Eagle’s Glory

In the melodious singing of Eugenie, Edmond Dantès ushered in another morning of his own.

He returned to Paris with the King of Rome and his wife, and moved into the mansion that originally belonged to Danglars. Emily and Eugenie naturally followed him, like a real family member.

During this period, his life could be described as comfortable and comfortable.

On the one hand, the lord he was loyal to now had great power; on the other hand, his personal future had become brighter.

As a confidant of His Majesty, Prince Talleyrand favored him and took the initiative to call him into the government and entrust him with important tasks; Princess Theresa, who stayed in Paris, also expressed her trust in him in private. , asking him to help her establish a news channel parallel to the official briefing.

After being appointed by the head of the provisional government, Edmund immediately ran to take office, and the originally unknown Count of Monte Cristo gradually emerged from the darkness and entered the public eye.

Both his colleagues and members of the upper class knew almost nothing about his identity, and they had various doubts in private, but it didn't matter. Prince Talleyrand himself made up an almost complete set of stories for him. His resume makes him a French-Italian hybrid, and the aristocratic blood of his maternal family is also impeccable.

With the personal endorsement of Prince Talleyrand, then everything that is false is also true. In addition, everyone has heard that he is trusted by their two majesties and is one of their closest confidants, so they dare not despise him. Almost as soon as he emerged, he became the center of attention in the Paris social scene, and many dignitaries wanted to establish friendship with him.

However, Edmund was not interested in socializing. He also knew that there were too many things that he would not see the light of, so the less contact he had with the outside world, the better. Therefore, he rejected almost all social invitations equally and never set foot in a certain place. This is the living room of a big shot, let alone one who takes the initiative to entertain foreign guests.

As a result, he quickly established an image of indifference, rigidity, and high self-esteem in the outside world. Although this was not his true face, he didn't mind others seeing him that way - in the final analysis, he didn't want to save his life at all. , or to expand his own power, and go around forming gangs and building relationships. He just wants to do his best to complete the tasks assigned to him by His Majesty.

However, although he received the support of Prince Talleyrand, his work within the department was not very smooth. After all, he was an outsider, and his sudden insertion into the intricate official system would inevitably lead to intentional or unintentional rejection and resistance from others. , but Edmund doesn't care about this. He has experienced too many difficulties so far. This thing really doesn't matter now. As long as you give him some time, he can gain a firm foothold.

Like both Your Majesty,

He is now facing the same trouble - lack of trustworthy and capable subordinates, and this problem can only be solved slowly.

Just as he was finishing his breakfast quietly, the servant came to inform him that a guest was visiting, and this guest was the famous prosecutor Villefort.

He was not surprised, because recently Prosecutor Villefort had regarded him as his future supporter and had been trying to get close to him.

To be fair, Villefort is indeed a very smart and capable man. When he deliberately wants to please someone, it is indeed very satisfying. If it were not for the irresolvable hatred between the two people, Edmund He doesn't even mind treating him as his comrade.

Unfortunately, some things were doomed from the beginning.

Soon, he calmly received the prosecutor who came to visit him. After a brief greeting, he asked the prosecutor why he came to see him.

"It's about the trial of Marshal Marmont." Villefort didn't show off and told him his purpose.

Before Aiglon left Paris, he and Marshal Soult reached a tacit agreement on the trial of Marshal Marmont. The trial was jointly conducted by the prosecutors of the Supreme Court and the military. Aiglon once again pushed Prosecutor Villefort to the forefront. , let him use the reputation he has accumulated over the years to endorse himself.

In fact, the outcome of the trial had been discussed before the trial - the marshal would be found guilty and then deported.

This is a trial whose "result" is already determined, but even so, in order to silence the public and at the same time for his own reputation, Prosecutor Villefort also strives to handle the process properly and let outsiders say no. Speak up.

This is definitely not an easy job.

Theoretically speaking, although Marshal Marmont has a notorious reputation and it is too easy to find charges, but in reality, the things he did are more or less the same as those of other current "establishments". He has done things like following the trend, being extravagant and corrupt, and harming his colleagues... If he takes the liberty to accuse something that cannot be exposed to the light, it will easily involve one or more big shots. Not only is it against Aigron's original intention, You will also make enemies for yourself.

After all, the history of the past 30 years has been too volatile, and there are too many things that cannot be studied deeply.

Therefore, he racked his brains to find a breakthrough in Marshal Marmont's decades of career, and finally selected the marshal's betrayal in 1814 as the main crime.

In 1814, the Allied forces invaded France. Emperor Napoleon and some marshals who were still loyal to him led the remaining troops to resist. However, Marshal Marmont, who had lost his will to fight, secretly negotiated peace with the Allied forces behind the Emperor's back, and After the negotiation, he deliberately brought more than 10,000 officers and soldiers under his command to the coalition positions, and fell into a desperate situation completely covered by artillery fire.

By the time these officers and soldiers knew that they had been betrayed by their superiors, it was too late, and Emperor Napoleon also lost his last bargaining chip.

Exiled on an isolated island, he would never forget this act of betrayal until his death, because Marshal Marmont was his adjutant at the time, and the two of them had fought side by side, and it was he who promoted Marmont step by step to Marshal and Duke of Ragusa in the empire. , but the person who had received such favor from him completely betrayed him.

For Prosecutor Villefort, this old incident is the best material, because it is an unmistakable betrayal, and he also deliberately used his subordinates as cannon fodder and hostages-no matter whether they are from the upper or lower levels, they will never would agree with this despicable behavior.

Compared with other matters, this betrayal involved relatively few people. Although Prince Talleyrand may have been involved, there was no actual evidence to point to the old conspirator, so the prince would not be offended. .

As for the "shooting of Marshal Ney", although Marshal Marmont voted in favor, it was a public trial designated by King Louis XVIII. The late old king could only be responsible; and the members of the House of Lords at the time and Other marshals also participated in the vote, which involved many people, and some of these people are still in high positions, so he decided to avoid being involved as much as possible.

In addition, there are also some charges of squandering public funds and harming civilians as supplements. Under Villefort's careful preparation, he believes that this time he can pull off another ironclad case that will leave the outside world speechless and make the outside world speechless. A famous marshal became a stepping stone in his career.

For Aiglon, as long as he convicts the marshal and prevents him from being able to stand up in public opinion and serve as a warning to the monkeys, he has achieved his political goal, so he doesn't mind Villefort's operation.

For Prince Talleyrand and Marshal Soult, Villefort's handling of the case limited his influence to Marmont himself and avoided the untouchable dark history. They were also quite satisfied, so Villefort believed that he was caught in the cracks. The task was completed again.

After listening to Prosecutor Villefort's patient explanation, Edmund probably understood the mystery, so he asked the other person again.

"It sounds like you have solved everything, so why do you still need to find me? You just need to find some people involved in the past to investigate the whole rebellion incident, right?"

A hidden but sly smile instantly appeared on Villefort's face, "Mr. Earl, that's what I said, but you haven't noticed another key point."

"What's the key?" Edmund was confused.

"You have been with His Majesty for so long, so you must be able to understand what His Majesty is thinking. You see, the reason why His Majesty wants to target Marshal Marmont, who has fallen into disgrace, is he really entangled in past hatred? No, Absolutely not, His Majesty is not the kind of person who holds grudges, otherwise the first person he would try would be Prince Talleyrand... Obviously, His Majesty wants to use this to make a statement to the country, especially to the generals in the army. His own authority. Since a marshal can be judged, so can others."

As Villefort spoke, he carefully watched the Count of Monte Cristo's reaction, and the Count had no special reaction when he heard such disrespectful words - from this, he also judged that the Count was a calm and pragmatic person. He is by no means an incompetent person who is thoughtless and reckless and gets reused only by his loyalty.

"Since His Majesty thinks so, then you can take advantage of your current position, take the initiative to stand up, investigate the longitude and latitude of it, and tell the world about the betrayal that year. I believe His Majesty will be very satisfied, and you can use this to recruit people. , consolidate your power... And think about it, were many of the people who followed Marshal Marmont really 'forced'? Maybe they were also actively involved in this kind of betrayal? Although Your Majesty, They only want to pursue the Marshal alone, but these people are also afraid that their reputation will be ruined. As long as you investigate the entire incident clearly, then you will have grasped the handle of a large number of people, and then you will be more able to go unimpeded. Got it!"

Although Edmund didn't know much about politics, he was by no means a fool. Villefort analyzed it for him, and of course he understood the pros and cons.

The trial of Marshal Marmont is certainly very involved and difficult, but if done well, it can become a piece of political capital, make a name for himself, and at the same time please His Majesty, and Edmund really needs to make a name for himself at the moment. Call to recruit people.

I have to say that Villefort is indeed very shrewd. He saw his "pain points" when he was just promoted, and then immediately helped him come up with ideas. This mind is really respectable.

Of course, he probably has another idea - to tie himself to his side and share the risk together, so that no one in the army will hate him. After all, the dark history of the past is too heavy, and Villefort himself is also because of "black history". "History" and have to take off the mask of the iron-faced judge and become His Majesty's puppet?

When he thought of this, he couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

Seeing the count's hesitation, Villefort couldn't help but be a little surprised. In his opinion, he had already brought the matter to this point, and the Count of Monte Cristo should have no reason to refuse. He even doubted the count's political acumen. .

However, he did not worry for long. Suddenly, the Count of Monte Cristo spoke.

"Monsieur de Villefort, do you know Count Fernand de Morcerf?"

This sudden question made Villefort a little stunned.

Fernand? Of course he did! Without this despicable and shameless informer, a fisherman who pretended to be a noble, how could he have left such a big deal, and how could he have ended up where he is now?

But until now, he could not reveal this deep-seated hatred. He could only reply to the count with a wry smile, "We are acquaintances. After all, Count Morcerf is a well-known officer, but we have no friendship. I just met him a few times in social circles.”

Facing Villefort's performance, Edmund just sneered in his heart. No matter how good his acting skills were, it would only make him laugh in the eyes of someone who knew everything.

But today he mentioned Fernando not just to scare the other party.

"Do you know what's going on with him?" he asked again.

"I heard that after His Majesty returned to France, he rejoined His Majesty's service. Originally, His Majesty wanted to reuse him, but unfortunately he suddenly fell ill and died... What a pity." Although it looked like emotion and regret. , but Villefort was only secretly happy in his heart, the fewer people knew about these things, the better, and Fernand, a despicable villain who repeatedly acted double-dealing, deserved to die.

"Yes, poor Count Morcerf, he unfortunately died of a sudden illness. His Majesty was very grateful for his contribution." Edmund suppressed the sneer in his heart, and then continued word by word, " As far as I know, Count Morcerf was a member of the betrayal in 1815. In the next ten years, he followed Marshal Marmont and won the marshal's trust. He did get the marshal's true biography. Having unequivocally betrayed the Marshal this year... Don't you think it's nice that we can use him as a poster child? A dead man cannot defend himself, and his former colleagues would have been happy to dump their responsibilities on him. on the body."

"That's right!" After receiving this prompt, Villefort slapped his thigh.

Then he looked at the count again - who said you have no political acumen? Aren't you very powerful?

With a dead man as a scapegoat, many people will feel at ease. As for Fernand, the bastard, who has been completely ruined, who cares?