Eagle’s Glory

Just as the Marquis of Treville was cheering for His Majesty's journey and sent his only son Edgar de Treville to Greece to join in the grand event, the court in Paris finally received news from Greece.

After more than ten years, the surname Bonaparte finally surprised the French monarchy again.

In 1815, Napoleon landed in France and restored the empire. At that time, the king of France was Louis XVIII, the younger brother of Louis XVI. Now in 1827, the throne of France has been replaced by Charles X, the younger brother of Louis XVIII.

Compared with his brother Louis XVIII, who was slightly more open-minded, Charles X was much more conservative. From the moment he came to power, he abolished some of his brother's reconciliation policies, and only trusted the most conservative nobles around him. The rulership is only accountable to God.

The king, who came to the throne after the death of his two elder brothers, had been on the throne for three years. During these three years, he appointed close ministers who best suited his personal political views to take charge of the country and overthrew Louis XVIII. Reconciliation policy, trying to rule France absolutely like Louis XIV. He has a famous saying that aptly confessed his goal of rule-"I would rather cut down trees to make a living than rule like the King of England!"

He also maintained his rule with this kind of fanaticism.

In order to try a large number of revolutionaries and sympathizers of the Napoleonic Empire, the Restoration Dynasty established courts-martial and special courts. The "king killers" of the year, that is, the members of the National Convention who voted for the execution of Louis XVI and the generals who voted for Napoleon in the "Hundred Days" were all spared. He was directly dismissed and could only receive half salary as retirement compensation.

Under such a severe purge policy, he originally thought that the rule of the Bourbon royal family over France would be as stable as when his ancestors were in power, at least until the end of his life, but at this time he discovered that the nightmarish But the surname surrounds him like a ghost, making him restless.

In 1789, the French Revolution broke out. Because the famine in Paris was not solved for a long time, it intensified. The angry citizens and women gathered on October 6, 1789, and then went to the Palace of Versailles to petition together, and then forced Louis XVI He and his family were taken hostage to Paris, and then placed in the Tuileries Palace in the city.

Since then, the Tuileries has replaced Versailles as the forbidden palace of French monarchs.

During the reign of Napoleon I, he lived here for a long time, and spent a lot of manpower and material resources on a large-scale renovation of the interior of the Tuileries Palace, adding many luxurious furnishings and oil painting murals; after Napoleon abdicated for the first time in 1814, , the Tuileries became the palace of Louis XVIII of the restored Bourbon dynasty. Out of the same considerations as Napoleon, Louis XVIII did not restore the status of the palace of Versailles, but continued to live in the Tuileries Palace.

This luxurious palace has witnessed the entire history of France in the 19th century.

Monarchs belonging to different families came and went and gave orders, but no one completely tamed this rebellious and passionate country.

"I knew this little bastard would not be safe!"

In the study of the Tuileries Palace, the aged King Charles X was furious at his prime minister, Count de Villers. "Before he even tried to seek reconciliation with me, saying that he respected me as a king and had no interest in French affairs. In the end, every word and sentence was a nonsense lie! Bad seeds are bad seeds, and the inherent vicious blood has been passed down! How could the Emperor Habsburg be so stupid that he let this man grow up healthy?!"

The Earl of Villers just lowered his head and let His Majesty the King vent. He knew that His Majesty was in a fit of anger and could only discuss the issue after he had finished venting.

Last year, the Duke of Reichstedt, who lived in the Schönbrunn Palace, took the initiative to write a letter to show his favor to His Majesty the King, and stated that he had absolutely no intention of interfering with his rule.

Although no one would believe the sincerity of this little guy at the time, since he said so, His Majesty the King was of course willing to write an enthusiastic reply letter, thanking him for his general knowledge and encouraging him to study hard so that he can serve the Habsburg royal family in the future. serve.

However, no one expected that not long after the reply letter was sent, Duke Reichstedt fled Vienna, and looking back, every word in his letter turned into sharp irony.

Although the young man has not set foot in France at present, and has not even sent any declaration to France, everyone knows that there is only one thing he is planning-the throne occupied by His Majesty the King at this time.

After venting his anger, His Majesty the King finally calmed down a little.

"This little guy must never be allowed to do whatever he wants." He said coldly, "We must find a way to stop him."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I think so too." Count Villers immediately nodded and said yes, "With your permission, I think we can send the Mediterranean fleet and part of the army to destroy him."

"In what name?" asked the king.

The Prime Minister was at a loss for words.

Indeed, judging from the information received, at least so far, the Duke of Lechstadt has not played the banner of being an enemy of the French king, and even his own title is an unknown leader of the Knights of Fontainebleau, And what he did was only to help the liberation of Greece.

If you put aside his identity, this is almost worthy of admiration.

The French people have always sympathized with the cause of Greek independence. Although this kind of sympathy does not mean military intervention and financial support, the use of force to destroy it may go against the will of the people.

What's more, the majestic king of a country panicked at the slightest movement of a young man, how decent is it to say it?

He had thought about these things before, but he didn't say anything because the king was angry. He didn't expect His Majesty to be angry, at least he was still thinking calmly.

"Then what do you think should be done?" Count Villers asked cautiously.

"We have instructors stationed in the Egyptian army, please pass on the secret order, let those instructors encourage and help Ali Pasha, and wipe out these Greek rebels as soon as possible, especially the Bonaparte supporters." His Majesty the King Said his own intention, "on the bright side, we don't want to be too angry. You have to emphasize to other countries that Bonaparte is not only our enemy, but also the enemy of Europe and human civilization. We cannot give them shelter."

The Earl of Villers secretly said that the opinions put forward by His Majesty the King coincided with his own thoughts.

He also knows that the rule of the Bourbon royal family is not very popular nowadays, and the trend of nostalgia for the Bonaparte family is gradually flooding in France. Just sympathize with him more-because on the surface he is not an enemy of France.

If the Egyptians could be used to do it, the situation would be much better.

"Okay, Your Majesty, I will carry out your order immediately." He immediately agreed.

The king frowned and looked at the murals on the wall angrily.

"I hope God will send down the punishment of heaven as soon as possible, just like his father, let this little bastard be wiped out, so that our country can avoid disaster." He murmured, "Fate has its own judgment, this family that has caused disasters to the world should have been extinct long ago. "

After cursing viciously, he turned to look at the Prime Minister again.

"Do you have anything else to report?"

Count Villers was silent for a moment, and then decided to report the truth.

"There is evidence that students in Paris and some cities in the provinces are secretly conspiring to launch a petition"

In 1826, under the push of King Charles X, the French Parliament passed a new publishing law, which implemented a strict news censorship system and threatened publishers with fines to suppress public opinion.

However, things backfired. Instead of calming public opinion, the government's harsh measures triggered protests everywhere, especially the students and intellectuals in Paris, who condemned the government in various ways.

If it's just some students making trouble, the king certainly doesn't care, but behind the protests that spread all over the place, there is always a vague ghost behind it.

"Is the Duke of Orleans behind it?"

"Yes, there is a lot of evidence to prove that the supporters of the Duke of Orleans are agitating and participating in these protests." The Prime Minister replied immediately.

The king's footsteps also became restless.

"The Duke is not only secretly contacting the protesters, he is also buying parliamentarians from all over the country to let them continue to fight against the government in order to intensify the confrontation between the government and the opposition." The prime minister continued, "Your Majesty, the activities of the Duke of Orleans have become more frequent recently, I have reason to think that they want to make trouble."

Inadvertently, His Majesty the King clenched his fists angrily.

Compared with Greece, which is far away in the sky, France itself is more worthy of their worries.

The name Orléans loathed him even more than the hated Bonaparte.

Because, the family of the Duke of Orleans is threatening his throne at this moment, and they are not afraid to use all kinds of tricks, subtle or subtle, to shake the rule of the Bourbon royal family.

From the beginning of the restoration, he firmly supported the severe liquidation of those revolutionary leaders who rebelled during the Great Revolution, as well as those who firmly supported the Bonaparte family. Under his severe blows, a large number of political enemies and civilians died for no apparent reason.

The white terror also aroused the hatred and counterattack of his enemies. On February 14, 1820, his youngest son, the Duke of Berry, was assassinated to death.

The killing of the prince not only brought grief and anger to the Bourbon royal family, but also brought a succession crisis:

Louis XVIII had no children, and his heir could only be his younger brother, who was later King Charles X; King Charles X had two sons, but the eldest son, the Dauphin, had no heirs, and the younger son, the Duke of Berry, was killed. At that time, there was no son, only the Duchess Princess Mary Caroline was pregnant at the time, and the children were unknown.

According to the ancient law of inheritance in France, women have no inheritance rights, which means that if the pregnant Princess Caroline gave birth to a daughter at this time, then the throne can only flow to the closest to the royal family in the future. In the hands of the vassal of the side branch—this side branch is the family of the Duke of Orleans.

The Duke of Orleans, whose ancestor was Prince Philip, the younger brother of Louis XIV, was also the branch of the royal family whose blood was closest to the royal family at this time.

The nobility of blood not only allowed them to have a lot of wealth and honor, but also gave them the ambition to covet the throne. In the era of the Great Revolution, the Duke of Orleans at that time actively participated in the revolution in order to shake the rule of the royal family. The Royal Palace became the meeting place for the leaders of the revolution. The Duke even voluntarily gave up his title of nobility and changed his name to Philippe-Equality to please the masses.

Later, during the trial of Louis XVI, the duke voted in favor of the death penalty for Louis XVI.

However, he failed to control the flames of revolution. In the following era of great terror, the duke who speculated on the revolution was finally sent to the guillotine by the Jacobins, and all the plots became a dream.

Although the Duke died, his blood and ambitions were not cut off. His son Louis-Philippe fled France and finally returned with the restoration of the Bourbon royal family, regaining the title of Duke of Orleans and a large fortune. .

The royal family of Bourbon has not forgotten what the family of the Duke of Orleans did back then, and some people even scolded them as regicides; and the family of the Duke of Orleans has not forgotten the ambition passed down from their ancestors, buying people's hearts everywhere, and singing against the royal family. It is well known.

It is conceivable how much panic the death of the Duke of Berry brought to the royal family of Bourbon, and how much hope it brought to the family of the Duke of Orleans—they were about to take the throne peacefully and without bloodshed.

However, at the last moment, fate once again fell on the troubled Bourbon royal family.

On September 29, 1820, the Duchess of Berry gave birth to a son in the Tuileries Palace. This son immediately became the future heir of the Bourbon royal family. King Charles X called him the child given by God.

The Duke of Orleans and their supporters were even more angry when they saw the throne in their hands fall.

They took advantage of the fact that the royal relatives were not present when the duchess gave birth to the child, and spread rumors wantonly, claiming that the son had been replaced, and the duchess replaced her own daughter with a child adopted from outside.

(Earlier, in order to determine the lineage of the royal heir, the French royal family had stipulated that the royal relatives must be present when the queen gave birth. But this rule was abolished by Louis XVI long ago, and he was reluctant to let his queen bear the childbirth. When you are in pain, you have to be watched by the crowd, so the Duchess did not violate the rules.)

Under the deliberate manipulation of the Duke of Orleans, this rumor spread everywhere, and let those dissatisfied opponents of the Bourbon royal family spread it.

Bloodlines were the most important thing for the nobles. Questioning the bloodlines of their grandsons would make the King furious more than any attack. He would never forgive the Duke of Orleans.

"It seems that I will take decisive measures to wipe out all these parasitic bugs in the kingdom." He said angrily.

"Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to act rashly at the moment. The Duke has many supporters." The Prime Minister hurriedly advised.

"If we deal with it now, we still have time, and I'm afraid it's too late to hesitate." The king replied. "I'm going to arrest them all!"

The Prime Minister was silent for a while. He knew that this topic was not suitable for him to participate in at present, so after thinking for a while, he decided to change the topic.

"The ambassador to Vienna, Earl Taylor Wen, is familiar with Eastern affairs, and he has met the Duke of Reichstedt before, and he is at least a little familiar with him. I suggest sending him to Constantinople. I think he can handle it properly. good."

"That's it." The king nodded.

Orleans, Bonaparte, both inside and outside, made him extremely bored, and if he didn't handle it properly, it would cause endless harm.

What he was most worried about was that he was old, the crown prince was incompetent, and his grandson was still young and ignorant. If he dragged on, God knows what would happen.

"We have to make preparations for this." After thinking for a while, he emphasized again.