"Your Excellency, please...please come with me." Under the disbelieving gazes of the gang members, Oga Koumas, sweating profusely, led the three Lawrences through the spiral staircase deep in the hall, coming to Go to a large, extremely private room high up in the cave.
Unlike the messy and dirty style of the sewer, this room is actually very luxuriously decorated. There is no ubiquitous rancid smell in the sewers in the room. The necessary furniture and furnishings are all available. The surrounding walls have also been painted with lime. There are two landscape oil paintings with a little artistic conception hanging above the bed. , even the floor was covered with a slightly faded Persian carpet.
And it seems that only Oga Kumas, the king of beggars, can have such an exquisite residence in the smelly sewers.
Lawrence left Grosso and Yaan's two personal guards outside the door, and followed Oga Kumas into the room.
A group of gang members below watched with wide eyes as Lawrence walked into the Beggar King's residence, and they all discussed: "Who is that kid? How could the leader be so rude and still qualified to enter the leader's residence? !”
"Who knows, is he really a big shot? Like...Master Du Barry?"
"Go, go, Monsieur Jean Du Barry is a black man. It is said that he even has connections in the palace, and the leaders are just like minions in front of him. How can that kid compare to Monsieur Du Barry. "
"That's true. Maybe that kid is one of Master Du Barry's men."
"Oh, if only I could do something for Monsieur Du Barry. That would be a gift from God."...
"Please sit down, Your Excellency." Oga nervously asked Lawrence to sit down. The sweat on his forehead has not gone away until now, and even his hands were hanging on his legs with nowhere to rest.
Although he was in his own base camp, Oga Kumas's flustered and anxious look made Lawrence seem to be the master here.
Other members of the gang may still feel strange about their leader's bizarre performance today, but only Oga Kumas himself knows how powerful the man in front of him who is even younger than himself has.
He still remembers that just a few months ago, the previous King of Beggars suddenly disappeared mysteriously, his life and death unknown, and he was elected as the new gang leader.
And before Oga Coomas could be happy for a few days, something happened that shocked the entire underground world of Paris: hundreds of elite soldiers from the Paris City Defense Force rushed into the sewers and beat the beggars to death. The king's lair, easily knocked out the new king of the underground world and took him away.
And when Oga Kumas opened his eyes again, he was already in the dungeon of Duke Choiseul.
It was there that he first met His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte. Oga Coomas, who was tortured and dying at the time, also faintly heard the conversation between Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul.
He knew that if it hadn't been for the casual intercession of His Excellency Bonaparte, he would have become a withered skeleton in the dungeon of the god-like Duke.
Putting aside this life-saving kindness, His Excellency Bonaparte's own power and status alone made Oga Coomas extremely lucky that he had not done anything impulsive just now.
If this gentleman makes any mistake here, I am afraid that in the next few years, there will be no living creatures except rats and maggots in the entire Paris sewers.
"Your Excellency, please forgive me and my subordinates. They don't know your identity, sir, so they are so... rude." Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence cautiously and said tentatively: "But I really didn’t expect you to show up here, and I didn’t expect that if you needed me, you could send someone here at will, why would I ask you to come here in person..." In addition to being filled with shock and happiness, Ouyang was at this moment Jia's heart was also full of doubts and confusion. How could such a big man condescend to personally come to find him in this dirty and smelly sewer?
Unless... Oga Kumas suddenly felt something in his heart. He was certainly not an ignorant person to be elected as the ruler of the sewers. At this moment, he immediately realized that this might really have some ulterior mission. Leave it in your own hands.
Lawrence still looked unhurried, looking at the residence of the largest gang leader in Paris with great interest, and said casually: "Don't be so nervous, I also understand your subordinates, a group of desperadoes saw three It's normal for a stranger to react like that." After scanning the furnishings in the room, Lawrence's eyes focused on Oga Kumas's face and whispered: "Tell me about your gang. , Mr. Oga, if you don't mind." Oga Coomas raised his eyebrows subconsciously. As soon as he heard this question, he was even more convinced that Mr. Bonaparte had an important task to entrust to him, so He quickly replied: "I don't mind at all, Your Excellency, as you can see, we control the entire Paris sewers, and all the people who live here, whether they are murderers or robbers, are all under our control. For this reason The reason is that we have been called gray rats in the sewer for a long time, and gray rats have become synonymous with gangs." As he spoke, Oga Koumas slightly pulled down the collar on his chest, revealing a fist under his collarbone. The large and small tattoo is exactly that of a lifelike gray mouse with cunning and ferocious eyes.
Lawrence nodded slightly. The Paris sewers were originally gathering places for thugs, wanted criminals, and homeless poor people. Even Marat, the leader of the Jacobins during the Revolution, succumbed to sewers in order to avoid being pursued by his political opponents. month's time.
"How many people are there in the gang?" Lawrence continued.
"This... there are six to seven hundred core members. They are basically shady thugs and wanted criminals. Most of them live scattered in the sewers." Oga Kumas only hesitated for a while, but still He told all the confidential information very honestly: "As for the outer members... I'm afraid there are thousands of them. Many of them are petty thieves, or even ordinary poor people. They join the gang just to Seeking refuge from the King of Beggars...especially this winter, there are many more peripheral members joining the Squirrel.”
"This winter? Because of subsidies?" Lawrence asked casually.
"Exactly, Your Excellency." Oga Kumas sighed. He was not like those thugs who only thought about money, liquor and women.
He still has pity and sympathy for the poor people who have no property and the members of the lower class who are in difficult situations. After all, he was once one of them. This is why Oga Kumas can use his thin body to stand among a group of fierce and ferocious people. The thugs won out and became the new King of Beggars: "This winter has been very difficult. The number of poor people seeking to join the Squirrels has increased a lot. I also tried to do something to rob the rich and give to the poor at first, but the Paris police force failed a year ago. Strict patrols have begun, which makes it difficult for us to continue our operations. All I can do is to absorb the desperate poor people into the gray rats, lest they freeze to death one night..." said Halfway through, Oga Kumas carefully raised his head and glanced at Lawrence's face, and then continued: "In addition, your Excellency, you held a charity auction a few days ago, which indeed relieved many people's anxiety, but ...There has been no news about that money for several days. Many people have lost confidence and started to contact us again to make a living." Lawrence listened silently and just nodded his head. All this was in his mind. as expected.
However, he, Lawrence, did not intend to reveal more details of the plan to Oga Kumas. With this young man's current status, he was not worthy of knowing those deeper things.
Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence expectantly, thinking that he could get some inside information from this adult, but Lawrence still shook his head, put aside the topic and said: "By the way, Mr. Oga, you should be regarded as a subordinate in the gang. A lot of people, right?"
"Yes, sir, they are very supportive of my order." Oga was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and replied truthfully: "This may be due to the last raid the city defense army launched on us."
"A raid by the city defense force? I seem to have some impression..." Lawrence also recalled a little bit. He remembered that after Count Falcone launched the Beggar King to attack him last time, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe directly mobilized the Paris city defense force. An elite battalion raided into the sewers and captured the Beggar King back to the dungeon of the Duke of Choiseul.
It is a pity that the previous Beggar King who ordered the attack on Lawrence had long been dealt with by Duke Richelieu. The leader of the gray rats at that time was already Oga Coomas, and Duke Choiseul did not get the information from him. Any valuable information.
Oga Kumas said with a wry smile: "As soon as the city defense army's attack started, I knew that I was outmatched, but I also knew that those soldiers were coming for me, so I took the initiative to surrender and be captured in exchange for the soldiers' promise. If I didn't hunt down other Gray Rat members... To be honest, I didn't expect to be able to return to the sewers alive. After this incident, the elders in the gang would basically be inclined to support me." Lawrence was also a little bit disappointed after hearing this. He glanced at Oga Kumas in surprise. No wonder this weak and weak young man could become the leader of those extremely vicious thugs. Such courage and character are rare to see.
Without this heroic act of sacrificing his life for the gang, Oga Kumas, the temporarily elected king of beggars, might not be able to fully convince the public.
Of course, this is undoubtedly good news for Lawrence. Only when Oga Kumas has enough control over his men can Lawrence confidently entrust him with an important and secret mission.
Lawrence pondered for a moment and took a sip of black tea mixed with rum. In order to obtain clean and non-toxic water, the gray rats in the sewers were accustomed to mixing alcohol into the water like the sailors at sea.
After swallowing this strange-tasting alcoholic black tea, Lawrence slowly said: "Mr. Oga, I was thinking, maybe you can do a few things for me." And the nervous Oga Kumas was waiting. With these words, he suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, quickly stood up and nodded: "My lord, you have shown me the favor of saving my life. If you need to do anything, my lord, just say it." Of course, Oga Kumas showed that Such eagerness is naturally not just to repay Lawrence's life-saving kindness.
His first priority is the future of the Gray Rat Gang. Prior to this, the reason why the reputation of the King of Beggars was able to shock the entire Paris underground world was that, in addition to the large number of members and long heritage of the Gray Rats, there was also a very important factor - behind the gang was Jean Du Barry as its backer. .
Although in Lawrence's view, Jean Du Barry was just a rich pimp, at most a lackey of the Richelieu family, this was because of his relationship with Madame Du Barry.
But in the eyes of those ruffians, thieves and robbers, Jean Du Barry was definitely a legend in their hearts.
Owning more than a dozen shops and properties, he is highly respected in the upper class and has unparalleled influence in the underground world. Even top gang leaders like the King of Beggars have to rely on him to survive. It can be said that everyone Every gangster dreams of living like Jean Du Barry.
And it is precisely because of the funding and protection of Jean Du Barry and even Count Falcone behind him that the Gray Rats have been able to dominate the underground world for a long time.
After all, the Paris city hall and police force would not tolerate hundreds of extremely dangerous felons gathering together without an official background.
However, with Jean Dubarly being placed under house arrest by Laurence and Count Falcone being imprisoned in the Palace of Justice, the two most important backers of the Gray Rats collapsed.
Although the squirrel still maintained its dominance over the underground world in a short period of time, Oga Kumas knew very well that the squirrel without a backer was like a magnificent but fragile mansion.
When the rival gangs discover this, the fragile mansion will inevitably collapse.
Thinking of this, Oga Kumas couldn't help but look at Lawrence with a little more enthusiasm and sincerity.
The previous Jean Dubarly was just like an ant in the hands of Monsignor Bonaparte. If he could protect the entire squirrel, then there would probably be no more noise in the underground world of Paris in the future.
This is why Oga Kumas directly agreed without waiting for Lawrence to tell the contents of the commission. He had secretly vowed to hand over a satisfactory letter of submission to His Excellency Bonaparte.
Lawrence glanced at Oga Kumas's expression indifferently, and he had already penetrated the inner thoughts of the beggar king who was obsessed with gangs. He said softly: "Very good, Mr. Oga, I hope you can remember me for the next meeting." Every word that comes down, because except for the memory in your mind, there is no evidence that I have been here." Oga Kumas immediately nodded solemnly. This was not the first time that he had done something shady. Dirty work, knowing that the most important thing about this kind of action is secrecy, Lawrence will naturally not leave any physical evidence that can prove that he is the instigator behind the scenes.
"First of all, I need you to send someone to spread some news." Lawrence lowered his voice and said: "About the seven million livres from the charity auction at the Paris Comedy, within three days, I want all Paris to know. It was Madame Du Barry who embezzled the seven million." Oga Kumas's pupils were shocked, but he quickly returned to normal, and then nodded solemnly to show that he understood.
Although he vaguely noticed that he seemed to be involved in a bigger storm, Oga Kumas knew in his heart that if he wanted to become the black glove of His Excellency Bonaparte, he should not interfere with things. Just don't ask one more word.
Lawrence continued with satisfaction: "Second, you should know that several protest rallies broke out among citizens against winter subsidies a year ago, right?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, some members of the Gray Rats also participated, but they went there voluntarily, not because of my order." Oga Kumas replied quickly.
Lawrence nodded slightly and said directly: "Three days later, on January 19, I need you to incite another protest rally in front of the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, demanding that the High Court try Madame Du Barry. Make it as big as you can, and it will be as big as you can.”
"As big as it can be...?" Oga Kumas repeated Lawrence's words in a daze, with shock that could not be concealed in his eyes. He was already somewhat elusive of this Bonaparte. What exactly does Mr. Ba want to do?
But despite this, he gritted his teeth and nodded to show that he understood.
"Third..." Lawrence didn't give Oga much time to think, and directly ordered: "While inciting protests and rallies, I want you to send three hundred armed men to the villages in the eastern suburbs of Paris to conduct fake plunder. , if you encounter the city defense army coming to block it, retreat all the way east until you get rid of the pursuing troops and then return to Paris."
"Fake robbery? This..." Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence blankly. Even in front of this adult, he couldn't help but frown. He didn't understand this weird and dangerous behavior at all. For what.
Lawrence glanced at Oga who was confused and reminded him thoughtfully: "I hope you have written it all down. If you have any questions, you can just say it directly." Oga Kumas licked it awkwardly Lips, after much hesitation, he looked at Lawrence and asked: "Sir... are you sure you want to do these things? Spreading news is fine, but inciting protests and rallies... You should also know that the Paris police force has been maintaining Martial law, even if this protest is agitated, it will not last long. The police patrol will arrive soon, and the nobles in court uniform will not tolerate us making trouble in front of the Palace of Justice, and it is impossible to agree to your demands. ..Maybe even the palace will be alarmed." Before he finished speaking, Oga Kumas took a sneak peek at Lawrence's expression to make sure that the gentleman was not angry before continuing: "In addition, you said you would send someone Going to the eastern suburbs of Paris to pretend to loot? But the cavalry battalion of the city defense army can arrive in the blink of an eye and capture us all. It is impossible to retreat eastward until the pursuers are defeated as you said."
"In other words, you are worried about the police, the High Court, the Palace of Justice, the City Defense Forces, and the Royal Palace?" Lawrence couldn't help but sneered and shook his head.
Oga Kumas looked at Lawrence's uncontrollable smile, hesitated for a moment and nodded, and said seriously: "Yes, Your Excellency, as long as any party intervenes here, I am afraid that the things you have entrusted to me will not be completed. ..”
"I think we need to have some trust in each other, Mr. Oga. I have entrusted these matters to you with trust, so please let me do it with trust; as for the forces you are worried about..." Lawrence gradually He suppressed his smile and said slowly: "Don't worry, they are all in their places."
