From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

After surprising everyone by appointing Charles Bornaba as the commander of the 21st Academy Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Modise did not give the freshmen much time to react and digest, and went straight into the morning session. In training.

Since it was the first day of teaching, Lieutenant Colonel Modise only conducted the simplest and most basic formation and marching training.

Although this part is simple, at a time when line tactics are prevalent, queues and marches can be considered the core content of battlefield command.

Those who were recommended by local military schools, as well as those who came here directly from the army like Berthier, were already proficient in this part of the content.

Lawrence, who had experience in commanding an army, mastered it very easily. It felt like there were just a few more commands and actions than in later generations of military training.

It goes without saying that people like Duke Charles are the best among people. Only a very small number of aristocratic students like Prince Louis, who are pampered and pampered, will have difficulties on the first day of training.

After countless wrong turns, misheard passwords, and turns, even Lieutenant Colonel Modise laughed out loud at Prince Louis's operations. He personally gave him the reputation of being stupid and called him a fool. Let him run around the entire Knights Square five times.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was exhausted and exhausted, was almost carried back to the school building by Lawrence and Berthier. However, to Lawrence's surprise, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very determined and did not complain at all about quitting.

After the morning training, students can take afternoon courses based on their own circumstances and interests, just like in a normal university.

As a military academy in a transitional stage at the end of the 18th century, the Paris Military Academy had the prototypes of modern military academies in many places, but it also had the remnants of many classical academies.

It seems that in order to challenge himself, Crown Prince Louis deliberately chose a series of fields such as swordsmanship, equestrianism, musket crafts, and war history that he has never been involved in. Lawrence and Duke Charles came with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so they took the same elective courses. course.

Berthier could not be with the three of them. His father was a lieutenant colonel surveying and mapping engineer. He himself entered the army's surveying and mapping department at the age of thirteen. Naturally, he came to the Paris Military Academy to specialize in surveying and mapping.

After a busy day of school, the four core members of the Shire Gang also returned to the school building and gathered in Lawrence's room to chat.

"Hahaha silly guy, you really should practice your sword skills."

Duke Charles, who had just finished swordsmanship training and was still wearing armor, laughed at the unconvinced Crown Prince Louis:

"Maybe next time you will have the opportunity to hold on for a few more rounds with me. Ciel is also a beginner, so he can fight with me a few times."

Apparently, Prince Louis suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Duke Charles during the afternoon swordsmanship lesson.

"Try calling me that again, damn Charlie."

Crown Prince Louis took off his armor slightly discouraged. His Royal Highness had a few light bruises on his face. He complained dissatisfiedly:

"You must have practiced swordsmanship before, so you are so agile."

Berthier glanced at Duke Charles with slight surprise. You must know that swordsmanship training is almost a privilege of aristocratic children, and children from poor families cannot afford swordsmanship training.

Armor, weapons, venues, coaches, time and energy are all a huge expense.

Duke Charles did not notice Berthier's eyes and said smugly:

"Of course, when you were dealing with the Anvil Wind Furnace, I was holding the sword the whole time."

As a competitive young aristocrat, Duke Charles spent most of his time on swordsmanship training, and he looked down on Prince Louis' hobby of locking himself in the lock-making workshop all day long.

Berthier, who was listening in the audience, was even more confused at this moment: "Ludwig is a blacksmith apprentice? But his hands don't look like a blacksmith at all."

"Tch, isn't it just because you have practiced more than me for a few years?" Prince Louis curled his lips and said unconvinced:

"Give me some time and I'll pierce your heart in three rounds."

Hearing this, Duke Charles laughed unabashedly:

"You? Forget it. It's possible for Ciel to practice again, so just forget it."

"Charlie!" Prince Louis threw away his helmet and shouted angrily.

Upon seeing this, Berthier quickly came between the two to mediate:

"Okay, okay, you two, we are all companions. By the way, I have good news here."

"Good news?" Crown Prince Louis and Duke Charles instantly settled their differences and asked excitedly.

Berthier also reported excitedly:

"In the afternoon, many students came to me and expressed their intention to join the Shire Gang. There were about a dozen of them."

During the morning training, Lawrence, as the battalion commander, also revealed the existence of the Charles Gang to fellow trainees and appointed Berthier to be responsible for accepting new members.

The reason for choosing Berthier is also very simple. His organizational skills are unparalleled in the world. Although the young Berthier may not be able to reach his historical heights, he is more than enough to handle the affairs of a small gang.

"Someone is joining so soon?" Prince Louis was very surprised.

Duke Charlie nodded with understanding and analyzed:

"I guess they want to try to join him now that Charles has become the battalion commander."

For many civilian students, they came to Paris, the capital of the kingdom, alone and helpless. If there is a group that takes care of each other, these students would be happy to join it.

However, judging from the fact that only a dozen of the nearly four hundred students have expressed their willingness to join, it seems that there are still many people who dare not get involved due to the threat of Count Isaac.

"Hey, battalion commander, what are you talking about? You have been silent since just now. What are you writing?"

Duke Charles greeted Lawrence who was immersed in writing in front of the desk.

Lawrence put the quill back into the ink bottle, arranged the paperwork on the table, and said with a wry smile:

"It's not a good thing to be the battalion commander. It's only the first day and there are so many paperwork that I need to deal with."

Then, Lawrence looked at Berthier and said:

"As for the new members, Berthier, you can just come and come. It's best to accept civilian students like the three of us who come from other places and have poor families. Of course, other students can also be admitted into the gang if they have good conduct."

"I see."

Berthier nodded seriously, took out his notes from his pocket and glanced at them a few times, which contained a brief summary of the applicant, and then smiled with satisfaction:

"There are still many such candidates, and our gang can expand to more than ten people."

After witnessing Charles Bornaba serving as the commander of the cadet battalion, Berthier no longer regarded the Charles Gang as a joke, but as an organization of officers that he could truly rely on in the future.

It is precisely because of this that Berthier, as one of the founding members, treats the development of the Shire Gang even more carefully than Lawrence himself.

And when Lawrence saw that Berthier had recorded all the applicants' situations so carefully, he couldn't help but sigh that he had indeed seen the right person.

Duke Charlie didn't have any feelings for this gang organization yet. He walked to Lawrence curiously, picked up the stack of documents and read:

"There's so much paperwork on just the first day? Let me take a look, uh, uniform receipt confirmation, student list confirmation, school building room distribution book, daily drill formation chart. It's really a bunch of annoying chores."

"Who says it isn't? Instructor Modis said that dealing with administrative work is also a basic quality for an officer."

Lawrence reluctantly agreed:

"Although they are all insignificant things, fortunately I only need to sign and stamp them, that's all."

As he spoke, Lawrence's tone became a little more serious, he took out a piece of paper from among these documents, squinted his eyes and read:

"Only this one seems a bit strange. It's called the Confirmation of Distribution of Special Bursaries for His Majesty the King and the Duke of Choiseul."

Berthier seemed to have remembered something. He rummaged through his notes for a while, nodded and said:

"I have an impression of this scholarship. It was established in the name of His Majesty the King and the Duke of Choiseul. It is used to support those military academy cadets from poor backgrounds to complete their studies. It is said that nearly 100,000 livres are distributed to the Paris Military Academy every year. Students shall be issued by the Student Autonomous Federation.”

Although Lawrence had not made any preparations for these investigations, he could roughly guess that this should be a bursary established by the Duke of Choiseul, and its purpose should be to make the students who received the funding owe him a favor. After all, this kind of Favors disguised as favors are the hardest to repay.

The reason for adding the name of His Majesty the King in front is just to make his utilitarianism look less strong. In fact, it is essentially the same as Lawrence currently using the name of Crown Prince Louis to win over people in the military academy.

Of course, regardless of Duke Choiseul's purpose, this is actually a pretty good policy for those students who come from poor backgrounds.

"The problem is that this document states that thirteen thousand livres have been allocated to the twenty-first batch of students, and I am asked to sign to confirm."

Lawrence glanced at the document suspiciously and said:

"But I haven't seen a penny now. Moreover, the fund allocation plan was decided so hastily on the second day of enrollment. Those guys in the student association are really anxious."

"This is not good." Berthier frowned, covering his chin and analyzed:

"If this document is signed and handed in, it's unclear whether the thirteen thousand livres have been distributed. This is a huge sum of money, but if you don't sign it, I'm afraid those people from the Federation of Students will I won’t be happy, and those guys are not easy to mess with.”

Lawrence looked at the document and sneered. He could definitely conclude that if he really signed and handed over the document in a hurry, he would never see even a single silver coin of the thirteen thousand livres. .

As a ruler of a country, this low-end administrative technique was still too clumsy in Lawrence's opinion.

The group of people from the Student Association probably wanted to take advantage of the fact that the new battalion commander was still unfamiliar with everything and mix this crucial document among the pile of complicated and trivial documents to induce him to sign for confirmation. .

Once this document is handed over and sealed, the real thirteen thousand livres will be a piece of unclaimed wealth that can be put into someone's pockets openly.

It is estimated that this kind of trick will also be used on freshmen who have just entered school. The higher-level student battalion commanders should be wary of it, or have already been fooled once.

Just thinking about the corruption of those people in the Student Association, Lawrence was angry and laughing at the same time, not knowing what to say.

After hearing the conversation between the two, Crown Prince Louis also understood what happened.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't help but become worried, because he had already thought that in the future, as a king, he would sign countless edicts and documents like this, so would his ministers also use these tricks to deceive him?

"Can I really see through these tricks? If I can't, I'm not running the country like a blind man."

Prince Louis was thinking worriedly. He glanced at Lawrence, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought silently:

"Lawrence, he is so good and can easily see through these tricks. If he is allowed to handle everything, isn't it?"

In the room, Lawrence was still discussing with Berthier what to do with this document:

"Will it offend the Federation of Students and the Student Government Association? Are those people difficult to deal with?"

"Quite difficult, Charles. As far as I know, they are the most powerful student department in the Paris Military Academy."

Berthier explained very seriously:

"They will even exercise many of the powers of the school. Large ones like the allocation of scholarships, small ones such as daily inspections and filing applications are all handled by them. If they are really targeted, it will be difficult to move forward. ”

Lawrence sighed helplessly:

"No matter where they are, the student union is a bunch of annoying guys."

"There's nothing we can do about it. I heard that there are many people who are dissatisfied with the Student Federation, but no one can do anything to them. Their relationship with the school is very close."

Although Berthier did not understand Lawrence's emotion, he also echoed the suggestion:

"Char, I suggest not to conflict with them directly. This document can be delayed. The other party will definitely react after knowing that we have seen through their tricks. It will not be considered to make a decision based on their reaction. Too late."

Berthier's suggestion is naturally the most stable and feasible, and it is undoubtedly the best choice for a civilian student like Charles Bornaba who comes from a poor background and has just arrived.

However, for Laurence Bonaparte, he had no intention of playing it safe at the Paris Military Academy.

"I have a task for you to do, Berthier."

Lawrence thought for a while and then ordered skillfully:

"First recruit new members who meet the requirements into the gang, and then lead them to spread the information about this document. Don't make it too obvious, but at least let the more than 300 people in the same period know about it."

Berthier was slightly startled. He could tell that the new battalion commander did not intend to make the slightest compromise with the people from the Federation of Students.

However, considering that Charles had surprised him several times in the past two days, Berthier also put aside some of his worries and began to ask about the details of the mission:

"Are you going to disclose the details of the document as well?"

"No need, it is enough to let the students of the same period know that the group of people from the Student Association took away the thirteen thousand livres that should have belonged to us."

"I see."

Berthier quickly made some notes in his notes, then nodded solemnly, turned around and said goodbye:

"Then without further delay, I will go and contact the new members now."

"Sorry to trouble you." Lawrence handed over this task to Berthier with great confidence.

After Berthier left, Duke Charles scratched his head helplessly and sighed:

"It looks like you are going to get into trouble again, Sir Charles. Berthier just said that the Federation of Students has a lot of power. Those people will not harass us like flies every day in the future."

Lawrence chuckled and shook his head, glanced disdainfully at the scholarship allocation confirmation letter, then crumpled it into a ball of waste paper and threw it into the trash can:

"The Student Government Association is just a stepping stone for the rise of the Shire Gang. I think it's time for them to give way to us."