Under Charles' watchful eye, the telegrams were reduced to code at the fingertips of the operators, and then passed down the seemingly endless cable lines to the telegraph stations everywhere, and it would not be long before people all over France knew that the Republic was essentially finished.

And his career has just begun.

When the burning passion and boiling blood began to cool down a little, the cold wind of the early morning made him suddenly feel a chill. He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time.

It's already five o'clock.

The worst scenario didn't happen, and Lady Luck rewarded him with success and glory.

The overall situation has been decided, and there will be no more accidents, he told himself in his heart.

At this moment, Louis Bonaparte must have been in the Élysée Palace, celebrating his victory with his cronies.

Then, perhaps because he felt the lobby was too noisy and stuffy, he slowly walked out of the room, and looked up from the window at the sky, which had turned from pure black to a little gray.

When the day dawns, I will be one of the most powerful men in the country, and I will be subject to almost no one except Louis Bonaparte, who is about to ascend to the throne.

And out of his trust and reliance on Charles, it is conceivable that he will not hinder Charles' actions too much.

So, what is it really like to be able to walk to the top of a country and do almost whatever it wants?

He couldn't find an answer, and even the excitement he had expected had slowly faded. Because he found that this fact did not give him that uncontrollable sense of excitement.

Is it because of this qiē or not satisfying myself? He asked himself.

Then he took a deep breath and put the watch back into his arms.

Yes, I have to keep walking, absolutely not stop.

………………

The passage of time does not change the speed of anything in the world, and in the commotion of the whole city, the sky gradually brightens, and the sun makes the streets bright again, but it cannot drive away the panic and fear in the hearts of the people.

Light reigns over the world for the time being, but darkness lives on forever.

Because of the heavy change that happened last night, there were obviously a lot fewer citizens who walked out of their homes early in the morning than usual. The sparsely populated streets do not see much of the prosperity of the past, but are full of gloom, and even the trees on the streets are gray due to the gloomy sky, making people feel the full vitality of spring.

However, this depression is conducive to the improvement of traffic conditions.

Beginning in the early hours of the morning, a large group of army officers and soldiers galloped from all over the city in horse-drawn carriages, arrested a group of blacklisted people from their residences, and then escorted them to a mansion as political prisoners, where they were strictly guarded.

Out of distrust of the police, Charles simply excluded the police when formulating the plan, and only allowed them to be neutral and observed, not only did they not interfere in the arrest operation, but even the place where they were held was not selected in the police station, but deliberately chose a mansion to be guarded by the pro-presidential troops.

As time went by, more and more people were arrested here, and when these oppositionists saw their relatives and friends also arrested, they hated the perverse actions of Louis Bonaparte and others even more, and the sound of angry scolding resounded everywhere, so noisy that it was as if the National Assembly had been moved.

Because they had received prior instructions from the Charles, the officers and soldiers in charge of the detention did not take the shouting and angry scolding of this group of political prisoners seriously, and allowed them to scold and scold the victors, and only when they really made a lot of trouble, did they resort to violent means to forcibly suppress the anger of this group of people. After repeating this several times, perhaps because the violent measures had worked, perhaps because the opponent had gradually despaired, and perhaps because they were too sleepy, the shouting and scolding of the group gradually subsided, and they seemed helpless to accept the fate of the uncertain future.

At this moment, a two-wheeled carriage with ordinary decoration suddenly stopped at the door of the mansion.

Then, one of the commanders of the coup, Monsieur Charles de Treville, slowly and leisurely stepped out of the carriage.

When they saw that the person who came was not a new prisoner but Charles, the officers and soldiers in charge of the guards hurriedly saluted Charles. And when the coup-inmates who were imprisoned in various rooms saw the culprit of the coup d'état through the windows, a tidal wave of angry scolding came at him in an instant.

With their angry scolding, some political criminals who had fallen asleep again because of sleepiness were also awakened, and then immediately participated in the condemnation of him, and for a while the angry scolding shook the sky, as if they wanted to pull him into hell alive.

However, even in the face of such a battle, Charles still did not change his face, just waved his hand calmly at the officers and soldiers of the army who saluted him, and then walked into the apartment step by step, not taking their angry scolding seriously at all.

He had never been afraid of this group of people when he was questioned in the National Assembly, and now that they were all prisoners, what was there to fear?

"I'm going to see some of the prisoners and take me there." He gave a brief order to one of the officers next to him.

"Who do you want to meet?" The officer asked respectfully.

"......," Charles frowned and thought for a moment, "take me to Hugo first." ”

"Yes, sir!" The officer immediately obeyed his order, and then stretched out his hand to point him in the direction, "Please come with me, sir, he is over here!" ”

Without saying a word, Charles followed him up the stairs, step by step towards the room where Victor Hugo was being held.

Once in the room, the officer graciously opened the door, and Charles walked straight inside.

At this time, Victor Hugo was sitting at a desk, as if contemplating something. When he heard Charles' footsteps as he walked in, he immediately looked up at the door, and then made eye contact with Charles.

Because he hadn't slept all night, he looked a little tired, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was even more disheveled, and he was obviously in a very heavy mood.

However, when he saw Charles, a hint of arrogance suddenly flashed in his eyes. Obviously, he hated Charles so much that he didn't want to show weakness in front of him.

"Good morning, sir." A sudden smile appeared on Charles' face, and he bowed slightly and said good morning to him, as if nothing had happened.

However, the response he received would certainly not be the same greeting.

"It's finally here, despicable lackey! Insidious and cunning conspirators! Shameful traitor! He shouted at Charles, his eyes glaring at him with anger, "I thought you wouldn't even dare to appear in front of us?!" ”

"Why should I not dare? What else can you do to me? Charles shrugged, "In your situation, I think you should be able to tell - we have won a complete victory, and there is nothing to stop us...... Yes, I sue you, just last night the President issued a notice to the nation for the temporary closure of the National Assembly, and your seats were wiped out along with the entire Parliament. Sir, perhaps out of righteous indignation in your heart, you will disagree, but I must tell you clearly and unequivocally that everything is irreparable. Starting today, Your Excellency the President will absolutely dominate the country! ”

"Is this what you're going to tell me?" Hugo retorted loudly, "Well, I confess, you have succeeded for the time being by relying on vicious ghost tricks. But...... Don't think you'll be able to laugh too long, and the people will soon abandon you and let you go back to the dark underground! ”

"I'm afraid I can't agree with you." Charles shook his head calmly, "As far as I can see, His Excellency the President is wise and wise, and his rule will be very secure, even much longer than that of his great uncle......"

Charles dared to say this, of course, he had the confidence.

After all, even in its original history, Louis Bonaparte's Second Empire lasted 18 years, longer than Emperor Napoleon's 11 years of the First Empire.

"Your imagination is just nonsense!" Hugo did not accept Charles's statement at all, "God testifies, go and be a blessing!" It won't be long before the anger of the French people will burn you to the ground! ”

"The people won't do that, because we're carrying out the people's wishes, and we're going to give them what the people want." "The people don't care as much as you think about who stands above them," said Charles, still calmly, sir. ”

"You dare to say this kind of deceitful nonsense to me?" Hugo slapped the table heavily, then stood up, as if he wanted to come over and beat Charles.

Seeing that things were not going well, the officer who was watching from the sidelines hurriedly walked over, and then forcibly grabbed Hugo's shoulders and made him sit back in his seat.

"You ...... You scoundrels, take advantage of the expectations of the people, deceive them with rhetoric, and then forcibly take away the most precious freedom from them...... In this way, you still dare to shamelessly say what the voice of the people is? Bah! Hugo struggled and yelled at Charles, "That's right...... You have already extinguished all conscience in human nature, how can you feel the slightest guilt for such evil deeds? It's in your nature to be cheeky, and I only regret that I didn't find out about it earlier, and I believed in you and Louis Bonaparte! ”

"So far...... You still don't understand? Charles looked at the hateful Hugo, and then suddenly sneered, "You claim to be the representative of the people, but you don't know what the people really want!"

You say they want to be free? Maybe they want to, but this is not what the people want first! The people are tired of the turbulent life and want to live even if it is not dignified and stable, we can give them; The people want a life of abundance, and we can give it to them; In addition to stability and abundance, the people want the honor of conquest to embellish their lives - although they do not want to risk their lives - and we can give them this! Having done this, tell me how the people will rise up and overthrow us? For freedom? ”

Charles pursed his lips and made a strange smile, "Freedom? An illusory noun, something that has never existed in the world. Has anyone really understood what freedom is? No, they think that if they can scold us, they are free! It doesn't matter, they can definitely get this kind of freedom, the emperor only needs power, and he never cares what they say!

Look! This is the people! Insatiable and generous! As long as we do this, the people will willingly give us their freedom, lest there not be enough......"

"!" Hugo struggled to get up from his chair, but was still held back by the soldiers, unable to move, and could only continue to stare at Charles with angry eyes.

"Well, sir, please don't do that." Charles also slowly regained his composure, and looked at him with a smile again, "I didn't come here today to quarrel with you, I just came to calmly propose a ......."

Hugo still stared at him, not answering.

"In a few hours' time, the president will personally go to the Palais Bourbon, where he will address the nation and explain to the parliamentarians what he has done, and there will be no doubt that only the parliamentarians who support Louis Bonaparte will be present - not a single vote against it." Unimpressed, Charles continued, "If you are willing to change your position, then you can immediately ask for your current doom and return to the council. The president has said that he will not mind your past words and deeds as long as you repent......"

With that, Charles looked at Hugo again, as if waiting for him to change his mind.

However, the fiery gaze showed no signs of softening, and it was clear that he did not intend to wag his tail at Louis Bonaparte in order to retain his power.

"What is it? What makes you feel that I am going to bow down to you, to a bunch of lawless clowns and villains? Hugo laughed, "Hahahaha, don't you think! I will never change my position, even if you threaten with your lives! ”

"Looks like I don't have to ask anymore." Charles sighed, "Well, if you don't accept the president's offer, then you will be exiled, and you will soon be disposed of as such. ”

"To be exiled for the sake of the motherland, to be happy!" Hugo still laughed, "I'm going to be abroad watching you smug scoundrels fall back into the dust, and watch your entire body turn to ashes!" ”

"Whatever you want." Charles smiled flatly, "Good luck, then, sir." I will take care of your son's captors and let them release him sooner. ”

Before Hugo could say anything more, he suddenly smiled and waved his hand gently.

"No thanks, goodbye. Also, I wish your new book an early release, I'm still waiting to read it. ”R1152