Fox of France

When Ren got off the train, his legs were still shaking a little. Yes, I was really trembling because the speed of the train was so fast.

For a person like Joseph, who has even traveled on the "Fuxing" in his previous life, the speed of the passenger train at about 60 kilometers is just a drizzle. But for people of this era, this is not the case anymore. The speed of 60 kilometers per hour may (in fact, I can be more confident, remove these two words and replace it with affirmation) the highest speed he has ever reached in his life.

The stimulation brought by such a high speed made Ren's legs weak. So, after getting off the train, he stood on the lamppost on the platform for a long time before he recovered his feet.

However, during this period of time, Renn was not idle, and his head began to quickly calculate the impact of the progress of the railway on his business.

"The opening of the railway will definitely reduce the price of transportation significantly. In areas with railways, the cost of logistics will drop a lot. Logistics cost is also an important operating cost. In this way, the cost of the textile industry on the European continent It’s going to come down. And when their costs come down, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on us.”

Ryan has always been a person with a very sense of urgency, and he almost immediately thought of the impact that the railway, which seemed to have little to do with him, might have on his business in the future.

Over the years, after the European market was completely opened to the UK, the UK's textile industry has made great progress. For example, the scale of the textile factory in Rennes is expanding almost every year. But Ren also knows that the textile industry on the European continent has been suffocated by the British in these years, and a large number of European textile companies withdraw from the textile market every year. Some have gone bankrupt, and some have transformed. In short, the life of the textile enterprises on the European continent that is still struggling has become more and more difficult.

These people will naturally be dissatisfied, and they will attack the British in various ways, demanding that the European continent re-establish barriers to British goods. Of course, this was met with widespread opposition from other industries, making it almost impossible to succeed.

However, those guys still came up with some tricks. For example, some guys in the textile industry in France successfully lobbied to get the State Council to get these two bills. The first bill is called the "Anti-dumping Law", which prohibits foreign companies from destroying free trade through dumping. Anyway, on the European continent, the right to interpret the term free trade is completely in the hands of the French.

According to this bill, any company that sells goods in France at a price lower than the price of similar products sold in the UK will be deemed to be dumping, and then the goods will be seized, and a high fine will be imposed. "Anti-dumping package".

Since the appearance of this bill, there have been several anti-dumping investigations in succession. Although the French have indeed done a fair job in adhering to "free trade", the final results of these anti-dumping investigations have all been won by the British. But the lawsuit itself is a huge cost, especially the time cost.

The second bill is still the fault of the British themselves. That is the British "Navigation Act". This bill was passed by the Parliament of the English Republic led by Cromwell in October 1651 to protect the monopoly of British local maritime trade. This also triggered a war with the maritime power Netherlands.

This Act stipulates. Only ships owned and manufactured by Britain or its colonies could carry goods from the British colonies. The government specified that certain colonial products were only allowed to be trafficked into the British mainland or other British colonies, including tobacco, sugar, cotton, indigo, furs, etc. Products manufactured in other countries must pass through the British mainland, and cannot be directly exported to the colonies.

This decree is in force until now. This kind of decree, which obviously violates the principle of "free trade", has of course always been the target of concentrated fire from France and other European countries. However, due to the insistence of the British maritime community, this bill has not been amended.

Six months ago, some Dutch textile merchants pushed the Republic of the Netherlands to pass a retaliatory bill: restricting the right of way of British goods on the European continent. Of course, the bill does not explicitly target the United Kingdom, but only requires that facilities such as ports and roads be given priority for use by "countries that support free trade". The UK is not included in the list of "countries that support free trade".

It would be fine if only the Dutch had such a rule, but as soon as the Dutch bill was passed, the French immediately followed up, and as soon as the French followed up, the entire European continent followed suit . This has significantly increased the logistics cost of British goods on the European continent. Moreover, with the widespread use of railways in the future, this disadvantage in transportation costs may be further expanded. And this will obviously affect the competitiveness of British textiles on the European continent.

For this reason, merchants engaged in the textile industry have taken two-handed measures. On the one hand, they asked the government to negotiate with the French to solve the problem. The French don't care about British military power at all, and even like to roll up their sleeves from time to time to show the British their biceps. Therefore, the so-called requirement for the government to negotiate and solve the problem is actually to hope that the government can amend the navigation bill to a certain extent in exchange for concessions from the French.

Of course, this approach will definitely damage the interests of another group of people in the country, so this matter is not so easy to solve. It may not take a few years, and it will be discussed in Congress dozens of times in the past. Want to change something.

As for the other hand, it is naturally to tap the potential internally to reduce the production cost on its own side.

The textile industry is a typical labor-intensive industry, and wage costs account for a considerable part of the cost. So Ryan's first thought was to reduce workers' wages and increase labor intensity. However, to his surprise, those lowly workers refused to accept their new contract. They even dared to start a strike, and they chose it in the early stage of the "Pakistan Trade Fair". When the British merchants were about to fight the Dutch and French textile merchants for the benefit of the United Kingdom, they shot in the back and betrayed the great The United Kingdom is a heinous crime indeed.

It’s just that because of various restrictions, the United Kingdom can’t use the most appropriate means to deal with them for the time being, so Rennes and the others have to think about these rogues, these ungrateful villains, and don’t even think about it, if it wasn’t for Rennes Textile Factory to provide them with a The working platform, they have already thrown themselves on the street and starved to death!

However, for the sake of the Pakistan Fair, Rennes had to agree to their coercion and agreed to restore the old contract in the past. This also means that the profits he can obtain at the Pakistan Fair this year will be greatly reduced. This is simply cutting his flesh.

"After I go back, I will try to find a way to teach these ignorant guys a lesson, so that they will never dare to do this again in the future!"

Ren felt ruthless in his heart while walking towards the Palace of Liberty.

The second session of the Pakistan Fair, which lasted for five days, finally came to a successful conclusion. In this session, the commercial contracts and intention contracts reached by all parties have greatly increased compared with the first session.

Many newspapers have widely reported on this success, and everyone believes that this incident reflects the strong growth of the French economy. And some newspapers even attributed such a good situation to Napoleon's wise leadership. For example, "Kommersant" published such a report under the title "Please Cherish This Golden Age".

"Under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, France is in the best golden age since France. The rapid economic growth has brought more benefits and hopes to everyone. Whether we go In the streets of Paris, or on the country roads; the people we meet, whether they are workers or farmers, or even whether they are French with French nationality or foreigners who come to work and study in France, from their In their faces, in their eyes, we can all see hope shining.

Recall that before the revolution, under the rule of the Bourbon dynasty, did the French people have such eyes and smiles? At the inauguration of the Champ de Mars station, the countless crowds cheered like the beloved Consul Bonaparte, whom they called 'Imberado', and not without reason. Bonaparte's administration has proved that he is an invincible and invincible commander no matter on the battlefield or in the position of leading the country. As far as the original meaning of the Roman language is concerned, Bonaparte's administration is really worthy of the title..."

After this report, more newspapers joined in the chorus of praising Napoleon, even the tabloids that mainly reported gossip news and published some colorful novels joined in, praising Napoleon's great achievements.

In the end, not only French newspapers, but even some foreign newspapers joined in. Some of these newspapers had a French background, so it was natural for them to sing praises for Napoleon. As for the other part of the media, there are two situations. One is to use Napoleon to stimulate the rulers of their own country, just like some parents like to use other people's outstanding children to stimulate their own children. There are also some who really believe in the revolutionary ideals of France.

Of course, it's not that there are no one who jumped out and sang a different tune. For example, some old aristocrats in exile in Austria and England still had some money in their hands, so they also ran some newspapers. These newspapers naturally attacked Napoleon, from his figure to his family.

For example, there is such a newspaper in London that has used comic strips to create rumors about Napoleon very cleverly. This time they first spread the rumor that Napoleon was gay, saying that he, like Caesar, was "the woman of all men and the man of all women."

That's all, the French don't care about this kind of attack at all. Then they spread rumors that Polina had the same attributes, that she was also the man of all women, and the woman of all men, and even made up stories about Polina and his eldest brother and sister-in-law.

Because the circulation of this newspaper is actually very small, neither Paulina nor Joseph noticed this matter at first. But there is the Order of the Holy Lady in England. This shameless practice of viciously slandering the image of their "saint" naturally offended the second-year middle school youths of the Holy Knights, so these "knights" made an appointment together, holding sticks and whips together What, rushed into the newspaper office, smashed the newspaper office, and then this matter was published in the big newspapers, and entered the field of vision of the Bonaparte family.

It is said that Polina also asked Lucien to get two newspapers related to her, read them for herself, and then said angrily that the newspapers were too shameful, the drawing was too poor, and her painting was too ugly. It is tolerable, what is unbearable, it really deserves to be smashed!

As for Napoleon, he only noticed that he was being compared to Caesar and took pride in it, but did not have time to notice how he was compared to Caesar specifically.

In such admiration, the State Council also took action. In July 1802, a group of members of the State Council first proposed such a motion: to add the title of "Inberado" to the first ruling Napoleon to commend him. contribution to France.

As soon as this motion was put forward, it was immediately unanimously approved by all members of the State Council. Members of Congress all said that Napoleon Bonaparte's virtues matched the world, his mighty world was incomparable in ancient and modern times, and he should really add the title of "Imperator" to show his honor.

So in the blink of an eye, the State Council completed the proposal and submitted it to the Tribunal for review. How could the Tribunal object to such a motion? Don't they want to live? So the Tribunal passed the bill as quickly as possible and submitted it to the Legislative Yuan for voting.

It is said that Napoleon did not know about it until this time. He immediately rushed to the Legislative Yuan and delivered a speech to the members of the Legislative Yuan, saying that "Imperator" is not a public servant of the people and should have a title. Service is his vocation, which does not require such rewards. Therefore, he hopes that members of the Legislative Yuan can respect his personal opinion and veto this motion that deviates from the spirit of democracy.

After listening to Napoleon's speech, the Legislative Yuan quickly passed the bill in third reading—this was the first time since Napoleon became the first consul that the Legislative Yuan violated the will of the First Consul. Edwards, chairman of the Legislative Yuan, is said to have said to Napoleon: "Your Excellency, First Consul, just as you have to be loyal to the ideal of democracy, we must also listen to the voice of the people."

Then the bill was submitted to the Senate, and the Senate was naturally unwilling to go against the will of the people, so they also passed the bill under the pressure of Napoleon.

Of course, this does not mean that the bill will take effect immediately, because for the bill to take effect, it must be handed over to the First Consul for execution. And the First Consul can execute it as he sees fit. Of course, there is the option of temporarily shelving. So Napoleon put the bill on hold without hesitation.

But even so, people still began to call Napoleon by Imberado, and their reason was: "What to use to call a public servant of the people, isn't this the natural right of the people?"

The newspapers also gradually began to add the title of Inberado in front of Napoleon's title.

Of course, Napoleon himself never agreed to this, and he continued to make speeches against it. But the newspapers all spoke in unison: "This reflects the humble virtue of the noble Imperator."

Immediately afterwards, the Legion of Honor also took action. They also said that over the years, they have awarded many French and foreign friends who have made contributions to France with the Legion of Honor. Class Cavalry Medal. This obviously does not match the great contribution of the First Consul. Many people who did not understand the situation accused them of treating the First Consul lightly. Some emotional medal winners even sent their medals back to the Legion of Honor, saying that because the Legion of Honor could not award the Bonaparte government with a real award based on its real contribution. Deserving of the medal for his contribution, they returned theirs. Because they are less eligible to receive medals than Bonaparte is in power.

So the Legion of Honor urgently designed and manufactured a medal called "Imberado" and awarded it to Napoleon.

This "Imberado Medal" is made of pure gold and inlaid with a large number of gemstones. At the bottom of the medal, there is a line of text: "Serve the people".

After the medal was completed, Bernie, the head of the Legion of Honor, personally held the medal, and surrounded by countless French people, came to the office of the First Consul, persuading the First Consul to accept the medal.

Immediately behind him were most of the members of the Legion of Honor. They all hung their medals on their chests and followed Bernie to the outside of the consul to express their wishes to the first consul.

Napoleon hastened to the door and explained to the enthusiastic crowd that he really could not accept an honor that smacked of monarchy. The representatives of the citizens said that "Imberado" was a title that existed in the Roman Republic, and it was not reserved for emperors. We cannot use it just because some emperors use it.

Obviously, the representative's speech can better represent the will of the people, because when he said these words, everyone applauded him desperately.

In the end, under everyone's persuasion, Napoleon still decided to obey the will of the French people and accepted the medal named "Imberado".