Eagle’s Glory

"The Glory of the Young Eagle ()" Find the latest chapter!

In the middle of the night, Aigron said goodbye to Edgar and returned to his home to rest, hastily ending this meaningful and unexpected day.

When he woke up again, it was already the next morning.

He washed up hastily, then walked out of the barn and came to Lieutenant Favre's farmhouse to prepare for breakfast.

Now that he had met the Trevilles, there was no need for him to hide himself anymore. He swaggered to the dining table, and at this time the Trevilles and Agnes also happened to come over, so Egron smiled Nod to them in greeting.

Edgar de Treville smiled and waved to Egron smartly, while his wife Alice saluted the young man gracefully and said hello.

"Good morning, Mr. Memmingen."

"Good morning, Mrs. Treville." Aiglon also smiled and said to Alice.

As for Agnes, who was sitting next to Alice, her expression was completely different. She was obviously embarrassed, but she still nodded gently to the young man.

"Good morning... Mr. Memmingen..." she greeted reluctantly.

"Good morning, Miss Agnes." Aegron still maintained a decent smile and comforted the other party, "I have forgotten what happened last night, so this is the first time we meet, and I hope you are the same."

"Thank you for your magnanimity." Seeing that the young man was so easy to talk to, Agnes obviously cheered up.

"Agnes, the past is over. Since Mr. Memmingen doesn't pursue it, you are lucky, but you must learn from it in the future and don't do such rash things again." Alice said seriously He said to his sister, "We are now in a foreign country, isolated and helpless, so we can't easily get into trouble with others. If we rely on force to cause trouble everywhere, it will only make us more dangerous."

Listening to her sister's lesson, Agnes didn't dare to speak back, she drooped her head and didn't dare to speak, and she seemed to be a different person from the awe-inspiring look she had in the middle of the night.

Although she drew her sword when they met for the first time, but looking at it now, Agnes just overreacted because of a misunderstanding. In daily life, she is still very polite, and she is not a willful and willful young lady.

"Okay, that's the end of yesterday's topic. Now is a new day, let's toast to the good weather that God bestows on us." Aegron spoke up to save Agnes from the siege.

Then he picked up the glass full of milk, saluted Edgar in a decent manner, and drank it in one gulp.

"Cheers." Edgar also picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.

The breakfast on the table is very simple, just bread and milk, plus a few pickled vegetables.

However, Aigron didn't care and swallowed to satisfy his hunger.

Alice didn't eat much, she just kept glancing at the young man, paying attention to his every move, thinking deeply in her heart.

"Mr. Memmingen, are you a local?" She suddenly asked Aiglon when he was halfway through the meal.

"Why do you ask that?" Aigron asked.

"Based on the standards of foreigners, your French is very good, and the accent is completely different from the locals here, as if you have been taught by a tutor." Alice said her reason, "And you Your manners and words show that you are extremely well-educated... I don't think that, at least, it can be cultivated in the environment here."

Smart, it seems that she was already suspicious when she met him last night.

A trace of curiosity suddenly flashed in Aigron's heart - how far had Alice guessed?

However, he had already discussed Alice's matter with Edgar, and even if she completely guessed it, it would be an affordable price, so he did not panic.

After all, can she send her husband to prison?

"You are right. I am not a resident here. I have been living abroad before.

I only came to Switzerland recently for some reasons. "Aiglon replied with a smile.

"Then you must have heard of the recent big news that shocked Europe?" Alice asked.

"What news?" Aigron asked.

Alice glanced at her sister, and after hesitating for a moment, she still asked,

"There is news about the Duke of Lechstedt." She tried her best to make her words appear more cryptic, "As far as I know, he seems...too much your age."

"Oh! This is indeed a surprising coincidence." Aigron nodded cordially.

Seeing Aiglon's reaction, Alice knew that all her guesses had come true.

She felt dizzy for a moment, but quickly gained control of herself.

She knew that without permission, she could only ask so far.

If you continue to ask questions, you will make things difficult for everyone.

"Yes, it seems that the world is really full of coincidences, of course you have nothing to do with him, you are just a relative of the owner of the farm." Alice forced herself to smile, "However, you With your graceful demeanor and extraordinary demeanor, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone said you have the bearing of a prince.”

"You think highly of me." Aigron replied with a smile, "Mrs. Treville, if someone said that you are the smartest lady in Paris, I would agree with it with my hands up."

Alice's face turned slightly red. She was not sure whether this "Your Majesty" was sincerely complimenting her or joking.

But she could clearly feel that her husband, as well as her father-in-law, General Treville, had sincerely attached themselves to this young man's command, so no matter from any perspective, she had to maintain proper respect for him.

"You're flattering me. I'm not smart at all. I'm just a poor person who wants my family to be safe." She lowered her head slightly and answered him in a very soft voice. "I'm the daughter-in-law of the Treville family. Husband Wherever you go, I will follow you.”

Of course Aiglon could hear it. Her words were tantamount to a promise to herself that she would never report her.

"Smart people always recognize themselves correctly." He nodded and gave Alice his compliment. "I wish you a lifetime of happiness."

"Thank you!" Alice sighed, feeling melancholy and uneasy, but also helpless recognition.

After finishing breakfast, Aigron called Edgar to his side again.

The two of them walked together and came to the woods again.

Walking by the forest during the day brings a different view. What comes into view is a lush green area, full of the vitality of spring.

"Edgar, when do you plan to leave?" Aigron asked.

"I'll leave after staying here for a few days. After all, I'm going on a wedding trip with my wife in name, and I'm still going to Italy." Edgar replied with a smile, "Your Majesty, do you have any orders?"

"I have an idea, and I hope you can cooperate with me next." Aigron looked at Edgar, "Edgar, I need to borrow your talent."

"Huh?" Edgar was obviously surprised, "You...what do you want me to do?"

"You paint well, so I hope you can help me create a set of simple picture albums." Aigron expressed his thoughts, "After the paintings are finished, I will print them on a large scale and then distribute them in France, especially in rural areas—— The painting must be concise but contagious, so that even illiterate people can understand it.”

Although the conversation last night has proved that Edgar is indeed not an ambitious man suitable for doing great things, but based on the principle of making the best use of everything, Aigron will not let him go.

"Why did you suddenly think of this?" Edgar was obviously still confused. "Is there any point in giving the album to the farmers?"

"I need to create a god." Aiglon answered simply. "The peasants need a god, so I will help them build one. Although these peasants are scattered and powerless, they are huge in number. As long as someone can gather them and use their human and material resources, they will surely be able to achieve great things. Now I am ready to start gathering them.”

"...Is this really okay?" Edgar was obviously in a dilemma.

Huh, what do you know? Aiglon smiled disdainfully in his heart.

The peasants would of course support the Bonaparte family.

Although in the ruling system of the Napoleonic Empire, farmers were the class that suffered the most oppression.

Years of wars in the empire have brought endless military service for more than ten years, while the rich and urban bourgeois can rely on spending money to buy people to serve their sons, but farmers have no capital to escape military service. They are the most conscripted Groups - By the end of the empire, many peasants even committed suicide to avoid military service.

Here comes the question, why did the peasant class, who suffered the most exploitation and military service during the empire, miss the empire the most after the empire fell, and loyally supported the Bonaparte family?

Various historical coincidences often lead to ridiculous phenomena.

Before considering this issue, we must first understand a premise—this is the beginning of the 19th century, when French society had just emerged from a static agricultural society, and most peasants were not even literate, let alone politically conscious. The slogans of "liberty, equality, and fraternity" during the Revolution were so far away to them that they could not even feel their meaning.

Most of these "country bumpkins" that Parisians look down on, most of them have never had the opportunity to visit neighboring provinces or read a few books in their entire lives. The splendid culture and art of France are all luxuries enjoyed by urbanites. , almost insulated from them.

Among such a group of people, spiritual life can only be described as "poor".

The more spiritually poor people are, the more they need spiritual support to get rid of the fear of living in poverty, the fear of death and illness. Before the Revolution, the Catholic Church assumed the responsibility of the spiritual life of French peasants. Church priests who went deep into the countryside guided the peasants' lives and witnessed their births, marriages and deaths.

However, the Great Revolution destroyed this entire model of life. The Republic was full of hostility to the church from the beginning. In order to alleviate the financial crisis, the government confiscated a large number of church assets and massacred priests, temporarily driving the two ruling classes of nobility and priests away from France. soil of.

The Republic divided and sold off a large amount of land owned by the nobility and the church. As a result, the peasants obtained land during the revolution, but they lost the lifestyle they had followed for generations, leaving a vacuum of faith.

The violent revolution destroyed the old life, but ended before it had time to establish a new life model, leaving a group of confused farmers standing on the vast wilderness of France.

The church suffered heavy losses during the Revolution and had not yet had time to rebuild its original strict church system. However, the peasants did not wait for the spiritual vacuum, but found other ways to fill it on their own.

What they used to fill the spiritual vacuum was the name "Napoleon".

The republic cannot touch the peasants, and the restored Bourbon royal family is also just the king of Paris, too far away from them, only Napoleon, the great emperor, exists in each of them orally, and is a rare spirit in their poor lives adjust.

One of the few remaining forms of entertainment for the peasants after a hard day's work was to surround themselves with veterans of the Napoleonic era, listening to them tell of their glorious journeys in the expeditions of His Majesty the Emperor, and to experience an experience they never had the chance to do. The world I have come into contact with is a world full of brilliance.

Thus, "Napoleon" was added a sacred halo from the abdicated emperor and the Corsicans who died in a foreign land, and became the belief of their poor life, a real idol.

The old society that was beaten to pieces and the new society that was not built in time, the two are torn apart fiercely over France, and they have created this Napoleonic belief in the cracks in the countryside.

Who Napoleon himself was, and whether his rule did France more or more good than good, are no longer matters, and his death just made him greater—for a dead icon can never be broken again own nobility.

It is precisely because of this belief of the peasants that in the original history, in 1848 (that is, 27 years after Napoleon died), Napoleon III participated in the first presidential election directly elected by citizens in French history, with 5.5 million votes to 1.50 Won an overwhelming victory by 10,000 votes and became president.

During the election, Napoleon III traveled to various places to canvass for votes, and wherever he went, the farmers cheered.

Napoleon III had been abroad for decades and was penniless at the time. Why could he receive such enthusiastic support?

There is no doubt that there is only one reason - he has the name of an idol.

He only has this kind of capital, but as long as he has this capital, he will be unbeatable in the election.

Later, Napoleon III finally launched a coup and became the emperor of the Second Empire, realizing the restoration of the Bonaparte family. In 1852, he launched a referendum again and held a referendum in France on whether to restore the monarchy. The results showed that , the result was 7.824 million votes in favor and 253,000 votes against. The French once again cheered the return of their idol with an overwhelming vote.

——What happened in history also gave Aigron guidance with great accuracy.

For Aigron, his biggest reliance is also the name he inherited, and even his orthodoxy is higher than that of his cousin, because he was originally the sole heir of the empire.

He needs to use the idol fanaticism among the countryside to help him restore his empire.

If foolish fanaticism serves him, then he will embrace foolish fanaticism.

"I want to make up a myth, no matter how outrageous the myth is, it will work for me." Looking at the forest in the distance, Aigron said calmly, "For farmers, the most direct means of publicity is picture books, and you are said to be a genius Painter - Edgar, I hope you will not live up to my expectations."