Regardless of whether the former prime minister, Duke of Dalmatia, Nikolai Sirte, said that "if you want to rule the country and do great things, you must have an absolute dictatorship" whether it was a sincere opinion or a deliberate compliment, it must have been very satisfying to Louis Bonaparte, because this is exactly what Louis Bonaparte himself desperately wanted to do.

Although the expression on his face was still indifferent, and he only narrowed his eyes slightly, Charles could feel the joy in his heart at this time. That's right, being praised by a big politician as "the only person who can hold up the country", everyone will feel great joy.

"I'll take your opinion into account." After a moment of silence, Louis Bonaparte spoke again. However, I don't know if it was Charles's delusion, but he always felt that Louis Bonaparte's attitude was much more cordial at this time than before. "For the sake of the future of this country, I dare to take a responsibility."

"Yes, the country needs you to step up and take responsibility now, and there is no longer such appeal to rebuild an empire except you......" The Duke blinked, as if he was a little tired, and the servants next to him hurriedly helped him up.

The marshal, who had regained his seated position, seemed to regain some of his spirits, and he glanced at the two men, his gaze sharpening again.

"If you want to achieve absolute domination over the country, you need to hold on to two pillars, one is the army and the other is the bureaucracy, and you have to make sure that these two groups support you, and you must see it that way, right?"

"Yes, it does." Louis Bonaparte nodded. "That's why we need your help, and the Empire must be embraced by the military. Only when the monarch is absolutely responsible, and then the officials carry out the monarch's policy, and carry it out unswervingly from top to bottom, can we really do something. ”

"Okay, I'm glad you were able to see the problem in essence." The Duke smiled reluctantly, "Well, I sincerely wish you the best of luck." Save the country. Rest assured, I will fully implement your requests, and I will send letters to those people. I don't know how much use it can be......"

"As long as you're willing to help, that's enough." The president replied.

"You can't take the financial power back from the parliament, and you can't give them the power to question and deliberate on the government budget, otherwise you won't be able to gain absolute dominance." The duke continued to raise the building yì. "At the same time. To decentralize the power of parliamentarians as much as possible and weaken the influence of parliament, it is better to make them a decoration. ”

"I'll keep your message in mind."

"In order to suppress the council, the emperor surrounded the courtyard of five hundred with his soldiers, and I hope you will not fall behind him. At the very least, a few more shots will have to be fired at the council...... Count my share! A rather malicious smile suddenly crossed the Duke's face, as if to vent the anger he had accumulated when he was Prime Minister before, "There must be bloodshed!" Only then can the country's chattering thinkers be frightened......"

“…… Good. ”

Just as Louis Bonaparte was still listening to the Duke's proposal, there was a sudden knock on the bedroom door. Charles hurriedly ran to open the door, and found one of the president's entourages looking at him anxiously.

As a general rule, the entourage would never dare to disturb the president's meeting. Since they dared to do this, then they must have received some important breaking news, and because of this, he hurriedly got out of the way and let his entourage walk in.

The attendant, who looked nervous, ran into Louis Bonaparte's ear and whispered, and Louis-Bonaparte listened to his narration with a blank expression, and then slowly stood up.

"I'm sorry, Duke, but I have something to attend to right now."

"Leave it to yourself." The Duke nodded slightly.

"Charles, talk to the Duke." Louis Bonaparte immediately left the room briskly.

Now that he had received the duke's promise, he didn't care much about the bargaining afterwards.

Charles, who had been left behind, did not know what to say to the dying former prime minister, and wondered in his heart what had happened to make Louis Bonaparte and his entourage so out of shape.

After a moment of silence, Charles was just about to say something politely when the Duke suddenly spoke first.

"Monsieur de Treville, I have heard of you and read your statements in the newspapers. I have to say, although it was a little reckless, but it suited my appetite. ”

"I'm honored." Charles hurriedly thanked him.

"Very good, it is not easy to stay in a high position at this age - at your age, I still have to carry a gun, I don't know when I will be shot, I never thought that I would one day become a marshal, and wait quietly in the castle I bought to ......die of old age," the Duke told the servant to slowly turn the chaise longue, and then looked out the window at the field, "but even if you are so lucky, you can be so calm and humble, and it is not easy. In my opinion, there are only two kinds of people who can not do the same thing after having achieved so much happiness: one is so stupid that they can't realize how lucky they are; One is so arrogant that you think you shouldn't be so lucky, which one are you? ”

"If that's what you're saying, I personally think it's better to be arrogant than stupid." Charles replied with a smile.

"Hehe, young people are always so vibrant, it's really enviable." The Duke smiled, "Very well, young people should be like this, never satisfied." ”

Charles was still smiling.

"The first time I met your grandfather was in 1808, a year when the Empire had been at war for more than a dozen years, when we met in Paris and drank wine. I was already a marshal, and he was already a general, and we had a good conversation and drank a lot...... Haha, as a result, forty years have passed in a flash, and the time is really amazing. ”

"My grandfather also talked about you."

"Really? Perhaps, but certainly swearing. The Duke still laughed, "I think I should have been better than him in the last twenty years." ”

Charles smiled but didn't answer.

"But now he should be happy, I have been forced to retreat, and he is full of beauty, and he is the commander of the expeditionary force!" The Duke turned his head to look at Charles, "I read the description in the newspaper, I played well, congratulations on his success." ”

"I'll pass it on to him." Charles hurriedly replied, "I guess he'll be very happy." ”

"I'll be glad that he has finally overtaken me on the last leg of his journey......," the Duke smiled, still smiling, and then abruptly changed the subject, "Young man, what do you think of the Emperor?" ”

Charles was caught off guard by the sudden question, and he thought for a moment before answering. "A great man."

"A great man! Yes, he is indeed a great man, and those of you who have not seen him cannot imagine what a great man he is! The Duke let out a long sigh, and then, slowly, with his high-pitched voice flattening out again, "But people always forget the fact that great men are only human beings. I stood by and watched this great man build an empire that no one had ever imagined before me, and then destroy it with his own hands......"

Then, he looked at Charles again, "Do you know what I was thinking at the time?" ”

Bemoan? Abhor? Happy?

"I don't know." Charles replied honestly.

"I'm remorseful." Without asking Chardo to wait, the Duke gave the answer directly.

"Remorse?"

Charles was a little strange, did he regret that he didn't help the emperor turn the tide?

"Yes, I'm so remorseful." The Duke said coldly, "I have observed this great man, and I have watched him go from glory to destruction. I found that I was only separated from the great man, and I was only one last step away! I regret why I didn't become such a great man, I also had a chance! It wasn't until I finally found out where the line was, and I despaired, because I couldn't cross it at all. ”

Charles suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

"What do you think is the reason for his success?" Without giving him a respite, the Duke continued to ask.

"Opportunity plus ability, probably." Charles replied somewhat reluctantly.

"Is it only chance and ability that a man who is a genius but who has not detached himself from the world to become the emperor of the empire who has gone from almost nothing to the emperor of the empire?" The Duke shook his head slightly, "There are also these people, some have become kings, some have become marshals, some have died directly on the battlefield, and only that one has become a great man." ”

"And what do you think the answer should be?" Charles asked in a low voice.

"What do you think of the new generation of leaders of the Bonapartes?" The duke did not answer his question.

"He's the only savior of the country at the moment," Charles replied slyly, avoiding direct comments on his boss. "As you say."

"It's not so much that he's able to do that, it's that he's able to convince a lot of people, enough people." The Duke replied coldly, "Everyone says that the two Bonapartes are not at all alike, but in the most important point they are very similar. They are able to convince themselves that they are beyond the world, and finally convince the world to believe this. Because of this, I do believe that Louis Bonaparte will be able to take his place as an uncle. ”

"Mr. Trelville, you still don't understand what I'm saying, that's normal, I'm just gossiping." The Duke looked out the window again, "Still, I would like to give you a word of advice. ”

"What?"

"Find a way to avoid my lessons, don't let yourself be discarded. If you think about it, I have gone through three dynasties in my life, becoming a marshal and a prime minister, but in the end I will inevitably fall...... You wouldn't like to say goodbye to power, would you? ”

Of course I won't like it, Charles said to himself.

"Then let's figure it out." The Duke grinned. "There's a lot of time left for you."

He was deeply pleased to have once again cast a rift for the Bonaparte family. (To be continued......)