shadow of britain

Chapter 475 I am Bonaparte

"The Chouans of the Vendée?"

When Louis heard the word, he did not show the joy that Arthur had expected.

On the contrary, the young ambitious man seemed very hesitant, so hesitant that he didn't even ask Arthur why he made such a suggestion.

Although Arthur didn't understand the reason for his hesitation, it didn't matter. Since joining the Foreign Ministry, Arthur's source of intelligence was no longer limited to his personal friendship with Louis.

As a senior intelligence officer stationed overseas by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arthur enjoys a very high level of confidentiality clearance.

Therefore, he could easily obtain the intelligence about the Bonaparte family that the spies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had painstakingly obtained.

After Napoleon's son died of tuberculosis in Vienna, the position of head of the Bonaparte family naturally fell into the hands of Louis' uncle, Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Spain, who lived in Regent Crescent, London.

In order to take care of the interests of the Bonaparte family, Joseph invited family members to London for a family meeting last November.

The people who attended this family meeting usually included Napoleon's two younger brothers: Jerome Bonaparte, the former King of Westphalia, Lucien Bonaparte, the former Grand Speaker of the French Republic, Minister of the Interior of the French Empire, Prince of Musignano, and Napoleon's younger sister, Caroline Bonaparte, the former Queen of Naples.

As Louis' father was in poor health, he appointed Louis as his agent to attend the family meeting.

But young Louis obviously had no say in front of his uncle and aunt. What's worse, his experience of participating in the Carbonari uprising in Italy a few years ago also aroused suspicion from his elders. They felt that this little nephew was too reckless, so they would exclude Louis from discussing many important issues.

Therefore, during this family meeting, which was so grand that it had an opening ceremony, Louis spent most of his time showing his cousin Achille Murat, who had come from Italy, around the sights of London.

The two young men attended many salons of London's upper class, and even had time to make a special trip to Liverpool to visit the Golden Lion Hotel where Arthur was assassinated.

However, it was not only the Bonaparte family who attended this internal meeting. Also invited were the French Republican leaders and the Polish and Italian Nationalists in exile in London.

Of course, this naturally also includes some spies bribed by countries such as Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

According to the intelligence reported by the spies, although the Republicans once hated Napoleon to the core, at least at this point in time, the French Republicans and the Bonaparte family are at least on the same front, even if they are not allies.

The opposite of the Republicans were the royalists, who hated the Chouans in the Vendée and Brittany even more than Louis Philippe himself.

If Louis secretly connected with the Chouans at this time, it would obviously conflict with the policy direction collectively set by the Bonaparte family.

Although Louis was furious at his uncle and aunts for not letting him participate in family affairs, he also did not approve of their passive policy of waiting for the right opportunity to act. He even secretly sent someone to Paris to contact the French Republican leader, Marquis de Lafayette.

However, Louis's behavior was not only discovered by the British intelligence agencies, but also discovered by his uncle Joseph on the spot.

In a letter intercepted by the British General Post Office from Louis' uncle Joseph to Louis' father, the current patriarch of the Bonaparte family tactfully reprimanded his nephew and hoped that Louis' father would discipline Louis strictly to prevent this reckless boy from going astray.

——Louis's contact with Lafayette this time was without my consent. I had hoped that this little guy would have less contact with Paris and those young people who often troubled him, but he repeatedly violated my wishes. You and I both know that in a huge city like Paris, there are conspiracies everywhere, and it is not easy for him not to fall into traps at his age.

Louis naturally couldn't be happy when he was scolded by his uncle.

However, what made him most unhappy was the draft of the basic law for the future restoration of the country, which was drawn up by his uncles after consultation with the Republicans.

- The executive power of France will be handed over to an elected Directory for a term of 10 years or for life, or to an emperor who can designate a successor, but this successor cannot be a member of the emperor's family, and no relative of the emperor can hold a senior military command position.

As for why Arthur felt that Louis did not like this Basic Law, it was naturally because of Louis’ debut work “Political Dreams” published in “The Brit”.

Mr. Louis Bonaparte expressed quite frankly in that article the idea that executive power should be held in the hands of the emperor - Napoleon's genius or the will of the National Convention is a powerful means to overthrow the despotism of slavery with the despotism of freedom.

Although Arthur could not see any difference between the despotism of freedom and the despotism of slavery except for the difference in adjectives, at least at this time, it was always right that Louis and his uncles did not get along well.

However, even though Louis was dissatisfied, it was unrealistic to expect him to jump out and break up with his uncles.

Due to the death of Napoleon's only son and the young age of the children of his other uncle Jerome Bonaparte, Louis naturally took the leading position among the younger generation of the Bonaparte family.

Louis himself was well aware that if he lost the support of his family and the name Bonaparte, he would be nothing.

His accompanying Arthur to Paris this time was itself a political gamble. Judging from the current situation, the benefits of the gamble are beginning to emerge as Louis Philippe decided to send him to bring back Napoleon's coffin.

Even though his uncles would certainly be outraged at his private meeting with Louis Philippe, their anger would not matter as long as he could successfully complete his escort mission.

He will become a real Bonaparte, a Bonaparte recognized by all French people, and he will no longer need the approval of the elders of the Bonaparte family.

In order to complete this gamble, even after Arthur's persuasion, Louis made a great determination and finally decided to take this step.

But now, Arthur brought him another new gambling project - replacing the orthodox Bourbon royal family and becoming the leader of the Juan party.

Compared with bringing back the coffin, this project is obviously not on the same level in terms of difficulty and the level of anger it would incur for the family.

If the return of the coffin could be covered up with the lame excuse of "letting Napoleon return to his homeland", then accepting the Chouans meant openly singing against the overall line of the Bonaparte family and the Republicans.

In this way, although Louis would become a Bonaparte, he would most likely only be a Bonaparte. This plan reminded him of the famous saying of Louis XIV, the Sun King: I am the State.

In other words, the line given to him by Arthur Hastings was - I am Bonaparte.

Arthur knew that Louis would not be able to give a clear answer for a while, but he was not in a hurry, and he did not think that with Louis' current strength, he could not cause any trouble in such a big country as France.

Although Louis Philippe's throne was unstable, his crown was not so easily overturned.

As the Chouans complained, the eyes of all Europe were on Paris, and over the past century the direction of Paris had determined the direction of France as a whole.

At this time, Louis Philippe had already firmly grasped the heart of Paris. Senior intellectuals were invited into the cabinet and parliament, military leaders represented by Marshal Soult pledged allegiance, and bankers and real estate developers were his unshakable voting base.

Although the leaders of the literary and artistic circles have some complaints, the current political atmosphere has become much more relaxed compared to the reactionary rule of Charles X, so they are still waiting and watching.

Whether European liberals admit it or not, at least judging from the republican and royalist uprisings that broke out in Paris and Vendée last June, as well as the Lyon workers' uprising that occurred earlier, the actions of the July Monarchy government were still strong.

The Paris Republican uprising was suppressed within two days, and the royalists led by the Duchess of Berry were defeated by the royal army at Vieille-Vigne. Louis Philippe even found time to send the French Foreign Legion to complete the invasion of Algeria.

Arthur smiled and poured Louis a glass of wine. "Maybe I drank a little too much tonight. Louis, you know, in that situation, it was really hard not to sympathize with a group of poor peasants who didn't even have shoes to wear and looked like wild people in the mountains. I still remember that when I invited you to go to Paris with me, you hesitated for a while.

You told me: 'If we go to Paris and I see the people being killed, I can't help but side with the people.' Until tonight I didn't understand what you meant by that, but after seeing the Chouans, I finally understood what you meant. As a leader, you really have to take responsibility for the entire nation, whether it is workers, farmers, merchants or other poor people."

At this point, Arthur talked about Louis's debut work "Political Dreams": "You said that to solve this problem, we must combine the two kinds of people, Napoleon and the Republic. In order to avoid external aggression and internal disputes, it is necessary to organically combine the monarchy and the republic. A monarchy that combines the advantages of the republic and avoids its shortcomings is the future of France.

Of course, in order to protect freedom, a comprehensive electoral system must be implemented. All French citizens have the right to decide who can best represent them. Alexander always accuses you of saying that this is not a republic, but in my opinion, this is indeed a republic. If they end up making the wrong choice, it is their own fault, after all, this is what everyone voted for. "

Louis was still thinking about how to politely reject Arthur's proposal, but when he heard Arthur praising his debut work, he couldn't help but smile and said, "That's just my immature, naive and green political opinion."

"Do you really think so?" Arthur put a sugar cube in his tea.

Louis shrugged. "At least that's what my uncles think."

Arthur leaned back on the sofa and sipped his tea slowly. "Well, Louis, I must be frank and say that what your uncles said is right."

Louis was originally smiling happily, but his smile froze and he said, "Do you also think I should keep a low profile at this time? Leave everything to the elders?"

Arthur shook his head. "Of course not. How can old men be more intelligent than young people? I just think that you put too much emphasis on uniting everyone in that book. You want to unite the Bonapartists, the Republicans, the Legitimists and even the Orleanists. You want each country to enjoy the system that suits its own national characteristics and its desires.

You think that all nations will be brothers, and in the face of deposed tyranny, in the comforted land, all satisfied human beings will embrace each other. If all this is true, I think Britain should immediately appoint you as the new Secretary of State for Irish Affairs. Let alone all nations, Britain can't even handle the Irish.

Or, you can choose to go to Russia with me to take office and give the Tsar some advice on how to solve the Polish problem. Of course, the Tsar may not be so obedient, so you can also consider talking to the Poles about the issue of union with the Russians. But I am afraid that if you really put this issue in front of them, even a soft-tempered Mr. Chopin will give you a knife, not to mention giving you votes. "

Louis was silent for a while after hearing this: "Arthur, I feel like you underestimate me. You think I'm just an all-talker who doesn't actually do anything?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile: "Louis, I have never underestimated you. But you have to grasp the balance. If you act rashly before thinking clearly, you will only fall into a trap. Your identity is very special, so flies often act around you. There is no shortage of conspirators and agitators around you, and perhaps I am one of them. But you have to distinguish which ideas are practical and which are impractical before you can act."

"All right."

Louis stood up and hugged Arthur. "My good brother, I am very happy to see that you are in good health. But some things are not what you think. In terms of police activities, you are an expert, and I am only qualified to be your deputy. But in France, especially in politics, I have my own ideas. Arthur, you should have a good rest. If you need anything, just send someone to tell me, and I will help you solve it if I can."

After saying this, Louis opened the door and walked out of the room.

Arthur looked at the closed door and just shook his head slightly.

Agares leaned against the closet and tasted the red wine that he had stolen from the banquet tonight. The red devil drank until his eyes were dazed and laughed: "Oh, the story of the farmer and the snake. You worked hard to point him in the right direction, but when he got out of the predicament, he kicked you into the corner. Arthur, who do you think you are? You are just a swineherd in the countryside of York. What gave you the confidence to think that you could be on par with the great Bonaparte?"

Arthur didn't take the Red Devil's sarcasm to heart.

Although he did not expect Louis to have such a change, but as Louis' uncle Joseph said, it is really difficult for a young man of noble birth to not be deceived in the dangerous metropolis of Paris.

Since arriving in Paris, Arthur has discovered that there are more and more servants around Louis, most of whom are strangers with various titles.

Their titles and clothes were too fancy for Arthur to remember them all, but there was one word to describe them all - political opportunists.

After becoming a real Bonaparte, some people began to bet on Louis Bonaparte, the previously inconspicuous young man.

Compared with them, the Second Secretary of the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Kingdom of Hanover was indeed a nobody who deserved little attention.

Arthur stood by the window holding a cup of red tea. The hazy moonlight sprinkled on the dark street, illuminating Louis's luxurious carriage as well as the cavalry and guards following closely behind the carriage.

Arthur took a sip of the hot tea and let out a long breath: "Louis, I once thought you were less troublesome than Alexander. Now it seems that I was wrong. A person's growth does require setbacks."

(End of this chapter)