting him, but I bet you must have heard of his name. That is the noble Duke of Orleans, the father of Duke Charles, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans."

Perhaps sensing the gazes of Lawrence and Justice Maupe, the Duke of Orleans, who was not far away, turned to look at the two of them.

He had a very friendly smile on his face, not just to Lawrence and Mopp, but he seemed to be so friendly to everyone around him, making everyone who came face to face with him feel like a breath of fresh air.

After the exchange of glances, he politely took off his hat and took the initiative to bow slightly to the two of them as a gesture of greeting. He showed no arrogance as a noble nobleman of royal blood.

On the contrary, his son, Duke Charles, just glanced at Lawrence with a complicated expression, and then moved his eyes aside without any expression.

Lawrence returned the gift to the Duke of Orleans somewhat unexpectedly, and lowered his voice with emotion:

"Is this the leader of the Orleans family? He is really friendly."

Justice Maupp nodded in agreement, and did not hesitate to praise the Duke of Orleans in his tone:

"Yes, and his friendliness is not disguised. Even to the servants in the stable, he always smiles. This kind of behavior makes him well-liked in the aristocratic circle, and everyone is happy to have dinner with him. We all hope to have such a true friend.”

As Justice Maupe spoke, Lawrence quickly searched for historical records about the Duke of Orleans in his mind.

Although in the long history of history, the Duke of Orleans is far less famous than the son beside him, during the period at the end of the 18th century, the name of the Duke of Orleans was still very popular among the French nobles.

He is a collateral descendant of Louis XIII. His great-grandfather was the biological brother of Louis XIV. His grandfather was the regent when Louis XV came to the throne. His grandmother was the daughter of Louis XIV, the current King. It's his cousin.

This prominent family line has made the Duke of Orleans known as the "first blood prince" since he inherited the title in 1752, which means that his bloodline is second only to the direct members of the Bourbon royal family.

It’s no wonder that his grandson was elected King of France by the bourgeois liberals after the July Revolution of 1830. In addition to direct blood relatives of the Bourbon royal family, the Orleans family is the most powerful heir and claimant to the French throne. .

In addition to this extremely noble blood, Louis Philippe was also an outstanding soldier and politician.

He was promoted to lieutenant general in the army in 1744 and had several outstanding achievements in the War of Austrian Succession; he later served as governor of the province of Dauphiny, and his benevolent and friendly character made the local people praise him.

Perhaps it was because the Orleans family served outstandingly as regent in the early days of Louis XV's accession to the throne, or perhaps because Louis Philippe did have a rare talent. Louis XV himself also had a very close attitude towards the Duke of Orleans.

His Majesty frequently granted the House of Orleans new fiefs and castles, and attempted to entrust more important positions to Louis-Philippe.

However, the biggest characteristic of this generation of Duke of Orleans is that he has almost no political ambitions.

With his noble birth and lineage, Louis Philippe could have easily become the top nobleman in the court of Versailles. Even the Richelieu family, inherited from Cardinal Richelieu, had to bow his head in front of the Orleans family. .

However, Louis Philippe has not held any important public office since he resigned as governor of Dauphiny. This is not because he has lost the favor of the king. On the contrary, it is because the Duke of Orleans has voluntarily left the center of power. .

He spent a lot of time on art and scholarship, which were Louis-Philippe's real interests.

Louis-Philippe was keen on drama, sponsored countless actors and musicians, and even wrote scripts and performed on stage himself.

He also frequently met with Enlightenment scholars and natural philosophers, including d'Alembert of the Academy of Sciences, mathematician Laplace, chemist Claude Bertolet, composer Mozart, and the famous Voltaire and Diderot. , these famous scholars and artists in later generations were all guests of the Duke of Orleans.

Although the name of Louis Philippe I does not appear many times in history books, his name appears quite frequently in the autobiographies and memoirs of scholars and artists at the end of the 18th century, which shows the Duke's love for art and scholarship. It has long surpassed the pursuit of politics.

The fact that his son Duke Charles later became a disciple of Rousseau is probably inseparable from the Duke of Orleans' strong support for Enlightenment academics.

For nearly twenty years, Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans, had lived a life of indifference, and the political whirlpool of Versailles seemed to have nothing to do with him.

Whether it was Madame de Pompadour's rise to power and death, the rise of Duke Choiseul, or Madame Du Barry's entry into the center of the palace, the Duke of Orleans always stayed out of the matter and did not have the slightest inclination towards any faction.

This neutral attitude also won Louis Philippe a lot of reputation among the nobility.

Any nobleman, no matter which faction or noble circle he belongs to, will definitely receive the warmest and equal hospitality when he visits the Duke of Orleans. The Duke will enthusiastically discuss architecture, drama, literature and philosophy with the guests. , and the word politics would never be mentioned, as if the word did not exist at all in the Duke of Orleans' castle.

No wonder Justice Maupe had just expressed such high praise for the Duke of Orleans.

"That is to say."

After recalling the memories of the Duke of Orleans in his mind, Lawrence also silently concluded in his mind:

"An extremely noble duke who is very close to the royal family and the king. He has a good reputation in the court and the local area. Almost every faction of the nobles supports and loves him. However, despite such lofty prestige, he also has quite outstanding political and military skills. Despite his abilities, he chose to live in seclusion and devote himself to exploring philosophy and art. He is truly a willful but enviable Duke."

Lawrence couldn't help but chuckled and sighed. If he could have the background of the Duke of Orleans, the world where he could display his skills would be countless times wider than it is now. But who can say that Louis Philippe is so focused on exploring his heart? The behavior is wrong.

While Lawrence was feeling emotional, Justice Mopp analyzed with some confusion:

"But I really didn't expect that the Duke of Orleans would also come to attend the royal meeting. He usually lives neither in Paris nor Versailles, but in the castle of the fief; although Orleans is not too far from the Île-de-France. , but he must have set off as soon as he received His Majesty’s invitation.”

With that said, Justice Mopp also threw this question to Lawrence:

"And the Duke of Orleans never attends the usual royal meetings. Why did he suddenly come to Paris this time?"

Lawrence also immediately realized this problem. He carefully looked at the Duke of Orleans who was chatting happily with the surrounding nobles, and said slowly:

"The purpose of this royal meeting is definitely not to investigate the Paris riots the day before yesterday, and the Duke of Orleans has come to Paris at this time. I am afraid that he is likely to become the focus of the royal meeting."

A wrinkle appeared on Justice Maupe's forehead. As smart as he was, he naturally surmised that there must be a connection between the Duke of Orleans and this hurried royal meeting, but he could not yet confirm what the connection was:

"It is indeed not a coincidence, Your Majesty Bonaparte, but what is His Majesty the King thinking about? The Duke of Orleans has been away from the court for nearly twenty years. Does Your Majesty need this artist and philosopher to do anything?"

Lawrence moved his eyes away from the Duke of Orleans, pondered for a moment, then sighed and said:

"Perhaps His Majesty wants to continue what he has been doing, just as he did with Richelieu and Choiseul, Madame du Barry and Crown Princess Marie, you and the High Court. "

"What I've been doing."

Justice Mopp frowned and repeated Lawrence's words, seeming to realize something.

Just as the justice was about to continue questioning Lawrence, a high-spirited sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from the door of the throne room - it was the march played by the royal band.

As the drumbeats became more intensive, two ceremonial officers carrying heraldic flags entered the throne room majestically, and then stood at attention on both sides of the door. They loudly announced to all participants in the throne room:

"Attention please! Your Excellencies and gentlemen, madam and ladies, His Majesty the King is here!"