Eagle’s Glory

Under the encouragement of the nuns, Agnes also put aside her unhappiness and followed them into the vineyard to pick ripe grapes and blooming flowers.

To be fair, although she did admire Aigron's talent very much, she did not admire Aigron so enthusiastically. The two of them had been together day and night for so long, and she could certainly see some of his shortcomings; the reason why she acted like that in front of everyone just now He praised Aiglon, but he was just angry that he was looked down upon by others.

But now that the words had been spoken, she could not change her words. She could only adopt the most serious attitude and continue to safeguard the dignity of the King of Rome.

The nuns could see Agnes's attitude, and they were a little shy about Agnes' "identity" and did not dare to continue asking for details, so everyone wisely changed the subject and just talked about daily life. Trivial matters, while chatting, we wove a wreath for His Majesty the King of Rome as a gift to him.

The quarrel has been forgotten, and Agnes gradually immersed herself in the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers in the vineyard, enjoying the relaxing and peaceful time - the bloody storms of decades ago have finally become a distant past and become the memory of the younger generation. Talking about it, the victims buried deep under this land should also be happy to see this scene.

However, unlike the relaxed and comfortable Agnes, Agron is much more serious here.

After arriving at the monastery, he was not busy resting, but immediately devoted himself to his affairs.

Before he came to Laval, General Pierre Poitou, who was in charge of the security work, had summoned all the celebrities and nobles living in the city to the monastery to welcome the arrival of the Roman King.

When Aigron walked into the hall where the monks usually preached and prayed, the place was already dark and crowded with people.

Eggron immediately saw that in the hall, there was a group of people wearing old-fashioned clothes and three-cornered hats that were popular before the Revolution. Some old-school people even powdered their heads. Eggron was stunned. Long felt as if he was on the stage.

Time is still frozen here. They stubbornly want to pretend that nothing has changed and want to maintain the so-called tradition and dignity. It is really sad localism.

However, Aigron can respect this. After all, he does not need to force anything to change. The wheels of the times will silently transform everything, even the country bumpkin nobles in this remote place.

At this time, everyone present also saw Aigron.

After watching for a moment, they all bowed and saluted in unison.

Pay tribute to the young man in front of you.

However, although they looked respectful, they obviously kept a polite distance, and no one took the initiative to show hospitality and please His Majesty the King of Rome.

Just when they first met, the unfriendly state of keeping a distance between the two sides was quietly revealed.

But this is normal. In order to ensure the safety of the King of Rome and prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble, the general invited these people over before Aigron arrived. They were called "guests" and actually "hostages". Naturally, these people also felt sorry for him. Knowing full well, it is impossible to be happy about this.

The local nobles of the Vendée were inseparable from the great rebellion decades ago.

On the one hand, local aristocrats, as leaders and arbiters of local affairs for hundreds of years, have insurmountable prestige in the hearts of farmers; on the other hand, aristocrats have often been in the military for generations and have rich combat experience, and some even Active military officer.

Naturally, a large number of nobles naturally became the leaders of these rebels, no matter which side their political thoughts were leaning towards before 1993. When the king was beheaded and his hometown was swept by the flames of rebellion, Due to their own positions, they could only choose to stand up against the Republic and engage in an almost desperate battle.

The losses were extremely heavy. A large number of rebel nobles who were officers died in the rebellion, such as the Marquis de Bonchamp, the Marquis Lescure, etc. Even their families often had difficulty escaping execution after being arrested. For those who dared For those who take up arms to resist the revolution, the Republic is ruthless (although there are also many officers of noble origin in the counter-rebellion army).

In the mutual fighting, hatred quickly swelled until it broke out. Both sides used the most cruel methods to deal with their enemies, and often even took no prisoners. Later, the French were rarely so cruel in foreign wars.

It was not until Napoleon came to power that this nightmare came to an end. He used both soft and hard tactics, suppressing and appeasing at the same time, and finally restored the local order. On the other hand, after several years of bloody fighting, the rebels in the Vendée were already exhausted and withered away. A nightmare was just like this. The land is over, and nothing seems to have happened except that the fields are deserted and the dead are lying there.

Although Emperor Napoleon did not explicitly sign a peace treaty with the Vendée, he reached a tacit understanding with the people here.

The people of the Vendée no longer rebelled, used force against the central government in Paris, and recognized the authority and laws of the government; and the emperor respected their history, their beliefs, and their way of life for centuries. This was Napoleon's " Three chapters of the agreement."

For example, a carriage loaded with the booster of the "Great Revolution" suddenly surged forward a hundred steps, but it paid an unexpected huge price because of its excessive idealism; and Napoleon stopped the carriage, He dragged it back dozens of steps, on the one hand acknowledging its achievements and on the other hand making it tolerable to most people. Then he declared the car to be his private property - and at this time, he had already been tortured by the Great Revolution. The exhausted people, because his feat of stopping the car recognized the fact that the car was occupied by the Bonaparte family, and they just wanted to end all the troubles.

This is the true narrative of the Revolution's sudden transformation into an Empire.

And Aigron, as the successor of the emperor, naturally has to inherit this tacit understanding from him.

Under the gaze of everyone, Aigron walked to the center of the hall calmly, facing the Vendée nobles in front of him, showing a gentle smile.

"Gentlemen, I am very pleased to meet you. Although it will make you unhappy that General Poitou has summoned you, this is just an expedient measure taken by the General to ensure my safety. I can express my sincerest I would like to assure you that I and the subsequent imperial government will adhere to the will of His Majesty the Emperor, never infringe upon your property and reputation, and respect all your rights within the legal framework! I like this land and this city, Like all the places I have passed before, in my eyes, the Vendée should never be relegated to another category. You are also French, and you are the people I must protect and serve. I sincerely hope that it will have the same reputation in the future. Long-lasting peace and prosperity, as I see today."

Aigron deliberately used a humble and peaceful attitude to show that he had no suspicion against the Vendées. However, the response he received was quite mediocre. Only sparse applause sounded, and most people still lowered their heads quietly, as if It's like an employee who has to hold on to a meeting and just wants to end the meeting early.

Seeing this situation, Aigron did not feel dissatisfied, but continued to speak.

"Although I know that many of you may not like me, it does not matter. After all, we do not rely on likes to maintain our relationship. My request to you is very simple, abide by the law, respect the authority of the legitimate government, and do not Participate in any conspiracy that is harmful to the motherland. As long as you do not violate the above taboos, then you can live the way you like, no different from before. At your age, you should have experienced the rule of the late emperor. During the period, you lived in peace with the emperor, and you can do the same now; but I have to make it clear that if anyone dares to test the law and challenge the authority of the government, then in order to maintain the authority of the law, I have to punish them severely. . Please believe me, I hope this happens more than any of you..."

After delivering a soft-spoken speech, Agron walked up to the guests and shook hands with them cordially.

Regardless of whether they like the King of Rome or not, when Aiglon extended his hand, no one dared to show disrespect for themselves and their families. They also shook hands with Aiglon enthusiastically. At the same time, they introduced themselves and gave a brief introduction when shaking hands. own family history.

When Aigron walked up to a middle-aged nobleman who was nearly forty years old, the noble reached out and grabbed his hat, then took off his hat to salute Aigron, and then shook hands with Aigron.

"Marquis Louis de Lescure, it is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

"Marquis Lescure?" After hearing this surname, Aigron became slightly interested. "Are you a descendant of the rebel leader, the Marquis Les Sculls?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, that is my father." The middle-aged man nodded slightly, with a little nostalgia and pride on his originally stiff face, "But I don't think this is a rebellion, this is just a rebellion. It was just a pitiful resistance. My father was not a so-called royalist. When the revolution broke out, he accepted all this like many people. He was more concerned about how to repay the debts owed by his fathers, and he did not want to go The Chinese people were fighting each other...but the current situation forced him to embark on this path. He is as sorry as I am for everything that happened."

"I'm quite sorry too." Aigron nodded, "So we should all work hard to prevent this from happening again, right?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know how I should answer you. To be fair, I am absolutely unwilling to bleed for Paris. No matter what government it sends us, I can accept it. Anyway, we have seen a lot - but if If my hometown suffers similar devastation again, don’t you think I should give everything I have to defend it?” The nobleman was stunned for a moment, and then answered honestly to Aigron, “My father fought in 1793. He died, but I was only one year old at that time and have no memory of getting along with him. But I have always been proud of him. I inherited not only his title, but also his spirit."

This country nobleman is really outspoken, and he is the opposite of the big shots in Paris. He directly made it clear to Aiglon that he did not want to launch a rebellion against Aiglon for the sake of the king, and would rather stay out of it, as long as his hometown no longer Just being intruded on.

And this was the assurance that Aigron wanted.

Historically, the rebellion launched by Princess Caroline in 1832 did not cause much waves. Objectively, it also shows that the local nobles were tired of bleeding for the fleur-de-lis flag.

"I'm very satisfied with your answer." Aigron nodded slightly, showing encouragement to the middle-aged man.

"Do you have an heir? Where are they now?" he then asked.

This sudden question surprised the Marquis, but he quickly answered truthfully, "I have two sons and one daughter, Your Majesty. The eldest son is taking care of the family business at home, and the younger son has just graduated from the military academy." , serving as second lieutenant..."

"If you allow me, I hope he can join the Guards - I think this will also be of great help to his personal future." Aigron took over. "I like talented young people. If he is indeed such a person, I will reuse him."

"Your Majesty..." The Marquis was surprised and happy.

He intuitively felt that Aigron was indeed deliberately trying to get closer to him.

But this seems to be a "goodwill" that cannot be refused.

"If he doesn't mind, of course I won't stop him, Your Majesty." So after a moment, he responded immediately.

"The disasters of the past have passed, and now is a new era, sir." Aigron continued with a smile, "We should put aside the grudges of the past and reintegrate into a country. For this, we all have to fight for effort."

After he finished speaking, he walked up to the others and continued to shake hands, chatting and laughing to shorten the distance with everyone.

Emperor Napoleon always liked to be close to the old aristocrats. Shortly after taking power, he issued an edict pardoning the aristocrats who had been exiled abroad during the Revolution and encouraged them to return to France.

He will actively recruit those old nobles who respond to his call and return to the country. Even if they refuse to serve him, he will not embarrass them and will return part of their confiscated property.

Aiglon does not have this upstart obsession of "clinging to blood". He grew up in the Austrian court since he was a child. What prince and duke has not seen this before? The high-ranking nobles have always been disenchanted in his eyes since he was a child. He saw with his own eyes how fickle his grandfather was, and how mediocre and sick his two uncles were. He even had an affair with the prince and concubine. Ran, in his opinion, the so-called "nobles" are just a group of mortals with titles.

He is close to them only because this class can be used by him and he needs their services.