Eagle’s Glory

While Agron was preparing for Teresa to give birth and for his wife to leave Ioannina, his subordinates in Paris were also busy with his career.

Unknowingly, Edmond Dantès has been in Paris for more than three months. As time goes by, he becomes more and more familiar with this metropolis that he once longed for and envied - after all, he has quietly become A member of the upper class.

In order not to expose himself, he rarely attended public places and would not even visit others unless necessary. However, even so, this generous, low-key and wealthy foreign aristocrat still enjoyed distinguished service in Paris.

The life he lives now, the wealth and title he enjoys are all things that the little sailor could not have imagined. But when he actually had it all, his thoughts were changed to..."nothing more than that".

It doesn't seem like there's anything extraordinary about it.

He was used to being treated with respect, and even began to take it for granted. In addition, he was usually deliberately taciturn, so his gestures became more majestic, and he became more and more demeanor-like.

However, deep down, he still remembered who he was. The glory and wealth of Paris did not corrode his mind and wear away his consciousness. His steely heart only beat for loyalty and revenge.

On this day, the Marquis of Noirtier came to visit him specially.

Naturally, Edmund did not dare to neglect this veteran in the party and quickly received him.

Although he is over sixty years old, the Marquis is still graceful and graceful. Whether he is walking or sitting down, he is full of the quickness and shrewdness unique to action men.

He bet his life on the restoration of the Bonaparte family. He was once depressed due to the failure in 1815. However, more than ten years later, he saw hope in life from the new generation of heirs, so he once The decadent spirit seemed to be recharged and suddenly became energetic again.

He had been silent for a long time and no longer interfered with political affairs. During this period, he began to secretly act again. He visited old friends everywhere, tried, persuaded, deceived, and intimidated him, and used all possible means to keep him under more than ten years. It is impossible to pick up the business that was interrupted years ago.

The Marquis of Noirtier knew that he was already old at this time and would probably not live for more than ten years. This might be his last chance to reach the top in his life, so how could he be willing to miss it?

"Mr. Count, has your Majesty replied to your letter?" As soon as he sat down, he asked Edmund directly.

Edmund knew what he meant - what the Marquis was most concerned about now was whether His Majesty listened to his advice and whether he took this "old minister" to heart.

So, he immediately replied, "Your Majesty has recently written me a letter. I just received it and was looking for you——"

"Looking for me? So His Majesty mentioned me?" The Marquis of Noirtier's brows twitched, but he quickly calmed down and tried hard to appear calm and calm. "It's a real honor."

"Not only did he mention you, His Majesty also praised you greatly." Edmond Dantès smiled lightly. "He praised you as one of the few politicians in France who can keep up with the changes of the times. Your suggestions are very important." Okay, he is willing to accept it, and he even thinks that the fact that you have such a talented person who does not know how to recruit is enough to prove how corrupt the Wang family has become."

"Your Majesty, this is too exaggerated... I just have a few years of experience, and I am not a politician." The Marquis of Noirtier seemed a little embarrassed, but the smile on his face was completely concealed "In addition, I have never considered begging for mercy from the royal family from the beginning. The dying Bourbon is not worthy of my service. Only the Bonaparte family, which represents the new force and is willing to listen to the voices of the people, can lead this country forward." "

"Your loyalty is enough to move everyone." After more than a year of experience, Edmond Dantès has become completely comfortable in handling this kind of conversation. He is full of the calmness of a big man, and he is not sloppy in speaking those polite words. . "His Majesty not only accepts your suggestion, he also wants to go further."

"Further?" The Marquis was a little confused, "What does it mean?"

In the letter, Aiglon explained his next plan to Edmond Dantès in secret words and asked Edmund to prepare for it, but Edmund did not intend to tell the Marquis all the truth.

On the one hand, he is afraid of leaking secrets. On the other hand, as an "imperial envoy", he is naturally inclined to monopolize information in order to maintain his position.

Everyone only needs to know what he wants the other person to know, and he should be the one who has the overall picture.

"His Majesty intends to issue a declaration, an open declaration to the French people." Edmund pondered for a moment before telling part of the truth. "In the declaration, he will publicly express and enthusiastically support the republican system and oppose the existing system." Absolute monarchy, he hopes to return to the spirit of 1799, allowing the French people to determine their own future and use the vote of all citizens to resolve current outstanding issues..."

"Ah?" The Marquis was greatly surprised.

The surprise was followed by surprise, "Can I see the full text of the declaration?"

"Of course." Edmund nodded, and then he solemnly took out the draft of the declaration that he translated according to the secret language from the safe, and then handed it to the Marquis to read. "You are the first person besides me on the ground in France who has seen this document——"

Of course the Marquis of Noirtier knew it was of great significance, but his hands didn't even shake.

Back then, he passed the Declaration of Human Rights in the National Assembly, witnessed the vote to execute the king, witnessed General Napoleon's coup, and saw the emperor ascend the throne. He had seen many big scenes, and this little thing could not shake his heart at all.

He read the manuscript carefully, considering every word.

The Marquis of Noirtier, who has been involved in politics for decades, understands the subtle meaning of political declarations better than anyone else. It can be said that a subtle difference in a word can lead to completely opposite meanings.

As a person who had personal experience in politics during those twenty years, the Marquis of Noirtier clearly remembered that Napoleon held four important referendums. They were on December 12, 1799. In this referendum, Napoleon was elected as the first consul. , the referendum of 1802, Napoleon gained the power to rule for life, and the referendum of 1804, to decide whether to proclaim himself emperor. The first three were extremely important. It can be said that Napoleon turned France into his family industry step by step, while the last referendum It was 1815, when the restored empire was like a candle in the wind, and there was nothing left to say.

Every time, the emperor exercised his personal power in the name of the people.

If I am like this, of course I will follow my example.

"Insufficient legitimacy" is a disadvantage of the Bonaparte family, but because of this, the Bonaparte family will adopt a new era totem, "referendum", and use "equality" as a weapon to attack the so-called orthodoxy .

Although this is a kind of political maneuver, it is also a kind of historical progress. At least the Bonaparte family will admit that the sovereignty of the country lies in the people, not in the king, let alone in the hands of God.

Now, the Bourbon royal family is in a period of instability and unpopularity, and the Bonaparte family is weak. Under such circumstances, they have picked up the referendum weapon again and smeared their ambitions with the powder of "public opinion". It is indeed necessary to confront orthodoxy again.

Obviously, it is impossible for the royal family to agree to such an initiative. In their view, the divine right of kings and leaving the legitimacy of the king's existence to the people to judge and decide is not only dangerous, but also simply shameless blasphemy. They will vigorously deny and oppose it - but The more they do this, the more they will arouse public resentment.

Moreover, during the imperial period, although the so-called referendums were often tampered with and cheated, the people were more or less recognized as having political rights. Although the royal family was superior, it must regard the people as the basis of its rule.

However, this tacit understanding was shattered after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. On the one hand, King Louis XVIII advocated reconciliation and declared that he supported the constitutional monarchy and did not want to establish autocratic kingship. However, on the other hand, he once again Separate the king from the people.

But unlike the Middle Ages, this time he did not use feudal blood to isolate, but "suffrage" to isolate.

During the Restoration Dynasty, the law stipulated that only male citizens who were over 30 years old and paid a direct tax of 300 francs per year had the right to vote. To obtain the right to be elected (that is, to participate in the election), one needed to be over 40 years old and pay at least 1,000 francs per year. Direct taxes, and in the "Election Law" promulgated on June 29, 1820, even the voters who paid the most taxes were given the right to vote twice.

What is the purpose of this?

As an eyewitness of the Revolutionary Era and the younger brother of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII understood that it was impossible to go back to that era. He could not have the absolute royal power that his ancestors had, nor could he rely solely on the small power of the hereditary nobility. Groups rule the country.

Therefore, he needs to win over some civilian elites to assist his rule. The threshold for tax payment is to give political preferential treatment to aristocratic landowners and civilian elites to win over a new "joint ruling group". All outsiders were deprived of political rights in order to maintain the rule of the king and the nobles.

During this period, only 0.2% of France, or two thousandths of the people in the country, had the right to vote, and even fewer people were eligible to be elected as members. The rulers of the old era only covered it with a layer called "Constitution" The veil has absorbed a very small number of wealthy civilians as new blood supplements, but in fact it is still a change of soup but not medicine.

As an old politician, the Marquis of Noirtier certainly understood King Louis XVIII's intention of doing this. This "constitutional king" appeared gentle on the surface, but actually had a ferocious face. On the one hand, he used white terror to intimidate the people. To liquidate the rebels, on the one hand, it adopts the posture of "reconciliation" and "constitutionalism" and implements the reality of oligarchy.

The Marquis originally didn't like the Bourbon royal family, and he was even more disgusted by the King's pili Yangqiu practices, so he hated the Restoration Dynasty even more, let alone come to work for them.

He hated the Bourbon family who had changed the soup without changing the medicine and had more sinister intentions, but he also hated the terror and bloody populist politics, so he looked around at a loss. In the end, he firmly believed that the Bonaparte family was the best for the country in this era. choose.

This family is not perfect. On the contrary, they are careerists and adventurers. They almost never really pay attention to the rules. But because of this, they have both the enlightenment of "taking from the people" and the iron fist that dares to shed blood. Be able to exert enough strength and will to safeguard the country's problems and prevent it from falling into anarchic and bloody chaos.

This is the person worthy of his service.

"Your Majesty is smarter than I thought." After reading the declaration, the Marquis of Noirtier showed a pleased smile. "Yes, he did a great job! I didn't dare to tell him, but he actually took the initiative to do it... This is the hope of our country, we have hope!"

Then, he looked at the Count of Monte Cristo, and then added categorically, "I completely agree with His Majesty's opinion. Moreover, I think a slogan is needed - this slogan must be concise and powerful, and must be deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone. I feel that this cause is closely related to me.”

After pondering for a moment, he nodded slightly and then shouted.

"Bonaparte, that's universal suffrage!"

"This is so true." Edmond Dantès was convinced.

The Marquis returned satisfied with the message he wanted, and was ready to advocate for the manifesto when it was officially released.

Edmond Dantès was pondering another question.

He just received an invitation from the Bowang family today, hoping that he could pay a visit as a distinguished guest.

He was quite surprised by this invitation, but he was not disgusted with it.

During this period, in addition to the closest and most trusted members of the Treville family, he also made several friends, one of whom was the banker Mr. Jacques Beauvin.

Although this man is unattractive and ambitious, he is a profit-seeking banker and does not deserve too much trust. But for some reason, after getting to know him, Edmond Dantès's impression of him is getting better and better. .

On the one hand, it was because Mr. Beauvain took the initiative to approach him for his personal ambitions, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to bet on the Bonaparte family to get political bonuses for his career and then take over the boss's business; but on the other hand, in During the intermittent interactions between the two parties, Edmond Dantès became more appreciative of his shrewd, strong, bold, decisive, confident and proud temperament.

Because of his own life experience, he admired Mr. Bowang's courage of "being a commoner but refusing to accept his fate, launching attacks on the upper class, and making sure to stand at the top of society." The two men looked completely different. , but there is a soul resonance at this point.

Precisely because Bowen was very cooperative with him, Edmond Dantès gradually entrusted Bowen with almost all his financial transactions. Bowang used his professional knowledge to handle these matters extremely appropriately. , all money flows are hidden in a maze of bills, and no one will be able to investigate and find out the truth - and this makes Edmund feel the value of cooperating with him even more.

In private, he also proposed a personal commission to Bowang to investigate all financial transactions of Tanglar Bank and record them in detail.

Although he does not intend to seek revenge against his enemies yet, he is ready to accumulate enough "material" to launch a fatal attack on his enemies when necessary.

Theoretically speaking, as long as His Majesty's career can succeed, then he only needs to say a few words to His Majesty, and a group of guards will naturally drag away all these enemies. Whether they are executed directly or locked up in a dark prison forever, it depends on his mood. ——But Edmund felt that this was not enough and it also lost the meaning of revenge. He would rather do it himself and deprive his enemies of everything they were proud of bit by bit, so that he could heal the pain he had experienced over the years. of pain.

It would be too easy for them if His Majesty takes action!

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