Crown Prince Louis looked at Lawrence with admiration and said excitedly: "You are so good, Lawrence, you are really my best friend." Asking himself, Crown Prince Louis boasted that he had a better status and connections than Lawrence, but He did not have the confidence to raise the seven million livres for disaster relief so easily.
"It is an honor to serve you, Your Highness." Lawrence smiled humbly.
"But..." While admiring, Crown Prince Louis also stared at Mr. Montmartre's empty seat and thought thoughtfully for a while, and said slowly: "These bankers are really rich. They can spend seven dollars at a time. He came for a million livres, and he said there were many people richer than him..."
"Oh? Your Highness, what do you mean?" Prince Louis sighed: "I heard that the kingdom's financial problems have not been solved and are getting worse. If it can be solved with these people's money, right? ..”
"Well, it's better not to, Your Highness." Lawrence resisted the urge to twitch the corner of his mouth.
"Really? Why is this?" the crown prince asked curiously. Lawrence certainly could not say that it was this decision that led to the outbreak of the Revolution and sent His Highness to the guillotine, so he patiently explained: "Your Highness, this time we are touching the bourgeoisie's cake just for temporary expediency, but if you want to be a long-term Looting the bourgeoisie's share of social wealth is tantamount to killing a goose that lays eggs; industry and commerce will only wither under your suppression, and the wealth you plunder will become less and less. By then, the decline of industry and commerce will bring about economic crisis, the national finances will completely collapse."
"That's really bad..." Crown Prince Louis nodded in understanding, with a rare hint of deep worry on his fair face.
Even for this pampered and carefree Crown Prince, France's fiscal deficit is already a problem that cannot be ignored any longer. He was in a daze for a moment with deep thoughts, and then continued to ask: "But what about France?" Financial issues... What do you think, Lawrence." Lawrence did not speak rashly. He looked up at the rose window above his head, and looked at the beautiful transparent glass in deep thought, watching it glow in the afternoon winter sun. Under the illumination, it emits a colorful hazy light.
"I have also mentioned this issue to the Duke of Choiseul, Your Highness." Lawrence recalled, shook his head, and sighed with a smile: "At that time, I proposed to the Duke of Choiseul to levy the simplest per capita tax on the nobility and clergy. Tax, but the Duke said that my idea was simply crazy, saying that it would plunge France into a civil war within three months."
"Taxing nobles and priests? Hahaha, this is really not an idea that you would propose if you were smart." Prince Louis did not agree with Lawrence's meaning. Instead, he regarded it as a funny joke and couldn't help laughing. : "I think Duke Choiseul is right. Tax exemption is their inherent right, and the stable rule of the kingdom cannot be separated from their help. They are their own people."
"No one is our own when it comes to national interests, Your Highness." Lawrence gradually stopped smiling and said in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Crown Prince Louis took a small breath of air-conditioning, frowned and asked: "Are you serious? Lawrence? I don't think I should offend the owners of those fiefs and churches. I need them to help rule France." Obviously, this His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who has lived in the Palace of Versailles since childhood, does not want to infringe on the interests of those aristocratic companions with whom he gets along day and night.
Just like Louis XVI in history, although he was diligent in government affairs when he took the throne and promulgated several drastic reform plans in a short period of time, none of them related to the abolition of the first and second class interests.
In addition to Louis XVI's personal emotions, this is probably also because he really did not have the ability to touch the two deep-rooted classes.
Lawrence, who knew this well, sighed silently and said nothing more. He did not expect that an after-dinner conversation could change the traditional concepts formed by the palace education that His Royal Highness had received for more than ten years.
Moreover, even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cannot choose the right path in the future, the people of France will make the right choice for him.
After all, if a reform cannot be carried out from the top down, it can only be carried out from the bottom up. Whatever form that change takes, Lawrence vows to be the leader.
...
"Ahem..." Crown Prince Louis also noticed the slightly awkward and tense atmosphere, so he took the initiative to change the topic and said: "Oh, by the way, Lawrence, since the banker has agreed to fund, should we immediately release the news to the outside world? Is it? I read in the newspaper that people in Paris are going to be in trouble these days over subsidies, so we need to announce the good news quickly to reassure them as soon as possible."
"I understand how you love your people like your own children." Lawrence rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "But please don't be too anxious. This fund needs a little work to achieve the best results. Of course, it won't take long. Time, I swear this money will be fully distributed to all the poor people in suffering before the cold wave comes." Unlike Prince Louis, Lawrence did not want the boiling public opinion in Paris to end early.
After all, only muddy water is good for fishing, and only dark, windy nights are suitable for killing people and setting fires.
"Operation? Okay, I believe you, Lawrence, but please make sure that those poor people can get this money as soon as possible." After all, this huge sum of money was obtained by Lawrence, and Prince Louis did not say much, just that Just a few words of kindness: "If you need my help in any way, just say it, Lawrence, I really want to do something for those people." Lawrence nodded and said with a smile: "You are really a good person. Merciful Lord, in fact, there is something I hope to get your help from in a few days..."...More than half an hour later, this simple lunch for two officially came to an end.
The two of them, who were full of wine and food, stood up from the dining table while chatting, and walked out of the hall together while laughing and talking. Rather than saying that this is a pair of master and servant, it is better to say that this is a pair of truly close urban friends.
And just when the two of them stepped out of the gate of the side hall, a palace servant came forward impatiently.
He had obviously been waiting here for a long time: "Your Excellency Bonaparte! One of your entourage came to the Tuileries Palace twenty minutes ago. He hopes to see you immediately... but since you are dining with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, ...I will let him stay in the waiting hall in front of the garden first..."
"Entertainment?" Lawrence's face also froze, and he directly waved his hand to interrupt the verbose servant and asked: "Which attendant? What is his name?"
"It was a very strong Italian who called himself Grosso Bruno."
"Grosseau? Is he in a hurry..." Lawrence frowned slightly, but without any time to think about it, he simply said goodbye to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and then hurried to the waiting hall in the direction pointed by the servant.
At the entrance of the waiting hall not far from the gate of the Tuileries Palace, Lawrence saw Grosso with a serious face.
"Lawrence, your small newspaper has a problem." As soon as they met, Grosso directly motioned Lawrence to walk out, and explained with a stern face: "The president sent someone to the Champs Elysées for help. They said they were being targeted by people from the police force, and other people don’t know your relationship with this newspaper, so they can only wait for you to make the decision yourself." Lawrence was stunned for a moment, and then immediately realized that he must be extremely angry. Madame Du Barry directed the Paris police force to take revenge on President Hailsham.
However, there was no trace of worry on Lawrence's face. Instead, he chuckled and said to himself
"It's just the right time. I was worried that they wouldn't come. In this case, the overall plan can move forward one step further..."...Almost at the same time, Main Avenue.
This remote and barren street where the Observer Daily is located is now surrounded by water. Hundreds of police soldiers with loaded guns blocked the entire Main Avenue.
There were even three large prison vans converted from freight carriages parked on the street, demonstrating the determination of the police force in this action.
People living nearby were peeping at the scene on the street from their windowsills with horror and curiosity. The police and soldiers seemed to have only one target for their actions - their beloved Observer Daily.
Due to its low price and ability to speak out for the people at the bottom, the Observer Daily has been a favorite daily reading for ordinary citizens in recent days.
But now, people on both sides could only watch helplessly as the police and soldiers rushed into the two-story building of the newspaper office, and listened to the heart-wrenching sounds of smashing and smashing coming from inside.
The people were in mourning for a while, as if they were leaving a rare friend. As for the brutal and rude police soldiers, residents and passers-by complained about their barbaric behavior.
Perhaps because he did not want to face criticism from the public, as the commander of this operation, Colonel Giovanni did not come to Main Avenue in person.
He sat in a café on the corner of the street, waiting with a depressed expression for the end of this absurd arrest.
Although he also knew that this was to protect his family, this feeling of doing things without conscience still made Colonel Giovanni feel tortured every day.
He has authorized the command of the scene to a captain and non-commissioned officer. After all, this time it is just to arrest a group of harmless newspaper staff. If the Duke of Aiguillon had not requested that it be done in such a loud manner, Colonel Giovanni would have even Not taking more than a hundred police soldiers with them.
At this moment, inside the Observer Daily office. The tied-up President Hailsen stared blankly at the mess in front of him, and two lines of tears fell unconsciously from his cheeks.
The originally clean and tidy office has long been turned into a garbage dump made of shredded paper and sawdust. The printing area on the first floor is even more deformed. The stinking thick ink is spread all over the floor. Even the valuable machine The large printing presses were also smashed to pieces.
Even so, the police and soldiers still refused to give up. They searched in the ruins and smashed all the usable items with batons. As for the valuable small items, they ran into them without hesitation. in the pocket.
Seeing that his hard work of more than ten years in business was turned into a puddle of mud and ruins, President Hailsen could no longer suppress his emotions, buried his head in his knees and cried bitterly.
"Damn it, cry, cry, cry, why are you crying?" The fat captain glanced at President Hailsson's tears, smiled contemptuously, put his baton against Hailsson's chin and mocked: "Why didn't you think about today when you were using those reactionary remarks to attract people's attention? Huh?"
"Reactionary remarks?" President Hailsen said with red eyes and gritted his teeth: "Is there any deviation in our report! Isn't the harsh truth not the truth! You just don't admit it, you don't admit that this country still has such A group of people who are suffering and you can’t even accept them appearing in black and white in the newspapers!”
"Who the hell cares about you! I was ordered to do something." The captain snorted and kicked Hailsson hard on the ribs, causing him to retching and curling up in pain.
Seeing Hailsen struggling in pain, a smile appeared on the corner of Captain Officer's mouth, and he said happily: "Huh, you should leave this kind of nonsense to the prison inmates and talk to the inmates, you have to stay there. A lifetime... Oh, by the way, your employee just mentioned that this newspaper seems to have a shareholder?" President Hailsen lay on the ground, struggling and asked: "What shareholder? I don't know. ..”
"Damn it, don't pretend to be stupid!" The captain swung his baton and hit Hailsson on the back. He threatened in a cold voice: "The order I received is to take down all the people related to this reactionary newspaper and take them away. , that shareholder must not be able to escape his involvement, please tell me, what is his name and where does he live?" Hailsen, who was suddenly hit hard, screamed loudly, but other than that, he made no other sound.
Although Hailsham had already requested assistance from the Champs Elysées, he didn't know whether His Excellency Bonaparte would actually help him, a humble little president.
Prior to this, President Hailsham still kept his original promise to Monsignor Bonaparte - not to reveal the relationship between the newspaper and Laurence Bonaparte.
President Hailsen closed his eyes tightly and weakly uttered a sentence: "I... don't know..."
"What the hell, the president doesn't know who his shareholders are? Huh?" The captain suddenly lost his temper and swung his baton again to hit Hailsham on the head.
At this moment, a police soldier suddenly went upstairs and reported in a hurry: "Sir! A carriage broke into our blockade and stopped downstairs. The person above claimed to be an investor in this newspaper. "
"Oh? Hahahahaha, it's delivered to your door!" The captain officer was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and put his baton back on his waist, picked up Hailsson's chin and mocked: "You said you don't know the shareholder, try again? Hey? , I have decided that I will put you and that shareholder in the same cell from now on, so that you can get to know each other well." After that, the captain officer waved his hand and motioned to his subordinates to bring him up.
President Hailsen paid no attention to the fat captain. He just stared at the stairs with his eyes blankly, and a few hot tears welled up from the corners of his eyes again.
Soon, Lawrence and Grosso arrived on the second floor of the newspaper office, surrounded by several police officers and soldiers. Looking at the increasingly prosperous newspaper office turned into ruins in front of him, looking at the scarred President Hailson, Lawrence's face instantly turned cold, and his sharp eyes stared directly at the captain and police officer.
"Oh, he's still a young boy." Since Lawrence only wore casual clothes when dining with the crown prince, the captain's eyes suddenly turned contemptuous after taking a look at Lawrence and Grosso's clothes. He mocked in a frivolous tone: "Kid, don't look at me with that look. If I'm unhappy, it will be difficult for you in prison." Lawrence ignored the captain and looked directly at President Hailsson on the ground, frowning and greeting Said: "Mr. Hailsham, are you okay?"
"No...it's nothing serious, Your Excellency." President Hailsen nodded with a wry smile.
"Hey, kid!" Seeing that he was being ignored by the two prisoners, the captain officer shouted angrily: "Don't be arrogant to me! I tell you, you are in big trouble. This newspaper has many suspects. All the charges are inseparable from you! Humph, but since you are not the main culprit, I can let you go. It depends on whether you are sincere or not." Faced with this inferior bribe-seeking technique, Lawrence was cold He snorted, spread his hands and said, "Then what if I'm not sincere?"
"Boy, think about it. Since you are a shareholder of this newspaper, you must not be short of those several thousand livres, right? If you go to jail... huh." The captain's expression became more and more gloomy, and he was not satisfied with this. The brat who knows the rules and is domineering is a bit intolerable.
"So what if I've thought about it?" Lawrence sneered: "I'm standing here. If you have the guts, you can try to catch me."
"Okay, okay!" The captain officer finally couldn't bear it anymore and roared loudly: "Come here! Come here! Tie these two people up and put them into the prison car with other prisoners!" After giving the order, this The police officer did not forget to sneer triumphantly: "You idiot, the order to arrest this person was given by the Duke of Aiguillon. So what if you have some background? Why, you are older than the Duke of Aiguillon?" After that, the captain The police officer put his hands on his hips and laughed confidently as he looked at Lawrence. He bet that this ignorant brat would kneel down and beg for mercy within ten seconds.
However, he obviously couldn't see this scene. Lawrence stood calmly and allowed the police and soldiers holding ropes to approach. Even Grosso, who subconsciously wanted to draw a knife to resist, was held in place by him in time. The two of them were like docile lambs. They were tied up quietly by the police and soldiers.
"Damn, this kid is still pretending. Forget it, let me see how he can pretend after entering the cell. I have plenty of time to play with him." The captain spit in disappointment and ordered with a curse: "Listen up. ! Put the prisoners into the prison car! Put a seal on this newspaper, and also go and inform Colonel Giovanni that our mission has been completed."
