After putting down the edict and harsh words, the Marquis of Treville strode out of the refuge without saying a word to Prince Talleyrand and Marshal Soult. The two old men could not help but be greatly impressed by the Marquis's demeanor. Appreciated.
"He is a good man." Marshal Soult nodded slightly. "He and his brother are both people who can do great things. It's a pity that they are not lucky...it will take too much effort to climb back to their original position."
Both of them knew that the Treville family was a well-known aristocrat. Their ancestors followed Henry IV of the Bourbon family and led the rebellion as a protestant against the royal family. Finally, after Henry IV converted to Catholicism and was crowned King of France, , also converted together, and entered the court as a Conglong hero, becoming one of the founding heroes of the Bourbon dynasty.
Next, the family continued to prosper, and a certain ancestor became the most favored courtier of King Louis XIII and became the king's musketeer captain; through the accumulation and struggle of these generations, they also became the most superior family in Versailles. One of the great aristocratic families, except for the royal family members, everyone respects them.
If history had not gone astray, the two Treville brothers of this generation would have continued the old path of their ancestors. They could enter the official career or become officers at a young age, and then rise all the way up, and finally become powerful men. Minister, and a civilian like Soult could only bow his head in front of these brothers, and was not even qualified to be looked at by them.
Unfortunately, history has created amazing changes after all. The thunder of the Revolution shattered the old order that people were accustomed to. Versailles collapsed to France and became a beautiful abandoned place. The aristocracy headed by the king also Fallen victim to this storm.
In the bloody storm, the previous generation of Duke was killed. Fortunately, before he was executed, he had secretly arranged for his two sons to escape. The two brothers were forced to flee and go into exile abroad. It was not until more than ten years later that the younger brother returned to serve Napoleon, while the older brother continued to live in exile and adhered to the royalist position. By the time the elder brother returned to the country, more than twenty years had passed. .
Their most precious youth has been spent in exile, and a new group of people who emerged in the Great Revolution have seized the best positions, so the brothers have to work hard to regain everything they have lost. To this end they even have to flatter those who are originally beneath them.
Therefore, for Marshal Soult, the beneficiary of the Revolution, this is justice and something to be thankful for. But his admiration for the Treville brothers also made him feel a little sorry for their fate.
Now that the king has fallen, Duke Treville is doomed to lose his future, and may even go into exile with the king. Next, the Treville family can only count on his younger brother, and his efforts to revive the family business will be ruined. How many difficulties and obstacles will you encounter? If the Bonaparte family also loses power, then his hopes will be completely disappointed, and he will never recover...
"Don't underestimate him, Talleyrand." After sighing for a moment, Soult reminded Prince Talleyrand, "He is an outlaw, and he has the whole family on his back, so in order to win, he will do anything. , because he can no longer afford to lose."
"Of course I know this." Talleyrand smiled coldly, a hint of cunning flashed in his eyes, "Fortunately he didn't know that his master had arrived, otherwise he would have been even more arrogant just now..."
After all, the Marquis de Treville was left behind in the chaos of Paris, so he was very closed to news from the outside world. He did not know that Aigron and his party had arrived at the Palace of Fontainebleau; and Talleyrand had already prepared for the chaotic situation. Although he was well prepared, he also had a network of connections that others could not match, so he was still well-informed. Therefore, he had already received the news not long after Aigron arrived at the Palace of Fontainebleau.
In front of the Marquis of Treville, he deliberately kept silent in order to take advantage of the information gap to suppress the Marquis.
"He will know soon." Marshal Soult disagreed. "Since that kid has come to Fontainebleau, he will definitely find ways to contact his gang members in the city... Maybe it won't take two days, but he will know Everything about the outside world.”
"You're right, so we have to hurry up.
Talleyrand nodded, and then looked at the edict in his hand, "We have been dormant for too long, and now it is time to relax our muscles and bones."
Marshal Soult did not raise any objection and acquiesced to Prince Talleyrand's opinion.
Although he was very disdainful of Talleyrand's character, he had great confidence in Talleyrand's judgment of the situation - after all, seeing is believing, and he had seen too many cases of Talleyrand's ups and downs. He couldn't help but not believe it.
"Then what do you think we should do?" After a moment, the marshal asked.
Prince Talleyrand still looked calm and relaxed. He picked up the wine glass and took a big sip before continuing.
"First of all, let me make something clear. We cannot be kings ourselves, we can only be kingmakers. Do you agree with this?"
Marshal Soult could only nod in confirmation.
Although he is ambitious, he is not stupid. He knows that although he has prestige in the military, he has no prestige in the eyes of the people across the country. It is impossible to become the supreme ruler. Years of experience tell him that it is unnecessary Ambition will only make you doomed.
Therefore, he could only settle for the next best thing and seek a position above one person and above ten thousand people. Of course, it would be better if he could evade the monarch to some extent.
Seeing that his allies were not dizzy at this time, Prince Talleyrand also smiled with satisfaction, "Just because we can't become kings, we have to try to seize the highest authority, so that we can control everything in our hands." Power sells at a high price. That’s what Fouché did in 1815.”
In 1815, after hearing the news of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, there was an immediate commotion in Paris. Everyone knew that the imperial government was about to collapse. Next, Fouche and others took advantage of the chaos to form a provisional government, temporarily took over Paris, and then respectfully rededicated Paris to Louis XVIII after he returned to Paris from Ghent, Belgium.
Marshal Soult did not object to Talleyrand's statement. In fact, that was what he planned.
"If we can temporarily form an interim government, that is of course the best option...but how do we ensure that others accept it?" he asked rhetorically.
"Don't we have a weapon now? We can use it to win over those in parliament and politics who are dissatisfied with the Duke of Orleans." Talleyrand asked rhetorically.
Then, he explained to his allies, "After this chaos, the reputation of the Duke of Orleans has been greatly damaged. Many of those who originally supported him because of his enlightened image have been disappointed; if no one stands up If the two of us stand up and challenge him and his supporters for using illegal means to force the legitimate king to abdicate, then those who question him will have the courage to make noise. Oh…and besides, that Bonaparte boy will definitely support us.”
"He will support us?" Marshal Soult was a little surprised. "Isn't it possible? He wants to be the emperor. How can he support a provisional government without his participation?"
"Hehe... This is precisely the subtlety of the current situation. Rather than rushing to become the target of public criticism, he prefers to take it step by step." Talleyrand sneered, "He is stopping at Fontainebleau now just to give us time and space. To clean up the current mess? He wants us to finish the things that have offended people, and then he will go on stage as expected. He will not support us publicly, but he will certainly not stop us."
Marshal Soult suddenly fell silent.
Judging from the movements of the Bonaparte boy, he is obviously not in a hurry to seize power, and his pause means that the crisis of a public showdown has not come immediately. This does seem to be a threat to Prince Talleyrand. Room to maneuver.
"But this means that we have to stand up and publicly obstruct the Duke of Orleans' plan to ascend to the throne." Marshal Soult thought for a moment and immediately pointed out the problem, "Our original plan was to sell it at a price. But if we do this, we will be on the side of the Bonaparte family before they have made any substantive bid, and we will cut off our own path. Is this appropriate?"
For Soult, it is in his best interests to have a competitive bidding ranking for him. He does not want to break with the Orleans family at this juncture, because that would mean leaving him no choice.
"You are wrong, my friend. We are trying to prevent the Duke of Orleans from becoming king just to keep our own path." Talleyrand's eyes instantly turned cold, "I have experienced this in my life. There are too many rulers, some of them are kings, some are politicians, and some are emperors, but they have one thing in common, that is, they are ungrateful. They always pay lip service and kick their benefactors away! So, if you want to get It is not enough for them to be kind in return, but also to make them feel pain... Because of pain, they will remember our value, respect us, and find ways to please us and bribe us.
That's what I did for so many years, so I gained respect and awe from every one of them, and I got everything I wanted! This time, I will still do it. "
Talleyrand's meaning was very straightforward - if the Duke of Orleans was allowed to ascend the throne, then everything was taken by him at his own risk and bloodshed, so why should he thank anyone? Not to mention reusing Talleyrand and Soult, two old antiques with whom he had no friendship.
Only when the crown is taken away from him and he feels the pain, will he be in awe and think of trying to please himself.
Although this kind of logic is often successful, it also contains great risks, because doing so will make the king feel hatred in addition to awe. Talleyrand did not get along with every regime for a long time, and every master hated him. He is reused and hated. Although he respects him on the surface, he wants to get rid of him as soon as he gets the chance.
Napoleon tolerated Talleyrand for ten years, but finally couldn't stand it anymore, and then used his negative attitude on the Spanish incident to scold him and dismiss him from his post. Louis XVIII did the same.
However, now that Talleyrand is in his final years, there is no need to care about the long-term future. For him, he only needs to work with a new monarch for a few years to get addicted to power, and then he can pass away.
Prince Talleyrand's words also made Soult find some resonance.
"You are right. We must first seize the authority, and then we can earn respect. Well, let's do it."
"We'll start right away. It's no time now."
The excitement of regaining power was like a ****, which instantly cheered up the old man's spirit, making him feel as if he had become decades younger.
At this moment, Talleyrand's eyes were filled with light and his face was red. Although he was disabled and already in his dying years, the brilliance in his eyes made people feel the ruthless courage, as if he could fall apart at any time. The body also contains infinite energy.
Although Marshal Soult was not as obvious as Talleyrand, he was also quite excited in his heart.
After all, he has been idle for more than ten years. Although he has held the title of marshal over the years, he has no actual power. He can only amuse himself in the southern countryside and even dig coal mines - for him For such an ambitious person, isn't this a form of torture?
The two people looked at each other, and each gave the other an encouraging look.
"I still think you are more inclined to that boy." Finally, Surte spoke again. "Although you don't show it obviously, what you do is obviously more beneficial to him."
"Oh! Did you see it? I thought I concealed it well." Talleyrand laughed heartily.
Marshal Soult was not affected by his laughter, but looked at him doubtfully, "Why? As far as I know, you and the Bonaparte family are at loggerheads."
"It's interesting to have a quarrel, isn't it? Without grudges, where would the story be?" Talleyrand replied with a smile, "I admire him very much - we have corresponded several times before, and I very much agree with him on many issues. view - at his age, it is rare to have such a vision.
And now, to be so cautious when there are only a few steps away from success is indeed a very remarkable quality. Many
Nor could anyone much older than him. So I feel more and more that he will be successful. "
At this point, he paused again, and then continued, "I have only the last bit of life left, and I hope this is the last time I choose a benefactor for myself - that guy is much younger than me, At least it won’t make my wish come true, right?”
Soult didn't know whether Talleyrand was sincere or joking, but it made no difference to him.
"Then we'll see." He replied coldly. "Since you're so interested, why don't you go to Fontainebleau to meet him?"
"I will, but not now." Talleyrand replied with a smile. "There will be more memorable moments."
This guy is really an unrepentant pretender. Soult thought.
