From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The next day, January 5

Today's weather is much worse than yesterday. It seems that the stingy God is not willing to give the warm winter sun to the world for a long time.

Light snow has fallen in Paris since last night, and a few thick snow clouds completely blocked the sun. It was not until nine o'clock in the morning that lamplighters in blue uniforms carried ladders to light up the kerosene street lamps on both sides of the road. One goes out.

The dry, cold air and gloomy sunlight make it difficult for people who have lived here for a long time to have a good mood to face the difficult life in Paris in winter.

Especially those poor people with limited income, they got up early in the morning from the cold and drafty shacks, and started running for a day's livelihood despite the night chill that had not completely dissipated.

But as the temperature gradually drops, prices in Paris are gradually rising.

A four-pound loaf of bread only cost eight suls during the autumn harvest, but now the frightening price of twelve suls is clearly written on the bakery's sign. Whenever the bakery owner changes his sign, he also It can lead to a burst of scolding from the citizens.

And one livre can only buy two bundles of firewood now. Seeing this price, the impoverished poor would rather go to the woods on the outskirts of Paris to pick it up in person despite the falling snow.

These small citizens do not understand what Physiocratic Economics is, nor what free trade is. They only know that the soaring prices in Paris in the winter are likely to strangle them to death there on an ordinary night. On the bed as cold as iron.

When some middle-class people who stand up and talk without pain read about the plight of the poor at the bottom from newspapers or magazines, they will laugh at these idiots, thinking that these idiots don't know how to stock up on supplies in advance to survive the long winter.

However, what these middle class people may not know is that for the poor at the bottom, surviving until midnight today is the biggest goal. They have no energy or ability to make any plans for the future.

Among these poor people, the most discussed topic these days is undoubtedly the winter subsidy related to their wealth and life.

Before the New Year, the Paris City Hall made a promise to the citizens that the city hall would issue winter subsidies on time. However, today is already the 5th, and there is not even a sign of an aid station in Paris.

Many citizens have begun to spread that Madame Du Barry has already put all the subsidies into her own pocket, and it is absolutely impossible to issue this year's subsidies.

Such rumors spread quickly after the New Year and have become common sense in the eyes of most citizens - they have to survive this cold winter on their own.

Some angry people believe they have been deceived and are preparing to organize a second large-scale protest rally.

Different from the last impromptu rally, this time the participating citizens even printed leaflets in advance, calling on people to gather in front of the City Hall Square, planning to question the city officials in public when the subsidies will be released, and whether Madame Du Barry really misappropriated all subsidy funds.

However, although the plan for this rally was much more mature than the last one, the Paris police force, which had already strengthened its security measures, quickly arrested a large number of leading demonstrators and put out the resistance before the citizens could gather. of flames.

After all, His Majesty the King will be staying in Paris during this period, and the police force does not dare to relax in the slightest.

Especially for the colonel commander of the police force, Colonel Giovanni, this colonel with a "criminal record" dare not make even the slightest mistake in his work.

No. 28, rue Tigas, is a single-family villa located on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Seine.

The villa is not big, with only two floors and a small attic attached, but the red tiles and white bricks look very delicate from the outside; there is also a beautiful small garden connected to the west side, although in winter there is only one white layer in the garden. Vast amounts of snow.

Obviously, this is the residence of a wealthy citizen with a well-off family, and the neighbors here also know that the owner of this house is the famous Colonel Giovanni.

Of course, it may not be appropriate to say that he is famous, because the most famous deed of Colonel Giovanni is that time he and Count Falcone broke into the Corsican embassy, ​​and afterwards received a letter of forgiveness from His Excellency Bonaparte .

But to the small townsfolk living around here, a colonel commander of the police force with considerable real power is quite a big shot.

At noon, lunch time.

"I'm back, honey!"

Colonel Giovanni opened the door, stood outside and shook off the snow from his body, then hurriedly dragged his tired body into the warm house and greeted his wife who was busy in the kitchen.

"Dad is back." A little boy of five or six years old staggered up to the colonel, hugged the colonel's thigh and laughed innocently.

The wife in the kitchen just finished cooking. Wearing thick cooking gloves, she came out with a steaming pot of cream stew and said with a sneer:

"Okay Jack, come here quickly. Dad doesn't have time to play with you. He has to finish his meal quickly and go to work."

Seeing the happy and carefree smiles on the faces of his wife and children, and the warm and burning fireplace at home, Colonel Giovanni couldn't help but smile, and suddenly felt that his hard service in the police force was worth it.

The little boy bit his finger and repeated his mother's words in confusion: "Work?"

Colonel Giovanni smiled kindly, picked up his son and put him on the dining chair, and explained with a smile:

"Dad is a soldier, Jack, so he can't stay at home every day."

After saying that, Colonel Giovanni served himself a large bowl of stew and ate it hungrily regardless of the scalding soup.

Seeing her husband gobbling up the food, the wife complained with some distress:

"Oh, I really don't know what happened. You were still on vacation at this time in previous years, but now you have to go to work before sunrise every day. You don't even have time to go home for lunch."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Our supreme commander, the police lieutenant general, is an aristocratic general who was transferred back to Paris to retire. His beard has turned white and he basically doesn't care about anything. The same goes for the other two major generals. It’s us, the colonel commanders, who are really doing the work.”

Colonel Giovanni wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth with his hand and said while eating:

"Besides, before the New Year, some people wanted to gather to make trouble. At that time, I arrested a large number of troublemakers. As a result, they became restless again a few days ago. This time they even wanted to gather in the City Hall Square to protest."

"Is it that serious?" My wife was feeding little Jack with a spoon and asked curiously.

"Of course, nothing like this has happened in Paris for several years." Colonel Giovanni said helplessly:

"What's more, His Majesty the King will stay in Paris for a while. If a protest or even a riot is allowed to occur under the King's eyes, the top brass of the police force, including me, will be prepared to go to Dauphiny to guard the border area for the rest of their lives, so There are patrols everywhere now, and even General Philip's city defense troops are on alert at all times. "

The wife also served herself a bowl of stew, frowned, and said as an ordinary citizen:

"Are there so many people outside to arrest protesters? If your police force maintained law and order like this, there would probably be no thieves in Paris."

Colonel Giovanni touched his head in embarrassment and quickly explained:

"It's not all because of the protesters. The security situation in many places in Paris is indeed not very good recently. Many desperate poor people have chosen to join gangs to engage in robberies. In particular, there is a gang leader called the King of Beggars. It gave me a headache for a while. I really don’t know how many subordinates he has absorbed during this time. My dear, please don’t go to the slums during this time.”

"I think those people also have their own difficulties." The wife sighed softly, put down the spoon, and said with her chin:

"I heard that the wife took away all the subsidy money, and prices in Paris have risen so fast. I feel distressed every time I go to the market to buy things. I remember that this was not the case before."

Colonel Giovanni still had some understanding of economic policy and explained:

"Isn't that what happens when trade controls on grain are lifted? Those big industrial owners start hoarding grain in the autumn, preparing to make a fortune in the winter."

“I really don’t know why the controls were lifted.”

"I don't know, maybe it's for trade freedom or something like that. Those Physiocratic scholars said that this can promote agricultural development." Colonel Giovanni obviously doesn't care much about these matters. He is a policeman and is concerned about Just maintaining order.

"Freedom, freedom, alas, our money flows freely into the pockets of the capitalists."

"Don't say these things outside, my dear, these are special times." Colonel Giovanni finished the stew in the bowl in two mouthfuls like a storm, took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, and sighed:

"Okay, I'll get back to work soon."

"Be careful along the way." My wife warned helplessly.

And just when Colonel Giovanni put on his uniform, coat and military rank ribbon and was about to set off, he heard a loud knock on his door:

"Is Colonel Giovanni at home?"

The colonel was stunned. He didn't remember anyone sending him a visit note. His wife behind him also looked confused, wondering who came to the door so rudely.

He opened the door in confusion, only to see an aristocratic steward standing outside, looking contemptuously at the colonel and his family in the room.

Colonel Giovanni did not recognize the appearance of the man outside the room, but he was still very familiar with his clothes. The attendants of the dukes and princes often wore such pure black dresses to highlight their identities.

"Are you...?" Colonel Giovanni frowned. The way this man looked at his family made the colonel very disgusted.

The steward in black finally withdrew his prying eyes and turned his attention to Colonel Giovanni in front of him:

"There is no need to reveal my name. I am from the Duke of Aiguillon."

"Duke Aiguillon?!" Colonel Giovanni's pupils shrank. As a police colonel supported by Duke Richelieu, of course he knew Duke Richelieu's nephew.

However, since the attack on the Corsican Embassy that shocked Paris, Colonel Giovanni severed ties with the Richelieu faction. That time he was brutally harmed by Count Falcone.

If it hadn't been for the letter of understanding issued by Lawrence, Colonel Giovanni would have hung his head on the gallows long ago, let alone retaining his current position. After all, even Count Falcone's noble status was destroyed by the angry Louis X. Wu was sentenced to life imprisonment. A civilian colonel like him had no chance of surviving if he caused such a disaster.

Colonel Giovanni didn't know how the Duke of Aiguillon had the nerve to send someone to find him.

The steward at the door ignored Colonel Giovanni's shock and walked straight into the house without even brushing off the snow on his body.

"Wait! Your Excellency, what are you going to do!" Colonel Giovanni stepped in front of the steward and shouted angrily. Then he turned to his wife and winked, signaling her to take the child upstairs first.

"Hmph." The black-clothed steward snorted coldly, sat on the sofa beside the fireplace, minding his own business, and said:

"Your Majesty the Duke needs you to do something."

"Doing business? Do you think I'm an idiot!"

Colonel Giovanni stared at the steward angrily and said hatefully:

"Last time, the matter between Count Falcone and I was brought to His Majesty the King. If the King knew that I was still working for you, wouldn't it push me into a mountain of swords and a sea of ​​fire?"

Louis XV was originally very dissatisfied with Duke Richelieu's interference in political affairs, and Colonel Giovanni could understand the king's thoughts a little, so he naturally did not want to have any more dealings with the Richelieu faction.

"Don't worry, Colonel." The steward in black crossed his legs and said calmly:

"This is not an errand to attack the embassy. It is just a simple matter. His Majesty the King will not know about it."

Before Colonel Giovanni could accept or refuse, the steward had already started talking to himself:

"There is a newspaper called the Daily Observer. They have been spreading many unfavorable rumors about Madame Du Barry these days. I believe you should also know that the unrest in Paris is probably inseparable from these rumors."

Colonel Giovanni did not speak, but he also admitted in his heart that what the other party said was right. The newspaper had been reporting news about Madame Du Barry recently, which caused quite a strong response among the citizens.

Almost all of the arrested demonstrators, Colonel Giovanni, could find recent editions of the Observer from their residences.

Although from a professional point of view, Colonel Giovanni did not like this newspaper, which added endless troubles to his work; but from a personal point of view, Colonel Giovanni, who still had a sense of justice, still sympathized with the newspaper. There are not many newspapers in this era who dare to expose the darkness.

"Block this newspaper and arrest everyone related to it. This is the intention of the Duke of Aiguillon and the intention of Madame Du Barry."

There is always a domineering contempt in the steward's eyes, and his tone is arrogant and frivolous:

"Colonel, you don't want to offend two people above you at once, do you?"

"You!" Colonel Giovanni clenched his fists so hard that his joints crackled, and his brows were knitted into a ball, and he shouted angrily in a low voice:

"I tell you! I don't care about this! If Monsignor Bonaparte hadn't issued a letter of understanding to me last time, my body would have turned into half a bone. Just go back and tell the Duke of Aiguillon. At worst, he will transfer me to the Alps. Go to guard the border area, I won’t act as his lackey anymore!”

However, the black-clad steward remained calm and poured himself a cup of hot coffee. After taking a sip, he slowly stretched out his right hand and pointed at it:

"You'd better think about it, Colonel. Your wife is so beautiful, and your children are so lively and cute. If you are transferred to Dauphine to guard the border area, who will take care of them?"

Colonel Giovanni was startled, and then he realized that this was a naked threat. He suddenly became angry, punched the glass coffee table with his fist and growled:

"You dare?!"

"We dare." The steward in black still took a sip of coffee and said calmly:

"If you refuse our request, the Duke will just find someone else to handle the matter, but this will also let the Duke know that you betrayed him. In that case, you will have to pay the price soon, Colonel ”

After that, the steward drank the last sip of coffee, stood up, glanced at the dejected Colonel Giovanni, and said as he walked out:

"Hurry up, Colonel. If a new issue of the Daily Observer appears on the market tomorrow morning, things will be difficult."