From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Lawrence turned around and looked around the study, then looked out the window at the fertile land that was quiet and peaceful under the moonlight, and demanded directly:

"First of all, you openly kidnapped our friends. More than a dozen of my subordinates were injured in the battle just now. You even threatened the three of us with force. For these, you must make some compensation, right? I think. Your manor is quite nice.”

Upon hearing this request, Earl Isaac's eyes almost darkened. This Yuehu Manor was an ancestral fief that had been inherited by his Isaac family for hundreds of years. It could even be said to be the family's heritage.

Let’s not talk about the significance of the land itself. Just the dozens of acres of rich fertile soil around here, the value of the crops produced every year is not a small amount, enough for Earl Isaac to maintain his extravagant life. The entire manor The value can be said to be immeasurable.

Previously, several major chambers of commerce in Paris jointly offered millions of livres to acquire this land, but they were all rejected with disdain by Count Isaac.

However, when he saw the unkind faces of the three young people in front of him, and when he thought that he had dared to point a pistol at them just now, Count Isaac did not dare to hesitate any more. He endured the pain in his heart and forced himself to He smiled and nodded:

"Absolutely. No problem at all, Your Excellency, you can take away the title deed tonight."

"Second." Lawrence then demanded:

"Resign as chief executive of the town of Torcy and get out of Paris within a month."

"This is it, Your Excellency." Earl Isaac's heart tightened, but he gritted his teeth and accepted the condition. Power and money were nothing more than extraneous things to him at this time.

As long as he can seek forgiveness from the three adults and leave Paris unharmed, he can still regain some of his former status with his own background and connections.

The reason why Lawrence specifically asked Count Isaac to resign was to show his goodwill to the white-shirted soldiers of the Invalides as Charles Bornaparte.

As long as Lawrence forces Count Isaac to resign here, and uses His Excellency Bonaparte's identity and influence to stop the Ministry of Finance's spending cuts on Les Invalides, then the white shirts will be able to successfully keep the land they depend on for survival. .

At the same time, this will also allow Lawrence's two identities to establish good prestige within the White Shirt Army. After all, this time is a matter of life and death for these retired officers.

This is just a simple task for Lawrence, but it can effectively win over the White Shirts, a very influential group of officers. Lawrence is naturally happy to do such a good thing.

Moreover, the chief executive of the town of Torcy is a position of small power in Île-de-France. Although Lawrence himself has no suitable candidate to take over, he can still exchange interests with other factions as a favor.

"So finally, you should have a reasonable explanation for everything that happened tonight, right?" Lawrence asked Earl Isaac.

Earl Isaac seemed to be well-versed in human relations. He immediately understood what Lawrence meant and blurted out:

"Don't worry, I will publish a statement in the newspaper tomorrow. All the fault lies with Ghor. It was my son who illegally imprisoned a military academy cadet. Then I released the cadet under your persuasion and compensated and reached a settlement. , there was no conflict tonight; and for the crime of kidnapping my son, I am willing to take the blame and resign, and lead the whole family to leave Paris."

Although he doted on his son, in the face of the life and death of the entire family, Earl Isaac had no choice but to endure his grief and chose to abandon his car to save his commander, allowing Gullai to legitimately bear all the responsibilities.

Lawrence nodded with a smile. It seemed that Count Isaac was also very wise. After this statement was issued, maybe the outside world would still praise his just act of annihilating relatives.

For Lawrence, although this set of statements will definitely make many people feel strange, since Count Isaac himself did not pursue the crime of the students forcibly breaking into the manor, the palace and the government would have a much easier time handling this incident. .

Even if the matter finally reached His Majesty the King, as long as Count Isaac himself gave up the pursuit of responsibility, Louis XV could easily calm down all the troubles.

"I appreciate your cooperation, Lord Earl."

Lawrence reached out and pulled Earl Isaac up, and finally reminded:

"Follow your promise well. Also, as a reminder, regarding the identities of the three of us, you'd better die in your stomach."

"I will definitely, I will."

Count Isaac nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. He knew how to keep secrets without Lawrence reminding him.

Although he didn't know why these three adults disguised themselves as military academy cadets, Count Isaac didn't have the courage to think about it. He knew very well that knowing too much was not a good thing in many cases.

Almost after the three Lawrences completed their negotiations with Earl Isaac, the students in the main building also successfully discovered a struggling Berthier and a stunned Gur in a hidden basement.

When Lawrence rushed to the basement, the bloodless Gur had been tied up and pinned to the ground by the student soldiers. He was so shocked that he couldn't say a word for a long time.

He didn't understand why these students appeared in his basement at this time. What happened in the manor? !

Although Berthier looked haggard, his injuries were not serious. It seemed that Lawrence and his team arrived in time. Gur was controlled by the students before he could use the torture instruments.

And his look of shock was no less shocking than Gur's.

Berthier was even mentally prepared, planning to grit his teeth in this dungeon-like cage until he was released.

Even if Charles and other gang members were indifferent to his disappearance, Berthier felt that it was understandable. After all, they were facing the notorious Count Isaac. Such a powerful Count was not a young military academy cadet at all. Can contend.

Therefore, Berthier had no idea that Charles Bornaba would personally lead the gang members to Moon Lake Manor at great risk for himself.

"Charles, you." Berthier's voice was very weak, and he looked at Lawrence who hurried to the basement with a complicated expression:

"It's so unwise of you."

Although he said reproachful words, Berthier's tone was full of emotion. He looked at Lawrence and a group of serious and determined students, and felt dazed for a moment. He had no idea that they would do such a dangerous thing for him. act.

Lawrence stepped forward and carefully examined the injuries on Berthier's body. Fortunately, they were all skin wounds caused by fists and feet, so he breathed a sigh of relief, stared into Berthier's eyes and said seriously:

"You're part of a gang."

Berthier was stunned and turned to look around at the students present. Almost all of their uniforms were stained with blood, and the blood spots that had not yet completely solidified seemed to still tell the story of the danger of the battle just now.

Although they had to take desperate risks and fight bloody battles, these hard-blooded students still followed Lawrence's footsteps to this manor without hesitation.

And the reason why they are willing to do this is just as Lawrence said just now, there is only one short sentence - you are a member of the gang.

A few hot tears welled up from Berthier's eyes, and he nodded with a wry smile:

"Thank you, Ciel."

At this moment, not only Berthier, but also other students' sense of belonging to the gang reached an unprecedented peak.

They firmly believe in one fact - the Shire Gang will never give up on any of their brothers.

Afterwards, everyone worked together to bring the weak Berthier and the tied-up Gul out of the basement.

When Count Isaac arrived and saw his son being pushed to the ground with a lifeless face, even though he was extremely distressed, he was forced to hold back his grief. He stepped forward and kicked Gol mercilessly. On his forehead, he cursed angrily:

"You bastard, who gave you the courage to kidnap that Mr. Berthier! Do you know this is a crime?"

This sudden kick completely stunned Gur, who was just about to complain. He endured the severe pain in his forehead and looked at his father blankly:

"What are you talking about, father? It's not you who brought Berthier."

"You dare to quibble with me!" Earl Isaac kicked him forward again, acting like an old father who hates iron.

Lawrence naturally knew that Count Isaac's play was for him and the students, but Lawrence was not interested in such exaggerated performances, so he directly patted Count Isaac and said:

"I hope you will discipline Mr. Gur well. Sir Earl, please come and untie Mr. Gur's rope."

The two students stepped forward and were about to untie Gur, but Count Isaac quickly pushed them away, looked at Lawrence eagerly and said:

"No, no, no, just let him be tied up. Anyway, I will personally escort this traitor to the court tomorrow to plead guilty. He actually committed such an appalling act of kidnapping and torture behind my back. Even my heir is really hateful! "

Seeing Earl Isaac's jealous look, all the students present looked strange and unbelievable. They felt that this was not the same person as the Earl who just laughed arrogantly at the main entrance of the manor.

Berthier was even more surprised and didn't open his mouth for a long time. He hadn't seen him for an hour, but he didn't know why Count Isaac suddenly became amiable and selfless.

However, one thing the students knew very well was that Earl Isaac's 180-degree change in attitude must be closely related to their leader Charles Bornaba.

After Earl Isaac shamelessly performed the drama of annihilating relatives for justice, he took Gul and disappeared directly into the main building of the manor. He did not dare to stay with this group of military cadets for a moment longer.

Tonight will also be the last night that the playboy Gur spends in his own manor. Tomorrow morning, without anyone urging him, Earl Isaac will personally send Gur, the scapegoat, to prison.

Two days later, in the early morning of March 26, the Invalides in Paris

In a tea room, several old officers finished their breakfast as usual and chatted while drinking hot tea.

It's just that today, they are no longer as leisurely as usual. Everyone is frowning and crying constantly.

In recent days, there is only one thing that has made these retired officers frown all day long - the damn Earl Isaac is almost about to take away a large piece of land in the Invalides.

Only a few red tape procedures are needed to confirm, and these heroes who have shed blood for the country will be ready to walk into the pawn shop with the medals at the bottom of the box, or directly live on the streets.

If nothing unexpected happens, today, the nightmare day for the white-shirted soldiers is about to come.

"well"

Even a tough guy like Lieutenant Colonel Shadis couldn't help but sigh in front of this kind of thing.

In order to try his best to change this tragic ending, Lieutenant Colonel Shadis specially asked for a period of leave from the Paris Military Academy, and stayed in the Invalides wholeheartedly to negotiate with the administrative bureaucrats of Torcy.

He even dragged his body through the streets of Paris day and night, trying to organize citizens and other veterans to protest.

But all the efforts had little effect, and now it seems that it was all in vain.

"Shadis, there is no need to blame yourself." An old officer patted Lieutenant Colonel Shadis on the shoulder happily and said with a wry smile:

"We all see your efforts. Maybe this is the fate of us people. You should go back to the military academy as soon as possible, so as not to delay your career."

Lieutenant Colonel Shadis bit his lip tightly, reluctantly picked up the flask and took a sip of whiskey, gritted his teeth and said:

"What possible change could there be?"

The old officer shook his head slowly and smiled bitterly: "Then we have to hope for a miracle."

Lieutenant Colonel Shadis drank his wine and said nothing more. The others also remained silent, and the atmosphere quickly became deserted.

Suddenly, a series of impatient footsteps came from outside.

I saw a retired military officer suddenly burst open the door of the tea room. He held a copy of this morning's morning newspaper in his hand as if he had found a treasure, and shouted ecstatically:

"Everyone, there is good news, two pieces of good news! It's about the land!"

As he spoke, he rushed forward happily, spread the newspaper in his hand on the table, and turned to the third page. After a brief daze, the other officers immediately came around and crowded around the newspaper. .

The retired military officer read aloud from a report in the corner:

“On the night of the 24th, Count Isaac, the chief executive of the town of Torcy, and his eldest son Gur Alexei kidnapped and injured a cadet of the Paris Military Academy out of personal grudges.

That evening, several Paris Military Academy cadets, led by a military cadet named Charles Bornaba, came to the territory of the Isaac family for communication and negotiation.

After full communication, Count Isaac was extremely shocked by his eldest son's crime, and immediately released the injured military cadets and reached a compensation settlement with them.

In the early morning of the 25th, Count Isaac took the initiative to deliver his eldest son to the Trial Court of Torsi Town for trial, and submitted his resignation to the Minister of Administration on the grounds of educational failure, saying that he could no longer serve as the mayor of Torsi Town. The chief executive will lead the family to leave Paris as soon as possible and settle in the countryside of Dauphine.

The Paris Military Academy has not yet made any response to this matter. The Minister of Administration has accepted Count Isaac's resignation, and the handover of administrative work is in progress.

Commentators of this newspaper said that Count Isaac’s selfless character is generally lacking among French aristocrats. Under such circumstances, more aristocrats will only harbor evil and collude with others. If our administrative system is completely With a responsible person like Count Isaac, France will inevitably become a formidable country. "

After reading the news aloud, the officers almost didn't react.

Count Isaac, who was in tit-for-tat with Les Invalides a few days ago, actually chose to resign over such a trivial matter?

Lieutenant Colonel Shadis stared blankly at the familiar name in the newspaper, Charles Bornaba, another boy? After he communicated and negotiated with Count Isaac, he asked him to resign and get out? !

Suddenly, Lieutenant Colonel Shadis felt a confusion in his mind. If he remembered correctly, Charles beat up Count Isaac's son on the first day of school. How could he communicate and negotiate with Count Isaac.

The officer coughed twice and saw the doubts on everyone's faces, so he whispered:

"I heard from the old department of the police force that the night before yesterday was not a peace negotiation at all. A lot of blood was shed in Moon Lake Manor. But the strange thing is that Earl Isaac did not mention this armed conflict at all, or even Want to take the initiative to downplay the conflict”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, and finally turned their attention to Lieutenant Colonel Shadis. After all, the protagonist on the other side of the matter was a cadet from the Paris Military Academy.

But Lieutenant Colonel Shadis just shook his head in confusion. He had not been in the military academy in the past few days, not to mention that he himself was completely unclear about Charles Bornaba.

After thinking hard, the officers could not come to any reliable conclusion, so they had to put this mystery aside for now.

"Anyway, it's really good news that came out of the blue." An officer patted his chest and said with a smile:

"The land agenda will be postponed for at least more than a month."

If it weren't for Charles Bornaparte, they would have to pack up and leave today.

Another officer pointed at the name in the newspaper and suggested movingly:

"Yes, Charles Bornaba, we old men are really indebted to this young man this time. The White Shirts owe him a big favor, and we must pay him back."

Everyone also agreed with this proposal. After all, the white-shirted soldiers relied on human ties to maintain their influence. They knew very well that the debt of favor must be repaid as soon as possible.

However, considering that the white-shirted soldiers are now a group of old men with no money, no power, and no influence, no one can offer any material rewards.

So after discussion, a group of officers decided to let Lieutenant Colonel Shadis return to the military academy to express gratitude to the brave cadet on behalf of the white-shirted army, and solemnly promised to lend a helping hand to the other party when he was in trouble.

The atmosphere in the tea room finally warmed up a bit after receiving this news, and was no longer as sighing and lifeless as before.

However, there is still not much joy on the faces of the officers, because they know very well that even if the delay is more than a month, it is just a last resort. The next chief executive will still covet the Invalides with the support of the Ministry of Finance. soil of.

Seeing that everyone was still looking sad, the officer who had just entered suddenly laughed loudly and turned the newspaper in his hand to another page:

"Hahaha, don't sigh, there is some great news. Look here."

The officers were startled again, and hurriedly looked in the direction of his finger, and chanted in unison:

“Yesterday morning, His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica and First Chamberlain to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, published an article publicly.

In the article, His Excellency Bonaparte mentioned that he had noticed the recent attempts by the French Ministry of Finance to reduce the expenditure of the Les Invalides in Paris, and expressed doubts and confusion about this behavior.

His Excellency Bonaparte's original words were: The French Ministry of Finance is really strange. They have the money to keep five thousand tea ladies and twelve thousand secretaries doing nothing all day, and they have the money to build a three-story building for their own department every year. Marble office building, but no money for the 4,800 soldiers who shed blood for the country to spend the rest of their lives in peace.

As a general, His Excellency Bonaparte could not tolerate the miserable conditions of the soldiers, and shouted to the Ministry of Finance: If you must cut expenditures, please cut my salary before the expenditures of the Invalides.

According to an unconfirmed news, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince privately agreed with His Excellency Bonaparte's remarks and echoed that if the Ministry of Finance wants to reduce the expenditure of the Invalides, it is better to deduct the royal family's expenditure budget first.

Yesterday afternoon, the Finance Minister was seen setting off from Versailles and anxiously heading to the Tuileries Palace and the Corsican Embassy, ​​but it seemed that he did not see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or His Excellency Bonaparte himself.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Finance responded urgently that they had not issued any policy document to reduce the expenditure of the Invalides, and emphasized that the Paris Invalides will continue to provide support services for veterans in accordance with the order of the late King.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has also made a commitment to gradually expand the scale of the Invalides to provide a home for more meritorious soldiers. "

If the first report brought shock to everyone, then this report brought outright ecstasy.

After a short delay, the entire tea room burst into thunderous cheers, as if these nearly 70-year-old veterans had returned to the night they won their first battle.

Even Lieutenant Colonel Shadis, who had always been serious about his words, was stunned in his seat and couldn't help but giggle.

Laurence Bonaparte, the Corsican and the personal attendant of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, took the initiative to intervene in this dispute and unexpectedly took the side of Les Invalides.

The Ministry of Finance obviously did not want to offend His Excellency Bonaparte or even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince over such a trivial matter, so it immediately chose to reverse course. Not only did it state that it would not cut funding, but it also promised to gradually increase the scale of the Invalides. This was very important to the White Shirt Army. It's totally a great thing.

Even though they had read it once, everyone still did not disperse from the newspaper. Instead, they crowded together and greedily read the few lines of black and white words over and over again, as if they were tasting some fine wine.

Especially the original text of His Excellency Bonaparte quoted in the report: "Before cutting the expenses of the Invalides, please cut my salary first." This group of old officers even praised them and nodded repeatedly. Unexpectedly, one of them came from the science and technology department. Foreigners in Sijia can also be close to each other.

If Charles Bonaparte helped them solve their urgent needs, then Lawrence Bonaparte completely eradicated their worries. These veterans who could not lift their hands or shoulders finally no longer had to sleep all night, tossing and turning. I worry about where I will go in the future.

Just over an hour later, these two pieces of news spread throughout the Invalides.

The white-shirted soldiers were all in high spirits and beaming. Almost everyone had the names of Charles Bonaparte and Lawrence Bonaparte on their lips, and they did not hesitate to praise these two saviors of Les Invalides. word.

At the same time, the top leaders of the White Shirt Army, including Lieutenant Colonel Shadis, immediately gathered together and began to discuss how to repay His Excellency Bonaparte's kindness.

Of course, there are not many choices left for the poor white-shirted soldiers, especially for top figures like Laurence Bonaparte.

The white-shirted soldiers had no choice but to offer their highest etiquette standards with an uneasy mood:

The senior officials voted unanimously to confer upon Laurence Bonaparte the title of Commander of the Legion of Honor.

This also means that from this moment on, Laurence Bonaparte has been accepted by the White Shirts as one of their own with his indelible contribution and is regarded as a potential leader.