Eagle’s Glory

It was already late at night, but because of Edmund Dantes' letter, Aigron was enthusiastic and full of energy at this time, as if he had inexhaustible energy.

He has always wanted to win over Marshal Soult, and judging from Edmund's report, the Marshal does not seem to reject him as an option.

-Obviously, the marshal is still hesitating, he has several options, but for Aigron, as long as he is willing to open a door, he will have the opportunity to enter the room.

What Marshal Soult said to Edmund was obviously a "test question" for Aigron. He wanted to see how well he was and whether he had the ability to lead the country into a new era.

For others, it is probably not easy to understand all this, because the authorities and fans, even in today's industrial revolution has quietly occurred for decades, not many people can imagine how incredible changes it will bring to human civilization.

It is now 1828, and people's lives seem not to be much different from 1728. However, just a few decades later, European countries already have a railway network stretching tens of thousands of kilometers on the ground, radiating the telegraph network of almost every township, And the iron ship that rides the wind and waves across the four seas, now to an ordinary person, all this is as incredible as a dream.

However, reality is reality. The Europeans, relying on the accumulation of mathematics, physics and manufacturing knowledge for many years, have now reached a critical point. Only need to touch the door, the treasure house of knowledge will be opened, and the endless scientific achievements will be Like a blowout, it appeared intensively in just a few decades, and finally transformed the lives of all human beings.

Most people are unaware of this. They are busy every day and live a life that is exactly the same as their ancestors. However, a small number of people have vaguely felt the footsteps of the times because of their experience or intelligence. , they may not know what the future will be like, but they know that it will not be long before people's lives will change beyond recognition.

And Aigron happens to know what will happen, he doesn't mind brazenly taking "what he knows" as "something he thinks", and sharing it with Soult as his own insights, he believes that what he thinks will be It will be far beyond Marshal Sirte's expectations, and it will take longer than he wants to get.

"Respected Marshal Soult, I have admired you since I was a child, and I am very grateful to you for your willingness to stand by the Bonaparte family until 1815 and join hands with the emperor to fight against a strong enemy. Your martial arts, your loyalty, I have it all in my heart, and I look forward to working with you again as the emperor's heir. I believe that if we really stand together, then we will bring France into a new era...

When you see this, you may laugh with disdain, thinking that I am just telling you some hypocritical clichés, but please believe that I said these words with sincerity.

What you said to the Count of Monte Cristo, he has already relayed it to me, and I am very happy to hear your insight - today, more than ten years after the fall of the empire, you have not wasted your energy on Confused about a certain battle or decision in the past, but you have seen something deeper, you have found the source of the British people's strength, you think their superiority in machines, that is, technology, will keep them going I am so strong that France can no longer be matched, and I also admit this crisis.

The British now have the best technology, they use it in coal mining and iron making, so they can have more machines that will help them establish an advantage over other countries. But their advantages are not invincible, and if we can develop technologies with equal or greater intensity and apply them militarily, then we can defeat them - for example, the Royal Navy now controls the oceans, and they also Controlling the best oak raw materials, it is impossible for us to surpass them with current technology. However, new technologies will bring us new opportunities. Sooner or later, steam power will be applied to ships, and the surging power possessed by machines will allow ships to no longer rely on sails, and even propel giant ships made of steel... Once we have With such a technology, the advantages accumulated by the Royal Navy will be gone. We can use a brand new fleet to compete with them. Even if we cannot defeat them, we can at least walk on the same starting line. If we have enough determination, this It is absolutely doable.

The battleship is only one aspect of it, there are more and more important aspects that deserve our attention, for example, if we build a train propelled by a steam engine, and let it drag car-by-car on the track, and if we lay a rail network, then it can greatly improve the domestic traffic situation, the speed and scale of our mobilization of human and material resources will be unprecedentedly fast, the speed of our deployment of troops, and the strength of their logistical supply will also become very amazing. It will change the face of the entire war in a very short period of time... If you don't know how to do it, you may think that I am a nonsense dream, but I believe that as the best commander in our country now, you will definitely be able to taste it. mean.

I dare to assert that in the next era, there can be such amazing changes, and it will certainly change the face of the entire country and even the entire world, and it will surely come. The only question is, whose era does it belong to? Who will control it?

I won't hide my ambitions from anyone, I want to navigate this new era and make my empire the best in it. And it is impossible for me to achieve this goal alone, and I desperately hope that someone with the same ambition will stand by my side and work for this goal with me... After reading the letter of the Count of Monte Cristo, I have already I am convinced that you are definitely a suitable candidate.

I will not force you to remain loyal to the Bonaparte family, you have done enough, I cannot ask you to continue to make sacrifices for us and face new dangers, but please ask yourself, if you want to stop With the advent of the British century, who is the most suitable to take the helm of this country? I think you must be able to come up with the correct answer.

A short letter will not allow us to communicate effectively. I look forward to meeting you one day in the future. I want to pay tribute to you and express my gratitude to you, and to listen to your teachings and to think together with you how Change this country... If there ever comes a day, I dare say, it will be the moment that decides the fate of the country.

Congratulations again! Whatever you choose, I am forever grateful for what you have done for the Empire and for the family of Bonaparte.

Your allegiance, François Bonaparte. "

Relying on a ray of inspiration, Aigron wrote the letter with passion and carefully sealed it.

Tomorrow, his secretary would recompile the letter in cipher language, send it to Paris, and then to Marshal Soult.

He would not naively think that just by reading a letter, the marshal would be influenced by him, and then follow the Bonaparte family with all his heart. This is impossible.

But he believed that after reading the letter, Marshal Sirte would have a new understanding of him.

Originally because he was very young, in the heart of the marshal, he would definitely feel that he was just a fledgling boy. Although he was a little bold and a little tactical, after all, his experience was shallow, let alone the experience of actually governing the country.

But after reading the letter, he will definitely change his mind.

Aegron deliberately grasped the scale, not only looking into the future, but not looking too far into the future - the age of steam is something that the marshal can understand. If he speaks further, he will definitely be regarded as a madman's nonsense, meaningless. .

But this scale alone is enough to make human civilization undergo earth-shaking changes.

There have been thousands of years of civilization history before human beings, but after all, it is nothing more than dynasties coming and going, feudal lords annexing and splitting each other, empires rising and falling, everything seems to be a documentary that keeps on rewinding. Amidst chaos and ignorance, people are born, old, sick and die. They live an average life of not more than 40 years old, with a high rate of infant mortality. Even eating a meal of meat is a luxury for ordinary people. Pain is the normal state of life. We live only to meet death silently, and we must rely on religion. Get some illusory solace.

Only after the Industrial Revolution, material production began to be greatly enriched, most people got rid of the heavy and arduous farm work, and finally had the hope of living to the age of 60, and obtaining food was no longer a daily worry.

Most people finally have the qualifications and leisure to acquire knowledge, to think about metaphysical problems, and to really live.

Only after the Industrial Revolution did history really have meaning.

Of course, the industrial revolution will also bring some side effects, such as environmental pollution, metropolitan diseases, etc., but that is the "disease of wealth" of civilization, and people in the past were not even qualified to expect such a life.

Aegron cannot share this with others, but he hopes that he can contribute to this process.

Owning an empire is, of course, a joy to dream of, but it is also a heavy duty to take the empire to another place. He is not the kind of person who "who cares about the flood after I die", on the contrary, he is quite concerned about himself. What reputation can you leave behind.

He will try to make his mark on the world, perhaps even longer than his dynasty.

After Aigron sent a reply to Marshal Sirte, his life returned to the track of the past, and he began to prepare intensively for his next action.

Following an idea negotiated with Michel Ney and Andre Davout, he wrote to Prince Otto, who had become king of Greece, and vaguely hinted that he wanted to make some big moves in the near future .

Soon, his hint was noticed by King Otto, who eagerly wrote back to Aegron, trying to figure out what he was trying to do.

Aegron did not reply to the king quickly this time, but just put on a posture of wanting to make a big move and began to recruit his army.

After the establishment of the Principality of Ioannina, his original army was roughly divided into several parts: some of the Greeks retired directly and were assigned to the land around the city of Ioannina, as self-cultivators, and became the shield of the Principality; part of the stationed It went to several important strongholds and ports as a garrison; part of it patrolled between several cities in the principality as a mobile force, and by the way took on the task of suppressing bandits; finally, it was the main force that stayed in Ioannina City.

Of course, after dispersing, Aigron also paid great attention to maintaining the Principality's violent machine. He has always emphasized the need to maintain mobilization. Once something happens, the soldiers and reserve soldiers can be remobilized and reorganized into an army.

After Aegron issued the order, in accordance with the various procedures set before, the duchy soon carried out corresponding mobilization, and a small force continued to gather towards the city of Ioannina, and at this time, hidden in Ioa Nina's eyeliners from all over the world have truthfully reported all these troubles to their governments.

For a time, the rumor that "Duke Reichstedt is restless again" spread to many countries in an instant.

As Aegron said, no one actually cared about the small principality of Ioannina. After all, it was small and weak, and it was located in a remote place; but many people cared about him very much.

People everywhere are speculating about what Aegron wants to do. Is he dissatisfied with the current territorial size of the Principality of Ioannina, and wants to continue to expand and conquer?

However, Aigron didn't seem to care about this. After he issued the mobilization order, he remained silent all the time, just to maintain the tension of the situation, allowing the outside world to speculate about his actions.

As a neighbor and ally of the Principality of Ioannina, Greece is the country that is most concerned about his actions, and they want to find out if the Duke of Reichstedt is really not satisfied with the status quo.

Because of this, King Otto later wrote several letters to Aegron, with more and more sincere words, trying to figure out Aegron's intentions.

Even, the king hinted in the letter that if the duke really wanted to do it, the Greeks might also support it enthusiastically.

At the end of the letter, he also sincerely hoped that he could meet with Aegron to discuss the current major issues, and he was very willing to provide support to the Principality within his capacity as an ally.

The heat is here!

When Aegron saw the reply, he was also quite happy... This was the response he wanted.

He could see that King Otto had noticed the tense situation and had the idea of ​​'the right time'.

However, judging from the wording, he was still a little sensible, and he did not encourage Aegron to do it, nor did he promise that he would directly participate in the war.

That's okay, Aegron is really afraid that the little guy will be hot-blooded, and in the end, he will cause everyone a lot of trouble and make himself self-defeating.

After receiving this reply, Aigron finally broke the silence for this period of time and officially wrote to King Otto, inviting him and him to meet and hunt on the border between the two countries and review the army together.

He knew that Otto would agree.

The wind and clouds are being stirred by him, but the eye of the storm is not here.