Eagle’s Glory

After seeing off the Bavarian Ambassador, Teresa could finally breathe a sigh of relief. She had been busy for so long one day and was really exhausted. Fortunately, Chanel was by her side to take care of her meticulously. Otherwise, she might have been unable to bear this kind of life. The rhythm is up.

During dinner, she sat alone at the main table, while her son Francois sat obediently next to him and was fed by Chanel. At this time, she missed her husband who was away from home.

After Aiglon left Paris, the couple communicated almost every day, exchanging information and interesting stories about their journey, so Theresa had complete control over her husband's whereabouts.

Because of this, Teresa could feel the high spirits and the joy of being warmly received by officials and people along the way from Aiglon's words.

Although she couldn't experience it all in person, Teresa could imagine those grand ceremony scenes, and she was even more proud of the cheers her husband received.

However, there is also a bit of gloom hidden among the flowers.

In the correspondence between the couple, they both tacitly forgot about someone, but even if Agron didn't mention a word, how could Theresa not know everything that happened in Strasbourg?

Now he must be sleeping and flying with Miss Agnes... Teresa thought, and then the delicious foie gras in her mouth suddenly became tasteless.

However, this was something she was mentally prepared for, so even though she felt resentful, she could still endure it silently. After all, Miss Agnes knows how to advance and retreat. She will never show off her power in front of her, nor will she show off her immoral status in front of outsiders. Therefore, although this personal relationship is heartbreaking, it is still bearable after all. Even if Agnes stays in the court in the future, she can still get along with Agnes.

If His Highness gives up, then let's live like this. The two of us will have the remaining decades of our lives to accompany each other.

Chanel, who was next to her, also noticed Theresa's unwillingness to eat. "Your Highness, today's food is not to your taste? Then I will ask the chef to change some dishes."

"Nothing, no need, I just don't have a good appetite today." Teresa shook her head and put down the tableware in her hands.

Chanel tried to persuade her, but she also knew that a pregnant woman's body was fragile and she couldn't force it, so she had no choice but to obey Theresa's order and quietly clear away the dishes herself.

At this time, a maid walked up to Theresa, and then informed her of Prince Talleyrand's request for an audience.

During this time,

Theresa had met Prince Talleyrand many times, but he didn't come to visit much in the evening, so Theresa was a little confused.

But Talleyrand was Talleyrand after all. Even though Theresa was very tired after a busy day, she immediately agreed to meet him.

Soon, Prince Talleyrand, holding a cane, moved in front of Theresa little by little.

"Your Highness, you have worked really hard." The old man looked at Teresa with a smile, "Your hard work during this period will be seen by the whole of Paris, and they will love you."

"I hope so." Theresa, who had just finished her dinner, was naturally a little off-putting when she saw the decrepit Prince Talleyrand. "The people of Paris deserve my dedication."

However, although she still disliked Talleyrand very much, after working with Prince Talleyrand during this period of time, her original dislike of him gradually diminished.

Although in order to get back her father's collection, she had already made up her mind to "take over Talleyrand's inheritance after his death", but after this period of busyness and exhaustion, she felt that this old man It would be better for things to live a little longer, at least to give her more breathing room.

She had just assumed the position of the mother of a country, and there were still so many things she didn't understand, and she had almost no time to learn slowly. It meant that as soon as she started, there were thousands of clues rushing towards her. Even if she was extremely smart, now She was also a little overwhelmed and unable to resist. At this time, it was a blessing to have a few prestigious elders to stand up and block her.

Only then did she understand why her husband, despite hating the elders' tyranny, still tried his best to win over them to cooperate with her.

"Excuse me, why are you coming here tonight?" She asked kindly.

"Actually, it is about His Majesty's family affairs." Talleyrand replied slowly, "To tell you the truth, during this period of time, many people around His Majesty have been secretly communicating with me, hoping that I can give them some errands. I can easily deal with ordinary people, but some people are difficult to deal with. For example... His Majesty's cousins, as members of the Bonaparte family, they also hope to contribute to the family's business. This is reasonable and reasonable. How can I have the nerve to politely refuse your request? So I have to ask you how we should arrange it."

When Talleyrand said this, Teresa immediately understood that it was Aigron's cousins ​​who came to Talleyrand to "beg for an official position."

Logically speaking, since Aigron has climbed to his current position, he also needs the full support of his relatives, so there is nothing wrong with using him more.

However, the couple had not yet ascended the throne, so they actually went directly past the couple to find Talleyrand, which was indeed a bit impatient.

"You don't have to be bothered by this. Now that you are in charge of state affairs, you must naturally put the country's public interests first. You cannot and do not need to break the rules for a few people with special status." Theresa was silent for a moment. Then he calmly replied to him, "Although they are our relatives, they should also abide by the law. My husband and I will never allow anyone to override the rules."

With Talleyrand's intelligence, of course he could immediately hear Theresa's alienation and indifference towards Aigron's cousins, and he also immediately understood that these princes did not actually have much influence.

He was originally worried that the princes would erode his authority, but now that Teresa expressed her stance like this, he could rest easy.

"You are right, Her Royal Highness." Talleyrand smirked happily, "We really shouldn't break the rules. Besides, government positions are in short supply now. All parties have to reward merit and win over. It's really crowded. I can’t leave any important positions to them…”

"However, after all, they are our closest relatives, and they have also made great contributions to my husband in the past few years. It would be very inappropriate to completely shelve them." Teresa suddenly changed the subject, "What can you do? , can we let them get their due rewards without causing them to disrupt the current government order?"

Is this what it means to support high-ranking officials with generous salaries? Prince Talleyrand reacted immediately.

Of course there are many ways to do this.

"The country has just emerged from the turmoil recently, and various institutions need to be reorganized, so there are many official vacancies that need to be filled." Talleyrand thought for a while and immediately found a way for Theresa, "In the previous dynastic government, There are always many people responsible for auditing the church's assets. If your Royal Highnesses don't mind, they can take over this job..."

Then he explained the situation to Teresa in detail.

During the Great Revolution, in order to make up for its military needs, the revolutionary government chose to break with the church and take advantage of the church's assets. The specific method was to confiscate churches, monasteries and their attached real estate, and then divide and sell them. At the same time, the government also issued a decree, Once a noble fled abroad, all the property they left behind would be forcibly confiscated, and these assets became the deposit for the revolutionary government to issue currency "notes."

The land was cut into small pieces and sold by the revolutionary government, and these assets were sold at low prices, which caused numerous property rights disputes after the Restoration, because the church and nobles believed that this "confiscation" was illegal and invalid.

Because of this, after the Restoration, the dynastic government conducted a comprehensive property rights inspection and returned a large amount of land and assets to the church and exiled nobles.

In a sense, the "billion franc compensation bill" forced by King Charles X was also caused by this dispute. He wanted to use a "buyout fee" to completely end the ownership of real estate during the Revolution. However, it was a pity that he failed in the end - in the eyes of the church and the nobles who lost their land, the money was too small. In the eyes of the people, most people did not enjoy the benefits at all, but the money was For the whole people to bear the burden is tantamount to a "ransom payment" for the old ruling class, which is also intolerable.

In the end, this policy became the catalyst for the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, but the property rights disputes during the Revolution still continued and became an intractable issue.

Because of this, property rights inspections have become an extremely important niche, and as long as you use it a little, money can roll in.

For example, you can extort the new owners of the land and ask them to pay large bribes to "legalize" the land and assets they robbed; for example, you can even line your own pockets and keep the "illegal assets" that were discovered hidden away. He suddenly grabbed it into his pocket.

After Talleyrand explained it carefully, Theresa finally understood the trick.

Although she disliked Aiglon's ambitious cousins, she did not object to these princes making money - as long as the methods seemed legal and not too eye-catching.

When Aiglon escaped from Austria, his first stop was to go to Switzerland to join his aunt, Queen Ortense. The queen warmly received him and gave him the 300,000 francs she had at the bottom of her box - Eggron later told Teresa about this.

It was impossible for Queen Hortense to know whether Aiglon's career would succeed. She used the money to sponsor it in name, but she was probably already prepared to lose it.

Even so, she still donated generously, which was indeed a kindness.

A favor must be repaid, so Teresa would like to see Aigron's cousins ​​save a large fortune for themselves - so as not to be said to be ungrateful.

"You are indeed very good at solving people's problems, Your Highness." She looked at Talleyrand with a hint of gratitude, "I think your idea is very good, reasonable, and just right."

Prince Talleyrand was also happy when Hearing Teresa praising herself like this, "You are right. It is my duty to serve His Majesty and you, isn't it? I will bear in mind the kindness you two have shown me, and I can only say Reward for hard work..."

Of course Teresa would not take this kind of scene seriously, but it was impossible for her not to be untouched when she heard a legendary figure flattering her.

"Do you have anything else to report? I'm ready to rest." She asked again.

"There is another thing about the Count of Monte Cristo." Prince Talleyrand said again.

"Huh? Count of Monte Cristo? What's wrong with him?" Teresa suddenly became interested.

"Actually, it's not a big deal." Talleyrand shook his head, and then became more and more evasive. "Recently, rumors have been circulating in the social circle about the Count of Monte Cristo. Some people secretly said that he is not a person at all. He is a noble, and his background is unknown. I don’t know who he is. This piqued my interest, so I asked someone to investigate him.”

"Why do you want to investigate him?" Teresa asked bluntly, "The Count of Monte Cristo was personally knighted by my husband. No matter who he was before, he is a noble now! And there will definitely be no problem with him. Both His Highness and I have the utmost trust in him.”

"That's what you say, but you can't use these words to resist the public opinion..." Talleyrand replied meaningfully, "Don't forget, right now he is not so much facing enemy fire, but It would be better to face the strange eyes of my comrades."

I see!

Teresa suddenly understood.

It was the "own people" who attacked the Count of Monte Cristo and spread those rumors. They wanted to use this method to squeeze out future competitors.

"What do you think of the Count of Monte Cristo?" Theresa asked Talleyrand after a long silence.

"I have a very good impression of him. I think he is brave, loyal, and not lacking in brains. It is not wrong for His Majesty to reuse him." Prince Talleyrand replied, "Born is not a problem. There are many heroes who are not noble. ...But he should have a clear origin and resume so that he can withstand the test of history."

Both of them knew that the Count of Monte Cristo was Aiglon's number one confidant, and would definitely be a future imperial minister. If his "origins were unknown", it would definitely arouse suspicion from the outside world and affect Aigron himself.

"Then what should I do?" So, after a moment of silence, Theresa asked Prince Talleyrand again.

"If you don't mind, then let me help him make up a complete background and resume." Talleyrand replied, obviously he already had this question in mind, "Of course he has to cooperate with me, If something goes wrong, he will have a headache in the future... Don't forget how many people at home and abroad will be watching him!"

"He will do everything well." Teresa nodded.

Edmond Dantès, this name should be buried in history and in the filing cabinets of the Chateau d'If. The Count of Monte Cristo will be a brand new person, an important minister of the empire.